Things Revealed

So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man. Then the man said, "Let me go, for it is daybreak."

But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."

The man asked him, "What is your name?"

"Jacob," he answered.

Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

Genesis 32:24-29

How many rounds have you gone with God?

There’s a misguided biblical view that to argue with God—to wrestle with him—is to lack faith. According to this train of thought, people of faith simply accept their lot in life no matter how confusing or disappointing things get. For them, it should be enough to know that God has a plan and can always work things out for good. If he wants to.

It's true that James said “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,” because "the testing of your faith develops perseverance” and perseverance “must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” Clearly then, we are instructed to consider trials a joy. But no one says that the testing of our faith which produces perseverance is fun. Or something wonderful to behold or experience. It isn’t. If anything, it can be a spectacle of emotions gone wild.

Sickness and death, economic hardship, broken relationships and every other manner of testing that comes our way, including stepping out in faith only to be disappointed or frustrated, all challenge our understanding of God and can undermine our confidence in his plan for our lives. It isn’t only unbelievers and agnostics who cry out “Why!?” in such moments; believers can be just as mystified and deflated when God doesn't meet our expectations or intervene when we think he's most urgently needed. Is the correct response a dejected "oh well?" or are we called to something more confrontational.

God wants us to wrestle with him. To engage him. To seek understanding. To work through why he heals one person and not another or answers some prayers and not others. He wants us to come to the place of obedience and trust, even when we think God is wrong (Watchman Nee, the prolific Christian writer, puts it this way: "We ask that God's will be done. But do we actually like it?"). Getting to that place of obedience and trust does more than make us strong, it makes us mature and complete. Struggling with God is the way to get there. Maybe the only way to get there.

Jacob was a man like any other. He had belongings. He had problems. He had family issues. He was in the middle of a move. He was a coward and a conniver. He was afraid his brother was going to kill him and he was in the midst of executing his own plan to buy him off to deal with that possibility. Jacob had everything under control and had worked through all the contingencies he could think of. Except one.

He didn’t know he was about to have an encounter—a hands-on, no-holds-barred wrestling match—with God incarnate. And Yahweh, the undefeated and undefeatable, let Jacob have at it all night long. It says that when the man saw that he could not overpower Jacob, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip “so that it was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.” Now surely the man could have overpowered Jacob before throwing a wrench in the works, but something else was going on here. A battle of wills, a contest of strength and endurance. Jacob could have gone on contending with the Lord forever if something didn’t happen. So God made something happen and the battle shifted from fists to faith, from the ring to the King.

After wrestling with God on Jacob's turf (given all that was going on in Jacob’s life at that moment, one can only imagine the thoughts that raced through his mind) and having the physical fight wrenched from him, there was only one thing left that Jacob wanted.

To be blessed.

To the natural man, it looked like Jacob was beaten and defeated. Not to God. For in the end, he said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

When our own strength is gone, when our plans come up short, when we have surrendered our will, when we are changed by our struggles with God and accept that his ways are perfect no matter how mysterious they are or inadequate they appear, we no longer demand an explanation. Instead, we desire his blessing. It is at that moment that he says, “now you have overcome.” And it is at that point that we become new creations. For Jacob, the change warranted a new name: Israel. It means "God prevails."

Moses wrestled with God about his call to lead the people out of Egypt. Elijah wrestled with him about Jezebel and how Israel and the prophets had abandoned their God, leaving only Elijah to defend his name. And Peter wrestled with Jesus about almost everything. Even Jesus himself wrestled at the most difficult moment in his life, crying out, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" — which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46)

It’s OK if we wrestle with God when we’re tested, as long as God prevails in the end. We are not the first ones to do it and we won't be the last. Moreover, we’re in the extraordinary company of those who wrestled before us. The victory comes not when we cry “uncle,” but when we cry "Father...not my will, but yours be done.” It is at that moment that the Lord says, “you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome.”

