SOP: TEN STEPS TO SPIRITUAL PERCEPTION

(Spiritual Perception Series—1980)

Lesson XXII

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There are two necessary ingredients for a ministry. There is no ministry and there can be no ministry where there is no need or no consciousness of that need. Also, there is no ministry and there can be no ministry where there is no consciousness of the Lord’s presence.

The first thing you must do is to practice coming into the presence of the Lord. You have received the Holy Spirit, and it is the function of the Holy Spirit to reveal and magnify Yahshua Ha Maschiachk (Jesus Christ) to you. As you are in the Spirit and begin to worship the Lord, believe for the Holy Spirit to reveal the Lord to you. Reach your hand forth unto the Lord and stand in His presence. Day by day, do not lose your sense of His presence. It is not enough to concentrate on someone’s need; you must appropriate God’s fullness and minister the fullness to the need. All we do and all we say, in our praise and in our prayers, is to glorify Him He is Lord, and in His greatness He is the all-sufficient One. He is made Head over all things to the Church. He is the Head over all principalities and powers (all dominions and, so-called, ‘lesser gods’). Simply stand, worshipping and praising the Lord.

You know, your spirit is somewhat like a sponge—it is porous (like a cell membrane) and capable of soaking in the Lord’s Presence—If this were not so then God would not be Omnipresent? Either God IS the All in all, or He isn’t. And, since we know He IS, there isn’t anywhere He cannot be.

On the surface the cell membrane may appear solid, a continuous mass, but in reality the cell has what is known as the ability to be permeable. That means that there can be an exchange of different substances that pass in and out of it. But what is remarkable about a cell is that not only does it have permeability (the means of a transport mechanism that picks up the substances and transport them to a door (pore) at the cell-wall junction where the exchange between the inside and the outside of the cell takes place) but it can also selectively open and close the cell membrane doors and determine, what and how much substance is necessary for the cell’s ability to function. And, it can also close the doors so that an actual continuous mass (cell wall) maintains the entire cell’s integrity. All of this takes place in fluids inside and outside of blood cells and works in harmony with what is known as ‘pressure gradient.’ It operates as a gradual increase of pressure from a higher concentration gradient (Lord’s presence) to a lesser concentration gradient (your consciousness) that works inside and outside the cell. It moves from a high to low point, and this pressure gradient is what maintains the entire process of food (molecular) exchange. And this process is what keeps you alive.

Well, guess what? Your spirit is like that too. It has unique and specific sensitivities that pick up and soak up any number of vibrations, the Lord’s Presence as Light and Sound energy, other people’s light energy (aura to aura/spirit, just like cell to cell in the human body), and it is sensitive to its surroundings, both physical and ethereal. It is also selective to lower level negative forces.

As your physical body really gets its nourishment on the microcosmic level, by assimilating and digesting food molecules, so your spirit feeds on Light and Sound and the multiple gradations of that substance, and expresses its growth as consciousness and awareness. Your soul also has it source of supply: thought and emotional material and all three of these overlap and work with one another. So you can see why Paul admonished us in I Thess. 5: 23 that our whole (Holy/Whole-I): spirit, soul and body should be preserved blameless for/to the coming of our Lord. That ‘coming’ is in reference to His presence (Parousia) taking place first, in your spirit and then permeating your soul and body. The Lord’s presence is the first step into immortality—Into our bodies (s-s-b) coming alive to Him. This is the ‘second’ coming, at least the initial part of it. It begins with His presence it ends with His presence. The initial stage is the deep inner/esoteric work of the Lord and the final aspect is His physical appearing, and, our appearing in glory, with Him. Isn’t that wonderful?

The apostle, Paul spoke of there being many gods in the spirit realm. In Paul’s day in the first century AD, and for many centuries, before there were a number of different belief systems and philosophies that overlapped and probably borrowed from one another. Even the Lord made reference to such things when He spoke of ‘….at one time there were many Lord’s over us, but…’

There are some ancient documents that were considered authentic among the early Church fathers who speak of Christ giving dictates on some of these things. Some of the early Gnostic works of the apostle’s epistles and the other apostolic gospels refer to this. See you thought that the four gospels in the Bible were the only gospels that came out of the early church. I would admonish you to study some of the other writings of the apostles and disciples. I would especially admonish you to look into the Gospel of Thomas that was uncovered around the same time as the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1945.

Books speak of the Gnostic Christians and the false Gnostics, as well. At that time there were true and false Gnostic’s. John the Beloved spoke in his first epistle in regard to those Gnostic who did not believe that Christ came in the flesh, that He was nothing more than a phantom, because they viewed the ‘matter world’ as being evil. They associated the coalescing of impersonal positive and negative energies, personalized these energies and therefore proclaimed that all of matter is evil. This belief in matter as evil concepted the notion that since Christ represented absolute truth and purity that no such virtues could possibly inhabit the material realm and so the belief that Christ came as some sort of Phantom (holograph) became spread among some of the believers. No doubt a misrepresentation of the “Word becoming flesh” and a distortion of the meaning of positive and negative energies. It would be like saying that every time one thinks of the atom, one should think of the energies that make up the atom are evil entities, since the atom is what constitutes the material realm. John as a Gnostic (means: One who truly knows), purposely rebuked the false Gnostics in writing of how he and the other disciples ‘…knew that they handled the Word of Truth” (referring to the Lord), and in his fourth chapter of his first epistle speaks that “They came out from us, but were not of us” speaking in regard to the anti-Christ spirits.

As you practice the presence of the Lord, practice sensing the presence of the one who is to be met or ministered to. Make contact with the Lord; then reach your hands out to him, believing. Then, feel that brother’s need as you reach into the Lord.

Next, believe for the flow of revelation. You draw the filling of the need from the Lord. Learn never to lose the sense of His presence and you will be able then to tune in to the people and minister to them. Our ministry would be much more effective if we would never lose our sense of His presence, as we concentrate upon the one before us.

Your revelation as to what is in the individual will be with deeper insight and with far greater penetration if you forget him and tune into the Lord. Then as you reach out to him, the Lord will show you things about him, and the ministry will start to flow. This may sound very simple, and it is, but it is a little more complicated to practice. However, work at it because it is the key of the ministry.

