by RobertCummins | Jul 21, 2014 | 30. Awakening
Genesis 28:10-22
At a camp sight on the road to Haran, God reveals Himself by way of a dream and makes some major promises to Jacob. In his dream there was a corridor of angelic movement between heaven and earth. Above that was God Himself promising to give him and his descendants the land where he slept. God further promised that these descendants will be many and that the earth would be blessed through them. In conclusion of this dream God promises to be with Jacob wherever he goes and fulfill all the promises.
Jacob’s foundations were shaken. He had awakened from his dream with more than just promises. He was now alert and responsible to a world radically different than the one he had gone to sleep in. What he had counted on being true was in fact grossly incomplete. In his fresh discovery Jacob proclaims, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Are there any parallels between this experience and our own? I think so. Let’s go to the NT and explore.
“We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!” (1 Corinthians 13:12 MSG)
“……the god of this world (satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving that they may not see….” (2 Corinthians 4:4 NAS)
According to Paul we, who are destined to see as we have been seen, are suspended for a moment in time with impaired vision. Compounding our vision problem is God’s enemy and ours, the devil. In his final unwitting service, he has been given some limited authority by God to mislead by deception. So, in light of this, how are sight-challenged saints to navigate? Can our vision be improved?
Satan is a liar and the father of all lies. Lies are essentially deceptive ideas and when it comes to ideas, we have choices. As saints, we have the freedom to choose to think the thoughts we want; to own or disown a myriad of ideas. It is especially important to know we can and must choose to reject certain thoughts. Paul believed we have some vision-improvement opportunities. He would probably go so far as to say “responsibilities”.
“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Cor 10:5)
“And do not be conformed to this world (and it’s ideas) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good acceptable and perfect.” (Rom 12:2)
Note; the disowning of an idea and redirecting one’s life by a truer one is called repentance. As those being transformed into the image of Christ (involving the renewal of our minds) we will be living lives of repentance. This is our responsibility.
So, one thing we have in common with Jacob, is “dreams”. While Jacob’s dream occurred while he was sleeping, our dreams (which in many cases are nightmares) are occurring as we are walking around in a kind of half-sleep in a world satan has intentionally saturated with ideas designed to prevent us from understanding who God is and what He is really like. His mission is to prevent us from understanding who we are and what God has called us to be which, when grasped, will radically alter what we do. Being precedes doing and the responsibility to think effects being.
The other thing we have in common with Jacob is “promises”. We tend to think of Jacob as the great patriarch whose promises are unique and superior to our own. This may be one of the enemy’s greatest whoppers. We need to check out the NT, and review our promises. Jacob would be jealous. We have been promised eternal and abundant life; we have been made co-heirs of Christ and sons of God; we have been given access to the holy of holies; He calls us friends; He has given us His Spirit. It is tragic but the greatest lies designed to stifle kingdom growth are frequently the ones satan has sold us within christendom that limit our understanding of our true identity as saints and our high callings.
Here are some questions that might help serve in prying our eyes open. Do you see your essential identity as that of a “sinner” or a “saint?” Is your vision of yourself; 1) a bond-slave who is serving as best you can, hindered as it were by your fallen nature or; 2) a child who is a coheir and partner in an eternal kingdom who is living out of your new nature? One more question; If the enemy has sown seed that would stunt the spirit’s formation, keeping it at mere bond slave-status, where the slave envisions their approval coming on the merits of their service, what damage has the kingdom suffered as a result?
“By the time He is finished in our lives, we will be lovers who work rather than workers who love.” Bob Sorge, Secrets of the Secret Place
Father, shake us if necessary. Awaken us from our dream-like delusions that what we see with our eyes and appraise with our natural minds represent ultimate reality. Grant that we may see, by way of faith, into the unseen world, where Your promises originate. May heaven’s truths penetrate our present darkness and fill the earth and Your Bride with the knowledge of God. Burn off the fog and awaken us to see with Jacob that surely You are in this awesome place with us and that we ourselves are the dwelling places of God; that we ourselves are the portals of heaven and the corridors of Life. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Jul 27, 2013 | 30. Awakening
Romans 13:11-14
The normal pattern is to sleep during the night and live life in the light of day. Here, Paul is speaking to those who have this backward spiritually. He is trying to awaken those who are asleep in the light. As Paul is looking through the lens of the Spirit he is seeing something akin to The Walking Dead. If you have been unfortunate enough to stumble across this TV show, it is about zombies; they are moving but they aren’t alive. They present a ghastly scene.
