Joshua 1:1-9

The Lord spoke to Joshua, saying, “Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them. Every place on which the sole of your foot treads……will be your territory.  No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I have been with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you or forsake you.  Be strong and courageous, for you shall give this people possession of the land which I swore to their fathers to give them.  Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go.  This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.  Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

For Joshua, it was Canaan, the land of promise. For the believer its the kingdom of God. To us both, God says, “With your minds saturated with My words and your wills committed to them, go; possess the land and establish My dominion. Your enemies will flee before you. Put them to flight. I will be your constant companion so do not fear your opponents. Go, be strong and courageous. Validate my promises, vindicate my words.” To us both, He says, “You are great. Go and be great.”

I wonder if God isn’t also saying, “Moses’ and Billy Graham’s time has past. It is time for you to arise and recognize your destiny. Christ in you equips you with the promises I made to these men and more. Envision the earth responding to my words, seeing Me as Lord. Lock arms with your tribe – those I am connecting you to, and help each other to recognize and represent My kingdom. Moses and Joshua longed to see the new covenant I have given you – this door into My kingdom.  You are the Church. Every where you go you shall be My Church. Through you, light and truth will put fear into the enemy’s heart. Keep thinking and praying, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

I could not help but think of the lyrics to Josh Garrels’ song – White Owl

When the night comes / And you don’t know which way to go / Through the shadowlands and forgotten paths, / You will find a road

Like an owl you must fly by moonlight with an open eye / And use your instinct as a guide, to navigate the ways that lays before you, / You were born to, take the greatest flight

Like a serpent and a dove, you will have wisdom born of love / To carry visions from above into the places no man dares to follow / Every hollow in the dark of night / Waiting for the light
Take the flame tonight

Child, the time has come for you to go / You will never be alone / Every dream that you have been shown / Will be like living stone / Building you into a home / A shelter from the storm

Like a messenger of peace, the beauty waits be released / Upon the sacred path you keep, / leading deeper into the unveiling / As your sailing, across the great divide

Like a wolf at midnight howls, you use your voice in darkest hours / To break the silence and the power, holding back the others from their glory / Every story will be written soon
The blood is on the moon / Morning will come soon

Child the time has come for you to go / You will never be alone / Every dream that you have been shown / Will be like living stone / Building you into a home / A shelter from the storm

From where we are to where we are going there will be a divide of darkness we must navigate that will require the Word and the Spirit but we will find the way. Our destiny is to take this greatest of all paths. The kingdom dreams that have been planted in our hearts will find expression connecting us to each other as a shelter of safety for whatever is to come. As messengers of peace with our love-born wisdom we shall call each other out into our appointed glory.

Father, may you reveal this part of our stories to the world – demonstrating the incomparable superiority of Your kingdom to any competing principality or power. Awaken us to the glory within. Help us to see ourselves as You see us. Amen.

Dearest brothers and sisters in Christ.

Middle With Mystery had its origin in my personal pain and frustrations. Preceding the words recorded here in the MwM blog there were decades of reading, prayers, tears and even screams. They were born of many things, not least of which are the divisions within the body of Christ creating territories each guarded by theologically well-armed sentries of Certainty.

The two divisions I seemed to encounter most frequently were the camps who would worship the Lord in Spirit and the other camp who preferred to worship the Lord only in Truth. Yet, the Lord said,

“An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

So when our debates are boiled down and the questions become, “Is it objectivity or subjectivity; Is it the cognitive or the intuitive; Is it study or meditation; Is it dreams or doctrine that equip us to worship God?” I hear the Lord settle the matter with a resounding “Yes!”  I hear Him saying, “Furthermore….Certainty is not a kingdom citizen. He is an impostor and an usurper of faith.

When we approach our God with certainty about the rightness of our position and the wrongness of others we are no longer on solid nor holy ground. All this to say, if you would like to follow the artistic, imaginative, musical and mysterious Spirit trail in Truth you should check out the MwM post today, especially this link below which creatively depicts the wondrous mystery of our identifies and our destinies.

“White Owl” by Josh Garrels – YouTube