Contentment

Recently I've been doing this thing where I sit down and write for a half hour or more. I have a hard time actually doing it, though.  Supposedly I have a passion for writing, so the real question is whether or not I can actually be successful in this endeavor. Can I write for the full half hour, and if I can't, why not?  Honestly at this point the pressure is off, the gloves are off, I'm just writing from my heart.  I'm getting ideas down that can later be siphoned into useable material. Maybe my struggle is because writing is really emotionally taxing.  I really want to get distracted and think about the things that I need to get done before I go to England.  I'm really excited honestly to no longer work at Best Buy.  My job now isn't super difficult, but I'm sick of retail and its burdens. If I could stay forever at my current job, I would do it. I don't think I'd be happy, though. Regardless, that's not the way it's happening.  You have better things for me.  You're pushing me out.

I don't envy some of my coworkers that are passionate about retail. They love that type of work. It's their thing. I would hate the position I was passed up for in Best Buy Mobile. Honestly, I'm glad Best Buy turned me down for a promotion.  I want to stay focused on you.  Writing is my way of connecting with your love for me and for the world around me. I'm addicted to the feeling I get when I'm writing, although feeling is the wrong word.  Too superficial.  The word I'm looking for is fulfillment. Contentment.  Joy.   Joy is different than entertainment. Joy can express itself emotionally, but it's really a deep inner fulfillment that arises out of knowing who you are and being happy with it. I feel like I've lost that truth, I've lost that joy.  But I haven't really.  I've just forgotten it and chosen to listen to other voices instead.  I must not listen to the voices that try to drag me away from truth.  Truth is apparent inside of me, and I must let my mind come into alignment with this reality. As my mind comes into alignment, my eyes change and I start to see the world through the eyes of God. It's no longer an issue of not doing enough to access the Kingdom - my works are dead. Works of compassion instead are a natural expression of the love inside of me. Faith has works, that's the point. But it's already done, my salvation is already secure, 100%, right now. This can be a hard reality for the passionate ones to accept, but those passionate bulls were created to work from grace, not for grace.

No, it's not about doing enough, it's about knowing the truth. There is no spoon. The spoon is fear. The spoon is the limitations of an earthly mindset that only comprehends what's in front of us, or at least what we perceive to be in front of us. I'd go on a limb and say there are only two ways you can see the world – through the lens of God or the lens of Satan. The lens of Satan is worldly – it sees the world as two-dimensional, it is hell bent on disempowering the body of Christ and convincing them that they can't do the things that God has said they can do. Satan is determined to keep us grounded. He is the serpent. He lives from the earth, he slithers upon it, no longer able to walk around. His power was stripped from him in the garden.  But you may ask, isn't it logical to think that at the fall of man, Satan took control over the earth?  No, beloved.  The Lamb was sacrificed before the foundation of the earth.  The Old Testament was about God putting into motion his master plan that was determined before Adam and Eve came into existence.  The plan of redemption was never plan B.  God knew Adam and Eve would eat the forbidden fruit. It wasn't his intention, and he never wanted them to do that.  But when they ate, something awful happened – they started to see the world from Satan's perspective. Why? Because in that moment they forgot who they were. They forgot that they were powerful sons and daughters of the living God.

Adam and Eve were sons and daughters of God, but they wouldn't have known what that meant at the time.  They thought their identity was based on their obedience.  So when they ate the forbidden fruit, they knew was that they had disobeyed God and done what was wrong.  They felt shame. They hated themselves and wanted to cover themselves up. They knew they were naked, and they knew they weren't divine beings anymore. Or at least they felt like they weren't. And because they felt like they weren't, and they believed they weren't, God essentially played along and showed them what it's like to be ruled, rather than partnered with. He's the loving father that teaches his children why they shouldn't touch a hot stove by letting them touch the hot stove.  He knew he would have to play the long game to restore their identity and bring them back into their proper relationship with Him.

This relationship disconnect was never on the side of God. This was obvious when the Israelites refused to see God and climb the mountain with Moses, and instead created gods they could control and rule themselves. They didn't see themselves as amazing enough or valuable enough to see God's glory. God knew this and even told Moses that he could only see God's back, in Exodus 20:18-26. Moses drew near to God but not that near, and the LORD was intent on putting fear in his people so that they would know how powerful and amazing He is.

