Stand in Your Pea Patch

In 2 Samuel 23 we read about David’s “mighty men,” a small militia of extraordinarily skilled warriors. It was not a big army, but it was a tough army - like a highly trained special forces unit. They were amazingly proficient with their weapons. The chapter goes on to describe in greater detail the exploits of a small handful within that group who were the best of the best of the best!

One of these men was Adino. “He lift up his spear against eight hundred, whom he slew at one time” (v. 8). “Abishai . . . lifted up his spear against three hundred, and slew them” (v. 18). Benaiah the son of Jehoiada “slew two lionlike men of Moab: he went down also and slew a lion in the midst of a pit in time of snow: and he slew an Egyptian, a goodly man: and the Egyptian had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a staff, and plucked the spear out the Egyptian’s hand, and slew him with his own spear” (vv. 20–21). 

But my favorite one of David’s mighty men was Shammah. 

Now after him was Shammah the son of Agee a Hararite. And the Philistines were gathered into a troop, where there was a plot of ground full of lentils, and the people fled from the Philistines. But he took his stand in the midst of the plot, defended it and struck the Philistines; and the Lord brought about a great victory.

2 Samuel 23:11–12, NASB

Let us consider his story.

It was an ordinary day in Israel. The people were going about their daily business as usual. On the outskirts of the city, in a remote field, a group of laborers was harvesting a meager crop of peas. Suddenly a shadow fell on that pea patch from the hills as hundreds of Philistine soldiers appeared, armed in full battle gear. Fear struck the hearts of the people. These farmers were mere peasants, armed only with spades, hoes, and other agricultural tools. They knew they had no chance against a professional army. Remaining in that field would mean almost certain death. They looked down at their pea patch situated on an insignificant plot of land, and they realized that it was not worth risking life and limb to defend that ground. They dropped their farming tools and ran for their lives.

This would have been the end of the story, but unfortunately for the Philistines there was one man in the field that day who was not just a peasant or a farmer—he was a warrior. He was one of David’s “mighty men.” Shammah was perhaps one of the greatest warriors who has ever lived, and this was to be his most glorious battle. From the story of Shammah I would like to give you the three words of wisdom that I believe will help you to remain in the will of God. His story reveals three qualities that I believe are nonnegotiable if you are to go the distance and fulfill God’s will for your life: integrity, focus, and perseverance.

Mind in the Beginning What Matters in the End

Unlike the untrained peasant farmers who had fled the field, Shammah understood something about the tactics of warfare. Maybe this field was nothing but an ordinary pea patch, but this attack was not random—it was highly strategic. Perhaps the Philistines had chosen this pea patch because they thought no one would bother to defend such a worthless field and they could take it without a battle. But on this piece of land the Philistines would establish a stronghold and a base of operations from which they could launch future attacks on the nation of Israel.

When the enemy comes to assault your life, he is not going to start with the thing you are most diligent over. He is going to attack your pea patch: that thing he figures you will not bother to defend and where he thinks you will compromise. And in that compromise he will establish a stronghold to take over your life. I’m sure you’ve seen this before.

A couple has just gotten married. They are so in love and can’t spend enough time together. But a few years later a radical transformation has taken place. They hate each other and want a divorce. You ask, “How did this happen?” I’ll tell you how it happened. It happened one pea patch at a time. Solomon wrote, “[It’s] the little foxes that spoil the vines” (Song of Sol. 2:15, NKJV). A little bit of dishonesty here, a little bit of disrespect there, a hurtful word, a transgression unforgiven; soon a root of bitterness sets in, and before long the enemy has successfully established a stronghold in that couple’s relationship. From that compromised zone he will continue to assault their marriage until he has razed it to the ground.

Integrity

Having integrity means minding the small things - and being as vigilant over them as over the big things. Shammah was an experienced warrior. He knew that if he compromised this little pea patch, soon the enemy would be kicking down his front door. He was fiercely determined not to give up one inch to the Philistines. If we can defend even the smallest, most insignificant pea patches in our lives, the enemy will not be able to gain a foothold. Rather than seeing how close we can get to the cliff of sin without falling over, we should seek to avoid even the appearance of evil (1 Thess. 5:22). 

Rather than asking,“How much compromise is too much?” “How much compromise is too much?” we should be constantly aiming to raise our personal standards to be more like Jesus. Murder was condemned under the law, but Jesus said hatred is murder. Adultery was condemned under the law, but Jesus said lust is adultery. Jesus understood that murder grows from the seed of hatred, and adultery grows from the seed of lust. Once the seed has been planted, the tree, while not fully mature, has been born. It is much better to crush the seeds of sin before they are planted than to have to try to chop down a giant redwood of evil compulsions and addictions. Susanna Wesley gave this word of wisdom to young John Wesley: “If you would judge of the lawfulness or unlawfulness of pleasure, then take this simple rule: Whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, and takes off the relish of spiritual things—that to you is sin.”

Having integrity means being brutal with sin. When the Philistines invaded that pea patch, Shammah did not throw up his arms and say, “Come on, guys. Can we talk about this? Let’s see if we can negotiate a mutually agreeable arrangement here.” Shammah did not meet the Philistines with a white flag but with a sharpened ox goad. He hadn’t come to talk but to fight. If we are to be men and women of integrity, it will not happen by accident. Integrity requires ferocity and resolve. We see this demonstrated in Job when he said, “Till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and I will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live” (Job 27:5–6).“Till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and I will not let it go: my heart shall not reproach me so long as I live” (Job 27:5–6).

Having integrity means doing the right thing, even when it means standing alone. Shammah stood in that field all by himself. How he would have loved to stand back to back with one of his mighty comrades from David’s militia, but they were not with him.

The peasant farmers had fled the scene and left Shammah without even moral support. He stood alone, yet he stood his ground.

Having integrity means doing the right thing even when no one is looking. Shammah didn’t fight that battle with the Philistines because he wanted to be a celebrity warrior. The rest of the Israelites had left him alone. He was not fighting like a gladiator in a stadium before a crowd of cheering fans. Yet somehow, thousands of years later, we are still talking about his glorious battle. Somehow the word got out, and everyone heard about what happened in that obscure pea patch. Jesus said, “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs” (Luke 12:2–3, NIV). Character is who are you when no one is looking. That is the real you.

A Fascinating Word

Most of the time character flaws hide below the surface invisible to the casual observer. People take great care to make sure no one sees their problems or shortcomings. But if not dealt with, these invisible infections mature into very public diseases. 

A little compromise here, a lustful imagination there. Every concession seems so inconsequential. Sin begins as a cute little pet, but it grows into a beast that is never satisfied. As it is fed, it only becomes bigger and hungrier; gratification becomes more difficult, and soon the pet has become the master. In the end you will either kill the beast or it will kill you. The devil is very patient. He is willing to wait, sometimes for many years, while sin matures. Once the enemy has established a stronghold in someone’s life, he will not stop until he has destroyed that person or until that person destroys the stronghold.