Paul’s remedy for sleepwalking was to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (as He is “the armor of light”). How does one go about spiritually clothing themselves with someone else? Personally, over the years, I have been very intentional as to how I have dressed spiritually. Mostly my attire has consisted of spiritual disciplines involving the scriptures and prayer. I have added complimentary items such as fellowship and witnessing at times. They are still a part of my wardrobe but I no longer select them with the concern as to how I may look in public.
The idea of putting on something unfortunately implies that we have, at some point, taken something off. Putting something on also presents a picture of us taking something external to us and covering ourselves with it. Once upon a time, it seemed obvious to me that “putting on Christ” meant that I must study and memorize the scripture and spend “x” amount of time daily in prayer; then I would be properly dressed for battle. It seemed like a manageable routine. I was pretty good at it. I liked the idea that if I dressed myself by doing this and doing that, then “presto”, out would pop a certified spiritual dynamo and a productive fruit-bearing follower of Jesus Christ.
Why was it then, that in the battle I seemed to have a big bullseye painted on me? Even though I was )at least I thought) one of the better dressed and heavily armored lay-saints on the field. I felt like a smoldering target, shot through with the enemy’s fiery arrows – always on the defensive. I would never quite die though. The preacher would eventually rescue me by saying, “Remember, we know how the battle ends, you are victorious in Christ” and I’m thinking, “OK, if you say so….. but what’s the deal with my armor?! I must not be putting this stuff on right!”
For years, I would address my poor battlefield performance by recommitting myself to the Lord and to spiritual disciplines. The results were not too impressive. Sadly, they consisted mostly of loads of guilt and shame for being such an inept soldier, confirming time and again the hopelessness of my fallen nature driving me back for more Sunday-sized servings of the bible and recommitments to service and devotion (admittedly good things). The tide in my battle began to shift though when I finally began awakening to the fact that “putting on Christ” was not first a “doing” thing; it was a “being” thing. It was not just putting something on external to myself; it was about acknowledging something that was internal and already true about me; that Christ is truly my life and He lives within me. The kingdom of God is within us.
My failure as a warrior was not due to my lack of discipline or an inherently wicked heart as I had suspected. It turns out that there was a bullseye painted on me. It was guilt and shame. The enemy is very skilled at seeing guilt and shame which are the natural byproducts of religion; i.e.; doing things (especially good things) to please God and others (even noble things like attending church and attending to our armor).
God wants to transform our hearts deep down where our motives are formed. We were created for freedom and liberty and love and these cannot coexist with shame, guilt and condemnation. So, as I have often said, I believe the front line of the kingdom battle is our individual hearts. God wants radical grace to transform our hearts and remove the bullseyes off of us. That being said; let it be known that He won’t waste a good bullseye either. All things work together for our benefit in our Father’s economy.
I pray that we will begin to hear more testimonies from believers with the, “I Was A Christian Zombie” theme. I think it probably is a ghastly sight to the Lord and to the great crowd of witnesses to see us repeatedly attempting to live the Christian life in our own strength; either growing proud or growing disillusioned. I know I seem to be crediting the enemy with some success in His deceitful attacks on us. This is partly true but the bigger picture I see is God using the enemy’s tactics to His own advantage. Let me try and explain;
Prodigals sons are one thing. Rescuing them is a victory. They are so alive and grateful to God; they shine so brightly as they are awakened to the reality that they have been forgiven of their ugly sinful lives and have been clothed by the Father in His finest robe – the one made from His righteousness. But, there are those sons who may shine brighter still; that is us older, elder brother types who will ultimately repent of our ghastly religious performances that have long alienated us from the loving generous heart of our Father (and each other). I could imagine the tide of battle shifting when the elder brothers become fully awake. Given their numbers, rescuing the elder brothers could start a revolution!
