Know and Understand

The Lord told the prophet Daniel something very profound when he said:

Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin

"Know and understand...." Daniel 9:25

The prophet lived a life that was saturated in dreams, visions and spiritual happenings. Many were his own while others where received by those around him. Nebuchadnezzar's dream of an enormous statue, Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a tree, the mysterious hand appearing before King Belshazzar and writing on the wall, Daniel's dream of Four Beasts, his vision of a Ram and a Goat, the Seventy Sevens, and finally Daniel's Vision of a Man. All of these things were profound. And all of them required not just knowing but understanding.

Understanding has two applications in scripture. One is the unfolding of plans and strategies as it follows the wisdom that God gives us. I wrote about that in detail HERE.

The second application of understanding is simply this: to interpret that which God has already spoken. King Nebuchadnezzar knew what he had dreamed in Daniel 2. He just didn't know what it meant.

"....Nebuchadnezzar said to his astrologers, 'I have had a dream that troubles me and I want to know what it means.' Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, 'O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream (knowledge), and we will interpret it (understanding)......The King replied to the astrologers, "This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me." Daniel 2:3-5

Do you see the dynamic? It is one thing to know what the Lord has said. But it is another thing altogether to understand it. Knowing and Understanding are two different things. Even the wicked know what God says at times. The difference often between faith and unbelief is understanding that which already has been said. That is where the real reward is...in understanding.

"Jesus replied, 'The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. This is why I speak to them in parables: 'Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's hearts have become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them." Matthew 13:11-15

Jesus himself drew the distinction between knowing and understanding. The wicked at times know what God has said. But they never understand it. Understanding is a sign of growth in God. It is a sign that God's work is progressing in our lives. Proverbs speaks often of the man of understanding.

"...though is cost all you have get understanding." Proverbs 4:7

Pharaoh knew what he had dreamed. He just didn't understand it. Only Joseph could interpret it. Only Joseph could understand it. Interpretation = Understanding. Because Joseph understood, because he could interpret, he was rewarded. Nebuchadnezzar promised death to his astrologers if they failed to interpret/understand and at the same time he guaranteed wealth, honor and riches to those that did.

I am not advocating materialism. I'm preaching provision. God's provision rests in the laps of those that both hear and understand. Remember, God showers his people with riddles as he speaks to them. He always has.

"When a prophet of the Lord is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles." Numbers 12:6-8

Yes, the Lord often speaks to us plainly. But he also often speaks to us in riddle form that requires interpretation and understanding. Daniel had to interpret the writing on the wall even though everyone "knew" what the words were. We need to both know and understand when the Lord speaks through symbols, riddles, types and shadows. We need to Know and Understand.

Be Blessed,
JEB
http://www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com/.

Aroma and Bouquet

I used to be a sales manager for the Olive Garden. One of my primary responsibilities in that job was to help educate the waitstaff to know our wine list, to be able to describe our base wines in great detail and consequently to be able to sell those wines to our customers. One of the things I would teach my waiters and bartenders was the differences between a wine's aroma and bouquet. Aromas, simply put, are flavors that the grapes absorb during the growth and fermentation process.

An example of this would be the following: If a wine orchard sits next to an apple orchard, the grapes will naturally absorb the flavor of the apples in the adjoining orchard. Another example of this could be grapes absorbing the flavor and smell of flowers as rainwater runs into the grape orchard from the surrounding countryside. Aromas are absorbed by grapes simply by being in proximity to something else. Aromas can be floral, apple, pear, pepper, ......anything that is naturally occurring in the environment.

Bouquets in wines are a little different. Bouquets are simply the flavors that are infused by man-made intervention in the barreling and bottling process. Examples of these are cedar, oak, smoke, leather, caramel, coffee.......These flavors are purposefully built into the wines by the winemaker to give their product distinct flavors and appeal. This is usually done by determining the type of wood used in the barrels, smoking the barrels, .....the list goes on.

