“In the eighth year of his reign…he began to seek the God of his father David, and…purge Judah and Jerusalem.” 2 Chr 34:3

Before it became the world’s most popular dating app, tinder was associated with flammable material that could easily combust and ignite a fire. Spiritually speaking, as God prepares to set His people ablaze, His eyes run to and fro throughout the earth looking for tinder among us. 2650 years ago in Judah, God’s eyes fell upon a young king named Josiah who would usher in one of the greatest renewals the nation ever saw. Josiah reinstituted the Passover, something no King of Israel had done before him, and he purged “all the abominations in all the country…and made all who were present in Israel diligently serve the Lord their God” (2 Chr 34:33). Simply put, God raised up Josiah as a catalyst of revival.

God is about to move again. As He does, His eyes are scanning the earth for tinder! What exactly was it about Josiah that caught God’s attention?

First, he began to diligently pursue the Lord. This was deliberate and focused seeking. He came to a point where he set distractions aside. Important matters paled compared to the sense of urgency he felt as he pressed into God. Desperation is necessary kindling for every move of God.

A central feature of Josiah’s seeking was to know how “the God of his father David” had moved in the past. Finney studied Edwards. Seymore and Roberts studied Finney and Edwards. The Latter Rain leaders of 1948 researched the early Pentecostal outpourings, and subsequent revivals have always sought diligently to unstop the wells of revival opened by the awakenings of past generations. They knew that the treasures of wise householders mined from the old even as they are run after the new.

I’ve been extraordinarily blessed to come from a rich revival tradition. Some of my spiritual mothers and fathers were central figures in that Latter Rain Movement. I was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit at the height of the Charismatic Renewal. I personally drank from the sweet waters of the Toronto Blessing and the Brownsville Revival. I laughed for hours at Rodney Howard-Brown meetings. As good as each of these were, none can compare with the miracle- and presence-filled revival I experienced intensely and first-hand in China. Talk about power-encounters! Those days defy description. Heaven came down. Souls were saved in droves. The blind saw, the deaf heard, the lame walked.

Josiah’s hunger was rewarded. He “discovered” the Book of the Law. It had been there in the temple all along, but as is always the case whenever God’s Spirit is poured out, Josiah trembled as he was confronted with the Word of God. “Thus it happened, when the king heard the words of the Law, that he tore his clothes” (34:19). The Word broke him and called into account everything he had been doing. Worship practices were reformed across the land. A national Passover was instituted. God’s Word brought transformative change. Whenever God pours out His Spirit on a people, you’ll know it because they won’t be able to get enough of the Law of God.

Enter the Prophetess Huldah. She had most certainly been interceding for this day! The wife of a wardrobe-keeper who lived in an obscure part of the city in a male dominated age, Huldah had been promoted in the eyes of the people. Everyone knew…this woman has the Word of the Lord! Her voice pierced like a sharpened sword directing all eyes and ears to the key that had opened the heart of this sixteen-year-old king now responsible for a great visitation in Israel. Huldah says:
“Because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before God…” (34:27)

God is about to do a new thing. People around the world are talking about it. Many are devouring books and articles about the Evan Roberts and Wigglesworth, about Azusa Street and the legacies left by the awakenings of past generations. Expectations are reaching a boiling point. Watchmen are taking their places upon the walls. A cry is ascending. Bones are rattling.

Our forests bare the scars of scorched woods from ancient burnings. To walk here is to be struck by the cracking sounds of dry branches snapping underfoot. God walks here as in the Garden of old, His to-and-fro gaze searching for Josiahs. These have cast all other cares aside, bent on witnessing the God who has moved so gloriously in past times to do it again. They are no longer content to snack on the Word; the are discovering anew that they live by every Word that comes from this Law.

If Huldah was here, her unsheathed words would be pointing at those who are diligently humbling themselves before the Father–whose hearts, like Josiah, are being tenderized in order to embrace the next mighty move of the God of fire and a God on fire. This forest will burn again to become a mighty torrent of flames across the lands. Tender is tinder. May He find the combustibles He needs to set this forest ablaze in your heart and mine.

