Jan | 08 | Words and Pictures

DISCOVER

Words and Pictures

1 Corinthians 12:7-8
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, NKJV

He went missing from a large church. Sure, there had been some sickness. However, he was gone for nearly four months and the website and twitter campaign had been thorough and loving, and even global. Yet no one had seen him. During a prayer meeting, a lady had gotten two words come into her head. One was the name of a European city and the other a name of a street in that city. It just so happens that another member of that same prayer group was soon going to that very city and so, upon arrival, he found the street and determined to sit on a bench there, even for quite a few hours, just in case his friend passed by. It was whilst he sat there, looking, praying, hoping, that the call came through which confirmed the discovery of his friends decomposed corpse in someone’s woodland garden in an area back in his own country and back in his own city, not too far from the church. What a tragedy. What a mystery. What sadness all. However, today I want to take a brief look at the works that come to our desperately seeking minds.

“I have a word for you.” “When we were praying I got the picture of a….” Many of us have received these kind of statements from others, and many of us have had maybe given these ‘words and pictures’ to others as well. Many people deal in head words, heart words, spirit words. Its the British television series Phoenix Nights and the episode starring the fictitious physic, Clinton Baptiste, which shows up the falseness and terrible tragedy of misplaced words, when Clinton leans into the face of a burly elderly skinhead and says “I’m getting the word…..Nonce!” The skinhead breaks his nose. Its black comedy and it’s frighteningly funny and very pointed.

People with no clarity, people with no anchor, or steaming direction, people cut adrift in the fog of the confusion of their lives, are people that will be alert to any and every opportunity of a hook of hope to hang their desperate hat upon. You MUST be careful in what you share with such folk. You MUST be rooted in the Scriptures. Now listen, does that mean that God only shares principles and doctrine? Oh no, God shares specifics! And I believe H shares it through words of knowledge and words of wisdom. The problem is that even the ‘specifics’ given from such giftings’ (when it is that) are always shared through dark glassed, poorly lit and dim people like ourselves. Being mature as a receiver of such human channelled information, means being able to pick the bones out of such polluted communication. So, when it comes to words and pictures, we need to be grown up about them, we need to ‘pick out the bones’ and if there are none, then we need to have the freedom to throw the dish away with a “Thank you so much but no thanks, not this time.”

Keep sharing, but be careful. Keep receiving, but be careful.

Lastly, I am reminded of a friend of mine who built his house on top of a former rubbish dump. Eventually all the rotting compost poisoned his house with methane and caused subsidence in other parts of his home. Make sure you build your future on unpolluted firmness.

I have a word for you today: “Read the Bible more!”

Listen:- Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1 NKJV

Pray: - : Lord, I need to hear from you and specifically so. In my spirit, help me hear Your voice. In my desperate deafness, let me not be deceived. No matter what happens, even if I am deceived and misled, please overrule and in Your gracious providence, guide me O thou great Jehova, each and every day, amen.

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Dec | 18 | Staying out of the Currents of The Ship Swallower

Key Word:- DISCOVER

Title:- Staying out of the Currents of The Ship Swallower  

1 Timothy 1:18,19 
This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck…

 
In 11th Century England, the Earl of Godwin was the most powerful Anglo-Saxon then around. A large landowner in the South East of the country, he was also responsible for a strip of land, a small low lying island called Lomea, just a few miles off the coastal town of Deal. It is reported that either his mismanagement of funds designated for the upkeep of the sea wall on Lomea, or direct judgment from God against his disloyal and deceitful actions regarding the king, led to the disappearance of Lomea in such a fantastic storm, that like Atlantis, it sunk below the waves.

The name ‘Godwin’ may be mean ‘God’s friend’ but history paints this infamous Englishman in a very different light. Like most of his contemporaries at the time, his life and legacy was full of intrigue and deadly political maneuvering. However, the sinking of his island of Lomea into the English Channel has left an even more deadly mark for mariners over the centuries, in the form of the infamous ‘Goodwin Sands'.

Having lived for some months in the coastal towns of Deal and Walmer I remember walking along the coastline of the English Channel and gazing out onto the distant breakers running up and into these same sands at low tide. In the summer, it is possible to land your boat there and walk across the hardened, rippled surface and play cricket and even soccer, on what must be the most unique playground in the middle of the English Channel!

