Living in His Presence, Part II
Living in His Presence, Part II
It is God's will that each Christian have the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ is that which always is aware of what we might term "the prophetic sense." When our mind is aware of the prophetic sense we understand God's will and we rightly perceive what is going on in our life.
An example of this prophetic sense was displayed when the Lord Jesus was invited by His disciples to look at the Temple of Herod.
Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. (Matthew 24:1)
Herod's Temple indeed was a spectacular marvel to behold, the Temple Mount area being very large.
What was Jesus' response to this invitation?
"Do you see all these things?" he asked. "Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down." (Matthew 24:2)
Now, how can we account for this difference in perception? The disciples saw a marvelous structure. Jesus saw a ruin!
When we can understand why the disciples saw this huge, ornate temple and all its parts, and Jesus saw a ruin, we will have gained in maturity as a Christian.
The Servant of the Lord, set forth by Isaiah, is Christ–Head and Body. One important characteristic of the Servant of the Lord is that of being blind to all that God is "blind" to, and seeing all that God sees.
Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one in covenant with me, blind like the servant of the Lord? You have seen many things, but you pay no attention. (Isaiah 42:19.20)
This reminds me of something Jesus said:
Jesus said, "For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind." Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, "What? Are we blind too?" Jesus said, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains." (John 9:39-41)
It is a Bible principle that we are judged in terms of what we know and understand. If the Pharisees actually had realized that Jesus is the Messiah they would have been guilty. They could not "see," of course; so Jesus was catching them in their own words.
What are we saying here? We are saying that worldly people see by the light of the world. God's flock are not nearly as accomplished. In many instances they are the humble and impoverished of the earth. They do not see clearly the facts of the world. But God has given the Kingdom to them, and they see Jesus. The exalted of the present world often are blind to the things of God.
They think they understand what is true, but they often are oblivious to what God has done and is doing.
Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. (I Corinthians 1:26,27)
We Christians are in the world but not of the world, the Lord said. We in America are bombarded by the media with the wisdom and thinking of the world. If we are not careful, we will not be able to move forward with Christ into the wonderful acts of redemption that the Spirit of God is presenting to us in the present hour.
We need to pray for the mind of Christ, that mind that is filled with the prophetic knowledge and word.
But how do we obtain the mind of Christ?
It really is not difficult, but we have to be diligent in our pursuit of it.
Our first task is to recognize that God does not want us to do our own thinking and planning as we make our way through life. We have been commanded to acknowledge God in all our ways, knowing He will direct our path if we do so.
The fundamental problem of mankind is that of planning and acting in terms of their own understanding, not God's understanding.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5,6)
If there is any command that would be anathema to today's American society, it would be to lean not on our own understanding.
That admonition is key to victory in the battle to abandon our own will in favor of doing God's will. The worldly wise, of which there are millions in America, would laugh at such a proposal. But the Lord's sheep hear His voice. Those who are determined to please God will obey what God has commanded.
I could not in a million years overemphasize the importance of leaning not on our own understanding, and submitting to God everything we think; everything we plan; everything we imagine; everything we say; everything we do.
Does this sound impossible? It is not! We can spend our days worrying about our problems, or we can cast our burdens on the Lord.
We have to learn to live one moment at a time; to take one step at a time. As we attempt to relax and do this we will discover it is just as easy to submit our thoughts, words, and actions to God as it is to worry and fret about out thoughts, words, and actions.
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart." "In all your ways submit to him."
All your heart! All your ways!
You either are going to trust in your own abilities and your own wisdom, or you are going to trust in the Lord and submit your ways to Him. Which is it going to be?
The Scripture states that our natural mind is hostile to God. Since this is true and scriptural, are we going to prosper by leaning on our own understanding and strength? Perhaps we have found out by now that when we pray and ask God for help we actually receive help.
So when we look to Christ for everything, not of course abandoning our common sense, we have embarked on a way of blindness. We are looking to Christ for all we think, say, and do, rather than to what the television or the Internet are advising.
As I said, it is not difficult to walk with our hand in the hand of Christ, looking to Him to lead us in the path best for us. But it does require diligence.
