And not only [so], but we also boast in the tribulations, knowing that the tribulation does work endurance; and the endurance, experience; and the experience, hope; and the hope does not make ashamed, because the love of God has been poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. (Romans 5:3-5, RYLT-NT)
Some of you may have been wondering why I have not posted much lately. There is a lot going on in the world right now that I could comment on, but the question that He keeps before me is, “Is what you are about to write fresh manna from heaven or is it the ramblings of a mind that is not willing to wait for the inspiration of the Spirit for the sake of keeping a presence going in the “blog-osphere?” The lessons that my Father have been working deep into me are not the “insto-chango” verity that happen over night for they go deep. Maybe after I come out the other side and come up for air I will be able to share some of it… maybe not. It is all up to Him and HIS Spirit of Revelation.
Here is something that describes my walk in Christ and why I cannot just post whatever comes to my mind on this blog.
T. Austin-Sparks wrote:
To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. (Revelation 2:17)
God always keeps the revelation of Himself in Christ bound up with practical situations. You and I can never get revelation other than in connection with some necessity. We cannot get it simply as a matter of information. That is information, that is not revelation. We cannot get it by studying. When the Lord gave the manna in the wilderness (a type of Christ as the Bread from heaven), He stipulated very strongly that not one fragment more than the day’s need was to be gathered, and that if they went beyond the measure of immediate need, disease and death would break out and overtake them. The principle, the law, of the manna, is that God keeps revelation of Himself in Christ bound up with practical situations of necessity, and we are not going to have revelation as mere teaching, doctrine, interpretation, theory, or anything as a thing, which means that God is going to put you and me into situations where only the revelation of Christ can help us and save us….
Now then, that is why the Lord would keep us in situations which are acute, real. The Lord is against our getting out on theoretical lines with truth, out on technical lines. Oh, let us shun technique as a thing in itself and recognize this, that, although the New Testament has in it a technique, we cannot merely extract the technique and apply it. We have to come into New Testament situations to get a revelation of Christ to meet that situation. So that the Holy Spirit’s way with us is to bring us into living, actual conditions and situations, and needs, in which only some fresh knowledge of the Lord Jesus can be our deliverance, our salvation, our life, and then to give us, not a revelation of truth, but a revelation of the Person, new knowledge of the Person, that we come to see Christ in some way that just meets our need. We are not drawing upon an “it,” but upon a “Him.”
A Wilderness Voice 
Michael, I finished your post, grabbed a cup of coffee, and promptly read these words, with Acts 1:8 being the header:
“That day at the Jordan the Holy Spirit came upon Him, permanently to make His home in the earthly temple of Christ’s being. Only then did Jesus dare to embark on His public ministry.
In the same way, three years later the disciples were instructed by their Master not to attempt to preach or to teach or to witness until this same heavenly Dove had implanted His fire in their hearts too.
Only the Holy Spirit could give them the ability to communicate truth to other people […]”
I am getting the message loud and clear this morning. Have been feeling I’m in a birth canal as of late. A letting go upon me, of what I have no idea. As well as a newness, again, of what I would not know.
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Thanks, Becky. God seems to be relentless in His desire to conform us all to the image of His Son, the One who said, “I speak of what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have heard from your father.” (John 8:38, rsv) I find this very convicting with all the public ire and blog postings about the current events in Paris right now. I have to ask, “What spirit are we of?” Sometimes it is best to remain silent until the Spirit speaks.
“A fool utters all his mind: but a wise man keeps it in till afterwards.” (Proverbs 29:11, KJ2000)
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Yes Mike I got that same message from New Zealand of TAS and that one word popped out from it–situations–I have been deeply distressed over the situation that took place in Paris and I have some medical situations to deal with that could cause some situations at my work place–plus there are other situations on the horizon–but through all situations I am sitting back and looking to Father for His care and direction–just go ahead and wait on Father and He will cause you to walk in His ways and us blog readers will be blessed.
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Thanks, Kenneth. Situations work experience and THAT is a good thing for this is how God teaches us and eventually conforms us into the image of His Son as we yield to His chastising work in us.
Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are trained by it. (Hebrews 12:11, KJ2000)
I will be praying for your health, my brother. Thanks for sharing these things with us. Please pray for Susanne in Germany. She has been under a lot of attacks lately, too.
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Interesting! I have been focused on Isaiah, “For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little..” Sometimes things are revealed just for me, God is doing a work within me that is not really intended for anyone else and sometimes that work within me is designed to be shared.
I really liked this, “not a revelation of truth, but a revelation of the Person, new knowledge of the Person, that we come to see Christ in some way that just meets our need.” That’s it exactly, God seldom hands me a clear cut list of rules or tasks. He is more likely to reveal some aspect of Himself and leave me to figure out how that applies to whatever is going on.
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Good insight, dear Gabrielle. I think that we all too often are shown something by our Father that He wants US to apply in OUR lives and let it change OUR hearts, but in our immaturity we want to apply it to everyone else! Eventually we catch on that the beam is in our own eye. Ouch!
Thanks for sharing your insight, dear sister.
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Michael,
Good word, my brother…..good and timely word!
The true “manna” that comes from His throne is usually supplied during our time spent in the wilderness and comes through our spirit, not our cerebral processing’s.
Thanks for your “openess”!
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You are welcome, Bill. Thanks for your comment.
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I highly appreciate your sincerity in this blog post, Michael. Also, I know it is anything but easy to wait on God to finally do something through us unless we are already dead to ambition.
May He bless your honest sharing,
Susanne 🐱
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Thank you. Susanne. When it comes to open and honest sharing about what God is doing in your life, your blog has been an inspiration to me and many others.
May the Lord continue to draw you ever deeper into your relationship with Him and give you ever greater revelation in the days ahead.