Becoming mature and complete is a life-long process. It is punctuated by spiritual growing pains and the voice of our Personal Trainer in Heaven cheering us on to both greater heights and to the fulfillment of our destiny in God.

Then, when the time is right, he gives us a new name which translates: "I am His."

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13

Peter had just healed a well known man crippled from birth, telling him, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." When the man arose on his newly restored legs, not only was he shocked and ecstatic, jumping and walking and praising God, but the people who knew of him were equally amazed (well, maybe not equally amazed, but amazed nonetheless). Everyone was caught up in what happened, and there was a great commotion. Peter seized the moment: he reminded his fellow Hebrews that they had disowned “the Holy and Righteous One,” had rejected him as Messiah and had been party to his death on the cross, only to see God raise him from the dead. And he told them “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.” Basically, Peter told them, it wasn’t me—it was Jesus. And he called on his people to repent and acknowledge that Jesus was Messiah.

The Book of Acts reports that 5000 men became believers that day.

Now this was troublesome to the rulers, elders and teachers of the law. Jesus had already been crucified, and now—after his death—thousands decided he was the Messiah. These same rulers, elders and teachers had already rejected that claim. They had already discounted his miracles. And they had treated his teachings as blasphemy. But the people were not so sure, and apparently, not so hard hearted. In fact, Peter said they all acted out of ignorance and his message hit home with 5000 of them.

Nothing Jesus had done astonished the rulers, elders and teachers of the law because they were not open to see with the eyes of the spirit. What he had done provoked them. It infuriated them. And it challenged their authority. Now, however, what really astonished these same men wasn't that the crippled man had been healed—that was just an inconvenient fact—but something that hit closer to home. It was the boldness of Peter and John and that they were “unschooled, ordinary men.” Why? Because men without title, men who had not been trained in the proper religious schools, men of no importance, fame or reputation, men who did not have a birthright claim to be part of the priesthood, men who were not rabbis or part of the ruling council, men who did not pay their dues and advance by proper channels—such men simply did not go about preaching with authority to the people, or even more outrageously, to the Chief Priest and the Sanhedrin.

This was just not how things were done. There was an established order and Peter and John were out of order.

But Jesus had changed the way things were done. And when those 5000 came to Christ, something became apparent to those paying attention. Jesus had not only overturned the tables in the temple courts, he overturned the existing order of things. He made us all priests (not just the Levites), he proclaimed that he would destroy and rebuild the temple in three days, he made us the temple of the Holy Spirit and he became our Sabbath rest. He commissioned tax collectors, fishermen and tent makers to preach the Gospel. He sent out the twelve Apostles on his behalf, and 72 others who were nameless, positionless, without fame and without title, all of whom returned proclaiming “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He broke down the religious barriers and commissioned ALL OF US to act and speak on his behalf.

For the leaders of Israel, they had already made a decision, like many of our family members and friends, and they were not ready to reconsider it: they had already rejected Jesus. For them the miracles weren’t important. The message wasn’t important. That Jesus was crucified wasn’t important. But something still got their attention. It was that ordinary, uneducated men spoke boldly to the crowd and had the courage to take a stand before the Sanhedrin. Since the leaders had already rejected Jesus, all they could do was “note that these men had been with Jesus.”

Maybe that’s the first witness we have. People notice us. That’s what it means to be salt and light. They should note that there’s something different about us. Something special. Something that sets us apart—something supernatural. Which is why, like Peter and John, we must spend time with Jesus.

We are called to learn the word of God. To pray about all things. To worship. To fellowship with one another. To lay hands on the sick. To speak about Jesus. To proclaim his Lordship. To "always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.” To be transformed.

We are ordinary and uneducated people, changed by the Spirit of God. That's what the Lord has ordained through Jesus Christ. A new order! Not only have we been given Kingdom authority, but we have been given boldness in God. We are priests called to proclaim the Gospel, to heal the sick in the name of Jesus and to lead others to repentance and salvation. With all that has been given to us, something ought to be different! And it ought to be obvious to those around us.