There is a way that we can acquire the Lord’s power—His love, compassion and understanding, and, His endurance and wisdom. There is a way we can overcome weariness and fainting, as we move into the very fullness of His power. The Lord shows us how this can be done in Isaiah 40:25-31. This passage is very high in the plane of inspiration; instead of Isaiah being the intermediary, the one bringing the message, God Himself is speaking in the first person and He gives a description of Himself. He speaks about His power and about what He is. He describes the greatness of His power and about what He is. He describes the greatness of his power, the greatness of His wisdom, and understanding, and how, with Him, there is no fainting or weariness. God continues to describe His endurance. His faithfulness, but then He turns and reveals humanity at its best, the young men, the youths. They faint, and there is no understanding and no power with them. They cannot make it. However, in the third portion He explains how we, as human beings, can acquire some of His great omnipotence and omniscience, some of that endurance so as not to faint. The Lord says we can actually receive it.

That is exactly what we are trying to do in the services. We know the greatness of God and we know our own limitations, but we reach out and draw on the greatness of God; we acquire it for ourselves. We lack wisdom in ourselves, but we want to receive His wisdom. The gifts of the Spirit, as in; spiritual perception and revelation— for all of us, give the necessary elements of the ministry that we will discuss in this lesson— and are activated by tuning into the fullness of God. The process that you are going to learn is actually what this passage of Scripture shows you to do. You wait upon the Lord and you draw His strength and His wisdom. You begin to rise and move in a plane that is beyond the human limitations, in wisdom that is beyond human wisdom, in power that is beyond human power, and in endurance that is beyond human endurance.

To whom then will you liken me, that I should be equal to him? Says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these, that brings out their host by number; he calls them all by name; by the greatness of his might, and for that he is strong in power, not one is lacking. Why says though, O Jacob, and speaks, O Israel. My way is hid from Yahweh, and the justice due me is passed away from God? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, Yahweh, the Creator of the ends of the earth faints not, neither is weary; there is no searching of his understanding. This is the Lord’s description of Himself and His titles: the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. In His omnipotence, He does not faint; neither is He weary. There is no searching of His understanding. How great is the omniscience and the wisdom of God.

He gives power to the faint; and to him that has no might he increase strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. Humanity at its best and young, in their prime and with the greatest vigor, will faint and utterly fall. But they that wait for Yahweh shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint Isaiah 40:25-31.

The thing that we are striving for is to be able to tune in to God—to what He knows and to what He can do. The key to the gifts and the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to arrive at the place where the human limitations are displaced by the divine abilities. God is opening the door for the gifts and the ministries of the Spirit to operate, but there is one basic faculty necessary for all of them to work. Isaiah said there is no search of His understanding and He gives power to those who faint. Behind this is the realization that if you and I are to move in God, we will have to be able to discern what is going on in the spiritual faculties of sight and hearing and smell. We must have a spiritual perception so that we see and hear in the spiritual realm. These are not physical characteristics; they are spiritual ones. If we are going to move in God, we must acquire them.

As spiritual individuals, it important for us to be able to see in the spirit, to be able to discern, and to have spiritual perception so clear that whenever God is moving we will perceive it; whenever the enemy is moving we will perceive him. The gifts of the Spirit always work on that basis. A man must have his faculties developed in the realm of spirit if he is going to move in that realm. If he is going to move in miracles, he has to know what God is doing. If he is to move in the healings, he must understand God’s will. If he is going to give a word of wisdom or a word of knowledge, he must first be able to hear that word from God. A man of God must have a spiritual ear. He that has ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (Revelation 2:7). If he is going to prophesy, he has to hear what is to be prophesied; he must be able to perceive it in the spirit realm. Only then can he lay hold of God’s Word and prophesy it effectively.

We know that what has to be accomplished cannot by the human faculties. You are not wise enough, you are not strong enough, and you do not have enough endurance in yourself. You will never be able to do God’s will completely. That is true. But you can tune in. You can learn how. You can follow the steps where you get the leading and the guidance of the Lord. You can hear what God has to say to you and you can know His leading.

There is no doubt in any of our minds that God is speaking. The trouble is that there are not always ears to hear it. It could be compared to a large transmitter that is sending out broadcasts. When we are sending a broadcast that they do not think the people should hear, they will jam it so that it cannot be understood.

Some people find that their spiritual signals are being jammed. Others are hearing everything; they have no tuner to tell what is of God, what if of man, what is of the devil, or what is their own imagination. We must learn to tune only to what God is saying. What the Spirit is bringing to us can be very carefully lined out so that we hear and receive only what God has for us, and we learn how to tune out everything else.

Let me give you an illustration of a principle that will be very helpful. Simply put your hand up with the idea that you are reaching into God. Be thinking about Christ and His Lordship, how full He is, how in Him are all the things that you or anyone else has need of. Reach up to contact the Lord in His fullness. Worship Him; adore Him. Hold your hand out there until you actually feel in the spirit that what you are doing is effective and that you are touching God. When you feel you have touched the Lord in His fullness, then reach out to the brother who is being ministered to, and without losing that awareness of the Lord and His sufficiency, be the channel of blessing for him. As you do that, you may feel as if there is something wrong with you physically. As you reach into the Lord’s fullness and you reach to the brother, you may feel his symptoms. This works so simply: first focus upon the Lord: then focus upon an individual and watch some amazing things take place.

Recently I had an experience that was rather unusual. I was suddenly aware that there was something wrong with my automobile. It was running all right, but I knew that something was wrong. This may sound weird, but I could feel there was a loose cable somewhere. I got out a crescent wrench, lifted the hood and sure enough, there was a loose terminal. This was not by accident. When you are in tune with the Lord, you are even able to reach in and feel the parts of a car. Likewise, you can feel another person’s infirmity. You can sense what God wants to do with him.

Spiritual perception, discernment, and revelation are not as uncanny as people think. Here is the key behind it. The Word says of Jesus Christ: For we have not a high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities…Hebrews 4:15. Notice the two negatives that always make a positive. Stated positively, this Scripture says that we absolutely do have a high priest who is continually touched by what we feel, by our infirmities. The minute you make an adequate contact with the Lord Jesus Christ and then reach out to a brother, you become a channel through which the Lord Jesus conveys what He is feeling in that individual. This is the basis by which we discern infirmities.

I have had an exceptionally good ministry in discerning and feeling infirmities of people. Yet it is not based upon anything I can point to or any spectacular gift. It is based upon the fact that I never stand before a person feeing that I am going to meet his need in myself. I am always aware that I have a hold of the fountain of all blessings and as I reach into Him, I become but a sounding board. It is nothing in me; it is Christ’s concern about Christ’s feeling that comes through. It behooves us to use this gift as efficiently as possible, because the revelation that flows reveals what Christ is feeling and what He is concerned about in the individual.

There are ten simple steps that you should follow in order to activate the spiritual perception and the flow of revelation to you. The first seven deal with bringing you into spiritual perception or revelation or discernment. These terms are used interchangeably. Discernment means the ability to discern demonic powers and demon sources. Spiritual perception is the ability to perceive what is going on in that realm, as though you had spiritual ears and eyes. Revelation is the means that God can use to communicate truths to you so that your heart can receive them.