Twelve miles long and five miles across at their widest point, the shape of The Goodwin Sands changes so constantly, that charting them with accuracy is impossible. A combination of bad weather and the pull of strong currents in the area, turn these quiet and quaint sandy playing fields, into moving and monstrous magnets and so to thousands of ships and some estimated 50,000 dead over the years, the sands are anything but playful! Yes, I said 50,000! These sands are dreadful and deceitful; a sucking graveyard of an open mouthed and ever hungry, accursed ship swallowing monster!

Now friends let’s learn some lessons from the Goodwin Sands. Goodwin may be Anglo-Saxon for God’s friend, but today you must:

First know that not everyone who claims to be a friend of God, is a friend of God. Not everyone who claims to be a Christian is a Christian. Satan has planted tares amongst the wheat; has sent wolves amongst the sheep. Be careful now and watch for fruit. Especially if these ‘nice’ Christians are more concerned with dollars for Jesus than dying for Jesus! You know what I mean, don’t follow them, don’t be so gullible for in the end, their heritage to others will be nothing but cursing, death and destruction. Watch them now. Watch them.

Secondly, know that our enemy, though sometimes so clearly seen, can shift his shape and disappear below the waves. He is movable, monstrous and magnetic. The strong tides of this world will always lead you upon his gaping and growling mouth. Keep clear then, of this world's currents, for no matter how tall the guarding buoy of faith, or how loud the ringing bell of a good conscience, when a storm comes down, he shall shift his shape and the currents he has instigated, shall pull you onto himself. Note the markers of faith, and the sounds of good conscience, but most of all, most of all, keep out of the currents if you can. Keep out of this worlds currents. Keep out of his currents!

Thirdly, and most importantly, the best form of defense for the Christian is attack. There is something positive we can do. Paul, says “WAGE A GOOD WARFARE.” To Timothy he instructs him to make use of the ‘prophetic words’ granted to him regarding his calling, his purpose, his destiny and his person. Paul seems to be saying here, “Remember who you are; who you have been proclaimed to be in Jesus! Remember who you are in Jesus and what He has commissioned you to do! Remember who you are, what you are to do and the promises and power He has equipped you with to fulfil His will! Believe it and like that Popeye, that strong sailor of old, so when the enemy comes in like a flood, you might reach into your heart and pull out a large can of 'whoopass' spinach and pour it down your pipe of power. Get bulked up, pumped up and then by those words from Him who is both faithful and true, from the eternal Amen, FIGHT REAL GOOD IN THE LORD’S BATTLES.

Friend, who are you? What are you? What has He commanded you to do? Where are you in the line? What have you been given? What do you still need to be able to wage a good warfare? Do you know? For Gods sake, for the sake of His Kingdom, isn’t it about time these questions were answered in your own heart? Get on your knees and ask for revelation. Find people who have power with the Father and who can speak to you concerning His destiny, commission and calling for your life; get them to speak these things into and over your life, for you shall not wage a good warfare without these heaven sent revelations. You shall not!

So find out today what they are, for the swirling sands of the enemies of God, the ship swallower’s of old, are waiting open mouthed, for his deadly currents to drag such passive Christians as yourself, upon his sinking and shape shifting sands.

Listen:- Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12

Pray: - Lord. What do You have to say to me concerning these things? “Speak, LORD, for now Your servant is listening.” In Jesus name I pray, amen.
 

Aug | 12 | A Whack On The Side of The Head

Dream Word – DISCOVER

Hebrews 12:1,2 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. " NKJV

A Whack On The Side of The Head

In his book, 'A Whack on the Side of The Head, How You Can be More Creative,' Roger von Oech, tells of the origins of the QWERTY keyboard.That’s right folks, the very keyboard you have probably been using today! Have you ever thought of why the keys were laid out in that particular way? Well the story goes that in the creation of the early typrwriters, the inventor C.L. Sholes who built the first commercial model in 1868 in a machine shop in Milwaukee, had great problems with the keys continually clogging up! Apparantly, those first fast typists, would jam up his sluggish machine. In an attempt to stop this happening, Sholes arranged the keys on his new typewriter in such a way as to slow the typist down. Sure enough he did just that and the conistant jamming of the early machines was also greatly reduced. Yes indeed, speed might have been reduced, but productivity was greatly increased.

I suppose there are two things for us to muse on tonight:-.

The first is, that sometimes it's good to slow things down so you can get things done! What things are you doing in your life that might be done better, might be accomplished more throroughly, might be more definitely completed, if you just slowed down the process a little! The old addage, that old English idiom of “More haste, less speed” is really quite true you know.

