Cancel My Insurance Policy!

It feels to me as if the one thing the enemy uses to successfully fracture the Body of Messiah and keep us at odds with one another is the misconception that one is either standing on the Word or flowing in the Spirit, upholding Biblical Truth or following where the Spirit leads.  I have yet to understand why and how these have become opposing positions! This battle would end if only we could fully understand what Yeshua was trying to teach us in John 4:23-24. It is the famous passage where Yeshua is with the woman at the well and He clearly says to her, "The hour is coming, and now is, when the TRUE WORSHIPERS WILL WORSHIP THE FATHER IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in SPIRIT AND TRUTH."  It is the word "and" not the word "or" that He uses!  We do not choose Spirit OR Truth! Our Master says the true worshipers will worship Him with BOTH.  Why is it so hard to embrace both equally in our lives?  Truly, we need both to grow into the fullness of Yeshua.

In Simon Guillebaud's excellent devotional he wrote this for the September 23rd reading: "The Bible can be likened to a road map and the Holy Spirit can be likened to a tour guide. The guide knows the map (indeed wrote it)! I can kid myself that I can get around fine by knowing the road map, but actually I need the tour guide to direct, reveal and empower me to get to where I need to go and do what I need to do. The Pharisees ultimately made the mistake of seeing knowledge of the Word as an end in itself, rather than leading them to an encounter with the Person of Jesus through the Spirit of God."

I loved that analogy as I love travel!  My various trips to Israel have all been different, and through those different trips I think I've fully experienced what Simon is trying to show us. On some trips we rented a car and used a map and we eventually worked our way through the country, but not without lots of errors, U-turns, surprise road blocks and unnecessary stops.  A trip with a tour guide who KNOWS Israel, makes the journey so much easier.  Not only do we avoid the errors and U-turns, but we glean deep revelation of the Land and it comes alive for us!  The tour guide knows the map and how to understand it, but he takes us further and brings it to life -- to an "encounter with the Person of Jesus."  

I am thirsty for the Holy Spirit.  I spent so many days, weeks and years moving in the flow of the River of God, composing songs, receiving downloads of teaching,  and embracing the peoples of so many different cultures with the deep love of Messiah. Now my days drone along inside this house, attending to the needs of my husband, cooking meals, doing laundry.  I cry out to Abba to lead me again into the fire of His Spirit.  Catherine Fox wrote, "The biblical images to describe the work of the Spirit - fire, mighty rushing wind and flood - are exactly the sorts of things we pay to insure ourselves against!" And Simon writes, "The difference between graveyards and nurseries is that one has perfect order while the other has life. If we live like we've got God figured out, we've missed Him."

I don't have You figured out, Father.  No, not even close!  I can curl up in my study with my coffee and pore over the precious pages of Your Word, and this is good.  But I need that mighty rushing wind to awaken me to the deeper revelation and open my ears to hear the Voice of your Spirit!  I know You are getting ready to move in a whole new way, and I don't want to miss it!  Cancel that insurance policy and send the rain!

Yeshua appeared on the Mount of Transfiguration (in Matthew chapter 25) in His heavenly glory.  Two appeared with Him there:  Elijah and Moses.  Why?  What is that picture supposed to show us?  The two represent Spirit and Truth - and only when the two are there together on that mountain does Yeshua glow in the full radiance of His divine nature!  I am praying that this division will cease and the Body of Messiah will come together to worship Him in Spirit and Truth -- as His true worshipers are called to do.