February 7, 2013

Mornin’ Folks! Best day of your life, right? Awww, now, don’t look at me in that tone of voice! Think of it this way: this is the day that the Lord has made – so take advantage of the day and walk in the blessings of the Lord!

 

Let's get right back to our discussion. We've got lots of territory to cover, and I'm likely going to run a bit long today. Here again is the prophetic Word given to and by John in Revelation:

 

"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out; and I will write upon him the name (onoma) of my God, and the name (onoma) of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God; and I will write upon him my new name (onoma)!" (Revelation 3:12 KJV)

 

Because the name/onoma of the Lord is so clearly revealed in the Seven Spirits of God, I want to pick up where we left off last time in talking about the Spirit of Judgment and Burning. Before we do, here's a quick refresher on those Seven Spirits as revealed in the Word:

 

1. The Spirit of Judgment and Burning (Isaiah 4:4)

 

2. The Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding (Isaiah 11:2)

 

3. The Spirit of Counsel and Might (Isaiah 11:2) -- referred to by the apostle Paul as: The Spirit of Power

 

4. The Spirit of Knowledge and of The Fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2) also referred to by Paul as: The Spirit of a Sound Mind

 

5. The Spirit of Grace and Supplications (Zechariah 12:10)

 

6. The Spirit of Truth (see John 15:26)

 

7. The Spirit of Glory (see I Peter 4:14)

 

In case this needs restating, it is imperative to remember that all of creation came into being for one purpose, and one purpose only: the bringing into being, the nurturing and maturing of a Bride destined to become the co-equal counterpart of Jesus Christ. Of necessity, that Bride must choose Jesus Christ of her own free will, else there can be no fellowship. Jesus' purpose has never been for a people who are robotically obedient to His commands and laws just because those commands exist. He has sought after a people who respond to His love and reciprocate with their whole beings -- because they love Him more than life itself.

 

The human race was given the same free will and choice that Jesus knows. He knew with divine foreknowledge that Satan would attempt to deceive the human race. He therefore incorporated His foreknowledge and creation of Satan into His plan for a Bride.

In Ezekiel's prophecy where he takes up the word of the Lord against Lucifer, he says, "Thou hast been in Eden, the garden of God.........You were the anointed cherub who covers, and I placed you there." (See Ezekiel 28:12-14)

 

Correspondingly, He knew that only a small number of people would actually respond to Him with their whole beings. He also knew that an overwhelming majority would believe Satan's lies and deceit; that in their place of agreement with him, they would become his pawns in the battle against the Bride –and yet He still provided an open avenue and opportunity for their redemption.

 

Over the course of the last six millennia, therefore, in order to nourish and protect that Bride-in-processing, it has therefore been imperative that Jesus Christ, the Bridegroom, exercise judgment and extermination judiciously -- not to wipe out the opposition, but to allow just enough opposition to exist. The Bride would, as a consequence, be required to continually overcome and rule over that opposition in the realm of the Spirit.

 

The Spirit of Judgment and Burning, therefore, is pivotal to His onoma, His existence -- and to ours as His intended Bride. "Burning," of course, has another less comfortable (to the flesh, anyway!) aspect. It can also be seen within the framework of that which we have come to know as thlipsis: the fiery trials, the tribulations, the furnace of afflictions, and the "processing" which prepares us for Him. “Burning” serves to burn away the fetters which keep us in bondage.

 

A classic example of this is seen in the case of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Daniel’s friends who were thrown into the fiery furnace, bound with ropes and fetters. Not only did Nebuchadnezzar not get his desire to see the men die, the fire – heated seven times hotter than normal – only succeeded in burning away those bonds and setting Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego free! At the same time, those who threw them into the fire were killed by the heat of the furnace. Furthermore, Nebuchadnezzar saw the Lord walking with them in midst of the flames.

 

It is a choice reminder for us that whenever we are in the fire, the Lord is with us. This is a principle which addresses a commonly held misconception: namely, that the Lord does not want us to suffer. You can rest assured that He is much less concerned with the suffering of our flesh than He is with the building and development of our character, and the transformation of our onoma. (Now, as sure as I make that statement, some folks are sure to jump to the conclusion that I'm saying the Lord is cruel and heartless and that He doesn't care about our suffering. Wrong! He does! Our problem is that because we've lived our lives with such a humanistic perspective, we've lost sight of what it means to be overcomers -- and to KNOW the power of the Risen Christ over all disease, suffering and afflictions of every kind!)

