Posts

Hungry!?

/in /by

You can imagine the meager rations of those exiles on the Isle of Patmos. Whether it’s coincidental, or because of the meager rations, the theme of food comes up often enough to warrant attention. Consider the following passages: Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols…NKJV

Revelation 2:17 To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. NKJV

Revelation 2:20 Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. NKJV

Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. NKJV

If I had been hearing these words from the Lord I would have been tempted to ask the Lord for mercy. I would have asked Him to possibly choose other analogies and references. But Jesus didn’t stop there. He “hid” a food reference in plain sight – yet it’s hard to see. Several months ago I noted a distinction in translating Revelation 3:18. The AMPC translation reads: Therefore I counsel you to purchase from Me gold refined and tested by fire, that you may be [truly] wealthy, and white clothes to clothe you and to keep the shame of your nudity from being seen, and salve to put on your eyes, that you may see. Take note of this last boldened, phrase:…and salve to put on your eyes, that you may see.

Now take note of how the NKJV translates the same passage: I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see.

The first thing to notice is that in the AMPC translation they were to purchase refined and tested gold, white clothes, and eye salve. But the NKJV separates the gold, and clothes from the eye salve. In fact the NKJV states that they should purchase the first two, but anoint their eyes with eye salve. In the NKJV translation, anointing the eyes appears to be a separate topic. Why are there two different verbs: purchase and anoint?

When you study the original meaning of the word for salve you discover something that is quite startling. You discover that it was an extremely small, “coarse bread roll.”  Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words states: Hence an “eye-salve,” shaped like a roll….The word is doubtless an allusion to the Phrygian powder used by oculists in the famous medical school at Laodicea. Which led me to ask another question, What was considered coarse bread to John’s readers? Basically there were two sources of grain used for making bread, wheat and barley. What does this have to do with our eye salve? Bread made from barley was considered the poor man’s bread, while bread made from wheat was for those who were wealthy. Now keep in mind Jesus is addressing the wealthy, self-sufficient Laodiceans. They have no need, or lack. Yet, Jesus is stating that the cure for their spiritual blindness is salve shaped like a roll or loaf of barley bread. What does this remind you of? Matthew 5:3,6 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.“…Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

What’s the interpretation? Those that are spiritually poor – are spiritually hungry. Those who are spiritually poor will ENTER through the DOOR of Jesus; the DOOR of Revelation 4. Those that recognize their spiritual poverty and blindness will be moved to make room for Jesus; will be moved to overcome the Laodiceans, do-it-yourself righteousness; will be moved to open their spiritual senses: sight, hearing, and feeling. The spiritually hungry will be moved to be zealous; to be on FIRE with the FIRE from the Man whose legs and eyes burn with HOLY FUEL.

Bread throughout Scripture has typically been a symbol for the Word of God. Those who are aware of their spiritual blindness will seek to “anoint” their spiritual “vision” with the revelational, living, out of the Mouth of God – Word of God. This is the Spiritual Manna that comes down out of Heaven and feeds the spiritually hungry. Are you hungry for more of Jesus? Are you hungry to be closer to Him? Are you hungry to see more of Jesus? Are you hungry to be hot, on FIRE, in love with Jesus? Are you hungry to hear His Voice? Hungry to fellowship, commune and have a daily, intimate love relationship with Him? Then cry out for the poor man’s “bread” to “rub” in the way you see.

Search For Leaven

/in /by

1 Corinthians 5:6-8 Your glorying is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Therefore [a]purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed [b]for us. 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (NKJV)

Galatians 5:9 A little leaven leavens the whole lump.

Tonight (Tuesday, April 7), at sundown begins the Passover requirement of searching the house for leaven, (chametz) or yeast. Traditional Jewish homes will take the time to “prepare the house for Passover,” just as Jesus’ Disciples did the week of His crucifixion:

Now on the first day of the Feast of the Unleavened Bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare for You to eat the Passover?” 18 And He said, “Go into the city to a certain man, and say to him, ‘The Teacher says, “My time is at hand; I will keep the Passover at your house with My disciples.” ’ ” 19 So the disciples did as Jesus had directed them; and they prepared the Passover.” (Matthew 26:17-19 NKJV)