“If I find favor in the eyes of the Lord, He will bring me back.” 2 Sam 15:25

I got an A, Dad! Few things bring a broader smile to a parent than this announcement following the late nights and cram sessions at the close of a semester. For our kids who have been through the Singapore school system, it seems you’ve hardly taken a bow for one job well-done and the pressure is already building for the next jarring series of exams.

Maybe God helped to write the curriculum! If your walk with Him has been anything like mine, you’ve noticed you are either just breathing a sigh over one completed test or you’re staring down the barrel at the next. You also might think you’ve been sitting for your present exam much too long. You look around: the room cleared out long ago, the air conditioning has been shut off and you’re left sitting alone in the dark! We all feel like this at times.

Truth is, without tests growth and results suffer. We fall prey to complacency. Without regular KPI’s, we settle for mediocrity. You’re not likely to keep your job long as a salesman if you only intend to sell your product. And that means even if you have dozens of instagram posts highlighting bright ideas how to do it!

One of the lessons we learn from David’s life is that God loves to test the ones He loves. Nearly any chapter from his life could serve to illustrate this, but I was particularly struck this week by all the hits David took during the period when his own son, Prince Absalom, rebelled.

Talk about rapid fire! As Absalom schemes, the conspiracy grows bigger by the minute: David’s Secretary of State, Chief of Staff, and the head of the Department of Defense all join the opposition. David abdicates, and as he does each person he meets during his flight were huge tests themselves. Would Ittai the Gittite and his six hundred men risk all for this weakened king-turned-fugitive? Would Zadok and Abiathar the priests follow David, precariously bearing the ark of God into the wilderness? What should be done with Ziba of the house of Saul, or rock-throwing, curse-hurling Shimei. Would Mephibosheth and Hushai remain loyal? Would people like Barzillai step up and provide sustenance for the growing number in David’s shelterless and hungry horde?

While it’s tempting to become hardened and defensive at times like this, David chose to humble himself and seek opportunities to grow through it. As we see from this verse, “if I find favor…He will bring me back”, his focus was on the Lord, fully trusting God to guide him through extremely confusing and dangerous predicaments.

I wonder if my first impulse would have been to cast blame—to grow bitter and retaliate. Would I have become obsessed with Absalom or the injustice of it all. Would I have thrown a pity party or fallen into a quagmire of “Why’s?” Not David. He made a beeline for a mountain summit—the first stop on his escape route—where “he worshiped God” (2 Sam 15:32). This choice, the decision to look at and for God in the midst of excruciating loss and threats upon his life, kept David from instinctively drawing his sword against a lowlife like Shimei. David realized God was watching, yes, testing him:
“It may be that the Lord will look on my affliction, and that the Lord will repay me with good for his cursing this day.” 2 Sam 16:12.

We think about repaying our enemies; David thought about being repaid by God. A carnal David would have used his authority to punish Shimei for his insolence. But the spiritual man knows that God is always looking for His likeness to be reflected in the hearts of those who love Him. The ill-prepared reacts in the flesh when trials come. But the wise man responds by the Spirit.

David wasn’t perfect. He got snookered by Ziba. But I am quite confident he earned a broad smile from his Father for passing his Absalom test with flying colors.

“Now the children of Israel heard someone say, ‘Behold, the children of Reuben…Gad…Manasseh have built and altar…’ the whole congregation of the children of Israel gathered together at Shiloh to go to war against them.” Jos 22:11,12

Satan does not need a blatant lie to work his dastardly ways. Often a partial truth is enough. Once we are alerted he has this very effective weapon in his arsenal, we must stay vigilant to guard against the proliferation of “fake news” that can easily snowball into an avalanche of destruction.

Such was the case in the waning days of Joshua. In fact, this should have been a time for celebration. Following a chastising 40-years of wandering in the wilderness, Israel had crossed the Jordan River ready to leave centuries of slavery behind. They were poised to take possession of the territories God had designated by covenantal promise to mighty Abraham and his descendants forever.

