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.

Contending for the Presence of God

The Holy Spirit is speaking loudly and clearly these days through many voices from many different directions, summoning God’s people to pay attention to His agenda at this time in history. We have heard His voice clearly in our own personal times in prayer as well as through the urgings of prophetic declarations from many sources, literally around the world. 

His agenda? He desires to be present among His people in manifest power and authority, beyond what we’ve seen or heard about. There is a yearning in the heart of God to fully be Who He is among His people, fully released to bring His own kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy through the Holy Spirit.

One of the main ways He is capturing – even forcing our attention is by the presence among us of people who desperately need an encounter of the healing and restoring power of God. Because we have seen His hand at work in other times and in other places, we can no longer look past those in our own midst who, without an intervention of God’s healing and delivering power, face a future filled with pain, sorrow, and even death.

In those situations we are forced to admit that our current experience of God’s presence is lacking something. We need and want more, and so we make up our minds to sing a little louder, pray with more intensity, and contend with more seriousness for His manifest presence to come. It’s not sufficient to merely know the lyrics of a song like “When You Walk Into The Room, Everything Changes”. We need the lyrics of that song to become our norm, the reality of God’s Kingdom being manifest on earth as it is in Heaven.

Recently, in an early morning prayer meeting at SOZO Church in Belfair, Washington, I sensed the Holy Spirit say something to me that shifted my perspective on the matter of contending with God for His move among us. I sensed Him say that my emphasis had been on “CONTENDING with God”, as though He is an adversary that needs to be won over, and that I needed to shift that to “contending WITH God” as my Father and friend, partnering with Him in His desire. I sensed Him say to me that there were some realities He needed from me in order for Him to be present like He desires to be present, and I felt the weight of Heaven pressing down to earth, God’s yearning to be with His people in an unhindered way.

Isaiah 66:1 quotes the LORD saying, “Heaven is My throne, and earth is my footstool. What is the house that you will build for Me, and what is the place of My rest?” I believe that what is meant there is God asking, “Where is the place where My will can be carried out without resistance?” The reality He needs from me is to be in full agreement with HIS desire to come in power, with nothing in me that would stand in His way or resist the movements of His Spirit.

How about where you are? Is God contending with you so that you will contend WITH Him, that His will might be fully accomplished where you are? May it be so! Amen.

The Motivation of Seeking Righteousness

Why is this pursuit of righteousness so important in our lives? Because it simply means that we can become everything God intended us to be. I appreciate the Armed Forces of the United States, and it is with due respect that I say they cannot fulfill their promise to their recruits to “Become all that you can be.” The power to make us all that we can be rests with God alone, and is released only to those who find their craving for righteousness satisfied in God.

It really goes back to this most basic thing. God has a design for each of us that is perfect, and that will fit in perfect harmony with His design for the rest of His creation. Our happiness, the full realization of God’s blessing in our lives, is dependent upon that craving being satisfied. The release of power to bring healing, deliverance, and salvation to the people we love and to the nations of the earth depends upon His righteousness being formed in us. To try to find our fulfillment apart from that design is to live frustrated, empty, and unfulfilled.

There is a fascinating passage of Scripture recorded in Psalm 112 that speaks to the quality of life reserved for those who are found to be righteous. Consider these things that God says concerning this group of people (Psalm 112:6-12, taken from the New Living Translation):

·       Those who are righteous will be long remembered.

·       They do not fear bad news.

·       They confidently trust the Lord to take care of them.

·       They are confident and fearless, and can face their foes triumphantly.

·       They share freely and give generously to those in need.

·       Their good deeds will be remembered forever.

·       They will have influence and honor.

·       The wicked will see this and be infuriated. They will grind their teeth in anger; they will slink away, their hopes thwarted.

This amazing list of blessings is promised to those who hunger and thirst for all things to be conformed to reality. They will be fully satisfied, satiated with righteousness! They will see all things become as they should be, and that reality will literally last forever. We’ve decided that we want to be part of this group. Our hope is that you do as well.

Righteousness: The Source of Ultimate Gladness

Another dimension of Jesus’ commitment to righteousness is revealed in Psalm 45. The writer of this beautiful poem is singing a hymn of praise to the King, a love song that finds its ultimate fulfillment in the person of Jesus. Under the leading of the Holy Spirit, the writer makes this declaration about Jesus that points with boldness and clarity to the benefits of loving righteousness:

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;

A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 

You love righteousness and hate wickedness;

Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You

With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.

(Psalm 45:6-7, NKJV)

The rulership of God through His Son Jesus is revealed here as eternal. His authority is rooted in righteousness, and every decision will be made in line with how things really are. Now here’s the wondrous point: because Jesus loves righteousness and hates wickedness, God has anointed Him with the anointing of gladness more than any other man.

Do we get this? There is a direct correlation between the passionate pursuit of righteousness and the realization of gladness in our lives! To the degree that righteousness becomes our passion, we will live in the experience of joy. Do we see that righteousness cannot mean a suffocating system of external practices that are superimposed upon an uncooperative human nature? Rather, righteousness can only mean a deep conformity to the reality of how things are in God’s heart. As we are transformed by the love of Jesus, and become like Him by the power of the Holy Spirit, loving and pursuing righteousness and hating the perversion of it, we will find ourselves being flooded with gladness “more than our companions.”

