“And what does it mean?”
“Ergos,” said the teacher, “means to act, to work, or to do. And sun means with or together. So sunergos means to act together, to work with, to move together, or to do as one. That’s the key. It’s impossible for you to live the life of God. But it’s impossible for God not to live the life of God. So the key is not to live up to the standards of God, but to let God live out His life through you. It means to let God live in your living . . . as, in His living, you live. It means to let God love in your loving . . . as, in His loving, you love. It is from sunergos that we get the word synergy. That’s the energy of salvation, the energy of God, and the energy of you flowing together as one . . . one energy, one motion, one life. As it is written, ‘Be strong . . . in the power of His might’ . . . sunergos.”
The Mission: Today, discover and practice the sunergos, the synergy of God. Move in His moving, act in His acting, and live in His living—as one.
1 Corinthians 3:9; Ephesians 6:10; 1 John 4:9
The Two Shall Be One
DAY 231
THE SOLDIERS OF DARKNESS AND LIGHT
HE LED ME across a large valley and toward a mountain on its other side.
“Imagine,” said the teacher, “you had to make your way across this valley, to get to that mountain as fast as you could. But the valley is filled with soldiers, half of them dressed in white and half in black. As you try to make your way across the valley, you discover the soldiers in white are there to help you across and to get you to the mountain as quickly as possible. But you soon discover that the soldiers in black are there for the opposite purpose. They battle the soldiers in white, resisting every step of advance. Finally, after a long an arduous battle, you make it across to the base of the mountain on the other side. The battle is over. It is then that you notice a strange thing—the soldiers in black begin removing their outer garments to reveal garments of white underneath. The soldiers in black were really soldiers in white. The soldiers were all of the same side. And the ultimate goal wasn’t to bring you to the other side as fast as possible but to get you there at the exact right time. And for that to happen, both the soldiers in white and the soldiers in black had to fulfill their mission. And though it looked like war, both sides were actually working together for your good. So then which side was against you?”
“Neither,” I said. “Both were battling for my benefit.”
“Exactly,” he said. “And so it is written in the Book of Romans that ‘God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.’ So if you love God and belong to Him, He will work all things in your life together for good and the evil, the beautiful and the ugly, the joyous and the sorrowful, the problems and the triumphs, all for your blessing and good. Now if both the good and the bad are working for your good, then in the end, was there any bad?”
“No, if even the bad is working for my good, then it’s ultimately good.”
“And so for the child of God, for you, there are only two realities . . . blessings . . . and blessings in disguise. Sometimes the blessings are very well disguised, but they remain blessings nevertheless. Hold on to this. And learn to see and believe through the disguises. And remember, it only looks like a battlefield. But in the end, you will see it as it always was, a field of blessings where even your darkest enemies—your greatest adversities—were, in the end, your blessings in disguise.”
The Mission: Give thanks today for all your blessings, and for all your blessings in disguise—those of the past and the still-disguised blessings of the present.
Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:28
All Things
DAY 232
THE ROSH PINAH
THE TEACHER LED me over a great distance to the ruins of an ancient building. He pointed to one of the stones in its foundation.
“The cornerstone,” he said. “The stone that begins the building. Do you remember when we spoke of it?”
“Psalm 118,” I said, “the song of Passover. ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.’ Messiah the Cornerstone.”
“Yes,” said the teacher. “But the Hebrew word for cornerstone is rosh pinah. And rosh pinah not only means the cornerstone—but the capstone.”
He pointed to a stone that rested above the building’s entranceway, on its pinnacle. “The capstone,” he said, “the final stone, the stone that completes the building, the stone to which every other stone leads and converges. So Messiah is not only the Cornerstone but also the Capstone.”
“How so?”
