Feb 22
Fueled for Empowerment
Science has long known that light is a purifier and the light of the Menorah before you is just that. It is the “eye salve” that Jesus told the Laodicean church it needed to buy so they could see. Yes, God wants you to “see”, but there is a cost. That cost is “honesty” - the Laodicean church said they were rich, but they were poor, they said were clothed, but they were naked, and they said they could see, but they were blind or unperceptive to spiritual transitions.
BRUTAL HONESTY
In order to proceed further into the Sanctuary and these two rooms of Mystery you will have to be brutally honest with yourself. Notice, I did not say brutally honest with God – He already knows. However, honesty with our selves is often quite hard. But, the only way to have the cracks sealed, as I mentioned in my last post is through honesty.
Honesty seals cracks and opens you to the oil of the Spirit. You have more than likely found that the Spirit will allow others to rub you the wrong way – that is part of the polishing I spoke of. You see, the cracks came from you. What!!! Yes, others rubbed you wrong, but it is your response that created the cracks that you carry. It is your bitterness, your unforgiveness, your anger, not theirs. The cost for crack sealant is that you will have to give all these interior furnishings to God in order to pay for the eye salve. That is why the Holy Spirit will allow others to rub you wrong again – it gives you a chance to respond correctly and erase the crack.
Each correct response removes a crack and polishes the container. The container is you. That is precisely why it is necessary to be brutally honest. Honesty removes scales from your eyes. Only with the removal of those scales can you see why the Spirit allowed the event to happen. Honesty is an important ingredient in the eye salve of Heaven.
CHAOS AND THE DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL
Honesty turns Chaos, which is the disorganized state of matter into Cosmos, which is the organized state of matter (Webster’s Definition). God allows this because there is no other way to Cosmos. Thus, it is the ‘Dark Night of the Soul’ that prepares you for the Light of the Candle. It is the valleys of life that prepare you for the Mountain of the Lord. It is the storm that prepares you for the miracle. It is Pentecost that prepared the disciples for something entirely unheard of – the church. In many ways, God’s ways are anti-logical and higher than the Heavens above ours. That is why I have “Divine Chaos” offered here. It really is for your good.
THE COST OF STILLNESS
Stillness is the final cost or preparation for infilling of Oil. It is difficult to pour anything into a moving container. Thus the disciple had to wait
in the upper room. About 120 people crammed into a small room did not allow for much movement. Stilling your self is hard, but stilling your soul is even harder. It took ten days for the disciples to accomplish it. In this stillness the oil can reach your spirit. This is where your spirit and God’s Spirit become one (1 Corinthians 16:7).
PREPARATION FOR INFILLING
Once you manage to do this, you are prepared for the infilling of the Oil of the Spirit. Warning, this may be anti-cultural to you and may require you going on a personal retreat to avoid all the distractions that you have surrounded yourself with. You may find stillness frightening as some use various noises as a security blanket.
When you become honest, and have stilled your soul - the infilling will come. When it does you will be ready for the igniting. However, there are seven ways the Oil is to touch you; seven branches that must be filled and once again you will be faced with issues of time. Time combined with the rubbing against your grain by others become the main ingredients that comprise a little thing called patience. But, I sure none of you need that – do you?
You do not have to touch fire to get hot. Just stand close to it. But, I’m getting ahead of myself. There are seven facets of the Oil of God, and seven branches of the Lampstand. They must be filled before the flame comes. What that means to you is too significant to ignore.
Blessings,
John Paul
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Thank-you for your clarifications, John Paul and your incredible teaching skill. I was trying to reflect the honesty and the questions within my own heart. Forgive me if I sounded flippant and/or a bit arrogant. I wanted to understand more what the Holy Spirit is saying through you about chaos and how I need to respond in my own life and situation in relation to this teaching.
I am entering into a new season of my life, a place that I have never been before and it is getting to be very interesting.
Ok, lets get more into honesty. This is hard for me. I have this one issue and once I get past it in the power of the Holy Spirit, I believe that I will never be the same again.
