Change is the essential process of all existence.

Forty: The Road to Faith

It is quite interesting how often and where we find the number 40 in scripture. Whenever and wherever we come accross it we seem to find ourselves in a place of challenge and testing, a place where we are often cornered with seemingly no way out. It is at this place where we find God and feel compelled to trust Him, usually because there is no other way. It is in this place of despair that empowers us to discover that which is beyond our reason and logic and takes us on a journey into the realms of the unknown and endless possibilities. This journey we call “The Road of Faith”. Let us look at a couple of examples in scripture.

Acts 1:3 To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Luke 24:1-53

Acts 1:1-11
The purpose of the forty days was to bring the disciples to a place in their lives where they would believe without having to see, that they would learn to see beyond the eyes of the body and see with the eyes of faith. They were to learn to live by a new perspective, the life of the spirit (internal life of relationship), and to free themselves from the limitations of the life of the natural (external life or sense realm).

Gen 8:6 Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;

This is forty days from the time that the ark landed on Mt. Ararat.

Gen 8:11 The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth.

The dove represents the spirit and the olive branch new life. So after another forty days Noah entered into a new life in the spirit and it was at this time that God made a covenant with Noah through the rainbow. The rainbow is found after the forty days of testing.

Acts 1:6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

They still were not getting it, they were still looking for a natural kingdom with a natural king.

What are we looking for today? Are we waiting for a natural king to restore the kingdom to the Christians? Or are we looking to a spiritual kingdom that is lived through us? Our lives still have many forty days to go through until we come to a place of maturity in faith, where we can live the kingdom now from the inside out. It is only through the faith journey that we will see the coming of the King and when the King returns the scriptures say that what He will be looking to see if He can find faith in the earth. Remember that we are the earth!

To here the audio press here.

Four Layers of the Word

Life began in a garden. We call this paradise, which comes from the Persian “pardes” which means garden. This word made its way into the Aramaic and Hebrew, written PRDS (remember that the ancient Hebrew had no vowels). Later on the Rabbis created a teaching from the word PRDS on the “Four Layers of the Word of God” in an acronym form.

· P = pschat, the literal sense of the Word
· R = remes, the allegorical, parabel sense of the Word
· D = drasch, the moral sense of the Word, what it teaches us
· S = sod, the hidden layer of the Word

The Rabbis defined the fourth layer “sod” as Kaballah, what we would call Bible Code. The New Testament word would be “Revelation”.
We can do the same in English and create an acronym we can remember. We know that Jesus Christ is the “Word of God” and He is the “Lamb of God”, therefore we can use the acronym LAMB.

L – Literal interpretation
A – Allegorical interpretation
M – Moral interpretation
B – Bible Code or Revelation

Before we go any further, please understand that all four layers are required for our lives. These layers produce progressive understanding and allow for a proper theological perspective in our viewing of scripture. What we want to avoid is becoming “parked” on a certain layer and viewing our Christianity from a limited perspective.

Read: Mark 4:1-20

L: Literal Interpretation

Mark 4:4 as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up.

Mark 4:15 “These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them.

These are people that take the word literally (letter of the law). They do what the Bible says but it is not part of their journey of life (beside the road). They are more concerned about being right in their doctrine than they are of discovering life along the journey. Thus they tend to be harsh and critical of others.

A: Allegorical Interpretation

Mark 4:5,6 “Other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. “And after the sun had risen, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.

Mark 4:16,17 “In a similar way these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away.

These are people that I would call “heady”, always looking for the “new teaching” or the “new revelation”. They sound good but their lifestyle disqualifies their teaching. They will have intellectual understanding but will not be able to process this understanding into a lifestyle of reality.

2Timothy 3:7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
2Timothy 3:7 (CEV) These women always want to learn something new, but they never can discover the truth.

M: Moral Interpretation

Mark 4:7 “Other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no crop.

Mark 4:18,19 “And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful.