Jason Aaronson writes: A typical Jewish family will take this night to begin a centuries long tradition of searching their households for leaven using a candle; a feather (which acts as a miniature broom); and a wooden spoon into which the pieces of bread will be scooped. First, a candle is lit, and the following benediction is recited: Barukh atah Adonai eloheinu melekh ha’olam asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’’zivanu al be’ur chametz. Praised are You, Adonai our God, Sovereign of the Universe, who has made us holy commandments and instructed us concerning the burning of the hametz (leavened bread). Since by this time the house has been thoroughly cleaned and the chances of finding any leaven are minimal, it has become customary to put a number of crumbs of bread in places where they can be easily found in order to prevent the recitation of a benediction in vain. The crumbs of bread that are found and the leaven left over from breakfast should be guarded lest a new search become necessary. After the search for leaven, one recites the following formula of annulment: “All leavened food and grain fermentation that are in my possession, that I have not seen or removed, shall be null and considered as the dust of the earth.”

The following morning, usually sometime between 10 and 11 o’clock, the leaven is burned, and again the formula for the removal of hametz is recited, with a slight variation: “Any leaven that may still be in the house, that I have or have not seen, that I have or have not removed, shall be as if it does not exist, and as the dust of the earth.” Excerpted from Every Person’s Guide to Passover (Jason Aronson, Inc).

Now, as Believers in Jesus (Yeshua), as our Messiah the question remains: If this much trouble was taken to prepare for the Passover why don’t believers in Jesus take this much time to prepare for communion? For you see our communion comes from the Jewish Passover. There are four cups used in the Passover celebration. At the third cup, called the Cup of Redemption, the broken bread of hidden matzah (unleavened bread) is eaten. This cup, and the broken bread, make up our communion. Here we find understanding in our preparation to take the Lord’s Communion. Here we discover that in our looking for leaven, we are actually making way for the reception of our Savior – the Lamb of God. Thus the question remains, Are you prepared for Resurrection Day? Have you searched your spiritual house for the leaven of sin, pride, and self-importance. For you see that’s what leaven does: it makes the bread seem better than it really is; it puffs up. Leaven being the slow, controlled “rot” of bacteria reduces the elements combined into simpler objects. It represents that which de-humanizes us. When God, the Father created mankind He observed, “It is very good!” Sin, or leaven takes us away from that which is very good, dehumanizing us, making us less than who God made us to be.

So what can be done to search your spiritual houses for leaven?

a) Recognize, Remember and Remove All Leaven – Dt. 16:3 You shall eat no leavened bread with it; seven days you shall eat unleavened bread with it, that is, the bread of affliction (for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste), that you may remember the day in which you came out of the land of Egypt all the days of your life.

We Recognize, Remember and Remove All Leaven  Because….

– We remember His affliction, His sufferings

– We remember we left the slavery of sin 

– We remember we have become His Bread: 1 Cor. 10:17 For we, though many, are one bread and one body; for we all partake of that one bread. (1 Cor. 5:7 you are unleavened)

Greek word for bread is artos, and its root is airo = which means to raise up, elevate, lift up. By implication it means to take up or away. By Hebraism it means to atone for sin. 

Eating the Bread of Affliction, Unleavened Bread, the Bread of Life – helps us to remember that He was lifted up to take away our sins. We’ve been raised with Him to become Unleavened Bread, Bread of Affliction, and bread of life to those still enslaved in Egypt.

b) Clean Every Room of the House – Where are the locations in your “house” where you have eaten the “leaven” of sin?

Remember you are two houses in one. If you truly met Jesus’ covenant conditions you have been born again of the Spirit (John 3). But you’ve got yourself a problem: Romans 8:5-11 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be [b]carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the [c]carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [d]through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Thus you are a new, spirit man, creation, but you still have the old, sin man of the soul. These two houses are at war with one another. The soul man hates God and the the things of God. The spirit man desires to please God and respond to the Spirit. If you are participating in ridding your soul house of its leaven then you will be seeking to bring it into submission to the Spirit of God residing in your spirit man, or house.

But how can you identify the leaven of the soul man, or house? Doctor Luke provides us with a clue in Lk. 11:21-22 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up his plunder.

We must ask the question, What armor has the enemy had you trusting in? 

