The Believer’s Walk as Revealed in the Song of Solomon – Chapter 1

This book was written by Solomon to recount his love relationship and marriage to a lovely young Shulamite maiden. It is also a portrait of God’s relationship with Israel. The Song of Solomon is cherished as a guide and an inspiration for the Bride of Christ, the Church, and her relationship with the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ, and seeks to lead the believer toward a closer and more OBEDIENT walk with the Lord. The Song of Solomon became one of the five scrolls of the third part of the Hebrew Bible, each of which was read publicly at one of the annual Jewish Feasts. This one was assigned to be read at the PASSOVER. Passover also marks the beginning of the journey to the Promised Land.

The Proof of DESIRE is in PURSUIT

Climbing the Mountain of Faith

¹The Song of songs, which is Solomon’s.

By divine record we are informed that King Solomon wrote 1005 songs (I Kings 4:32). However, he entitled this story “The Song of songs”. Just as the inner sanctuary of the temple was the Holy of holies and Christ is King of kings, so this book is indeed “The Song of songs”.

• The story begins with Solomon’s bride speaking.

²Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth: for thy love is better than wine.

The bride’s intense longing is expressed as desiring “The Kisses of His Mouth”. We are all familiar with the kisses on the cheek. Even so, our longing will increase from seeking mere kisses on the cheek, occasional blessings, to pursuing a closer and more intimate relationship with Christ through His Word.

The bride says that His great love is “Better Than Wine”. Many times in Scripture wine represents the joys of the world. Once we have tasted of the kisses of His mouth, the meat of the Word, how far better is the love of God than all the pleasures of the world.

³because of the savor of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.

The virgins love the king because “Thy Name Is As Ointment Poured Forth”. His name has not been kept as bottled ointment but rather as ointment poured forth upon His people who now find new identity and power through the name of Jesus.

⁴Draw me, we will run after thee: the king hath brought me into his chambers: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, we will remember thy love more than wine: the upright love thee.

The bride says to the king “Draw Me”. As we serve the Lord, we become increasingly aware of the fact that “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” Mt.26:41. We not only need to desire Him, but we need to be drawn.

How do the virgins respond? “We Will Run After Thee”. The king takes his running bride “Into His Chambers”. When the king brings us into his chambers, we have entered into the secret place of the Most High, Psalm 91:1.

⁵I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon. ⁶Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: my mother’s children were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept.

The maiden had attended to other vineyards: job, ministry, and etc, but what vineyard had she left unkept? “Her Own Vineyard”; represented by the disregard for her complexion. If we are successful in all other areas of life, but neglect to attend to THE WORD, the source of our spiritual complexion, we have failed to keep the most important vineyard of all. Our vineyard can bring forth much fruit by abiding in the vine, THE WORD, John 15:5-7.

The maiden stated in v5 that “I Am Black”. She recognized that she did not have her own beauty, but through the love of the king she could declare to others “O Ye Daughters of Jerusalem” that she was lovely. The tents of Kedar were dark in appearance but the curtains of Solomon were delicate fine linen.

The closer we draw to the Lord the more conscious we become that we are arrayed in fine linen and made to be glorious, Eph.5:27. In Rev.19:7-8, the Bride of Christ, at the marriage supper of the Lamb, will be wearing “Fine Linen, Clean and White”.

⁷Tell me, O thou whom my soul loves, where thou feeds, where thou makes thy flock to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turns aside by the flocks of thy companions?

The maiden ask the bridegroom to tell her “Where Do You Graze Your Flock and Where Do You Rest Your Sheep at Noonday?” The maiden specifically requested the place of the noonday feeding. When the ancient shepherds in the east fed their flocks, they took them to the grassy riverbeds and springs when the heat of the noonday came. Therefore, the richest food was to be eaten at noon. We should covet earnestly the finest possible spiritual food, I Cor.12:31.

As lovers of God’s Word we should be in earnest pursuit of the rich grasses of the noonday feeding. For the shepherds of the east it was a difficult journey down the steep mountainside to the cool river valley. Likewise, to feed delicately on spiritual things may require extra labor to obtain the rich valley grass necessary to continue the inner chamber relationship with the Lord.

The maiden ask the bridegroom “Why Should I Be Like One Who Wanders Beside the Flock Of Thy Companions?” Why should the church be like one who wanders outside the blessings of God – the rich grasses of the noonday feeding?

⁸If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go thy way forth by the footsteps of the flock, and feed thy kids beside the shepherds’ tents.

Solomon calls her “O Thou Fairest Among Women”. In Deu.32:10; Ps.17:8, God’s people are called “The Apple Of His Eye”, an old English expression referring to the pupil of the eye. The phrase is used symbolically of something cherished, precious, and protected.

The king tells the maiden to “Go Thy Way Forth By The Footsteps Of The Flock”. The footsteps of the flock refer to the pathway trodden by other saints who have also chosen to pick up the Cross and follow Him.

⁹I have compared thee, O my love, to a company of horses in Pharaoh’s chariots.

To what are we compared? “A Company Of Horses In Pharaoh’s Chariots”. The horses of Pharaoh were reputed to be the best in the world. Along with their great beauty, they were strong, swift and courageous in battle!

