THE GIFT OF WISDOM

As this year draws to a close I am hearing and thinking much about WISDOM. It is interesting that it is one of the gifts God gives to His people, and yet I hear far more about those who seek the prophetic gift, or healing, miracles and faith - it causes me to wonder how many have actually asked that they might be given a measure of the gift of the message, or words of, wisdom.

Since I was very young it has fascinated me that Solomon, considered the wisest of all men, and who incidentally became a very wealthy man, was asked by God what gift he wanted. In a dream the Lord said "Ask for whatever you want me to give you" - WOW couldn't we all come up with some wonderful answers to such a question!

Solomon's reply was that he wanted to have a 'discerning heart' and God's response was that he would give to him a 'wise and discerning heart'.

As a teenager I read this and figured if that was what a wise man would ask for it had to be a good idea - and so did the same! Only time will tell if that request has been granted, but it began in me a life time pursuit of something that was better than the so-called wisdom of this world that hasn't led us to a very good result.

As we walk towards a new year I find myself again pursuing this and feeling that it is in God's heart for us all at this time as we are going to need it.

In 1 Corinthians 2:7 Paul speaks of "God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began."

So much is written and spoken of the pursuit of His glory, but perhaps the route is a different one, maybe it would be a better idea to be pursuing wisdom?

If the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of widom" it brings us full circle back to the place of loving HIM with all that we have, of seeking first the Kingdom of God and He promises that everything else will be added to that.

Maybe Solomon in his God-given wisdom understood this, knowing that to have a wise and discerning heart would always bring him to this place?

David, Solomon's father, had esteemed wisdom, and maybe he passed this on to his son with very good effect.

Anyway, we do well to learn from the past - that is wisdom in itself.

Blessings for this coming year of 2006.

BREAKING/TEARING INTO A NEW SEASON

I am writing this with the full understanding that we only see in part, and I have a true sense of this being the beginning of something new the Lord is opening up to me in prayer and intercession. However, this morning it seemed there was revelation coming with it that might be helpful to others who have found themselves caught in this process, and for that reason alone I am emailing one or two to share what has been happening. If it makes no sense feel free to spit it out!

A little background first. For many years I experienced a particular kind of identificational intercession that is extremely painful but whenever I was drawn into that place I would see results come quickly afterwards, so I really believe it was a drawing and working of the Holy Spirit. I am not talking about emotional stuff here, or the flaky things we see in intercession, but it goes deep and breaks through walls.
This lifted for a while during the time I was in a leadership position in the church and had to approach prayer on a more corporate, and at times, national level. However, in the season of having left all the corporate things behind, there seems to be a return to this type of intercession, with even more intensity than before.

Recently I felt the Lord making me very aware of what the ‘breaking’ of His body meant. Some of you may have read the comments I put on my blog, but basically I saw how incredibly precious each one of us is to the Father. His great desire to be close to us meant that He took the most precious One He had and allowed Him to be literally ‘broken’ for us. As He was showing me this I ‘saw’ that there had been a breaking open in the heavens at the time Jesus was broken – if you like a piece of open heaven that allows us access to the throne room any time we want to go there in the Name of Jesus. Most times we don’t even think about it, let alone access this place and draw down what has been made available.

Jesus began the work of forming HIS BODY here on earth when He rose to sit at the Father’s side. This Body is formed by His instruction that we should love the Lord our God and each other with everything we’ve got! When events take place that are contrary to this there is a ‘tearing’ in the very fabric of HIS BODY. Way beyond the pain and damage that is done to human beings when relationship in families and churches breaks down, there is a tearing in the spiritual realm that is even more significant in its effect.

The last few weeks I have experienced intense physical pain and also a high degree of emotional pain whenever I’ve been talking with, or praying for, people who have been involved in such situations, either causing them or affected by them. At first I thought it was my own reaction because of past events, but it has continued to escalate to a point of becoming almost unbearable. Usually when this happens in intercession, the Lord will bring me to a breaking point on the issue myself, where the whole intercession releases to Him and events quickly take place after that. (Unfortunately that point has not yet been reached!)

The greatest pain has been on my mind and on my back – my back literally feels as if it has been whipped and torn open a lot of the time right now. As I experience that I remember that it is by His stripes we are healed, and that healing is ‘in His wings’.

