Faith Alive

Rather then be amazed at the faithfulness of Jesus, I would have to say I'm overwhelmed this morning. Last night before sleeping on the eve of my 44th birthday, I muttered under my breath, "Lord I want to move into night time encounters with you again."

It was as if the whole night I was aware of my spirit which was 'awake' and my natural mind which at times was a collage of thoughts and then at times was 'aligning' with my spirit as He spoke and walked around inside me. The text out the Song may give you a better grid for what I'm saying, " I slept but my heart was awake. Listen! My beloved is knocking: "Open to me, my sister, my darling, my dove, my flawless one. My head is drenched with dew, my hair with the dampness of the night." (Song of Solomon 5:2 NIV)

In true humility I could not dare to take any credit for such mutterings, regardless of how feeble, since it's in His Grace that He 'My Beloved Is Knocking' once again. It's His gracious 'knocking', even on my heart which is His, that has caused me to yearn again that the hours of sleep are not wasted but rather that we would commune, with me being but passive and asleep with His left hand under my head and His right embracing Me!

I saw in my dream Him walking 7 lambs and He spoke these words, "faith without works is dead." (James 2:26 CPDV). The beautiful thing was that I felt no condemnation at all, but rather just the opposite. It was as if for the first time I had understood this text correctly since it wasn't filtered by my preconceived understanding but rather it was 'breathed' by Him Who Is The Word.

He spoke again to help my spirit understand and it was then that my natural mind which was a sleep came into line with my spirit. He said, "Your Faith comes Alive when you reach out your hands towards the sick." Oh my goodness, what joy detonated inside my whole being, causing my almost lifeless flesh to awaken immediately, hence my clear recognition of the Encounter. 

If I'm honest I haven't been reluctant to lay hands on the sick, but it's something that has stopped burning inside me since I've been distracted and preoccupied with my own affairs. Once again no condemnation since I would far rather reach out my hands in Love and in Passion then as any form of duty or because my callings requires such, or for any secret need to be famous.

My closing and encouragement to myself and you is this: 

We have been given faith as a gift, however it seems to only become Faith Alive when we reach out our hands and open our mouths or operate in any other Holy Infused activity. 

Eat, dear friends! Drink and get drunk on love! (Song of Solomon 5:1 CEB) 

Greg Swart

SuperNatural Courage

As 'Believers In Christ' it would make sense that one of the enemy's main thrusts against us would be unbelief. His strategies are simple and resemble his first approach to humanity in the Garden sowing the seeds of doubt saying, "Did God really say..? He also would dupe us into doubting the Goodness of God by getting us to feel and think that God was holding out on us....the very same lie that First Adam fell for. He knows the effects are devastating since we move from relational trust into a do it yourself program of self reliance under pinned by a life of avoiding evil and attempting to be good or earn good...the foundation of all religious systems. As Bill Johnson says, "form without power." We move from childlike trust and make loving God and being loved by God complicated and performance oriented.

Personally, I've had a recent encounter with Him that has made sense of the last 14 months of my life when I literally stepped out the boat by resigning from a very secure and comfortable position as National Sales Manager for Quiksilver and Roxy. God confirmed the decision very clearly one evening at Lundudno Beach, Cape Town, while watching the sun set and enjoying His Presence in May of 2010.

What made leaving Quiksilver very easy was a range of prophetic promises from people who know me and some who don't, all of which spoke very clearly of prosperity and blessing beyond comprehension and un-like anything I've ever known. Not spiritual prosperity, but clear direct words of superabundance related to business.

Anyway, by now you would think that after almost 30 years of history I have with walking in Him that I would know that such precious promises are often preceded by some of the most intense trial and or a period of waiting. Why is that? Is He just mean or do we live on a planet where we go through natural struggles as well as supernatural resistance from the enemy of our souls? You've judged correctly, it's surely the last two! To say the last 14 months have been hard would be an under statement, however time and inclination won't allow me to scribe the details.

Anyway, a prayer that I've uttered for almost three years now has helped me through and it's a revelation He gave me about Mary, the mother of our Lord. During her visitation from the angel who spoke of lofty things she never understood, instead of doubting her reply was simply this, "And Mary said, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:38 ESV)

We're all familiar with the rest of the story; her reception of the Promise caused her to Conceive and she gave Birth to the Savior of the World. It's during this gestation period that we often falter since when one is pregnant with child there is an understanding of a nine month wait, however when we're pregnant with Promise we are often unsure of the timing of the manifestation from the supernatural realm into the natural. One thing is for sure, like Mary, it's His desire that we bring Him into the world in which we live. Oh what a marvelous thought!

So what happened recently that was so profound?