Our friends and family should note that we have been with Jesus. That’s the first step for them. To see something new. Something other than what they see in everyone else. For us, being with Jesus—abiding in him—is the only thing that will ever set us apart and make us noteworthy. And it is often the very thing that will lead our friends and families to Christ.

The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 1 Corinthians 15:46

Our biggest problem as believers is that we are human. Certainly, God has blessed us with five senses to fully appreciate his marvelous creation. He has also given us such a wide range of emotions that we feel and experience everything in high-def-surround-sound-dolby-blue-ray-holy-cow-did-you-see-that reality! But being human frequently results in sensory overload, constant exposure to temptation, enormous mood swings and spiritual nearsightedness. And each of us has the same valid excuse: I was born that way!

The Spiritual is new to us. The natural came first. We’ve had so much time to learn what it means to be flesh and blood, to react in our senses and to accept what we see with our natural eyes, that when spiritual transformation does come we are like new-borns, “new creations” who have been “born again.” We recognize that something’s different about us, but we instinctively draw on our prior experience for understanding. Unfortunately, our prior experience is of no real value because it comes from the natural and has not prepared us to grasp or unravel spiritual things.

Look at the twelve spies Moses sent into the land (Numbers 13 and 14) shortly after the Lord miraculously delivered his people from Egypt. God tells Moses to send men to explore the land which he was giving to the people of Israel. They cross the border, see the wonder and riches of the promised land, but still bring back a bad report of powerful cities, giants in the land and a people that Israel could not conquer. What they didn’t see was that God was handing Canaan over to Israel, that he had already shown what he would do on Israel’s behalf and that he would conquer the land through them. Only Caleb and Joshua had spiritual eyes to see because there was something different about them. Something that caused them not to lean on their own understanding but to view things from God’s perspective and embrace it as truth. The rest of the scouting party—men of fear and flesh—paid for their lack of spiritual vision and trust with their very lives. A harsh result that gives us a clear insight into the nature of God’s Kingdom and the risks of continuing to walk, see and respond only in our flesh, like the natural man we all once were.

The Psalmist gives us another perspective (Psalm 73). After observing and complaining about how the wicked prosper, how they seem to be trouble and burden free and how they not only appear to succeed, but arrogantly claim their success is God’s blessing, the psalmist comes to this realization: “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.”

A brute beast responds to what he sees in the natural with emotions and instincts: Fear. Greed. Envy. Desire. Anger. Hatred. Murder. It is a snapshot of man in all his fleshly glory, the exact opposite of the spiritual man enveloped in all of Christ’s holy glory.

Paul puts it this way: “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). But since the new—the spiritual—did not come first, no matter how long you’ve been walking with God, you still need to train yourself at being spiritual. At thinking spiritually. At seeing the world from God’s perspective by letting Christ live in you. The world challenges the new creation every day with the same old temptations. Virtually every moment, virtually all the time—from corner newsstands to billboards, from songs to DVDs, from video games to TV commercials and from politics to the stock market—our natural man is enticed to respond like it used to. Like a brute beast, senseless and ignorant to the spiritual realm, and unaware or indifferent to the fact that these worldly snares can trap and injure the spirit within us.

Has your flesh succumbed recently and had a “victory” at the expense of your spirit? Sometimes it happens. In fact, it will happen from time to time for the rest of your life, because the natural came first. Think of it as a flesh wound. It’s personally painful, but it does not disqualify you from God’s service or result in your dishonorable discharge from the battle. Want confirmation? Just look around you. No one is perfect. No one is without sin. If your flesh wound disqualifies you, then no one is qualified to serve God. Not one.

There is a maxim in the legal system that says “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Like the person in court, we too have no excuse in spiritual matters. We can feign ignorance in a moment of weakness, but God has made us new creations who can find no sanctuary behind closed eyes. The spiritual may not have come first in our lives, but it has come nonetheless! And it has opened our eyes and minds to the Kingdom of God and has given us the power to be a spiritual people—Ambassadors of Christ among the lost.

