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Israel-Messiancs-law #3

11/29/2014

Hi all,
I have a confession to make. It isn't a pretty story and rather embarrassing but I'd like to share it.

Coming off a 1 day fast I was hungry for hot dogs - I eat Hebrew National (Kosher) all beef hot dogs, and while we rarely eat potato chips, there was something about those cheddar chips that had been sitting in the pantry weeks too long for their own good.

I cooked the whole package of 6 (bun length) hot dogs in a skillet, rolling them around as they browned for that grilled flavor, thinking I'd eat 3...I thought I was really stretching it to eat 3 at one sitting. Should I do a Chicago dog, with small peppers, relish, and mustard? The last of the sauerkraut had been used months ago the last time I'd eaten hot dogs so I couldn't do a Kraut dog. Maybe the All American with relish, onions, mustard or ketchup? Hmmmm....so many possibilities, so little room in my stomach!

I settled on relish and mustard and a few sprinkles of hot sauce...and 3 of them, I thought that should do me. But you know they looked so good and if I put 4 on a plate I could make a square of them end to end and put a portion of chips in the middle, so that's what I did...and they were delicious! When finished I didn't feel like I'd eaten anything. The remaining 2 were still in the skillet, still warm, calling to me...

They can be dessert I said to myself...and just like that the final 2 were gone. Good dessert I thought...now I was full, not stuffed, just comfortably full...it had been so long since I'd had hot dogs...

But you know, I love dark chocolate covered cherries, and on a whim I had bought a package for myself when Chris and I were at the store last week...So I thought, just 1 or 2 of those dark chocolate covered cherries wouldn't hurt to top off the meal....and somehow before I knew it 6 of them had disappeared along with a glass of ice cold milk!

They say your stomach is actually full 10 minutes before the signal reaches the brain to tell you that you are full. Usually when eating I mentally project ahead 10 minutes and stop there, but it had been SO long since I'd had hot dogs and chocolate covered cherries, and dark chocolate ones are so hard to find!

About 10 minutes later I felt like a bloated pig and was asking myself how in the world I could eat 6 hot dogs and as many chocolate covered cherries, especially after a fast. It had been a slippery slope with each step greased by my own rationalizations and flawed logic that explained this or that away to justify pigging out.

Looking for balance

And so it was I sat across the table from a man who had been deeply involved in a Messianic congregation, and was now horribly afraid for his salvation, and confused. Like me eating way too much while intending just to eat a moderate meal, he had experienced a spiritual slippery slope when he started simply learning about the Biblical festivals, but ended up afraid if he broke any of the Laws of Moses he would be doomed to hell.

He was asking what a balanced walk that included elements of Jewish roots looked like to a born again Gentile?

Why the law?

Up until Moses, the nations had their own laws they had observed, but at no time had God given mankind His own law. Mankind was ignorant of what God expected, which is noted twice in Acts: "God...who in times past allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless He didn't leave Himself without a witness in that He did good and gave us rain from heaven, and good harvests, filling our hearts with food and gladness." and "...we ought not to think that the Godhead is like gold, silver or stone, created by art and man's workmanship. And the times of this ignorance God overlooked..." (14:15-17, 17:29-30)

But when He gave His Word to Moses, mankind received a revelation: They were sinners. The law was given for that very reason: "...that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by doing the law no person can be justified, for the law brought the knowledge of sin." Romans 3:19-20

This is why Paul said, "The law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for unholy and profane..." and "...if there could have been a law given that would have given Life, then truly righteousness would have come by the law." Galatians 3:21, I Timothy 1:9

The law was a teacher, to teach us we (were) sinners

"Before faith came we were kept under the law, hemmed in until faith came which would be revealed in its proper time. Therefore the law was our schoolmaster, our tutor, to bring us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. So after faith has come, we are no longer under the schoolmaster. For you are all now the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." "Galatians 3:22-26

The Father's goal was to adopt us, to make us His own children. He didn't merely want to tell mankind we were sinners, He wanted to solve that sin problem so He could make us His children:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ...who has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world...to be adopted by Him through Jesus Christ to Himself, which was according to the good pleasure of His will..." Ephesians 1:3-5

Jesus willingly became the adoption agency through His sacrifice on the cross, that blood being the currency used to buy our adoption into the Father's family. That adoption also included something no earth adoption could: Our 'spiritual DNA' was changed - our spirit was born again, having changed from the family of death to the faminly of God. We are both adopted and born into the Father's family!