I’ll never forget a sermon I heard when I was in seminary from our college president, Michael L. Brown, PhD. He preached about a fascinating word that appears in the Hebrew Scriptures 61 times; it is acharit (pronounced “a-kha-reet”). There is really no single word equivalent for it in English, but the literal meaning of it is “the final or ultimate end.” It speaks of the backside or hinder parts, the part that is to follow, the part that is to come, the final end.3 We find this word used in Psalm 37:37–38: “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end [acharit] of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end [acharit] of the wicked shall be cut off.”“Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end [acharit] of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end [acharit] of the wicked shall be cut off.”

Oh, my friend, may we purpose in our hearts to live life in such a way that we will not have to weep in the acharit over uncleanness and sin that we allowed into our lives. “I urge you,” Paul said, “to live a life worthy of the callingyou have received” (Eph. 4:1, NIV). Let us determine to live a life worthy of the calling, a life of integrity, minding in the beginning what matters in the end.

Never Give Up

I think it is interesting that 2 Samuel 23:12 tells us exactly where Shammah strategically positioned himself. It says, “He stationed himself in the middle of the field” (NKJV). He wasn’t standing out on the fringes, and he wasn’t in one of the corners. He was right in the very center of the field. I have seen many people who were called to a particular field, but over the years they became distracted. They lost their focus and wandered to the fringes of their field and sometimes even drifted into other fields they were never called to serve. If you are going to remain in the center of God’s will for your life, you must resolve to stand in the middle of the field to which He has called you and remain focused without allowing the enemy to distract you from that call.

When Shammah made his stand in the middle of that pea patch, he was not hanging around just to get a few licks in before making an exit.When Shammah made his stand in the middle of that pea patch, he was not hanging around just to get a few licks in before making an exit. For Shammah there were only two options: win or die! He stood his ground, he defended that pea patch, and 2 Samuel 23:12 tells us about the happy ending: “The Lord wrought a great victory.”

We all want to discover God’s will for our lives, but once we discover it, that is not the end; it is only the beginning! Once you have your assignment from God, then you have to stand in your field and fight until God gives the victory. This requires a quality that few seem to possess — perseverance.

In Ephesians 6 we are commanded to “put on the whole armour of God” (v. 11). But verses 13 and 14 say something important: “And having done all, to stand. Stand therefore.” In other words, after you have made all the preparation to stand, now there is one thing left to do—stand! This is where many people miss it. They go to great lengths to discover God’s will for their lives. They go to Bible college; they read books; they receive prophetic words; they prepare themselves in every way possible. But when their skin begins to burn with the heat of the battle, they drop their weapons and retreat. I am aware that this is not a “feel-good” message.

The Secret Ingredient: Perseverance

We are always looking for shortcuts, tips, and tricks, but I’m afraid there is no way around this principle. You can be extraordinarily gifted, talented, anointed, and blessed, but without persistence you will have little impact because the great victories are always on the other side of great battles. The word persevere is made of the prefix per, which means “through,” and severe. Victory comes to those who press through severe battles to the other side without quitting.

R. Alec Mackenzie, who wrote extensively on the subject of time management, said, “The ability to concentrate—to persevere on a course without distraction or diversion—is a power that has enabled men of moderate capability to reach heights of attainment that have eluded the genius. They have no secret formula other than to persevere.”

Apparently Shammah was not the only one of David’s mighty men who knew what it meant to be persistent. The Bible says Eleazar fought so long and so hard in one battle that his hand froze to the sword (2 Sam. 23:10). When it comes to fulfilling God’s will for your life, perseverance is not an option; it is an imperative. If Eleazar or Shammah would have let go of their swords or stopped fighting, the enemy would have killed them. If you let go of God’s calling, you will never fulfill it.

What do you do when the going gets tough? Stand firm and don’t let go! What do you do when the enemy begins to assail from all directions? Stand firm and don’t let go! What do you do when you face financial difficulty, health problems, betrayal, abandonment, rejection, and pain? Stand firm and don’t let go! My friend, the battle belongs to the Lord, and He will win it in His time. Our part is not to question; our part is to obey and stand firm until God gives the victory.

May we stand in our respective fields as David’s mighty men did, prepared to fight to the death for God’s kingdom. And when the day comes for us to leave this world, I pray that the sword will have to be pried out of our lifeless fingers. At the end may we not be found sitting in front of a television, but may we be found with our boots strapped on in the field where God has assigned us. Never give up! Never retreat! Never surrender to the enemy! Your fulfillment of God’s will for your life is not only about you. It’s about your children and your grandchildren and the future of God’s eternal kingdom. So stand! Fight! And endure until the end. And God will give you the victory in Jesus’s name!

Daniel Kolenda
LIVE - before you die, Excerpt from Chapter 20 

Having integrity means doing the right thing even when no one is looking. Shammah didn’t fight that battle with the Philistines because he wanted to be a celebrity warrior. The rest of the Israelites had left him alone. He was not fighting like a gladiator in a stadium before a crowd of cheering fans. Yet somehow, thousands of years later, we are still talking about his glorious battle. Somehow the word got out, and everyone heard about what happened in that obscure pea patch. Jesus said, “There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight, and what you have whispered in the ear in the inner rooms will be proclaimed from the roofs” (Luke 12:2–3, NIV). Character is who are you when no one is looking. That is the real you.

A Fascinating Word

Most of the time character flaws hide below the surface invisible to the casual observer. People take great care to make sure no one sees their problems or shortcomings. But if not dealt with, these invisible infections mature into very public diseases. 

A little compromise here, a lustful imagination there. Every concession seems so inconsequential. Sin begins as a cute little pet, but it grows into a beast that is never satisfied. As it is fed, it only becomes bigger and hungrier; gratification becomes more difficult, and soon the pet has become the master. In the end you will either kill the beast or it will kill you. The devil is very patient. He is willing to wait, sometimes for many years, while sin matures. Once the enemy has established a stronghold in someone’s life, he will not stop until he has destroyed that person or until that person destroys the stronghold.

I’ll never forget a sermon I heard when I was in seminary from our college president, Michael L. Brown, PhD. He preached about a fascinating word that appears in the Hebrew Scriptures 61 times; it is acharit (pronounced “a-kha-reet”). There is really no single word equivalent for it in English, but the literal meaning of it is “the final or ultimate end.” It speaks of the backside or hinder parts, the part that is to follow, the part that is to come, the final end.3 We find this word used in Psalm 37:37–38: “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end [acharit] of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end [acharit] of the wicked shall be cut off.”“Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end [acharit] of that man is peace. But the transgressors shall be destroyed together: the end [acharit] of the wicked shall be cut off.”