This reverence set the standard for righteousness. God isn't a God of wishy-washy morality. Letting people slide isn't what real forgiveness is. The world claims to love and treat people well, but really they only treat people well that aren't evil and wicked. If people are evil and wicked, the world judges them. But God forgives them. God forgives Osama Bin Laden.  God forgives Hitler.   That's the point. We were once all Hitler.  Jesus' grace covers all sin, not to free us into sin, but to free us from the sin nature that none of us can overcome on our own.

In light of the redemptive nature of God, we are able to see ourselves properly, with the scales removed (Acts 9:18). Every time we read about how amazing God is, we shouldn't see ourselves as equals to God, because we're clearly not, but we should see how amazing we are in light of how amazing God is. Reading the Old Testament and experiencing the fear of the Lord, combined with the extraordinarily good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ putting us in not just a righteous standing, but a changed nature, should make us more confident than we could ever be otherwise. This truth takes us to a place where we live holy lives, while we wait for the Son to be revealed.

The thing I still have yet to make a part of my life is letting God's peace fill my mind and not worry about the things I can't control, as well as the things I'm afraid of God not being faithful to me in. God is teaching me obedience.  He's showing His faithfulness, and making it very obvious that it's Him. He's not teaching me obedience just for some future war plans. I think we have this fatalistic theology based on war, not on peace and love. The war is already over.  God has won.  It's Satan who wants us to think that it's still raging.  That's why we fight with the sword of the Spirit, the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and all the armor of God. We fight simply to stay above the lies and believe in who we are and help other people know it also, so that they too may enter in to relationship with God. That's what the weapons of our “warfare” are for. They're not for making the gospel true – they're about helping everyone, including ourselves, aware that it's already true. Amen.

The Sabbath

Jesus heals on the Sabbath, Luke 13:10-17

Remember the time when you Jesus healed on the sabbath and did work on that day, and was persecuted for it?  On the seventh day, God rested.  The spirit of the command for a sabbath was that we would be able to rest and not work all the time.  We'd be able to spend time with our loved ones and with God himself.  The Pharisees perverted this concept and did what the law was not meant for - make them legalistic and think that any sort of work was not allowed on the Sabbath, including healing the sick.  The elephant in the room here is that though he was doing it on the Sabbath, he was HEALING THE SICK, something impossible and probably not often seen among the Pharisees or anyone in that room.

Of course, the reality was that the Pharisees were jealous of Jesus and just trying to find any excuse they could to persecute him and get him into trouble.  They used the culturally traditional interpretation of God's law to do this.  Notice Jesus' response, though: he didn't expose their jealousy even though I'm sure he knew about it.  He simply pointed out their hypocracy and theologically rebuked them, saying that they did the same things, and moved on!  The underlying assumption was that their comment was irrational and based on jealousy, but Jesus didn't expose it outright (though he does later).

People often misinterpret rest as being an excuse to not do the works of God.  We lazy out, rather than go and do what we see the Father doing.  The time of rest is the perfect time to do what's on our hearts, and to love people.

THE BLAST SHIELD IS DOWN

THE BLAST SHIELD IS DOWN

2 Corinthians 5:7 "..for we walk by faith, not by sight."

The scene in Star Wars where Obi-Wan Kenobi is telling Luke to practice with remotes and fighting Han Solo's doubt is indicative of how God is training His people to fight against the recent re-emergence of doubt, atheism, and realistic rationalism in the world. Han says that he's seen “a lot of strange things”, but not an all-powerful being (force) controlling everything. Obi-Wan pulls out a helmet with a blast-shield over it, blocking Luke's vision.

“I say you try it again, Luke. This time let go your conscious self and act on instinct.”

This season we are embarking in is a season of God growing our ability to hear and obey, having faith in the dark even when we can't see anything. He is allowing this spiritual “darkness” to come because he wants us to learn to grow in our hearing and feeling. He wants us to be stronger in our faith and not rely on our gifts. He wants to see His church strengthened, because the greatest harvest the world has ever seen is upon us.