What would be the exact opposite of God’s Spiritual Armor found in Ephesians 6 but the devil’s armor alluded to in Lukes gospel? The belt of truth of Ephesians 6 reminds us to center ourselves in the Truth, which Jesus is, and not ourselves. Since it is the first piece of armor you put on, then the first piece of the devil’s armor that you would begin removing is self-centeredness, self-importance, pride, selfishness, etc. It’s interesting to note that the Roman Armor of the New Testament and the armor of the Hebrews in the Old Testament were held in place by the belt. It was probably the most important weapon in your arsenal considering that every action for combat proceeds from the midsection, and hips. This belt would essentially hold you together by keeping every other piece of armor in place. I am sure you can see now that if you apply this analogy you soon discover that the opposite of Truth, or Jesus, would be lies, deceit, deception, manipulation, or control. Ultimately, that which is competing for Jesus, the Truth, is self and satan. The leaven of self, reduces you to a slave, holding you in place, bound to the lies, deceit, deception, manipulation, and illusion of control.

From here it is easy to identify the armor of darkness in which we rely such as unRighteousness. Since the next piece of spiritual armor is the Breastplate of Righteousness its opposite would be to be improper, corrupt, debased, perverted, mean, evil, immoral, wicked, or twisted. Which begs the question, What  covers your heart, will emotions, and personality? If its His righteousness then your mind, will, emotions and personality will be falling in line with that. But if its Unrighteousness, then all which makes up unrighteousness will be determining what your mind, will, emotions and personality are controlled by.

It doesn’t take long to realize that at closer examination we all have a whole lot of leaven lurking in the analogies found in the Shoes of the Gospel of Peace, Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation (or Hope according to 1 These. 5:8), and the Sword of the Spirit – which is the Word of God.

Ultimately the question remains, What do we trust in more than the Word of God? More than the Spirit? All of these pieces of armor dwell in the rooms of our soul house. These are the enemies possessions. These are things in which you have trusted instead of God, the leaven of sin.

Another question we must ask ourselves is, If I’m cleaning every room of my soul house – mind, will, emotions, and personality – which aspect of these do I trust more than Jesus? More than I trust His Spirit or Word?

Next if I am really wanting to prepare for communion, in order to have the angel of death “Passover” then I will: c) Search for the Bread Crumbs. How do you do this? Look at the symptoms of repeated sin in your life and follow them to their root source. Ask questions like, When did this happen first begin? What things were going on in my life at that time which caused me to begin “eating” of this sin? Make a search for all the possible places in which the leavened bread of sin was eaten. Where are the hidden places? The Secret places where leaven lurks? Follow the bread crumbs back to its source – to get out of the “woods” of the witch. (Remember Hansel and Gretel?)

The next step to searching is found in: d) Separate Yourself Unto the Lord – Are you All-In for Jesus? 

Are you growing in His Grace, His Spirit? (Promptings and Urgings of the Spirit, Gifts, Manifestations, or Relationship to the Spirit) Are you drawing near to Jesus to know Him? Are you obeying Him in every way – (See the topic regarding the fallow ground for the seed of God’s Word found in Jeremiah 4:12; Hosea 10:12)? Are you restored to your First Love -OR- Have you rejected His Grace to grow? Have you rejected His invitations to Pray & Draw Near; Know His Word; Grow in Worship, Thanksgiving, Praise; Co-Sharing Jesus w/ Other Saints; Make Disciples; Baptize Others; Going to the Nations? Are you growing in holiness – separation unto the Lord? 

Now you may say, ” Robert, this could take a lifetime.” To which I would reply, “Exactly!” You and I haven’t been saved, we’re in the very process of salvation. You and I aren’t going to be safe until we reach Heaven’s shores. Our Life-Savior, has to get us through the darkest of life’s oceans, and then we will be safe. In the meantime all we have to do is hang onto His Grip – enduring to the end. That’s biblical Trust, and salvation. So let’s get to the business of spring cleaning.

Confession & Declaration 11

/in /by

1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing [of wine at the Lord’s Supper] upon which we ask [God’s] blessing, does it not mean [that in drinking it] we participate in and share a fellowship (a communion) in the blood of Christ (the Messiah)? The bread which we break, does it not mean [that in eating it] we participate in and share a fellowship (a communion) in the body of Christ?