Oh, my friend, may we purpose in our hearts to live life in such a way that we will not have to weep in the acharit over uncleanness and sin that we allowed into our lives. “I urge you,” Paul said, “to live a life worthy of the callingyou have received” (Eph. 4:1, NIV). Let us determine to live a life worthy of the calling, a life of integrity, minding in the beginning what matters in the end.

Never Give Up

I think it is interesting that 2 Samuel 23:12 tells us exactly where Shammah strategically positioned himself. It says, “He stationed himself in the middle of the field” (NKJV). He wasn’t standing out on the fringes, and he wasn’t in one of the corners. He was right in the very center of the field. I have seen many people who were called to a particular field, but over the years they became distracted. They lost their focus and wandered to the fringes of their field and sometimes even drifted into other fields they were never called to serve. If you are going to remain in the center of God’s will for your life, you must resolve to stand in the middle of the field to which He has called you and remain focused without allowing the enemy to distract you from that call.

When Shammah made his stand in the middle of that pea patch, he was not hanging around just to get a few licks in before making an exit.When Shammah made his stand in the middle of that pea patch, he was not hanging around just to get a few licks in before making an exit. For Shammah there were only two options: win or die! He stood his ground, he defended that pea patch, and 2 Samuel 23:12 tells us about the happy ending: “The Lord wrought a great victory.”

We all want to discover God’s will for our lives, but once we discover it, that is not the end; it is only the beginning! Once you have your assignment from God, then you have to stand in your field and fight until God gives the victory. This requires a quality that few seem to possess — perseverance.

In Ephesians 6 we are commanded to “put on the whole armour of God” (v. 11). But verses 13 and 14 say something important: “And having done all, to stand. Stand therefore.” In other words, after you have made all the preparation to stand, now there is one thing left to do—stand! This is where many people miss it. They go to great lengths to discover God’s will for their lives. They go to Bible college; they read books; they receive prophetic words; they prepare themselves in every way possible. But when their skin begins to burn with the heat of the battle, they drop their weapons and retreat. I am aware that this is not a “feel-good” message.

The Secret Ingredient: Perseverance

We are always looking for shortcuts, tips, and tricks, but I’m afraid there is no way around this principle. You can be extraordinarily gifted, talented, anointed, and blessed, but without persistence you will have little impact because the great victories are always on the other side of great battles. The word persevere is made of the prefix per, which means “through,” and severe. Victory comes to those who press through severe battles to the other side without quitting.

R. Alec Mackenzie, who wrote extensively on the subject of time management, said, “The ability to concentrate—to persevere on a course without distraction or diversion—is a power that has enabled men of moderate capability to reach heights of attainment that have eluded the genius. They have no secret formula other than to persevere.”

Apparently Shammah was not the only one of David’s mighty men who knew what it meant to be persistent. The Bible says Eleazar fought so long and so hard in one battle that his hand froze to the sword (2 Sam. 23:10). When it comes to fulfilling God’s will for your life, perseverance is not an option; it is an imperative. If Eleazar or Shammah would have let go of their swords or stopped fighting, the enemy would have killed them. If you let go of God’s calling, you will never fulfill it.

What do you do when the going gets tough? Stand firm and don’t let go! What do you do when the enemy begins to assail from all directions? Stand firm and don’t let go! What do you do when you face financial difficulty, health problems, betrayal, abandonment, rejection, and pain? Stand firm and don’t let go! My friend, the battle belongs to the Lord, and He will win it in His time. Our part is not to question; our part is to obey and stand firm until God gives the victory.

May we stand in our respective fields as David’s mighty men did, prepared to fight to the death for God’s kingdom. And when the day comes for us to leave this world, I pray that the sword will have to be pried out of our lifeless fingers. At the end may we not be found sitting in front of a television, but may we be found with our boots strapped on in the field where God has assigned us. Never give up! Never retreat! Never surrender to the enemy! Your fulfillment of God’s will for your life is not only about you. It’s about your children and your grandchildren and the future of God’s eternal kingdom. So stand! Fight! And endure until the end. And God will give you the victory in Jesus’s name!

Daniel Kolenda
LIVE - before you die, Excerpt from Chapter 20 

Bible Study

A Swimming Lesson from Ezekiel

How can the whole world be effectively evangelized? The Lord must have visualized it as being possible, because he commanded us to “make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). Nations! I am sure that God has big plans for reaching mankind. I go back again and again to the Word, trying to understand this thought, and ask the Lord to open my eyes.

I once came to a familiar Scripture passage, no doubt preached on often. But the Spirit of the Lord was upon me, and a fresh truth in this passage exploded in my soul. It is in the book written by Ezekiel, one of the Old Testament prophets.

And when the man went out to the east with the line in his hand, he measured one thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the water came up to my ankles. Again, he measured one thousand and brought me through the waters; the water came up to my knees. Again, he measured one thousand and brought me through; the water came up to my waist. Again, he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed. He said to me, “Son of man, have you seen this?” Then he brought me and returned me to the bank of the river. When I returned, there, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other.

In the first part of this passage, Ezekiel was taken from dry land into the waters of this glorious river. Many agree this is a picture of the life-giving flood of the Holy Spirit. What an experience! From the dryness and deadness of cold religion into the swirling reality of the Holy Spirit. What an excitement to come to know this side of Salvation! This thrill is unique and inexplicable.

The Lord showed me lessons embedded in this remarkable vision that are essential for us if we do not wish to become spiritually stagnant.

Ankle Deep Is God´s Minimum

Four times, the angel carefully measured out one thousand cubits, leading Ezekiel by degrees. The first stage brought him into the waters that were “ankle deep.”

Direct contact with the power of the Holy Spirit is absolutely wonderful, but do not forget that “ankle deep” is God’s minimum! It is a tragedy that so many Christians seem to park in this position. It is sound advice never to follow a parked vehicle, because you will go nowhere. Likewise, we ought not follow a parked pastor or a parked church member. What I mean is, do not settle down to God’s minimum. It is easy to compare your experience with people who are not even ankle deep. But if that is your perspective, you should reverse it. Rather than comparing your position with what is more shallow, compare your position with the greater depths still ahead of you!

I was once invited to speak in a prayer meeting to people who did not believe in the Baptism into the Holy Spirit. I did my best, but it was very difficult. The people just sat there, speechless, glaring back at me with big eyes. A little prayer was said, and it was all over. As I left that gathering, I thought, “It must be very difficult to swim in three inches of water.” This, unfortunately, is the condition of many Christians. They paddle and work, yet make no progress, simply because they are grounded on the bottom. It is no wonder that things are so difficult for them.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote: “Some Christians sail their boat in such low spiritual waters that the keel scrapes on the gravel all the way to Heaven, instead of being carried on a floodtide.”