Though not perfectly executed, Jos 21:44 declares “the Lord gave them rest all around”. Their enemies had been denuded and silenced. Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh were released from their commitment to help their brethren secure their inheritances which lay on the Western side of the Jordan. As they returned to their allotted territories on the Eastern side, they constructed an altar of thanksgiving and remembrance for all that the Lord had done. Sounds harmless, right?

That is, until someone suggested the altar may be used for sacrifices in violation of the priestly systems and authority established by Moses. Someone was overheard saying something…and before long, an insidious rumor had taken wing. Driven by dark forces, suspicions quickly turned to indignation. Caution, like tumbleweeds, barreled ominously across the landscape to the drumbeats of war in their wake. Only decisive action by tempered leaders averted a bloodbath among brothers.

These words are a timeless admonition—as though blared from the mouth of an ancient trumpet. May we never succumb to the power of a half-truth.

“The children of Dan went up to fight against Leshem and took it.” Josh 19:47

My natural disposition is of one who avoids conflict. When our family took a personality profile test together and the result was I was a “Peacemaker”, my kids all echoed “that’s you, dad!”.

This does not give me an excuse for being passive or refusing to take up a matter that requires attention any more than being poor is an excuse for stealing. I cannot negotiate or rationalize away my responsibilities because they are inconvenient or intimidating. Sometimes, we just have to “take up the sword, and fight”.

When Joshua led the children of Israel across the River Jordan, each tribe was given an allotted inheritance for which they would need to confront corrupt and entrenched native inhabitants. Only by displacing these nations could God establish Israel under His rule and execute His Divine plan. During the rollout, tribes responded differently. Some obeyed; some did not. Some took risks; others shrunk back and justified their tepid responses.

The responses of two tribes in particular recently caught my attention. Joseph’s tribe (split up into Ephraim and Manasseh) claimed to be a “great people” (Jos 18:14ff) who proved to be wimps. They came to Joshua to complain that the inheritance they were given was too small. Their mentality was classic entitlement. They felt they deserved more. They believed they had been given the short end of the stick. The Canaanites they faced were obviously more powerful than the other tribes’ enemies; theirs had chariots of iron!

Joshua’s response was masterful. He basically says, “well, if you are such a great people, why don’t you get up there and clear that forest and make a wonderful district for more of you to live in?” They wanted everything to be handed to them on a silver platter, so they did nothing. Sadly, many Christians have exactly this kind of mindset today.

A chapter later (Jos 19:40-48) the tribe of Dan exhibits a totally different spirit. Far from passive or entitled, after Dan had settled into its allotted territory west of Jerusalem on the Mediterranean coast, they organized for battle 250 kilometers north, determined to take the city of Laish (or Leshem), a region originally given to Manasseh. Jos 19:47 says: “they struck it with the edge of the sword, took possession of it, and dwelt in it.” They then proceeded to change its name to Dan, in honor of their forefather, as if to make a further declaration: This region is now ours. We fought for it, and God has made it our inheritance forever.

Leshem was in fact a gateway city and transportation hub on Israel’s northern border with the hostile Assyrians, and later the Babylonians. Manasseh had refused to claim their inheritance, but Dan would not be intimidated. Old Jacob had prophesied over Dan nearly 500 years earlier that he would: “be a snake by the roadside, a viper along the path, that bites the horse’s heals so that its rider tumbles backwards”(Gen 49:17). This act, then, was the tribe of Dan taking hold of its prophetic destiny. How many of Israel’s enemies would be turned back at the border because of this courageous act? How many would get bit and “tumble backwards”?

God is speaking to us today through this story. We must know who we are. We must take bold steps to walk in our prophetic calling. We must resist the temptation to follow in the way of Ephraim and Manasseh, expecting things to be handed to us without having to work for them. Instead, may we be like Dan, a people who were not content to simply occupy, but were willing to contend for the more, and the best, of what God has ordained for them.