These are people that on the outside live a moral life. They do the right things and avoid the wrong things. The problem here is that there has not been a death to self. The issues of the heart are not yet dealt with and a struggle continues in regard to the internal lusts of the heart and mind. Remember that a lust is nothing more than wanting what you want for yourself and allowing that want to affect your life and judgment. Therefore these individuals produce an external Christianity but do not produce the fruit of life of the Christ (Galatians 5:22-24).

B: Bible Code or Revelation

Mark 4:8 “Other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they yielded a crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

Mark 4:20 “And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”

In this verse the word “accept” means to take in and be part of your life, contrary to the word “receive” in verse 16 which means to take hold of externally.
Revelation is more than seeing something new or understanding something new, revelation is only revelation when it is processed in our lives. It is this process that allows the fruit to bear which is the life of The Christ!

To hear the audio click here.

Overcoming Offence
Pt 2: Letting Go

Matthew 6:12 ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.
Forgive: to release, to let go, to let alone

Matthew 18:21-35
What we do to others, we will have done to us. This is because what we do to others we are really doing to ourselves and to Christ. Do you not realize that you are one with your brother? He and you are from the same body. If your foot stumbles and hurts itself, does it not bring hurt to the rest of your body? So what should you the rest of your body do? Should you be offended because of the pain you are feeling or should you take care of the foot until it is healed? Of course we take care of the foot because this is the only way to stop the pain. The problem here is that we do not believe that our brother is one with us because we are living on the low road of life in self outside of the Christ. If we grasp this reality of oneness we would be quick to resolve issues, if only to stop the pain. Unfortunately we would rather be right and suffer pain than to let go of our rights and experience freedom and oneness.

Beloved we are confused about what our rights are. The only rights that we have are in the grace of God, we have NO rights in ourselves. We do not belong to ourselves, we belong to Christ. We have no right to hold something against another. Choose to let it go, take the high road of life in the Christ and be free! Let it go!

Matthew 16:24-25 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

Whoever will let go of his life will find the God life! Let go of your life, let go of your rights and you will find forgiveness and you will find life!

To hear the audio click here.

Overcoming Offence
Part 1: What is Offence?

To overcome offence, one first has to determine what offence is. This is important because offence is the number one killer of Christian life in the Church today. Offence is like a cancer, it can attack you at any time. If it is caught early enough it can be treated but if left too long it is fatal. Thanks be to God that there are precautionary measures that can be taken to reduce the risk factor but first we need to discover what this killer is and how it really works.

Matthew 24:1-13 (MKJV)

Matthew 24:10 (MKJV) And then many will be offended, and will betray one another, and will hate one another.

Offended G4624 skandalizō (skan-dal-id’-zo)
To “scandalize”; from G4625; to entrap, that is, trip up (figuratively stumble [transitively] or entice to sin, apostasy or displeasure): – (make to) offend.

Matthew 24:10
(BBE) And numbers of people will be turned from the right way, and will give one another up and have hate for one another.
(CEV) Many will give up and will betray and hate each other.
(CJB) At that time many will be trapped into betraying and hating each other,
(GNB) Many will give up their faith at that time; they will betray one another and hate one another.
(GW) Then many will lose faith. They will betray and hate each other.
(NASB) “At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
(WNT) Then WILL MANY STUMBLE AND FALL, and they will betray one another and hate one another.

So then, when we are offended we have”Turned from the right way”, “Given up”, “Become trapped”, “Given up our faith”, “Lost our faith”, “Fallen away” and “Stumbled and fallen”. When in offence we find ourselves on the low road of life called “self” instead on the high road in life called “In Christ”.

So what is it that offends us, let’s look at Romans 9:30-33

What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written, “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”

Christ is the “Rock of Offence” or more specifically the “Grace of God” that is found in Christ Jesus is the rock of offence. Grace through faith is the high road of life in Christ, whereas works is what I can do and what I can accomplish and is the low road of life in self. Christ Jesus is either the Rock of Salvation or the Rock of Offence.

