Revelation vs Education

There are some people who think I am against education. Having run a school for nearly ten years and being a huge fan of home schooling should prove otherwise. I personally take online courses, not for credits, but to keep my mind active and, I pray, expanding. I am also a avid reader, desiring to gain knowledge because I believe the Lord wants us to be knowledgeable. However, I believe we need to be wise, selective and need to keep education in its proper perspective. Revelation is far more important than education.

There are many people who read, study and educate themselves on the Word of God. They learn everything that present day scholars teach. They have a real thirst for learning from theologians but you don't have to be a believer to be called a theologian. A theologian is simply someone who studies religious things. Theology is simply the study and analysis of divine things and religious truth (dictionary.com). This makes you no more a Christian than studying fish makes you a trout. Yet, in the pursuit of knowledge, Christians hang on the words of people who have no relationship with Jesus, who have never received any kind of revelation concerning the things they study. They teach from the same perspective as a history teacher: one who has studied the facts, analysed them and feeds them to students. A history teacher has not experienced the history he teaches.

Tell me, how did Peter come to confess that Jesus was the Son of God? Some mistakenly think that it was simply by observation and coming to a conclusion after much analysis. We forget, Peter was a fisherman not a theologian. Isn't it interesting that Jesus surrounded himself with the common man and not the scholars of his day. Could it be that he needed to have men who were open to the divine inspiration of Yahweh instead of steeped in the opinions and thoughts of man? This was Jesus' response to Peter's declaration:

Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 16:17)

Simon did not gain this knowledge from books, scholars or anyone else's opinion. Simon Peter gained this knowledge directly from Father. We call it revelation. It continues to happen today.

There is a difference in attitude in approach to Bible study when we study to simply gain facts compared to seeking revelation. One is nothing more than gaining information that we could use in trivial games; how many books are in the Bible, who was Peter's father, was Jesus crucified on the Wednesday or Friday? This can fill our head with a lot of knowledge facts but leave our heart empty of any relationship, and it is always about relationship. However, when we study to see more of Jesus and to understand better the Father's heart; when we want to know how to live to bless Father and what his promises are to us, we are putting ourselves in a position to receive revelation. Revelation is simply something revealed that had been hidden from us. Much of the depth of the Word can only be understood by revelation.

When we open the Word of God it is a healthy approach to believe that Yahweh wants to teach us. It is healthy because it is the truth. Jesus told us:

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. (John 14:26)

Paul the apostle testified to this fact:

These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. (1 Corinthians 2:13)

So we have this problem in the Body of Christ: Most people do not read their Bibles and those who do read do it from the perspective of gaining knowledge not revelation. It means we have a lot of brothers and sisters running around who are immature in their understanding of the Trinity, the Church and the Kingdom. They base their actions and decisions on what they are told and taught, with very few receiving direct revelation from the Spirit. It means that as the winds change so does the mind. Those who base their understanding on the teaching of man will change as man's opinion changes but the Word is solid and unchanging. It is a dangerous situation in the Church as the curtain continues to be drawn.

If you are one who has no direct revelation of Jesus Christ you have the ability to change it. Change your expectations. Expect to receive instructions and understanding from the Spirit. Allow him to become your teacher and guide. Also approach the Word with the prayer of the psalmist:

Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:4-5)

May we all seek fresh revelation in the Word every day and may we serve our Lord Jesus to the very end of the age.

Hey Dry Bones, What Is The Lack In Your Life?

I think more of us are in love with the idea of loving Jesus then with actually loving him. Love is an easy thing to say. It comes with no commitment because to us it only expresses a vague notion of some idea that we have not quite grasped. We like the thought of it but have never measured the cost of it. To say we love Jesus just means that we recognize some value there but we don't really want to think about it much; we have other things to do.

When I fell in love with my wife I wanted to know everything about her (I still do). I grilled her with a thousand questions about her past, her experiences, her likes and dislikes, her hopes, dreams, aspirations. I wanted to hear her opinion on everything. I wanted to know everything because I loved what made her her. Yet, this is a weak and faulty love coming from a weak and faulty heart. How much more should I be consumed with the One who gave up everything to give me his everything?

The truth is, most of us just pay lip service to our love for Jesus. How do I know? Our actions and our priorities reveal our heart. How much time did you spend in prayer yesterday? No excuses, just an honest answer. Write it down on something so you can see the reality of the figure. Now, how much time did you spend, hearing, reading, studying and meditating on the Scripture yesterday? No excuses; write it down. A number of years ago a survey was taken from Christians attending a conference on prayer. Keep in mind that most of the attendees were pastors and their wives. This survey revealed that these Christians, attending a seminar on prayer, spent less than an average of five minutes a day in prayer.