“There was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt three days…but all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings.” Ex 10:22-23

We underestimate the power of the covenant God has sealed with us through the shed blood of the Lamb to our own hurt. During this holy week, as we reflect upon the events surrounding the single most profound act in all history, I am compelled to recount the glorious benefits of the cross revealed in the very first Passover. In particular, I will highlight the concept of separation that was a major theme then and will once again play a central role in the days before Jesus’ return (cf. IS 60:1-3). 

In the leadup to that fateful night, we find God was honoring His covenant in numerous ways. Despite intense affliction, the population of God’s people multiplied dramatically. Remarkably, “the Hebrew women [were] not like the Egyptian women”, giving birth “vigorously”, quickly, and safely even before the midwives could get there (Ex 1:19). 

As judgment fell on Egypt, as plague after plague bombarded the land, the mercy of God prevented the swarms of gnats and locusts, the curses of the frogs and boils, and the pelting of the hail from marauding God’s favored ones. He vowed: “I will deal differently with the land of Goshen where my people live…so that you will know that I, the Lord, am in this land. I will make a distinction between my people and your people…” (Ex 8:22-23). 

Although the covenant was freely available to all of Jacob’s seed, and yet “every man shall take for himself a lamb” (Ex 12:3). Appropriating the blessings was not automatic. Each man had to select and slaughter an unblemished lamb and apply the blood to the doorposts and lintel of his home in order to be afforded defense from the destroyer who came to strike all the firstborn in the land. While piercing screams of grief echoed from street to square as the angel of death passed over Egypt, the Hebrews slept peacefully in preparation for their long-awaited escape from bondage at the break of dawn. 

The flight would have been short-lived if God had not intervened yet again with the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. As Pharaoh’s chariot-borne army hotly pursued the fleeing Israelites, God erected an impregnable hedge around them. Scripture records: “The cloud gave light to the Israelites, but made it dark for the Egyptians, and during the night they could not come any closer” (Ex 14:20). Hours later, when the army attempted to pursue Moses’ horde into the parted Sea, the final and most dramatic separation occurs when the waters which had walled up for the Hebrews collapsed to annihilate every soldier and beast not divinely garrisoned by the great I AM. 

The exodus saga convincingly reveals God as a Master in the art of separation. So much more than a grand Sunday school tale, we who are wise are brought face to face with one of the timeless truths that will keep us–His children, the benefactors of His covenant–confident and courageous as thick darkness once again covers the earth in the Last Days. 

Beloved, we are like 21^st century Goshenites. As adversity pummelled and perplexed the Egyptians, the region where the Israelites lived was under a huge canopy of protection. As Pharaoh’s heart grew harder and resistance intensified, God “multiplied [His] signs and wonders in the land” (Ex 7:3) through the faith and persistence of His servant Moses. As sin and wickedness abounded in Egypt, grace was magnified upon Goshen all the more. Plagues, pestilences, disasters all wreaked havoc on the shadowless homes of those who did not believe while the lamps continued to burn brightly inside the dwellings of those whose doorframes were sprinkled with redemption blood. As darkness thickened into gross darkness, as it had been for the Hebrew children standing at the brink on the Sea’s shore, so shall it be for us who have fortuitously been grafted into God’s covenant with Abraham. The Sun of Righteousness shall arise upon us. 

There is restoration and refreshment in His wings. Our church is a sign of this separation promise: not a single case of COVID has been recorded among our more than five thousand members. God had marked His people throughout their legendary sojourn out of bondage and into their destiny. Now, as this sanctified people looked back at bodies strewn next to swords, armor, and broken chariots upon the shores of the Red Sea, an outline of a seventy-palm-tree-oasis came into focus on the horizon before them. As the blood of the Passover Lamb had purchased their salvation, God affirmed one last covenant by-His-stripes benefit as they dipped their tired feet in pools of water underneath sunset painted skies at the end of that very long day. He said:

            “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight…I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” Ex 15:26

Have a Joyous Passover, and Happy Easter. 

“Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah…has prevailed…And I looked, and behold…stood a Lamb as though it has just been slain.” Rev 5:5,6

In verse 5 John the Revelator describes a vision of Jesus as a powerful, fearful yet majestic Lion. As his knocking knees buckled, verse 6 says he lifted his eyes and the One in the vision has been mystically transformed into a gentle, mercy-filled, irresistibly approachable Lamb. So which is Jesus, a Lion or a Lamb? How you answer this question is much more than a theological matter. Our perception of Who Jesus is and how He interacts with us has far-reaching implications for how we live. It can also have a direct impact on our ability to stand firm in our faith as the darkness around us increases in these days.

In truth, our finite, natural minds tend to latch on to Jesus as either a Lamb, or a Lion. Understandably, we struggle to comprehend how He could be both; and in our ambivalence, we gravitate towards Him, and join others in forming camps, around one depiction or the other. Though we may give mental assent that scripture describes God as an extravagant and open-armed Father as well as a fire-eyed Warrior who exacts vengeance, like a magnet we tend to be strongly pulled towards one and repelled by the other.

Throughout Church history trends have varied. Whole generations passed when the roar of the Lion is what echoed from pulpits. People were brought to conviction, were vigilant to obey, had a keen sense of Christian duty and a vocal intolerance of sin. Believers raised in these times spoke of the fear of the Lord not as some ancient, Old Testament and inferior understanding. The posture of the worshiper was reverence, of bowing before the One who is holy. This actually is the way that many Christians around the world still approach their God and King.

The messages in our churches today, especially in the West, have shifted and reflect our clear preference to exalt not just a Father, but a “Dad”, One who is ever-accepting, non-condemning, and full of grace. Those in the “Lamb Camp” don’t talk much about God as Judge, or as holy. When is the last time you heard someone talk about the fear of the Lord? Some would even cringe at the suggestion God is to be feared; they have a list of scriptures to prove that such talk is very old fashioned!

The irony of this contradiction can be seen in our chatter about revival. While it is true that some revivals have been characterized by healing and laughter, a reflection of the Lamb’s character, it is also true that many others have been very Lion-like. People in these moves of God spoke of being “undone”, of coming under deep conviction of sin, even being led to public confession of transgressions. Those coming out of the great revival of China in the 80’s wrote songs of war, of radical obedience, even dying for the cause of Christ. If we are only oriented around our one-sided Lamb perspective, we may miss, reject, even criticize what we see when God answers our prayers to pour out His Spirit!

Consequences of clinging to our preferred concept of Jesus as Lion or Lamb can be as “harmless” as a missed opportunity and as grave as our faith becoming shipwrecked. A total buy-in of Jesus as a Lamb, or embracing His comforting, advocating qualities, can leave believers storm-tossed and confused when harsh trials such as outbreaks of disease and wars, or persecution, pummel us. But people who are singly bent on seeing Jesus through a Lion prism also face dangers. They tend towards expressions of faith that are rigid, ritualistic and law-bound…lifeless. They can fall short in accessing the grace of God to heal and refresh. They may find themselves struggling to live with contentment. This too may lead to a falling away when times get really tough.

Frankly, sometimes we need to fall at His feet as though dead. At other times, we need to, in childlike hilarity, run as fast as we can and jump as high as we can only to be caught in His pillowed and liberating embrace. Jesus is not either a Lion or a Lamb. He is both a Lamb and a Lion. To truly know Him is to grow to appreciate and worship these two incredible though opposite aspects of His nature. My prayer is each one of us would press on to know God exactly as He is*, not tinged or tainted by the prevailing, culture- and time-bound images of our Savior.

“Let us know, let us press on to know the Lord…” Hos 6:3

*Hosea 6:1-3 nicely juxtaposes these two dialectical notions, as do many other scriptures. May this article whet your appetite to mine for more of these treasures from the wonders of His Word. If you have some, I’d love to hear from you!