"Giving thanks to the Father...who has translated us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear Son." Colossians 1:12-13

The slippery slope to 6 hot dogs: Why the law for Gentile 'Messianics'?

When the apostles determined in Acts 15 and 10 years later reaffirmed it in Acts 21:25, "...there are many thousands of believing Jews zealous for the law, but Gentiles need not observe any such thing", they confirmed that observing the Mosaic law is purely voluntary.

"Christ has utterly wiped out the damning evidence of broken laws and commandments which always hung over our heads, and has completely annulled it by nailing it to the cross. In view of these tremendous facts, don't let anyone worry you by criticizing what you eat or drink, or what holy days you ought to observe, or bothering you over new moons or Sabbaths." Paul continues:"All these things have at most only a symbolic value: The solid fact is Christ...I know that these regulations look wise with their self-inspired efforts at worship, their policy of self-humbling, and their studied neglect of the body. But in actual practice they do honor not to God, but to man’s own pride." Colossians 2:14-23 (J. B. Phillip's Translation)

Note he said they look wise - and no one can fault a brother or sister who wants to learn more of the law - but Paul said the end result is they honor man's pride and not God, because God has provided Jesus.

If I observe the law I do so by choice, not religious compulsion. I eat Kosher hot dogs by choice, not religion. When I fast I do so that I may become more sensitive to the Father, not to get something from Him or thinking I must punish myself to show Him how sincere I am. I'm His kid!

If I wish to observe Friday (night) Shabbat, Passover, Yom Kippur, or not eat shellfish or pork, I do so by my choice and wouldn't dream of imposing my choice on others nor claim it is a higher and better way. It is a choice. There is wisdom in the law, don't get me wrong. There is higher wisdom in the fullness of Christ.

Can anything we do approach equality with the fact Christ lives in us? That is Paul's point - there is nothing the Mosaic Law nor man can do to even approach what Christ did, so the key is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings...to be more like Him....

More next week, blessings!

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

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Israel-Messianics-law #2

11/22/2014

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Hi all,

Moving day - In Exodus 19 the Lord came out of eternity to meet with Moses on Mt. Sinai. One of the instructions was to build a portable tabernacle where He could dwell, which included a gold covered box called the Ark of the Covenant which was topped with gold covered figures of 2 cherubs - those multi-winged angels seen only around the throne* - and He would be between their wings and talk to Moses there*. (Exodus 25:21-22, Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1, Revelation 4).

Some 400 years later David knew Him as the 'Lord of hosts who lives between the cherubs'*, and when Solomon built the temple he moved the Ark of the Covenant into the temple, and the Lord also came to dwell right between the cherubs* as He had been since Moses. (II Samuel 6:2, II Chronicles 5:7-14)

Even in the time of Jesus, if you wanted to be near the God of Israel (aside from Him of course) you had to go to the temple in Jerusalem, though no one was allowed to approach the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies but for the High Priest once a year* - it had been that way for centuries. (Hebrews 9:7)

People have become the temples of God
But on the day of Pentecost something amazing happened - the God of Israel who had met Moses on the mountain, the one David knew as the One who lived between the cherubs, the God whose presence was so strong when He moved into Solomon's temple that the priests could not even stand up - now moved from between the cherubs in the temple into people*. (I Corinthians 3:16, 6:19, Colossians 1:26)

People now became living temples of God. What an amazingly confusing time those first couple of years after Pentecost for the disciples in Acts 2 through Acts 7. They had grown up learning all the stories about the God of the Old Testament, and now He lived in them. Try to wrap your mind around that!

Buildings now irrelevant and they became a counter-culture movement
When people became individual temples it made the temple building irrelevant to them, yet it was still the dominating force in Jewish culture. What a treasure they held in their hearts as they watched pious Jews do their best to obey all 613 Laws of Moses plus all the additional laws of the Pharisees, while they were in the process of adjusting their thinking to the reality that each disciple of Jesus was God's temple.

Instead of bringing tithes and offerings to a temple building, Acts 2 through 6 records they continued to give, but they gave to the living temples they were in relationship with. Instead of letting the temple priesthood take responsibility for caring for the poor and needy, they realized each disciple of Jesus is a priest and therefore responsible to care for the poor and those in need.