Note: The front line of the kingdom battle is often described to us as that line where the forces of darkness are arrayed on one side, represented by either the demonic principalities in the heavens or their earthly minions (usually that opposing evil political ideology). This view attracts the responses from the other side (of the supposed front line) of either prophetic-level intercession or of political activism. I do not doubt that legitimate skirmishes are being fought in these arenas of warfare but I do not believe they are the front line of the battle. I base my observation on the glaring absence of these strategies in the New Testament as well as their apparent lack of effectiveness in the earth today.
I am proposing that to attract the elder brothers back into the fray, it will require a new even greater awakening that presents the front line of the battle as being in the hearts of men. And, to our shock, it will not be out there somewhere between evil (as it has been described to us) and good (as it has been portrayed); It will be within us. I believe the line will be redefined in our own hearts by what has been good and what is now best. The kingdom of God is within us and it is with Him with whom we have to do (not ultimately Satan or some earthly ideology).
Note; to my friends called to battle in these arenas, I want to say thank you; especially to the intercessors who are likely laying the ground work for the kingdom of God.
Do we even have a clue as to what extent these motivations drive us and the bulls-eyes they paint on us? Do we see how much toiling and spinning (in our guilt and shame) we are engaged in? How much of this false guilt-shame energy is fueling a false war against demons and the opposing political party? In the west we are on a post-Christian-slide. The good news is that this earth may be in the beginning phases of a pre-kingdom-ascent. Our only hope is that Christ in us (the only clothing or armor we have ever had) truly becomes the hope of our glory. We will know when we are appropriately dressed when we no longer toil nor spin in our concern for His approval or that of others. We will no longer be stumbling in this way. We will simply stand before Him (and others) with boldness and great joy because we will finally be at rest – being dressed in Christ alone. Then we shall be the salt and light we have been called to be.
Father, help us to see and repent where the “whys” behind our actions are nothing more than compliance, driven by guilty “ought to’s” and “need to’s“. Set us utterly free from our “doings” that are driven by motives to earn Your love or appear well to others. Help us to awaken fully to who we are, independent of any activity. Help us to clearly see our identities as sons and daughters of the King Eternal – created to enjoy You and Your abundant provision of liberty and joy. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Jul 25, 2013 | 30. Awakening
1 Samuel 3:1-21
It was a time in ancient Israel when visions and words from the Lord were infrequent. At the time, Samuel was just a boy but he was about to go through an important rite of passage. He was in full-time service to God but he did not yet know Him because the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.
With mentoring from a spiritual father (Eli), Samuel eventually learned to discerne God’s voice. It was not like God gave Samuel a little “starter” word for young apprentices. God entrusted this young yet consecrated boy with a word that shook Israel; a word of final judgement against Eli and his house for his failure as a father in disciplining his own two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. Here are some thoughts (not as well organized as I would like) about leadership, authority and words from God that have been provoked by Eli, a spiritual father with a mixed track record.
Through our religious ceremonies and rituals most of us have been introduced to the comforting aspect of God’s voice. However, in addition to it being comforting, “God’s voice” can also be corrective. In it’s corrective tone His voice inevitably provokes tension as it exposes the differences between His agenda and our own; His thoughts and our thoughts.
Accordingly, spiritual father’s words provoke tensions because they contain corrections that cut across our existing agendas and our beliefs (which we, in the formation of our religious sub-cultures, both deify and codify). Its critical to remember that the heart of the Father does not delight in seeing pain as His children process His discipline. He does however delight in the outcome. He rejoices when the discipline has had its perfect result; when the hearts of His beloved children are transformed from glory to glory; when they are transformed from old into new wineskins; exchanging ideas that had been previously embraced (which had been rooted in the temporal) for ones that are eternal. He is always working to impart His never-ending, unchanging and unshakable kingdom value system to His Church. To be sure, in our relationship to God there will be comforting words in abundance but corrective words will be spoken as well which will be integral to the process of us becoming new wineskins.
Note; To deify an idea is to attribute to it a divine status. To codify an idea is to adopt and build it into the set of ideas that we learn to live by (both individually and corporately) To deify and codify ideas that God has never spoken or is no longer speaking is how old and hardened wineskins are formed.