“Sing, O barren,
You who have not borne!
Break forth into singing and cry aloud,
You who have not labored with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married women,
says the Lord.” IS 54:1

Scripture is full of paradoxes. The poor are made rich, the weak strong, the humble lifted up. In reading the Word, we are continually confronted with real life stories of situations which are downright shocking. Seas and rivers part. City Walls fall flat. Donkeys talk. Magi from distant lands travel for months following a star representing the arrival of a long awaited Lord and King, only to find him wrapped in strips of cloth, a baby bedded in an animal’s feeding trough.

Likewise, we see outcomes to stories which are phenomenal, seemingly scripted; and yet they are as real as any of the stories ever written. We see a man, a foreigner, imprisoned in a dungeon who, in the short span of a day, rose to become the Prime Minister over a powerful Kingdom. We see a man who faced hanging on a massive, 25 meter high gallows only to have the tables turn on the very man plotting his execution hung upon it instead. We see an “army” of 300 men without any weapons, each blowing a trumpet and holding a torch, defeating an entire nation’s army who were arrayed against them. We see a man stripped naked, crucified and buried only to rise again from the dead on the third day. We must be careful not to read these things as fiction—fanciful stories made for entertainment and embellished to attract more readers or forward a narrative to give people false hope.

These things really happened. They are 100% true, and trustworthy. God would not allow even the smell of a lie to be recorded in His Word. Our God did these things. He is altogether awesome, and these stories are on full display to convince us that He is incomparably wonderful, capable, and faithful. Amen.

And so we come to the words of the prophet Isaiah. A barren woman is told to sing. A lady who has unsuccessfully attempted to get pregnant for years is told she is going to have more children than a woman who has already conceived—that in fact she is going to have such a tribe of them that she better get busy adding numerous rooms and gathering a lot of furnishings to accommodate an abundance of boys and girls. If we didn’t have all these other stories to look back on, we might think he is just being a masterful poet, using hyperbole and metaphor to concoct a message to dazzle his readers. But Isaiah did not play his prophetic fiddle to make the children of Israel dance. His words so angered them that they conclusively sawed him in two! This was not about being creative or politically correct. He was stating something startlingly TRUE, yet paradoxical, that situations which appear impossibly bleak and depressing are routinely recreated to brilliantly billboard God’s redemption, power, and love. Promises long shredded and filed away in the dustbin by this desperate woman were about to be recovered, restored, and fulfilled.

Naturally speaking, the progressive realization one was barren was a most painful, disheartening and pandemic-sized diagnoses. More than a physical malady, being unable to bear children meant that Shame, Rejection, Guilt, Fear, and Dashed Dreams would be one’s lifelong companions. The flood of negative emotions that oppressed a woman in ancient times as she faced this bitter truth would reverberate condemnation like the blow of a Judge’s gavel. The woman is the mirror was bereft, stricken, cursed. Family gatherings became a cacophony of whispers from kinfolk. The shifting eyes or passer-bys, the huddled women in the markets, the ever more frequent pointing of a crooked, careless finger. The awareness that her husband was on the lookout for her replacement, someone to give him pleasure, empowering him to produce offspring and build a legacy.

And yet the Lord says, “Sing!” Lift up your song of praise. Cry aloud your hymns of thanksgiving and adoration. This simple yet profound act of of faith is the first and most crucial step in unlocking Hope’s promises. Once one is pregnant with Heaven’s implanted Word, babies are not far behind. Out of intolerable travail a holy assurance is fantastically birthed and a confession sired: my season of barrenness has been preparing me for barn-filled years of bounty. God never answers us with a period. He surrounds his delivered ones with shouts of joy!!! Whatever He touches is healed and prospers. Whatsoever He blesses multiplies. His Spirit never comes in drops; He is poured.

“More are the children of the desolate”. As the scourge of your own season of barrenness sunsets, kiss Shame and her companions good-bye. It’s time streeeetch your curtains wide and expand your tent aggressively to the right and to the left. Those who overcome desolation are the very ones God assigns to “make the desolate cities inhabited” (v.3). Such is the power of your redemption you will “forget the shame of our youth and will not remember the reproach of our widowhood anymore” (v.4) Such is beautiful stories the world witnesses whenever barren ones begin to sing.