1.) Lay a good foundation: Establish a scriptural basis. This is the very first step toward spiritual perception. This foundation can be laid in several ways, but it must be done adequately, because as you progress in receiving revelation you will sense that what you do requires a great deal of faith. Not only must you have a general faith toward God, but you must also have an absolute faith in the scriptures of divine revelation and divine guidance. You have to believe not only that the Spirit of God will speak in this day, but that He will also speak to you personally. You must believe further that in your own personal prophecies and your own ministry, God will reveal Himself and make Himself known. In order to do this first step, you should dig out some Scriptures that prove to you that God intends to guide you and lead you, passages that will show you once and for all that it is scriptural for you to believe for real revelation and guidance and spiritual perception.

Why do we need revelation from the Lord? I remember a comment made by a denominational pastor. He said, “We do not need the word of wisdom or the word of knowledge today because we have the New Testament. Paul needed it because then they did not have any New Testament.” Imagine a man with enough wisdom to write most of the New Testament, yet he still had to have special guidance and direction. He needed the gifts, the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge in operation. It would not have made any difference if Paul had some six dozen New Testament in his day. General principles are revealed, but specific questions are not answered in the New Testament. For example, when Paul was on his second missionary journey, where would he have turned in the New Testament to find out whether he was to go up into the mountains of Bithynia or whether he was to go to Troas? Such specific questions of guidance and individual problems require the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge to reveal the way you should go. You may want to know whether you should buy a certain home. Where are you going to find the chapter and verse in the New Testament that gives an answer to that?

The Old and the New Testament, however good, still do not give you individual direction. They do a great deal to bring you into a closeness with God, but the Bible is basically the story of those who were led by God’s Spirit. From Genesis and the days when Abraham was being guided by the Spirit; until the book of Revelation and the one hundred forty-four thousand that follow the Lamb where-so-ever He goes, it is the story of guidance and the story of a people who are being led.

It is not enough for us to have the Scriptures alone, because the Scriptures are a means to an end, not an end in itself. They are not to be read as so many stories in history. They are to be read with the idea that they will open up a walk with God for you. They point the way to Jesus Christ and they testify of Him—not that you will see Him afar off, but that you will partake of Him in your heart. They speak of the wonderful works of the Holy Spirit throughout the ages, not that you will marvel and wonder and say, “My, wasn’t it a great time in which they lived?” but so that you will find the Holy Spirit being brought near and becoming more real to you. He will lead you and guide you into all truth and into the perfect will of God. You do not read the Scriptures about men who walked with God in other generations just to rejoice in them, thinking there is nothing for you today. The same guidance and blessings that were in their lives are to be recreated in your life. So the first thing you must do is to take the promises in the Scriptures and build yourself a good foundation.

We must first build a Bible basis for believing that God is going to speak in this day, and that He is going to speak to you personally. We must establish that He wants you to have ears to hear and eyes to see, and that He wants to guide you. Many Scriptures make this promise of God very clear to you. Be not foolish, be not unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is (Ephesians 5:17). Psalm 23 is also a good Scripture to follow. There are many passages that can be used, but you will have to decide for yourself and get hold of one verse that you fully believe will work the wonder for you. It will give you the basis, and with it you can lay that good foundation until your own faith takes hold of it.

You use this principle for anything that you want from God. If you want to be healed, approach the great subject of divine healing in the same way: get some Scriptures to establish your faith. “He went to the whipping post,” Isaiah prophesied, “and by His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). Later on, Peter wrote, “By His stripes ye were healed” (I Peter 2:24). Surely, He has borne all of our sicknesses and carried them upon Him. Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgives all you iniquities, who heals all your diseases (Psalm 103:2-3). I am the Lord thy God that heals thee. I will put none of these diseases upon thee, that I have brought upon the Egyptians” (Exodus 15:26). All of these precious promises we can stand upon; and when we do, we come to the conclusion that the provision for healing has been supplied by the Lord Jesus Christ. When we have a Bible basis for healing, then we do not come before the Lord and be, “Please, Lord, I think that maybe I deserve to be healed. Would you please heal me?” That is asking on the wrong basis. You must have a Bible basis. You must have a foundation.

You must believe that God wants to reveal Himself. Isaiah wrote, “Thou shall hear a voice behind thee saying, ‘this is the way; walk you in it,’ when you turn to the right hand and when you turn to the left’ (Isaiah 30:21). Many Scriptures reveal the same truth. It becomes your responsibility to read the Word and constantly apply it to yourself, saying: “That is what God wants me to do. He wants me to walk in His will. He wants to reveal His will. I believe it is absolutely the mind of the Lord that He will speak to me, and speak to me personally. He will guide me in His will.” The first step is very essential. It is not complicated, but it is absolutely necessary that you do it thoroughly.

2.) Enter into His rest: In other words: relax. You already believe in your heart God is going to speak to you personally, and you are standing on a firm scriptural foundation. So what you do next is just relax. A state of physical tension serves as a barrier and a shield against divine revelation. You decide that you are not going to try to work things out in your own mind or by your own actions. You must let God work them out. And you can say, “Here I am, Lord. Here I am before You. Now God, O my mighty God, happen to me.” Relax and let God happen to you. Just relax and back into it. If there is a struggle, it only defeats your goal. You enter into His rest. You know that God is speaking, so decide in your own mind that you are going to hear it.

In this second step, avoid muscular or mental tension if at all possible, and try to let go and relax thoroughly. I know this works. When the ministry of revelation was beginning to flow, I was instructed by revelation to get a barbell and work out each day, which I did. I did it, not because I wanted to be a superman, but because I was very tense and was not able to sleep properly. At the beginning of the ministry, the nervous tension was tremendous, but the longer I walk in it, the more relaxed I am. I have learned to let go and relax completely. The physical exercise takes away the strain and helps one to relax. Then spiritual things begin to flow. Many times, after a simple little workout in calisthenics or stretching exercises I notice that the signs in the Spirit beginning to manifest. When I decided to exercise in the martial arts my awareness and spiritual sensitivity increased even more so. Tai Chi is an excellent way to balance your spirit, soul and body, especially if you take the steps necessary to feeding your body-temple properly. You first build up your faith through steadfast discipline as a good steward of the manifold grace of God and then enter into the rest of the Lord.

