Greetings in the Matchless Name of Jesus, the Lord of the Harvest!
Tonight was a night of revelation to my spirit. As we began to sing, the Spirit of God ushered in such a sense of worship that I didn't "feel" right about singing the "fast songs" I had put together. While in prayer, earlier in the afternoon, the Lord had spoken to my spirit about the "secret place" as seen in Matthew 6. He showed me that when I pray I am to enter into my "place"...
Matthew 6:6
"But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly."
I noticed that the place I am to go into is the place where He is waiting for me. My "room" is His secret place. It's the place of complete abandonment, complete humility, complete dependence upon someone other than myself, and a place of promise unlike anything else. After all, where else is there any more complete promise as "and your Father Who sees in secret (or, sees you in the same room with Him) shall reward you openly)".
So, as we began singing, I felt the Lord usher me into His room and we shut the door behind us. What a holy time. I don't know what anyone else was sensing or feeling; after all, I wasn't in the same room as they were.
I mentioned, though, that this was a night of revelation to my spirit. Here's what I'm referring to. I knew I was to share some things the Lord had just shown me regarding the secret place. As I was teaching, though, I found myself learning some more about the secret place. The Lord had me liken us going to the secret place, the place of promise, to a seed being planted in the ground; its "secret place".
John 12:24 (New Living Translation)
"The truth is, a kernel of wheat must be planted in the soil. Unless it dies it will be alone-a single seed. But its death will produce many new kernels-a plentiful harvest of new lives."
Think about a seed. Regardless of how glorious, beautiful, talented, wealthy, etc. a seed is, it was created not for show and tell, but to be planted. It must be planted, buried to the point of being completely out of the lime light, and then trust its care to the ground and the elements it can no longer see. If the seed stays on display, or decides it has a better use than what it was created for, there can be no harvest. The seed, in its proper "secret place" draws no attention to itself, makes no noise, and boasts of nothing other than its strength is in its Creator; the One Who created it on purpose, for a purpose and Who sees it in its secret place.
There are very few who have taken Jesus' Lordship to this point: "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it." Matthew 10:37-39. But isn't this what Jesus teaches about the "secret place"? Think about this: how many "rights" does a "seed" really have? Yet, it is one of the grandest things God has ever created! The ability to reproduce after its own kind!
Reproduction in the Kingdom of God isn't the result of arrogance, pride, strutting our stuff, putting together all the right programs, dotting our "I's" and crossing our "T's" any more than having babies is the result of putting all the materials that make up a human into a bottle, shaking it a few times, and then placing it in the oven for a couple of hours. The Kingdom of God is completely dependent upon the King of the Kingdom and each part in the Kingdom must be COMPLETELY subject to His Lordship. No seed has the right to dictate what it is or where it is to be planted. It must be completely submitted to its Creator.
You and I, in the Kingdom of God, are God's "seeds". We are and were created "in Christ Jesus unto good works". And good works we will see accomplished as we allow ourselves to get comfortable in the "secret place". Even when the fruit starts to show "above ground", keep yourself in the secret place. Don't allow the will of God to be aborted in your life because you've got to let everyone know that the "fruit" is connected to YOU!
One more verse. Genesis 8:22a: "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest...shall not cease.'' Catch what the Spirit of God is saying...as long as there are seeds, planted where they were designed by God to be planted, there will be a harvest. And, as long as there are people who meet with their God in their "secret place", that place of completely trusting and yielding to the Lordship of the King of the Kingdom, there will be a harvest; "OPEN REWARDS".
Pastor Jan
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Faith In The Working Of God
Greetings and a blessed Easter to each of you.
Colossians 2:12-15
12. buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14. having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Take a good look at verse 12, "...through faith in the working of God...". This phrase has been in front of my "eyes" the last couple of days. The working of God, or, the way God works and the power He releases. But it's more than that, I believe. God showed His WAYS to Moses and His ACTS to the children of Israel (Psalm 103:7). Moses got the close up view while the children only saw the results of God's move. The Lord wants us to go beyond the "children" stage into the kind of maturity where He can show us and trust us concerning His workings. You know, if Moses would have been like the people he was leading, he wouldn't have used the Rod of God on a rock! HE would have struck the earth under Korah's feet and then told God that they died! But there's something about the way the working of God is; something we're to have faith in (and, to a small degree, we do. That's how we get born again.).
Paul talks about the Resurrection of Jesus AND our resurrection WITH Him as an example of the working of God (see Ephesians 1:19). Understand, however, that the resurrection was the end result of the working of God. I'll show you what I mean, as I see the principle of God's working throughout scripture.
1. The working of God can be seen in the first chapter of Genesis. What is "without form and void (empty)" becomes fully alive, intricately detailed and beyond comprehension. God takes that which is completely empty and makes it full of His glory! Same way with Naaman, the leper (2 Kings 5) and the blind man that Jesus healed by spitting on the dirt and rubbing the mud on the man's empty sockets. That which was without form and void is a prime candidate for the working of God. In this we MUST have faith.
2. The barren become fruitful - always abounding with the touch of the Almighty. Just ask Hannah (1 Samuel 1 and 2). What about the widow of Nain who had lost her only son...or the woman that blessed Elisha and God gave her a son? Abraham and Sarah? The working of God is seen best when there's the least for Him to work with!