Perhaps the biggest counter-culture reality was they no longer needed the priests in the temple building. Instead they realized they are all priests, just with different functions within the body of Christ. The Temple priesthood was losing the people they had controlled to their own enrichment for generations, and they persecuted this new Way as a result. The apostles and leaders received enough of the offerings for their living as they were included in the giving, but each person could now also give to one another as needed, and this was taking money away from the Temple priesthood.

After Steven was killed in Acts 7, Acts 8:1 says the persecution was SO severe that EVERY disciple left Jerusalem except the apostles, moving outside the city to the country sides of Judea and Samaria. Everywhere they went they shared with other Jewish people that Christ could live in them, making them living temples of God, and the people responded. The 'revival' in Samaria with Philip in Acts 8 is a direct result.

Gentiles believe
But Acts 11:19-30 tells us when everyone left Jerusalem in Acts 8:1, some went beyond Judea and Samaria all the way to Phoenicia which consisted of coastal cities in modern Lebanon and Syria, Cyprus which is an island in the Mediterranean, and Antioch which is in modern Turkey. There they told Greeks about Jesus Christ, and how they could become living temples of Almighty God - no longer having to go to pagan temples to make sacrifices to the gods, they could now become living temples of God Almighty! What amazing news!

These Greek believers became counter-culture to their Greek culture, just as the Jews who had told them about Jesus had become counter to their culture. But the addition of Gentile people to the Lord caused a problem to the Jewish body of Christ. Could a Greek be born again by believing in the Jewish Messiah? And if so, did they have to adhere to any part of the laws of Moses? Jewish men were circumcised to show their covenant with God, Greek men, not being part of the covenant by birth, were not. Now that they believed, did they need to be circumcised? Wasn't it the act of circumcision that set apart Jews from Greeks, covenant people from non-covenant people? Or was it the circumcision of the heart, the new birth that set them apart?

Enter Paul
The Lord appeared to Paul, then Saul of Tarsus, and told him "I have appeared to you for this purpose...delivering you from the people and from the Gentiles, unto whom I now send you, to open their eyes and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the authority of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith that is in me." Acts 26:16-18

Paul was accused of heresy because he didn't require Gentiles who believed in the Lord to be circumcised nor obey the law of Moses, and the whole question was brought before the leaders in Acts 15.

Peter defended Paul, recounting his experience in Cornelius' house, a Roman, during which the moment Peter taught how Jesus was raised from the dead the Holy Spirit came on them all and they began speaking in unknown languages. (Acts 10:44) Peter said:"God made the choice to make me first to preach to Gentiles who then believed. And God who knows the hearts, bore them witness and gave them the Holy Spirit even as He did to us, making no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore why are you tempting God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples (the law of Moses) which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they." Acts 15: 7-11

The determination was that Gentile believers would not have to obey Moses, but they asked they be sensitive to the Jewish population around them so as not to offend them, and to be morally pure.

Even some 10 years later when Paul returns to Jerusalem, the apostles make note of the freedom of the Gentiles while also noting most Jewish believers remain Jewish: "You see brother, how many thousands of Jews there are who believe; and they are all zealous for the law...As touching Gentiles who believe, we have written and concluded they observe no such thing, only to keep themselves from offerings to idols, and from blood and things strangled (dietary sensitivity to the Jewish population in their midst) and from sexual sin." Acts 21: 20, 25

So we see a growing gap by this time, around the year 60 AD, in which thousands of Jewish believers in Jesus were zealous to obey the law, while Gentile believers were free to not follow it - or to follow it if they wanted. And that leaves us with today's issues - what is the role of the law in a believer's life, the Messianic movement in the church, and what role the nation of Israel? That is where I pick it up next week, blessings,

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

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Israel-Messiancs-law #1

11/15/2014

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Hi all,
When Barb and I were first married an old T-shirt came with me into the marriage. I had bought it while in college, it was reversible and double layered so it could be worn on colder days, and I loved it. It had HPER emblazoned across the front on both sides: Health, Physical Education, Recreation. HPER

Barb just thought I was announcing to the world I was hyper.

She hated that shirt because it was ugly and worn out and she made me promise never to wear it in public. It became my 'go to' shirt I would put on to wear around the house, but one day I noticed she began casting sideways glances at it like a lioness might look at a wounded gazelle, waiting for the right time to pounce.