3.) Tune in: This step follows immediately. We read in Daniel 6:10 how Daniel went into his ‘’chamber” three times a day toward God. People are walking around with earplugs, and they are not going to hear the beautiful songs of Zion until they remove the earplugs. You can have a radio, but if it is not turned on and it is not tuned in, you are not going to hear anything. The radio will sit there, silent, and although there is music in the air, you will not hear it until you tune in to it. God is speaking and you know He is constantly speaking. You have to believe that God has never stopped speaking to men and that He is speaking to your right now. Take out the earplugs and get on the right channel so that you can hear Him. Start opening up to the things of the Spirit. Open that window to all that will come from God. Some of these steps seem to overlap and the fourth is very closely related to the third.

4.) Woo the flow of the Spirit: You must sincerely say, “Lord, her I am, speak to thy servant. I refuse to express any doubt or fear or any negative reaction that might come up out of my own conscious mind or even my subconscious mind. I blot it out and just tune my spirit toward God. Your mind will tell you to worry or to start fretting about problems. Your conscience may arise and tell you that you should be doing something other than sitting, waiting on the Lord. But remember the Scriptures in Hebrews 9:14. It speaks about having your conscience purged from dead works, and that is what we need.

Because most pastors have a conscience telling them they are supposed to be servants of the people, they literally become that: servants of the people, and not servants of the Lord. Yes, the fivefold ministries are ‘gifts’ to the church, but the ‘gifts’ are not going to be very gifted unless they first come into this deep communion (come-union) and relationship to God. Until they thoroughly give themselves to this discipline and dedication to deep meditation and contemplation of the Lord they will reach a certain plateau and may find themselves stuck there.

There are many good things to do in this world, and people can dream up plenty of them for you to do, but you must find the one thing that God wants you to do as you listen for His orders. Put away doubt and fear and the negative; even put away the working of your conscience that might hinder you as to your duties and responsibilities. Simply sit still and wait upon the Lord. “Be still and know that I am God.” You do not necessarily have to focus on your charkas, but you should at least use the techniques you learned in the “Bless Ins” and the techniques you use when you stand to worship Him.

The four primary areas of focus as far as the charkas are concerned can be: The heart, the throat, the area between your two eyebrows, and the crown of your head. These can be narrowed down to the crown and the area between your brows. Or, you can correlate your focus in different patterns, such as the crown with the heart, or the heart with the throat and/or with the area between your brows. You can also concentrate (focus your attention) on any one of these at any one time. There are basically seven charkas/doors to consciousness. Actually, there are more, but there are basically seven. There are even openings/doors on the souls of your feet. Why do you think that when one of the old prophets stood in the presence of God, The Lord would command them to take off their sandals, for where they stood was Holy Ground. That ‘Holy Ground” was part of God’s Presence and He wanted to make sure that the Holy Spirit energies of His Presence would permeate that prophets aura and body. As you make inquire and study these principles you will learn of them. Each one of the chakras resonates at a different frequency and each one has a certain intonation that corresponds. Chanting in tongues while focusing on any one or the upper four doors of consciousness will help greatly in your coming in tune with the Holy Spirit.

You may have heard of the process of, “intoning”—the sounding of a mantra. A mantra is a certain charged word that resonates at a certain vibration specific to certain chakras. A mantra can also be a phrase that elevates one’s consciousness to what is known as the Audible Life Stream (i.e., the sound expression of the Holy Spirit), that lifts the spirit and soul to greater heights in the spirit realms. The Lord, YahsHUa gave a mantra when the disciples asked how they should pray and of which biblical numerical values in that mantra are quite spiritual. Today, that prayer is known as “The Lord’s Prayer’. But in actuality it is the “Disciples Prayer.” As another example of a mantra; some of you may have heard of the word, `OM’—the mantra for opening up the crown chakra. The OM is a derivative of God’s name I AM—which became the AUM/OM.

The Lord, YashHUa was given the ‘name (nature) above all names at which ‘sound’ of it—ALL things in the heavens and on earth and below the earth (lower realms) must bow to.

Without getting into a whole discourse on the tetragrammaton, YHVH which has come to be known as Yah (weh) (the FATHER part of the Son’s name, Yahshua), and of which you can do your own study of. The name YasHUa is considered a very high vibratory resonance and/or mantram that correlates to both the third eye chakra and crown chakra—‘I and My Father are ONE.” Of course it can be used in conjunction with the heart and throat areas, as well. However, the third eye and crown areas are the primary focal points when in contemplation and meditation. The `HU’ aspect of Yahshua’s name can be intoned, alone because it is really the very audible life-stream itself that brought all creation into being. Not many mystics are aware of this.

Some teachings speak of the `HU’ as the original worshipping tone of the universe. Allaleuia is thought to be a derivative of “Allah” and of which ALLAH was probably derived from “Yah” as in, AllaHUYAH. The ‘allalueYah/AllaHUYAH’, of course, has intimation as to both, YAH and HU. In certain early, Eastern cultures the intoning of ‘Yawhua’ (Sufi) was taught in regard to their meditation practices.

Many people spell Yahshua’s/Yashua’s/Yeshu’s/Yeshua’s/Yshua’’s name with an apostrophe, as in, Y’shua. It looks pleasant to the eye, but in the true Hebrew language there are no apostrophe’s incorporated. I know this, because I at one time received a rebuke by a Jewish Rabbi and friend of mine, for spelling it that way.

I have integrated the name of the Father and the Son in my meditation and contemplation exercises and have found them quite effective and beneficial in opening up my spiritual perception.

Paul in I Corinthians 14 spoke of speaking in tongues. He spoke of orally speaking in tongues and mentally speaking in tongues. When I first began to intone I did it orally for a few minutes until I sensed my focus was being fine tuned, and then I would stop intoning orally and utilized my `tongue of thought’. This progressed into a stillness and silence where my mind would become `empty’ and my spirit rested in a place of peace with a receptive consciousness to listen (wait). It is in the stillness and silence that God speaks the clearest.

You may find when you give yourself to this that at first your mind starts to wonder. This is because your mind has had too much influence in your life and has become independent through conditioning of not yielding to the dictates and leadings of the Holy Spirit. The mind makes for a very poor leader, but when it comes into submission to the spirit that is, in turn, submissive and, `at one’ with the Holy Spirit within, then the mind becomes an excellent servant. That is what the mind was made for, to be a servant to the Holy Spirit. But, because of the gap between the soul and the spirit, the mind through illusion takes on the role of leader. Master Y’s parable of the Prodigal Son on one level can be regarded as the mind that took its inheritance (gifts) early, and left its abode with the Father and the Brother (Christ Consciousness) to try to make it on its own. Only after being left to its own illusory self that lead it to the wallowing in the slough of despair did it come to a true realization of its life-source, which, of course, was it’s returning to the Father and the Brother-Son. Only in that realization did it come to its `right’ mind/thinking.