To be honest with you, I have visited many churches and prayer groups in the different parts of the Body of Christ throughout the years and having had dialogue with fellow brother’s and sisters who profess to love Jesus and their neighbor as themselves. I find it increasingly difficult, that instead of experiencing the “Love of God” through fellowship and dialogue with my brother’s or sister’s, whether it be in an online social networking situation,through articles that are written regarding individual opinions regarding certain topics or even in a one on one dialogue, I experience what feels like hatred or lack of respect coming at me from them and whenever, I call them on it, they turn it around and say that it is my problem and I need to deal with it with God, even if it is true that they had a stake in it.
Now, I know that all I need to do is pray for them when I receive the beating, but then I am still left with the bad taste in my mouth and a bad feeling in my heart because of what was said to me or how the attitude was conveyed.
So what I am trying to say here is I am having a very hard time understanding and trusting this kind of christian fellowship. I know that if I don’t give this thing over to the Lord, that it is the very thing that will stand in the way for the light within me to grow more brightly. This is so painful for me to even discuss because I believe that I do love people the way that christ loves the church. Furthermore,I am feeling bad for even writing this because I am fearful that I would be misunderstood in even disclosing this much by people on this blog because everyone is at a different place in the Holy Spirit and so it is more than likely to not be understood all the way.
Because of this, I am saddened for how the member’s of the Body of Christ treat each other especially here in America and it is hard for me to trust fellowship in the Body of Christ on this side of the hemisphere. At times it is so hard, that i have to force myself by talking myself out of the reaction, knowing full well that when I go to an event or a meeting, someone is going to say an off color remark that has the propensity for me to run to hills and never return.
So the question that I have at this time is in regards to fellowship with each other in the Body of Christ, ” Is it normal to expect and put up with chaos coming from the Body of Christ and if so, when is it right not to put up with it”, and ” And is it normal for me to feel this bad about it? It really aches within my heart. Sometimes, the pain can be unbearable.
At this point, a retreat sounds great, and is what I do when issues of the heart start to rub me the wrong way. However, the temptation here is, to stay on the retreat forever and become a hermit and live in complete silence until the Lord, returns! My son Joshua who is autistic is silent for the most part, maybe its not a bad thing after all. Maybe the Lord is sparing him of many things, like the need to respond. ummm!
Shirley C.
Who is the wiser? Who is really honest?
God judges His people but He will repay those enemies He uses against us when He is done with forging His righteousness in His people. He judges us so that we can become like Him. When the purpose is fulfilled then comes the terror on the evil ones. He judges us for our sins.
In the midst of judgments we can look up and enjoy the presence of God like the Psalms of the afflicted.
But not many are honest with themselves. They don’t acknowledge the terrible things in their lives is God’s judgment for their sins. They say God won’t put sickness on His people, He won’t allow bad things to happen to us etc… Yet He bruises and He heals. But we tend to see the God who heals not the One who bruises by the evil one.
The righteous has many enemies and afflictions because he is a sinner yea because God wants him perfected on the earth and that by suffering and mainly for his sins. Either way you are suffering because you are not yet perfected. Even Jesus suffered.
The church renounces the fact that we are sick and suffering because of God’s wrath on His people. ‘A loving Father won’t put sickness on His children’, they exclaimed. Ask King David about his pride, adultery, and sins of his youth and what he got out of life…his sicknesses and the wars of his son and pestilence on the land of Israel. How strange a demonic doctrine we don’t suffer for our sins.
Even David’s whole life is full of judgments for his sins. FOR HIS SINS he suffered. Then he attained great heights of righteousness and relationship with his Lord through these hardships. God perfected the man after His own heart.
Bad things happen to you because you are not perfected yet. Thus the cracks are sealed and God forges a vessel of greater honor.
Who is the wiser? Who is really honest?
There is a great wonder in the church…
False confidence and expectation among the elect.
We have false confidence when we think we nothing will befall us for our sins no matter how big or small but Ecc 3:15 says, “God requires that which is past.”