The second thing is that old habits of the past which used to be useful to you in reaching gaols, in accomplishing tasks, in moving forward, may in this new day, in this different time, simply be slowing you down! You may indeed be organizing new ideas, new dreams, new goals etc, around some very old ways of doing things and this might well infact be slowing you down substantially. You may have the heart of a 21st Century hotrod, the design of the latest Porsche even, but frankly, if you're sticking an old lawnmower engine in it, what’s the point?

Maybe tonight, your subconcious mind will come up with a couple of items in your life, a few engines, some motorized drives, that need your attention in the coming days by either slowing them down, or ripping them out!

So sleep well folks, you’ve got some thinking to do tonight and tomorrow and then maybe, some ripping work to do for the next wee while!

Listen:- Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees; And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed. 
Hebrews 12:11-13NKJV


 Pray:- Lord, teach me tonight and enable me tomorrow to unclogg my life. In Jesus name I ask it, amen!

Apr | 17 | The Night Light

Key Word:- DISCOVER

Title:- The Night Light

Psalm 119:55 I remember Your name in the night, O LORD.

Profane poet Henry Vaughan, had a complete change of direction in his writing which he attributes to “the blessed man Mr. George Herbert, whose holy life and verse gained many converts, of whom I am the least.” And so, a poet sees the light of Christ by the title and text of another poet. Here is what Henry writes about his conversion in his poem ‘From The Night’

‘Wise Nicodemus saw such light
As made him know his God by night.’

Night, can be terrible, cold and lonely and seem so very long. The 4.a.m. dog watches of the morning can possess your feet with such itching ice, that you long like a lover for the dawn of a warmer morn. There is another night however, a ‘night more lovely than the dawn’. This kind of night may be packed with fear and trepidation, even deep dark desperation, but it’s a night that will profoundly change us in the end, for it sends us to Jesus. Our motives for going are often those which some may class as selfish and inappropriate and be that as it may, for I tell you friends, I have never found a wrong motive yet that has caused a man to seek for the light in the darkness. I think it matters not how we arrive, or with what we arrive, as long as we arrive at the feet of Jesus. Kings from the far orient, bearing sumptuous gifts, beggars with empty bowls, howling mad men clothed in chains, sick women sagging with shame, soiled and sodden with their own blood, pious priests passing by, Jacob with his limping thigh…all came to Jesus in the deep dark night of their soul.

And so in love, He who cast the fiery stars into space, sometimes removes the light of our day, and introduces a terrible darkness into the centre of our being. A darkness so felt and so deep that only one light is visible in the distance; His light. And we desperately run to it, asking, seeking, knocking. Profound and personal are the visits to Jesus that we make to Him by night.

Listen:- With my soul I have desired You in the night, Isa 26:9

Pray: Oh bright Day Star from on high, come shed Your glorious light upon me. Amen!

Apr | 14 | The Dangling Jangling Keys

Key Word:- DISCOVER

Title:- The Dangling Jangling Keys

Revelation 3:7b,8 'These things says He who is holy, He who is true, “He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, and shuts and no one opens”…………” I know your works.

Is ‘inspiration’ just the emotional rush which we get when we are motivated to create in some sort of way? Or is it the feeling, the knowing even, that ‘This is it! At last, we are doing what we should be doing! This is my purpose, this is the predestined design of cosmic creativity towards me and the discovery of that same usefulness I knew was laid up as treasure within me. This is it!’ Is this the feeling of being inspired? Maybe.

So often though, that place of creative propensity, that God-like place of reached down, pulled out and glorious production; that place where we connect and feel purposeful, in full flow, divinely productive and definitely inspired; that place where the long and hanging mirror of the Imageo Deo lies covered in cobwebs in the inner halls of our inner man, untouched and ignored behind some locked door within us; that place, is long time inaccessible and now for many, many people, that God- like place of creative intensity, of inspiration, remains both out of sight and out of mind. It’s a crying shame.

How do we re-discover our lost inspiration, that Imageo Deo, and in the search, which door do we try or even dare to try to open? For often, when we try and turn the key, it would appear that someone has always changed the locks! Romance is just the same, ask any guy. What worked yesterday, will not work today, but you know, as in romance so with the search for inspiration, and maybe that’s just the way it should be?