“Wha...with the blast shield down, I can't see a thing! How am I supposed to fight?”

We think our lack of vision means we will lose in warfare. But Obi-Wan explains the truth,

“Your eyes can deceive you; don't trust them.”

We rely on our natural abilities to predict, see, and have “vision” for the future, rather than just realizing God is in charge and we can just move forward in the moment with what He's saying to do. God is wanting to play a spiritual game of Marco Polo, where we abandon our reliance on our eyes and what it can see (the temporary, 2 Corinthians 4:18) and embrace what can't be seen (the eternal).

In the scene, Luke then proceeds to block every single shot by Obi-Wan's advice,

“Stretch out with your feelings!”

Pure reliance on the voice of the Holy Spirit is completely essential to releasing the Kingdom in today's world.  In order to reach out to people in a way that's personal, meaningful, and paints a picture of God that is very real to them, we must be able to hear clearly what the Holy Spirit is saying and have the faith to act, stretching out in new ways with out feelings toward God.

I've heard recently from my friend Rebecca that this season is the season of the bat. We're beyond the season of the owl where we see through the dark, and into a place where we must become reliant on echolocation (allowing our hearing to become our sight). Batman is the symbol of our time, men and women who grew up in the dark will start to emerge that were molded and shaped by the darkness, and have learned to let the light inside shine through them to become this generation's heroes.

God wants to abolish fear in His people. Fear of the darkness, of the world, of the enemy. God isn't afraid, and we have God with us, so why would we be afraid?

“You know, I really could feel something. It's almost like I could see the remote.”

Our spiritual sight is greater than our natural sight. We must abandon our reliance on even our prophetic and seer gifts as a way through, and tap into a deeper knowledge and faith that lies in hearing and obeying. Greater vision is seen through our hearing, being obedient and letting God whisper His secrets in our ears, even when we don't sense, feel, or see anything. We must build our spiritual muscles in this season so that we may be prepared for the amazing revival about to hit our nation and world.

Galatians

I'm going to post revelations I get from the book of Galatians as I get them.

 Starting with verse 1, ch 1:
"Paul an apostle" - this is how he introduces himself to these people, not just showing his authority, but stepping over the lines of false humility and boldly declaring his gifting and position in the Kingdom!  He's an APOSTLE, and 1 Corinthians 12:28 says that FIRST God appointed apostles, above other roles!  There's a hierarchy in the Kingdom, and apostle is at the head!

Unlocking God's Word.

Howdy ya'll that read this. My name is Matt Townend, I'm a graduate of the School of Biblical Studies (a YWAM-based inductive bible study program) and the Potter's House School of Supernatural Ministry (training in identity in Christ and the Kingdom lifestyle). I currently live in Santiago, Chile and am following God as He sovereignly teaches me the Spanish language (which is going great, by the way).

My heart and desire for all the readers of this blog is to develop a strong hunger for scripture and a hunger for a revelatory gifting that will lead you to pursuing inductive Bible study in the manifest Presence of the Holy God. I am a Christian who loves Jesus Christ with all my heart, and I make no exceptions about that in my blogging. However, understanding the Bible isn't just as easy as reading it and buying a commentary. It isn't just as easy as doing a 9-month program of inductively studying the Bible 5 times. It isn't just as easy as reading the Bible and meditating on truths that the Holy Spirit highlights. It's all of these things, and more.

Let's start off. Turn to 2 Corinthians 2:17 - the context of this book is that "super-apostles" have infiltrated the church in Corinth and are preaching a gospel contrary to that of the original apostles (Paul, Apollos, Peter, see 1 Cor. 1:13), claiming to be true apostles of the Lord and manipulating the people. In 2 Cor. 2:17, Paul makes a distinction between him and the others, that Paul is a man that speaks from a place of sincerity, and it's confirmed by the Holy Spirit. Here's the context: (1 Cor. 2:14-17, NRSV)
"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? [v17] For we are not peddlers of God's word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence. [/v17]"

God's Presence is a confirmation of the truth of the gospel and message preached. Without God's Presence confirming a word spoken, it falls to the ground like the seeds described in Matthew. Revelation is about relationship with God and stems from relationship with God, and in no other way. All the wisdom of the world doesn't reveal any truth, but the truth can only be revealed through the wisdom that comes from knowing God, and the "fragrance" that it emits.