There are many frustrated workers. They are devoted, almost working their fingers to the bone. Yet, so little happens. Why? Because they are only rowing at the brink. They are “do-it-yourself” people. They do the best they know how, and then “water it with prayer.” They have not followed the Lord’s instructions in Luke 5:4 to “launch out into the deep.” Today Jesus still stands on the shore and encourages us to launch out into the deep, to leave our shallow waters. But who will dare?

What is the way of Pentecost? Jesus promised that we would do greater works because He would send the Holy Spirit (John 14:12-17). That means He would do the work. The Lord does not hand us a toothpaste tube from which we might squeeze a little drop of power once or twice a day, just enough for our spiritual survival. The normal Christian life is this: “He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water” (Psalm 1:3).

I say this with a shout: The success of the Christian is in the fullness of the Holy Spirit! By the grace of God, I have been shown the secret: Move into the deeper water of the Holy Spirit. Once in that flood stream you will change immediately.I say this with a shout: The success of the Christian is in the fullness of the Holy Spirit! By the grace of God, I have been shown the secret: Move into the deeper water of the Holy Spirit. Once in that flood stream you will change immediately.

The Lord Brings Us Along Gently

As I visualized this scene with Ezekiel, I wondered why the man with the measuring rod took Ezekiel only one thousand cubits at a time, in four stages. When the Lord speaks, I am the kind of man who likes to jump. So why not take the plunge at four thousand cubits all at once? The Holy Spirit taught me this spiritual swimming lesson. The Father is very understanding of each of his children. He does not “throw us in the deep end.” Spiritual growth and maturity take time. His work is lovingly individual. The angel was instructed to first “measure” and then move. In the same way, our blessed Lord measures our individual ability – and then leads us. If Ezekiel had been led four thousand cubits in one go, he might have drowned. Yet, by going into the deep water in four stages, he made progress. The Lord brings us along gently. He wants us to go, but not to rush in rashly. We should have neither cold feet nor hot heads.

Learning Spiritually to Swim

One day God said to me: “Do you know what it means to swim?”One day God said to me: “Do you know what it means to swim?” Well, I thought I knew because I am a good swimmer. But did I? The Holy Spirit caused me to see something that I had not appreciated before. He said: “When you are swimming you are in another element, and a new law operates. You have to let go and rest fully upon the waters of the river. Those waters carry you.”

I see that now. I am swimming in the Holy Spirit. His waters carry me. The Spirit lifts me. Swimming takes the weight off my feet. It gives my back a holiday and my joints go on vacation. He does the work. What, then, is the real handicap? The real handicap is to rely upon yourself, depending on your own energy and ability, causing you to trudge along the riverbank – the very waters that could bear you in their bosom.

Many are working for God, when God wants to work for them. He does not want us to work so hard that we drop dead for Him. I saw a gravestone once with a man’s name and epitaph: “His Life Only Consisted of Work.” I mused, “That is an epitaph for a horse, not a man.”

God did not intend us to be beasts of burden, or to labor like robots. He could create packhorses in abundance, if that is what He wanted. When the Lord thought of you and me, He had something in mind other than slaves. Our Father wanted sons and daughters with whom He could fellowship and feast at the table, sharing all He has with them. “All that I have is yours” (Luke 15:31).

It is time to change the negative image of the Christian life. Do you feel that becoming a Christian has simply bowed you down? That you never feel good enough? You feel like there is not enough prayer, or work, or love, or the Bible in your life? Duties overwhelm you? Then Ezekiel’s message is for you: Be borne along by the Spirit in the glorious river of God! There are waters in which to float! In Him, you are more than a conqueror.

We are like Joseph, who was taken out of a prison cell to rule. That is the principle of God’s transactions throughout the whole of Scripture.

We are not to endure, but to enjoy our Christian life. I do not want to arrive in Heaven only to discover that I had managed on five percent of what God wanted me to have. There is no virtue in that. I am interested in the other 95 percent!

We need to understand the mind and calling of God. As He led Ezekiel from minimum to maximum, so He will lead us – if we allow Him to do so.

A River of Life

There are no nautical terms in the Bible. Revelation 21:1 states that “there was no more sea,” but Revelation 22:1 declares: “He showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” There lies the difference between a sea and a river. In Scripture, the sea stands for the masses of mankind and for the wicked, “whose waters cast up mire, and dirt” (Isaiah 57:20). It is also the depository for the detritus of humanity. The same old water comes back day after day, the tide bringing the garbage we thought we had hidden away.

But a river is different. It contains constant freshness because it is always flowing. It never has the same water. God has something new every morning.

A River of Power

In his vision, Ezekiel moved into the deeper waters of God’s river. “Again he measured one thousand, and it was a river that I could not cross; for the water was too deep, water in which one must swim, a river that could not be crossed” (Ezekiel 47:5). The river was not meant for walking, but for swimming. All who discover this secret will have their lives and ministries transformed.

A few years ago, a completely frustrated minister of the Gospel came to visit me. He had just visited a psychiatrist and said he could no longer carry the load of his church of 50 members. It was just too much. “Are you baptized into the Holy Spirit?” I asked. “No,” he replied, “my denomination does not believe in it.” I took time to explain to him this wonderful truth and prayed with him afterwards. In the evening, he left. But he did not really drive home, he swam home! God had done it.
What can God’s maximum actually be? I certainly do not claim to have arrived at God’s maximum, but I am definitely in transition! I am like the Apostle Paul, going from “faith to faith” and “from glory to glory” (Romans 1:17; 2 Corinthians 3:18). That is Holy Spirit progression.

The Surprise That Followed

After Ezekiel swam, he was returned to the riverbank. In New Testament terms, this is no anticlimax. Because once we have been in the river, the river is in us, and “rivers of living water” will flow out of our hearts (John 7:38). This experience so transformed the prophet, that when he climbed the riverbank, he looked in astonishment. “There, along the bank of the river, were very many trees on one side and the other” (Ezekiel 47:7).

What was so special about that? Why did he look in wonder? It was special, and he looked, because he now saw something that was not there when he entered the river – trees! This is the great truth of the chapter: while God changed Ezekiel in His river, He also changed the entire landscape around Ezekiel. Conditions change with anointed people and anointed churches.

I suppose that if Ezekiel had physically been in Israel and tried to plant trees in that place, he would have failed dismally – even if he watered them with his tears. But Ezekiel learned that, what people could not do in a hundred years, God could do in a few seconds. This is our faith for today! “‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).

People who flow in and with the Holy Spirit have reason to be astonished everyday, because the Lord does wonders everyday. Praise the Lord! Nothing decreases in God! Everything is getting more wonderful by the day.

Divine Energy

Another notable detail is this: Those same trees already bore ripe fruit. While Ezekiel was discovering the depth of the river of the Holy Spirit, God had planted and grown trees in no time. He is the Creator of time, and can shrink it whenever He wishes. “Their fruit will be for food,” we read in verse 12. It was as if the fruit was beckoning him: “Ezekiel, come over here. No more cooking! God has spread the table for you. No more takeaways! A balanced diet awaits you!”“Ezekiel, come over here. No more cooking! God has spread the table for you. No more takeaways! A balanced diet awaits you!”

