“But how do you translate a physical law into the spiritual realm?”
“In order to build physical momentum you need continuous consistent motion. If the angry mob stops on the way to the castle door, then starts up again, they lose their momentum, and the door won’t open. In the same way, if you’re not consistent in your walk with God, if you waver back and forth, if you stop and start and stop and start again, if you have no continuous motion, you’ll lose spiritual momentum, and you’ll never accomplish what you were called to do or see the blessings and breakthroughs you were meant to see. So make it your aim now to become all the more consistent, continuous, and unwavering in your walk, in your righteousness, in your purity, in your prayers, in your worship, in your joy, in your love, and in your holiness. This will give you spiritual momentum. Then go with that momentum, and increase it. Allow it to bring you to higher ground. And the doors will open, the walls will come down, and you will live the life of victory, power, and breakthrough you were always called to live.”
The Mission: Today, apply the momentum key. Avoid wavering. Avoid stopping. Move in consistent godly motion—and to the breakthrough.
1 Corinthians 9:24–27; Philippians 3:13–14; Hebrews 12:1–2
The Momentum Secret
DAY 224
JACOB’S PARADOX
JACOB’S PARADOX,” SAID the teacher. “Jacob was blessed for doing everything he could to receive the blessing. And yet because of the way he went about receiving the blessing, the blessing could never be received . . . until later. When his father, Isaac, was about to give his blessing to whom he thought was his firstborn son Esau, he said, ‘Who are you . . . ?’ Jacob replied, ‘I am Esau.’ So Jacob didn’t say who he was, Jacob, but who he wasn’t, Esau. And by doing so, he supplanted his brother, and thus became ‘the one who supplants.’”
“Why is that a paradox?”
“Because the name Jacob, or Yakov, means the one who supplants. So by not being Jacob, the supplanter, he became the supplanter, Jacob. By not confessing his name, he became the very thing his name confessed he was: the supplanter. Now if he received the blessing intended for someone else, how could the blessing ever truly be received? He would spend the next part of his life struggling, striving, and running away . . . until finally coming face-to-face with the truth . . . on the night he wrestled with God and begged God to give him the blessing.”
“In the same way he sought his father’s blessing years before.”
“Yes. And it was then that God asked him, ‘What is your name?’”
“Just as his father, before blessing him, had asked him the same thing.”
“But this time was different. This time he answered, ‘I am Jacob.’”
“Which is to say, ‘I am the supplanter.’ . . . But now he wasn’t the supplanter.”
“The second paradox,” said the teacher, “the reverse paradox. By coming as who he was, Jacob, the supplanter, he ceased to be the supplanter, Jacob. And it’s only then that God said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob but Israel . . . ’ Only when Jacob comes as Jacob can he cease to be Jacob and become Israel . . . and the blessing be complete. You see, you can never be blessed by coming as what you are not, but only as what you are, even when what you are is not what you were meant to be. God cannot bless a false saint. But He can bless a real sinner. So if you would receive your blessing, you must come to Him as you are, with all your sins and failings, with no pretense or covering. Then you’ll be free . . . and no longer bound to who you were. And your blessing will be given, and your name . . . and your name shall no longer be called Jacob.”
The Mission: Today, come to God as you are, with no covering or pretense, confess what you must confess. Then receive your blessing.
Genesis 27:18–19; 32:27–28; Psalm 32:1–6; Hebrews 4:16; James 4:8
The Blessing
DAY 225
THE BRIT HADDASHAH
WE WERE STANDING in the middle of one of the gardens. The teacher walked up to one of the trees and picked a fruit from one of its branches. It was round, red, and had something of a crown on its top. I knew I had seen it before, but I couldn’t identify it.
“It’s a pomegranate,” he said, placing it in my hands, “fresh off the tree.
“Do you know where the new covenant comes from? From the Hebrew Scriptures, from the Book of Jeremiah, when God says to Israel: ‘Behold, the days are coming . . . when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah . . . ’ So why is the new covenant called the ‘new covenant’?”
“Because it came after the old covenant. So it’s the newer covenant.”
“But that was a long time ago,” he said. “If it’s only the new covenant because of when it came, then by now, thousands of years later, it would no longer be new. So it has to be more than that. The answer is in your hands.”
“It’s because of a pomegranate?”
“The original Hebrew doesn’t say ‘new covenant.’ It says ‘brit haddashah.’ And the word haddashah doesn’t speak of a position in time, but a state of being. Haddashah means new and fresh, as the fruit in your hand is fresh.
“It could be translated as ‘the covenant of newness’ or ‘the covenant of freshness.’ The new covenant is new not primarily because of when it came, but because of what it is. Its nature is to be new . . . to be fresh.”
“So then the new covenant is just as new now as it was when it first began thousands of years ago.”
“Exactly” he said. “No matter how long you’ve been in the new covenant, it never grows old. It stays just as new as the day you first entered it.”
“But what if, for a believer, it’s no longer something new?”