¹¹We will make thee borders of gold with studs of silver.

“WE” speaks of the trinity of God. “Borders Of Gold With Studs Of Silver” refer to the crown being prepared for us that we will receive when in the eternal presence of God.

¹²While the king sits at his table, my spikenard sends forth the smell thereof.

The maiden perceives that the king could smell “Her Spikenard”. Spikenard was a very costly ointment that was extremely fragrant. It was a plant not native to Israel but imported at great expense. At His great expense, the Lord has planted the Christ life within that makes us lovely and fragrant with a savor far beyond any earthly plant.

¹³A bundle of myrrh is my well-beloved unto me; he shall lie all night betwixt my breasts.

The maiden says that her beloved is to her “A Bundle Of Myrrh”. Myrrh was a highly fragrant and costly spice imported to Israel. At great cost, our Savior was imported from afar and is highly fragrant to all who know Him. Myrrh was used to deaden pain, as walking with the Lord comforts us through the heartaches of this life. Myrrh was very bitter to the taste and refers to the cross we must bear as we serve Him, Mt. 10:38. Myrrh was used medicinally and was a cure for many ailments as our great Physician is health and healing to all who believe in Him.

To those who experience these various aspects of the Lord’s character, He is truly a bundle of myrrh; The Balm of Gilead; The Bread of Life; The Lamb of God, Jer.8:22; Gen.37:24-26; Gal.3:13; Is.53:5.

¹⁵Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.

Hearing her loving evaluation, the king responds wholeheartedly and says of her eyes “Thou Hast Doves’ Eyes”. Eyes are the window of the soul and have always been recognized as the place where character can be seen. The dove is the emblem of simplicity, innocency, and fidelity. We have been washed in the blood of Jesus and made to be innocent and pure like the dove.

¹⁷The beams of our house are cedar and our rafters of fir.

Solomon’s bride refers to the beautiful and strong wood to build their home together. When we are living close to the Lord, we too are building a strong and lovely home for His habitation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whjZTug_O-Y

(To be continued…)

MAN’S FIRST DIMENTION – THE SPIRIT

Kenneth E. Hagin

Man is a spirit who possesses a soul and lives in a body. Man’s spirit is that part of him that knows God. He is in the same class with God because God is a Spirit and God made man to fellowship with him. God made man for His own pleasure. Man is not an animal. In order to fellowship with God, man must be in the same category with God. Therefore, just as God is a Spirit, so man is a spirit.

We can’t fellowship with animals because they are in a different kingdom , a different class than we are. But we can fellowship with one another, and we can fellowship with God because we are the same type of being.

Jesus told the woman at the well in Samaria,

• “God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth,” John 4:24. We cannot know God or touch Him physically. He is not a man. He is a Spirit. We cannot communicate with Him mentally, for He is not a mind. He is a Spirit. But we can reach Him with our spirit, and it is through our spirit that we come to know God.

So we know that God is a Spirit. And yet God, who is a Spirit, took upon Himself a man’s body. Jesus was God manifested in the flesh.

• “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not anything made that was made… And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us…,” John 1:1-3, 14.

When God took upon Himself human form, He was no less God than when He didn’t have a body. Man, at physical death, leaves his body. Yet he is no less man than when he had a body. We see this in Christ’s account of Lazarus and the rich man at death,

• Luke 16:19-31, There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence. Then he said, I pray thee therefore, father, that thou wouldest send him to my father’s house: For I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment. Abraham saith unto him, They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. And he said, Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.

In Paul’s epistle to the church at Thessalonica we see a glimpse of man’s three-fold nature.

• “And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” I Thessalonians 5:23.

Another version translates this verse, “I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This three-fold man is to be preserved “entire,” without blame at the coming of the Lord. That will be a great day, for when the Lord comes, this whole man – spirit, soul and body – salvation, new birth,  will be preserved “entire.”

We have a new spirit now, for our spirits are born of God. But we will have a new body “at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.” We have a new life now, but we will have a new body then.

• The Bible talks about salvation in the past, present and future tense. When it talks about salvation in the past tense, its connected to the “new birth.” When it speaks of salvation in the present tense, its connected to the “renewed mind” Romans 12:2. When it speaks of salvation in the future tense, its connected to the redemption of our bodies.

More than one Old Testament prophet prophesied concerning Israel that God would establish a new covenant with the house of Israel. This new covenant is the New Testament as we know it. Through the prophet Ezekiel God said,

• “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and you shall keep My judgments, and do them” Ezekiel 36:26-27.

Ezekiel was prophesying the new birth. When a man is born again, the spirit (which is the real man) is born again and the old man is gone. The old hard, stony heart is gone. He is a new creature, as Paul said in II Corinthians 5:17,

• “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

The words “heart” and “spirit” are used interchangeably in the scriptures. Your heart is your spirit. When the Word of God speaks about the heart of man, it is speaking of the spirit of man.

Peter talked about the “hidden man of the heart.” He was telling us not merely to be concerned with outward adorning,

• “But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and a quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price,”   I Peter 3:4. This is the real man. It is not the outward man, the man of flesh and bones; it is not the body. It is the inward man.

