Under The Canopy

In the summer of 2014 I had a vision in which I saw a small group of people standing under a white canopy.  The wind was blowing very hard. Even though the wind was blowing quite hard, the edge of the canopy was barely fluttering.  It was not going anywhere.  I heard the Lord say, "The winds of change are blowing and everything that can be shaken will be shaken. But you have a kingdom that cannot be shaken."  We have the kingdom of God within us. Every place where Christ rules is His kingdom.  His kingdom cannot be shaken and will stand forever.

Hebrew 12:25-29 ESV See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire. 

I then saw that the people were standing on a rock and the canopy was anchored into the rock.  This caused me to think of Matthew 7:24-25 ESV Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 

The canopy of the Lord and the Rock are not going anywhere.  We need to find and stay in that place on the Rock and under the canopy of the Lord, in that secret place of the Most High.  We must abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  One time God said to me, "the secret place of the Most High is a place to abide, not just a place to visit." It is not just a place to run to in time of trouble.  We need to learn to live there.

Psalm 91:1-2 ESV He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. 2  I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 

When I was trying to find a picture of a canopy to go with this post in 2015, I couldn't find a canopy that looked like the one I had seen.  Several weeks later I was reading Isaiah 4:5-6 ESV Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. 6 There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain. 

With a little investigation into the original Hebrew for canopy, I realized the word translated as canopy is the word  chuppâh, which is the Jewish bridal tent.  It is the canopy under which a Jewish couple would get married.  When I looked at pictures of  chuppâhs I realized that was the type of canopy I had seen.  This spoke to me of the importance of maintaining our intimate relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the vision I saw the wind was blowing their hair of the people standing under the canopy, which to me means they were affected in some way by the winds of change that were blowing.  But they were not moved.  In these days of we will be affected in some ways by the things going on around us.  But if we stay on the rock and under the canopy we will not be moved.

The wind is beginning to blow and things are beginning to shake  and there is much more coming.  Now is the time to be prepared.  Now is the time to find that abiding place and stand there in faith.  When the things swirl and shake around us we need to keep our focus on the Lord and not on the things swirling and shaking around us.  God has spoken that very clearly to me when I have gotten my focus in the wrong place.


(This is a slightly revised blog post from 2015.)

GOD'S DEFINITION

While thinking about humility, I was considering false humility and pride as being in the ditch or gutter on either side of true humility.  As I contemplated what real humility looks like, I felt like God told me that we have little understanding of what real humility looks like.  He indicated that even our dictionary definitions of many concepts are not exactly how He sees them. 

Sometime ago I was before the Lord and declaring God You are always patient, You are always good, You are always kind, etc. As a I said You are always kind, I began to think of some situations in which Jesus' actions would not fit my definition of kind.  For example, when He drove the money changers out of the temple, the things He said to the Scribes and Pharisees, or letting the rich young ruler just walk away.  I heard the Lord say, "you don't understand My kindness." 

I think there are many words and concepts that we have a little distorted because of running them through our own grids of understanding or because of how they have been traditionally defined.  

Do I have answers yet?  No.  But I am in search of God's heart and an understanding of how He defines these terms and many others.

Come In The Midst Of The Storm

 Come in the midst of the storm and uncertainty...take a step of faith

Matthew 14:26-32 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. ²⁷ But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. ²⁸ And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. ²⁹ And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. ³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? ³² And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

Sometimes the call of God requires a great step of faith.  In the midst of the stormy seas Jesus was standing on the water and called for Peter to “Come.” 

We often don’t give Peter any credit for responding to that call to “come.” We just focus on him sinking.  I remember a speaker talking about being in Israel in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, at or near where the above incident took place.  He said he was thinking about it being the place where Peter sank after he got out of the boat.  Immediately the Lord corrected him reminding him that this was where Peter walked on the water.  Peter may have had little faith and began to doubt once he took His focus off the Lord and focused on the surroundings, but Peter did walk on the water in response to Jesus’ call to “come.”

Peter’s experience is a good reminder to keep our focus on the Lord in the midst of difficult circumstances.  When our focus gets on the circumstances is when we begin to sink. Even when our faith wavers, Jesus will reach out and pull us up and walk us back to the boat.  He won’t let us sink and drown when we call out to Him. 