I believe that He wants us to look at what has taken place in our lives, families, churches etc. with new eyes. As we embrace the tearing and brokenness with forgiveness and humility, I believe He is going to move us through the place of His breaking in the heavens to release something new to us in the earth. Last year He told me He would begin to show us the mysteries, and I believe that revelation is coming now.

As we understand that the healing He is releasing first of all into the ‘spiritual tearing’ of the fabric of His Body is now taking place, then we can begin to cry out for it to be released fully in His Body on the earth. It will be in this looking beyond ourselves, and loving and caring about what has happened to His Bride, that He will bless us with a new release of His Spirit and a new wave that is to come. I believe the prophetic people in the nation are already feeling this and there are areas opening up before them where they will have particular influence. We need to be careful to not make our area the whole, as even in this we see only in part.

Just as there was a great release when Jesus was ‘broken’ for us, so there is coming a new release as we have been ‘broken’ for Him. I am very excited about 2006 and sincerely hope this encourages you also.

GLORIOUS HOPE

Where does this glorious hope reside? I read that it is "Christ in you, the hope of glory", that means there is a hope that resides within me. Is it my hope, I dont believe so...it is the hope of God through His Son... it is the hope of the world revealed in the Sons of God that all of creation is groaning and waiting for.

How can such a hope reside in the midst of sin and broken pieces of life? Because Life Himself was broken for you and me.

A glorious vessel of purity and peace, broken open for us so that the precious life that flowed out of Him on the cross, the blood that was shed, made a way for something of heaven to reside in a man or a woman.

How incomprehensible to our selfish human hearts this is!

The preciousness of heaven poured out upon the earth, the most precious gift that God the Father could possibly give He gave because of the overwhelming love He has for each of us.

I sense that the breaking of the heavenly, so that forgiveness and peace might be ours, is so seldom before us in the life we live and the things we do.

Would our circumstances be too hard if we could see heaven breaking above us?

Would our pain be too great if we could see heaven shattered by it?

Would our trial be too difficult to overcome if we would see heaven overcoming it in an instant of time?

O Lord, open up our hearts and eyes to see that there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING You have not already overcome for us in that moment of pouring out and breaking.

In the tearing of His body, there was a tearing of the veil between God and His children.

Dearest, most generous and compassionate Lord, may we learn to see the breaking over our individual lives that it might be effective today and always.

FLAMES OF FIRE

His messengers are 'flames of fire' - just how fired up are we? Would anyone meeting me know that there is fire inside of me that burns with passion that is way beyond anything this world has to offer? Do each of us have any idea, or any desire, to have the smoldering coals that we call faith burst into life in a way that will not only change things around us, but bring us into disrepute in some quarters and cost us dearly?

How much do we truly desire this fire, that we could sing the amazing revival song :

"O God of burning, cleansing flame, send the fire!

Your blood-bought gift today we claim, send the fire today!

Look down and see this waiting host,

And send the promised Holy Ghost,

We need another Pentecost,

Send the fire today.

We have seen God move in many ways, but would we yet say we have had another Pentecost as we look at what remains after the fire?

What will it take? What would you give us God if we cried out loudly enough? How much of what you pour out could we manage to carry?

There are many questions, and while we ask them people are dying. Dying for lack of God, for lack of love, for lack of hope, for lack of healing, for lack....lack....lack.

Do we sufficiently feel that lack? Does it become our magnificent obsession to be in some supernatural way empowered by God to carry His fire and His flame out into the needy world - they will not be neutral - they will either love and embrace this or hate it and persecute!

HIS messengers are FLAMES OF FIRE!

CHALLENGES OF PRAYER

In the midst of preparing notes for a teaching stint in a local church I have to examine one more time what I think and believe prayer to be, or rather, not what I think but what does THE TRUTH say about it.

Every time I do this I am challenged to change my thinking in some area or another. At the very least my understanding is deepened by this challenge with the hope that those on the receiving end are going to benefit in some way!

In the preparation and my personal reading I came across a gem from Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk with a great gift of communciation that helps us understand the monastic life of prayer, its benefits and its trials. So here, in case it blesses someone else in their search, is a quote from "The Sign of Jonas" by Thomas Merton.