Paul referred to the “hidden man of the heart” – man’s spirit – as the inward man.

• “…Though our outward man perish (another version says ‘is decaying’), yet the inward man is renewed day by day,” II Corinthians 4:16. The outward man, or the body, is growing older and “is decaying,” just as the house you live in is decaying and needs constant upkeep and repairs. But the real you is not getting older, for Paul said, “…yet the inward man is renewed day by day.”

You will never be any older than what you are right now. You are no older now than you were a few years ago. You know more now than you did then, but you are not any older. Your hair may become grayer and you may get a few more wrinkles, but the real you will never become old. For the inward man is renewed day by day.

Then Paul went on to say,

• “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things that are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal,” II Corinthians 4:17-18. You may be going through some kind of trial which is making your life miserable from the natural standpoint. But remember, it is just for a moment. For we look forward to something far more wonderful which will last, not for a moment, but for eternity.

“While we look not at the things which are see, but at the things which are not seen…” The outward man is seen, but the inward man is that hidden, unseen man. Too many people are defeated in life because they are looking at the wrong things. All they ever see is physical. Smith Wigglesworth once said “I’m not moved by what I see. I’m not moved by what I feel. I’m moved only by what I believe.” The only way we can look at the unseen is by faith.

The first verse of the next chapter is a continuation of what Paul was saying here. When Paul wrote this epistle it was all one long letter to the church at Corinth. Man has divided it into chapters for easier reference. Talking about things that are not seen and about the inward man, Paul said,

• “For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens,” II Corinthians 5:1.

The “earthly house” that Paul talks about here is, of course our physical body. He says that if our body is “dissolved…” if it dies and is placed in a grave, decays and goes back to dust, that is not the end. “…We have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens…” He is referring to the spirit of man, the inward man, that is eternal.

Paul continues on this subject further in this same chapter.

• “Therefore we are always confident, knowing that, whilst we are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord: (For we walk by faith, not by sight:) We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord,” II Corinthians 5:6-8. In v.6 Paul said, “we are always confident;” then again in v.8 he said, “we are confident…” Paul knew what he was talking about. He was confident that while “we (the inward man) are at home in the body, we are absent from the Lord.” But when we (the inward man, the real man) are “absent from the body,” we are “present with the Lord.”

Living in the natural, physical world as we do, it is difficult to realize that the spirit world is far more real than this natural world. We think of people as existing only in their physical bodies, and when they are dead as no longer existing. However, the scriptures tell us that the real man is the inward man, the hidden man of the heart, that he is an eternal being. He will live on long after his “earthly house” has returned to dust.

Death in the scriptures does not mean the cessation of life as we understand it. It means separation from God.

Leadership

Tim Tebow is not a religious symbol. He’s a shrine to the power of a strong, committed, passionate two-parent upbringing. Tebow’s performance on the football field is testament to Bob and Pam Tebow and what they instilled in their youngest child.

What should be dawning on us — is that, thanks to a rock-solid, two-parent upbringing, Tebow is quite different from other young QB’s in terms of mental and emotional makeup.

What do I mean?

NFL quarterback is a position best played by young men who were raised by strong fathers. Quarterback is the ultimate leadership position. You have to be taught how to lead. You have to be taught how to prepare.

Other young QB‘s, athletic freaks on par with Tebow, do not have Tebow’s nuclear-family foundation. These young QB’s entered the league emotionally immature and with a set of values inconsistent with the values that lead to consistent, strong QB play.

Tebow is the first super-athletic quarterback who also has the discipline to prepare. That’s a huge advantage. Tebow is winning because he curtails his mental errors. He’s thrown few interceptions and lost two fumbles since taking over as the starter for Denver. Denver’s winning formula is basic and old school. The Broncos stop the run, run the football and win the turnover battle.

You can’t build a revolutionary offense around a quarterback who lacks the discipline or maturity to prepare. As it relates to Tebow’s on-field performance, we should spend more time celebrating his two-parent upbringing.

THE THREE-FOLD NATURE OF MAN

By Kenneth E. Hagin

Man’s three-fold nature¾ spirit, soul, and body. Its quiet easy to distinguish the body from the other two. But its difficult sometimes to distinguish between the spirit and the soul. Nothing but the Bible can do that. “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit.” Heb.4:12

If they were the same, they could not be divided. If they were the same, Paul would not have said, “…I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,” I Thess.5:23

With the body we contact the physical realm. With the soul we contact the intellectual realm. With the spirit we contact the spiritual realm. It’s the spirit of man that contacts God, for God is a Spirit. The new birth is a rebirth or re-creation of the human spirit, for Jesus told Nicodemus, “…Ye must be born again,” John 3:7

Nicodemus, thinking naturally said, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?” Jesus answered, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

Paul said in Romans 2:28-29, “For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.” Paul was saying here that the spirit is the heart. They’re one and the same. [when the Bible talks about the heart, its not talking about your blood pump.]

In I Corinthians 14:14 we read, “For if I pray in an unknown tongue, my spirit prays but my understanding is unfruitful.” The Amplified Translation reads, “My spirit (by the Holy Spirit within me prays…”) In v.18 Paul said, “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all.” Paul used the terms “my spirit” and “I” interchangeably.