 

Being changed into His likeness and image is the highest priority. It is of far greater importance that we not suffer throughout eternity, being separated from Jesus Christ (or worse, that we make it to heaven but are not included in the Bride because we failed to overcome the flesh) than that our flesh not endure pain for some short period of time – whether that period be measured in days, weeks, months, or years.

 

Now, let's talk about the second of the Seven Spirits of God: the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding.

 

Intrinsic to the very essence of Jesus' being is the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, Isaiah identified this second of the seven spirits using two Hebrew words: chok.mah, and biy.nah. Chok.mah comes from the root, cha.kam, which means: To judge with discernment; to be skilled in wisdom; to ascertain through supernatural perception. Biy.nah, the word translated "understanding," comes from its root word, biy, meaning: to discern or perceive; to have skill in insight; (in a mental sense) to stand apart, to cause to be separate and distinct, to easily distinguish.

 

At first glance, the concept of Judgment and Burning, melding and flowing with Wisdom and Understanding, seems to lose something in the translation. When we see the true meaning, however, of "Wisdom," in the sense of: judging with discernment, or ascertaining through supernatural perception; along with "Understanding" as: skill in insight, or the ability to separate (events, facts, circumstances, or people) into their distinct characteristics and qualities, we realize that without this Spirit, Jesus' onoma would be incomplete.

 

Consider, if you will, that the operations and workings of these spirits are promised as gifts -- a kind of dowry from the Bridegroom -- to the believer: the Bride being prepared and molded to be a fit counterpart for Jesus Christ.

 

Paul writes (in I Corinthians 12), "Now concerning spirituals, brethren, I do not wish you to be ignorant..............to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit to make them fit and suitable (for the Bridegroom). For to one by the Spirit is given a word of wisdom; and to another a word of understanding by the same Spirit.............and to another, prophecy; and to another discerning of spirits......But [in] all these things is operating the one and same Spirit, dividing distinctly [out of His own nature and will] as He sees appropriate." (my translation)

 

Obviously, I have skipped over some of the mentioned manifestations of the Spirit -- "spirituals," if you will -- so as to illustrate just the first two aspects of Jesus' onoma.

In the phrase, "a word of understanding by the same Spirit" (we are more familiar with this as "a word of knowledge"), J. H. Thayer, in his Greek-English Lexicon, suggests that the word, gnosis, is better translated: Intelligence, understanding, advanced perception, a more perfected and enlarged knowledge. Gnosis, however, has a companion word in the Greek language, gnome, which helps us better see the framework from which this "word of understanding" operates.

 

Gnome means: Judgment, advice, decree, the faculty of knowing; the capacity to resolve with purpose and intention.

 

Judgment, therefore, is incorporated into this gift. Once again, this is not a harsh judgment, but the capacity coming out of agape to resolve things according to the desires of the Bridegroom. It is the best interests of the Bridegroom which are at stake, with a view towards that which He is accomplishing in the Bride's preparation. The Body of Christ has been slow to understand this concept of judgment. We have all withdrawn and flinched whenever there has been a perception of someone being judgmental, and have even tended to call people "judgmental" when they have simply spoken the truth in love.

 

What has happened, however, is that the Enemy has quietly quoted and inserted the scripture -- over and over and over again (within our subconscious) -- "Judge not that ye be not judged" (Matthew 7:1), and in the process, programmed us with a fear of judgment.

In Jesus' statement, "Judge not," an entirely different word is used in the Greek text -- krino -- which means: To separate, to pick out, to choose, to select; to approve, favor or esteem one over another: it also means: to pronounce an opinion concerning right and wrong.

 

Jesus, therefore, was referring to the choices and pronouncements of human will, choice, and intellectual opinion -- not His divine purposes, and not that Spirit of Judgment which is integral to His onoma.

 

Consider, once again, the significance of this truth. Human nature is very judgmental in its unregenerate state. This judgment is fed by the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. So long, therefore, as we (even as Christians) eat of the Tree of Knowledge, we make "judgments" -- that is, we form opinions -- of what is good or evil, and make pronouncements accordingly. We make choices in our assessments of individuals. The result is "exclusivity." We form associations, attachments and friendships, and fellowship only with those we find "desirable."

 

Once we fall into the trap of becoming "exclusive" in our fellowship and/or associations with individuals, we then prefer certain ones over others. Without realizing what has happened, we have succumbed to The Fear of Man. The end result is the inability to speak the revealed truth of the Lord (the aforementioned "word of knowledge," or "word of understanding") to those who need it because of the fear of losing that desired relationship.

