In his book “The secret of Guidance”, late nineteenth century pastor and author F B Meyer wrote about the importance of reordering our worldview around what he termed as fact, faith and feeling.

“We repeat here our constant mistake about the things of God. We try to feel them. If we feel them, we believe them; otherwise, we take no account of them. We reverse the divine order. We say feeling, FAITH, FACT. God says FACT, FAITH, feeling. With Him feeling is of small account—He only asks us to be willing to accept His own Word, and to cling to it because He has spoken it, in entire disregard of what we may feel.” F B Meyer, The secret of guidance.

Meyer saw these three elements as influencing factors in our quest to discern the will of God for our lives. He challenged the prevalent practice of believers prioritising their feelings when it came to believing what God says in His Word. Instead of giving precedence to the promises of God in Scriptures, believers tend to pay more attention to their feelings which almost always are determined by circumstances and surroundings.

In my opinion, this “constant mistake” of prioritising our feelings above all else is a symptom of a more dysfunctional chaos that is going on in the believer’s life. Most of us would probably agree with the understanding that human beings are basically tripartite beings – body, soul and spirit. The chaos I speak of lies in the incompatibility of the Christian life with the dominant influence of the body and soul over the spirit. Before I elaborate on this let me first briefly revisit the concept of the tripartite being.

Body, soul and spirit

At the risk of oversimplifying this complexed idea, the body is the recipient of knowledge mainly from our five senses. The information we receive from these senses interact with our existing experiential knowledge to make up what an individual would perceive as fact or “truth”. Based on the inner processing of this information the body responds accordingly to the outer world with actions that effect ourselves and our surroundings.

The soul on the other hand is that inner “part” of a person which processes the information received from the body at any given moment. We speak of the mind and intellect, feelings and emotions, will and choices – these are all active cogs in the inner processing of a human being that ultimately expresses itself through the body in the way we think, speak and act.

The spirit of a person has been vastly ignored for centuries as it neither can be observed or proved. In recent years however there has been an awakening to the spirit component of a person and many seek after spiritual experiences. So what is this third element we refer to as the spirit? I tend to liken the spirit of a person to the operating system in a computer. You may have a computer that runs on the Windows operating system, the Mac OS or maybe an open source Linux system. What software or applications you use is very dependent on the operating system your device is on. The operating system is the ecosystem of your digital device. The spirit of a person is the ecosystem where the soul and body function in. It is the core of a person. A way of being which governs the person.

The spirit as an ecosystem

The spirit of a person has three possible “operating systems”. The “ego” or self-directed worldview, is and ecosystem where everything revolves around a person or a people group and culture that the person has an affiliation with. The “ego” is the most popular “operating system” in the world we live in. People in this ecosystem pledge allegiance, are committed to, embrace a particular belief system and adhere to a way of life because it nourishes their self indulgent needs. Words like self-esteem, self-image, self-made, self-worth are all familiar language in this ecosystem. Ideologies, institutional religion, economic and political systems – these systems thrive in the “ego” environment. The “ego” worldview is only about me, myself and I.

The second “operating system” that can dominate a person’s spirit is the demonic realm. Not many Christians, let alone church leaders, would be comfortable talking about the demonic realm but Biblical writers did not shy away from their obligation to warn believers of the dangers of this controlling environment. The apostle Paul spoke plainly about such things. In his letter to the Corinthian church he instructs them to receive back a person who had been disciplined and excluded from fellowship due to his harmful behaviour. In his exhortation to forgive and receive back to fellowship he highlights one of the reasons being the hostile and evil environment the man could be susceptible to outside the Kingdom of God.

2 Corinthians 2:7, 10-11 (NKJV) …so that, on the contrary, you ought rather to forgive and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one be swallowed up with too much sorrow…Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

The context teaches us to be vigilant and not ignorant of the devices of Satan and the demonic realm to take advantage of people in their pain and misery. Again to the Ephesian church Paul instructs vigilance in keeping their defenses up against the evil ecosystem.

Ephesians 6:12 (NKJV) For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

I don’t think anyone chooses to allow their spirit to be dominated by this ecosystem but it is a present danger to all who are outside Divine protection. Everyone who is not living in the safety of the Kingdom of God is susceptible to the evil that is ever present to “steal, kill and destroy”. The demonic realm as an “operating system” is all darkness, all wicked and all evil.

The final ecosystem that can dominate a spirit of a person should they choose it is The Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God is the original “operating system”. This ecosystem was best described as a garden in Genesis 1 and 2. Everything that exists in this environment functions under God’s Divine authority. Nothing can exist within this ecosystem unless it is subject to the will and rule of God. The Kingdom of God is the manifestation of the goodness of God. The Kingdom of God is good and only good.