So, if inspiration is like romance then, it needs to be fresh manna every day! Hope, strength and inspirational sustenance, just for the day. “Give us THIS DAY our DAILY bread.” Ah! Maybe that’s it? If so, where may I find the key of inspiration, the key to the image of God within me? Where can I find the key of satisfied and productive living today? My favorite poet, Stewart Henderson instructs us in this way: -

From where does inspiration come?
The braking bus, the grandeur slum
Graffiti rants on passive walls,
from students on their way to halls

The sideways drunks whose legs won’t work
the tummy bulge of Captain Kirk
the rhododendron’s scarlet blaze
malignant words time can’t erase

The honeyed smoke of burning peat
the prayer-still Sunday morning street
From where does inspiration come?
The weathered days of everyone

So, I wonder if you will find inspiration, life, the image of God and Jesus Himself with His dangling, jangling keys to all your golden locks, in all the shining wonder and all the simple but often, maudlin mundane-ness of this today that He has granted you.

God’s a graffiti artist and the writing is on the walls for everone to see. If only they would look! So, look, listen, find the Master in the mundane and see Him there with all the jangling keys, and then ask Him to open up the locked doors which are within.

Listen: - This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24…. Let the games begin.

Pray: - O Lord. Open up the doors and let the music play, let my streets resound with singing!

Feb | 12 | The One Necessary Root

Dream Word – DISCOVER

Matthew 13:20-21 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. NKJV

The One Necessary Root

“Whoever is uprooted himself, uproots others. Whoever is rooted in himself does not doesn’t uproot others.” So says the ‘mad mystic’ Simone Weil and of course, I do believe she is quite correct.

I do not wish to disparage Simone, this woman of phenomenal intelligence and courageous conviction, but her mysticism was quite, shall we say, ‘rooted in a broad spiritual context,’ rather than Christianity per se. Weil died aged just 34 years, during WWII. She was working 'beyond enthusiasm' for the ‘Free French,’ allowing herself only to eat what the German imposed food ration in occupied France allowed. Diagnosed already with T.B. she probable ate even less. Upon her death, it was ruled that she had committed suicide by starving herself while the balance of her mind was disturbed. In all probability Simone was severely Anorexic.

Weil’s last piece of work before her death was called ‘The Need for Roots’. In this work, Simone, while addressing the past of her defeated and dispossessed country of France, both proposes and plans an intricate way ahead for the future of her country after WWII. That is the context from which I have plucked here, her most interesting observation on roots, “Whoever is uprooted himself, uproots others. Whoever is rooted in himself does not doesn’t uproot others.” I think it somewhat lines up with some of Karl Barth’s observations on the love of God, wherein he argues that because ‘God is rooted in Himself,’ and therefore, ‘His love is an overflow of his essence that he turns to us’ (Church Dogmatics, p273).

Extending these two propositions of Weil and Barth, I wonder if it is correct that people who are rooted in completeness, overflow in giving life, and people who have no root, do not just whither and die themselves, but like a drowning man clutching at his rescuer, will from those same panicked, angry, power-seeking, self soul- satisfying, iron-gripped fingers, try and pluck out of the ground those very folks exuding the completeness and wholeness, that they so desperately desire to possess for themselves. I think there is some merit in my thinking, because Jesus alludes to this very fact as not only a natural calamity of growing wheat in this fallen world but as an act of total war from the great enemy of our souls himself, against the church of Christ! What can be said about these things?

Firstly, that we need to make sure we have a root within ourselves which is fixed in the completeness of God. The root is within us, but the fruit is outside of us, it overflows from us, it hangs down full of righteous seduction, dripping with succulent juices and ready to be plucked from bent branched trees. Always, always dear friend, look at your root and look at your fruit.

Secondly, that the felt choking from the world and even from professors in the church, of which there are many, are more indicative of their state than of yours. The strangling tare and the care of the things of this world, will always produce a choking on the fruit bearing trees of God. Be wise in these things, for you will know in your spirit, what the personal barrenness of incompleteness feels like and what the coughing, choking, of life-sucking, power-hungry, black hole, critical and condemning bad-breathed tares feels like as well! Know the difference. Fix both of them.

Listen: - "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'" Matthew 13:24-30 NKJV

Pray:- Lord, deliver me from the constant cares of this world and the tares of the enemy. Put soft soil beneath my weakling roots and soft spring showers and soft sunshine, above my sapling shoots, in Jesus name I pray, amen.