Briefly, man’s three-fold nature is this:

Spirit -The dimension of man which deals with the spiritual realm. The part of man that knows God.

Soul – The dimension of man which deals with the emotions, the will, and the intellect (mind or reason).

Body -The dimension of man which deals with the physical realm. The earth suit in which we live. To live on the moon you need a moon suit.

Courageous Worship Leads to Breakthrough for Our Cities

Caleb Klinge

When we think of Gideon’s story, we often think of fleeces and the less-is-more army of 300 trumpet-blowing warriors that defeated an innumerable host of Midianites because of God’s Presence with them. But this powerful story has an important background. Before Gideon could lead Israel to victory he had to experience victory in his own city.

Personal Surrender

Gideon had a response of true worship when he was first encountered by the Angel of the Lord. He presented his personal offering to the Angel of the Lord in Judges 6:21, and the fire of God consumed the offering. After this encounter, Gideon built an altar to the Lord. An offering represents a moment of worship, but an altar represents a lifestyle of ongoing worship and surrender. This altar became a foundation for every other breakthrough that Gideon experienced.

Divine Assignments

God has already pre-ordained the good works that we are to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). Altars align our hearts with Heaven and position us to receive these assignments from the Father and fulfill them with authority.

Once his personal altar was built, Gideon received his first assignment from the Lord. It wasn’t to rally an army. It wasn’t to form a strategy to lead the nation back to God. Rather, his first assignment was to build a furnace of worship in his home-town, the village of Ophrah. His personal altar of worship was the first level. Now his personal breakthrough would expand to influence the entire city.

In Judges 6:25-27, the Lord instructed Gideon: “Take your father’s young bull, the second bull of seven years old, and tear down the altar of baal that your father has, and cut down the wooden image that is beside it; and build an altar to the Lord your God on top of this rock in the proper arrangement, and take the second bull and offer a burnt sacrifice with the wood of the image which you shall cut down.”

This assignment required incredible courage. Most of the city worshipped baal, and his own father was the biggest baal-worshipper of them all! The altar to baal was at his house, in his backyard – and people don’t enjoy having their “idols” messed with.

Light was about to collide with darkness. This act of obedience would cause conviction to fall on a community that desperately needed repentance.

A Burning Company

So Gideon took ten men from among his servants and did as the Lord had said to him. But because he feared his father’s household and the men of the city too much to do it by day, he did it by night. Judges 6:27

Gideon was in a growth process. He was overcoming fear. Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the faith to act in obedience in the face of fear, trusting that God will back you up. Even though Gideon struggled with fear, he still obeyed.

So he gathered 10 men, a burning company to give a burnt offering (an offering that is 100% for God). In the middle of the night, these 10 men ignited a bonfire of worship in the center of their city that broke it through the status quo of idol-worship and into the purpose and Presence of God.

Never underestimate the power of praying and worshipping in the middle of the night with a band of brothers and sisters in your city! The wood of the idol they chopped down became the fuel for the fire of the true worship of God!

A Corporate Furnace

A personal altar (lifestyle) of worship is so vital, but it’s the corporate altars (2-3+ individuals) of worship that transform a city.

Gideon didn’t take 10 men with him to complete this assignment because of fear. He took this 10-man squad with him because the assignment was larger than him. It was an assignment that required a unified effort of a community, not just the passion of one individual.

Not only was the demolition of the altar of baal and the building of the altar of the Lord required, they were to offer a bull as a burnt offering. A full-grown bull weighs a ton, literally – up to 2,000 pounds. This expression of worship was more than an individual could give on their own. It would take a group to lift this offering onto the altar. It would require a community that made a covenant to worship the Lord doing it together!

Embers From the Fire

Authentic worship always creates a reaction. From David’s undignified worship to Mary’s alabaster box, we see that people either reacted by following suit or criticizing the one worshipping.

When Gideon’s village awoke in the morning, they saw their altar and idol destroyed, and 2,000 pounds of tri-tip smoldering on the newly built altar of the Lord. It created a reaction.

When the men of the city discovered that Gideon had done it, they went to his father in a full-blown mob mentality and demanded that he hand Gideon over so they could put him to death. But Gideon’s father had an unexpected response: “If baal is a god, let him plead for himself!”

Not only was Gideon’s life spared, but a major shift had taken place in his father’s heart. Gideon’s courageous, passionate worship broke the spirit of idolatry that gripped his father’s life. The embers from the altar of true worship will ignite a fire in the hearts of those who have lost their passion, and call them back to their first love.

Before Gideon ever led an army, he led a group of 10 worshippers to burn for the Lord in their own city. And this was the foundation of all the victory that followed!

As it was with Gideon, may it be in your city as you worship the King of kings!

Caleb Klinge
New Life Christian Center
Email: office@nlcci.org

About Caleb Klinge: Caleb is the lead pastor at New Life Christian Center in Novato, California, together with his wife Rachel. Located in Marin County, just north of the Golden Gate in the San Francisco Bay Area, they are passionate for an invasion of God’s Presence and Kingdom that brings regional transformation. His ministry is used by the Lord to release faith, encouragement, and breakthrough. Caleb and Rachel have been married for 14 years, and have two children, Benjamin and Phebe.