Qualities of the Spirit are also beneficial in helping one focus his waiting on the Lord. Such virtues as: love, peace and joy can also be utilized in intoning.

Much of the intoning and practice of waiting on the Lord is dependent upon the sincerity of heart with the focus of attention just as it is when you stand to worship the Lord with your holy hands raised to heaven and your internal focus fine-tuned to the Lord. The `intention’ and `attention’ coupled with a relaxed anticipation and appreciation will yield excellent results. Sometimes the word, anticipation can intimate action. Anticipation does not mean, `anxiousness’ it means a relaxed expectation that God will meet you at the proper time. The `action’ you are engaging in is your contemplation and meditation discipline that takes place in a relaxed mode and atmosphere. You create the atmosphere and the mode/mood. God is closer to you than hands and feet, closer to you than your own heartbeat, your very breath.

I want to make a point here that is extremely important in the way of the mystic/seership path: If in your dreams, and if while you are in deep meditation and/or contemplation and the face of Christ appears on the screen of your mind—that is a very good sign, because it indicates that you have contacted the inner Master. The Inner Master or what Paul termed, `The Inner Man Of The Heart’ is the expression of the Christ spirit within you. Now, something very important has to be said about this Inner Master of the heart. One of the things you want to look for is the Radiance of the Inner Master. The `radiance’ of the Inner Master is a co-worker with the King of kings, the Lord of lords…the Master of masters, Yashua Ha Maschiachk and of which I will refer to as either, The Great Master or The Inner Master. Now, the ‘radiance’ of The Master is a co-worker such as a true apostle of prophet who is over you in the Lord, and who himself (the radiance) is under the Lordship of Yashua (Jesus Christ). The ‘radience’(s) under His Lordship are able to come to you in the spirit and take you out of the body to different levels in the spirit realm. The spirit realm recognizes the ‘radiance’ as an emissary and Master Consciousness under the Lordship of Christ and so the authority, especially of a true apostle is able to guide, teach and protect you in the inner worlds as to pass through to area’s of God’s Kingdom. You are usually initiated in this experience in the dream state, so as to prepare you for a greater awareness of it in the time where you break through in your waiting on the Lord. The Inner Master, Christ and the Radiance Master-Apostle work hand in hand in taking care of you as you progress in the mind of Christ (Christ Consciousness/Self Awareness) into the reality of who you are in Christ as a Christed Son and who you are becoming (in awareness) as One with the Father Spirit.

The true apostolic authority is one who has already come into the Fathermind/spirit degree of consciousness. This is why Paul stated, that you may have countless tutors in Christ, but not many Fathers.

The “radiance consciousness” is a commissioning of the Lord, Himself by way of personal visitation that carries the sanction and anointing to operate this way as a “Father Ministry” to those who submit to him. Now, there are apostles and then, there are apostles. There are apostles who have not yet attained this level of consciousness and then there are those of us who have. Why am I saying all of this? Because as/if you begin to see me in your dreams, or in your meditation and/or contemplations, I do not want you to spook or scare about the appearings. This is a way of Christ confirming to your heart my ministry. First, of all Christ should reveal this process to you and then you will receive the confirmation. The dream state is where the first initiation will take place as far as you recognizing the “radiance ministry”. This initiation will be some sort of instruction that takes place and you may have only a hint or glimpse that it took place upon awakening, but if you remember any part of it, then the initiation has taken place. But, you have to be honest with yourself. You do not want to self-hypnotize yourself in believing it took place when it hasn’t. And I do not want you to plant any kind of ‘hypnotic’ thought in your mind or have you think that I would. I do not know anything about hypnotism anyway, other than by discernment believe it to be something of the soul and not of the spirit, albeit on a higher level some sort of sustained focus was being used by Christ and the prophets in raising people’s consciousness to a place where they might have a revelation of the Lord. Case in point is when the apostles were walking into the temple and saw the cripple at the step gates with cup in hand. The apostles ‘gazed’ upon the man and said: “Look at me.” Some how the apostle focused in on that person’s consciousness and sustained his spirit and mind to bring him to a place where the Word could be ‘implanted’ that would create the healing---And, it did. So I do not want to get caught up in semantics. Afterward the apostles were acclaimed to be as gods who came down from heaven, but they put everyone straight and informed them by tearing their clothes and exposing their flesh that they were as them, mortal men. This way the Lord gets the glory and you do not get caught up in some personality cult. I do not want to be viewed as some sort of super spiritual demigod. I am a bondservant of Jesus Christ so if you view me in anyway, please view me that way. I want all of you to come into this level as well. I do not want to be put on a pedestal and in some way keep you below me. I do not want to protract your immaturity. I want to be the example, whereby, you understand these principles and the anointing of Christ unto His glory, so that you, too, can someday move into these things. This is not about me being proclaimed as some demigod. No flesh glories in the Presence of God. But, there is a respect on the vessel that God raises up to bless you. Because in that ‘respect’ is the attitude you should have of letting the principles and anointing work within your life.

Now, the reason I have spent so much time on this STEP and these key mysteries; especially this last one, is because the same principles are being used by the false prophets and Christs out there in the world. People are flocking to these gurus by the hundreds, and the thing that keeps them under their control is the authenticity of the principles. Except for one thing, anyone could be duped into their presentation: Here the KEY to discerning the false from the true: The false who present themselves as being quite spiritual and probably look better than we do at times--certainly more ‘religious’—speak of Christ and even quote bible passages. Some may even acknowledge that Christ is a (not necessarily the) savior of mankind. And, some may claim that they may even worship the Father. Well, actually they all claim to worship God. The ‘key’ difference, however, between them and us is THE LORDSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST. That is right because everything comes down to His Lordship. Others can even be more spiritual than you in some ways because they have given themselves to the impersonal divine verities. But what profit man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul to a facsimile in the process. This is why Christ said, that they who came before Him were thieves and robbers, false shepherds, etc.

The DOOR to true consciousness and relationship to the Father is the LORDSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST. To others these gurus, prophets, avatars and masters may be considered the ‘radiant form’ because they claim they are, and they admonish there students to seek the radiant form on the inner planes of consciousness—referring to themselves (as mentioned above—this is a true principle), and what I have claimed is the same thing with only one exception and that exception is the chasm of eternity that determines the true from the false. All of these principles are of God, but are only truly reliable, effective, honest, pure and holy through the LORDSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST.

