Recently, I was walking and talking with the Lord. I have 38 years of journeying intentionally with Jesus. Thirty eight years gives enough time to have done a lot of things right… and many more things wrong. It gives many chances to observe things as you saw them when they came and then how things unfolded. Yet, you are able to come back to what God has said and know that it’s still true, but not have a clue how it could ever be.
All of this gives me a great opportunity to look at chaos with a whole other approach.
When we first get saved and we’re excited about God, we are trying to stop chaos from happening.
I’ve become aware that chaos is the ingredient of beauty. It is the movement of God where it can no longer be controlled by the circumstance of man, where God begins to call light to shine out of darkness.
So, I’m walking with the Lord saying, “Dad, you know, You spoke these promises, some of them decades ago. Now You know my life and my capacity”… I’m like Abraham now…I’m getting old enough to know that I don’t have the ability now to produce what I first thought I could.
I say, “Wow, You saw all of that and yet You made the promise knowing that this would be the outcome of my life. Yet, You were confident in Your Self that You could complete what You said because it wasn’t up to me. It was up to what You do by what You said.”
And so all I have is chaos. He then said, “I like chaos. I like confusion. I like voidness. I like brokenness.” And I just kind of dropped and I said, “Yeah, exactly. Every time You broke into the earth in a powerful way, the earth was in chaos. Politically, religiously, physically, and You broke in.” So we’re really in a perfect place.
A few months ago, Jesus started speaking to me about the generation, which we all are a part of, whether we are the war generation, the baby boomers or whoever. All of us all the way down to the 12 year olds today are immersed
in a complexity of darkness that will require an intervention of God to break through most of it. He also said that He was coming to liberate His people.
I have told you this before because it was a profound experience and it continues. I see in demonstration how it’s happening. And I would say to you, in a big way, right now, is the day dawning and the Morning Star rising that’s
happening.
This is in 2 Peter 1. Peter who saw the glorified Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration and at the end of his life he was writing in his last letter. It says, I want you to have a good record of what I have seen and what I have taught you so that you can be reminded after I’m gone. He then goes into this moment of transfiguration of Jesus and talks about the glory and the overshadowing of God over them. He goes on to talk about you have this word as a light that shines in a dark place This is how he described us in life.
We hold salvation through Jesus Christ that can feel and look like. It is indeed a light that is shining in a dark place. He says, until the day dawns and the morning star rises… So the light that we hold, that is shining in a dark place, will once again overtake darkness. It will dawn. It will rise. And this Morning Star will be seen again. Christ will be revealed inside His body. I know that for this to happen it won’t be a mental thing, a will thing, or a works thing – it’s going to be a GOD thing. Just like the first advent was a God thing. And so in Luke 1, let’s take a moment and read it, verse 26 And now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: a;nd; the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father David: And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. Because this will be by the instrument of Holy Spirit. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah; and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is
the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.
This story, that we are so familiar with, is happening again inside the Body of Jesus Christ in a very vivid, real and as tangible way. Yet, it is may be because it is a multi-membered body, much larger and probably difficult to discern. But then again, that day was difficult to discern too. There was only one angel. There was only one Mary. In a moment of time, something was taking place. Mary believed the word. What it takes for life in the Kingdom is the word of God and the Spirit of God to become one.
The word of God believed is the same idea for seed and sperm. This is where we get the word seed as it mixes with faith and settles into our spirit. The Spirit of God is the gestation, life, molding, flow and force that causes that which we believe to come to pass. This can take 400 years, 40 days, 40 minutes, or 40 seconds. This depends on what it is that we hear and believe, and what God is intending to do with what we hear and believe. We can try to hasten a word, passed into a 40 day cycle that is a 40 year promise. We can’t get it out of the 40 year promise because God is sovereign. We can try to delay something that God is hastening. But, we can’t delay it, because again, God is sovereign.
Once God’s word has been spoken, there is the power inside itself to come to fulfillment and there comes forth a sound. Carriers of the word recognize other carriers like Elizabeth and Mary. And they recognize that once the word of God is conceived in you, your voice begins to become a sound that carries the word. And that voice can be heard by others who are carrying the word or promise. Then the Spirit of God quickens, awakens and connects.
Now, think about this. Mary received probably the greatest revelation anyone has ever received as an individual and the greatest promise, the greatest honor. She is most blessed among women because of what she received.
Now, you would look at her life then and you would have to say, “I’m not sure if I would call what followed ‘the most blessed among women’.”