How wonderful! Suddenly, the man of God is in partnership with the Holy Spirit. There is no more scheming until we are steaming, no more blundering around in the dark. This is the wonder of a life and ministry in the Holy Spirit. This is how our world will be won for the Lord. Holy Spirit evangelism will win our generation for God! It all begins when we are obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, and follow Him out into the depths, where there are waters in which to swim.

In Our Element

The Christian who is not in the river of the Holy Spirit is out of his element. He is like the proverbial fish out of water. We are not called to be desert dwellers, like the people of Israel were for 40 years – even though the Lord had promised them a land of rivers. Christ has promised rivers to believers, not as a rare exception, but as part of their natural environment. We are not to be bank-sitters, admirers of the passing waters. We are rather called to be river men!

Many times people have told me that, under their circumstances, they could not live a victorious Christian life. One young man in Africa explained that his grandparents and his parents were all witch doctors, and it was therefore impossible for him to live with Jesus in that place. But not one of us could be victorious anywhere in this sinful world, if it were not for the Holy Spirit. Wherever we go, He is there. We move in Him and live in Him (Acts 17:28). He is our environment. We are baptized into Christ. We are swimming in the river of God, not in a little pool likely to dry up one day.

We may just as well ask the question, “Can a man live on the moon?” The answer is both “No” and “Yes.” He cannot live on the moon if he goes there as he is. But if he arrives on the moon wearing a proper spacesuit, he can indeed live there. The spacesuit contains the same air as that found on the earth. Wearing these space suits, the astronauts can walk, ride, and jump upon the surface of the moon.

You cannot expect to live a successful Christian life if you are not in the Spirit, for that is how God arranged for you to live. Wherever we are, we can be – and should be – in the Spirit. That is the important fact. No matter how appalling the place, even if it is foul with the breath of hell, we are enveloped in God and can breathe the air of Heaven. “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1)“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).

When we are in the Spirit we are unconquerable, invulnerable, going from victory to victory, our life hid with Christ in God. The man moving in the Spirit; the church moving in the Spirit; workers, evangelists, pastors and teachers moving in the Spirit – that is the only formula I know for success. In the Spirit of God, we can win the world for Jesus.

Reinhard Bonnke

Bible Study

In times of drought – a survival kit for your spiritual life

Hydration is essential to survive a natural wilderness. It is also essential to survive a supernatural wilderness. Just as drinking clean water is urgent in hot, dry weather, we must drink in God’s presence during desert seasons. 

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You. I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”
Psalm 63:1 “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek You. I thirst for You, my whole being longs for You, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.”
Psalm 63:1 

Don’t wait until you feel thirsty, but drink as much as possible to keep the hydration level of your body high. Likewise, it is critical that those in a spiritual wilderness constantly be filled with God’s Spirit. 

“Everyone who drinks this [natural] water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst.”John 4:13-14 

God’s provision for Israel in the wilderness applies to us today: 

“All drank the same spiritual drink, for they were drinking from a spiritual rock which followed them; and the rock was Christ.”1 Cor. 10:4 

Our refreshment in the wilderness is God’s presence, and God’s presence is the Holy Spirit. Just as the Holy Spirit is our comfort, shelter, and fire, so also is He, like water, the essence of life for our whole being. Jesus said, 

“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
John 7:37-38 “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”
John 7:37-38 

Scripture often relates the Holy Spirit to water 

Joel declares Israel’s future restoration by reminding them that God “has poured down for you the rain, the early and latter rain as before” (Joel 2:23, NASB). He then transfers this image to the gift of the Spirit: “I will pour out my Spirit on all people” (Joel 2:28, NIV). When Joel’s prophecy was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost, it says that the disciples were 

“all filled with the Holy Spirit” – as if with water – “and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”Acts 2:4 

If God’s “liquid” presence is the Spirit, how then can we “drink” or “be filled with” His Spirit? How can we remain “hydrated” by the Spirit’s presence while crossing a dry spiritual landscape? We do this by praying in the Spirit. Listen to what Paul told Christians in the midst of intense battle: “Through every kind of prayer and petition, pray at all times in the Spirit” (Eph. 6:18, NASB). And Jude tells believers facing trouble, 

“You, beloved, keep yourselves in God’s love by building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.” Jude 20-21

How, then, do we pray in the Spirit? 

We pray in the Spirit when we connect with His presence, partner with His leading, and permit Him to empower our prayers. When we follow His leadership, He not only shows us the right things to pray, but also gives us the energy to pray them (Rom. 8:26-27). The important thing is to allow His expressions – His feelings and “language” – to mesh with our feelings and language. That is praying in the Spirit. 

The Spirit expresses Himself through us in several ways. He praises and thanks God with many different kinds of songs (Eph. 5:18-19). Sometimes He makes groans too deep for words (Rom. 8:23). He may cry out with affection and childlike need for God as our “Abba” (Gal. 4:6), or declare Christ’s awesome lordship over an impossible situation (1 Cor. 12:3). The Spirit’s bank of prayer language contains deep adoration of God’s majesty and Christ’s sacrifice (Rev. 4-5), as well as pleas for Jesus to return (Rev. 22:17). The Holy Spirit has a broad treasury of language for every kind of situation and emotion we may face. My point is this. Praying in the Spirit means getting close to Him, sensing His mood, hearing His voice, and cooperating with His specific expression in any given moment. 

But there’s one expression of the Spirit I want to spotlight, since it most effectively refreshes us in the desert. That expression is praying in tongues. The person speaking in an unknown tongue edifies himself (1 Cor. 14:4). Praying in tongues by the Spirit is an unobstructed connection to God’s hydrating power in the wilderness. It enables us to pray in a way that’s not restricted by our understanding or limited by our native language. 

For one who speaks in a tongue speaks not to men but to God; for no one understands him, but he utters mysteries in the Spirit.1 Cor. 14:2 

Unknown tongues may not help a gathering of believers (since no one understands the one speaking), but it greatly helps the individual who needs potent spiritual rehydration. 

This is because praying in tongues edifies the person praying. The verb, “edify,” means more than “encourage.” The original word actually means, “to construct, strengthen, or restore.” In other words, through speaking in tongues, the Spirit not only encourages our hearts, but also builds our inner person. He takes the blessings we inherited when we believed (Eph. 1:3), and progressively connects them to assemble us into powerful people. So praying in the Spirit – praying in other tongues – fortifies us. It constructs and strengthens us in the desert. 