James 1:16-17 (NKJV) Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

God is good and only good. God is light and no darkness exists within Him. As such there is no evil that can survive in the Kingdom of God.

John 1:3-5 (NRSV) All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

The Kingdom of God is the way of life believers are called into. We are called to be born again into the Kingdom of God. In keeping with my digital world analogy, the invitation is to have our spirits reformatted to this new operating system called the Kingdom of God. That is the very gist of the Lord’s Prayer. When we pray the Lord’s prayer we are praying for our spirit to be reformatted to the Kingdom of God “operating system”. We are availing ourselves to be subject to God’s ecosystem.

When God dominates our entire worldview (Your kingdom come, Your will be done), then our entire lives are influenced by this. Our cares and concerns (our daily bread), our relationships with God and others (forgive us…as we forgive those), and the everyday moment by moment decisions (lead us…deliver us) – areall dominated by God, His rule and His will. This optimal place of being, where God is be all and end all, is what Paul refers to in his letter to the Colossians.

Colossians 3:15 (NKJV) And let the peace of God rule (arbitrate, umpire, direct) in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Paul speaks of a place we can come to in our Christian walk where there is peace in our entire person. Our body, soul and spirit at peace – “set at one”. The wholesome me, the tripartite being, is in harmony and not living in contradiction. This state Paul calls “the peace of God” is where Divine direction, wisdom and discernment occur. Our spirit, functioning in God’s ecosystem, creates a conducive environment for the soul to find it’s balance. Our mind, will and emotions functioning in perfect harmony – being led by God the Holy Spirit.

Submitting our spirit to the Divine environment of the Kingdom of God is the only way we will see ourselves functioning under the divine order F B Meyer speaks of : FACT → FAITH → FEELING.

Philippians 4:8 –9 (NKJV) Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things. The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you.

FACT – Submitting ourselves to the truth of the Word of God and what the word of God says about us and our situation. Don’t start your day with the diagnosis. Don’t fill your mind with your surroundings or your circumstances. Let the Word of God be the beginning and the end of your day. Look up promises of god in Scriptures that are relevant to your circumstance and pray those scriptures repeatedly through the day.

FAITH – When your mind is full of the word of God and the promises of God, faith automatically rises within you. A supernatural confidence and hope that can only come from the Holy Spirit fills your spirit. Confidence and hope are the 2 natural ingredients of faith (Hebrews 11:1).

FEELING – When your spirit is full of faith (Divine confidence and hope), your soul and body respond accordingly. Everything in you moves in the same direction, “set at one” – that peace of God – dominates your entire being.

Renovation of the heart

It is time for a spiritual make over. Reformat your inner being today.

• Recommit your life to God afresh.

  Surrender your life in full to Him. That simple prayer “Your kingdom come, Your will be done” – that is all that your need to pray. Pray that daily. Pray that until it becomes a reality in your life. Until your spirit operates solely on the Kingdom of God.

• Reorder your life everyday

  Start everyday with this Divine order FACT → FAITH → FEELING

  FACT – Make God’s Word your truth. When fear or doubt creep in, return to the fact – what did God say in His Word?

  FAITH – keep filling your mind with the Word of God. As you meditate and pray His promises daily, you will be filled by the Holy Spirit with confidence and hope.

  FEELING – that Divine confidence and faith will permeate your entire being and govern your feelings and your actions.

Exodus 33:11 (NKJV) So the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.

I was 13 years old when I first read this verse. A few weeks prior to this I was in prayer with my family, and the Holy Spirit turned up. I was filled with such an overwhelming sense of God’s presence and I burst into a new language I never heard before. I was speaking in tongues. I was praying for this gift since I heard about it some months before this encounter. The experience transformed me. My whole worldview changed. I began to desire spiritual things. I was hungry to know the Scriptures. Then I came across this passage. It was mind boggling that God would speak to a man “as a man speaks to his friend”. There was nothing I desired more than to speak to God face to face. I became obsessed with this idea. That was all I could think about, pray about. I got to the point I was sick to my stomach longing for such an encounter.

Years have passed since then and I have had some amazing encounters with God – but I haven’t spoken to Him face to face. I haven’t had the experience the man Moses had, where God spoke to him “as a man speaks to his friend”. Don’t get me wrong. I hear God regularly. I hear Him through the Word, through circumstances I like to call God-incidents, through men and women of God and many times just in that silent inner serenity which the Apostle Paul called the “peace of God”. Recently this desire that came to me when I first encountered the Holy Spirit returned again. It crept up unexpectedly. As I was reflecting on the past, the only thing I felt a longing for was this desire I had as a young boy. A naïve desire that said, “if Moses could have it, I want it too.” So, I looked at some New Testament Scriptures to help stimulate that young boy’s dream again. Here are some Scriptures that spoke to me about that face to face experience.