“If it’s no longer new, then it’s not the new covenant. The only way to know the new covenant is to know it newly, freshly, every day of your life. It must always be to you new. And if it is, then it will always renew your life, and you’ll always walk in the newness of life, always young, always in the freshness of His presence. For the new covenant is the covenant of newness . . . the always fresh covenant . . . the covenant of haddashah.”
The Mission: Come back to the haddashah. Receive anew the love, the grace, the truth, and the salvation that is always new—and be made new.
Jeremiah 31:31–32; Ephesians 4:24; Revelation 21:5
The Brit Haddashah
DAY 226
HEAVEN’S COOKING POTS
THE TEACHER TOOK me into the kitchen where all the meals served in the school were prepared. I thought it was only a stop on the way to the site of the teaching.
“Today, this is our classroom,” he said. “It wouldn’t appear likely. One wouldn’t expect anything profound to come out of a school kitchen.”
At that, he walked over to one of the cabinets, took out a cooking pot, and placed it on the table. “Just a cooking pot,” he said. “But look.” He turned it around so I could see its other side. On its outer surface were letters engraved in the metal. “It’s Hebrew,” said the teacher.
“What does it say?”
“Kadosh L’YHVH. It means Holy to the Lord, the same words that were inscribed on the golden crown of the high priest.”
“Couldn’t that be considered sacrilegious?”
“At the end of the Hebrew Scriptures,” he said, “is a vision of what life will be like in the days when the kingdom of God is on earth. It is written: ‘In that day “Holy to the Lord” shall be engraved on the bells of the horses. . . . Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of Hosts.’ Do you realize how radical this is? The holy vessels could only be found inside the Temple. Outside the Temple was the mundane or unholy. But in the kingdom of God the sacred words of the high priest’s crown will be written on the bells of horses. The sacred glory of the Temple will be in every kitchen and on every cooking pot. Everything will be filled with God’s holiness and overflowing with His glory. And therein is the secret of living a heavenly life.”
“Which is what?”
“Make every part of your life holy to the Lord . . . your work, your daily job, perform it as ministry . . . your house, dwell in it as if you were in the Temple. When you take out the garbage, do it as if you were a priest performing the sacred ministry in the holy place. And when you lie down to sleep, lie down as if you were in heaven’s throne room, surrounded by the presence of God . . . and you will be. Bring every part of your life into the presence, the holiness, and the glory of God—and let the presence, the holiness, and the glory of God come into every part of your life. And you will live even now in the glory of the kingdom. And even your cooking pots will become holy to the Lord.”
The Mission: Live this day as if you were in the kingdom. Let every act be a holy act, sacred in the presence and glory of God.
Zechariah 14:20–21; Colossians 3:23–24
Holy Bells
DAY 227
TAMIM: THE UNBLEMISHED
LOOK,” SAID THE teacher. It was a lamb grazing under its shepherd’s care, a lamb of pure white, of radiant white, all the more radiant as it stood bathed in a shaft of bright sunlight . . . radiant white. “It could have been the Passover lamb,” he said.
“Why do you say that?” I asked. “Any lamb could have been.”
“No, only a certain kind of lamb.”
“Which kind?”
“A tamim lamb. The ordinance states it must be tamim.”
“And what does tamim mean?”
“It means without spot, unblemished, undefiled, whole, innocent, and perfect. The Passover lamb had to be tamim in order to set the Hebrews free from their bondage. And Messiah is the Passover Lamb. And if He’s the Passover Lamb, then He must also be the tamim Lamb. Therefore, what must He be?”
“He must be perfect,” I said.
“And without spot, blemish, or defilement, innocent and whole. The Passover Lamb had to be tamim, without spot or blemish because we’ve all been blemished and stained. It had to be unblemished so that the blemishes of our past could be removed. He had to be spotless that the stains of our past could be undone. And He had to be innocent and undefiled to take away all the defilements from our lives. And so it is from the Passover Lamb, Messiah, that we are given the power of tamim, the miracle of tamim, by which the guilty can become again innocent, that the defiled can live an unblemished life, with an unblemished record, and an unblemished conscience . . . and with unstained memories.”
“And each had to apply the blood of the Passover Lamb to one’s life.”
“Yes. So you must likewise apply the power of tamim, to every shame and defilement of your past, your memory, your conscience, and your life . . . that as He is spotless, undefiled, untouched, innocent, and whole, you now have the power to become likewise . . . tamim.”
The Mission: Today, apply the power of tamim to every defilement in your life, past or present. Be complete, spotless, and tamim—just as He is tamim.
Exodus 12:5; 1 Corinthians 5:7; Ephesians 5:27
Tamim
DAY 228
THE BRIDE AND GROOM PROCESSION
COME,” SAID THE teacher. “It’s time for the wedding to begin!”
We journeyed to one of the tent villages, which we reached just after sunset.
“We’ve been to this one before,” I said, “several times.”
“Yes,” he said. “This is the camp of the bridegroom.”