No Limits

Consider how powerful it is when we pray in our native language. The Bible teaches that when we pray heavy burdens off our chest, God replaces them with supernatural peace (Phil. 4:6-7). Also, praising God amid our problems, when breakthrough comes, brings joy to our hearts. That joy then becomes our strength, even if the problems persist (Neh. 8:10). Now what if we were able to intercede or praise from places too deep for our conscious minds to access? What if we were able to pray prayers we needed to pray, but could never articulate in our native language? 

This is what praying in tongues does for us. It enables us to pray straight from our spirit without the limits of our mind. 

For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, [though] my mind is unfruitful.1 Cor. 14:14 

Such praying is not only free of blockage and carnality, but it’s also laser accurate. When God answers these prayers, or when we experience the rapture of this praise, we receive measures of peace, joy, and strength that can come no other way. These are the virtues that fortify us from within, filling us with “streams in the desert” from the internal springs of the Spirit. They enable us to range the desert as healthy, creative people full of faith and spiritual vitality for others. 

If you’re in a spiritual desert, keep yourself hydrated. Drink deeply and often of your internal resources by praying in the Spirit. Allow Jesus to baptize you in the Holy Spirit, or rediscover the depths of such a wonderful immersion in His presence. By faith, open your mouth and allow the Spirit to give you utterances that your mind doesn’t understand. Develop the habit in the desert that will always keep you saturated with God. It will quench your thirst, fortify your soul, and keep you from spiritual dehydration during dry times. 

Daniel Kolenda
Excerpt from Chapter 5 of Daniel Kolenda “Surviving Your Wilderness “

Bible Study

Jesus – Son of God – Son of Man

More than 2,000 years ago, our Lord left His heavenly glory and took on the earthly name Jesus. Since that day, His name is closely tied with our earth: “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.”

During this Christmas season of 2016, I would like to meditate together with you on this name – Jesus. 

An angel of the Lord told Joseph that Mary’s son had to be called Jesus. Did all the other angels know that? How secret was the name? When “the angel of the Lord” visited Israel, he always refused to divulge his name because he was the Second Person of the Trinity. The name Jesus was still hidden in the counsels of God.

All Scripture spoke of him and first described him as “the seed of the woman.” Prophets called him Shiloh and Immanuel, “God is with us.” In Luke’s Gospel he is called the “light of revelation” and “your salvation” (Luke 2:30-32). But his real name remained a secret. Then Gabriel the archangel visited Mary and told her, “You will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:31-32). God named him Jesus because it is a salvation name. The Hebrew word Yeshua means: Help, Salvation, Savior, Redeemer... The instructions to Joseph were: “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins”“You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Our gospel is Jesus.

There are hints about Jesus all through the Scriptures as if God were so excited by this “unspeakable gift” to come that he could not quite keep quiet about it.

In the beginning no one had a name for God except “the Most High.” Then Moses was given God’s personal name, “I am” or YHWH (Exodus 3:14). God’s name is of supreme importance, essential, and a great gift to the world. “When the time had fully come, God sent his Son” (Galatians 4:4). The Father presented his Son to us as a love gift, allowed us to know him and instructed us to call him familiarly as Jesus of Nazareth.

True Christmas Joy

The first Christmas joy is simply that Jesus came. What a gift! Of all the places in the vast universe, he chose to come here and did not leave us to struggle along, working things out the best we can. Our best is not good enough on the divine scale of things – we needed his help, just as we all do now. “What is man that you are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4). I do not know the answer to that rhetorical question, but I am thankful that “the Dayspring from on high has visited us” (Luke 1:78). God’s own son came to be by our side, to see us through to eternal life.

What a man he was! The least we can do is to keep one day to remember his coming. Christmas Day is the radiant jewel in the crown of the year.

Christmas Is like the Radiant Jewel in the Calendar

To appreciate the glory of his name, we need to look back in time. As I have said, in early centuries God was nameless – simply “the Most High.” Israel also described him as the Holy One. In contrast, many people in those days believed in idols and manmade deities, which in reality were demonic powers. They had to be honored with daily offerings for their worshippers to remain on their good side, or they would run the risk of becoming victims to the unpleasant aspects of their nature. Our God is totally different! Christians invaded those days of pagan belief, introducing the perspective of living by faith in Jesus, something entirely new in the world.

The old “gods” tyrannized everybody. But Jesus changed that.The old “gods” tyrannized everybody. But Jesus changed that. Our Gospel Campaigns especially in Africa free multitudes. We always have a bonfire of “gods” during our outdoor meetings. Lucky charms – no more than blocks of wood carved into shape and honored as gods – are shown to be the false protectors that they are as they disintegrate into ash. “Modern” gods include cosmic influences, aliens, star power, the spirit of the earth, and gods as crude as a child’s drawings. That is why we preach Jesus Christ. We shine the gospel light in the darkest places. Our God is the saving Lord. We want to make him known. We are Christ’s messengers proclaiming deliverance, not religionists making proselytes. The name of Jesus is a threat to the devil but good news to the entire world.

The Best News to the Entire World

Jesus is the Holy One, which means he is utterly “separate” – the only one of his kind. No one can even offer us another like him. He has no competitor. “You are the God who performs miracles” (Psalm 77:14). No book has any reference to anyone like Jesus. No god in any other sacred writings is a Savior, the only one who saves, forgives, restores, answers prayer, heals, fills with the Holy Spirit, and guides. “The God who answers by fire – he is God!” (1 Kings 18:24). We do not indulge in heated debates about doctrine or the right road to heaven. We talk about Jesus, just him with no rival.

The name of Jesus spells everything. It is God’s alphabet, from alpha to omega. We believe in Jesus. Dogmas and creeds are for our heads but Jesus goes for the heart. He said, “I am the Way” (John 14:6). He crossed the mountains of our hostility and wickedness, came out of the world of light, and plunged into the darkness of death for us.

The name “I am” as revealed to Moses was held in awe. A hundred years before Christ, anyone uttering the name of God would be expelled from the meeting. In the Gospels, eight times John recorded Jesus saying, “I am.” But John uses the name of Jesus some 250 times.

God Opened the Door of Heaven and Came Down

Christmas is a time to revel, if ever we do revel. The great “I am,” adored by angels, opened the door of heaven, stepped over the threshold into David’s town of Bethlehem, and entrusted himself into the arms of an earthly mother who called him Jesus – his passport name into the kingdom of man. Hidden from the ages, Jesus is our Man, reachable, accessible, and wonderful. He lived a glorious life of triumph, overcame provocation and ignorance and then the fury of human hatred on the Cross. But God wrote an epilogue. He raised his Son from the dead, who then ascended to be received in glory.But God wrote an epilogue. He raised his Son from the dead, who then ascended to be received in glory.

Now comes a wonderful truth – in glory he has kept his earthly name, Jesus. It is the only name there where he has gone. When he left earth, angels assured disciples that he would come back and still be “this same Jesus” (Acts 1:11).