1. Become pure in heart through the cleansing Word of God

Matthew 5:8 (NKJV) Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God.

In the series of teachings of Jesus which Matthew put together and we now refer to as the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus spoke of a company of people who will “see God”. Jesus teaches us that the ones who get to experience this kind of intimate relationship are those who are “pure in heart”. How does one become pure in heart? It isn’t a purity that can be attained by human effort. That was my mistake that led to a huge disappointment with God. We cannot attain purity by things we do or not do. You are not rewarded with this experience. You are gifted with this experience. So becoming pure in heart is not something you strive towards. It’s something you are transformed into. Only the Lord can undertake such a work and He does it through His word.

John 15:3 (NKJV) You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.

God’s Word is transformational. Exposing ourselves to Scriptures cleanses us in the inside. Be careful not spend time merely reading the Bible. The cleansing occurs in the process of reading, meditating, listening in order to apply the word in our lives. That consistent daily exposure to the Word of God is like a cleansing stream that keeps purifying our hearts.

Expose yourselves to Scriptures daily as you experience the becoming of a people who are pure in heart.

2. Maintain peaceful relationships and a set-apart life

Hebrews 12:14 (NKJV) Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord

The second passage I want us to look at is in the book of Hebrews. The author of the book of Hebrews speaks of two things that seem to be part of the active response of someone who will see the Lord. A lifestyle of pursuing peaceful relationships with others and keeping ones self holy. The two areas of focus here is the way we present ourselves to others and the way we position ourselves in the world. With regard to our relationships with others we are instructed to pursue (follow after vigorously) peace with all people. It is not always within our power to have peaceful relationships, but we are to make that our life’s pursuit. We are to make peace the goal in all our relationships.

The other area of focus is in our attachment to the material world. He speaks of a lifestyle of holiness. Holiness is not based on behaviour. Holiness is to do with being consecrated, set apart. We have limited the concept of holiness to religious actions. The Biblical teaching on holiness is a separation from the world unto God. It is really a worldview, a way of thinking, speaking and doing that differs from the norm. Separated unto God. It is a detachment from the norms of the world and clinging on to the norms of a life in Christ.

The pursuit of peace with all people and the detachment of self from the world unto God are interconnected. Chaos in our relationships with people create a dissonance in our intimacy with God. Likewise the more attached we are to the world, the more difficult it is to pursue peace with all people.

Make this your focus – to pursue peace with all people and to live a separated life unto God.

3. Keep hope alive

1 John 3:2-3 (NKJV) Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Discouragement can have a devastating effect on our faith. This world is full of people who are disappointed with God because He has not come through for them. Some keep up the façade of religious acts while others totally abandon the idea of desiring a relationship with God. Disappointment or discouragement is really a symptom of hope(less)ness. The wisdom writer says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.” (Proverbs 13:12, NKJV)

The Apostle John speaks into this desire to see Jesus and be like Him. He alludes to this deep longing within all of us to not only see Jesus fully but also to become like Him. He goes on to say that everyone who hopes for this focuses on purifying himself. This longing and hope to see Jesus and be like Him, fuels the desire to be pure like Him.

Keep hope alive – remind yourselves we will see Jesus, we will be like Him.

4. Serve Him faithfully

Revelation 22:3-4 (NKJV) … and His servants shall serve Him. They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads.

The passage is typically seen as something we will experience one day when the end comes. Biblical ideas around end time events have two parallel themes running through them. The binary “already” and “not yet” ideas around end time events have made us categorise various passages of Scriptures in this dualistic framework. Revelation chapter 22 is one example. We see that event as something in the future and so the entire chapter ends up archived for a time to come. While I do believe that it is for a time to come but I also believe that we are to experience a foretaste of what is spoken about now in the in-between life of the “already” and “not yet”. I believe those who serve the Lord (by this I mean those whose lives are lived for Him), shall see His face in this life, just as I believe His name is already on their foreheads. John says we shall serve Him and we shall see His face. Let’s ensure we keep doing everything that we do unto Him and for His service.

Remain faithful in serving Christ. His servants will see His face.