A Season of Redefining – From Doubter to Proclaimer

Garris Elkins

Each life is like a photo album that contains snapshots of individual moments in time. No life is fully defined by a single image. We are made up of a composite of our experiences. One snapshot of time does not define our identity. Our identity is in a Person, not in a label created from a single experience.

We all have moments in our lives when, if you caught us in that moment and took a single picture, we would all appear faithless. God never intended our lives to be held hostage to a single moment of failure or unbelief. God invites us to peel off those labels of failure and brokenness that do not reflect His heart and begin, once again, to move forward towards our true destiny.

The Doubting Thomas

In the Scripture Thomas is one of those people who was defined by a single moment in his life when he become universally known as the “Doubting Thomas.” The sad part of this label is that the Church continues to refer to Thomas as a doubter and not the man who interacted with Jesus eight days after His resurrection and trumped his initial unbelief with one of the greatest statements of faith in all of Scripture.

John 20:24-29 describes that interaction:

One of the twelve disciples, Thomas (nicknamed the Twin), was not with the others when Jesus came. They told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he replied, “I won’t believe it unless I see the nail wounds in His hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in His side.” Eight days later the disciples were together again, and this time Thomas was with them. The doors were locked; but suddenly, as before, Jesus was standing among them. “Peace be with you,” He said. Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here, and look at My hands. Put your hand into the wound in My side. Don’t be faithless any longer. Believe!” “My Lord and My God!” Thomas exclaimed. Then Jesus told him, “You believe because you have seen Me. Blessed are those who believe without seeing Me.”

When the disciples were first gathered in that locked room and the Lord appeared to them on the evening of Resurrection Sunday, only ten of the twelve disciples were present. Judas had killed himself. We are not told why Thomas was not present. To these ten disciples Jesus showed His wounds. They did not need to touch the evidence because the evidence was standing before them.

The disciples who were present when Jesus appeared excitedly said to Thomas, “We have seen the Lord!” Thomas did not share their joy because he had missed the occasion of their joy. If I were Thomas I would have felt left out because I would have just missed the most significant event of my lifetime. I would have felt isolated from the joy the other disciples were experiencing. Their words, “We have seen the Lord!” would have produced a sorrow in my heart, like salt in a wound, since there would have been no expectation of ever seeing Jesus again.

Thomas did what many of us have done – he made a vow in his pain. “I won’t believe unless I see the nail wounds in His hands, put my fingers into them, and place my hand into the wound in His side.” Thomas made a vow out of his pain that aligned him with faithlessness. Jesus said to Thomas, “Don’t be faithless any longer.”

What followed this command was a single word sentence with an exclamation mark – “Believe!” In the Greek language the word “believe” can be translated, “to entrust.” When Jesus commanded Thomas to believe, He was not asking Thomas to comprehend a full package of doctrine or somehow attain a complete understanding of the workings of God’s Kingdom. Jesus was asking Thomas to entrust himself to Him. Believing is entrusting ourselves to the Lord as a Person.

The Proclaiming Thomas

In the moment Thomas was commanded to believe something supernatural took place. Trust rose up in Thomas. As he saw the Lord standing before him without anger and condemnation, fully displaying the evidence of His resurrection, Thomas redefined his life with words that followed the revelation he was experiencing, “My Lord and my God!” The doubt Thomas was living under was now displaced by words of belief. The “Doubting Thomas” had now become the “Proclaiming Thomas.”

“My Lord and my God!” are powerful words. When Thomas declared that Jesus was Lord it meant he understood that someone was now leading his life who could be trusted. God would be faithful to move Thomas forward into the goodness He had planned. Thomas was professing belief in the trustworthy nature of the Leader-Lord.

The “God” part of what Thomas declared meant that Thomas was following Someone who lives in absolute resurrection power. The declaration of Thomas was the acknowledgement that there would be resurrection power available to raise Thomas above the limiting restraints of whatever he encountered as Jesus led him forward in life.

The text in John continues in verses 30-31:

The disciples saw Jesus do many other miraculous signs in addition to the ones recorded in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in Him you will have life by the power of His name.

The evidence of Jesus’ life and miracles are given so that you and I would continue to believe. The continuance of belief infers that we can stop believing. In his pain, Thomas had discontinued his belief. Thomas declared that he would stop believing until his demands were met. Jesus doesn’t meet demands – He meets people.

As powerful as Thomas’ experience was that day, our belief on this side of Pentecost has a greater potential. Jesus said there was a blessing for those of us who would believe (entrust) in the future without seeing the object of our belief.

Faith is an Action Word

In Hebrews 11:1 we read, Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.

Like Thomas we can lose our ability to believe if we tie ourselves to demands and vows birthed in painful circumstances when life does not work out like we thought it would. We can miss the promised confidence and assurance of faith if we tie ourselves to the sorrow of feeling left out of from whatever God is doing.

When we come to realize that God is good, and has good thoughts and intentions for us in all circumstances, we can then step into that place where true transformation is possible. In the moment I choose to lay down my demands, judgments, and vows and declare, “My Lord and my God!”, something supernatural is released into my life.