The usurpers as the ‘sons of darkness being wiser than the Sons of Light’ who have taken the objective, impersonal principles of the Lord and utilized them can appear and move in more things of the spirit than most Christians can. Sadly, mainstream Christianity claims that Jesus is savior and Lord, but when it comes to the New Testament pattern of His Lordship they do not want anything to do with it. In that case they are not much better off than the false prophets, and Christs that are moving in the impersonal principles. And, in a sense the ones (disciples) that are spiritually moving in the principles may be closer to having a walk with God than the Christian—In the sense that the student of these gurus, masters and teachers are in almost all cases sincerely seeking God, and God honors that sincerity of heart. God honored your seeking before you came into this walk, didn’t He? Otherwise you wouldn’t be here. The ways and paths of man may seem right in his own sight, but the steps are ordered of the Lord. It is written in the Old Testament that man looks on the outward appearance while God looks on the inward appearance of the heart.

I would like to relay a story to you. There was student friend of mine who I had met in Chiropractic College who was a Vietnam veteran. While he was fighting in Vietnam he got caught up in the taking, and misuse of drugs. After returning home and considering going to college he decided that he wanted to discard the drugs, so he got involved with Transcendental Meditation. His dedication to the meditation techniques was the one thing that helped him overcome his habit. He then got involved in nutrition and the purification and care of his body-temple. When I met him he was in TM for about four years. He was raised a Catholic, as I was and so we had a common ground in things of spirituality. As I began to witness to him he would come up with questions that were really hard to answer and I had to dig a lot to get the answer for him. This fellow-student exemplified more love than most Christian’s that I knew at the time, including myself. He was honest, sincere and non-religious. He really was a blessing to me in many ways. Yet, I kept witnessing to him about the Lord. He always listened sincerely and intently. One day I was walking across the parking lot and he came running towards me shouting my name over and over again:

“John, John, boy have I got something to tell you.”

“O. K. Vinny, shoot, but take it easy, slow down and catch your breath.”

“Well, last night while I was in meditation Jesus appeared to me and really shocked me. I said what is it, Jesus?” And, he said, “I want you to go to your friend, John and let him show you the way. I will bless you and you will have the answers you are seeking.” Well, needless to say he left TM and became part of a New Testament church. What a wonderful testimony to the grace of God. God truly looks on the sincerity of heart, no matter where the person is in his quest for the Truth.

The Western world has thrown out the baby with the bathwater, because the Christian world has had enough light to recognize the false gurus, etc., but has not had enough light to go in and take those principles that were usurped. This is why I am stressing this particular step with its deep mysteries, so that you can seek the Lord for revelation and confirmation. So you do not have to spook or scare, or draw back in fear of the enemy, because he may have what rightfully belongs to you.

The other important key to remember regarding all of this is that the false teachers, guru’s, avatars and masters claim that you have to work your way UP to God. The Word became flesh, do not say in your heart that Christ is in the abyss, that is to say, that you must reach down to bring Him up, or that the Christ is in heaven, that is to say, that you must bring Him down. For the Word is nigh you, even in your heart. We do not work our way up so as to produce a righteousness that comes from such workings—that comes from the self. We appropriate His righteousness. It is His righteousness not ours. And it is His righteousness at work in us. It is the gift of God, through faith lest anyone should boast that he did it apart from Christ. It is God who is at work in you to do and be of His good pleasure.

One of the most blessed disciplines that taught me this step was the fact that the Lord spoke to me to wait before Him, and I waited before the Lord for seven months, to the day. Each morning I gave myself to it, and did only what was absolutely necessary otherwise. Before I was through, revelation truths had been given me were tremendous. The people I had be overseeing suffered, because I did not know enough to give the babes the milk and to keep the meat for myself, and I started giving the people everything God was giving me. Sometimes I was plagued by a sense of conscience, thinking that I should be doing other things, but God seemed to take care of the people as I gave myself wholly to waiting on Him.

There were times in my life in waiting upon the Lord when I had fasted some seventy days, other times thirty and forty day fasts were ordered of the Lord, and there were many other times of fasting. Throughout my life fasting has really established so many things of Spirit in my life. So I also encourage fasting when it can be done. You do not have to jump into a seventy-day fast or even a twenty-one, thirty or forty day fast. Start with just a meal if you like until you can condition your body to fast for longer times. Maybe go for a day, and then at some point when you are ready attempt a three day fast. You can do multiple one day or three day fast. I was in my mid twenties when I did my prolong fasting. Actually, would not recommend fasting prolonged periods unless the Lord really calls you to it. Sometimes, group fasting with a united worship and focus can accomplish great things in the Spirit. There are a number of excellent books on the subject written by naturalist physicians that you should look into before considering fasting.

If elders and the ministries of churches would wait upon God for about a month, only seeking the face of the Lord, waiting before Him and rejoicing in Him at the end of that month the churches would be better off than if everyone got busy without any leading of the Spirit. If we waited upon the Lord, our actions would really count because we would be doing what God wanted us to do. Blank out the flood of thoughts that comes to you from your conscience, and just woo the Spirit and let God speak. Tune into everything He has to say. Remember, you do not have to necessarily focus on the doors of consciousness. If you can be still within your mind, silent and listening for God you will have achieved a great deal in making strides to hearing the Still Small Voice more clearly. Even if you begin with only five minutes a day and then work up to three, four, five or more five minute intervals a day you will be taking control and disciplining your spirit to hear the Still Small Voice of recognition and realization. That is, you will be opening your awareness as your rise in consciousness and the Lord’s voice will become clearer and clearer to you. You will excel in revelation.

The process of waiting on the Lord in meditation and contemplation, apart from doing the same with the Scriptures, is to be a way of life for us. Waiting on the Lord is not to replace the Scriptures—It is too give more impetus to them. If anything I see it is that this walk in the Spirit will progress to more dedication to waiting on the Lord.

Before coming to any service there should be a setting of time aside to wait on the Lord, even if be for only a few minutes, although a half-hour or an hour would be more apropos, especially to the elders and the prophets. We are all to be participators in the services and not spectators. If you give yourself to waiting on the Lord as outlined in these lessons you will find yourself receiving confirmation in the services, through the teaching Word, the prophetic flow, encouragements and even through the spontaneous psalms. So, as we come together there will be such a flow of worship and prophetic utterance. The Word will come more alive and effective. Our spiritual faculties will develop greatly and we will be those seer-prophet-priests of the Kingdom.

5.) Practice select tuning: This step follows very simply. As you learn to receive from the Lord, other things are activated within you. You will receive thoughts in your own mind, and you own imagination will start working. First, you must watch it that you do not get so relaxed that you go to sleep. If your body is tired, ask the Lord to give it a quick charge. Then lie down, sleep one or two minutes, and you will be wide and awake to go ahead. There are fantastic things that you can learn of control and letting yourself draw the strength of the Lord. Basically, this next step is, knowing how to sift, sort and evaluate the impressions and/or picture thoughts that are coming to you, that are rising on the screen of your consciousness. Once you open the window toward Jerusalem and everything starts flooding in, you will not know whether it is from God, from the false, or even from your own heart. It is at this point that you have to hear the voice of the Lord and learn how to use a system of fine select tuning: sift/filter out what is coming; sort it, and learn how to evaluate it.