The first thing is that her marriage falls apart because, remember, her husband wasn’t there at the meeting. He didn’t hear the prophecy and he’s not so sure that there is such a thing as the virgin birth. Though the scriptures say it, he’s not so sure.
His mind goes natural and he plans to put her away which is why she heads off to Elizabeth’s house, which is the first prophetic conference of the New Testament. They gathered together and they shared prophetic sound to strengthen one another.
This is what we need to do and this is why when we gather. We do for each other what we give to each other. We release sounds. Sound begins to increase and the voice of God begins to be heard in our voices.
This is so important; and that’s what I believe is going to happen on Wednesdays by the Spirit of God to move each of us forward in our destiny. This is because, you’re not in this house if you have not heard the word of God
already. Even if you’re saying, “I’m not sure I want to go with the word of God. You have heard something that called you and we’re collected together like a company of Elizabeth’s and Mary’s and Simenon’s and Anna’s.
We are simply a people that are continuing in a journey that we’re not sure anymore what that journey even is.
God got a hold of Joseph, and Mary and Joseph got back together. They have to live in Nazareth, where everybody knows that they aren’t fully married…and yet she’s showing. And then to make matters worse, she’s got to go to Bethlehem because of some governmental decree. It’s just ridiculous. They then couldn’t find a hotel because they forgot to use Expedia before they took off. Then they were having a baby in a shepherd’s field.
A new mother, or an expectant mother, has a dream of a birth just like a younger women has a dream of her marriage. They rarely go like the dream. All of our daughters might say, “How could this be happening? I was
supposed to be this or that…” This is part of what happens when you carry something and it’s not your own. It is very inconvenient.
The Sovereignty of God is overriding the personal desires of a woman. The baby dedication wasn’t any better because she was told that she was going to have a sword piercing her heart so that her thoughts and her experience would open up the thoughts and hearts of many. This was because this child was destined for the fall and rise of many in Israel. Which is really a good clue that you’re going to fall before you rise when you meet Jesus.
Now, you’re barely getting resettled in this new city that you’ve decided to live from – it’s not like driving to San Diego and back. You walked there, now you’re living, you’re building and about 2 years later you get this enormous greeting from the Far East. These Magi that come, that you don’t really know who they are, or how they’re dressed, or their language. But they come and offer these gifts. No sooner have you felt like, “Whoa, this is a huge confirmation” that Joseph’s waking up and saying, “Mary, the angel showed up again and said we’ve got to leave right now. Right NOW.” Now, you’re on your way to Egypt. Who wants to go to Egypt? You know, it’s just not what you were dreaming of.
And, along the way, you hear the reports. There has been a slaughter in the town of Bethlehem. Herod, this madman, this envious, jealous king, has slaughtered all the infants, 2 years and under. Every male child is dead. And
you’re glad you’re gone, but you’re so sad of what has come.
Here you are in Egypt, living, growing, planning to stay there and again, the angel comes to Joseph, “Take the child and the mother and go back to the land for he who was seeking to kill him is no longer alive.” So, you journey back to Israel. But you don’t go into Judea because his nephew is now ruling and he’s as crazy as rest. You head on to Nazareth.
Here you are, full circle. You are growing up carrying a baby, then a child. He then grows up to be a carpenter and He starts a ministry. You’re so proud of Him because he’s such a good rabbi until He comes back and preaches His first sermon at the synagogue. Where they get upset at His association, with Himself, to scripture. They can’t receive the Christ because theyknow the Nazarite, the Nazarene Jesus and His parents and brothers and sisters. So they can’t receive the new Jesus because of an old Jesus that they knew. They want to get rid of Him. It just continues all the way on. Half way through His ministry, His family was trying to pull Him out of where He was going because He was going beyond where He ought to be. They want counsel with Him. He wouldn’t receive them in a meeting even though it’s over-crowded there’s no special seating for them anymore, because He says, “Anybody who does the will of the Father, and anyone who listens to the voice of the Father is His mother and His brother and His sister.
So all of a sudden, as His mother, you’re outside of any special claim to this One you carried through all these seasons. Can you imagine? Now this is Mary. And she didn’t know this when she said, “Be it done to me according to your word.” None of us know what it means when we say, “Be it done to me according to Your word.” If you could fast forward what it means when you highlight in yellow in your bible, you might keep your highlighters in your pocket. This is because you don’t know where the word of God is going because it is the light. He is the light.