You must remember that we in America are being saturated day and night with information and advice from the media. "Buy this. Buy that. You deserve this. You deserve that. If you just had this thing or that experience you and your family would be happy. Invest your money with us and you will have a carefree retirement."
On and on it goes, all of it being driven by money, not by any altruistic effort to actually help us. It is a sophisticated effort to extract as much money from us as possible.
Then there is the world news. It made me sick at heart to learn that fifty billion dollars are being spent on the Olympic games in Russia while the refugees from Syria are starving and freezing to death in their makeshift camps.
How can spending fifty billion dollars on games be justified when children, little boys and girls, cannot sleep at night because they are cold and hungry. Can you justify that in your mind? I cannot.
I have learned in my 88 years that the world is one huge lie, but truth is found in the Bible.
As I become increasingly "blind" to the world I am seeing marvelous things in the Scriptures. Also, I am hearing Jesus more clearly.
Do you believe Jesus is at the Olympics, or is he with the displaced Syrian boys and girls? What do you think? Is your heart with those children or with the athletes in Russia?
I am not seeking to condemn anyone. Rather I am teaching what I think Christ has shown me.
How do we become blind? By asking God for the mind of Christ. By submitting everything to God, all we think, say, and do. We walk in this "blindness." It is the prophetic realm. We will join Moses, Elijah, Elisha, the Apostle Paul, and Christ Himself. They see as God sees. They are not impressed with the blindness of the world as it tears itself apart in its folly.
Something the Apostle commanded is relevant here. "Pray without ceasing." I would imagine this sounds impossible to a new Christian. But as we seek each daily to submit everything of our life to God, we find ourselves praying continually. It really is more pleasant than worrying without ceasing!
We want to perceive as God perceives, don't we? I believe we would rather see the Temple as Christ perceived it, rather than be dazzled by its magnificence as were His disciples. Perhaps it is true that some of the "great events and things" now being presented on television and the Internet are soon to pass away and will prove to be of little value.
Sometimes, when I see in the newspaper the world leaders strut about in their self-importance, I wonder what they will look like when they stand before Christ in that Day. The Bible says that the wicked vaunt themselves, but the hour will come when we will look for them and not be able to find them.
When I read the statement above in the Psalms, it makes me think of Adolf Hitler. I can remember when I was a boy how the world was troubled by Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini. Where are they today? Was God impressed with their deeds so that they could hold their heads high as they were brought before Him? Did God present them with medals?
People, we need to pray for the mind of Christ so we can see as God and Christ see. I truly believe the prophetic attitude and environment are much to be desired. That way we will perceive matters as God does, and not be deceived so readily.
There are people who claim that God does not speak to us today. Where did they get such an idea? I think their reasoning is that now we have the Bible it is not necessary for God to speak to us personally.
There are few teachings as deadly as this!
When did God stop speaking to us? After the death of the first apostles? Has God been silent since then?
Logically speaking, if there have been no more apostles, then there should be no more evangelists, pastors, or teachers, since all are listed together as gifts to the Body of Christ.
On what possible basis would we select one of the several gifts as being the only gift that would not continue? Beyond doubt there are apostles today; but we cannot recognize him or her because we are picturing an individual who has been glorified to a greater extent than the other Christians; someone who orders the other believers around. Such exaltation of a person or gift simply is not of the way of God!
Will we ever cease attempting to make a king other than the Lord Jesus?
If the written Word was sufficient to guide people, why then did God provide the Urim and Thummim so the Israelites could determine God's will in a particular circumstance? They had the Law at that time. Why didn't they get all the direction they needed from the Law?
He is to stand before Eleazar the priest, who will obtain decisions for him by inquiring of the Urim before the Lord. At his command he and the entire community of the Israelites will go out, and at his command they will come in. (Numbers 2:17-21)
And that really is the issue, isn't it? We can study the Bible and learn principles of Christian living. But what do we do when we need to know God's will in a particular circumstance? When we have a need to know when to go out and when to come in, we usually cannot tell from the Bible, can we?
Did God speak to the people of the Old Testament? We think of Noah directed to build the Ark; Abraham and Isaac; Moses; Joshua and the wall of Jericho, David and the Mulberry tree.