5. Celebrate the small encounters

1 Corinthians 13:12 (NKJV) For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

The Apostle Paul, with all his personal encounters with Jesus, still described his experiences as “dimly” and “in part”. He identifies the main hindrance to intimacy with Christ – spiritual immaturity. He encourages us to put away childish things and be mature in our thinking on spiritual matters. I see childish things as the inability to understand the concept of time and the process of development. The child cannot fathom the concept of waiting till something is ready, distance of travel till we get to the destination, process of growth and development. He or she wants it and wants it NOW. The sign of maturity is the ability to accept that it is a process for us to grow into a being that can experience this face to face relationship with God. Until then, we celebrate the little things that remind us we are getting there. Landmarks, familiar places, sign posts that reminds us we are getting closer to our destination. Every sighting of God when we look into the mirror, however dim it may be, we celebrate. Rejoice over the “prophesies in part”, the “knowing in part” and the seeing “dimly”. They are instalments of the eventual face to face.

Be grateful and celebrate the glimpses and close encounters with Christ. They are assurances of what is to come.

So let’s prioritise these as we seek a life of intimacy with Christ:

• Expose yourself to Scriptures daily as you experience the becoming of someone who is pure in heart.

• Pursue peace with all people and live a separated life from the world unto God.

• Keep hope alive – remind yourselves of the promise that we will see Jesus, we will be like Him.

• Remain faithful in serving Christ. His servants will see His face.

• Be grateful and celebrate the glimpses and close encounters with Christ. They are assurances that there is more to come.

So the Christmas season is finally over. Nearly a month has passed and the festive ornaments are all packed up and put away. Even the Christmas story is tucked away at the back of our minds and we will wait another eleven months before preachers dust off their old Christmas sermons and preach another Christmas series while we sing our carols again to remind us of the Christmas message.

The reality is most Christians will be quite happy to leave the story of Christmas behind and move on to more refined thoughts and ways of living that reflect the twenty first century we live in. If we are honest with ourselves the Christmas story is an unbelievable story. It is so far fetched to any educated reader that we have cleverly wrapped the gist of the story in lovely wrappers and glittering tinsels and leave it to our children to reenact the story. So I thought, since the Christmas season is all over, I want to revisit the Christmas story now that we are all sober again.

The evangelists who gave us the Christmas story unashamedly told us the raw truth. They didn’t soften the blow. They told the story as is – no redaction, no editing – just raw unadulterated truth about the birth of Jesus the Christ. The Christmas story demands that we believe in the supernatural. In order to accept the birth of Jesus the gospel writers expect us to receive it at face value. The reader must be able to believe that something miraculous occurred. Hear these words again. Let them sink in and see how it doesn’t make any logical sense.

Matthew 1:18 (NLT) This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Stop! Take a moment. Look at these words again – “before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit”.

Say my daughter when she was a teenager came to me and said to me “Dad, I’m pregnant and it is through the Holy Spirit”, my response to that would be – “my darling whoever that young man is he definitely is not the Holy Spirit”.

So pause again and hear these words – “before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit”. Have you considered that? Do you believe that? You are required to. If you don’t, the whole Christian message will make no sense to you. The entire Christian faith rests on this bedrock. Christ was born apart from the usual process of procreation. Mary was conceived through supernatural means by the Holy Spirit. It doesn’t make logical sense. If you do not believe in the supernatural. If you cannot find it in you to believe there is One who possesses the power to do such a thing – then the virgin birth will be an entertaining thought just like Santa and his reindeers.

Put yourself in Mary’s shoes. In Luke chapter 1 we are told of Mary’s experience. She is visited by an angel who tells us she is with child. She of all people knew it could not be true.

“How can this be since I’m a virgin?” (Luke 1:34, NLT).

For Mary it also didn’t make any logical sense. “It cannot be so. I know I haven’t been with a man.” The angel responds to her.

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you…For with God nothing will be impossible.” (Luke 1:35, 37, NKJV).

The amazing thing about Mary was that these words spoken by a supernatural messenger of God was sufficient for her. “Oh, ok, I see – you are talking about the supernatural. You are talking about God activity.” That’s why her immediate response was:

“I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” (Luke 1:38, NLT)

Mary had a default setting that believed in the supernatural. She believed God can do anything. When the angel of the Lord reminded her, “For with God nothing will be impossible” – That was sufficient for Mary. “That’s fine Lord. I’ll let you work it out”.

Matthew on the other hand focused on Joseph’s experience. When Joseph finds out about Mary’s pregnancy he goes straight to the most logical explanation.

Matthew 1:18-19 (NKJV) Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.

Try and put yourself in Joseph’s position. You’ve heard Mary’s explanation but it is so far fetched. “An angel visited me. Told me I am pregnant and it is the supernatural working of the Holy Spirit”. As “just” as Joseph may be, he isn’t a fool. Being an ardent follower of God doesn’t mean you have to be naive. He makes a decision to divorce her quietly without a public humiliation. But God intervenes.