1 Corinthians 1:17-25 (NRSV):
"For christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power. For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written..."
[I just wanna pause here...the Isaiah quote that Paul is about to quote has the context of talking about religious people that "draw near with their mouths and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is a human commandment learned by rote"(Is.29:13, NRSV. All quotes are NRSV unless otherwise stated).]
contd... " 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.' Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debator of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? for since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, God decided, through the foolishness of our proclamation, to save those who believe. For Jews demands signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God's foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God's weakness is stronger than human strength."

The context is disunity between people that claim to different Christians as "the one that I follow", thus falling into "human wisdom" principles and not following the gospel.
So the gospel is the real wisdom, but the world sees it as foolishness. As Christians, how do we know that this is wisdom, then? How is that wisdom revealed to us? What makes us different than the world in terms of how we think, and learn? This is where non-Christians will mock us, claiming that we brainwash our followers and that's why we believe what we believe (and actually prove this theory correct among those that are weak in the faith by "making them" athiest or w/e...) And honestly, I would believe that they're absolutely correct, if it wasn't for one thing...
THE HOLY SPIRIT!

Read on... (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
"When I came to you, brothers and sister, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. And I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My speech and my proclamation were not with plausible words of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might rest not on human wisdom but on the power of God."

So Paul didn't come and brainwash a bunch of people into believing something...he first emptied all that crap out of his head and came with a really simple, laughable message (in the world's eyes, anyway) of a dude that was raised from the dead by the power of God. Why would they believe Paul about this? Cuz he demonstrates that power through the Holy Spirit.
Side-sermon: for those that believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit that are more "flashy" or w/e ceased at the death of the last apostle, then you also must believe that the gospel is total foolishness b/c you've got a stupid argument + no power...)

So what do you think I'm saying, that the resurrection of Jesus is a dumb argument and a stupid way of thinking, but hey look its true cuz I've seen people get healed or something! Not at all. Read on:

1 Corinthians 2:6-16 (I'm gonna commentary in-between, seperated by "these" and [these]):
"Yet among the mature we do speak wisdom, though it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to perish."
[Who are the mature? Those that see the works and power of God and believe, and then God develops a desire in you to learn about God and His truth, in order to get closer to Him. This happened to me at Potter's House, I was experiencing God, but I developed a hunger for His truth, and so I went to a Bible school that fed it. And that truth enriched my life in terms of character, trust in God, joy, etc.] The question is, how is this truth found? Read on:

"But we speak God's wisdom, secret and hidden, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written, 'What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the human heart conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him' - these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God's except the Spirit of God."
[All truth is HIDDEN and LOCKED AWAY, only the Spirit can reveal it. No amount of hardcore Bible study can reveal it, only the Spirit. Does that mean that Bible study is useless? No. If you study the Bible with a hunger for God, the Spirit will reveal it to you. But you must understand that no matter how smart you are, you can't understand truth without help from the Spirit of God. I learn more about God from one encounter with His Holy Spirit that lasts 5 minutes that months of Bible study. I study purely because I want to step into more revelation from the Lord, and be in a place to receive it. While I was going through SBS, I attained a ton of knowledge. God now uses that knowledge to reveal things to my heart, because I'm an open vessel that is open for God's Spirit to bring verses to my head that apply to situations that I encounter, and learn something new about Him that I didn't know before. Evangelicals will say this is risky b/c you don't know if it's "the Spirit" revealing these things, but as this passage denotes, it's BIBLICAL. :)] Read on...

"Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual."
[We can't even understand our GIFTS without knowledge from the Holy Spirit...context here is that people have gifts that they consider "better" than others', like speaking in tongues. But even that is useless without WORDS taught by the Holy Spirit to INTERPRET the spiritual things to the people that are ALREADY SPIRITUAL! It seems from this verse that that revelation is progressive, which is a whole 'nuther sermon..]

"Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned."
[I'd gamble to say a lot of "religious" people that claim to be "Christians" that say the gifts have ceased truly aren't saved. Either that or they need the baptism of the Holy Spirit. Either way, if they think the gifts are foolishness to them and that "all they need is the Bible", when it's the Bible itself that points to the importance of the gifts, then they need to question their own position in Christ...just a thought...]