To illustrate what you are looking for in this step, we could use the example of a well. As things come to you, drop them in a well. Some will make a false sound. When something hits the bottom of the well, you can hear its ring on impact. Dropping coins on a table is another illustration. When you hear that certain ring, you know that the coin is pure silver and genuine. If it has a flat lead sound to it, you know that it is not pure silver. Down deep within you heart, you are looking for that sure inner witness. Many voices can attempt to come through, but you are focusing and raising your spirit above the collective unconscious, and so you are listening for the one that the Holy Spirit illuminates and makes alive. When you find it, you know that it is the word of God. You hear it then echoing and reechoing within you, as the Holy Spirit amplifies it, and you find it rising to the surface of you consciousness with a conviction that this is the word of God. You will have to give yourself to practicing, because this is the difficult step. It sometimes takes years to perfect, but the results are beautiful and worth every bit of effort and discipline.

As you learn to wait upon the Lord, and impressions begin to come, there is a way by which the Holy Spirit amplifies that little signal, until it has the ring of the voice of God. You learn to listen to it, but even that is not enough. You sift, sort, and evaluate: you sift all that comes, your sort it over, and you evaluate it with the understanding that you will end up with something from the Lord.

6.) Prove all things through a process of confirmation: Everything should be confirmed. The confirmation may come through several channels. It may come by repetition from the Lord. During a focused period of waiting on the Lord, the first day you may get something that really sounds like the Lord. The next day the same thing comes, even stronger. Maybe the third day it comes again and again. You have a dream and it comes in that dream. Someone approaches you and says, “I was praying the other day” (and you find out it was at the same hour you were praying) “and the Lord witnessed to me that a certain thing is going to happen.” This is more confirmation.

Sometimes it can come as it came to Gideon (Judges 6:36-40). You want a word confirmed, and so you put out a fleece and begin looking for the Lord to answer and bring confirmation by circumstances. Sometimes you will not know how it is to be confirmed; you just keep seeking. Sometimes when you know that you have really heard the Still Small Voice you just let go and the when and where of confirmation presents itself. When it does you immediately recognize it. Other times you see the confirmation before it takes place and then you move into the situation, such as ministering to someone and the whole scenario shown to you on the mount of revelation is confirmed, right there in that very moment of time that you are experiencing. It is like a conscious déjà vu’, i.e., not blurry as is noted by the common definition, but in full clarity and awareness. Your memory is triggered to the scene the Lord showed you when you were waiting on Him. It is really a kick. I love it. This is true synchronicity. And, what joy it is to know that you have this relationship with God that grew out of your disciplining yourself in sweet communion with Him.

Never neglect seeking or anticipating confirmation. Because of human error, God always confirms His word. At the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word will be established. (II Corinthians 13:1). This is a principle.

Never become an authority in your own sight. The first time an impression comes to you, do not receive it as the absolute word of God. I have received a great deal of wisdom from the Lord (I say this humbly) but I keep checking and asking God for confirmation. I do not go by one incident. I ask for it to be confirmed again and again because I know if God speaks, confirmation will keep coming. The false can come and so imitate the voice of God that the first time you hear it, you could almost be carried away with it. Always wait for that repetition. The enemy cannot bring the same word to you a second or a third time because by then you yourself are too focused upon the Lord to be deceived.

The false can only imitate God and try to present a facsimile, but the only time he can bring repetition is in the case of mental illness. When men, women, or children are neurotic; they will have recurring dreams with certain patterns. The same fearful dream will occur night after night, but he cannot do it as long as the mind is healthy, and the spirit is tuned to God. Satan cannot do this but God can. In the Old Testament, as well as the New, when men had prophetic dreams, those dreams would come to them two or three times. God speaks and He confirms and reconfirms. That is what you are looking for.

Be open to the process of confirmation -- prove what you have received in the way of impression and/or dreams. No matter how sure you are that you know the voice of God, do not skip this process. This is the safe procedure. Even when you reach the place where you are sure you can tell the difference between your imagination and the voice of God, still look for God to confirm His word and reconfirm it and reconfirm it. This gives safety. It give us the sureness we want so that we are not stumbling along making a big mistake, thinking God spoke to us.

Reach in with an appropriating faith and believe God to send the ministering Dream Angels to you in the night season. Say a pre-sleep prayer and then commit your spirit to the Holy Spirit. Your Guardian Angel and other angels that work in harmony with the Holy Spirit and other messengers of God and/or your inner Master will protect and guide you in the dream state.

There is a very humble woman, a real prophetess of the Lord who the Lord commissioned to entering into the mysteries of the dreams. This woman was somewhat like Enoch; as a seer had been shown many principles in regard to dream symbols, archetypes and deep mysteries of the power and purposes of dreams. The name of the Book is: “Watch Your Dreams.” I acknowledge this book because it came into my hands as a direct confirmation to what the Lord was revealing to me and bringing me into in the way of dream symbols and experiences. In studying the book many of the symbols, archetypes and mysteries were direct confirmation of what the Lord had brought me through.

You should have a pen and paper handy or a tape recorder by your bedside, so that when the Lord brings a dream you can record it or write it down. Keep a diary and check it every couple of weeks. You will find that your outer life is a product of the ministry you have been receiving in the dream state, and you will find that you have been receiving instruction in the dream state (where you spirit is free and unencumbered by your mind and physical body) to explore the inner worlds of God’s Kingdom. There is much to learn in regard to dreams and the processes by which the Holy Spirit can instruct you.

In further regard to confirmation; the Lord may have told you something, but difficulties come by the presumption of not follow through, not looking for the word to be tested, and not submitting it. You must wait for confirmation. Galatians 1:12 informs us that Paul received his gospel by revelation. No man taught it to him. He received it directly from the Lord. In fact, it is very possible that Paul was taught by ‘visitation’ of the Lord. Or, that the Lord by the Spirit may have taken him (like He did when he snatched up Ezekiel in the Spirit) to the inner realms where he could have been instructed by angels. It almost sounds like an arrogance, for him to believe that out in the desert of Arabia God had given him this word. Paul might have decided he did not need anyone else—apostle, prophet, or teacher—but that is not what happened. What did he do with all of this revelation? He came back and submitted all the revelation to those who were apostles before him, less by any means he had run in vain. That is real submission.