Matthew 1:20 (NKJV) But while he thought about these things…

Nice way the English translators have put it – “thought about these things”. The Greek word used by Matthew is “enthymeomai”. It’s root word is “thymos” which means passion as in breathing hard, with fierceness, indignation, wrath. You know those nights when you lay in bed, filled with persistent thoughts that create all kinds of emotions like a blazing fire out of control. Joseph laid in bed and had those thoughts spinning around him.

Matthew 1:20-25 (NKJV) But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS.

Please don’t miss this. Joseph in deep crisis, with thoughts that were probably spiraling his emotions downwards to the abyss, has a Divine encounter in his sleep and obeys every word spoken to him by the angel of the Lord. Two things you must not miss. Joseph recognised it was a Divine message from God. Secondly, he obeyed God unreservedly.

The birth of Christ was a supernatural miraculous event

The Christmas story is not just a good way to bring the year to an end. However great or awful the year was, the Christmas season allows us to be merry, deck the halls and say words we would never say in everyday life – like “Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la”. But the Christmas story is not just a feel good story. The story of the birth of Christ requires you, no it actually demands that you believe in the miraculous. Christmas is an annual reminder that the Divine plans of God will happen irrespective of whether we believe it or not. But to those who do believe in God activity. Those who accept that His ways are higher than ours. These ones position themselves to hear from God. And when they do hear from God, they act decisively in obedience to Him. The story of Christmas must be the starting posture of every one who seeks to be a follower of Christ. Like Mary, Joseph, the shepherds, the Maggi from the East – we too must be ready to hear from God. Recognise the Divine in the mundane everyday life we live in. And when we do hear or see or dream the Divine activity – we respond with complete obedience. That’s the only road to the miraculous.

Our Latin church Fathers called the Christmas season Advent (the Latin word adventus meaning “coming”). It is the season where we remind each other of the advent (the coming) of Christ. Not just the first advent but the second that draws nearer everyday. He has come and He is coming again. His first coming was miraculous and supernatural. And His second coming will be equally miraculous and supernatural. Many missed the first coming of Christ because He came in the most illogical way. If you don’t want to miss His second coming then I challenge you to go beyond the logical mind in your everyday living. Make room for the miraculous to occur in your life. When faced with whatever the year may bring to you – act logically but go beyond that. Trust God for the miraculous. That’s the only way to experience the Kingdom life.

Let 2023 be a year of the supernatural.

I come from 3 generations of godly heritage. My grandfather was a Methodist minister, church planter and educator. I was raised by my aunt who was an Anglican minister and returned home to my mother at the age of twelve and we attended a Methodist church in my small town. In the late seventies, the wave of the Charismatic Movement hit our nation. My aunt was the first to encounter the Holy Spirit and her transformation was phenomenal. Seeing the change and hearing her tell of the experiences she was having with God, I longed for that kind of christianity. I was tired of my dry Sunday religion. During one of our family prayer times, God turned up. I experienced an overwhelming rush of what I can only describe as a massive waterfall, come down on me and I began to experience something inwardly that I had never experienced before. It was physical and emotional. I began to speak in tongues – not just repetitive sounds – but what sounded like a full on language. The consequence of that experience was a deep hunger for God’s word and His presence. I spent much time reading the Bible and in prayer. For the first time I began to understand the Scriptures and I began to hear God in my inner Spirit. There was an inner knowing that God was speaking to me. That wonderful experience of a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit has continued since that day. I have never forgotten that experience. It’s etched into the deepest recesses of my mind. The experience was so real that I can never deny the reality of the living Christ.

It is my firm believe that every Christian must be able to point to an actual event in their lives where they encountered God in such a way that totally transformed the trajectory of their lives. It may not be similar to my experience. It doesn’t have to be spectacular in nature like the experience the apostle Paul had. It could be as subtle as the experience of the great reformer John Wesley who experienced his “heart strangely warmed”. The point I’m making is that being a christian is more than embracing the faith of our parents. It’s much more than merely attending church on a Sunday. If you have never experienced God in a personal way and are not continuing to experience Him daily, then my suggestion to you is to consider that you may be stuck in what I call a hand me down faith. We cannot live by someone elses’s experiences of God. There is no such thing as second hand faith.

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus speaks about two types of followers. The crowd and the disciples. In Matthew 12, we begin to notice Jesus making that distinction.

Matthew 12:46-50 (NLT) As Jesus was speaking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, asking to speak to him. Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, and they want to speak to you.” Jesus asked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are my mother and brothers. Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother!”

The contrast Jesus was making is very striking. Using the opportunity presented to Him, Jesus makes the clear difference between the crowd and who he considers disciples. The crowd were those who related to Jesus from a distance. They “stood outside” his sphere of influence and were wanting to relate to him from that place. The disciples on the other hand were invested in Jesus’ message and followed his teachings. The crowds were observers listening from the outside, while disciples were followers doing “the will of God”.