The last time someone treated you unkindly, did you react in offence or did you pause and take the high road? Did you see them as an unkind person or did you see them as someone in whom you are one with in the Christ? You see, the grace of God empowers us to see others through the eyes of God and helps us realize that all are His children (Ephesians 4:6) and right now that individual might not recognise the Christ in him but we know that He is in there!

Read 1Peter 2: 1-8 for yourself and see what the Holy Spirit speaks to you in regards to this teaching.

1Peter 2:1-8
Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord. And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For this is contained in Scripture: “BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE, A PRECIOUS CORNER stone, AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; but for those who disbelieve, “THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,” and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word, and to this doom they were also appointed.

To hear the audio message click here.

Repentance

This is an interesting and often misunderstood topic. If one was to ask a variety of people “What does it mean to repent?” your answers would vary from “being sorry” to “turning away from sin”. Though these examples can be part of the repentance process, they in themselves are not repentance. Let’s go into the scriptures and see what we can find.

Matthew 3:1 Now in those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea, saying,
Mat 3:2 “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

(AMP) And saying, Repent (think differently; change your mind, regretting your sins and changing your conduct), for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
(GW) “Turn to God and change the way you think and act, because the kingdom of heaven is near.”

Repent:G3340 metanoeō (met-an-o-eh’-o)
From G3326 and G3539; to think differently or afterwards, that is, reconsider (morally to feel compunction): – repent.

“Metanoeo” comes from two Greek words “Meta” meaning a change or modification and “Noeo” meaning a thought process. Therefore metanoeo can be defined as “a change or modification of the thought process.

Matthew 3:2 could be read “Change the way you think and see, for the realm (kingdom) of the eternal (heaven) is here!” John the Baptist was the forerunner for the Christ and his message was that of preparation for one to recognize and enter the Christ.

Matthew 4:17 From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
Jesus realized that a people who would not allow themselves to think differently would never be able to believe in what they cannot naturally see.
Remember what is said in Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Faith is a conviction of things that we cannot naturally see. This conviction is a result of learning to think differently, learning to think beyond the physical and into the eternal or heavenly realm. This is what John the Baptist and Jesus were attempting to do, to empower people to believe and see in a way they never had before.

Matthew 11:20 Then He began to denounce the cities in which most of His miracles were done, because they did not repent.
Note here in this scripture that Jesus began to denounce those who would not allow themselves to think differently. The miracles were tools that God used to allow people to see beyond the natural and allow their minds to expand into a heavenly or eternal perspective of thinking.

John 3:1-7 Here we see Jesus teaching Nicodemus to think and see from a higher perspective. To be “born again” is to be born from above, to think and see from a higher perspective. This phrase “born again” indicates repentance which enables one to see and enter into this Kingdom (The Christ realm) which cannot be seen from a lower level of thinking or perspective.

So we see that repentance is a daily lifestyle that empowers us to grow into the fullness of the Christ through a continual change in the thinking processess.

To listen to the audio press here.

Look Down

2Corinthians 5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;
2Co 5:15 and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.
2Co 5:16 Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.
2Co 5:17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

(MKJV) So that if any one is in Christ, that one is a new creature; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

We preachers are guilty of not allowing people to grow up into their destiny. We have kept people in a place of self focus or old life by the very phraseology that we use among them. How often have we told people to look up to God and get your eyes on God. This may all sound well and good, but it still leaves us in a position in life of being outside of God, looking at life through our own eyes. If we are truly in Christ and in God then we would see life from His perspective, from His vantage point. Scripturally we are positioned with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3) and therefore need to view life from our new position or perspective.