Your brother IN Christ,
Michael
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Michael, I’ve had some time to ponder these last few days. I’ve gotten a little sick of debates about true apostles, prophets etc. These discussions have been going on for a long time. If you truly have the in-dwelling Spirit of Christ we can discern when we hear someone pointing to the self or the Lord. This is a very timely post. My prayer for you as well as for myself and the body of Christ is that we sit at His feet until He speaks a revelant word for “NOW”. My real concern now: the world is turned upside down, I’ve never seen such division, confusion, deceit, violence, etc…….you know what I mean. Most of the prophetic posted today make me sick of heart. My heart question is, where is our Father in all this? I am not satisfied with the pat answers, well, it’s going to wax worse and worse, etc……..these words are true but where is direction as we are in these times none of us have ever seen before, and I’ve been walking with the Lord for over 33 years.
Where is the voice of the TRUE, REAL PROPHET????? Observing, listening, tired of the shallowness.
From one really crying in the wilderness! Don
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Hi Don, Yes, there is way too much flesh out there parading around as Spirit and it really gets stirred up when something like that Paris massacre happens. All the wannabe “prophets” rise up in their fleshly ire and proclaim their carnal desires as if God’s kingdom is of THIS world! Jesus made it very clear that His kingdom is NOT of this world for it was a fleshly kingdom, His armies would come and fight. But His kingdom come without outward observation for it is found in the hearts of those who belong to Him. Stephen quoted the following passage from Isaiah as the corrupt leadership of the Jews were about to kill him,
Thus says the LORD, “The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that you build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things has my hand made, and all those things have been, says the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word.” (Isaiah 66:1-2, KJ2000)
Now HERE was a true prophet of God and he made it clear that God’s place of rest is not found in the temples of men, just as Jesus pointed out to the woman at the well it, “neither in Jerusalem or in this mountain” or as Paul wrote so clearly that “In Christ there is neither Jew nor Gentile.” The REAL question, my brother is, “Where is the place of my (God’s) rest?” We can have all the right doctrines and all knowledge and wisdom, but if we have no place in our hearts for God to rest because or the constant stirring of our flesh with all its loyalties and desires and drives, we have NOTHING that God is looking for in us for we ARE NOT the temple of God! Or as Isaiah puts it, are we poor and contrite in spirit and do we tremble at HIS word when HE speaks it?
God bless you, my brother,
Michael
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Thanks, Michael. This one really hit home. My writing slowed for several years after the Lord led my wife and I out of the IC and we discovered the peace and contentment of simply being. But the absence of turmoil is a recipe for writer’s block and I mused “perhaps I ought to stir up some trouble for myself to rekindle my writing” … apparently the Lord agreed and sent us to an IC. It was an instant cure for writer’s (revelations) block. 😉
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Yes, Jacks, that system give a person lots of material to work with on what the kingdom of God is NOT. But being closed off with Him and listening to HIS heart or entering into HIS rest with just one other saint and sharing His love can’t be beat for finding out what the church REALLY is.
Love you my brother!
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Dear Michael,
Thank you for the blog. Yours and TAS writings are very sobering. I pray that I will profit by the faithfulness that God exercises by allowing me to read what you write and what you quote from others. I judge it as good fresh manna indeed.
Love in Him,
Pat Orr
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Dear Pat,
You have a dear and tender heart toward the Lord. I have no fear that He is able to speak to you an see you respond with a greater love for Him when He does.
Christ in me loves you too, my sister!
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My dear brother, I did not mean in any way to critize any of your writings. I have received much hidden manna by your revealing of Christ. Also, I’ve studied TAS for many years. I guess it’s where my heart is right now concerning our nation, I’m really heart greived. I know I’m not of this world but I’m greatly concerned that there are not true words of encouragement flowing by the Holy Spirit as we in reality have to live and abide and occupy until He comes. Brother, please hear my heart as you know sometimes it’s hard to communicate in words from the heart. I think of men like Oswald Chambers, D. Bonhoeffer and others that spoke and wrote during times of great peril. I ask for your forgiveness if in any way I offended you or others that misinterpreted my words. Sincerely in Christ’s love, Don
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Don, I did not take your previous as being critical of anything I wrote. I sympathize with you about the current state of the church as a whole and our nation. Like the prophet said,
“Be appalled, O heavens, at this, be shocked, be utterly desolate, says the LORD, for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:12-13, rsv)
No, Don, you have done nothing that needs forgiving as far as I am concerned. I am sorry that you took my reply to you that way. Like you said, trying to write what we mean without being able to hear the voice or see a person’s face when they speak is a rather risky business and leaves lots of room for the enemy to get in and confound our attempts at fellowship with one another.
God bless you, my brother!
Michael
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I found this passage very moving, Michael. Those of us whom God filled to overflowing with words tend to believe an event is not “real” until it has been memorialized. That is not, of course, accurate. Many things, a symphony for instance, cannot be adequately described in words.
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen wrote:
“When we suffer, we do not want one
Who stands over us like a physician…
We want One who left footprints
In the dark forest — so we can follow.
A Surgeon Who, before He cuts,
Says: ‘I had the same — see My Scars!’
Someone Who stumbled to a Throne
And walked not unfallen to the Hill.”
Some lessons can only be learned through our experience of them, painful though that may be.
In these grievous times, our focus must be on the Lord. Your readers miss you whenever you are away. But all of us know you are in good company — the very Best, in fact.
Blessings always,
A.
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Thank you for you kind and insightful words, Anna. That was a great quote by Sheen. I know that these times of His silence in my life are when He is doing some deep surgery and it is a time to submit to His hand until the healing is over. It is always the “afterward” that is most rewarding.
“Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them who are trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11, KJ2000)
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