So in summary, aromas are flavors that are absorbed from the natural world while bouquets are flavors that are man-made and infused by the wine-maker himself. With that said, this morning I found myself reading the following verse:

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope (wait) in the Lord shall renew their strength......" Isaiah 40:28-31

All Christians are familiar with this verse. It is probably one of the most quoted passages in all of scripture. Yet when I read it I keep finding revelation pouring out of it. In verse 28 it says that the Lord never grows tired or weary and the understanding that flows from his heart and mind is unfathomable. It goes onto say that the Lord gives out strength and increases our power when we are weak. Yet it also lays down a condition. It says that only those who "hope" (NIV) or "wait" (KJV) on the Lord receive His strength, his power and his understanding in given situations.

The Hebrew word for "wait" in the King James Version is Qavah. Qavah is defined as gathering together, or to bind together by twisting. This would be like taking to pieces of twine and twisting them together to make a rope. I have also heard it described as a vine that grows up and wraps its way around a tree.

You may already know this but human skin is extremely porous. Our skin is like a sponge in a sense. When you press something up against your skin your body begins to naturally absorb components of whatever is applied to it. If you take a clove of fresh cut garlic and put it against the bottom of your foot you will start to taste garlic in your mouth within a short period of time.

Our spirits and our souls function in the same way. As we wait (Qavah) on the Lord and the presence of the Lord, as we wrap ourselves around him, as we gather with him, we absorb his nature. We absorb his wisdom, his understanding, his knowledge and his power within ourselves. Just like grapes growing on the vine absorb the aromas and flavors of that which naturally occurs in and around the vineyard, so we naturally absorb the nature of Christ as we consistently entwine with him. And as we do so we take on a divine flavor and aroma that distinguishes us from the rest of fallen humanity.

"But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other the fragrance of life." 2 Cor 2:14-16

Be Blessed

JEB

Are you sure?

When our oldest son Kevin was in grade school we used to help him study for his spelling tests just like most parents. We would give him the word and he would spell it and we would either tell him "correct" or "try again." What I learned in this process was that at times Kevin would spell the words correctly but then would not be confident that he had done so. What I started doing was asking him if he was sure that he had spelled the word correctly? I would ask him, "Are you sure?" Then he would think about it and most often come to the conclusion that he had in fact made the right decision. He became confident that he had spelled the word correctly, that he had made the right decision.

The Lord does the same with his people. Let me explain. In the second half of Acts 20 we find the Apostle Paul giving departing instructions to the Ephesian elders. He recounts some of the details of his ministry and then later gives them prophetic warning about ravenous wolves that would come against the flock. But sandwiched in there in verse 22 he tells them....

"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there." Acts 20:22

Simple enough. He's going to Jerusalem. He's been told to do so by the Lord. The Spirit of God is compelling him to. However, if we keep reading into the next chapter we find something interesting happening. Paul and his companions eventually find themselves in Tyre in Acts 21:3,4. There we see this happen:

"Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem." Acts 21:4

Interesting isn't it?  In Acts 20:22 Paul says the Spirit is compelling him to go to Jerusalem. In Acts 21:4 we see Christians, through the Spirit, urging Paul not to go to Jerusalem. At this point we have a divine contradiction. Why? Why is this happening? I think it is very simple really. I think the Lord is trying to solidify Paul's resolve to endure all things. The Lord knew that when Paul arrived at his destination he was going to be severely tested by the plots of the Jews. And, I believe that in his own way the Lord is asking Paul, "Paul, are you sure this is what I have told you to do? Are you sure?"

Upon arriving in the city Paul is detained and beaten by the Jews in the temple, arrested by the Romans, brought back before the Sanhedrin, held in prison for further questioning at a future date, threatened with assassination and transferred under armed guard to Caesarea for a trial before the governor Felix, detained in prison for another two years, brought to trial again before governor Festus who succeeds Felix, brought to trial again before King Agrippa and then later transferred by ship under armed guard to Rome to eventually stand trial before Caesar.

That's alot of suffering for one trip. And the Lord knew that before Paul started enduring through this succession of events he would have to solidify Paul's resolve to endure all things in the Lord. Paul had to get to the place where he knew that he knew that he knew that he absolutely knew that he was in the right place with the Lord in Jerusalem, even before he got there. Paul absolutely had to be clear in his own heart and mind, even before he arrived, that he had made the right decision, that the peace of God that surpasses all understanding was guarding his heart and his mind about the decision he had made according to the wisdom that was in his heart. He needed to dwell in the supremacy of God's wisdom, his peaceful wisdom.