Just so you know – we are on Friday, January 17, confessions and declarations. Fellowship is a word that has devolved over the years especially in the church. As a child I had a peripheral involvement with the local church at best. Yet, whenever a fellowship was announced, it was always understood to mean, food and mostly meaningless conversation. Now don’t get me wrong. I love connecting with people, and lite conversation, but this is not what the New Testament word meant at all. It was, nor has it ever been, the intention of the New Testament writers to minimize the word or its multiple concepts. On the surface, the only similarities that our popular definition has with the original meaning, is that of joy and celebration. What the Bible means by the word fellowship is a co-sharing of Jesus. Now when I was loosely involved in the life of the church, I would have dumbed down this definition with a reinterpretation. My new definition would be that “fellowship” is a sharing of information you had learned, or read about, regarding Jesus, or the Bible. Yet my definition was still information or knowledge based. But that is not what the Greek word for “fellowship” means. Its very similar to the “food and fun” aspect of the word but it’s missing the depth and richness of the meaning. The Greek meaning of the word “fellowship” means that there is a mutual sharing of experiences that you were having or had. Obviously the Bible is the best place to look for understanding and when it comes to the term “fellowship” we needn’t look any further than in 1 John 1:3 for insight and understanding. It states: What we have seen and [ourselves] heard, we are also telling you, so that you too may realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. And [this] fellowship that we have [which is a distinguishing mark of Christians] is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah). Fellowship as used in this verse, and throughout the New Testament, references experiences that the Apostles had, and might add – were having, with Jesus. What we have seen and [ourselves] heard,… This fellowship was experiential. A casual reading of this passage would lead one to conclude that the fellowship of experience was based on previous memories of Jesus. But pay attention to what John says next: And [this] fellowship that we have [which is a distinguishing mark of Christians]…It’s an ongoing and active thing. The experiential knowledge is not of something in the past, though that is part of it, but it’s ongoing. One must also conclude from this verse that this experience is not restricted to the Apostles only. It was to be a distinguishing characteristics of all Christians. The average Christian was to have this experience also. Interestingly enough this fellowship is specific and unique. Christian fellowship with the Godhead involved a knowing that there were, and are, times when there was an awareness that the individual was communing with the Father, or at other times, with the Son. Now that is a mind blower. The Godhead is “Three In One” but separate and distinct. And just to put your mind at ease, the fellowship is not everyday, but at particular moments in time. It has been my personal experience, yours may be different, that most of my relations with the Godhead have been with the Holy Spirit. Not to appear as if I am boasting, but that is pretty much an everyday thing. Why? Because of God’s Grace and Mercy, and my desperate need for Him. Next in line, in my relational context, will be Jesus, followed by the Father. That kind of fellowship – co-sharing – is made possible through the Blood of Jesus. Again, my personal opinion and my experience has been, that the encounters I have with the Father or Jesus are typically related to God-sized assignments that He has for me. For example Moses’ burning bush encounter with the Godhead had to be so dramatic and profound in order to match the challenges he was going about to experience. In other words, the experience was so undeniable, that later, when the going got tough, he wouldn’t chalk it up to his imagination – and flee in the opposite direction.

What’s really powerful is that this “rabbit hole” goes deeper. Several days ago, on Day 9, I had you declare what justification has and is doing for you. Embedded in that mediation was something so profound Im just now beginning to glimpse the depths of its meanings. It was a quote from The Theological Dictionary of the New Testament. The quote was: “The eternal character of the justifying event of salvation prevents any severing of past and present. The act of salvation is a continuing present.”  Pay attention to that last sentence: The act of salvation is a continuing present.” Our salvation through the Blood of Jesus isn’t a past or future event. It’s always in the preset tense. I believe that the Lord gave me a phrase by which to label this concept. I believe that He called it, The Eternal Now. It only stands to reason that the Godhead is outside of time. His proper Name is Yahweh: “I AM! It’s not I was or I will be – it IS…I AM. Thus, through the Blood of Jesus, I have been brought into the Presence of I AM. This means my salvation is in the present tense. Which means that I have access to fellowship, or experiential relationship, NOW! I have been positioned in the NOW. More specifically, in the Eternal Now. Now that is not only mind blowing, but quite exciting. You see we overcome the accuser of the brothers through abiding in His Blood which transfers us into the Eternal Now. This is only activated through faith, and a constant turning of our consciousness towards the Eternal Now. This is how we live from the Eternal Now: Faith, Obedience, and Setting Our minds. Now remember that our minds are one aspect of our souls. Thus what you are doing is shifting the reign of your spiritual life from a soulish perspective to one that is spiritual. You are bringing all aspects of your person into alignment with the way God intended: Spirit, Soul, Body. Our salvation (Greek word is sozo) involves our entire person: Spirit, Soul, and Body. It’s the Divine Alignment. Our mind, properly related to our spirit, acts as the translator, or the decoder, for all that God’s Spirit is whispering into our spirit. The mind, in submission to the Spirit, is able to act in accordance with the Words of the Spirit. Why? Because we are in the Eternal Now – through the activation of the Blood of Jesus. This activation is only made possible through trust and obedience. As we trust and obey (for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus) – we experience Fellowship with the Godhead, and with the Blood of Jesus. (And science fiction thinks it has something on Christians).