3. Beauty replaces ashes, dirt, decay, ugliness and ruin when God's works are on the scene. Isaiah 61 states, along with Luke 4:18, that Jesus was anointed to bring deliverance to the captives, make the blind eyes see, etc. Jesus, while ministering to the woman at the well, brought her from a place of ruin, decay, ugliness to a place where she radiated the beauty of the Lord. The woman who anointed Jesus' feet with her tears received the same thing as a result of the working of God. Are you seeing that the working of God is evident when people are at their greatest NEED, rather than dressed up in their SUNDAY BEST?!?
4. When there is faith in the working of God, there will not be the fear to stand before the Lord THE WAY WE REALLY ARE. Weakness becomes strong, while strongholds become demolished by the hand of God. See 1 Corinthians 1:26-30 and 2 Corinthians 10:3,4
5. The Working of God is, really, best illustrated by the Resurrection. Resurrection doesn't come until AFTER death FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING. Jesus followed the plan of God completely. Hebrews 5 - Philippians 2 - He became obedient unto death...Resurrection to fullness of life doesn't come just because someone dies, but it's the way they die. Jesus says - take up YOUR cross daily and follow Him.
Resurrection also follows, not just a death, but a burial and sealed tomb. I think that's why we must confess with our mouth AND believe God raised Him from the dead. We declare our faith in the working of God. We confess our complete emptiness and ugliness - ruin and decay - without Jesus. We see ourselves in such need and realize that, without the power of God, we are dead and buried in a sealed tomb. HOPELESS!
But friends, remember; that's when God works the best! Regardless of the situation, He works best when He's allowed to work the most.
This EASTER, I believe it would be good for us all to have faith in the working of God. Not just for the season, but for our life. This will be a key in seeing the End-Time move of God. This is a principle that He lives by and is calling us to embrace.
Amen, so be it!
Pastor Jan
Central Iowa Revival News @ http://valleyag.blogspot.com
Colossians 2:12-15
12. buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13. And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14. having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15. Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.
Take a good look at verse 12, "...through faith in the working of God...". This phrase has been in front of my "eyes" the last couple of days. The working of God, or, the way God works and the power He releases. But it's more than that, I believe. God showed His WAYS to Moses and His ACTS to the children of Israel (Psalm 103:7). Moses got the close up view while the children only saw the results of God's move. The Lord wants us to go beyond the "children" stage into the kind of maturity where He can show us and trust us concerning His workings. You know, if Moses would have been like the people he was leading, he wouldn't have used the Rod of God on a rock! HE would have struck the earth under Korah's feet and then told God that they died! But there's something about the way the working of God is; something we're to have faith in (and, to a small degree, we do. That's how we get born again.).
Paul talks about the Resurrection of Jesus AND our resurrection WITH Him as an example of the working of God (see Ephesians 1:19). Understand, however, that the resurrection was the end result of the working of God. I'll show you what I mean, as I see the principle of God's working throughout scripture.
1. The working of God can be seen in the first chapter of Genesis. What is "without form and void (empty)" becomes fully alive, intricately detailed and beyond comprehension. God takes that which is completely empty and makes it full of His glory! Same way with Naaman, the leper (2 Kings 5) and the blind man that Jesus healed by spitting on the dirt and rubbing the mud on the man's empty sockets. That which was without form and void is a prime candidate for the working of God. In this we MUST have faith.
2. The barren become fruitful - always abounding with the touch of the Almighty. Just ask Hannah (1 Samuel 1 and 2). What about the widow of Nain who had lost her only son...or the woman that blessed Elisha and God gave her a son? Abraham and Sarah? The working of God is seen best when there's the least for Him to work with!
3. Beauty replaces ashes, dirt, decay, ugliness and ruin when God's works are on the scene. Isaiah 61 states, along with Luke 4:18, that Jesus was anointed to bring deliverance to the captives, make the blind eyes see, etc. Jesus, while ministering to the woman at the well, brought her from a place of ruin, decay, ugliness to a place where she radiated the beauty of the Lord. The woman who anointed Jesus' feet with her tears received the same thing as a result of the working of God. Are you seeing that the working of God is evident when people are at their greatest NEED, rather than dressed up in their SUNDAY BEST?!?
4. When there is faith in the working of God, there will not be the fear to stand before the Lord THE WAY WE REALLY ARE. Weakness becomes strong, while strongholds become demolished by the hand of God. See 1 Corinthians 1:26-30 and 2 Corinthians 10:3,4
5. The Working of God is, really, best illustrated by the Resurrection. Resurrection doesn't come until AFTER death FOR DOING THE RIGHT THING. Jesus followed the plan of God completely. Hebrews 5 - Philippians 2 - He became obedient unto death...Resurrection to fullness of life doesn't come just because someone dies, but it's the way they die. Jesus says - take up YOUR cross daily and follow Him.
Resurrection also follows, not just a death, but a burial and sealed tomb. I think that's why we must confess with our mouth AND believe God raised Him from the dead. We declare our faith in the working of God. We confess our complete emptiness and ugliness - ruin and decay - without Jesus. We see ourselves in such need and realize that, without the power of God, we are dead and buried in a sealed tomb. HOPELESS!
But friends, remember; that's when God works the best! Regardless of the situation, He works best when He's allowed to work the most.
This EASTER, I believe it would be good for us all to have faith in the working of God. Not just for the season, but for our life. This will be a key in seeing the End-Time move of God. This is a principle that He lives by and is calling us to embrace.
Amen, so be it!
Pastor Jan
Central Iowa Revival News @ http://valleyag.blogspot.com
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