She would say things like, 'You know, one day you may come home to find that shirt missing', testing the waters. I told her not to even joke about it. But Barb loves order with everything in its place, and to her that shirt ruined her sense of all that was right and orderly in her world, which somehow included my dresser drawer. At that early stage of marriage she was still under the mistaken impression many young brides make; 'I'll change him', and 'I'll dress him' - she saw the fact that I would actually like that shirt as a character flaw in me she had to correct.

One day it happened

To Barb, the shirt had to go to restore order to her universe. To me, if that shirt were to disappear, there would be a Big Bang in her universe.

I came home from work one day, went to my drawer for my shirt, and couldn't find it. At first she shrugged her shoulders, hoping I'd give up the hunt and wear something else. But she had that guilty lioness look in her eye, like she'd killed a gazelle and hidden it from everyone else. Once she admitted she had thrown it out I blew up. We had made a rule when we were dating that once we got married we'd never allow the "D" word (divorce) to enter our thoughts nor conversation, but I came close to breaking that promise that day.

I behaved very badly, ranting and yelling at decibels approaching that of a jet taking off, like she had just ripped a rib out of my side, and emotionally it was like that. I didn't even get to say goodbye to it as the trash truck carried it away. She said it was so ugly the poor would not have wanted it, which was a huge statement since we WERE the poor! Then she admitted if she gave it to the poor she was afraid I'd track it down and rescue it, and she knew the trash truck was final.

She apologized and I made her promise never, ever, ever, ever again throw out my clothes without my agreement. She agreed and I also apologized for blowing up like Vesuvius, and proof she has stuck to her promise is over 36 years of marriage and 2 ugly, hole plagued T-shirts in my drawer.

My HPER shirt was comfortable, fit perfectly, was great in all seasons, and close to my heart. So also are cherished traditions and beliefs of many Christians, and to even talk about them makes those who hold them dear think I am threatening to throw them away. Specifically, I want to talk about the Messianic movement within Christianity, the role of modern Israel versus spiritual Israel, and the place of the Old Testament law in our New Testament times.

So don't let the discussion of these be the equivalent of a beloved shirt being tossed; Allow me to examine scripture, culture, history, and logic.

A counter-culture is the opposite of the culture in which they live

The New Testament church was a counter-culture movement. A counter-culture rejects or opposes the predominant values and culture around it. An example is the culture of Israel in gospel times was to let the widows with no family beg on the streets for food. The church was counter to that, providing food and shelter as seen in Acts 2-6.

The culture of the time was to have each person and family care for their own, with small offerings made to the temple at certain times. The counterculture church was opposite that, with individuals networking, sharing resources, skills, and money as needs arose, bound together in strong relationships.

A subculture is a group within a culture that sets itself off from the rest, noted by distinct behaviors, language, and often styles. Today, church culture is largely a subculture with smaller subcultures within it.

Subcultures are irrelevant to the society and culture around them

Counter cultures affect society and culture and are outward looking. Subcultures are largely irrelevant to society because they are inward looking. Subcultures are seen by culture as weird, strange, foolish, and aren't taken seriously.

Subcultures have their own language, understood only by those within the subculture. In the 1950's the beatniks were a subculture and provide good examples of their language: Noodle it out, meaning think it through. Off the cob, meant corny or old fashioned. Lead sled, was a classic car, often dad's old car. If you were outside that culture however, you didn't understand them and thought they were weird.

Are you part of a subculture, or are you part of a counter culture in your faith?

Do you speak Christian-ese, or can others outside your subculture understand you perfectly?

Do you know these phrases unique to various subcultures (streams) in the faith: Open heaven, open a portal, plead the blood, glory bumps, clap/praise offering to the Lord, stand on the Word, I don't feel led, ask Jesus into your heart, armor bearer, covet your prayers, travel mercies, put out a fleece. If you used any of these to someone not raised around church and not born again, would you have to explain what you meant in normal terms? (Then why speak Christianese?)

Are you part of a subculture that doesn't get depressed, it gets a 'spirit of heaviness'?

Are you part of a subculture that doesn't get stressed, but just needs to 'let go and let God'?

Are you part of a subculture that never gets rude, but just 'speaks the truth in love'?

Are you part of a subculture that never makes decisions on their own, but is only 'led of the Lord'?

Are you part of a subculture that never says I'm sorry, but just says 'I'm not perfect, just forgiven.'?

Is your first language English and you were born non-Jewish, but you have become part of a subculture that calls Jesus, Yeshua? Are you part of a subculture that picks and chooses what scriptures it believes, explaining away selected verses or passages of Paul and John especially?