Now, just to close that little picture of Mary, think of two days that are really touching. One is the crucifixion and the words of Jesus, when He looks down at His mother, who is just beside herself. He says, “Woman, behold your son,” pointing to John His disciple. He says to John, “Behold your mother.” And all of a sudden there was that tender, connecting, affirming, recognizing value. It was a very precious moment. Heaven recorded it, one of the seven words of Christ.
But then, the next one, I think, probably had to be a kicker. In the midst of these 119 “newbies” of the Holy Spirit, they were all drunk in the Spirit, speaking in other tongues, having the time of their life with this glorious outpouring of the Spirit. There’s one other elderly lady and she’s thinking, “I’ve been here before. I know Holy Spirit. Same Holy Spirit. Same Holy Spirit. Same Holy Spirit.” And she was just relishing, not only in the new birth and the identity and the immersion, but she’s thinking, “We’re in the second advent. It’s begun. The Spirit of God that overshadowed me and put Christ in me. Now, the Spirit of God is overshadowing flesh and causing the sound of the voice of God to heard…the prophetic, the vision, the dreams, the movement. Ahh, I’ve been here.”
It’s like when we were in the Charismatic Renewal and we’d have the Pentecostals in the group saying, “I’ve been there before.” When the laughing in the Renewal hit in Toronto and everybody’s going, “Could this be God?” Cammy and I knew it was God because we had been in it a hundred places because that’s just one of the things God does. He’s happy! And most of us are way too sad. If not sad, we’re too serious.
He ignites and releases. And so there’s always that, “Yes I’ve been here…let it go…keep it coming.” That’s the Holy Spirit. It’s not even that short of a history. Holy Spirit is back in Genesis 1:1 and 1:2 isn’t He? God created the heavens and the earth and the earth was form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep and the Holy Spirit was hovering over the waters.
Holy Spirit, darkness, void, without form. This describes anything God is about to do a miracle in. You want a miracle? Just check your life out. Is there a wreck somewhere in it? That’s where the miracle is coming. Is there a disaster some place? That’s where the miracle is headed. Is there a place that is without form? Is there a wasteland? Is there a difficult situation? That’s where the miracle of God will come because God brings out of the unseen to create the seen. He brings out of the ashes to pull forth beauty. The substance of chaos is where God moves.
We, as Believers, hear words and we interpret their fulfillment in one way and then we’re in some sovereign transaction. It wasn’t Caesar that said, “Hey I think we need more money in our tills. We are going to tax the world and find where everybody is.” Yes he thought those thoughts but they did not originate with him any more than Cyrus thought the idea that we ought to agree with Daniel’s prophetic voice to send back the treasures and rebuild the Temple.
We are a part of something so huge. In fact, Holy Spirit today, in Romans 8 says that this is basically His continual ministry – He hovers over the body in our “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know where to go. I don’t know how
to pray. I don’t even know what to pray for.” He says, “Don’t worry. I like chaos. I thrive in confusion. Let Me in.” We say, “I don’t know where I’m going.” He says, “Let Me brood.”
The word brood is like when He hovered. It is where we get the word brood like a hen over her chicks, or a “resting”. Holy Spirit rests over chaos. Marinating movement.
Chaos is a great definition. Check it in the dictionary. It is when nothing will submit to practical application. When you go right, it goes left. When you plan up, it goes down. When you say stop, it gets going. Chaos is the precursor for every new dispensation of God. Every dispensation of God is bred in chaos or birthed out of chaos.
So what is the Holy Spirit doing? He’s going and He’s saying, “Come on. Let Me pray for a few minutes. How about, let Me just speak in other tongues with you. Or let Me just lean into that emotion that you’re praying. Let Me give you My emotion that you can feel. Let the sound of My voice rise. Let Me do it because I know where we’re going. I know what the Father is doing”.
I’m so excited about what’s about to happen. I am so thrilled about what’s going on. He is the God of Hope. Holy Spirit is in charge of hope. Jesus is in charge of faith and Father is in charge of love. Now they all exemplify
all three attributes, but God so loved that He gave His Son. And Jesus kept going on about faith and Jesus dwells in my heart by faith. Romans 15:13 says that the God of hope will fill us with joy and peace in believing we can abound in hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Wen you bump into Holy Spirit, He’s overly optimistic. You’re about to quit, but He says “Let’s go now! We’re ready!” And so He says, “Come on, I’ve got the plan and I know the Man. Jesus is the One you’re being conformed to. I’m going to take everything, everything (not some things, maybe only the good things you did for God), everything and conform it and pull it into the ‘Good’ column.