We have false expectation when we live like the world and think that because of the cross we will expereince the blessings of God.
Only wicked men in the bible have this kind of false confidence and expectation that’s why they go on sinning but now we see the church has the same mentality.
All gifts and blessings are by His grace, the Lord rewards our labors. The labors are the righteous deeds of His people. We labor He rewards by grace. What an election!
Better than I thought. In times before, I never saw the connections that you have shown us here. I eventually came to think that it wasn’t as important as it really is…just to be still before Him…
So much I still gotta learn and re-learn…
God Bless!
Wow JP!! I’m dumbfounded … how you’re interweaving it all together, it’s like a precious gift that God kept hidden from us to be opened at such a time as this ..
Ouch! how much more polishing for me??
God Bless
Yes, I had an experience that was within the last two months. I believe that God was testing me. I was in the Spirit and I went out to the store and this woman came in my pathway and she made a very rude comment to me. And she had this tone of voice. And now I am being honest to say that I did not handle it correctly. Even though, I did not respond to her directly. Usually, I can deal with very difficult people and respond correctly. But, there is one character type that really rubs me the wrong way. So, anyway I had this attitude towards this woman and the next thing I knew I was no longer in the Spirit. So, God is showing me that my attitude and how I respond is very important. I can also say that I did experience some chaos within the last several months and now I believe that I am coming to the place of stillness. It is so wonderful when God comes and stills the storm.
Blessings
ps
BRUTAL HONESTY - ‘Eek ..when will the rubbing and the polishing stop?’ ….
A number of years ago a Pastor friend of mine asked me this rhetorical question. “Oh, so I see that you have met ‘brother hammer’ and ‘sister sandpaper’?” Not quite knowing how to respond, being that was the first time that I’d ever hear anyone say that. But in light of this current post I am reminded of the conversation I had with this Pastor.
As a matter of fact I just recently (less than five days ago) had a conversation with ‘brother hammer’ and he said that I needed to talk to ‘sister sandpaper’ and that she would ‘smooth things out’ for me.
One thing I have learned, is the tests that God gives - are PASS or FAIL - HE doesn’t grade on a curve. I responded much better than I have in the past (I passed the test) but in light of God’s Mercy, I see that I have been given, yet another chance, to learn this most crucial (i.e. make or break me) lesson. I think I’m finally GETTING IT!
My dear blogger friends - One of the most important aspects of reading this blog, FOR ME, is the fact that John Paul is CHALLENGING us to come up higher. Our response, allows us to discover the choice that we have made, and then - our “choice makes us.” This then determines if we will move forward or remain stuck at the place that we have always been at?
I for one, do not want to remain stuck at the place that I have been at. I confess that I have been my own worst enemy, and I agree that being “brutally honest” with ourselves is the only way that we will be allowed to move forward. From here on, it’s going to get a little ‘dicey.’ I fear that God might just show up in my life one day and I would see and/or experience HIM in a way that I have not anticipated nor expected. Remember, this is not just a blog – it’s a portal, in-to the very place that John Paul is writing/teaching about. I can hear you say, yeah right? You think I’m joking? You’ll see… soon enough.
Still… a little rough around the edges.
Changing subjects – JP, I was wondering when you might be writing/teaching about ‘colors’ and their relationship to the Lampstand? Although, I don’t want to jump ahead, because I don’t want to miss anything along the way.
Thank you John Paul,
In the midst of one of the hardest trials our family has ever gone through, I am filled with excitement and wonder at what the future may hold for us.
Perfect love does cast out all fear.
The key is to maintain the faith and the trust; to blot out the fear whilst the cracks are exposed and then sealed; to rely on God for all these things whilst “all hell is breaking loose”.