Matthew reemphasises this distinction Jesus was making. In the following chapter, we see the disciples asking Jesus why he taught in parables and Jesus once again makes a clear distinction between the crowd and disciples.

Matthew 13:1-3 (NLT) Later that same day Jesus left the house and sat beside the lake. A large crowd soon gathered around him, so he got into a boat. Then he sat there and taught as the people stood on the shore. He told many stories in the form of parables

Matthew 13:10-12 (NKJV) And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

This time the contrast is made plain. Not only is there a difference between two groups of people who relate to Jesus, their access to the things of God is also dependent on that relationship. The crowd is a group who gathered to hear the teachings of Jesus and left after Jesus had finished. They are attendees who come, listen to Jesus’ teaching and then move on. Using Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus seems to imply that the group has no desire to go any further in trying to understand his teaching and pursuing the healing that comes from embracing it.

Matthew 13:15 (NLT) For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’

The disciples on the other hand not only heard the teachings of Jesus but stayed on to seek after understanding. Their pursuit for more gave them access to what Jesus called “the mysteries of the Kingdom”.

In every church there are these two groups – those who gather and those who seek after God. Those who gather are happy to accept someone else’s faith, someone else’s experiences with God. They are satisfied with someone else’s revelations from God. The more a person stays in the crowd mentality, they expose themselves to a dullness that eventually turns into a hardening of the heart – “whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” True disciples aren’t satisfied with another person’s knowledge of God or experiences with God. They want to know God personally. They want to experience God themselves. They are not satisfied with hand-me-down experiences of God. Never ever settle for a second hand faith.

The effects of hand-me-down knowledge

There are two Old Testament stories that remain examples for all of us on what happens to God’s people when we rely on hand-me-down revelations from God and not seek after Him ourselves.

Adam and Eve – Intimate knowing vs second hand knowledge

The creation narrative includes a life altering instruction from God to Adam about the two trees in the centre of the garden.

Genesis 2:15-17 (NLT) The LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. But the LORD God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

After Adam received this instruction, we are told of the creation of the woman.

Genesis 2:22 (NLT) Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

Nowhere in the two chapters of the creation narrative will you find Eve being given the same instruction as Adam was given about the two trees. We have always assumed that both received the instruction from God. I don’t think that was what transpired. Moses is intentional with timelines in the book of Genesis. He could have easily placed the instruction God gave regarding the two trees (2:15-17) after he narrated the creation story of Eve. There is a strong warning within this story that is missed if we do not see the author’s intention. One of them was given a direct instruction, while the other received second hand information.

Eve was susceptible to the lies of the enemy because she had received second hand knowledge.

Genesis 3:1 (NLT) The serpent was the shrewdest of all the wild animals the LORD God had made. One day he asked the woman, “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?”

The cunningness of the serpent is evident in the fact that the serpent knew who to target with the question “did God really say?” If you want to create doubt ask someone who does not have direct knowledge of the event. That is why Paul said that Eve was deceived and sin followed. Second hand knowledge makes us susceptible to deception and prevents us from experiencing true intimacy with God.

Genesis 3:8 (NLT) When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the LORD God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the LORD God among the trees.

Second hand faith is faith based on hand-me-down knowledge. Theology (words about God) can never replace Christ (the Word who is God). Many know the Apostle’s Creed but do we know the Christ of the apostles?

Moses and the Israelites – seeker vs consumer

The second example of the danger of second hand knowledge is found in Deuteronomy. The context is the people of God who were in the wilderness. They were at a cross road of their relationship with God. They could choose to enter into a more personal relationship with God or stand back and experience Him from afar. Be part of a crowd or become disciples. They choose the former.

Deuteronomy 5:23-27 (NLT) “But when you heard the voice from the heart of the darkness, while the mountain was blazing with fire, all your tribal leaders and elders came to me. They said, ‘Look, the LORD our God has shown us his glory and greatness, and we have heard his voice from the heart of the fire. Today we have seen that God can speak to us humans, and yet we live! But now, why should we risk death again? If the LORD our God speaks to us again, we will certainly die and be consumed by this awesome fire. Can any living thing hear the voice of the living God from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive? Go yourself and listen to what the LORD our God says. Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.’

Notice the hypocrisy of the eldership of that generation. They ask the question Can any living thing hear the voice of the living God from the heart of the fire as we did and yet survive? They confess that they have just heard the voice of God and survived but choose not to risk it ever again. For generations they have heard of their forefathers Abraham heard the voice of God and experienced visitations from God; Jacob who wrestled with God. They have just experienced God themselves and know first hand the God speaks to Moses on a regular basis. Yet they decide that listening to God was too much of a hassle and decide to outsource that experience.