How can we fail to celebrate? We have every cause to be glad. At Christmas we indulge in all sorts of good things, but that is because God has indulged us, giving us “his unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15). In the days of the Persian Empire, Queen Esther saved the Jews from genocide, and Scripture says that the day of deliverance was “a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other” called the feast of Purim (Esther 9:19, 26). Despite the similarities, Christmas is a greater day, a day of rejoicing in the great salvation of our God. 

The Son of Man

Jesus’ disciples addressed him as teacher, master or Lord. But he always called himself “the Son of Man,”Jesus’ disciples addressed him as teacher, master or Lord. But he always called himself “the Son of Man,” a title on which much scholastic time and ink have been spent. God called Ezekiel “son of man” over 100 times. “Son of man” is simply a way of saying “man” and means “man’s son.” The first words of the New Testament concern Jesus’ sonship. “Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). He is the son; the true son of Abraham was Jesus, not Isaac, and the true Son of David was not Solomon, but Jesus. He, not Cain or Seth, was the promised son of Eve. “To us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6).

In Isaiah the Father sometimes simply calls his son “he”! No one needed ask who “he” was. All heaven knew. “He” was the only one for the Father. God was a God of love because he loved his son from eternity. That is the one he sent on Christmas Day, from the depth of his heart, the son of his love. 

There was wonder and excitement in Judea and in the fields of Bethlehem on that first Christmas Day. The very skies were festive, filled with the glittering populace of heaven, seraph voices resounding at Bethlehem, radiant with happiness, echoing over David’s ancient town like a suburb of glory. But for us mortals there is equal excitement. “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, great David’s greater Son, Hail in the time appointed, His reign on earth begun!” This is the ever-fresh news, the gospel message. We preach Christ – and if we do not, we betray the world.

“Jesus came!” It means one all-important thing for us. If he came, we must go. He draws us to himself to send us. “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). We preach Jesus Christ, because if we don’t, we keep him a secret from the very world he came to save.

He Came and Challenged Us to Go

Jesus came with an earthly name. He made the earth and gave it to us to dwell in, and “he came to his own” (John 1:11) because he belongs here and it all belongs to him. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). He was born here, grew up, ate, slept and worked here, and when he left, the stain of his blood marked the hill called Calvary.

His coming spells out God’s love. It spells out his love when we make it known in love. Nobody believes God loves them if we do not love them. God so loved the world and so must we. He lived out his love. It was not just a matter of words, but sacrifice – not mere friendliness, but the demanding business of seeking lost sheep.It was not just a matter of words, but sacrifice – not mere friendliness, but the demanding business of seeking lost sheep.

Salvation Was Engaged Here on Earth

Salvation was not worked out and produced in heaven and brought to us by a messenger spirit or angel. We see it as it is: salvation was won here on earth, by real nails fastening Jesus to a real tree, with real blood bringing us real cleansing – a work accomplished right before our very eyes. Salvation came by the Son of Man, not by an angel. His gospel is for earth and heaven – for body and soul – a full gospel for the whole world and the whole man. God does not have “No go” areas. He is Lord of all things in heaven and on earth. The gospel is God with us, made flesh, here in power for whatever purpose he decides, physical or spiritual, to change the nations, to deliver those shackled by sin, to heal the sick, to make our bodies his temples, to prophesy, to speak in tongues, to work wonders. Salvation is not a mystic’s dream, or a logical deduction or theological theory. It is the corporeal reality of a Savior born in Bethlehem, a real Savior on this real earth for us real people with real needs.

The Day When Heaven Came down to Adopt Earth

Christmas cannot be bought pre-packaged at a supermarket. “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). Christmas is not just a time for children. It is a million times more than carols, sparkling lights and colorful decorations. It is the day when heaven came down to adopt earth as a suburb of the Kingdom of God. It is the day whose dawn is “shining ever brighter until the full light of day” (Proverbs 4:18). It is the day where we celebrate Jesus’ coming.

On that note I wish you a blessed and peaceful Christmas season.

Reinhard Bonnke with Daniel Kolenda and the entire international CfaN team

Bible Study

Jesus – Son of God – Son of Man

More than 2,000 years ago, our Lord left His heavenly glory and took on the earthly name Jesus. Since that day, His name is closely tied with our earth: “Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, today and forever.”

During this Christmas season of 2016, I would like to meditate together with you on this name – Jesus. 

An angel of the Lord told Joseph that Mary’s son had to be called Jesus. Did all the other angels know that? How secret was the name? When “the angel of the Lord” visited Israel, he always refused to divulge his name because he was the Second Person of the Trinity. The name Jesus was still hidden in the counsels of God.

All Scripture spoke of him and first described him as “the seed of the woman.” Prophets called him Shiloh and Immanuel, “God is with us.” In Luke’s Gospel he is called the “light of revelation” and “your salvation” (Luke 2:30-32). But his real name remained a secret. Then Gabriel the archangel visited Mary and told her, “You will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High” (Luke 1:31-32). God named him Jesus because it is a salvation name. The Hebrew word Yeshua means: Help, Salvation, Savior, Redeemer... The instructions to Joseph were: “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins”“You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). Our gospel is Jesus.

There are hints about Jesus all through the Scriptures as if God were so excited by this “unspeakable gift” to come that he could not quite keep quiet about it.

In the beginning no one had a name for God except “the Most High.” Then Moses was given God’s personal name, “I am” or YHWH (Exodus 3:14). God’s name is of supreme importance, essential, and a great gift to the world. “When the time had fully come, God sent his Son” (Galatians 4:4). The Father presented his Son to us as a love gift, allowed us to know him and instructed us to call him familiarly as Jesus of Nazareth.

True Christmas Joy

The first Christmas joy is simply that Jesus came. What a gift! Of all the places in the vast universe, he chose to come here and did not leave us to struggle along, working things out the best we can. Our best is not good enough on the divine scale of things – we needed his help, just as we all do now. “What is man that you are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4). I do not know the answer to that rhetorical question, but I am thankful that “the Dayspring from on high has visited us” (Luke 1:78). God’s own son came to be by our side, to see us through to eternal life.

What a man he was! The least we can do is to keep one day to remember his coming. Christmas Day is the radiant jewel in the crown of the year.

Christmas Is like the Radiant Jewel in the Calendar

To appreciate the glory of his name, we need to look back in time. As I have said, in early centuries God was nameless – simply “the Most High.” Israel also described him as the Holy One. In contrast, many people in those days believed in idols and manmade deities, which in reality were demonic powers. They had to be honored with daily offerings for their worshippers to remain on their good side, or they would run the risk of becoming victims to the unpleasant aspects of their nature. Our God is totally different! Christians invaded those days of pagan belief, introducing the perspective of living by faith in Jesus, something entirely new in the world.