"Wisdom is supreme, therefore get wisdom. Though it cost all you have get understanding." Proverbs 4:7

"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure, then peace-loving,...." James 1:17

"And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:7

"Let everything be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses." 2 Cor 13:1

The Lord wants us to dwell in the supremacy of his wisdom. He wants us to know the peace that accompanies his wisdom, the peace that guards the heart and mind against doubt and unbelief once we have made a decision to go with him in a certain direction in our lives. I have often found that when making critical decisions in my life the only real confirmation I and my family received was the peace of God itself. If we are going to walk with the Lord there are going to be times when everyone around us, even trustworthy Christians, may not see the fullness of what God is showing us specifically.

I am not preaching against accountability. We need the Body to help us along. I am not saying go "rogue." But I have to tell you there are going to be times when you are going to have to stand alone with Jesus in the Spirit. Going rogue is when you don't have peace. It's not "rogue" when you are the only one who sees it after you have prayed about something more than once and subsequently have the peace of God abiding in your heart. At that point you are not alone. At that point there is confirmation and we go for it, even when other well-intending believers around us don't see or hear what God is showing us. This happened to Paul in Acts 20 &21.

In my last post I spoke of times in my life when others counseled me against doing what God had shown me to do. At times it was obvious the counsel was "Bad Counsel." But I have to also say that among those moments of "Bad Counsel" there have been many times where God was raising up others to test me like he did for Paul in Tyre in Acts 21. I look back and wonder if, when others where counseling me against making a decision I prayerfully felt led to make, they were not in fact speaking by the Spirit. I wonder if it was God asking me if I was sure that I had in fact heard him, that like my son Kevin, that was how you spell the word.

"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this, I rejoice." Philippians 1:15-18

We may not know in this lifetime whether, at times, the counsel and/or opposition we get from others springs from false motives or pure motives. Sometimes the Lord does not allow us to discern the hearts and motives of others. Like Elisha, sometimes it is hidden from us for various reasons (2 Kings 4:27).

When I moved to Midland, TX in February, 1997 the Lord spoke to me the first day I was there and told me to not get to comfortable as I would not be there long. Six months later the Lord moved me to Albuquerque, NM where I met Christine. But before I made the move out of Midland I was offered a free place to live and an opportunity to stay. The Lord tested me on my resolve to do what I had been told to do.

After marrying Christine and subsequently getting into management with the Olive Garden in 2000, the Lord opened a door for us to move back to Texas. The Lord had shown me 9 months prior that we would be making this move. When the time came to finalize the details of my transfer with my company they called an offered me the opportunity to stay in Albuquerque and to work in a restaurant where the quarterly bonuses that the managers were receiving were some of the best in the company. I prayed with my wife about it and turned it down. When they transferred me back to Texas the Lord saw to it that I was placed in a similar restaurant where the managers where earning similar bonus money to the ones in the aforementioned restaurant in Albuquerque.

A few years later the Lord began to speak to me that it was time to leave the restaurant business and get into real estate. He spoke to me at various times and in various ways over a period of about six months. When the time came for me to finalize my decision and turn in my resignation the area director, my bosses boss, tried to talk me out of my decision to leave even though he and I had always clashed because I was a Christian walking by faith.

"Did God really say......?" Genesis 3:1

When God speaks to us, more likely than not, we are going to be tested on it at some point in time. The question that remains is, "Are we certain that we have heard the Lord?" The opposition that you get to your decisions may be demonic and carnal like in Genesis 3. Or, it may be Spirit-led questioning as we see in Acts 21. Sometimes we can gauge the fruit of the individual and know which "voice" it is. Sometimes, we can't. But, as Paul said in Philippians 1, "But what does it matter? Whether from false motives or true......And because of this I rejoice."

We just need to know what God is saying to us. And when we know, we have peace. This is what it means to "know the Lord."

Be Blessed,
JEB
www.miraclesinmerida.blogspot.com.