“For a mere moment I have forsaken you,
But with great mercies I will gather you.
With a little wrath I hid my face from you for a moment
But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you.
Says the Lord, your Redeemer.” IS 54:7,8

“There was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon…and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. So he came by the Spirit into the temple…” Luke 2:25-26

There were some four million Jews spread throughout the Roman Empire during the time of Jesus’ birth. There were sects and schools that had arisen within Judaism that memorized huge portions of scripture. Until this time period, no generation had had a greater expectancy that the time of the Messiah’s visitation was at hand. Prophecies were diligently studied. Theories and timelines were drawn up. Groups formed isolated communities to wait for the Christ. And yet the first person to recognize Jesus did not study under any famous rabbi or join any of the elite schools. Simeon was an old man, a commoner. What qualified him for such a high honor? Simeon was a man of the Spirit.

Nothing qualifies us more for service in God’s kingdom than being filled with the Spirit. As amazing as the Word of God is, its nuggets of truth have to be discerned by the Spirit. Sitting at the feet of great teachers is also a great privilege. But 1 John 2:26-27 reminds us that there is an anointing that comes by the Holy Spirit that “teaches you concerning all things.” Knowing something is good or right is super, but the boldness to do it at any cost is the mark of a man or woman whose heart is set ablaze by the Spirit of the living God.

Simeon was a God-seeker. You get the feeling that if he was alive today, he would not borrow his next bright idea from social media. The conventional and the popular are not the things that tugged on his heart. He went straight to the throne room; there, he heard what the Spirit was saying. The second-hand news people of Jesus’ day were looking for a captain, a man of great stature, genius, and might. They expected a man to appear who could stand up to Caesar as Moses had done to Pharaoh and his army, thus delivering the Jews from their oppressors. Only a man who walked in the Spirit could have recognized the Messiah in a baby, held in the arms of his poor, teenage mother.

Simeon was a man upon whom the Holy Spirit rested. What a way to be identified! Princes were known by their raiment, holy men by their beards and turbans, but Simeon was remembered as a man who had the Spirit of God all over him. Mary and Joseph felt so comfortable with this grandpa, as he approached them they passed Jesus right into his loving arms. Simeon proceeded to publicly declare in the midst of the crowded temple that this baby was the very One that Jews everywhere had been yearning for. In fact, more than that, Simeon announced He was going to bring light and salvation to people from all nations–every tribe, every tongue. He then proceeded to prophesy over Jesus and the blessed couple, every word of which came to pass.

Simeon’s testimony has inspired me. As we enter the new year, I don’t want to live as I have in years past. I don’t want be moved by trends. I don’t want to follow the crowds. I don’t want to base my decisions on what has the appearance of being good or wise. I want to be free from the need to impress. What if, this year, we make a conscious choice to set all these things aside and really—sincerely and diligently—seek the face of God? What if we get so filled with the Spirit that, if someone happens to write an article or post about us, the first thing that comes to mind was that the Spirit of the living God is all over us? What if we could be so led by the Spirit that we are able to recognize the exact times and places the Spirit of God is working? What if it means praise and even prophecy flow out of our lips as naturally as waters from a fountain?

Simeon was not just the first man to see the Messiah. He is a type of those who have set their hopes squarely on the return of the Consolation and Refresher of His people, who will be among the first to see Jesus when He comes again. As God raised up a Simeon when He sent His son two thousand years ago, so too He is raising up a host in our Day who, like Simeon, will truly be men and women of the Spirit.

“Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Acts 1:6

Politics is “powerful”. Its ability to excite or incite, stir up or depress, exhilarate or exacerbate, is as old as the tower of Babel. Wherever mankind congregates, rivalries and factions lurk in the shadows. Parties are formed. Egos and selfish ambitions raise their ugly heads to squelch wholesome and righteous ideals. Things get dirty. Corruption festers.

