Antigua Guatemala
Antigua Guatemala is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. The food, music, and colors are just amazing. There’s a lot going on all through the day and night especially this week. It’s holy week. As I’m engaged in “Ministry” and around all this “stuff” I have this internal dialog that I can’t shake from my being.
I listen to a podcast by Bill Johnston the other night; A pastor in Redding Oregon. I had a revelation recently that’s been developing and he articulated what’s been revealed to me much better than I could. He summarizes the revelation by asking, “Do you know the principles of the Christian Kingdom or the presence of Kingdom? Or, what the Lord is saying now vs. what he said.”
Principles are important, even essential, but not as essential as what the Lord is saying now, at this very moment. Scripture says in Deuteronomy 8: 3 “Man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
The Lord is still speaking!
For a long time I only knew the principles of Christianity…now I know his presence, and boy, things sure have changed.
Jesus in John 9: 6-9 healed a blind man by taking dirt, spitting in it, then rubbing it his eyes. Principle says- we should do that with every blind person we come in contact with. Presence says- do what I’m telling you now, in this moment with this person! The Lord might tell you just to lay hands. How do we know his presence? By knowing his voice. How do we know is voice? I don’t have a simple answer. However, I know every person who’s reading this blog has something pressing on their heart. You can call it a still small whisper.
As a human being 90% of what you say is nonverbal. The Lord’s voice is not limited to a booming voice. Many times the Lords voice has been locked in the mouth of a friend of mine. Maybe networking two people together was more important than appeasing my desire to hear the audible voice of God so I feel special. The Lord speaks to me through all different types of crazy stuff. I don’t get visions, or not yet. But I’ve had a dream or two that sure did come to pass. I’ve had all types of crazy coincidences. But most of all we learn His voice from the word and honing in on that still small voice. I used to say, “I can’t hear the voice of God.” The truth is I just deafened myself to what the Lord had been saying for years. The moment I responded to what He was saying, He met me. But I still hear the same still small voice, it’s just much clearer now because I’ve honed in on it. The same whisper has given me this revelation about Principle and Presence.
Every Principle in the bible has the presence of God all over it. There was never a principle without His presence! Can we get breakthrough with only principles? Bill says, “you can be sustained for a season by principal but breakthrough only comes from the voice of the Lord.” I would agree. The Bible says, Israel was acquainted with the acts of God but Moses was acquainted with His ways. I guess you could say we can be accustomed to the acts of God through the bible, through testimonies of the miraculous, or even through the things you see with your own eyes. If that’s all we know then that can get boring. That’s why the gospel’s foundation is relationship, relationship with the Father. Israel was accustomed to the miraculous or the acts of God for 40 years but they never acquainted themselves with the one who was performing the acts. Only Moses did. The Lord calls us to know His ways, to know Him who creates the acts. And by the way His acts are still happening.
I used to think only pastors had the direct line to God or only really “good Christians,” whatever that means. But the truth is we were all given a direct line, Jesus. John 14:6 says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know Him and have seen Him.”
I believe there is a temptation and danger to live only in the principles of the Kingdom and never enter into the presence of Kingdom. The Kingdom that Jesus prayed to come on earth as it is in heaven. As I round the end of this trip I’m being faced with more challenges than I’ve ever faced. I told my parents recently in a letter, “I believe at the measure we respond to our call, is the measure that we receive the inheritance of that call. Where I desire to go in life and in my relationship with God, is going to take a lot more than my passion and zeal. This is where the “rubber meets the road.” It’s going to take obedience to what I hear from the Lord. It will take sacrifice and surrender to what he is saying. But I’ve learned that’s the safest place to be.
The Lord spoke once to the Israelites, and His word never came back void. Upon His words they ate, stayed warm and cool, and drank water for 40 years in the desert. The Lord says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11
“Preach the Gospel always. And when necessary use words.”
-An old Franciscan Slogan
