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Space Cowboys

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There’s an old leadership quote: “You cannot lead people where you have never been.” But it’s usually accompanied by another famous quote by Aristotle: “He who cannot be a good follower cannot be a good leader.” Jesse Jackson said it another way: You can’t Teach what you don’t know, and You Can’t Lead where you won’t go!”

This year I’ve been asking the Lord to allow me to experience this one Scripture so I can teach others how to go there. It has intrigued, challenged and puzzled me for years. It’s mysterious and seems to be out of reach. Yet, there it remains lodged as a “splinter in my mind.” The first time I heard that quote from a character named Morpheus in the movie The Matrix: What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.

What is the Scripture? Revelation 1:10-12 I was in the Spirit [rapt in His power] on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a great voice like the calling of a war trumpet,11 Saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last. Write promptly what you see (your vision) in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia—to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.12 Then I turned to see [whose was] the voice that was speaking to me,… 

I was in the Spirit [rapt in His power] on the Lord’s Day,…This is my “splinter.” I have prayed to have more understanding of its meaning. I have been praying for the experience – yet it stands removed and distant from me – like a distant planet I have only seen pictures of. Yet contrary to popular, Christian theology, the Bible was written as a testimony – a witness of what others have experienced; a testimony for future space traveling, cowboys who are willing to “boldly go where no man has gone before.”

Now don’t get me wrong I have prayed “in the Spirit” and I believe I have worshipped “in the Spirit” – but I’m still curious what lies beyond the door of being in the Spirit. Jesus said in John 4 that the Father is seeking for these kind of worshippers – so it must be pretty important. Which adds another piece to the puzzle. The book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, is chocked full of mystical references to doors: entry to the Garden, sin crouching at your door, Noahs’ ark door, and Abrahams’ door. The book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, has references to doors of time and space, or multi-dimensional portals. Whatever you want to call them they usher you into a dimension that is not your own. And Jesus is asking, seeking, and knocking – for someone to overcome the Laodicean Church Age and answer the Call. Isn’t it interesting the similarities between these actions of Jesus and His teaching on prayer in Matthew 7:7-8 Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and the DOOR will be opened to you…. It’s as if Jesus’ “secret coded message” to anyone who will listen is that what the Father is searching for – Jesus is praying. Are you an answer to Jesus’ prayer? Referring back to The Matrix. Is Jesus like Morpheus and we are His “Neo’s?” Can you “see” the “Voice?”

Confession & Declaration 26

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Today is Day 23 in your prayer journal for “Who’s Your One?” Which means you are 7 days away from sharing the Gospel with your “one.” The question is, What’s your strategy for sharing? Are you going to use The 3 Circles Gospel presentation, or a witnessing tract that you can walk them through? Or are you simply going to share your testimony – what your life was like before you came to Jesus, how you came to Jesus, and what your life is like now that you have accepted Jesus? Will you simply share your love and concern for their life? That quite frankly you really love and like them and want them to spend eternity with Jesus and you. Will you ask the 2 Diagnostic Questions attempting to discern where they really are in their relationship with Jesus; helping them to discover it for themselves? What are the 2 diagnostic questions? The very first is, Have you come to the place in your spiritual life where you know for certain that you have eternal life? The second question is even more telling because you ask what their assurance is for eternity. This second diagnostic question asks, If you were to dies today and stand before God and He asked, “Why should I let you into My Heaven?” What would you say? If their answer is dependent upon themselves you know where their assurance lies. Even if they say that they prayed a prayer, received baptism, joined a church, or tried to be good people – you know exactly where they actually put their trust. That is the key difference: TRUST. Often people believe all the right things but they have not translated their beliefs into trust. They’ve simply become converted. They’ve exchanged their ideas and opinions for another set of ideas; changing sides, turning over a new leaf. Unfortunately for them their center is still SELF. Which brings me to todays declaration and confession. 1 John 5:11-12 And this is that testimony (that evidence): God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.12 He who possesses the Son has that life; he who does not possess the Son of God does not have that life.

If you have met God’s covenant requirements – then you have been born-again of the Spirit. Converts have no idea what this term means. Nor do they understand what it means to have Jesus, or eternal life. Jesus defined eternal life totally different than what we’ve been taught or heard. Jesus’ definition was all about relationship. John 17:3 And this is eternal life: [it means] to know (to perceive, recognize, become acquainted with, and understand) You, the only true and real God, and [likewise] to know Him, Jesus [as the] Christ (the Anointed One, the Messiah), Whom You have sent.

The AMPC does a great job of breaking down the meaning of knowing. Knowing in the original language means that you are experiencing the individual, getting acquainted with them, understanding them, perceiving and recognizing who they really are. It’s progressive, personal, and intimate. It means that there is a co-sharing of personhood. If I co-share with another then there is going to be a give and take of feelings, and thoughts that are verbally expressed. It means that my sharing will be personal, vulnerable, honest, sincere, reflective, experiential, emotional, risky, trusting, loving, and respectful. If this is going on – I have Jesus. I have eternal life.

Now stop and process that. Through the Blood of Jesus you now have access to the Godhead, in a give and take of thoughts and feelings, that are personal, vulnerable, honest, sincere, reflective, experiential, emotional, risky, trusting, loving, and respectful. With the Godhead. With the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. You have Jesus. You have His heart, and He has yours.

In other words, you become like spouses that really love one another. When you apply that concept to your relationship with Jesus it means that Jesus loves, and likes you. He desires to be with You. Jesus wants to hear all of the details of your day. Jesus desires to hear you talk about all of these things. Even more amazing than that. He wants to express His words, thoughts and feelings to you.

It never dawned on me till this morning that Jesus has been waiting on me not to pray through my list of the needs of others. He doesn’t want me to simply read a devotional thought, or the Bible, and walk away. No, no, and absolutely not! He wants me to slow down, and connect with Him. I realized I had reaped what I had sown. What do I mean? For the past several years my focus has been on obedience. But in the process I have neglected co-sharing. As a result of my focus I had reaped what I had sown. Yet recently I broadened my focus to include practicing His Presence, and taking the time to talk with Him about concerns, struggles, and thoughts. Guess what has happened? He has started co-sharing with me. With that in mind, why don’t you take this time to make this declaration and draw near to Him.

Declaration 26: My Precious Father Jesus. Again and again, thank You! Thank You for Your Precious Blood that has made this possible. I have You, and You have me. I am yours, but greater than that – You are mine. Through Your precious Blood I now have the assurance that I have a relationship with You. I have eternal life. Through Your Blood I can now crawl up beside You and pour my heart out. Thank You that You also pour out your heart to me. Thank You that through these truths I can see that I need to broaden my focus to sow into Your life my words, thoughts and feelings that are personal, vulnerable, honest, sincere, reflective, experiential, emotional, risky, trusting, loving, and respectful. Through Jesus’ Blood I can crawl up in Your lap Father. I can wrap my arms around Your neck and hug You. Thank You that from Your Throne and Your Lap – I can see things from Your perspective, and be still and quiet. For You are My Rock, Refuge, and Safety. I love You for loving me. Thank You that I have Jesus, and He has me.