The culture of the kingdom is a counterculture to society -

Do you think you've been in the counterculture of the kingdom only to discover you've somehow become part of a subculture, no matter the stream of the faith? Countercultures want to change their world by living lives before others, within the larger culture thus relevant, while pointing the way to a higher way of thinking and a higher way of life, as they did in Acts. This series will help if you've discovered you've been part of a subculture while your heart cries out to be part of the kingdom counterculture.

More next week about the cultures of the Messianic, Israel, and Gentile disciples within Christianity. Blessings,

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

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Focus & Jesus #4

11/7/2014

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Hi all,
As most who read my Weekly Thoughts know, our oldest son, Chris, is handicapped. He was delivered by emergency C-section after he had gone into "fetal distress" during labor, and was found to have the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck in a slip knot. The result is that physically he will be 35 on December 23, but mentally he is about 4 years old.

Chris is very outgoing, talkative, and has a very funny sense of humor. But being brain damaged it also means he shares the traits so often found in people with brain damage no matter the cause, including disliking a change in routine, is easily startled by loud noises, and is prone to violent bursts of temper if either of the first two things happens.

Re-direct our attention

As a result, a skill learned early on is that of 're-directing' Chris' attention. If we were planning on going in the car to run errands, and suddenly the plans changed, he could get very angry and yell or even hit something or someone. However, if we could suddenly insert into his line of sight a new toy or something of interest like a train going by, the anger would be turned off like a switch as his attention was re-directed.

The visitation I'm sharing about, and the 3 examples from scripture the Lord used to teach me, is largely about how He redirects our attention from our ulterior motives and distractions, to purity of focus and love.

The last example in the visitation

The first example He used was from John 3, where He purposely went through Samaria, where the Pharisees would not follow, in order to redirect their attention back to John the Baptist's ministry of repentance. His point was they could not go on in Him before they had first accepted the repentance John preached.

The 2nd example I shared that He taught me from was John 6, where many of those who Jesus had miraculously fed and had wanted to take Him by force and make Him king, were exposed for the truth they weren't following Jesus for the miracles proving who He was, but because of what He could do for them. To expose their ulterior motives and make them face their own hearts, He told them a hard to understand parable, that they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood for He was the true Manna from heaven. Many left Him rather than face their own heart.

Today I share His 3rd example in that visitation, which is a redirection of the Rich Young Ruler's conversation with the Lord, as seen in Matthew 19:16-22.

As the visitation happened...

When the rich young ruler came to Jesus he asked: "Good master, what must I do to have eternal life?" Now if this were you or I, we would have just answered the man by telling him to believe in Jesus. We wouldn't have cared about why he wanted to follow Jesus, we would have reported that 'we got someone saved' as proven by the fact they prayed with us.

But Jesus replied, "Why are you calling me good? There is no one good but God." Jesus was asking the man this: By calling Me good, and knowing that no one is good but God, are you therefore calling me God?

That was the big question Jesus asked him directly, but the man side-stepped the question. We read these 7 verses in a few seconds not realizing it was a real conversation, with pauses at the end of sentences and thoughtful consideration given before answering.

When he didn't answer the Lord directly, the Lord tried another way to expose his heart, and in the next 3 verses the young man stated how perfect he was, how righteous he was, in a statement of his performance based faith, not realizing he was being set up by the Lord. Suddenly the conversation turned, and he was forced to look at his own heart: "If you want to be complete, go and sell all you have, give the proceeds to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven, and come follow Me."

If he believed Jesus was God, as he inferred at the start but never answered directly, he no doubt would have done so gladly. as Andrew, Peter, James, John, and Matthew had all done previously. But he didn't, so this was the redirect, taking the conversation back to the man's heart and what he truly loved: Not what his performance based faith demonstrated, but the motives as to why he was wanting God in the first place.

The young man's focus had originally been on himself - What one thing must I do to have eternal life? I've kept all (these) commands from my youth. What do I still lack? It was a 'me' based faith.

Without accusing him directly of loving his money and status more than loving God, and without forcing him to be confronted with Who Jesus is, the Lord put it all back in his lap to force him to make a decision. And once redirected to see the truth of his own heart, he went away sad, not yet willing to give up his wealth.