Blessings,
ransom33 @ http://www.ransom33.wordpress.com
Thank you John Paul. I am stuying the tabernacle through Beth Moore’s study called “A Woman’s Heart, God’s dwelling Place.” I am so excited that my church is offering this study at this time, as I have wanted to learn more about the tabernacle. I just got done studying about the seven branches of the lamp stand and the oil of God today. Then came here to read this. It makes so much more sense to me now that I am studying the tabernacle along with your writings. Thank you for your humble and honest spirit!
Love in Christ,
Nicole
Shirley C.
You are totally UNDERSTOOD and ACCEPTED!
Thank you for sharing.
Yes, being honest with yourself is hard and ecspecially to see those things and admit them. One thing about me is that I want to be right all the time when it comes to seeing problems in the church. Where that comes from I dont know, but I do know it doesn’t come from Him. I think I’m learning that problems come, problems go– in the church, in the family, in the workplace, everywhere! And, it’s just not going to stop. So, I have to just roll with the tide. It’s not a matter of being right or wrong anymore for me, but my attitude about it. Do I let this problem knock me out again? I’m beginning to think God hands over boxing gloves and lets everything and everybody beat the living daylights out of me until I’m passed out and I’m lying there in a daze. And the referee (the Holy Spirit) is asking me, are you through yet?
I just felt to add to my previous comment because I left a lot out. Anyway, after I realized that I did not respond correctly when God had tested me, I gave my failure to him. God does know our hearts, even when we fail. So, I asked God to help me to be able to deal with this type of person. And I can tell you that he tested me again with the same character type and I did pass the next time. It didn’t affect me the same way. So, I believe that if our heart is towards God, he will enable us to overcome and respond correctly. Now, I feel that I am experiencing an increasing measure of the Spirit.
Thank you!
Our leader’s in my church have just now admitted that they have neglected part of the five fold ministry, we have gone after the apostlic and prophetic but not the rest. It has cleared up alot of confusion for me when they admitted this. I’ve always felt that the five fold ministries wouldn’t stand unless we are unified. So a while back ago God told me just start loving people who you sit near in church, and we have. My husband and I have large groups of people we know and dont know over our house for dinner. That’s how I got through the lack of unity in my church. I dont know what our leader’s will do regarding division but I’m doing my part and I’ll leave the rest up to God. I guess I’m saying all this to say that God is faithful and I do see correctly and I just have to be extra patient and things will start lining up. I’ve never gone to any of our pastor’s and complained and I’m glad for it now, because things seem to be going the right direction. God also told me about the leader’s is that they have a head knowledge of the change’s they need to make, but not a heart one. And that there are some people in the concregation who cant respond. So, with that I’ve asked God to take away the pain for the last five years of division that could have been different and help me to forgive and let go and love them.
I finally caught up with the all the teachings from the beginning and I only can say thanks. Everyday I become more thankful for the cross and His amazing grace.
When I have told people, there is no good thing in me apart from Christ, the response I have received tells me they don’t believe that. So I have stopped saying it to others. But it is true. I identify with Isaiah when he says, “Woe is me…”. The more I know God, the more my shortcomings show. It is surely His mercy in my life to reveal more of Himself. Facedown again. Perhaps less of me will rise this time.
Tanya
“Dwelling in His Presence: Eternal One” for new wineskins….absent from the body and present with our Lord in daily prayer-”eye salve” to do what He does to please the Father in Spirit and in Truth, abide in Him to stand and endure until the appointed time, His grace is sufficient, He is our Strength, our Light: purifying and purging, consecrating and sanctifying-to see what our Father in Heaven is doing on earth as it is in Heaven-to see through His eyes-totally yielding to His Will..focus on Him, His love and who He truly IS-Leviticus 10:3; Colossians 4:13; Colossians 4:15; Revelation 1:11 (New American Standard Bible)
It’s funny I had a conversation with a friend just today how I was journaling “My way back to God” and how ugly everything looked when I honestly wrote down what was making me so angry, rebellious and sad with everything and everyone around me. (Prov 27:19 - As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man)
Another similar topic was the oil - I was told by my surgeon I was malnutrient, so I’ve been researching about what some of the causes are and the lack of “oil” in the body causes some women to feel cold, have headaches, sinus congestion and muscle aches, which defined the way I feel pretty much everyday. I’m going to take this a step further and keep in tune to your letters - because I know God’s speaking to me here about my soul. Thank you so much for your words - I am blessed.