So let’s activate the Blood of Jesus towards communion, and fellowship with the Godhead. Are you ready? Remember do this aloud.

Declaration 11: My Precious Treasure, my Beloved, Your ways astound and amaze me. I bless Your Name for such a marvelous, awe-inspiring, salvation. Thank You Jesus for the invitation to walk with You and Know You. I thank You for such a great, and treasured gift, as my salvation. Thank You Jesus that now I have been invited into the Eternal Now. I turn my heart, mind, soul, and personality to You. I worship You. I am before the Great I AM continually. Continually I am saved. Continually I am forever knowing You. Continually I am forever washed clean, justified, and all my sin is gone. Thank You, thank You Jesus. I love You so much for loving me. I love You so much for inviting me into the Eternal Now. I praise You for Your Blood! Oh Father, I praise You for giving me Your Son. I praise You Jesus for clothing me in Your Holy Spirit. I praise You Holy Spirit for revealing to me Jesus. I praise You Holy Spirit for all the many things You do: leading me into all Truth, giving me revelation from the Word, speaking to me, whispering to me what Heaven’s thoughts are. Thank You, thank You, thank You!! You are my God and I am Your child. I’m blown away and captivated by your Great Love! Simply grant me Your Grace and revelation to continually abide in the Eternal Now.

Don’t forget “Who’s Your One – Day 5″ – Scripture Reading = Rom. 6:16-18

You Can’t Fake This

/in /by

Sunday, October 20, 2019

What’s the one thing in Christianity that can’t be faked? Did New Testament Christians actually experience hearing and seeing Jesus? Can Jesus actually be heard and seen today? If this is true what are the implications for those who attend church and have done neither? How are modern day Christians being built into a table of showbread?

1 Corinthians 10:16 The cup of blessing [of wine at the Lord’s Supper] upon which we ask [God’s] blessing, does it not mean [that in drinking it] we participate in and share a fellowship (a communion) in the blood of Christ (the Messiah)? The bread which we break, does it not mean [that in eating it] we participate in and share a fellowship (a communion) in the body of Christ?

The Greek word for communion is the word koinonia. The Bible will often translate this word as fellowship. This identical word is used in several passages of the book of 1 John and for good reason. 1 John 1:3 states: What we have seen and [ourselves] heard, we are also telling you, so that you too may realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. And [this] fellowship that we have [which is a distinguishing mark of Christians] is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

There are many things an unbeliever can fake regarding popular Christianity in the west. You can fake worship, reverence, love for the Word, love for Jesus, love for the Father, and prayer. But the one thing you cannot fake is true, Jesus-centered, koinonia. Why do I say this? Because true koinonia is based on a personal interaction with the Godhead. A relationship of common union, conversation, co-sharing. The crazy thing? You are doing all of that with the Creator of the Universe. Those who have had communion or fellowship with the Godhead know about it. You don’t guess or even hope you’ve had it – you know it. And once Heaven has touched your earth you can’t get enough. (I’m just smiling typing this up and thinking about it). The passage in 1 John really emphasizes this personal interaction when it states: What we have seen and [ourselves] heard, we are also telling you, so that you too may realize and enjoy fellowship as partners and partakers with us. The implication is what we have seen and heard is also available for you to see and hear. In John’s seven letters to the churches of Revelation one of the “stinker” churches was the Church of Laodicea. They were in such bad shape they couldn’t even see that they had left Jesus outside of His Worship service. Not only were they blind to His absence they also failed to hear Him knocking trying to get into the front door of His Church. The Church of Laodicean was deaf and blind spiritually. Before you get too critical recall the skepticism expressed when the Vice President of the United States expressed that he could hear God.