There are numerous instances in the Old Testament of God speaking to people. Are we under a lesser covenant?
And then there was the angel speaking to Mary and the mother and father of John the Baptist.
Let's think for a moment about the early ministers of the Gospel.
The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it." (Acts 8:29)
Now, would Philip know to stay near the chariot by studying Christian principles? This is foolishness. Doesn't God guide the ministry today?
He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" (Acts 9:4)
Does God not speak to people today? Of course He does!
When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. (Acts 16:7)
Did you ever hear a minister say he tried to go to a certain place to preach the Gospel, but Jesus would not let him do so?
You probably will not hear this. Why not? If Jesus spoke to a minister of today and told him not to preach the Gospel in a certain place, the minister would respond by saying that the Bible told him to preach the Gospel to everyone, and so it must be the Devil who is speaking to him.
I will tell you one thing. I ask Jesus about everything I do during the day and night, right down to the smallest detail. I have close fellowship with my Lord at all times. How anyone can get through this present world without hearing from Jesus all the time is beyond my understanding.
Do you think Jesus will not speak to you? Why don't you start asking Him about everything you are doing. As you are praying, start listening.
We are approaching very difficult times in our country. Our leaders condone abortion and homosexual activity. God will never accept that. The result will be the destruction of our nation.
As we approach chaos, we will need to hear from the Lord. The Bible tells us to call on the Lord and He will help us in our hour of need. This is the absolute truth. However, sometimes that help will require that He speak to us and tell us to do this or that, or go here or there. Does that sound reasonable to you?
It may be true that the greatest joy in the Christian life is close fellowship with Christ. How can a person have close fellowship with Christ if they do not speak to each other every day? He will walk with us and talk with us and tell us we are His own possession. But we have to take the time to listen to Him. We have to remain in what I refer to as the prophetic domain.
The preacher who is teaching us that Christ will not speak to us, and all we have is the Bible to go by, is robbing us of our fellowship with Christ—a fellowship that Christ desires!
Away with preachers who tell us the day of miracles is over. I cannot understand their viewpoint. Is the day of being born again over with? Is the day of being baptized in water over with? Is the day of being led by the Spirit over with? Who gave us the right to pick and choose the parts of the Bible we are supposed to apply today?
There are those who claim the witch of Endor did not actually bring up Samuel. The Bible says she did. I choose to believe the Scriptures. What is behind this desire to remove from God's people a belief in the miraculous power of God?
If we remove the miraculous from the Bible, saying God does not do today what He has done in the Bible, we remove the heart and joy of walking with Jesus. Christ has healed my wife of thyroid problems and me of arthritis in my knee. Are we to say we were not healed because Divine healing is not for us in the present hour?
Maybe it is this sort of teaching that is preventing more miracles in our country, while mighty miracles are occurring in the third-world countries. Do you suppose?
The days of the carefree, self-satisfied, beer-guzzling Americans are coming to a halt. The future will be grim, just as it is grim for the displaced people who have left Syria. Their children are suffering from the cold and hunger.
The same very well may be true of our children if abortion and the enthusiasm for homosexual behavior continue. Remember Sodom! The same God is in Heaven and He does not change. The people of Sodom had children!
We are going to need miracles to survive. We are going to need to hear from Jesus.
I heard a testimony in the First Assembly of God church in Fremont, California some years ago. It was given by the son of one of the Christian people who had the following experience:
When the Communists were coming to power in Russia, some Christian families decided to go to China. They crossed Russia on foot, being guided by speaking in tongues and interpretations.
When they got to the border of China there were guards. They had to stay in a certain building for a brief while. While they were in the building, God formed food in their stomach.
The moment came when God told them to cross into China. The walked across the border. They had gone a short while, when they looked back and saw the guard with his dog. He did not notice them.
They became thirsty. One of the elders started digging in the sand. Water came up through the sand.
As I remember they later went to the Philippines.
If I had a nickel for every incident of this kind that has happened to Christian people, I would be wealthy.
Who is this that is robbing Christian people of their faith in the miraculous? Who is telling them that God does not speak to us today? These teachers are keeping us unprepared for what is on the horizon in America.