Go yourself and listen to what the LORD our God says. Then come and tell us everything he tells you, and we will listen and obey.’

We know the tragic consequence of such a decision. The entire generation except for Joshua and Caleb would not enter the promise land but die in the wilderness. Second hand faith relies on someone else’s experiences. Second hand faith produces consumer christians looking for a service provider. The disciple however is a seeker christian pursuing a personal experience with Christ.

Are you part of the crowd or are you a disciple? Intimacy with God is the heritage of every believer. Jesus said that it was something given to the disciples.

“Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven…”

The “you” Jesus was speaking to were those who went to him seeking personal understanding. Don’t settle for a hand-me-down knowledge of God. Don’t accept someone else’s ideas of God. Have a personal relationship with Christ and get to know God intimately through the Holy Spirit. Don’t settle for a second hand faith. Don’t be satisfied hearing someone else’s testimonies or experiences with God. Pursue God yourself. Experience your own Divine encounters. Live your own prayer answering, supernatural, miracle filled life with God. If you choose to do so then here is my suggested action plan:

1. Carve out a specific time with God everyday. Make it a point to keep away from all distractions while you are spending time with God. Read the Bible regularly and in an organised way. Make use of the many Bible reading plans available online. Here is one really helpful site I recommend https://www.biblestudytools.com/bible-reading-plan/

2. Seek God out intentionally. Don’t just read the Bible mechanically. Seek to understand what God is saying to you. He is always speaking. Are you are listening Look for one candle of truth daily. One thing you can take out of your reading for the day. Think of that thought throughout the day. Ask the Lord for an opportunity to experience what you read that day. Look out for that Divine moment daily.

YOU DESERVE GOD’S BEST LIFE FOR YOU. DON’T SETTLE FOR A SECOND HAND FAITH.

Can you remember reading or hearing about the men of Issachar? It is always a popular topic when we are at crossroads or season changes as a church or even as a nation. I thought I’d revisit that passage again as we begin life in what people are referring to as a post Covid era. Everything seems to be slowly coming back to a new normal in most parts of the world. Travel seems to be opening up again. Churches are meeting freely again. Everyone seems to be gingerly crawling back to life as it used to be.

As we wake up from what looked like a bad dream, we must face the reality that as a church of Jesus Christ we did not do well in what I see as a dress rehearsal of something much larger that is coming. We as the body of Christ found ourselves nearly imploding from within. We got caught up fighting battles in the temporal kingdom that had no eternal consequences, while failing to turn up at the frontline where the lost world was looking for answers to a nightmare that was unfolding before them.

I do personally believe that something far greater that what we have experienced these last two years is at our doorstep. I don’t want to be a doomsday prophet but I do believe the church has received a wake up call. The Holy Spirit has made it very clear – status quo will not cut it anymore. Change must happen for the church to continue to function as the manifestation of the Kingdom of God on earth. The Lord has been speaking to me about the urgency of the hour we are living in and the decisions I have to make to align myself with the purposes of God for this season. So I am revisiting the passage on the sons of Issachar.

1 Chronicles 12:32 (NKJV) of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;

The context of this passage is the transition that was happening in the nation as they witnessed the end of Saul’s reign and faced the reality of David’s imminent rule as King over Israel. The author describes the death of Saul in chapter 10 and begins chapter 11 with these words:

1 Chronicles 11:1-3 (NKJV) Then all Israel came together to David at Hebron, saying, “Indeed we are your bone and your flesh. Also, in time past, even when Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them in; and the LORD your God said to you, ‘You shall shepherd My people Israel, and be ruler over My people Israel.’ ” Therefore all the elders of Israel came to the king at Hebron, and David made a covenant with them at Hebron before the LORD. And they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the LORD by Samuel.

The elders acknowledged the prophetic word spoken over David many years ago and anointed him King in fulfilment of that word. The Chronicler then proceeds to list down the strength of David’s army. The list is a comprehensive one beginning with what he calls “the mighty men” of David. These were the heroes who fought alongside David, defending not just the man but the Word of God behind the man. Their heroic feats are acknowledged in chapter 11. Then comes chapter 12 where we find the Issachar passage tucked in. The chapter begins like this:

1 Chronicles 12:23 (NKJV) Now these were the numbers of the divisions that were equipped for war, and came to David at Hebron to turn over the kingdom of Saul to him, according to the word of the LORD:

The author of Chronicles was listing down the various tribes that were responding to what they believed was the “God” thing to do. To align themselves with David who God has appointed as King. The initial list has names that were recognisable because of their heroic actions as well as their loyalty to David during his exile. As the author runs through the list of men contributed by the various tribes to make up David’s national guard, we come to the verse about the tribe of Issachar. These men we are told “understood the times and what Israel should do”.