Brutal honesty
I thought I was so tough and strong
I’m not sure if brutal will power is enough
to continue
to hang on
to hope
of healing
of quiet waters
of fields of verdant dreams
I’m not sure if I can hang on and believe this life ends
as a fairy tale
not as a tragedy
I’m not sure of my own strength
Perfect love casts out fear
But love allowed brutal pain in One much loved
I teeter on a plank hanging out over a chasm
sometimes I’m just not sure if Love is balancing me on the other side
I’m not really sure if Love might let me fall for a greater good
I thought I was able to have great faith
It is not mine that I might do with it as I please
Minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, Month by month,
The seizures wrack through my spirit and erode my hope
I can only be what He makes of me
When all is gone and I don’t get to carry my dreams
He must carry me
Brutally honest
Hi, I just got “Divine Chaos” in the mail today. It really was an eye opener about the Law of Observation, how we can change people by the way we view them as well as ourselves and the part about how we can gain knowledge but understanding allows you to do what’s right.
Thank You
I recently downloaded “Divine Chaos” the other day. And I am chewing on this rather slowly. I don’t want to miss a bite. Thank-you for making it available as an Mp3. Oh, the miracle of technology.
Blessings!
Tanya,
It is so true. There is nothing good in any of us but Jesus. I have also told this to people in person as well as on my blog. I have gotten interesting responses also, and sometimes no response. Regardless of the way people respond, it is still true, just like you said. Just wanted to encourage you in this. I am right where you are at, my fellow sister. The more I know Christ, the more I realize my condition. The only good they see in me is Jesus. Humbling, but so true. I wouldn’t have it any other way. Amen?!
Brutal honesty
Whatever Christ did, the people reproach Him. I hope He counts me worthy to suffer like Him.
9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11 I also made sackcloth my garment;I became a byword to them.
12 Those who sit in the gate speak against me, And I am the song of the drunkards. Ps 69:9-11
Neither have i not nip the temptation in the bud when it arose but i did not let my heart rejoice to see anybody’s fall. In fact i see people according to the spirit not in the flesh.
But if any have eyes to see, God has made me the ‘Apple of His eye’. I have become a joint heir with Him in the inheritance. I have become more than a conqueror in the battles for even so is not working for my glory to the glory of God? Even this light affliction and commendation of the Lord. Thank-you Jesus.
But its God not me Who blesses me. Let the blessings bear witness of me. All glory to God.
I hope to be honest with all.
Whatever Christ did, the people reproach Him. I hope He counts me worthy to suffer like Him.
9 Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up, And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11 I also made sackcloth my garment;I became a byword to them.
12 Those who sit in the gate speak against me, And I am the song of the drunkards. Ps 69:9-11
Neither have i not nip the temptation in the bud when it arose but i did not let my heart rejoice to see anybody’s fall. In fact i see people according to the spirit not in the flesh.
But if any have eyes to see, God has made me the ‘Apple of His eye’. I have become a joint heir with Him in the inheritance. I have become more than a conqueror in the battles for even so is not working for my glory to the glory of God? Even this light affliction and commendation of the Lord. Thank-you Jesus.
But its God not me Who blesses me. Let the blessings bear witness of me. All glory to God.
WOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO !!!!!!!
Thats answers SOOOOOO many questions of mine …. !!!!!!
Gives me stength and humility in this process !!!!
What happens when the honesty almost gets to painful to bear? There must be a huge crack left like a critical mass is being reached becuase this dark night of the soul has taken me to my utter weakness and I’m not sure how to push all the way through because the honesty required is beyond my reach it seems … northernkingdom@hotmail.com
So God is sealing my cracks
I pray he starts with my biggest crack
MY MOUTH
it tends to get me into trouble