I switched on my iPhone and tried to listen to Disco Mystica for the hundredth time and for some reason it wouldn't play. Anyway, I went into artists and selected Fini de Gersigny and a preach from their Sydney Church called Jubilee titled 2010-01-17pm - Courage. The preach was hysterical as Fini read Numbers 13 under the effects of the Wine of God. You got to hear it for yourself, stunning stuff, Holy chaos breaking out in the meeting.....bring on the Ecstatic preachers!

The short story of the preach is stuff we've all known....how the 10 spies were dorks because they could only see giants and how they had a perception that they themselves were grasshoppers even in their own eyes. Also, how after Moses' death God says to Joshua, "Be strong and courageous, for you shall cause this people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give them." (Joshua 1:6 ESV)

The preach was an encouragement to see again with the eyes of the heart and not with our natural eyes. As born again sons and daughters it's our birth right to see this invisible Kingdom since, "Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3 ESV). It's no wonder Paul prayed the following for the Ephesians: "having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, (Ephesians 1:18 ESV)

Right at the end of the preach, Isi de Gersigny prayed and broke this thing of condemnation and that's when the power of God whacked me in such a stunning way. Anyway laughed and sobbed simultaneously, something I only think is humanly possible in the Glory. I never realized just how much garbage I've been carrying and how I've been struggling because I've been looking at life with the eyes of my heart and with my natural eyes. This has caused obvious confusion at times and I've sometimes caught myself being preoccupied with everything that I'm not or not experiencing instead of being enamored with who He Is and what He's Promised and what He's already done! How is it that God can work through an iPod, and iPhone or any electronic device using words spoken over 18 months ago? For me I believe it’s because the ‘things of the Spirit’ are not governed by the laws of time and space and everything about Him and His Word is always in the Now.....that’s why He’s the God Who Was and Who Is and Who Is Coming. Everything related to Salvation is Today....Today...Today, go and have a look at Hebrews 3 and 4 and the references to David and Joshua....stunning stuff!

This wonderful encounter has come on the back of asking God for understanding since I've been confused by the dichotomy between the character of Him who is Goodness personified coupled with what He's Promised me versus my experiences or lack thereof. The revelation of truth and the way in which it pulled me into Encounter has reminded me of a dream I had in 1994 when in my sleep I cried out the following three times while in a dark nighttime battle scene: "I am a mighty man of valor!" The next day I had to look up what the word valor meant? Later that same morning Derek Andrews called me with a prophetic word in direct confirmation!

Where do we find this SuperNatural Courage? Like everything in the Christian walk it's a Gift and it's found in His Person. The Father has written Intimacy into the code of this walk: "I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.] (John 16:33 AMP)

What's our response? In Grace we Rest In Him who has overcome the world and then we also take courage from Him with a cheerful heart!

How often things related to the Kingdom come back time and time again to this issue of identity. It's only when we see ourselves the way He sees us do we have sufficient courage to walk on water. It's one thing to step out the boat, but it's another thing walking on water. Another aspect related to this thing of spiritual sight is seeing life from His perspective. On the surface some would say we're delusional since at face value the odds are often stacked against us. For me, I've made the choice and it's this: I have nothing else but to carry His promises and be a conduit for an advancing Kingdom. Everything else pales by comparison because we were designed for this Glory.

Eat, dear friends! Drink and get drunk on love! (Song of Solomon 5:1 CEB)




Greg Swart

New Covenant Meditation

I've had this phrase 'Word of Life' alive in my heart for a while and it's speaks of us 'shinning like stars in the universe' in Phil 2:15 as we 'hold out (present / show or cling to) The Word of Life in 2:16 from the NIV.

Coupled with this I've been wooed into Psalm 1, which at times in my former Christianity has challenged me for a few reasons. 

We've only ever understood Psalm 1 in the context of looking at the word for our responsibility to it, since it was Davidic and under the Old Covenant and as we've pondered it over years it's been a text that has sown yeast and seeds of performance into born again sons of The New Covenant. Saul of Tarsus 'delighted' in the Law of God as the Psalmist did and speaks of the misery of self righteous performance devoid of The Spirit of Life (Rom 8:2) in his discourse on The Law in Romans 7. The Pharisees also 'delighted' and were dogmatic regarding the command of God yet were accused by Jesus of 'neglecting the weightier matters of the Law' being 'justice and mercy' while 'not having the love of God in their hearts.' They were consumed by the detail of the Law, and in their self righteousness made their own laws in addition and conversely attempted to make the Law keepable. Hence they departed from the Giver of the Law and in their hypocrisy refused to come to Him 'that they may have Life'.