Suddenly I understood why in times past I was in such desperate need of answered prayer or money or a solution and heaven was totally silent in that area, yet at the exact same time He was forcing me to work on some area of my personality while NOT answering what I thought was a more pressing need. He was trying to redirect my attention to what He was working on my heart about, while I kept wanting to focus on my need for answered prayer, my need for money, or just needing answers.

My turn

When the Lord shared this about the rich young ruler and how He redirected his focus back onto his own heart, I couldn't help but ask Him this: "Lord, there is an ancient tradition that says the Rich Young Ruler was Barnabus, who eventually did sell everything and follow you as seen in Acts 4:36-37, is that true?"

He was silent, just looking at me. And suddenly as I looked into His eyes it was like looking into a mirror, but the reflection I saw was not my physical being, but my motives in asking such a question. The first thing I saw was that I love trivia and history and that I was asking because I was curious. Then a layer was pulled back to the motive behind that motive, and I saw I asked because part of me wanted to know something I couldn't prove by chapter and verse, but could tell people 'the Lord told me'. And one layer beneath that was a hypothetical picture of me sharing that little bit of trivia with a group of people and doing so wasn't for their edification, but to make me look all the better in their eyes. The sin was that I would have shared that for my benefit, while under the guise of sharing to help them. I saw my pride and was abhorred myself.

I said "I'm sorry Lord" and made an adjustment in my heart to check myself in the future before sharing things of Him so that if I shared, it would truly be to help others and not for my own ego. It took just a second to repent and redirect my heart.

And then I realized the 3 examples He had just taught me about how He redirected people's focus to their own hearts and motives, is exactly what He just did to me. I had just become object lesson #4 in that visitation, and I was humbled in a way I had never been before. And all without the slightest hint of condemnation, just fact undergirded with Absolute unconditional love.

I saw Him that day as the Living Word of God who critiques and divides the thoughts and intentions of the heart, and before Whose eyes all things are naked and open. (Hebrews 4:12-13).

And suddenly He smiled and said to me: "It's OK. The teaching is over, let the lesson remain." And with that He changed the subject to talk of some other things, as a friend might lighten the mood of a serious conversation before going, and that's exactly what He did. He turned, and as is His custom, walked away, and half way into his third step, disappeared, no doubt to appear to someone else somewhere in the world, leaving me to think on the depth of what I'd just learned. And I'll leave you there too - new subject next week.

Blessings,
John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

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Focus & Jesus #3

11/1/2014

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Hi all,
When one of our sons was showing his future wife a family photo album, he paused at the picture of a 19 year old girl in a red bikini standing knee deep in the Miami beach surf. "She's hot! Who is she? And why is she in our family photo album? he asked.

Barb, who was looking over their shoulders explaining the pictures as they flipped through the pages, said, "...You don't recognize her son?" Son: "No, who is she?" Barb: "It's your mother son! It's me."

He erupted, "Ohhh...yuck! I feel polluted! (making motions to scratch out his eyes and tongue) I just called my mother hot! Ohhh yuck...." as they all burst out in laughter. And then from an innocence that can only come from a young man with no fear of death, he asked his mother: "What happened!?"

His future wife and Barb gasped and withheld the temptation to do him bodily harm, and Barb quickly retorted: "3 sons! That's what happened son! 3 sons!"

More about that visitation
Inside we feel the same, but our body has changed around our spirit, as our son learned that day. And while the body changes just as a matter of the course of nature, being of the earth, our spirit which has been born of heaven, requires focus and determination to grow in Christ. We are born again as new born babes Peter said, and told us to desire the milk of the Word that we might grow. We determine our growth. (I Peter 2:2)

I ended last week talking about how the Lord said He shares intimate things with us and when we share them with someone, it grieves our spirit and we wonder why. Don't think these are always deep secrets of the heart, for the kingdom works on revelation from the Father, so even a simple thing revealed to the heart when intended to remain in the heart but then shared openly, will grieve the Holy Spirit, and our spirit in turn.

For instance, one time while looking for a job I saw an ad in the paper and instantly I knew I had that job - we had just moved from Colorado to Tulsa, leaving as a pastor there to get on staff at a church in Tulsa, but I needed a job to fill in the gap. I saw the ad and instantly knew I had the job.

Before I interviewed I told someone about it and that I knew I had the job - and my spirit was grieved, that hurt in my spirit my mind immediately noticed. I still got the job but it had been intended by the Lord to be a private assurance that He had given me the job. When I violated His intention my spirit was grieved.