“The rosh pinah prophecy is read on Passover. And it was then, on Passover, in His death, that Messiah became the Capstone . . . the stone that brings completion. It was on the cross that Messiah became the Capstone on a fallen world, the Capstone of the curse, the Capstone of the Law, the Capstone of the old covenant, and the Capstone of every sin. And as every stone leads and points to the Capstone, so everything led up to Messiah and to that moment, all the prophecies, all the shadows, all the guilt, and every longing for redemption. And as every stone converges upon the capstone, so upon Messiah everything converged, the burden of the world, the weight of all sin, the brunt of all evil, and the judgment of God. The capstone is the stone by which the work is finished. So it was then, at the moment of His death, that He said, ‘It is finished.’ And for every life that comes to Him, He becomes the Capstone . . . the end of one’s sins, the finishing of one’s past, and the completion of everything that was lacking.”
“But how is He both the Cornerstone and the Capstone?”
“Only after the old is ended, can there be a new beginning. After the Capstone event, His death, comes the Cornerstone event, the resurrection. So let all that must be ended find its ending in that Capstone . . . and you will find on its other side the Cornerstone of new beginnings.”
The Mission: Whatever is incomplete in your life and must be completed, and whatever must be ended, finish it, cap it, with the power of the Capstone.
Psalm 118:22–23; John 19:28–30
The Rosh Pinah
DAY 233
KHATAAH: THE NAME ON YOUR SIN
DO YOU REMEMBER,” asked the teacher, “when I told you about the Asham?”
“The sacrifice that took away guilt . . . but which also was the guilt?”
“Yes,” he said. “But there was another sacrifice of a parallel nature and containing a parallel mystery. It was called the sin offering, the sacrifice that took away sin. On the Day of Atonement, it was this sacrifice that took away the sins of the entire nation.”
“And Messiah,” I said, “is the sacrifice that ‘takes away the sin of the world.’ So the sin offering is a shadow of Him.”
“Yes. But the Scriptures concerning the sin offering are written in Hebrew. And in Hebrew the sin offering is called the Khataah. So Messiah is the Khataah. But the word has a double meaning. On one hand it means the sin offering. But on the other hand, it means the sin.”
“The same as in the mystery of the Asham . . . the sacrifice becomes the very thing it takes away. So in order for Messiah to take away sin, He had to become sin itself.”
“Yes,” said the teacher, “and the mystery of the Khataah also appears in the New Testament, ‘He made Him who knew no sin to become sin for us . . . ’ And yet there’s more to it. Both the sacrifice and the sin bear the same name, the Khataah. What that means is not only does the sacrifice bear the name of the sin—the sin bears the name of the sacrifice that takes away the sin. Every sin bears the name of the sin offering. And Messiah is the sin offering, the Khataah. So what does that mean?”
“If every sin bears the name of the sacrifice . . . then every sin bears His Name.”
“Yes,” he said. “In the sacred tongue, every one of your sins bears the name of the sacrifice. On every one of your sins is written His Name. And what does that mean?”
“I don’t know.”
“It means that all
of your sins belong to Him. It means they don’t belong to you anymore. And to keep what doesn’t belong to you is to be in possession of stolen property. It constitutes an act of theft. So give to Him that which belongs to Him, and that which already has His Name on it. Give Him your sins, every one of them. Let them go. They don’t belong to you. And thus to keep your sins is a sin.”
“Yes,” I replied, “And even that sin would have His Name on it.”
The Mission: Take every sin, guilt, shame, failure, regret, and mistake in your life, and put His name on each one. Then give to Him that which is His.
Matthew 1:21; 2 Corinthians 5:21
The Sacrifice Mysteries I–V
DAY 234
SECRET OF THE GROGGER
HE TOOK ME into what appeared to be some sort of storage room where he removed a strange-looking object from a cabinet drawer. It appeared to be an ornate wooden box, but too thin to hold anything, and with a wooden handle sticking out of its underside. Holding it by its handle, he whirled the box around and around, causing it to make a loud grinding noise.