The old “gods” tyrannized everybody. But Jesus changed that.The old “gods” tyrannized everybody. But Jesus changed that. Our Gospel Campaigns especially in Africa free multitudes. We always have a bonfire of “gods” during our outdoor meetings. Lucky charms – no more than blocks of wood carved into shape and honored as gods – are shown to be the false protectors that they are as they disintegrate into ash. “Modern” gods include cosmic influences, aliens, star power, the spirit of the earth, and gods as crude as a child’s drawings. That is why we preach Jesus Christ. We shine the gospel light in the darkest places. Our God is the saving Lord. We want to make him known. We are Christ’s messengers proclaiming deliverance, not religionists making proselytes. The name of Jesus is a threat to the devil but good news to the entire world.

The Best News to the Entire World

Jesus is the Holy One, which means he is utterly “separate” – the only one of his kind. No one can even offer us another like him. He has no competitor. “You are the God who performs miracles” (Psalm 77:14). No book has any reference to anyone like Jesus. No god in any other sacred writings is a Savior, the only one who saves, forgives, restores, answers prayer, heals, fills with the Holy Spirit, and guides. “The God who answers by fire – he is God!” (1 Kings 18:24). We do not indulge in heated debates about doctrine or the right road to heaven. We talk about Jesus, just him with no rival.

The name of Jesus spells everything. It is God’s alphabet, from alpha to omega. We believe in Jesus. Dogmas and creeds are for our heads but Jesus goes for the heart. He said, “I am the Way” (John 14:6). He crossed the mountains of our hostility and wickedness, came out of the world of light, and plunged into the darkness of death for us.

The name “I am” as revealed to Moses was held in awe. A hundred years before Christ, anyone uttering the name of God would be expelled from the meeting. In the Gospels, eight times John recorded Jesus saying, “I am.” But John uses the name of Jesus some 250 times.

God Opened the Door of Heaven and Came Down

Christmas is a time to revel, if ever we do revel. The great “I am,” adored by angels, opened the door of heaven, stepped over the threshold into David’s town of Bethlehem, and entrusted himself into the arms of an earthly mother who called him Jesus – his passport name into the kingdom of man. Hidden from the ages, Jesus is our Man, reachable, accessible, and wonderful. He lived a glorious life of triumph, overcame provocation and ignorance and then the fury of human hatred on the Cross. But God wrote an epilogue. He raised his Son from the dead, who then ascended to be received in glory.But God wrote an epilogue. He raised his Son from the dead, who then ascended to be received in glory.

Now comes a wonderful truth – in glory he has kept his earthly name, Jesus. It is the only name there where he has gone. When he left earth, angels assured disciples that he would come back and still be “this same Jesus” (Acts 1:11).

How can we fail to celebrate? We have every cause to be glad. At Christmas we indulge in all sorts of good things, but that is because God has indulged us, giving us “his unspeakable gift” (2 Corinthians 9:15). In the days of the Persian Empire, Queen Esther saved the Jews from genocide, and Scripture says that the day of deliverance was “a day of joy and feasting, a day for giving presents to each other” called the feast of Purim (Esther 9:19, 26). Despite the similarities, Christmas is a greater day, a day of rejoicing in the great salvation of our God. 

The Son of Man

Jesus’ disciples addressed him as teacher, master or Lord. But he always called himself “the Son of Man,”Jesus’ disciples addressed him as teacher, master or Lord. But he always called himself “the Son of Man,” a title on which much scholastic time and ink have been spent. God called Ezekiel “son of man” over 100 times. “Son of man” is simply a way of saying “man” and means “man’s son.” The first words of the New Testament concern Jesus’ sonship. “Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham” (Matthew 1:1). He is the son; the true son of Abraham was Jesus, not Isaac, and the true Son of David was not Solomon, but Jesus. He, not Cain or Seth, was the promised son of Eve. “To us a child is born, to us a son is given” (Isaiah 9:6).

In Isaiah the Father sometimes simply calls his son “he”! No one needed ask who “he” was. All heaven knew. “He” was the only one for the Father. God was a God of love because he loved his son from eternity. That is the one he sent on Christmas Day, from the depth of his heart, the son of his love. 

There was wonder and excitement in Judea and in the fields of Bethlehem on that first Christmas Day. The very skies were festive, filled with the glittering populace of heaven, seraph voices resounding at Bethlehem, radiant with happiness, echoing over David’s ancient town like a suburb of glory. But for us mortals there is equal excitement. “Hail to the Lord’s Anointed, great David’s greater Son, Hail in the time appointed, His reign on earth begun!” This is the ever-fresh news, the gospel message. We preach Christ – and if we do not, we betray the world.

“Jesus came!” It means one all-important thing for us. If he came, we must go. He draws us to himself to send us. “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you” (John 20:21). We preach Jesus Christ, because if we don’t, we keep him a secret from the very world he came to save.

He Came and Challenged Us to Go

Jesus came with an earthly name. He made the earth and gave it to us to dwell in, and “he came to his own” (John 1:11) because he belongs here and it all belongs to him. “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Psalm 24:1). He was born here, grew up, ate, slept and worked here, and when he left, the stain of his blood marked the hill called Calvary.

His coming spells out God’s love. It spells out his love when we make it known in love. Nobody believes God loves them if we do not love them. God so loved the world and so must we. He lived out his love. It was not just a matter of words, but sacrifice – not mere friendliness, but the demanding business of seeking lost sheep.It was not just a matter of words, but sacrifice – not mere friendliness, but the demanding business of seeking lost sheep.

Salvation Was Engaged Here on Earth

Salvation was not worked out and produced in heaven and brought to us by a messenger spirit or angel. We see it as it is: salvation was won here on earth, by real nails fastening Jesus to a real tree, with real blood bringing us real cleansing – a work accomplished right before our very eyes. Salvation came by the Son of Man, not by an angel. His gospel is for earth and heaven – for body and soul – a full gospel for the whole world and the whole man. God does not have “No go” areas. He is Lord of all things in heaven and on earth. The gospel is God with us, made flesh, here in power for whatever purpose he decides, physical or spiritual, to change the nations, to deliver those shackled by sin, to heal the sick, to make our bodies his temples, to prophesy, to speak in tongues, to work wonders. Salvation is not a mystic’s dream, or a logical deduction or theological theory. It is the corporeal reality of a Savior born in Bethlehem, a real Savior on this real earth for us real people with real needs.

The Day When Heaven Came down to Adopt Earth

Christmas cannot be bought pre-packaged at a supermarket. “The kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” (Romans 14:17). Christmas is not just a time for children. It is a million times more than carols, sparkling lights and colorful decorations. It is the day when heaven came down to adopt earth as a suburb of the Kingdom of God. It is the day whose dawn is “shining ever brighter until the full light of day” (Proverbs 4:18). It is the day where we celebrate Jesus’ coming.

On that note I wish you a blessed and peaceful Christmas season.

Reinhard Bonnke with Daniel Kolenda and the entire international CfaN team