You are a new creation. Don’t forget it when you fail. God doesn’t. He only forgets your sin. And he knows that as his new creation, you’ll get better at it with practice and perseverance. And with his help.

"Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Revelation 3:20

In the second and third chapters of Revelation, the Lord speaks to the church. There are seven churches identified by seven cities. Five are rebuked for various shortcomings, from forsaking their first love and embracing false teachings to being lukewarm toward God. Two are encouraged for standing firm in the face of persecution and for doing the things that God has called them to do. One suspects that the church in America is pretty much as it’s described in Revelation: out of every seven churches, two have it right, five not so much. Now multiply that by thousands and the odds are good that we’ve all encountered a church that’s less than perfect, and not quite “holy and blameless.”

For all the church’s imperfection, however, the Lord’s correction is not the final word. At the end of the passage, God reminds us that “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.” (Rev. 3:19.) What immediately follows is the Lord’s invitation to change, to receive the way to get back on track: “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Although he’s speaking to his church, he’s waiting for anyone to respond.

Do you hear his knock? Through your circumstances? Through the opportunities to share with others he’s put in your path? By the pounding of your own heart when you think it’s him or when the word of God grips your spirit?

He’s not at the door with a warrant, ready to break it down. And he’s not here about salvation. In these verses from Revelation, he was speaking to those who were already saved. This is different than the first time you let him in.

You and God are standing at the threshold of radically changing your life, only you’re separated by a door which keeps him out. It’s your move. He’s waiting for you to open up and let him all the way in because he wants to be with you, live in you and enable you to walk in the power of Christ and to embrace the call on your life. It is within your grasp to open the door of your heart to understanding and real intimacy with the God. And he’s looking for anyone to let him in. Will you?

Listen carefully. What you hear is the sound of God knocking at the door of your heart again. You may have been ignoring him. You may have tuned him out. Or maybe you’re waiting for him to leave, believing you are unworthy or unprepared. We’re all unworthy and unprepared, but he already knows that and still he knocks.

It’s time to answer the door. More than that, it’s time to fling it wide open!

There’s almost nothing less demanding that God could ask of us.

READ MORE

If you’re looking for a good book to read, here’s a place to start. There’s so much out there it’s hard to make recommendations. This is just a brief well-rounded offering (which probably leaves out some of your favorites) that takes into consideration how hectic life is and how uplifting a good book can be. Even some secular selections are so insightful that God’s fingerprints are all over them. If you haven’t read the books that follow, these abbreviations may help you find what you need at this time:

GE	GREAT ENCOURAGEMENT
HR	HEAVY READING / DEEP TRUTHS
FR	FUN READING / GREAT WISDOM
MR	MUST READ / BRILLIANT INSIGHTS

All of these books, listed alphabetically by author, can be found in the usual places or on the net. If you care to recommend others, let us know.