This is why Jesus says we must hunger and thirst after this condition. The pursuit of righteousness must become the fundamental passion of our lives if we truly desire to reach our power potential. In the Sermon on the Mount, just a few phrases after He has spoken the Beatitudes, Jesus uses language that speaks of the intensity of hungering and thirsting after righteousness:

If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. (Matthew 5:29-30, NKJV)

Jesus is saying here that nothing matters as much as doing what it takes to be conformed to God’s character. So what if we lose something that seems really important now? In the end, we get it all back and more! Sometimes we count the cost of obedience and feel distress over what we will miss if we really get serious about God and His Kingdom. But Jesus is inviting us to consider what we will miss if we don’t get serious about what He is saying here. God is offering us full blessing and happiness, more power and authority than we will know what to do with, and we’re worried that we might miss out on some silly temporal pleasure. We forfeit an unimaginable and eternal inheritance of power and authority for the sake of something that is ultimately worthless! Oh, Beloved, we must get hold of this truth deep in our hearts!

Hunger and Thirst in the Life of Jesus

If we are to come into our full inheritance of authority on earth as it is in heaven, it is also essential that we perceive that Jesus is the model of each of these character traits. It is Jesus to whom we are joined in the true marriage covenant, and it is He who gives full expression to each of the Beatitudes. Therefore, to embrace the Beatitudes as our lifestyle is to cooperate with the process of conformity to His image, which is our destiny.

It is a compelling thing to consider that in the person of Jesus, God gave full expression of His desires for mankind through this one true Man. As a man full of the Holy Spirit, Jesus knew the heart of His Father, and lived His life in complete agreement with His Father’s will. This truth helps us to comprehend one of the more startling events in Jesus’ life, recorded for us in the Gospel of John:

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers doing business. When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen, and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables. And He said to those who sold doves, “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” Then His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for Your house has eaten Me up.” (John 2:13-17, NKJV)

Jesus came into Jerusalem filled with understanding from His Father gained in the place of intimate communion and prayer. He was fully aligned with the Father’s character, and therefore saw all things from the Father’s perspective. He knew what the Father had in mind when He called the nation of Israel into existence. He knew that the true identity of this people could only be realized in conformity to the Father’s vision for them. Therefore, Jesus had chosen His disciples based on the Father’s leading, seeing in them the destiny of apostolic authority even while they were immature and carnal. Jesus understood that the Temple was intended to be a prophetic window into God’s desire to have a dwelling place with His people. It was to be a place of communion and intimacy, a place of full access to all who would come, a place of mercy and grace where people would be invited into the empowering presence of God.

The spiritual leaders of the day, however, had turned the Temple into a religious bastion, a stronghold of legalism and oppression that served more to separate the people from God than to open the way to Him. The presence of the money-changers in the courtyard revealed a pollution at the core of the system. When Jesus encountered the situation He was blasted with the discrepancy between what was in His Father’s heart and what was being expressed by those who were set in place to reveal the Father to the people. The Temple had been so overrun with empty ritual that God had long before withdrawn His presence from it.

The text in John 2 says that Jesus was consumed by zeal for His Father’s house. In other words, a deep passion burned in Jesus’ heart for God’s people to realize their destiny as kings and priests in the Kingdom of God.  He yearned to see intimacy between His Father and His people, to see the power of God released upon the nation in the way His Father had intended from the beginning. Therefore, when Jesus encountered a religious system that produced the very opposite thing, He was enraged. He experienced what can truly be called “righteous indignation,” where His anger was rooted in His passion to see everything conformed to His Father’s image.

In our day, most religious systems find themselves on the other side of the spectrum. Rather than being overly concerned with external behavior at the expense of heart reality, the religious systems of our day shy away from any call to righteousness. We prefer to speak about a sappy version of love that makes no demands, that issues no call to radical living, and leaves us in our unrighteous mess. The Christian church today is filled with all sorts of compromise, greed, broken marriages, and open resistance to the will of God as revealed in the Scriptures. For fear of scaring people away from the institution, we have dumbed down the Gospel to the point of impotence, and then we wonder why twenty-four million believers have left the institutional church to seek an encounter with God that will actually bring change to their lives.

But impotence is not only the scourge of the mainstream, seeker-oriented institution. The churches that claim the power of God are just as devoid of anything beyond bells, whistles, and the occasional testimony. Once again I want to quote Bob Sorge:

We live in an hour where there is a huge gap between the Gospel we preach and the level of our experience in the Kingdom. We preach a Gospel of power, of healing, of miracles, of signs and wonders, of the resurrection power of Jesus Christ; but what we actually experience falls woefully short of the fullness we proclaim. The demonized come to our meetings and leave with their demons; the handicapped come in their wheelchairs and leave in their wheelchairs; they come to the meeting blind and leave blind; they come deaf and leave deaf. The lack of power in the church, at least in America, has us living under a great shroud of reproach. 

This caricature of New Testament Christianity is appalling to Jesus in our day even as it was during His time on earth. He longs to come and encounter His people in power, to bring cleansing and purity, and to release the authority of His Kingdom to His people in unprecedented ways. When Jesus cleansed the Temple in the event recorded in Matthew 21, the result of the cleansing was that “the blind and the lame came to Him in the Temple, and He healed them.” Oh, how we need a breakthrough of the righteousness of Jesus in His Church today!

Gary Wiens