Walking With, part I

Quite often, we miss the significance of our participation in both daily and life-altering events. "Line upon line, precept upon precept", we are building into the eternal dwelling place of God. Each prayer from a sincere heart, every scripture caught in your spirit and every breath from the Divine transforms you, the one that has inestimable significance in the eyes of the Creator.

We are on the verge of a spiritual shift on this earth that will effect the universe in the same way tetonic plates' shifting effect a continent. The Spirit of the Living God is orchestrating a move of Heaven, through yielded people, that is going to alter how we see God. And since He has made us His emissaries - His friends, His vessels, the very gates of Heaven on earth - the enlargement of our capacity to see Him and the capability of His love will open us, that Heaven may come as Jesus prayed in Matthew 5. He wants us to see the sufficiency of Jesus' blood invade the impossible - salvations on street corners, freedom in crackhouses, hope in prisons, poverty of spirit in mansions, and a daddy's love in orphanages. Wheelchairs emptied, hearts full, hospitals cleared out and stadiums packed in from revival.

Now, the shift will be glorious. However, it may not feel glorious. When God causes change, Jesus in us is exalted and our carnal nature further destroyed. His Kingdom in and around us has an increasing glory and light, while what is not His Kingdom shakes and falls through the crack in the fault line. The Glory of God is going to shake us in every place we are connected to the unrenewed ways in which this world operates. It is not until we connect ourselves and are fully connected to the thoughts of Heaven - often one line or precept at a time - that we become bridged to Heaven's reality. And only then do we experience a true reviving of life or "revival", plus some. Re-connecting with Heaven causes us to re-present God as Adam did, and as his family was supposed to. Eventually we will do this as Adam did, both individually and corporately, but with a greater degree of glory.

When Peter walked through Jerusalem with his shadow (in the Greek, that word can also mean "outshining", like a radiance) healing masses of people, the people were there because they knew Peter was going to walk along that road. We understand that, but do we realize how they must have viewed Peter to do such a thing? There was actually a significant group of people within Jerusalem that knew God was so formed in Peter that He would shine out from Peter and be so tangibly present around Peter that all leprosy would leave their body, inside and out. They knew God was so attracted to Peter's life He could not stay away, and since God was near Peter, that if they got near him they would be getting near to God and they would be healed. Their broken bones would just be set in place and healed. They believed their legs would grow back out, backs would straighten, mental torment and paralysis would leave and they would be made whole.

The Glory of God is going to shake us in every place we are connected to the ways of this world, but only in order to disconnect us from the world's ways and reconnect us with what Peter walked with. It's not just what Peter walked in, in regards to anointing, authority, or by way of gift, but it's Who he walked with. Peter was beginning to touch on something that wasn't new, but ancient. Jesus is called the "Second Adam" because He restored unbroken communion with God on earth, the communion the first Adam lost. And in His death and resurrection, Jesus established a spiritual seed that would guarantee that unbroken communion would be inherited by everyone coming after Him.

Adam walked with such communion that lovers of God will seek the gifts and authority he walked in, but not nearly as desirously as they will seek to know who God was to him. What kind of a God would invest so much in one, unproven man such as Adam? What kind of a God would invest His only Son in disproven, haughty people such as ourselves, and in such a way as to give us all things?

Adam's walk with God was so much more than just an unseen accessory to life that benefitted him by keeping his checkbook in the black and helping him trust life will turn out okay. Adam glowed. He overflowed with joy at anything and everything God did, and he did so with excellence.

Ben 114 repost

(originally posted May 2006)

A picture of a grace God is giving to His Church now is portrayed in Benjamin, the last son of Jacob. His name means "son of my right hand", or "strength of the anointing".

Psalm 92:13, a Psalm written for those living in the rest (Sabbath) of God, says the righteous "flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green.." Since this verse is full of obvious symbolism (righteous people are represented as trees), then it's not a stretch to interpret "old" symbolically as well. "They still bear fruit in old age" can be taken as "They still advance the Kingdom of God in spiritual maturity; they are always nourished by the Holy Spirit and lead full, energized lives." Joel 2:28 uses this same symbolism when it says:

"And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions."

Joel is prophesying a time when the spiritually immature (young men) will hear God's voice along with the mature (old men), declaring that how the Spirit relates to His people in a time of outpouring is not in respect to maturity, a length of time, or even proven faithfulness in the past, but on how they allow Him to relate to them in that moment. So God's decree in Psalm 92 is the opposite of what many Christians today believe - They believe that the zeal of the first year or so after conversion is the most productive time to declare one's faith. Here, however, God is declaring that those living in His presence (courts) will not wane in zeal, productivity or anointing, even after many years. Those that are mature in the knowledge and experience of God's Presence (also see Hebrews 5:14) bear fruit in their maturity. The anointing increases. Fervency and zeal are not just for the young in faith, because true maturity is accompanied with a growth in zeal that comes from love, not the might of youth. As love deepens, strength is matured and solidified, and power works with love.

Lack of fruitfulness is not a result of temperance or wisdom; it is a result of growing weary in doing good and loss of vision. It is a result of not pressing on to know the Lord.