“In Hebrew,” he said, “this is called a rashan, which means noise maker. But it’s more commonly known as a grogger. It has a very unique and specific purpose. During the Feast of Purim, when the name of Haman, the man who tried to exterminate the Jewish people in ancient Persia, is read, the grogger is turned like this.” Again he whirled the wooden box around its handle, to make again the loud grinding noise. “By using the grogger, they would drown out the name of Haman. And in this strange-looking instrument of noise is a profound principle that you must learn and apply to your life. Haman is a symbol of evil. So how do you overcome evil?”
“By fighting it?”
“How?” asked the teacher. “Someone hurts you and you hurt them back. Someone hates you and you hate them back. You become bitter over what they did. Is that how you overcome evil? No. That’s how you echo evil and perpetuate it. All you’re doing is repeating the name of Haman. But the grogger holds the secret.”
“So when someone sins against you, you use the grogger?” I asked flippantly.
“In a sense, yes,” he said. “The secret of the grogger is that it deals with the sound of evil by producing its own sound, a different sound, and by doing so, it drowns out the sound of evil. So how do you overcome evil in your life? By producing a different sound, that which is not a reaction to evil, that which has an entirely other origin, an entirely different essence, and an entirely opposite spirit. You overcome evil by bringing forth its opposite. You bring forth the good. You overcome hatred by bringing forth love. You overcome despair by bringing forth hope. And you overcome that which is negative by bringing forth the positive. You overcome the sound of darkness by the sound of light, and by so doing you drown it out. Learn the secret of the grogger . . . and drown out your Haman.”
The Mission: What problem, evil, or wrong are you dealing with? Don’t dwell on it. Don’t react. Dwell on its opposite. Overcome the dark with the light.
Joshua 6:5; Psalm 95:1–2; Matthew 5:44; Romans 12:21
The Grogger
DAY 235
THE VALLEY OF HINNOM
SOMETHING THAT’S BEEN troubling me,” I said. “Hell. If God is love . . . ”
“Why would there be a hell,” said the teacher. “Come.” He led me into the Chamber of Scrolls, removed one of the scrolls from its shelf, unrolled it, and began to read.
“‘Thus says the Lord, “Go out to the Valley of the Sons of Hinnom . . . proclaim there the words I will tell you . . . Behold, I will bring . . . a catastrophe on this place . . . ”’ Look at these words here,” he said, pointing to the text on the scroll. “God told Jeremiah to go to the Valley of Hinnom. Why? Why was that important? The answer is it was in the Valley of Hinnom that those of Israel who had turned away from God would sacrifice their children in fire to the foreign gods of Baal and Molech. So the Valley of Hinnom was a place of evil, of bloodshed and fire. When Messiah spoke of hell, He would often refer to it as Gehenna. Do you know why? The Geh of Gehenna means valley. And the henna means Hinnom. So Gehenna means the Valley of Hinnom. The Valley of Hinnom was an earthly revelation of hell. And what does it reveal? Did the Valley of Hinnom represent the heart of God or the heart of man?”
“The heart of man,” I said, “the heart of evil men.”
“Yes,” said the teacher. “And so Gehenna, hell, represents not the heart or will of God, but the heart and will of those who reject the heart and will of God, the heart and will of heaven. God must judge evil. It is His necessity. But His heart is salvation, to save all who would come to be saved. You have a problem with hell. God has an even bigger problem with it. He hates it much more than you do. In fact, He hates it so much so He would even give His own life to save you from it. And what was it that He said through Jeremiah concerning the Valley of Hinnom?”
“That He would destroy it,” I said. “So would God destroy hell if He could?”
“He would destroy the power of hell . . . and He did. He destroyed its power by giving His life in our place to bear our judgment . . . to bear our hell.”
“The power of hell is destroyed?”
“For everyone who receives it . . . the power of hell is destroyed by the power of His love. For the love of God is greater than hell and deeper than the Valley of Hinnom.”
The Mission: Take part in undoing the power of hell. Share the love of God and His salvation with someone who needs to be saved.