However when we see Psalm 1 through the lens of The Finished Work Of The Cross, we now begin to meditate IN Him who is The Word, The Word of Life, rather then trying to obey / live out what would be considered our side of the deal, which ultimately turns the Word into 'an ironclad contract as The Message states in Romans. This line of thought reduces the Promise of God into a business deal, and that's not how our father Abraham encountered God in Genesis 12.

It's when we meditate on our Union IN the Trinity that we begin to shine as stars in the universe as we hold Him out, bring Him out and "show and tell" Him to the world. In the New it would be safe to say we've moved from The Law to The Word IN the Person of Christ, with our lives literally being the 'letter, not written on tablets of stone but on human hearts' just as the Father promised in Jer 31 and Hebrews 8. 

When the Pharisees had the woman caught in adultery in John 8, have you ever wondered what He was writing in the sand when He crouched down? I believe as the came at her and Him with the tablets of stone, ready to stone her to death...Jesus as Last Adam wrote God's New Covenant of Grace and Mercy into the dust...the fabric and fibre of our humanity and then stood up and showed them this more excellent Way.

Now let's read...

Instead, the Law of the  Lord makes them happy, and they think about it day and night. 1:2 CEV

Rather, he delights in the teachings of the Lord and reflects on his teachings day and night. 1:2

But his delight and desire are in the law of the Lord, and on His law (the precepts, the instructions, the teachings of God) he habitually meditates (ponders and studies) by day and by night. 1:2

I love the words delight and desire because they're words of passion and they're diametrically opposed to two other words starting with 'd' that have had the Bride in bondage for years... and they are duty and discipline. 

Now when you read it in The Message it opens up and takes us back to this theme of Eden, which for me speaks of 'pre the fall and God's original purpose for humanity'. Oh wow and yes, it takes us back into that time frame pre the fall, before which time we see 'The Lamb Who Was Slain Before The Foundations of The World' that Ephesians 1 speaks of, and 'The Word Who Was With God In The Beginning' that John 1 speaks of. 

You’re a tree replanted in Eden,

bearing fresh fruit every month,

Never dropping a leaf,

always in blossom. Ps 1:3 The Message

See the Grace also in Psalm 36, which extends on The Good Shepherd of Psalm 23, causing us to eat from the abundance of His house and the stream of His pleasures and delights:

"They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the river of thy pleasures." Psalm 36:8 KJV

"They shall be abundantly satisfied with the abundance of your house. You will make them drink from the river of your pleasures. Psalm 36:8 WEB

"To eat our fill at the banquet you spread as you fill our tankards with Eden spring water." Psalm 36:8 The Message.

"You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights. Psalm 36:8 NLT

Eugene Peterson is spot on here, a words study of Psalm 36:8 will verify the idea of Eden spring water. Oh wow, in His Grace He feeds us not only on the abundance of His house, but just as 'He makes me lie down' in Psalm 23, He's also the One who makes me drink of His River of Life. 

Now let's go back to Psalm 1.

You’re a tree replanted in Eden,

bearing fresh fruit every month,

Never dropping a leaf,

always in blossom. Ps 1:3 The Message

This replanting for me is almost like we're back in Eden but only now in a much better state - before the Fall we were still in the loins of first Adam who fellowshipped with Him in the garden, now we're IN Christ, IN Last Adam and the Trinity is in us as Jesus said in John 14....yea that's right IN our bodies and personalities. 

"He will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which gives its fruit at the right time, whose leaves will ever be green; and he will do well in all his undertakings. -Psalms 1:3 BBE

The Hebrew for 'prosper' found in Psalm 1:3 צלח. Pronunciation: tsalach. A primitive root; to push forward, in various senses (literally or figuratively, transitively or intransitively):--break out, come (mightily), go over, be good, be meet, be profitable, (cause to, effect, make to, send) prosper (-ity, -ous, -ously).

Just as the roots of large trees are able to push through concrete, so will we too prosper, push forward, break out and go over since we're rooted IN Him and also established IN Him. 

Colossians 2:7 (AMP) "Have the roots [of your being] firmly and deeply planted [in Him, fixed and founded in Him], being continually built up in Him, becoming increasingly more confirmed and established in the faith, just as you were taught, and abounding and overflowing in it with thanksgiving." 

Colossians 2:7 (GW) "Sink your roots in him and build on him. Be strengthened by the faith that you were taught, and overflow with thanksgiving." 

Not only are we rooted IN Him but He IN us

"May He grant you out of the rich treasury of His glory to be strengthened and reinforced with mighty power in the inner man by the [Holy] Spirit [Himself indwelling your innermost being and personality]. May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love," Eph 3:16-17 AMP