A few verses before Psalm 92:13, in verse 10, the psalmist speaks of this power that works with love, when he says, "But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil." The ox's horn in Scripture speaks of power, and oil is the anointing. Since greater power and exaltation are solely for the exaltation of Jesus, it could read, "You are showing yourself off through me in power; you have anointed me." And a very important factor the anointing is joy, because it is one of the most fundamental ways Jesus is expressed to the world (Psalm 45:7). "The joy of the Lord is your strength" - of the anointing. Joy and power must work together, even to the point of joy releasing and being the very power of God.

As this anointing comes, the earth and its arenas are shaken. I imagine a large ox, laughing hysterically, would be pretty disruptive, kind of like what happened in the first century A.D. when Paul and Barnabas would enter a town.

Now we return to Benjamin, Jacob's last son. His mother, Rachel, goes through a terrible struggle and dies giving birth. She names him "Ben-Oni" as she dies. "Ben-Oni" means "son of my sorrows", but the name doesn't stick. If Benjamin is a picture of what is coming to the church, the last generation of their father, we can take great comfort. Even though it has come at great cost, we know that on the other side of trials and difficulty, the Kingdom opens to us. Great trial for God's sake ends in great glory. This happens when Jacob changes his son's name to "Benjamin".

Again, Benjamin means "son of my right hand", or "strength of the anointing". Since names speak of a person's nature in Hebrew culture, Benjamin could have said, "Dad, you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil." His name is that blessing! Great struggles ("Oni") result in great joy when they're done. It's what most of the Bible's about; it's what the cross was about. It's also what God's about now. Joy is important; it is released through answered prayer, through promise realized, and most powerfully through knowing Jesus. When you possess true blue joy, you more clearly are Jesus to this world, and become as the Father to them. You will be strengthened by enjoying your appointment as an ambassador of Heaven, and seeing your face becomes a God-ordained encounter that will lead others nearer to knowing Jesus.

God is wanting to give more joy to the Church, and is wanting to display His power and presence among us, through us. He wants us to bear fruit through loving zeal, which is bold. This is for everybody; He is not a respecter of persons, even though we tend to be. He is looking at the young and old, now, and seeing who receives and responds to the deposit of grace He is giving. Then, to the one that has, more will be given.

When Jesus is lifted up, it is promised that He will draw everyone to Himself.

Ben 114, part 2

Note - every type and shadow used here ultimately points to the fulfillment that is in Christ, and the purpose of this entry is not to totally grasp the type and shadow spoken of through Old Testament realities. This post will merely skim the surface. Instead, it is to more fully open in the Spirit the revelation of what God is doing in this moment, that we may pick it up and allow God to grow it within us. It is not to build a foundation of good doctrine, it is to build on that foundation and move us forward.

Also, you may want to read the initial Ben 114 entry, which this post builds upon, before you read on. For those who have read it, remember that Benjamin's story and lineage point to a grace that is being given the Church right now.

Please keep all of this in mind as you read.

The territory allotted to Benjamin in Joshua 18:11-28 is between the people of Judah (Judah means "praise", and is below Benjamin) and Joseph (Joseph means "double blessing", or "God will add", and Joseph's descendents rest above Benjamin). This reflects a reality many people have been alluding to lately - the Benjamin strength that the Church is going to exhibit in this season directly relates to our praise. It is birthed through praise (Judah), and brings Kingdom advancement that extends us into the kind of blessing seen in type and shadow through Joseph.
God comes and entrusts us with anointing as we trust and praise Him as He did with Joseph, and often in adversity. Our walking with faith-fulness and integrity in that anointing enables Him to entrust us with greater earthly dominion (including, but not limited to Kingdom advancement in geographic regions, and economic capital in order that holistic transformation might occur with spiritual awakening), as He knows we won't keep it for ourselves.

In other words, Judah extends to Benjamin. In turn, Benjamin builds upon Judah (see a map of the twelve tribes' lands), and Benjamin gives way to Joseph - which is actually the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh, Joseph's sons. Joseph was the only one of Jacob's sons that had two tribes descend from him instead of one, hence his name, "God will add". He decreased, and a double portion came forth.

Interestingly, Benjamin is not the only tribe sandwiched between Judah and Joseph. Dan is also there, right next to Benjamin. Dan means, "God is Judge." That is exactly what occurs during time of great outpouring - as the Kingdom of God is established through the strength of God's anointing, that which is not of God is shaken and tried (Hebrews 12:26-29).

His holiness and purity compel all sin, shame, oppression and sickness to vacate. To put it another way - He will only build His presence among His people on righteousness and justice (Psalm 89:14).

So Judah (praise) establishes God's dwelling, which is founded on Dan (God's justice) and exercised through Benjamin (the strength of the anointing), releasing Joseph (God's provided blessing).

the rain deer

satisfaction, in a rain drop,
tests and wearies souls of men
longing for more.
more, in a storm
pulls princes
to where want and must collide
i want, thus
you must
see the answer shown through me

drawn under

swimming breathing tumbling
underfather
bubble breaths and double rest
floating sinking soaring drinking
under
underneath water