Faith is an action word. We can think faith is an action word that only has implications on this side of eternity based on what we do for God in faith. Faith is much more – it activates something in Heaven. When faith is displayed in the earth it draws on Heaven to assure us that what we just believed for will actually happen.

Hebrews 11:1 says that faith gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Faith gives us something. Every act of our faith contains the gift of assurance that is given when we exercise faith. These gifts of faith come to us carrying the residue of the environment of glory because they come from Heaven. The day Jesus commanded Thomas to believe, this incoming faith-evidence produced in Thomas the words, “My Lord and my God!” The language of Heaven was heard upon the earth and in a moment a man was redefined from doubter to proclaimer.

A Season of Redefining

Today, the Church needs to rethink its image of Thomas. The man who was once a doubter should now be evaluated based on his final words and redefined as a proclaimer of faith. We need to do this because there are many of us, who like Thomas, need to be viewed as a life-album, not a single snapshot. We need to make this adjustment because Thomas is not viewed from Heaven’s perspective as a doubter. Thomas became the very voice of Heaven upon the earth when he made his declaration about Jesus.

God does not want us living in the results of faithless words that do not define His full intent for our lives. Jesus has plans to visit our lives with the evidence of His resurrection power and this visitation will change the way we speak and live.

Where are you living and speaking words of unbelief? Go to that faithless place and begin to believe for His appearing. Let your belief become words of faith declaring the goodness of God. In faith, begin to craft words that reflect God’s heart for you and your circumstance. God has already made up His mind about you and He has nothing but goodness in mind when He thinks of you.

This is a season of redefining. You and I are the ones responsible to speak the redefining words. God is ready to turn Doubters into Proclaimers and He will use the very words of our mouths to redefine our lives.

Garris Elkins, Senior Leader
Living Waters Church – Medford, Oregon
Email: prophetichorizons@gmail.com

China’s House Churches Begin to Roar

Rachel Sparkman

In an historic move, Chinese house church leaders petition legislature to guarantee freedom of religion.

EDITOR’S NOTE: For dozens of years the world has witnessed the miraculous growth of the underground and house church movement throughout China in the face of grave persecution. Now house church leaders have gained an even stronger boldness as they petition their communist government. For Christians; these are our brothers and sisters-in-the-Lord, let’s remember to be supporting them in prayer. Just maybe we’ll see Chinese governmental leaders’ hearts be softened, not by might, nor by power, but by God’s Spirit. –Aimee Herd, BCN.

(Beijing, China)—In a historic move, clergy from dozens of mainland Chinese house churches are petitioning China’s legislature to guarantee freedom of religion and to peacefully resolve the recent church-state conflict involving one of the largest house churches in the capital, ChinaAid learned on Sunday.

This is the first such move in 60 years of Communist rule of China and represents a further emboldening of the house church movement, which for decades was active only in the countryside, meeting in small groups in private homes and careful to maintain a low profile to avoid attracting government attention to the illegal gatherings.

House churches in China are illegal because all Christian religious activity is supposed to happen only within the government-controlled churches run by the Three-Self Patriotic Movement, for Protestants, and the Catholic Patriotic Association, for Catholics.

The current conflict between Shouwang Church in Beijing and the authorities has now brought to a head an issue that has been simmering in recent years of how to respond to the phenomenal growth in China’s urban centers of these technically illegal house churches that have grown into congregations of hundreds and even, as in the case of Shouwang, a thousand members.

The petition itself was not yet ready for release on Sunday, but it was one of the items for prayer in the Sunday May 8 newsletter of one of the signatory churches, Autumn Rain in Chengdu, Sichuan province:

The church newsletter said:

“In response to the Beijing Shouwang Church incident that has continued for four consecutive Sundays and with the approval of the board of elders, Elder Wang Yi, in his capacity as minister of Autumn Rain Church, will join with the pastors and preachers of dozens house churches in signing a citizens’ petition to the National People’s Congress seeking a resolution of the church-state conflict and a guarantee of religious freedom. The dozens of preachers, in their roles as pastors of local churches, will also call on Christian citizens to sign the petition. Starting May 9, the church will pray and fast for three days for this first peaceful petition by Chinese house churches in 60 years (including the church’s regular day of prayer and fasting on May 12, it will be a total of four days). The board of elders calls on brothers and sisters to participate in the prayer and fasting in whole or in part, according to his or her own spiritual maturity and prompting (of the Holy Spirit). We ask the Lord to strengthen the church’s resolve, and protect and use this citizens’ petition to make an open and public defense of our faith.”

Confronting Evil

By James Robison

America and the free world will always be safer when evildoers and evil deeds are properly handled. People of faith should pray for justice to be done and thank God when lawbreakers and murderers are stopped. I am indeed grateful Osama bin Laden was taken out through the united efforts of the intelligence agencies, President Obama and his Security Council, and especially through the training, commitment, skill and personal sacrifice on the part of our Special Forces. Although it is likely we will never know who they were and who fired the deadly shot taking out a master of terror, we are altogether thankful. I pray protection for those service personnel and their families. President Obama is to be commended for taking the appropriate risks. No one should try to take credit. We should seek to give credit and honor to all who participated in this very important operation.