 

My brethren and my sisters, we are —each of us — being processed and dealt with in this area of our lives. Our responses to the dealing of the Holy Spirit are absolutely critical. How can we expect the Lord to imbue us with His onoma -- an onoma which incorporates true judgment -- if we make human judgments based on opinions nourished by the Tree of Knowledge?

 

How can we expect to walk in an onoma that makes divine decrees which govern not just the affairs of the human race, but also assert rulership in the realm of the Spirit over principalities and powers and lords of the darkness of this age, when we can't even speak the truth in agape to the brethren and sisters closest to us?

 

It is imperative that this become life in our beings! It is the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, working hand in hand with the Spirit of Judgment and Burning – both of which are integral to agape – which are foundational to the authority and rulership of Jesus’ onoma. By the same token, they must be linked and joined into, and made operational, as a part of the foundations of our onoma.

 

Our onoma is being conformed and changed to complete and fulfill the onoma of our Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. John wrote that, "We know that when He shall be manifested, we shall be like Him." (I John 3:2) The Greek word translated, "like," is homoios. It means: To resemble, to be similar, to be like in form or look, in appearance, in nature, in mode of thinking, feeling, or acting; corresponding to, or equivalent to in strength, power and attractions, in authority, in mind and character.

No word could better describe the change of our onoma. In and of ourselves, we are unable to make this change. Yet the change is as inexorable as His power, and He makes the change in us, so long as we respond wholeheartedly, without hesitation, without limitations, without compromises, and without attempting to gloss over anything He exposes by His Spirit. In other words, our responses to the Paraklete, who has been given the responsibility of oversight for this change, must be with every breath of our existence.

It is the onoma of our Bridegroom which is at stake, and nothing less than absolute conformity to His onoma will suffice.

No one who resists, draws back, compromises in any way, or attempts to cover over any area of His dealing can expect to ever be incorporated into His Bride. That is not being judgmental. This is not a decision or an opinion of mine. It is simply truth! The Holy Spirit, in cooperation with the Bridegroom, has set the standard of change and conformity.

If we cannot overcome the frailties of our flesh and emotions, if we cannot dethrone imaginations and every high thing which exalts itself above the onoma of God, if we cannot overcome the lies of Satan and his evil spirits, along with their operations within us, how can we ever expect to be seated at His right hand "far above every principality and authority and power and lordship, and every onoma that is named, not only in this age, but in the coming one." ? (Ephesians 1:21 -- my translation)

 

That's a good place to leave things for today. We'll return next week with the third of the Seven Spirits of God: the Spirit of Counsel and Might.

 

Following is a very important prophetic word just shared by Chuck Pierce:

"Lift up your eyes! Lift up your eyes! Your redemption is drawing nigh, that which you need Me to come through on your behalf. Lift up your eyes and see! For you were looking in one plane and one direction. If you will lift up your eyes I will show you a horizon line that is set further than you have seen in the past. Lift up your eyes, for your help is on the way.

"For all the blessings in spiritual places I've given you, many of you have forgotten what I have spoken. And many [blessings] were hidden from one generation that I'm ready to reveal in another generation. So lift up your eyes, for above you, where I am seated in that Heavenly place, I am ready to reveal to you what you could not see even in the year that you have just completed.

 

"For one generation will begin to pass off their gift to another. When that happens, this generation will become a rear guard to those that are now moving on the front line. Get ready, for a movement has begun and Heaven has entered the earth realm and My people are beginning to move in a new way with revelation.

 

"There is a sound that I am bringing forth. For I have a people that will create the winds that are necessary to rearrange many events in the earth. Watch for the rearrangement of events. Watch for that which couldn't be bridged to be bridged. Watch for what could not be penetrated to be opened up. Watch for that which was out of order to be reordered. Bring forth the sounds into the earth that will cause some things to tumble, other things to be rebuilt, and some things to rise up and display the power that Heaven has not had displayed in the past season. Let Heaven be seen in the earth realm and let My people go forth in triumph.

 

"I have purchased right of ways in the earth realm, and those ways have not been pioneered before. But now I'm raising up a people and I'm giving them rights to ways that need to be opened up. Go! I have the deed to the right of way, and paved the way for many to come into a new place."

 

"I'm bringing down the wind into the earth realm that's stirring up the oil and the anointing to anoint the vision of My people tonight. Judah is going first and the sound is creating a salve to heal the eyes of My people. Some of you have a hard time erasing certain pictures that your eyes have seen. There's an anointing tonight for healing of a deep memory based upon the reflection of what you have seen that was not aligned with My purpose. Allow the sound and your worship to heal your vision."

Blessings on you!