Why was it that words of the Lord were infrequent in Israel during Eli’s time? In that season God was apparently quiet for His own reasons. I wonder though, in the world today, if the problem has as much to do with with God speaking as it does with our listening. Could there be a connection where God’s Word is effecting minimal transformation in Christian’s lives to the fact that leaders (in the habit of Eli) have not taught the sons and daughters to listen for the disciplinary tone of God’s voice? Perhaps God’s words are in fact being spoken but they are just not being received. Perhaps we do not have ears to hear.
I suspect leaders like Eli (and would-be leaders in the church today) have found that the cost of hearing and speaking corrective words are just too high. Maybe Israel’s leaders had been conditioned to speak only softer words, having learned from experience they would loose their jobs when they spoke the harder ones? Is it possible that in our religious subcultures, where we are more familiar with the comforting and agreeable tone of His voice that a similar trade off has occurred? That trade being the priests (or pastor’s) job security for their comforting weekly installments of words from the bible? I have often wondered about the unspoken contracts established between pastors and parishioners in light of 2 Timothy 4:3. Note: The formation of these unspoken contracts is an aspect of codification. The sum of them form the essence of the religious subcultures we live in.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Note: It is my personal experience and observation that when spoken, words of discipline can initially impress our insecure hearts as judgement because we incorrectly think God is mad and disappointed with us, when in fact, His love is strong and consistent, always working in each moment to draw us deeper (individually and corporately) into the realities of His abundant LIfe. Whatever it takes; we must have the bedrock value in our hearts (and in our communities) that God is good. He is so so good. Discipline comes from the most fond and jealous parts of God’s heart. I recall that our children were never so affectionate with my wife and I than after a session of discipline where they had received that spanking that was so painful yet critical for us to deliver.
The challenge. His Word may feel anything but comfortable as it is shaking the foundations we have built from comfortable yet incomplete notions about God which have excluded fathery discipline. True spiritual fathers do not withhold words of correction. Authentic fathers are secure enough to withstand the pushback and fallout of sharing a full gospel that includes words which are not accomodating to our flesh (including religious flesh). Because of the cycles of correction, brokenness and restoration the Lord has initiated in their own lives, true spiritual fathers can speak with genuine authority regarding the love of God. Because they have endured in these seasons with God they have tasted of his love and the goodness. In the process they have received a piece of their kingdom inheritance early; their identities in Christ, a foundation that is not dependent on the approval of man. The absence of this foundation is the source of a thousand woes. It is Christ in us, who is the hope of glory.
Learning by faith, that behind the scene of our messy lives, in our triumphs, our failure and even in our sin, the Holy Spirit (the breath and essence of God’s Life, who lives in us) has things on track for those who press on. We learn as we go that there are new fresh words for different phases of our journey and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Thank You Father for Your voice that it is being heard in Your written Word and in Your Spirit. May it be said of us, that we lived in a time when you were raising up spiritual fathers and Your voice was being heard more frequently throughout the earth. May we learn to recognize it when You speak. May we become consecrated to you; predisposed to obey when you do. May it be said of us that we had ears to hear and that we learned to worship You both in Spirit and in Truth. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Jul 25, 2013 | 30. Awakening
2 Kings 6:8-23
One of the challenges for me in reading my bible and professing my belief in its divine inspiration and authority has been, quite frankly, the supernatural. It’s a challenge because the world of the bible seems filled with it and the world I live in doesn’t. Why is this?
I know many earnest saints believe the supernatural, miracles and the gifts of the Spirit are not functioning in this current dispensation. There is no inner tension for them when they encounter the supernatural in scripture and not in life because miracles were for then, not for now. For them, all is as it was intended. The world is functioning consistent with their expectation.
However, for many, myself included, I am inclined to believe that God is still willing and able to do miracles. I have decided the tension I feel when reading about miracles is the normal state of affairs for one being awakened. The key is how I relate to the tension.
If you track MwM, you have recently heard me say, “the Truth is in the tension”. Nothing could be more natural in our minds (that are hopefully being transformed) than tension between the temporal and the eternal. As we are endeavoring by faith to live in an invisible eternal kingdom, a collision with the visible and the temporary is inevitable.