Jeremiah 19:1–3; John 3:16; 2 Peter 3:9
The Harvest of Heaven and Hell
DAY 236
BLUEPRINTS OF THE SPIRIT
THE TEACHER TOOK me into the Chamber of Vessels and to its only bookcase. Inside its shelves were large bound volumes of plans, instructions, and diagrams. He removed one of them from the top shelf, laid it on the wooden table, and opened it up.
“It looks like a mechanical drawing,” I said.
“It is a blueprint of sorts,” he said. “These are the plans based on the instructions given by God for the building of the Tabernacle. Note the precision. Everything had to be made exactly according to the pattern, to the exact measurements and specifications. And it all came about through a man named Bezalel. God had filled him with His Spirit. And through Bezalel, the Spirit of God built the Tabernacle. What does that reveal?”
“The Spirit,” I said, “fulfills the plans of God.”
“Exactly. And the building of the Tabernacle was part of the Law of Moses. And the day that marks the giving of the Law is the Feast of Shavuot. And on that same day, the Feast of Shavuot, also known as Pentecost, the Spirit of God was given to the first followers of Messiah . . . the same Spirit that translated all these plans and blueprints and measurements into reality . . . That same Spirit was given to His people . . . given to you . . . Why? To do the same work, to translate the purposes of God into reality. As it is written, ‘I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes . . . ’ Behind the word statutes is a Hebrew word that speaks of appointed times and measures. You see, God’s purposes, God’s will and plans for your life, are just as detailed, specific, and precise as the plans and measurements of the Tabernacle. His plans are perfect and not only for your life but for every day of your life, for every moment. That’s why He gives you the Spirit. The Spirit gives you the power to fulfill God’s plan, to move in His perfect will, and to walk in the exact footsteps, down to the exact measurements and specifications of His appointed purposes for your life. Make it your aim to find and fulfill the perfect and precise plan God has for your life. Live by the Spirit, move in His leading, and you will walk into your appointed footsteps . . . footsteps as real and as exact as the diagrams in this book. They’re already there . . . in the blueprints of the Spirit.”
The Mission: Seek to live this day in the heavenly pattern. Walk, speak, and move by the impulse and leading of the Spirit into the divine blueprint.
Exodus 25:40; 31:2–5; Ezekiel 36:27; Ephesians 2:10; H
ebrews 13:21
Tablets of the Spirit
DAY 237
THE MISHKAN
WE WERE LOOKING into the distance at a solitary brown tent. It sat in the middle of an open expanse in the foreground of a range of desert mountains. I thought he would say something about the tent, but instead he spoke of prayer.
“How would you define prayer?”
“Prayer is to talk to God,” I said, “to bring to Him your needs and requests.”
“That’s a part of prayer,” he said. “But it’s more than that. The Tabernacle was Israel’s central place of prayer. But it was never called the Tabernacle.”
“What then was it called?”
“The mishkan.”
“What’s a mishkan?”
“It comes from the Hebrew root word shakan. Shakan means to dwell. So mishkan means the dwelling. The mishkan was the tent or tabernacle that would allow God to dwell in the midst of His people. It was also the central place of prayer. So prayer is linked to . . . ”
“The dwelling of God.”
“But the mishkan wasn’t only the dwelling place of God. It was also called the Tent of Meeting. It’s where God and man met together. You see, prayer is not just an action; it’s a meeting, an encounter. The mishkan was not only where God dwelt, but man. Prayer is not primarily about saying words or performing an act. Prayer is a mishkan. Prayer is about dwelling. It’s the dwelling of God and man together. So the deepest part of prayer is that of dwelling in the dwelling of God . . . being present in the presence of God. And to dwell is more than just saying the words of a prayer or singing the words of a song and then being finished with it. Prayer is to dwell in the presence of God. And the word mishkan also means the remaining, the continuing, the abiding, and the inhabiting. What then is the heart of prayer? It is to abide in His abiding.”
The Book of Mysteries Page 34