You see your life in the 70% ‘Bad’ column, and 30% ‘Good’ column. Before this thing’s over, all that is in the 70% ‘Bad’ column goes over to the ‘Good’ column and the ‘Good’ column looks like Jesus. That is overly simplistic but
true to the promise of God.
He’s hovering over the face of the deep. He’s just brooding. How long? We don’t know. Time had only begun to be recorded at the fall of Adam. We don’t know any of the pre-Adamic fall or pre-Adamic state. Days only started to
be counted when the word said “Let there be light.”
Holy Spirit is the One we want to be aware of. He’s the precursor to the miracle. He’s the precursor to “Light be.” He’s the precursor to Christ being conceived. He’s the precursor to Christ being seen again. He is moving. Yet if
you can plug up the well or stop the river from flowing then you can delay the maturity of the seed because you’ve got to have water for the seed to grow. You’ve got to have the flow. And how do you stop water? You cause offense, trauma, betrayal, distraction, confusion, multiple ways, but you find that you’re stopped. When there’s either an invitation to open up or a nudge to believe and you say, “Nah, I’m not sure, no wait, I’ve got to make sure this is true this time.” And yet, the whole of the kingdom is this childlike, “Sure, Dad. Why not?” I’m yielding again.
In yielding to the Holy Spirit, there’s no guarantee of what is going to happen. Because, in sovereignty you will be moved as needed to be where you are to be at the time of the revelation of the manifestation, the unveiling of
completion.
In this journey, we may cry – I know I have, I am the most miserable die-er, complainer there is. Men, you know this is a simple truth. Why do women have babies? Because men wouldn’t. Why do women pray more than
men? Because men won’t.
There is something about a birthing that is not very fun. And usually at the time you are in these moments of transition, we want to stop the whole journey. We want to just go backward into something that was safe. But you can’t go safe; you can only go forward.
Cammy said something so profound, and I think it is totally apropos to the whole body of Jesus. We were sitting at the table at Thanksgiving and we had all of our kids except Christy and Marcus. Her dad, my mom and brother and I were talking about what we were thankful for. She said, “I’m thankful that we have all as a family, everyone encountered obstacles, struggles, troubles, distress, and for something challenging our movement…but no one has stopped moving forward.”
I thought, “That’s the Lord. That’s God.” That’s all He asks of everyone in this room. “Don’t stop moving forward. Don’t stop looking for the day to dawn and the Morning Star to rise. Don’t stop. We are carrying Christ.” We are carrying Christ just as Mary was carrying Christ. But it’s more beautiful and manifold than it was then, because we’re now carrying the glorified Christ. We’re carrying the One who’s coming the second time without regard to sin. We’re bringing someone who’s going to shift things so radically. The peace-giver. The lover. The light that shone in Christ when He was in His first advent which John 1 talks of so beautifully. It says …we beheld His glory as the only begotten Son of God. Then in Romans 8, we’re told that the Holy Spirit’s job isn’t to bring us into the image of the only begotten Son of God, but to bring us into the image of the firstborn among many brethren Son of God.
This is because of what Jesus became through His resurrection. Now we are being conformed too! It iss Holy Spirit! He’s brooding, waiting. Because only Father knows when it’s appropriate, perfect to say, “Light be.”
In “Light be,” that’s another way of saying, “Sons of God, manifest.” Sons of God be revealed again in the earth. Earth, yield again to the goodness of God through the Sons of Go!
Upcoming Events
Wednesday, December 3, 7pm: The next two Wednesdays, are going to be Holy Spirit Wednesdays, where we will all lay hands on as many of the body, stirring up the gifts, and releasing the prophetic word. Holy Spirit He is brooding over our chaos, calculating our promises, awakening hope, as He works all things together for good.
Sunday, December 7, 9am: Richard and Christina Woldum will share, “True Love”.
Sunday 10:20am: Nations Prayer – Reigning with Christ on earth as priests and kings to our God – Releasing the Kingdom to the Nations. Join us in being a House of Prayer for all Nations.
Sunday 11am: I will share “The Power on the Endless Life-Jesus in Fulfillment in His Body. Jesus is alive maturing and fulfilling Himself in every one of us. The song of the overcomers is now being sung.
This Sunday we will host the second Sunday of Jacobs Dream Christmas Fair. Following both the 9 and 11am services. All are invited to come “Christmas Shopping” as members sell their products and