"Those who are spiritual discern all things, and they are themselves subject to no one else's scrutiny. 'For who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' [Is. 40:13] But we have the mind of Christ."
Basically the flip-side of this, is that you understand more when you have the Holy Spirit, and you don't have to take crap from the people that think they know all there is about this Bible. You don't have to say anything or even respond when these people give you crap, as you aren't subject to their scruteny. I say this with a lot of risk, because there are quite a few scriptures that talk about making sure that the saints aren't given bad doctrine, something that truly is a threat. This is why I stress the importance of seeking God's truth from people that know their stuff and through inductive Bible study. It really opens up the ability of the Spirit to be able to reveal truth to you in this way.

Phew. Okay, basically my point is this: the Bible is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword that splits bone from marrow, etc etc. But it's locked away, and can only be understood through the Spirit of God. For those of you reading this that have a lot of trouble understanding truth, keep coming to this site as I'm going to post up any cool stuff the Lord shows me. Remember, THERE IS NO NEW TRUTH, only old truth revealed in new light, because the Word of God is absolutely perfect and eternal (1 Peter 1:23-25). And God really wants to release a strong Spirit of revelation. I suggest the best way to do that is to enter into God's Presence and ask Him to begin to reveal things. Let Him build a hunger for the Word of God in you. I suggest the Inductive Bible Study method for all that are interested. Check out the School of Biblical Studies here.

I pray that all that are reading this would start to develop a new hunger for the Eternal and Everlasting Word of God, the way that God has chosen to reveal Himself to man, through His Holy Spirit that speaks all day and all night to all of us. I pray that Word and Spirit would become unified in the hearts of God's people, and that unity would be the result. I pray that all would realize that we believe a gospel that's total foolishness to the world without the Holy Spirit, and stop writing gobs of apologetics all the time to try to "convince" people of "the truth". I pray for a Spirit of Revelation as we take the gospel message, through the Power of the Holy Spirit, to the nations and further. Jesus, you are amazing. Give us new tools to present old truth. I pray that your sovereignty would become evident and your Grace would cover all of this. In the name of Jesus, I also pray for your Presence to come right now, not in confirmation of the words I've spoken here (cuz I'm not even entirely sure I'm 100 percent correct about all this..) but just to start people on the path of "enlightenment" (1 John 1:7) that you have already fully placed in us in Christ, to be found and discovered more and more and more and more every day. You're beautiful, God, and really really big. We will never understand you completely, but I HUNGER to learn about you every day. I pray that your Spirit would be the key to the door of your Heart. You freakin rock. I love you so much, rock my world s'more.

I pray against poverty mentalities of unworthiness and false humility right now in the name of Jesus regarding this truth and other things that you are working on right now. I proclaim to all the believers that are reading this right now that YOU ARE SONS AND DAUGHTERS OF THE LIVING GOD AND DESERVE EVERY SINGLE BIT OF REVELATION AND PROSPERITY AS YOU GET CLOSER TO GOD'S HEART, because Jesus paid the price and you don't have to pretend like he didn't. Honor Him by receiving everything He has for you, and have a Spirit of TRUE HUMILITY to give it out out of your incredible ABUNDANCE!!!! You all rule and are amazing. Love yourselves, as God loves You.

for those that have read this passage in 1 corinthians and think "yeah that message really is foolishness", I'd pray for a desire to be birthed in your heart for that truth to actually MAKE SENSE to you. Just talk to the air right now and ask Jesus into your heart. You'll feel His Presence, as you will realize you have for a long time, and everything will change - you'll desire different stuff and you will want to give up habits you have. Don't be a "Christian" if you've been brainwashed. Let the Spirit ignite the truth of Jesus' death, resurrection, and eternal grace and life that He's paid for seep into the deepest core of your being THROUGH THE FREAKIN HOLY SPIRIT, not through mental slavery. I pray against a whole cultural misunderstanding of the truth of the gospel and Christianity, and I pray for a reversal in the name of Jesus. He's faithful and true. Amen.