Colossians 1:9 For this reason also, since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
(Phillips) We are asking God that you may see things as it were from His point of view, by being given spiritual insight and understanding,

To be a new creature or new creation is to have a new look on life from our new position in Christ. Now we see as He sees because we are in Him and in the Father, seated in heaven’s throne now. This is often hard for us to realize because we are expecting something to change on the outside; but Christianity is a lifestyle of living from the inside out. It is what happens to us on the inside that determines what we see on the outside.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

It is faith that allows us to see life from this new perspective now. It is faith that allows us to sit on heaven’s throne in Christ and see like God sees. It is faith that burns this reality into our hearts and allows us to see what we cannot naturally see. It is faith that helps us realize that we are dead in ourselves and are risen in Christ, so therefore we no longer have the right to view life from a perspective of how it relates to me.
From this day forward we choose to see life only from His perspective and how it affects Him. This is life eternal (life from the eternal viewpoint), this is being born again (being born from above in the higher level), this is spirituality (seeing through His eyes), this is being a Christian and this is why we look down.

To hear the audio message press here.

It was late Saturday night on June 20th and the phone rang. It was my sister. It was a phone call that I knew would eventually come. My sister informed me that my father was at his end and probably would not make it through the night.

Through this journey of preparation for my father’s passing, there were two things that I’ve always known. Firstly that I would write a song for Dad and sing it at his funeral, secondly that I would be with Dad at his passing. Strangely enough I find myself about 250 miles away from him with no way of getting to him in time.

After the phone call from my sister, I spent some time talking with my wife, Robin, trying to decide what to do. It was during this time that the Lord unctioned me to start writing the song. The music came together in about 10 minutes and everything just seemed to flow. Now was the time to write the lyrics and this is where things got interesting. I felt someone inside me fighting against me and blocking my ability to put words to the song. I wanted to write a song for my dad, to honor his life and what he meant to me but the harder I tried, the worse things got. So I decided to just let the words flow and see what comes out. The problem was that what was coming out was not the words I wanted to sing, so again I fought against this force and tried to write the song for my dad.

Finally after some time, it was like the veil was removed from my mind and heart and I began to realize that my dad had come to me in his spirit. I did not have to get to Dad, he had gotten to me and the reason for the fight inside of me was that Dad wanted to write the words of this song through me. So I resisted the fight and allowed the song to flow out of me and allowed Dad to say what he had to say. To my surprise the lyrics that came out were a mixture of Dad and myself. Our two lives had become one and the song became a generational expression of what had begun in my father’s heart and now was continuing through my life.

After playing the song for the first time I also realized that my heavenly Father had His hand in this also and that this song is timely for the Body of Christ and the purpose for which we are all called.

I invite you to watch the video of the song entitled “It’s Not about Me” which was sung at Lake City Christian Centre during the Dick Mills weekend. God bless you and I would like to hear your thoughts about what the song speaks to you.

Press here to see and listen.

Five Levels of Fellowship

Fellowship: G2842 koinōnia
Thayer Definition:
1) fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse
1a) the share which one has in anything, participation
1b) intercourse, fellowship, intimacy
1b1) the right hand as a sign and pledge of fellowship (in fulfilling the apostolic office)
1c) a gift jointly contributed, a collection, a contribution, as exhibiting an embodiment and proof of fellowship

1) Fellowship in the Gospel: Philippians 1:5 for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;

The first level of fellowship is in the grace of God. This is where we connect on the basis of what God has done for us. Each of us has received the free gift of God in Christ Jesus and has come into a new life of hope and love. As wonderful as this fellowship is, it is primarily based on what God has done for me and is man centered.

2) Fellowship of the Spirit: Philippians 2:1-2 If there is therefore any encouragement in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any tendernesses and mercies, then fulfill my joy, that you may be like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord and of one mind.

The second level of fellowship causes us to walk and be led by the Spirit. Here we learn that there is more to life than just getting something from God, now we know that we are to be filled by the Spirit and led by His voice in the doing of His will. We have transitioned from getting to doing and have come into the understanding of obedience.