"Contemplative prayer is the recognition that we are the sons of God, and experience of who He is, andof His love for us, flowing from the operation of that love in us. Contemplative prayer is the voice of the Spirit crying out in us 'Abba, Pater'. In all valid prayer it is the Holy Ghost who prays in us: but in the graces of contemplation He makes us realize at least obscurely that it is He who is praying in us with a love too deep and too secret for us to comprehend. And we exult in the union of our voice with His voice, and our soul springs up to the Father, through the Son, having become one flame with the Flame of their Spirit. The Holy Ghost is the soul of the Church and it is to His presence in us that is attributed the sanctity of each one of the elect. He prays in us now as the Soul of the Church and now as the life of our own soul - but the distinction is only real in the external order of things. Interiorly, whether our prayer be private or public it is the same Spirit praying in us: He is really touching different strings of the same instrument.

YOM KIPPUR

This has been a strange day! What does the Day of Atonement mean in a country where there are fewer boundaries by the day, men are their own gods, and everything is relative? You dont have to repent of anything if everything is ok if it feels ok! I begin to understand why the Desert Fathers left the combination of church and politics, and the various philosophies of this world behind and headed out to live alone in the wilderness.

Even as I write this, I know that it also takes a different kind of maturity and understanding to live without all of the above - all that we would leave behind - because we have not yet learned to live completely without them. Long term they have influenced society and thinking, but in the short term there was probably just solitude, sand, and a whole lot of struggles!

What does it mean to completely live a life in Jesus Christ, totally led by the Holy Spirit, working it out in our day to day existence. How can this be done? Today I tried to spend time just contemplating the nature of this day and all it means between me and God, and really came to the end feeling like I didnt get very far at all - imagine a lifetime of such days, such struggling and grappling with ourselves, to make a meaning out of so little.

So, tomorrow is new, and everything in it, and I intend to make the most of that. Tomorrow I will meet with Him again, and reach into the depths of His wonderful heart of love, forgiveness, tenderness and compassion for me - the one who didnt do so well yesterday - and I will walk on with my hand in His. He will hold me when I would let go. He will keep walking when I would fall down. He will bring me water to drink when I find the desert too dry to bear. He will continue to be my all in all, my everything.

STORMY WEATHER

The weather we are experiencing right now in Auckland, NZ, is wild and stormy. Heavy rain, high winds, even hail at times - and this is supposed to be Spring!

Right now in the heavenly realms, there is pretty similar kind of weather. There are dark clouds and storms, and we can feel the effect of that around our lives. The unease, pressure, sometimes even downright gloom.

Last night I had a picture of the darkness that we face, and yet that is precisely what we are to do - FACE the storm, even walk right toward and into it.

It looks as if there is not even a small glimmer of light to show the way, and yet as I looked at the picture, suddenly great bolts of lightning began to flash, each one brightly illluminating the path.

As we are willing to face the storms of life, and especially the current one. As we have the faith/trust to walk forward and not shrink or run from the challenges. There will be periodic and very timely releases of amazing revelation which will light the way for us, and give us the courage to pursue the way we have been called to walk in.

Keep walking and look for the revelation that will surely come. I am reminded of the beautiful poem by Minnie Louise Haskins:

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, 'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God, that shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!' So I went forth and finding the Hand of God trod gladly into the night. He led me towards the hills and the breaking of day in the lone east. So heart be still! What need our human life to know if God hath comprehension? In all the dizzy strife of things both high and low, God hideth his intention."

WINTER IS OVER

"The winter is over and past and gone..."
Tonight the clocks go forward and we will have more daylight for a time. Guess that is a little like our lives - there are times of greater light than others.

How reliable the seasons are and it makes me wonder why we ever despair! Just as the seasons come and go, so do the dark and light seasons of our lives.

Let's make the most of the season of greater light, drawing everything possible from it - every joy, every glorious encounter with others and with God. When there is a little less light, we can look back and continue to draw joy and encouragement from what was before, knowing that it will come round again.

Why in our human frailty do we always think this moment is our "all" and take what it gives us as being all we will ever have. How quickly we forget the joys, sorrows, blessings, of other such moments in time.