1 Chronicles 12:32 (NKJV) of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;

The phrase translated “understood the times” comes from the Hebrew which has the root word “ḇiyn” – to separate mentally, to distinguish, to discern. The distinguishing factor that stood out in this list of men contributed to David’s army was that the tribe of Issachar gave men that had a unique quality which the Chronicler felt was worth mentioning. They had the ability to distinguish, to discern the times Israel was entering into. This was not just a change of leadership. They were entering into the original intention of God for Israel. Whether they knew the Messiah would come from the line of David is doubtful. They however had the ability to discern that something more than the changing of the guards was occurring. A seismic shift had occurred in the life of Israel. The nation had transitioned from a man appointed leader to a God appointed one. Saul was the popular democratically elected leader. David was the Divinely appointed one. The passage seems to suggest the sons of Issachar discerned the times they were in, which required specific actions that were needed to live in such a time as this.

Another occasion the Old Testament uses the phrase “understood the times“ is in the book of Esther where the Persian King Ahasuerus had a group of men who “understood the times”.

Esther 1:13-14 (NKJV) Then the king said to the wise men who understood the times (for this was the king’s manner toward all who knew law and justice, those closest to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media, who had access to the king’s presence, and who ranked highest in the kingdom)

Again the same combination of Hebrew words – but the author of the book of Esther seems to give us some understanding of what that term means. We see

• They knew law and justice

• They were closest to the king

• They had access to the king’s presence

• They were highest ranked in the kingdom

Urgent vacancies for such leaders

I want to take a little liberty to suggest that this is what is lacking in the church of our generation. Men and women who display these attributes, who “understand the times”, who discern that something more than merely a change of government is needed in our nations. Men and women who discern that it takes more than mere popularity to make seismic shifts for the Kingdom of God. Men and women who can discern the activities of the Divine and align the church to Him and act according to the Spirit’s direction. There is a definite vacuum in leadership for such persons.

The church of Jesus Christ desperately needs leaders with these qualities:

Those who know law and justice

Obviously I’m not suggesting that we need a high profile legal team fighting for the rights of Christians. What the church desperately needs are leaders who know the law of God (God’s mind) and the justice of God (God’s heart). For too long we have focused on man made law and justice as the benchmark of the church. Human rights, United Nations conventions, the US constitution or the English Legal System – however “christian” they may seem to be, they are all flawed. To measure the Kingdom life and draw principles to live by from these flawed standards will only lead to humanistic ways of doing life. We need leaders who understand the mind of God, whose hearts beat with what matters to God.

Micah 6:8 (NKJV)He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?

Those who stay closest to the King

We need leaders who recognise that nothing of Kingdom value can be done without intimacy with Christ.

John 15:5 (NKJV) “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

No one can contribute anything of value to the Kingdom of God without having a continuously intimate relationship with the King of the Kingdom – Jesus Christ. It is time we realise that Kingdom officials must share Kingdom values. Kingdom values can only be learnt through intimacy with Christ.

John 15:4 (NKJV) Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

Those who access the King’s presence

Understanding God’s mind and heart along with an intimate relationship with Christ should position one to see their true position as Christ’s ambassadors. A leader must know their standing in God.

Hebrews 4:16 (NKJV) Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Our first port of call in times of crisis should always be the throne room. Intercession is not one of the things we do to see change occur. Prayer and intercession is the only effective weapon in the church’s arsenal. Until we fully comprehend the power of effective prayer we will continue to default to man made institutionalised power to try and bring change. Lasting change can only come about through Divine intervention.

John 14:12-14 (NKJV) Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Those who seek after Kingdom positioning

It is a sad sight to see an increasingly number of church leaders jostling for positions and places of influence in the world rather than seeking after Kingdom authority. The church of today is desperately in need of leaders who cease from being caught up with the affairs of this world. Leaders who know how to reposition themselves above the daily wheels and gears that keep the motion of the chronos world, and operate on a time clock of the “charis”, opportune, Divine moments that make room for the supernatural to occur.

Ephesians 2:4-6 (NKJV) But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus

Both David and Esther were not obvious candidates if we followed human conventions. Yet God chose them to replace the old leadership that operated in the flesh. One came in through battle the other through beauty. The common denominator though was both their Divine destinies had people who “understood the times”. There is a desperate urgent need for such leaders. I pray you will earnestly seek to be like these ones.