Peter’s experience is also a good reminder to respond to the call of the Lord to “come,” even when the circumstances around us look rather precarious, in the midst of a storm and uncertainty.  When we step out on His Word, with what faith we have and He will meet us there. 

Come Ye After Me

Mark 1:17 And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men.

Mark 3:13-15 And he goeth up into a mountain, and calleth unto him whom he would: and they came unto him. ¹⁴ And he ordained twelve, that they should be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach, ¹⁵ And to have power to heal sicknesses, and to cast out devils:

Song of Songs 7:10-13 I am my beloved’s, and his desire is toward me. ¹¹ Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages. ¹² Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vine flourish, whether the tender grape appear, and the pomegranates bud forth: there will I give thee my loves. ¹³ The mandrakes give a smell, and at our gates are all manner of pleasant fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.

The first call of Yeshua is to come and be with Him.  The relationship with Him is the most important part of our Christian life and ministry.  Without relationship with Him, we really have nothing to offer.  He is the vine we are the branches.  We must stay connected into the vine as the source of life and sustenance to have anything of lasting value to share. 

We see in the verses in Mark that Yeshua called the disciples to come and be with Him. Then He sent them forth.  He called for them to come after Him and He would make them to become fishers of men.  The onus was on Yeshua to prepare them for the work of sharing the Kingdom of God as kingdom ambassadors. That preparation came in time spent with Yeshua in everyday life, as well as watching Him minister, and participating with Him in ministry. Then he sent them out. 

In the passage from the Song of Songs we see that the call is also to come. Actually much of that book is about coming to Yeshua and growing in an intimate relationship with Him.  As already stated that is the relationship with Yeshua is essential.  Then going forth is done together. The going forth is into the harvest field of the unsaved.  The going forth is also to the villages, the places where there are believers dwell in fellowship.  In the villages there is ministry to the needs of those who are already believers. All ministry is done co-laboring with the Godhead. Yeshua only did what He saw the Father doing.  We need to learn to operate in the same way to be effective.  We function in this earth realm as ambassadors of the Kingdom realm.

It all has to start with “come” and then being sent out. Being sent is another key.  To just go of our own accord is not good.  We must look to Yeshua to send us in the right time to the right place.  As we are being sent we are going out to co-labor with Yeshua under the direction and anointing of Father and Holy Spirit. 

Come Let Us Reason Together

Isaiah 1:18-19 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. ¹⁹ If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land:

God’s first call to us is to come.  His desire is for us to come to Him, not allowing anyone anything to stand between us.  God created us for relationship with Him. It grieves His heart when there is something in the way of that relationship.  When God was inquiring of where Adam and Eve were, after they had partaken of the forbidden fruit, it was not as an angry God looking for vengeance.  But it was a broken hearted God feeling the loss in the relationship. 

When we stray from God, His desire is always for restoration.  His call is to come as you are.  He doesn’t ask us to clean ourselves up or jump through a bunch of hoops first.  His call is to “come.” He will do the cleansing.  He has made the way of restoration available to us.  The remedy was made in Christ before the foundation of the world. 

The blood of Jesus Christ is like an eraser.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)

Psalm 103:8-14 The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. ⁹ He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever. ¹⁰ He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. ¹¹ For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. ¹² As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. ¹³ Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him. ¹⁴ For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

Once our sins are cleansed there is no record of it in God’s book. They are put far from us, never to be found again.  One time a number of years ago, I was confessing a sin before God that I had long ago repented of, but was remembering for some reason. I heard the Lord say, “I keep no record of wrongs. Neither should you.” Initially I was a little puzzled. As He repeated His statement I realized what He was saying.  In 1 Corinthians 13:5 NIV one of the characteristics of love is to keep no record of wrongs. God, who is love, keeps no record of wrongs once they have been confessed and repented of.  His blood erases the record of that sin. 

Micah 7:18-19 Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. ¹⁹ He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

I am so thankful I serve a God who delights in mercy.  His call is always to come to Him and reason together with Him.  He is a very reasonable God who has made the way for us to be forgiven of all our sins and to be able to daily walk in intimate fellowship with Him.