3) Fellowship of His Son: 1Corinthians 1:9 God is faithful, by whom you were called to the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The third level of fellowship brings us into the reality of the Christ. Here we discover that everything is in Him and through Him. This is where we learn to have the mind of Christ as we go deeper in relationship with the Son. An unfolding reality has begun and we see that life is now about giving and bringing others into this fellowship.

4) Fellowship of His Sufferings: Philippians 3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable to His death;

This fourth level of fellowship causes us to realize that power and authority
only comes in the resurrection life. The resurrection life is the fruit of the
death to self. Here we learn that the pressures of life give us the opportunity
to die to ourselves and come alive in Christ. The great obstacle in our life is
ourselves and our self will, we must die daily in every situation to
experience the Christ life. Like Jesus, we realize that life is about being and
being for the benefit of others. Our focus is now on living unto the Father
and sharing His resurrection power and authority. Our lives have become
the fruit that others can partake of to experience life themselves and as fruit
we realize that what happens to us is not as important as what we can be for
others.

5) Fellowship of the Mystery: Ephesians 3:9 and to bring to light what is the fellowship of the mystery which from eternity has been hidden in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ;

This fifth level of fellowship is the ultimate in which we share with the Father “that which from eternity (beginning) has been hidden in God”. This is the realization and participation in the purposes of the Father that were written before the beginning of time and our lives fulfilling that purpose as a part fitting into a greater whole into His ultimate purpose and intention. This ultimate is a oneness of all things in the Christ unto the Father that we are all one in all.

John 17:21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.
Joh 17:22 And I have given them the glory which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one,
Joh 17:23 I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me and have loved them as You have loved Me.

To listen to the audio press here

It’s in Christ

Perspective; everything in life is about perspective. Perspective is the starting point on which we view and measure the world around us. The only problem with perspective is that it can taint or distort the truth because if we have the wrong starting point, how do we know we are on the right path. This idea flows over into our Christianity. In Christianity there is only one perspective that matters and that is The Father’s perspective through His Son, Christ Jesus.

Let me give you an example; Redemption. Traditionally in our Evangelical Movement we would ask the question “How does the Christ fit into the picture of redemption?” The problem here is a redemption viewpoint and therefore Christ is measured through redemption and life’s purpose becomes redemption. This viewpoint blinds us from the bigger picture and the Father’s ultimate purpose for our lives. The question should be “How does redemption fit into the picture of Christ?” Now we shift from a redemption viewpoint which ultimately has us focus on what God can do for us (me centered), into a Christ viewpoint which causes us to see the potential of Christ and our fitting into Him for His purpose and the benefit of others (Christ centered).

Even in our evangelism we solicit individuals into ask Christ into their lives as Lord (generally as savior), but even in this, the life of the individual is the focus. Paul’s gospel according to Colossians 1:23-27 reveals the truth of the mystery that Christ is in us and our journey is this awareness and the progress from Christ in us to us being in Christ. You see all of the promises of God are realized when we live in the Christ and not because Christ is in us. Look at the following text.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
Eph 1:4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love
Eph 1:5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
Eph 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
Eph 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace
Eph 1:8 which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight
Eph 1:9 He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him
Eph 1:10 with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him
Eph 1:11 also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will,
Eph 1:12 to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory.
Eph 1:13 In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation–having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 who is given as a pledge of our inheritance, with a view to the redemption of God’s own possession, to the praise of His glory.

Ephesians 1:11 (Msg) It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for.

Therefore it is not about my life, my blessings, my vision, my destiny or my anything; it is all about The Christ and The Father’s purpose in Him. So what about me? For me and for us we have the opportunity to be part of the Father’s purpose and destiny for our lives, which is found in losing our life in The Christ. It is in losing our life in The Christ that we find the true life (His Life) and have that life live through us. It is only through the Christ life that we can experience oneness with The Father which is His ultimate purpose for our lives.

To listen to audio click here.