Everything we know and experience comes from Scripture and prayer. Everything about us as Christians come from the Word and prayer. A lack of time in Scripture and prayer reveals a lack of love for Jesus because if we were actually in love we would be consumed with being with him and knowing him. It means that most of us Christians are nothing but dry bones because we aren't even giving the Spirit the tools to work in and through us. Yahweh spoke to his people and told them why they were in trouble:

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.
Because you have rejected knowledge,
I also will reject you from being priest for Me;
Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children. (Hosea 4:6)

Let the Spirit convict where he must today. This is in direct contrast to what was said as the people were coming into the Promised Land, before they possessed it:

Do not let this book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do what is written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:8)

Are we brave enough to admit the lack in our life? "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." We aren't anywhere near what we should be because we lack two very basic Christian disciplines: Bible hearing, reading, studying, meditating, and prayer. How can we love Yahweh with our entire mind, soul and body when we choose a life of lack? Yet, we are told that prosperity and success belong to those who meditate on and live the Word.

Our prayer should mirror that of the psalmist who prayed:

Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day. (Psalm 25:4-5)

It is a simple decision to allow Jesus' love for you to decide your actions and priorities. "Because you love me so much Jesus I want to know all about you; what pleases you and how I can honour you." It is when we make the decision to make the time for the Bible and to make the time for prayer that we grow in the relationship. I said "make" on purpose. It is something we have to carve out of each day. As we know the Word we will begin to live it. In this we will find the blessing of Jesus' prosperity and successful for our lives and we will go from dry bones to being trees planted by streams of living waters, whose leafs never wither. Is this not our great desire?

Are You Willing And Desiring To Be Taught?

One of the greatest hindrances to our relationship with Jesus is not sin; it is independence from Jesus which allows us to sin. We like being our own boss, doing things the way we want to do them and we don't want to be told anything. Perhaps it is not exactly how we think but it is certainly how we act. Maybe we want to be dependent, to be directed and instructed but that somehow does not get translated into our actual thinking and acting. Remember, our first nature before coming to Jesus was rebellion and sometimes it is an easy thing in which to continue.

Sometimes we also get this notion that the Spirit is somehow just going to force our heart into obedience. We hear time and again that we fall short of the glory of God and that it is impossible for us to live the Law. We also hear that the Spirit empowers us to live in the righteousness of Jesus. This is all true but we keep forgetting about the heart matter. We have to desire to want to walk in the righteousness of Jesus. We have to desire to obey. We have to desire to pursue living like Jesus. He has told us he will give us the desire of our heart but that desire has to be correct; it has to be for him.

If we really want to grow in Jesus we need to have teachability. We have to be willing to admit we don't know as we ought to know, we don't do as we ought to do, and we don't think as we ought to think. We have so much to learn and the best place to start when we first come to Jesus is to set aside everything we thought we knew. We need humility in the Church so those of maturity can come alongside and help us to learn to be taught in prayer, in the Word, and by the Spirit. We can't grow if we refuse to learn.

King David was one who was always learning. He made many mistakes but he remained humble before the Lord so he could receive correction where needed. His attitude is summed up in Psalm 25:

Show me Your ways, O Lord;
Teach me Your paths.
Lead me in Your truth and teach me,
For You are the God of my salvation;
On You I wait all the day. (vv. 4-5)

Show me, teach me, lead me, should all be commonly repeated phrases in our prayers and in our hearts. But it is no good to say them unless they become part of the motivation of our heart and part of our determination to live. It should not surprise us when the Lord corrects us. It is a normal part of the "growing up" process of our relationship. We should desire correction and welcome it when it happens. We should expect to learn every time we open the Word or kneel in prayer. When we submit ourselves to the Lord we are doing so to grow.

The Lord has also called out trainers in the Body; teachers who are to train us in "good works", which is the beginning process of growing into the whole measure of the fullness of Jesus. We are told about it in Ephesians 4 where we find the process we are going through and how it requires a teachable spirit to participate. But many in the Church refuse instruction and isolate themselves from the Body which is a sin because it is contrary to the will of the Father. Our walk with Christ was never intended to be done in isolation but in community. However, such people demonstrate a lack of teachability and will never mature as the Lord intends.

I am almost 50 years old and have been a pastor for over twenty years and I am still being taught every day. I still go through times of breaking and reforming. I have daily moments of insight and inspiration that nullify incorrect thinking and brings me back in line with the Word. Every time I enter my prayer closest I expect to grow and indeed the Spirit teaches me. I still require the trainers to come alongside and provide guidance. It is not that I am spiritually immature, only that my journey is not yet complete. There is always more to learn. Learning is a good thing, a wonderful thing, a desirable thing. Let us remain humble and obedient so we may reach the whole measure of the fullness of Christ, together.