The Good News? Jesus offered a promise that if anyone would hear Him knocking and open the door He would come in and have fellowship with them. Why wouldn’t He?That’s the implication in the very definition of the word expressed throughout the New Testament. Why is that significant and what does it have to do with the next station in Priestly Tabernacle? Everything actually. The next station was called the Table of Shewbread or Showbread. In the Hebrew it literally meant the Bread of His Face or Presence. On this table were 12 stacks of unleavened bread, a symbol for each of the 12 tribes of Israel, and a flagon of Wine.

Recall that Scripture refers to us being a temple being built into a dwelling place of God in the Spirit? We grow in becoming through fellowshipping in the blood and body of Jesus. Another way of saying this is that we fellowship in His sufferings. This fellowship doesn’t have to come through being martyred, persecuted, or imprisoned. But it can and does come through simply picking up Jesus’ Cross and following His example of obedience in a difficult situation. When ever we choose obedience over personal comfort we are experiencing to some degree His sufferings. Now before you think that I have watered down our participation in Jesus sufferings take a look at 1 Peter 4:1: So, since Christ suffered in the flesh for us, for you, arm yourselves with the same thought and purpose [patiently to suffer rather than fail to please God]. For whoever has suffered in the flesh [having the mind of Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [has stopped pleasing himself and the world, and pleases God],…

At first I believed the message conveyed was regarding Jesus’ crucifixion. But the last part of the verse really bothered me. My doubt was regarding my own experience. I knew that I have suffered in the flesh but that hasn’t stopped me from sinning. Sometimes the suffering almost seemed to justify the sinning. So what was Peter seeking to express? I prayed and was reminded Hebrews 5:8: Although He was a Son, He learned [active, special] obedience through what He suffered.

Jesus was free of demons, generational curses, sins of the fathers, and soul and spirit wounds – yet, He suffered as He obeyed the Father in spite of the temptation. He was tempted in every way that you and I are tempted, yet He never sinned. He was comforted by angels after the 40 day fast and temptation in the wilderness. He wrestled over the will of the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane sweating drops of blood. Obedience to the Father is costly. The greater the outcome, the greater the suffering. Jesus’ Table of Showbread, the Bread of His Face is built in us as we do the will of the Father, interacting with Jesus through the process. Romans 8:17 states: And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His inheritance with Him]; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory. 

Mark 10:38 shines some more light on this concept. It states: But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?”  Jesus provides some clarity regarding what cup the disciples were so presumptuously willing to drink in Luke 22:42:Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.” 

The good news is that the Table of Showbread wasn’t just a table of fellowshipping with Jesus’ sufferings. John 6:55-58 explains the enjoyable side of the Table: For My flesh is true and genuine food, and My blood is true and genuine drink. He who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood dwells continually in Me, and I [in like manner dwell continually] in him. Just as the living Father sent Me and I live by (through, because of) the Father, even so whoever continues to feed on Me [whoever takes Me for his food and is nourished by Me] shall [in his turn] live through and because of Me. This is the Bread that came down from heaven. It is not like the manna which our forefathers ate, and yet died; he who takes this Bread for his food shall live forever.

Did you catch the three promises: dwells continually in Me, shall [in his turn] live through and because of Me, and shall live forever.  When we feed or commune with the Bread of His Presence, or drink the Blood of His Sacrifice we dwell continually in Him; we live through Him; and we live forever with Him. Why wouldn’t we? We are His Body. What the Western Christian must understand is that through knowing and doing His Word He reveals Himself to us. John 14:21 states it: Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”  And now we’ve come full circle. The Koinonia of Jesus-centered, Christianity, is about what we have seen, heard, and are partakers of. We become the Table of His Presence as we obey and know Him. You can’t fake that. If you have been go to the Bread of Life and let Him know that you are dying to know Him.