We are going to need assistance from our miracle-working God. We are going to need to hear from Him continually if we are to survive with our loved ones and friends. Can you imagine how many people will require help in that hour? We may not be able to supply the needs of all of them, but Christ can feed the multitude.
If you are a Christian, begin to bring Christ into your thinking, speaking, and acting. Talk to Him. Listen to Him. You will find He is close to you and desires to be closer yet.
Believe Him for the impossible. Go out at night and consider that Christ spoke the starry heavens into existence. Then understand that with God, all things are possible.
Flee from those with the spirit of the Pharisee who search the Scripture but cannot see Christ when He is standing in front of them.
I think the greatest need of the Christian organizations of our day is to begin to listen to Jesus, to live in His Presence rather than in administrative strategies. I believe in many instances the leaders are taking for granted that Christ wants them to keep on adding to their programs, when He actually is looking in another direction.
How many of us are willing to cease our own works and enter the rest of God, in which we look to Jesus to find out what it is He wants us to do? Is this laziness? Is it passivity? No, it is not. We have to labor to enter the rest of God, because many voices are telling us to do this or that without waiting to hear from Jesus.
We used to talk about "praying through." You don't hear much of that any longer.
What does it mean to pray through? It means to pray until you know God has heard you.
How do you know when God has heard you? You can't pray any longer. You only can praise God. You know He has heard you, not because the Bible says so, but because of the release you feel in your spirit.
There are people today who are claiming that if you pray more than once you do not have faith. They do not know the Lord. Sometimes, like Jacob, we have to wrestle with the Lord. We don't quit until we know He has heard us. Then we know the answer is in the bank, so to speak.
There are many false voice in the land, some declaring that if we say "Your will be done" it is because we do not have "faith."
Then there are false revivals today that are not revivals at all, just emotional outbursts that do not really edify anyone. Some of these wild exhibitions border on the demonic, in my opinion.
But of all the mess, including the unscriptural "rapture" and lawless grace teachings, perhaps the greatest need of all is for us to stop assuming we know what the Lord Jesus is saying to the churches.
The truth is, as I see it, that the twentieth century was the "Pentecostal Century." Now the Spirit of God is ready to take us past Pentecost to the remaining three feasts of the Lord—the Blowing of Trumpets; the Day of Atonement; and finally Tabernacles.
The immediate need is for us to confess our sins that the Spirit points out to us, and to turn away from them with the assistance of the Lord Jesus. If we are faithful in this we will be prepared for the mighty outpourings of the Spirit that are ahead of us.
"Lord Jesus, please give us the mind of Christ so we can walk and talk with you. We need more of God than only going to church on Sunday."
It may be true that the most pressing need in Christianity today is for people who hear from the Lord Jesus. The denominations plunge forward in the desire to increase their membership. But is this what Christ is directing them to do?
The testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of prophecy, the Scripture maintains. Unfortunately Christian people are not always taught to listen to what Jesus is saying right now. Hopefully this condition will be rectified as the pastors encourage their congregations to get a word from the Lord.
At a recent youth camp, our young people spent time waiting on the Lord. They really heard from Jesus! What a blessing it was to hear what the Lord was telling them. They are learning to hear.
I am old enough and experienced enough to know the danger of this approach; but when error starts to creep in, it easily can be corrected if we are vigilant.
When I review in my mind Enoch being translated; Noah and the Ark; Joshua and the wall of Jericho; Elijah being caught up in a whirlwind; and then I hear of people saying God will not work wonders among us today; it is my impression that such individuals are worshiping their own doctrines and not the Lord Jesus Christ.
Doesn't the New Testament state that we are under a better covenant? Is a better covenant one in which God no longer works with us or speaks to us as He did in the former covenant? What sort of nonsense is this?
But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. (Hebrews 8:6)
I see a world in which Christ is All and in all. There are no churches, because churches tell us about Christ, and this no longer is needed. In the new world of righteousness Christ is everywhere and available to all people. Everyone lives by His Life.
In Him we live, and move, and have our being.
For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this. (Isaiah 9:6,7)
We not have to wait until the coming of the new world of righteousness before we begin practicing the Presence of Christ.
I am working on it now. How about you?