Permit me to address other very legitimate concerns which I believe also fall under the category of evil. Let me first emphasize that the only way these issues can be properly dealt with is through the same dedication, determination and unity that exposed terror’s figurehead and eliminated him. The hate-filled ideas he encouraged must be continually recognized and resisted by higher ideals; transforming faith, truth and freedom.

God the Father said He revealed Himself in what He created. In our own bodies we can study the white blood cells resisting evil bacteria and battling for our health by identifying, isolating and eliminating them. Whenever a germ or infection enters the body, the white blood cells snap to attention and race toward the scene of the crime. These cells are continually on the lookout for any sign of disease. When a germ does appear, the white blood cells have a variety of ways by which they can attack. Some will produce protective antibodies that will overpower the germ. Others will surround and devour the bacteria. In the same way, we must all together deal forcefully with evil. When the necessary response of healthy cells is adversely affected by a virus like HIV and do not respond appropriately, overall health is damaged.

Many concerned Americans and Christians agree that there is an obvious damaging viral worldview not only accepting bad moral, economic and social practices, but also encouraging them. The long-term cost and damage inflicted through these beliefs and practices proves they have come from an evil root. Teaching people to place their hope and trust in something other than God is, in fact, the very essence of evil because it encourages idolatry leading to misplaced trust, which ultimately damages everyone.

True believers fully understand that faith cannot be imposed, but neither should no faith in a supreme being be imposed by forcing people to violate their conscience and convictions. The practice of forsaking sound economic principles by political leaders, the federal government and their manipulation of people by routinely taking their money, mismanaging it, wasting it and driving our nation into unsustainable debt. This must be stopped or the general population will be led into subservient bondage to the powers that be. Unprincipled, misguided practices and abuses led to revolution, the founding of our great nation, and the establishment of the Constitution to protect us from such outrages. Today’s unhealthy sense of entitlement and expectation along with the demand to be cared for by the government at all costs to the people while continually building hate for the job and wealth creators is, in fact, evil. If continued, it will create an animosity greater than racism. This form of class warfare will cripple all potential productivity and destroy any meaningful way to assist the poor, suffering, elderly and helpless.

Offering false hope and solutions proven to be ineffective is in itself evil. It is a waste of time to just vent anger and frustration. Now is the time to pray without ceasing for God to bring His people together in heart-harmony and for our leaders to come and reason together with the same dedication, determination, and unity of purpose that exposed and eliminated the awful terrorist, Osama bin Laden. The evil controlling him killed innocent people of all races and faiths. The practices supported by a present-day, damaging, collectivist, statist worldview promoted and supported by misguided thinkers and leaders in our own nation kills futures, the economy, individual lives and freedom itself.

Yes, these are the same kind of foolish, idolatrous beliefs that led Israel into Egyptian slavery and kept them in bondage to others throughout their journey as revealed in the Old Testament. Even after God delivered them into the blessings of the Promised Land, they repeated the cycle of recurring bondage by forsaking God and truth. Start anywhere you want in the Old Testament from the books of the law to the Psalms and Proverbs, through the major and minor prophets and you will hear clearly the voice of God calling people to trust Him and not the arm of the flesh that this present world’s God-ignoring beliefs represent. (For a start, see Nehemiah 9, Isaiah 1, Isaiah 6, Psalm 78 and the books of Joel and Hosea.) Just as the prophet Hosea declared, we also are using false standards of measure. Present-day relativists and most who have the support of major media don’t even think there is a reliable standard.

My Christian friend, we are partly, if not largely, responsible for the present course of our nation because we continue allowing it. We have tolerated the violation of sound principles on the part of national leaders for many years. People claiming to have faith in God have been “at ease in Zion” – complacent, indifferent, uninspired, uninformed, and uninvolved. It is time now for us to get on our knees together and then stand up like a mighty army and help deliver the church and nation from evil. Pastors must join together sounding a clear alarm on the trumpet of truth so the people will prepare for the right battle in the right way and win by choosing righteousness. America’s founders purchased and established our freedom with words, weapons and their very lives. They died for it – surely we can live for it!

I am convinced if we make a firm commitment to stand and take action wisely, we can protect and preserve freedom with our voices and our votes. We still have the privilege and responsibility of choosing those who lead and the policies we support or oppose. We do have time if we recognize NOW IS THE TIME and return to God, restore freedom’s foundation and rebuild the walls of sound principles.

If you want to hear the absolute truth from a proven leader, a politician, an American President, read the following from President Calvin Coolidge:

“If in a free republic a great government is the product of a great people, they will look to themselves rather than government for success. The destiny, the greatness of America lies around the hearthstone. If thrift and industry are taught there, and the example of self-sacrifice oft appears, if honor abide there, and high ideals, if there the building of fortune be subordinate to the building of character, America will live in security, rejoicing in an abundant prosperity and good government at home and in peace, respect, and confidence abroad. If these virtues be absent then there is no power that can supply these blessings. Look well to the hearthstone, therein all hope for America lies.” (Vice-Presidential Acceptance Address, Northampton, Massachusetts, July 27, 1920)

“In Surrender is the Victory”

Eileen Fisher

The following corporate prophetic word was given by Eileen Fisher on April 19, 2011 during her weekly Prophetic School of the Holy Spirit meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado:

I hear the Lord saying to lay things on the altar. There has been so much inner turmoil and so much inner struggle, I kept hearing Him say, “I have made an altar for you tonight, to lay things on that altar. When you lay things on that altar, you’re giving Me the ability to be the Resurrected One.”

