The Blood of Jesus: God's Ultimate Bail-Out Package

I'm meditating during this season on the power of the blood of Jesus, which is the ultimate "bail-out package" of all time. Every one of us was overwhelmed by the worst virus of all - sin. We were lost, sick, disqualified, banned from the life of God by our own choices, needing much more than any $2 trillion aid legislation could purchase - BUT GOD did it for us! 

Even as the blood of Abel cried out from the ground, and even as the blood of the innocents screams out for justice in our day, the blood of Jesus has a better word - justice has been served, mercy has been released, the door to the Father's Presence has been opened, and we are welcomed in! 

All that is necessary is that we agree with Him that we need what He has provided. The power of Jesus' blood covers it all - our rebellion and sin, our sickness, our loss of identity and destiny - all is restored by the power of Jesus' blood!

Drink deeply of this everlasting fountain today. As you wait for His intervention in this temporary circumstance, celebrate the sacrament of communion and appropriate the power of Jesus' body broken for you, and of His blood shed for you, and give thanks. Let your mind be renewed, your soul restored, and your body healed by the power of His blood. It is enough.

Finding Our Glory in the Knowledge of God

It's good to keep in mind the sovereign goodness of God, and that He is in charge of all the realities that confront us, even in times like these.

Marie was spending time in prayer last night, and was led to these statements from Jeremiah 9:23-24 -

Thus says the LORD:

“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
Let not the mighty man glory in his might,
Nor let the rich man glory in his riches;
24 But let him who glories glory in this,
That he understands and knows Me,
That I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth.
For in these I delight,” says the LORD.

Lovingkindness - God's covenant of love to act according to His own nature in relation to every person and situation.

Judgment - God's commitment to remove everything from our lives that hinders love.

Righteousness - God's perfect design that results in perfect satisfaction and fulfillment for all who submit to His will and His ways.

These Kingdom realities are the priorities of our God, as we become still before Him, submitting to His ways, we will come to peace and rest as He works all things together for the good of those who love Him and are called to His purposes.

Blessings on you all - Gary Wiens

Blessings on You and an Invitation for You

Good Morning, Friends! 

What a weird and fascinating time we find ourselves in right now! My prayer for us all is that we will seize this moment as an invitation to go deeper into the Presence of Jesus, to not just learn about Him, but to actually learn FROM Him.

This kind of forced Sabbath is certainly unusual for us all, but our choice is clear - we can press into our Savior's agenda, or we can self-medicate and miss a wonderful opportunity to align ourselves with the heart of our Father.

I'm sharing a link with you to a YouTube message by Mike Bickle, a good and trusted leader in the Body of Christ, and the Director of the International House of Prayer in Kansas City. He has a valuable perspective on the current situation, and I urge you to watch and consider. Here's the link:

https://youtu.be/KAaQGQOS6Ww

Blessings on you all, and may this day be blessed as you immerse yourselves in His Presence!

Gary

Seven Hands and the Seven Spirits of God

A couple of years ago, my wife Marie was getting ready for bed, and she sensed the Lord speaking to her, telling her to prepare a notepad and a pen because He was going to speak to her during the night. She was intrigued by this and followed the instructions. At about 2 AM that night she was awakened by the voice of the Lord speaking just two words: “Seven hands.” In the dark of the night Marie found her pad and pen, and wrote those words down. The next morning we began the process of trying to discern what that cryptic message could mean.

Understanding has come slowly. Although we knew that “Seven” is the number of perfection and completion, and that “hands” could refer to the working power of God through His people, Marie couldn’t get settled that we had the full interpretation. Then recently, she felt led to share this encounter with a friend of ours, Shoshana Rose Deweber, who is a leader in the prayer movement in Israel. 

Rose responded immediately with the sense that the “Seven hands” word was speaking of the ministry of the seven-fold Spirit of God that is referenced in Isaiah 11 as resting upon the Branch, the Messiah who would arise out of the stem of Jesse – namely, Jesus. This seven-fold Spirit is also spoken of in Revelation 4, pictured there as the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne of God. 

Here is that passage from the first two verses of Isaiah 11:

Isaiah 11:1–2 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.

It is my understanding that this number “seven” refers to the full and complete activity of the Holy Spirit, initially resting upon and empowering the ministry of Jesus, and now fully available to us as the Body of Christ. 

Over the next several weeks, I will be examining the Scriptures concerning each one of these manifestations of the Holy Spirit, and giving some practical ways that we as Body of Christ can access the powerful resource of the Spirit’s presence that is available to us. 

Stay tuned!

Gary Wiens

The Seven-Fold Spirit of God: The Spirit of Yehovah

In this series of articles, I’m looking at Isaiah 11:2, where the prophet articulates the seven-fold anointing of the Holy Spirit that will be upon the Branch of Jesse, who is Jesus, the Servant-Messiah. This post will focus on the first of these anointings, the Spirit of the LORD. Notice that in most versions of the Scripture, the capitalized “LORD” is replacing the personal name of God, which is Yehovah, or Yahweh.

At first glance, it might seem that this designation would not be separate from the other six, but would rather serve as a general heading for all the other dimensions of the Holy Spirit. However, when we look at the passages where the phrase “the Spirit of the LORD” is used, there are specific and powerful implications for us as the people of God. Please consider these thoughts:

There are a number of situations where the Spirit of Yehovah “came upon” an individual for a specific work of power in leadership and warfare. The Hebrew language that we have translated “came upon” literally means “to rush upon with great force.” Consider these examples:

In Judges 3:10, we see how the Spirit of Yehovah “came upon” Othniel, who was the younger brother of Caleb. The purpose of this anointing was that he might judge Israel (that is, rule the nation by the power of God’s anointing), and lead the armies into battle for the establishment of the nation in its God-given territories.

Then in Judges 6, we have the story of Gideon, how the Spirit of Yehovah “came upon” him in a powerful way for courage, for authority in leadership, and in miraculous power to deliver Israel once again from the ravages of the enemy. The idea in that story is that the Spirit of Yehovah “clothed Gideon like a glove,” and Gideon in effect became the hand of Yehovah to deal with the issues confronting the nation.

What about for us today? In the face of the coronavirus crisis with all of its implications across the spectrum of nations and cultures, we need the Spirit of Yehovah to rush upon us! I believe that these stories should give us courage to 1) pray for our leaders at every level of society to be clothed with the wisdom, power, and authority of God to lead our nation, our businesses, our schools, our churches, and our personal spheres of influence in the ways and character of God. 

Since the Holy Spirit was made available under the Old Covenant for such matters, and since we are the recipients of a New Covenant, and since we have been given THIS SAME Holy Spirit, it’s important – even essential – that we learn how to appropriate the power and authority of the Spirit of Yehovah to accomplish His purposes in our time.

So, the question for us is: where is the enemy at work, where is he trying to make inroads in your life, and in the situations that you care about? Certainly with the current medical crisis hitting the nations of the earth, there is a need for the power and authority of Yehovah to come upon our leaders at every level, and upon us as we stand to face the enemy. Come, Spirit of Yehovah! Rest on us your people, and give us victory even as you did in days past. You are the same, yesterday, today, and forever, so stretch out Your hand upon us, and give us your strength.

Through the might Name of Jesus, Amen.