Lord, give us the wisdom to look a little wider;

give us hearts that expand and hold a little more;

give us hope in the darkness;

give us memory of the light;

Help us to remember that just as yesterday came and went;

so tomorrow is just as likely to do the same.

Hold us in Your great heart that is so much bigger than ours

and help us to hold on to that in order that we might have

something precious to share with another as the moments come and go.

CLIPPED WINGS!

This old eagle has had her wings clipped a bit recently. The friend from Africa lived, and has come to visit to be restored in the 'clean green' of New Zealand. Time for our very frequent rain to wash away some of the African dust! However, all people things take time, and there is a little less for contemplation and winging away into the places that are so enjoyable in prayer.

Things are changing, even though I dont feel so right on the button with them. It was a delight to read there are others like me. There are others out there who dont fit the mould called 'church' any more, and are exploring the possiblities of something new, and much more in touch with the communities in which we live. How can salt have any effect if it never touches anything? Somehow we lost our flavour along the way, and the light was dimmed a little. All that clips the wings too.

So here we are, a little band of us, wanting to be more in touch with those around us who need a touch that is kind, and a heart that shows warmth, and perhaps a little light shone upon their path. May we learn daily how to be more effective in this, and in loving one another in the process.

PERSPECTIVES

My friend is sick, and my heart is troubled that he is in Africa, serving God, and has become so desperately ill. My friends' home was broken into - violation of their private space - and some possessions taken, and my heart is troubled that they have been upset in this way. My young friends are battling for their marriage, and my heart is troubled that this is taking place, even though I know that coming through this will make them stronger.

It is good that my heart is so troubled for them. I do not feel an absence of God in all these circumstances, but the quiet reassurance that He is here, knows and is involved in each of these circumstances. It is good that my own heart is stirred to be constantly remembering them and reminding the Lord that I also care what happens.

It is this higher perspective that gives us hope and life. It is not a place of desperately grappling with and for something in the midst of the trees, unable to see anything but the problems. No, my heart is at peace in His love and yet stirred for the plight of others. Is this not the mission of prayer. I know that God 'looks on the heart of a man' and knows that it is feeling the distress of another. I believe this makes a way for His love and compassion to flow into their circumstances, and for help and change to come swiftly to them.

So, my heart remains troubled for my friends, but it also remains at peace and knows that help is on its way!

FLYING FREE IN A HIGHER PLACE

This is where the name came from as I begin putting the things I see on this blog - it was a wide-awake vision of an eagle flying, and with it came a strong sense of new things ahead for those who are willing to pay a price and be extended beyond their present comfort zone - lost in the trees, never quite finding their way, or finding that there are constantly obstacles in their way!

~~~~~~~~~~~

I can feel the raw newness of what is ahead. It is raw, fresh, and edgy in a way we haven’t felt for quite some time. It looks like bush/forest, wet from rain, when the sun comes out. You know it is beautiful but not comfortable. It is beautiful but still being viewed from a distance and not yet engaged.

I see the eagle swooping and dipping in the clear blue sky above all of this, seeing it’s surface but not knowing what is hidden below the shining, glittering, surface. No space to land has appeared.

As the eagle swoops over the forest many smaller birds begin to emerge and also fly around above the trees, as if they are being awakened to their ability to do so. Their numbers increase until there is much activity. “Cannot see the wood for the trees” comes to mind.
It seems something new has begun but it is not visible in the midst of our current life and circumstances. I see a very strong prophetic call being released to call people up higher. As they rise to this call and seek all that heaven offers them, they will move into a clear space and begin to see and move in the purposes of God in a fresh and new way. There is a clear distinction here – the call is to the purposes of God, not of man, and this will not be found by man’s direction, but by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Felt to read Psalm 139 as is seems to give good direction for this journey which is INTO the Lord.

As I watch the flying eagle, smaller birds, and glistening treetops, the sun appears to shine continually brighter, and the sky becomes filled with golden light.

The scripture that seemed to cover what I was looking at is found in Ezekiel 43 v 2:
…and I saw the glory of the God of Israel coming from the east. His voice was like the roar of rushing waters, and the land was radiant with His glory.

Eagleswings

First blog!

This is the first go - so it is an accomplishment in itself! Guess you could call it 'take off'! :)