I heard the Lord say, “I am your agreement tonight. I am your agreement tonight.” “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20 KJV).” He is bringing that agreement right now.

“Surrender, surrender, surrender. In surrendering is the victory. When you surrender, I become your defender. When you surrender, I become your fighter. When you surrender, I take you into My arms and I restore you. I implore you: Surrender, surrender. In surrender is the victory. You are weary from fighting and you are weary from being fought upon.

“Prayers of Transformation”

“For some, you have turned the other cheek only to have someone else hit that other cheek. Tonight I will come as the King and I will place My hands very gently upon each cheek and speak healing to you. As I kiss you on your cheek, I will tilt your head upward and say, ‘Look beyond the Cross, the grave, the resurrection. Seek the throne, My throne.’ Let no other throne have power over you.

“Man may suggest, but I enforce. Man may come and woo you and persuade you, but I draw you and confirm and assign you. Man will strip you as they stripped Me, but I will clothe you and not leave you naked. I will clothe you with power and a sound mind. I will take those broken dreams and broken promises and I will mend them with My own hands.

“I will take My wounded hands and I will grasp your prayers. I will lift them up with My broken body and they, in turn, will become resurrected prayers – prayers of transformation; transformation, because I went through transformation. You, too, shall go forth in transformation. You, in turn, shall pray this for others, that they may be transformed.”

“I Do Not Break Covenant”

“I am looking for a people to transport My power, who will transport My power without touching it, or claiming it, or even naming it – but declaring it. I would ask you tonight as you celebrate My death, My crucifixion, My resurrection: Will you allow Me to resurrect you? My Blood is still alive and I am touching you tonight with My Blood. You are called into an eternal covenant. I do not break covenant; I guard, I enforce and I commit to it,” says the Lord your God.

I heard the Lord say, “Force feeding causes life; how much more miraculous it is for My people when I’m force bleeding! Bleeding death out, bleeding My life in. I am taking things out which leave an impure deposit from man trying to co-mingle their flesh with My Spirit. In My Blood there is no co-mingling, for it is pure and overtakes everything; because My Blood is by far the greatest, for it is Eternal Blood.”

Eileen Fisher
Eileen Fisher Ministries
Email: eileen@eileenfisher.org

Peppermint Earns Respect in Mainstream Medicine

News Release

“Our research shows that peppermint acts through a specific anti-pain channel called TRPM8 to reduce pain sensing fibres, particularly those activated by mustard and chili. This is potentially the first step in determining a new type of mainstream clinical treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS).” -Dr. Stuart Brierley

(Adelaide, Australia)—University of Adelaide researchers have shown for the first time how peppermint helps to relieve Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which affects up to 20% of the population.

In a paper published this week in the international journal Pain, researchers from the University’s Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory explain how peppermint activates an “anti-pain” channel in the colon, soothing inflammatory pain in the gastrointestinal tract.

Dr. Stuart Brierley says while peppermint has been commonly prescribed by naturopaths for many years, there has been no clinical evidence until now to demonstrate why it is so effective in relieving pain.

“Our research shows that peppermint acts through a specific anti-pain channel called TRPM8 to reduce pain sensing fibres, particularly those activated by mustard and chili. This is potentially the first step in determining a new type of mainstream clinical treatment for Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS),” he says. (Photo: University of Adelaide)

IBS is a gastrointestinal disorder, causing abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation. It affects about 20% of Australians and costs millions of dollars each year in lost productivity, work absenteeism and health care.

“This is a debilitating condition and affects many people on a daily basis, particularly women who are twice as likely to experience Irritable Bowel Syndrome,” Dr. Brierley says.

“Some people find their symptoms appear after consuming fatty and spicy foods, coffee and alcohol, but it is more complex than that. There appears to be a definite link between IBS and a former bout of gastroenteritis, which leaves nerve pain fibres in a heightened state, altering mechanisms in the gut wall and resulting in ongoing pain.”

Dr. Brierley says the recent floods in Queensland and Victoria could result in a spike of gastroenteritis cases in Australia due to the contamination of some water supplies in affected regions.

He said case studies in Europe and Canada showed that many people who contracted gastroenteritis from contaminated water supplies went on to experience IBS symptoms that persisted for at least eight years.

There is no cure for IBS and it often comes and goes over a person’s lifetime. Apart from gastroenteritis and food intolerance, IBS can be brought on by food poisoning, stress, a reaction to antibiotics, and in some cases is genetic.

Dr. Brierley is one of 25 researchers who work at the University of Adelaide’s Nerve-Gut Research Laboratory, hoping to find cures and treatments for a range of intestinal diseases.

Source: University of Adelaide