“It was from here that we went with him on the journey to the bride.”
“That was for the betrothal,” he said. “They haven’t seen each other since then. They’ve been preparing for this day ever since. And now the day has come. Come.”
He led me to the other side of the camp where everyone was gathered together around the bridegroom. He was adorned with a festive robe, with a garland around his head. And then the procession began, the groom and his men leading, the rest of the camp following behind, many with torches in their hands. We journeyed for some time before arriving at the camp of the bride where she was waiting, adorned with robes and precious stones, her maidens at her side, and the rest of the camp gathered around them. The bridegroom’s men lifted the bride and the groom on a sedan chair and carried them away in a great and festive procession, with singing, shouting, and dancing. We followed along.
“The bridegroom’s bringing the bride home,” he said. “He came first to make the covenant, but he comes the second time to take her home, to the place he prepared for her. So too it is with the other Bridegroom.”
“God.”
“Yes,” said the teacher, “the Bridegroom of bridegrooms. He came first to make the covenant. But He comes the second time to take us home. The next time we see Him, whether on that day, or on the day we finish this life, it will be to take us home . . . to the place He’s prepared for us . . . of no more tears, no more pain, no more sorrow.”
It was a few minutes along the procession before he spoke again.
“Look back,” he said. “The bride’s home . . . it’s fading away. Soon she won’t be able to see it any more . . . So too will it be with the old creation, and all its sorrows. But then the bride will see . . . and then we all will see . . . the Bridegroom’s house . . . the place of our hearts’ longings.”
“Heaven?”
“Home.”
The Mission: This world is only the first house. It is destined to fade away with all its issues and concerns. Live this day in light of that reality.
Jeremiah 33:11; Matthew 25:6; John 14:2–3; Revelation 19:6–9; 21:1–2
The Blessing of the Bridegroom
DAY 229
THE WAY TO THE MOUNTAINTOP
IT WAS ALMOST sundown. We were standing at the bottom of a high mountain. But the ascent was very gradual as the mountain was spread out over a vast area and connected to other mountains, part of a chain. At its base were the beginnings of several mountain paths, each diverging from the others.
“At the top of this mountain,” said the teacher, “is a flat, white, circular stone. Find it. When you get there, you’ll be standing on the summit. Find that stone, and then return to me.”
“But which of the paths do I take?” I asked.
“That’s the challenge,” he said. “I’ll be waiting here until you return.”
So I chose one of the many paths and began following it. It wasn’t long before the sky grew dark, and it became apparent that I was on the wrong path. I chose another, and another, until finally I realized I was heading downward. At that point I began shouting in the dark for the teacher. He shouted back. Following his voice, I made my way back to him at the base.
“So,” said the teacher, “I imagine you didn’t get there.”
“How could I have?” I replied. “I didn’t know which path to take.”
“You didn’t have to know,” he said. “You didn’t have to know anything . . . except one thing. You were too focused on which path to take, but that wasn’t the key. Remember when I shared with you about the Hebrew word aliyah? Had you applied that here, you would have succeeded. The key was the direction . . . up. The white stone was at the pinnacle. All you had to was to choose the higher path, continuously. And if the path stopped ascending, then you choose the higher ground. And it would make no difference where you started from or on which side of the mountain. If you just followed this simple law, it would have led to the exact place at the pinnacle. Don’t forget this. It’s one of the most important secrets in your walk with God. The pinnacle of the mountain represents God’s calling on your life, His specific will and exact purpose and plan for your life. How do you get there? You don’t have to know where it is. All you have to do is continually ascend, continually choose the higher path, the higher ground, the higher footstep. And no matter where you started from and no matter where you are now, you will end up in the exact, specific, appointed, and perfect will of God, at the summit, the pinnacle of God’s purposes for your life.”
The Mission: Today, focus only on one course, one path, one
journey, one destination, and one direction—up. Aim to go higher with every step.
Psalms 24:3–6; 122; Proverbs 3:6; Philippians 3:14
Secrets of the Mountaintop Walker
DAY 230
SUNERGOS
I’M SURE THE teacher had a different sharing planned for that day, but I was the one who initiated the lesson.
“I have a question,” I said. “How does one live up to the standards of God? How does one attain such high standards?”
“One doesn’t,” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“One doesn’t do it . . . as you think. How could you?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Who can live up to the standards of God?”
“The godly?”
“No,” said the teacher. “The only one who can live up to the standards of God . . . is God. And the only one who can live the life of Messiah is the Messiah. So how you do you live up to His standards? How do you live the godly life?”
I didn’t answer.
“There’s only one way—you let Him live it. You let God meet the standards of God. You let Messiah live the life of Messiah through you.”
“So it’s Him and not me.”
“It’s Him through you. It’s Him living His life . . . through your living your life in Him. In the Book of First Corinthians it is written, ‘We are God’s fellow workers.’ But in the original language the words fellow workers are just one word—sunergos.”
The Book of Mysteries Page 33