The phrase that stands out to me most in this passage is, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them“. This was spoken by Elisha, a man who was practiced in seeing the bigger picture. While his attendant was seeing an overwhelming force and anticipating the worse, Elisha saw an even more overwhelming force and was at peace. Was this an isolated event recorded to highlight, for our benefit, a long lost dispensation? Or, was it recorded to give us a picture of an even more solid reality that is just beyond the reach of our natural view which we are to acknowledge and relate to by faith?
One last question before we pray. We know Elisha asked for and received a double portion of Elijah’s anointing. As we consider, that Christ lives in us as the Holy Spirit, what multiple of Elijah’s anointing do you think we have? My prayer this morning is the same as Elisha’s;
Father, I pray that You would “open our eyes that we may see” and that we might assess the battle with new eyes; that we would discover a new fearlessness and boldness growing within our hearts as we discover You, the Lord over all, dwelling within us. Help us also to repent of our dependencies on logic and reason as our primary weapon against the threats that gather around us. Help us to see the victory You have won and the overwhelming army you have assembled that surround us even our most threatening circumstances. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Jul 23, 2013 | 30. Awakening
Exodus 3:1-15
In Genesis, we see man evicted from the Garden and the ruling rights to the earth turned over to a fallen angel. Even so, we know God will one day reclaim it as His own. In this passage from Exodus we see God’s first move in the repossession of His property. He begins by honoring a two-part promise made to Jacob. The first part – that Israel would be great in number had happened; at least enough that they were deemed a national security threat to Egypt. The second part was that they would be a blessing to the whole earth. This promise had to be inconceivable to an enslaved and oppressed people. How audacious is God to begin this grand reclamation scheme with a single individual who took the time to investigate a supernatural sight – a burning bush.
That Moses was attracted to this miracle seemed to please God, “When the Lord saw that he turned aside to look (at the phenomena), God called to Him….“. From that point on Moses was an instrument of supernatural expression designed to confront the power (Egypt) that held Israel in slavery.
Even though Canaan is a small sliver of real estate God says it is a choice one, “good and spacious, a land flowing with milk and honey” that just happened to be occupied by others who thought it was theirs (Canaanites, Hittites, etc). As I try and take the broad-view of scripture, it seems God was demonstrating something to us with Moses, the Exodus and Israel in their conquest of Canaan.
How will God ultimately reestablish dominion over the earth? Will he use angels? Will He use saints with new and glorified bodies received after a rapture? Whatever the plan, It is going to take a lot of power because there are forces, supernaturally powerful ones (Col 1:16) who have claimed it as theirs. I have begun to wonder if God might be so audacious as to use His Bride, the church (even a pre-rapture one) to accomplish this task that was originally given to the first man and woman (Genesis 1:28).
Theologically speaking, some of you may be sensing “a disturbance in the force” right now. Most of us have been taught that the gospel will be preached to the whole earth and then “the end” will come, which (in Left Behind theology) is preceded by a rapture. Maybe. “When” these things play out is not etched in stone for me. I have decided to go with Jesus’ teaching that we are not going to know the timing of those things and to just expect God, who, I am assuming, is just as audacious as ever, to continue to do miracles through human beings and move forward with the increase in Kingdom government until it displaces every last trace of His enemy’s influence in the earth and it is completely reclaimed for His glory.
I have a growing picture in my mind of Christ revealing Himself to the world once more, not just in the clouds coming from the east, but in and through His people, the Church. What we think about ourselves, knowing ourselves (as we think we do) it seems inconceivable to us that the Church could pull this off (being bogged down, as we are, in committee). It also seemed impossible to Moses, to Pharaoh and to the nation of Israel that God would liberate an entire nation from captivity. But, He did.