The Confessions of St. Augustine	HR, MR
Passion for Jesus by Mike Bickel	MR, GE
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom	GE, HR
Letters and Papers from Prison by Dietrich Bonhoffer	HR, GE
A Way Through the Wilderness by Jamie Buckingham	MR, GE, HR
My Utmost for his Highest by Oswald Chambers	MR, GE, HR
Surprised by the Voice of God by Jack Deere	GE
Chronicles of the Door* by Gene Edwards	FR, MR
Letters to a Devastated Christian by Gene Edwards	GE
A Tale of Three Kings by Gene Edwards	GE, MR
The Devine Romance by Gene Edwards	MR, HR, GE
Secret to the Christian Life by Gene Edwards	GE
The Stronghold of God by Francis Frangipane	GE, HR
The Three Battlegrounds by Francis Frangipane	MR, GE, HR
Windows of the Soul by Ken Gire	FR
Just as I Am by Billy Grahm	GE, FR
Questions of Life by Nicky Gumbel	GE, FR
Experiencing the Depth of Jesus Christ by Madam Guyon	HR
Prophets and Personal Prophesy by Bill Hamon	HR, GE
There were Two Trees in the Garden by Rick Joyner	MR, HR, GE
The Final Quest by Rick Joyner	GE
The Harvest by Rick Joyner	GE
The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller	GE, MR
God Meant it for Good by R.T. Kendall	GE, HR
Watchers by Dean Koontz	FR, GE
Life Expectancy by Dean Koontz	FR, GE
Out of the Corner of His Eye by Dean Koontz	FR, GE
One Door Away from Heaven by Dean Koontz	FR, GE
Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis	MR, HR
The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis	HR
The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis	HR
The Screwtape Letters* by C.S. Lewis	JF, HR, MR
Chronicles of Narnia* by C.S. Lewis	JF, MR
Space Trilogy* by C.S. Lewis	JF
God’s Generals by Roberts Liardon	GE
Developing the Leader Within You by John C. Maxwell	GE
The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee	MR, HR, GE
Changed into His Likeness by Watchman Nee	MR, HR, GE
The Release of the Spirit by Watchman Nee	MR, HR, GE
Sit, Stand, Walk by Watchman Nee	HR, GE
Spiritual Authority by Watchman Nee	HR
Song of Songs by Watchman Nee	HR, MR
Knowing God by J.I. Packer	HR, GE
This Present Darkness* by Frank Peretti	JF, GE
Piercing the Darkness* by Frank Peretti	JF, GE
Blessing or Curse by Derek Prince	HR
Why Revival Tarries by Leonard Ravenhill	HR
Upside Down: The Paradox of Servant Leadership by Stacy T. Rinehart	HR, GE
Secrets of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge	GE, HR
In His Face by Bob Sorge	GE, HR
Knowledge of the Holy by A.W. Tozer	MR, HR, GE
The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer	MR, HR, GE
Faith Beyond Reason by A.W.Tozer	HR, GE
The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren	GE
When the Spirit Comes with Power by John Wimber	HR, GE
The Way In is the Way On by John Wimber	HR, GE
In God’s Underground by Richard Wumbrand	MR, HR, GE
The Shack* by William P. Young	MR, HR, GE, JF

* Novel
Secular novel, fast-paced, Godly insight into good and evil.

WORSHIP

There’s not much that needs to be said about worship music, except that without it, standing firm while being buffeted by life’s trials can be a lot harder. And sometimes, so is entering into God’s presence. Here are a few choice recommendations, recent and not so new, which you can find on the web by artists’ name. If you have some picks that you can’t believe aren’t mentioned below, let us know.

• PERFORMER
  • CD Titles
• CASTING CROWNS
  • Life Song
  • Casting Crowns
  • The Alter and the Door
• CHRIST FOR THE NATIONS (available at CFNMusic.com)
  • Can't Be Silent
  • Perfect Love (this is an awesome CD and DVD)
  • Worship Collection Volume 2
• DELIRIOUS
  • Cutting Edge
  • Touch
• MISTY EDWARDS
  • Eternity
• ANDREW PHILLIP EHREWZELLER
  • The Naked Album
• DARRYL EVANS
  • Freedom
  • You are I am
• ROY FIELDS
  • In the Presence of Angels
• JARS OF CLAY
  • Who We Are Instead
  • Redemption Songs
• LEONARD JONES
  • Draw Me Up
• NORM STRAUSS
  • Freedom
• DON POTTER
  • In the Spirit
• KEVIN PROSH
  • Palanquin
• MATT REDMAN
  • Where Angels Fear to Tread
• CHRIS TOMLIN
  • See the Morning
  • Arriving
  • Hello Love
• JASON UPTON
  • Faith
  • Dying Star
  • Remember
• TENTH AVENUE NORTH
  • Over and Underneath
• THIRD DAY
  • Revelation
  • Chronology I
  • Chronology II
• VINEYARD MUSIC
  • Shake off the Dust
  • Spirit of the Sovereign Lord
  • Jesus Lead On
  • Light the Fire Again
  • You are God