God saw through the innocence of Babel’s “let us build” slogan, exacting quick and decisive judgment upon their misguided pursuit. Jesus, too, sidestepped the impulse of the masses to make him king after he had just fed them to utter satisfaction with five loaves and two fish. Think of the movement He could have started! But His way was higher, and He kept His eyes on the prize. When pressed to reveal His motives, Jesus’ answer was clear: “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight…” (John 18:36)

Sometimes we find ourselves voting for eternal things and fighting for temporal; when, of course, it should be exactly the other way around. The irony of this predicament is nowhere more clearly illustrated than in those pristine weeks between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to Heaven. For forty days, Jesus spoke to His disciples of things pertaining to the kingdom of God. I sure wish we could access those meetings on YouTube! Despite constantly whetting their appetites for eternity, the fact that they could still ask Him if He was finally ready to become king of Israel is quite a head-scratcher. Really? The Son of God— risen and all-glorious—is about to sit on the throne over all authorities in the seen and unseen universe and you want still want to crown Him king over the tiny nation of Israel?

Though the disciples had spent three years sitting at his feet, he had in fact given them no prescription for political solutions. The fact that this was still foremost on their minds reveals how difficult it is for fallen man to lay down his dreams of reformation. Such is the magnetism of politics. Its noble causes and lofty aspirations dangle like scrumptious carrots of justice, equality, prosperity, and liberty before us. It can be intoxicating; and that is exactly the point. If we are finding ourselves reeling and rocking right now, we probably had too much to drink these past few months!

I’m not saying I didn’t pull up to the counter and order some “shots” myself! Who could blame us? We had been losing so many battles. Finally there was some momentum. Finally an advocate, a voice, a fighter in our corner! So much was within our grasp!

Or was it? Jesus did not acquiesce to their cry then; and it seems He has not heeded all of our cries either. His silence may be a quintessential act of mercy! His response to “will you at this time restore” in the first century was actually to give them something better, which is the very thing I am hoping He will do for us two thousand years later. Let me paraphrase His answer:

Guys, don’t get yourselves all worked up, and don’t grow discouraged because things aren’t turning out the way you were hoping. Dad knows what’s best, and this ain’t it! That’s because His timing is perfect and His best is so much better. He is preparing to release earth shaking power and authority by the Holy Spirit to all of you who will make it a priority to move only after I have clothed you with extraordinary ability and favor from on high. When it comes upon you, there is no place and no people anywhere on my whole planet who won’t be transformed by its impact! (see Acts 1:7-8)

The prescription Jesus had in mind was not going to proceed from halls of power, nor be borne on the back of any man. Man builds towers. Men devise structures to rule and execute decisions. Jesus said, “I will build My church”, the pillar and bulwark of the truth, the agent by which even the the angels will be awestruck when she puts on her beautiful garments.

We have yet to see the full manifestation of the “greater works” Jesus spoke of. If our hope is not completely set on the promises of even richer spiritual empowerment, if we lower our gaze onto any other and lesser source, we may find ourselves horribly disappointed. Beloved, this is a great time to proverbially prepare a pot of black coffee and quickly get ourselves sober. Neither donkeys, nor even elephants can save us. But the One who walks in the midst of the seven lampstands, whose eyes are flames of fire and whose voice is like the sound of many waters—the King of kings, He is worthy of all our adoration and devotion. I will gladly and faithfully vote for the best and most qualified people to serve in public office. His government, His rule, His everlasting Kingdom…well, this is truly worth fighting, and even dying for.


PS My intention here is not to downplay the importance of righteous rule and the election of people who will be catalysts for justice, human rights, or Kingdom values. While we should hope for these things, our hope is not in them. The manifold wisdom of God—His power, righteousness, and glory—will be made known through the Church, His Bride (Ep 3:10). He is jealous only for her. The answer to our pressing need is now as it was then: that awesome power—real power—would be poured out upon us by His Spirit to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.