“Now to the King eternal who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light….to Him be honor, glory and eternal dominion forever and ever” (1 Tim 1:16, 6:16)
Father, forgive us for, in any way, short-selling You or ourselves. Let our heart’s ambition and our prayers be committed to that day when “you bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages had been hidden in You, who created all things; in order that Your manifold wisdom might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.” We know that “this was in accordance with the eternal purpose which You carried out in Your Son.” Awaken us to see any burning bushes in our proximity; reawaken us to the supernatural and let us serve in taking dominion over the arenas of influence You have entrusted to us. Amen.
by RobertCummins | Jul 22, 2013 | 30. Awakening
Genesis 28:10-22
At a camp sight on the road to Haran, God reveals Himself by way of a dream and makes some major promises to Jacob. In his dream there was a corridor of angelic movement between heaven and earth. Above that was God Himself promising to give him and his descendants the land where he slept. God further promised that these descendants will be many and that the earth would be blessed through them. In conclusion of this dream God promises to be with Jacob wherever he goes and fulfill all the promises.
Jacob’s foundations were shaken. He had awakened from his dream with more than just promises. He was now alert and responsible to a world radically different than the one he had previously known. What he had counted on to be true was in fact grossly incomplete. In his fresh discovery Jacob proclaims, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.” Are there any parallels between this experience and our own? I think so. Let’s go to the NT and explore.
“We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!” (1 Corinthians 13:12 MSG)
“….the god of this world (satan) has blinded the minds of the unbelieving that they may not see….” (2 Corinthians 4:4 NAS)
According to Paul we, who are destined to see as we have been seen, are suspended in a moment of time with impaired vision. The impairer is God’s enemy and ours, the devil. He has been given some authority by God in this moment (we call “time”) in his final unwitting service to the one true God. So, in light of this, how are sight-challenged saints to navigate? Can our vision be improved?
Since satan is a liar and the father of all lies; since lies are essentially deceptive ideas, it follows that sight and vision are metaphors for spiritual understanding. And, when it comes to ideas, we have choices. As saints, we have the freedom to choose to think the thoughts we want. It is especially important to know we can and must choose to reject certain thoughts. Paul believed we have some vision-improvement opportunities. He would probably go so far as to say “responsibilities”.
“We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…” (2 Cor 10:5)
“And do not be conformed to this world (and it’s ideas) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good acceptable and perfect.“ (Rom 12:2)
So, one thing we have in common with Jacob, is “dreams”. While Jacob’s dream occurred while he was sleeping, our dream (which in many cases is a nightmare) is occurring as we are walking around in a kind of half-sleep in a world satan has intentionally saturated with ideas designed to prevent us from understanding who God is and what He is really like and to prevent us from understanding who we are and what God has called us to be (which, when grasped) will radically alter what we do). Being precedes doing.
The other thing we have in common with Jacob is “promises”. We tend to think of Jacob as the great patriarch whose promises are unique and superior to our own. This may be one of the enemy’s greatest whoppers. We need to check out the NT, and review our promises. Jacob might be jealous. We have been promised eternal and abundant life; we have been made co-heirs of Christ and sons of God; we have been given access to the holy of holies; He calls us friends; He has given us His Spirit. It is tragic but the greatest lies designed to stifle kingdom growth may be the ones satan has sold us within christendom that limit our understanding of our true identity as saints and our high callings.
Here is a question that I hope might serve as an eye-opener. Do you see your essential identity as that of a “sinner”? or a “saint”? Try and stop what you are doing long enough to review the thoughts you have about yourself and determine if they are most representative of 1) a bond-slave who is serving as best you can, hindered as it were by your fallen nature or; 2) a child who is a coheir and partner in an eternal kingdom who is living out of your new nature? A question for your consideration: If the enemy has sown seed that would stunt the spirit’s formation as a bond-slave who is ultimately approved on the merits of their service what damage has the kingdom suffered as a result?
“By the time He is finished in our lives, we will be lovers who work rather than workers who love.” Bob Sorge, Secrets of the Secret Place
Father, shake us if necessary; awaken us from our dream-like delusions that what we see with our eyes and appraise with our natural minds represent ultimate reality. Grant that we may see, by way of faith, into the unseen world, where Your promises originate. May heaven’s truths penetrate our present darkness and fill the earth and Your Bride with the knowledge of God. Burn off the fog and awaken us to see with Jacob that “surely You are in this awesome place and that we ourselves are the dwelling places of God (those in whom Your Spirit resides) and that we are the portals of heaven and the corridors of Life. Amen.