The kingdom revolves around revelation from the Father - starting with the revelation that Jesus is the Christ, and all else flows from that revelation. And consider this - each revelation from the Father matures us in our spirit if we allow it to, growing us as we respond to each by applying it in our lives.

The line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little people often quote from Isaiah 28:9-13 as ways the Lord teaches us, according to Paul is actually about tongues and being moved by revelation from our spirit. Paul quotes that in I Corinthians 14:20-25 about how personal tongues leads to personal revelation but prophecy is for public revelation of the secrets of the heart (Larger context is 14:14-25).

The Lord teaching us "line upon line", "precept upon precept" and "here a little, there a little" is first about personal revelation in our hearts, one revelation building upon the next. When we respond and apply each revelation our thoughts change and our lifestyle changes and more revelation follows. As Jesus said, "Value what you hear, for with the value you place is how it will be measured back to you again, and to him who has, more will be given. And if you neglect what you hear, it will be taken from you. Mark 4:24-25

In that visitation there was more: The Lord told me about the events of John chapter 6
Matthew 14, Mark 6, and John 6 all record Jesus walking on water after feeding a crowd of about 5,000 men plus women and children. Matthew records Peter walking on the water, Mark records the fact Jesus would have walked on by them had they not cried out in fear, and John records when He got into the boat "...the boat was immediately at the land where they were going." (v21) In other words, Jesus, the 12, and the boat were instantly transported roughly half way across the lake of Galilee to the far shore.

Many of the crowd that Jesus had fed saw Him send the disciples away in the boat and saw Him going in the other direction, up a mountain to pray. Verses 22-25 of John 6 record that the next morning the people who later got in boats and crossed the lake, and those who had walked around the lake to get to where the disciples landed their boat, were very surprised to find Jesus there, and asked Him how He got there.

Verse 26 records that rather than answer their question, He made a statement that revealed the motive of their hearts: "Truly you aren't following me for the miracles I did, but because you got your bellies filled." These were the same people of v15, who after they were fed miraculously, wanted to take Him by force and make Him king. Can you imagine what would have happened if He told them He walked across the lake?

Jesus is the same today as He was then, and in the visitation He shared how it is situations like this where He will reveal their true motives to themselves, and then watch what they will do with it.

A modern version of John 6
A person in our church continually overdrew her bank account because she liked to shop, enjoy going out with friends and being able to keep pace with them as they were able to purchase items at will. She would ask me to agree with her in prayer for favor with the bank to drop some or all of the overdraft charges. When I suggested she curtail her shopping and live in a budget, she replied she loved buying things too much.

Some prayers were for favor with the bank. Others were "Lord give me more moeny." She even came up for prayer at Wednesday night services asking God to give her husband overtime to 'bless' their finances. That's correct, she was praying her husband would work more to support her shopping lust.

With each merchant who was forced to refuse to accept anything but cash from her, with each bank charge, with each argument she had with her husband over money, the Lord was revealing her true issue of the lust of other things - but she didn't want to deal with it. Instead of focusing on her lust and pride, she wanted a bigger budget and kept praying for that rather than looking at her heart.

She viewed each bank charge as an attack of the devil against their finances, and viewed the Lord as the adversary whom she had to convince to give her more money. At no time did she change her focus to ask how the Lord might be allowing her to reap what she had sown so she could deal with her lust of things.

Where is your focus?
In John 6 when Jesus revealed the motives of the people by saying they were following Him because of what He could do for them, He began a parable that was more difficult to understand than other parables. He told me because they would not deal with their motives directly He used another way to expose their focus and motive. He told them they had to eat His flesh and drink His blood because He is the true manna.

John 6:66-68 reveals that many who followed Jesus stopped following Him after His statement, their focus and motives exposed, they chose to back away from the difficult, back away from growth. Many did stay with Jesus however, because they were following Jesus with purity and no ulterior motives, not serving Him because of what He could do for them. When Jesus asked if they would leave too Peter replied: "To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and we know and are sure you are the Son of God!"

Peter didn't understand what was going on, but he chose growth in faith, not allowing confusion to move his focus away from Jesus. Remember, the night before these events Peter had walked on water, but had begun sinking when he got his eyes off Jesus and onto the wind and waves. He wasn't going to let anything get his eyes off Jesus this time. But I see I am out of room - more on this visitation next week. Blessings!

John Fenn

www.cwowi.org and email me at cwowi@aol.com

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