Bring what you have to the brothers and have them either confirm it or disallow it. Remember also, that you have a right to a greater confirmation. By this I mean; if you believe you received a revelation from the Lord and then submit it to a brother and the brother does not agree with it, yet you believe in your heart that you truly heard from the Lord, then you can still approach other brother’s for confirmation. Just be sure that you are not sincere and humbly submissive in your approach to further confirmation and that you are not just trying to find someone to ‘agree’ with you. Anyone can continually ‘search’ until they may find someone to agree with what they ‘believe’ they have received. But, it takes a humble spirit, honest with himself to receive accurate confirmation. You must be willing to ‘let go’ of what you ‘believed’ to be revelation for what the Lord may speak through the mouth of two or three witnesses. Also, remember that you can receive a revelation that might be an introduction to a further unraveling of a total picture, and this may be further confirmed to you in the company of two or three witnesses. We are not out to inhibit or discourage your sincerity in seeking the Lord—we want to help establish you in the faith in any way we can. The Lord has given definite principles by which we all are attempting to move in as best as possible. As long as the one submitting revelation and the one’s assessing it walk with an honest, sincere and contrite spirit before the Lord, then the atmosphere for confirmation will remain pure. Any time somebody comes and says the Lord showed him a truth, but he will not submit that revelation to the elders and ministries of the church, you can be sure that he is off. An arrogance that does not open itself to the Word of God is spiritual anarchy, and it will lead people to spook or scare. The route of confirmation is not that easy to follow, yet we are commanded of the Lord to follow it. Let us always lay things before one another for confirmation. No one person is to be considered the end all, be all to revelation. No one is to be considered the super-spiritual one (s) and that includes myself. In our submission to one another, we are looking for confirmation and we are endeavoring to prove all things. You are not to despise prophesying, but you are to prove all things. The prophecies will come, the revelations will come, but they must be confirmed, reconfirmed and proven.

I have never seen in the Scriptures that God rebuked any man because of his carefulness in this matter of confirmation. I have heard ministers insist that Gideon was full of unbelief. God had told him to do something, and he could not believe it; so he put out a fleece. The first time the fleece was to be wet and the ground dry, and the next time the ground was to be wet and the fleece dry. That way he would know that it was God speaking to him. (Judges 6:36-40). We can still do this today. In some way, God has to create a miracle in circumstances to confirm to us what we believe is a word from God. When Gideon had finally finished, he had a word from God that he could not dispute, because it had been confirmed a second and a third time by a fleece. Then there was nothing for him to do but to go full steam ahead. However, Gideon was not doing this because of unbelief. He was doing it because he wanted to be sure.

God always honors an honest question when it comes to revelation. It is our quick presumption, jumping and running before the word is confirmed, that always leads to disaster. When God speaks, let us stand still until we are sure that it is God speaking. If we are going to stand upon it, sooner or later we will go through something like Gideon went through. He was facing a mob of Midianites, with thirty-two thousand men in his army. The Lord spoke to him again. This time Gideon knew His voice because it had been confirmed and reconfirmed.

“Gideon.”

“Yes, Lord. (I know His voice. Now, that is the Lord.)”

“Gideon.”

“Yes, I’m listening, Lord. What is it, Lord?”

“Ask the people who are afraid, to go home.”

“Hey, all you guys! Are any of you afraid to battle? Go home! He did not expect anyone to leave, but suddenly it looked as if everyone was going. Out of thirty-three thousand, twenty-two thousand left. “It is a good thing I know the voice of the Lord, or I would be shaken up now.”

“Gideon!”

“There is that voice again.”

“Gideon.”

“Yes, Lord, I’m listening.”

“There are still too many. They will say that they gained the victory instead of the Lord. Now, you take them down to the brook and test them. The ones that throw down their armor and start drinking the water, those you cannot use. Anyone who will satisfy his own personal thirst at the price of spiritual vigilance is not a good soldier. But the ones who keep looking around for Midianites, hanging onto their swords and their shields, those are the ones we can use.”

“There aren’t many of them, Lord.” Only three thousand out of thirty-two thousand were left. It is a good thing Gideon put that fleece out at the beginning because now he was beginning to wonder, “Was that really the voice of God?’

Any time you make haste slowly, you are putting yourself in a position where you know the voice of God and you can face the things that are going to come at you. When you get a revelation, check it out, and check it again, and recheck it; then get it reconfirmed. Get the anointing upon you again and again and again. Go ahead: say, “Excuse me, Lord; one more time.” And the Lord plays the record one more time. “Pardon me, Lord, but just once more? I want to be sure. I want to be very sure.” It is better to be sure than sorry.

Ninety-nine percent of the time confirmation comes at the MOUTH of two or three witnesses. But the “mouth” of confirmation can also be two or three experiences. If you are in rebellion and the Lord is dealing with you, (perhaps I should say that the Lord leaves you to yourself, since in your rebellion you may have taken yourself out from under his covering) you may go out for a drive somewhere and have a slight accident. You think nothing of it. Then you go to the store and park you car in the lot and come out and find another dent in it that was not related to the other. You begin to wonder what the heck is going on. You go home and park it in the garage and as you are pulling out the garage door falls on it. That is when you know that that it is time for some introspection and that you had better seek the face of the Lord and find out what exactly the message is for you.

This also works on the positive side as far as synchronicity is concerned. You walk down the street and it’s cold and snowing, and you see that a homeless person needs a jacket. So you take off your jacket and give it to him. You walk to the corner and someone else, whom you do not know comes up to you and hands you his jacket. You put it on, go down the street and see another homeless person who needs a jacket, so you think, “why not” and give your new jacket to that homeless person. You walk a little further and the same thing happens. Do it enough times and you may end up with a really expensive jacket. Everyone chuckles.

There was the time when I was speaking to a bible study class about ‘entertaining angels unawares.’ Two days later one of the people who had attended the class spoke to me of how he left the house early that morning to go to the bank and there was still dew upon the lawn. He didn’t have much of a grass lawn as it was easy to take care of, even with a push mower. When he got to his car to unlock the door a stranger approached him who was a vagabond and asked him if he could spare five dollars and that he would cut the grass for him. This person turned to the bum and said, “Believe it or not I do not have any money on me. In fact, I am just going to the bank right now.” Just after saying this he looked down on the ground and lying there was a five-dollar bill. He said he didn’t it see then when he was reaching for his keys to open his car door, and that he should have because it was so conspicuous. He picked up the five-dollar bill wondering where it had come from and handed it to the bum. The man thanked him humbly, turned and began to walk away. After taking a few steps the bum, stopped and turned to the person who had given him the money, just then the person for some unknown reason stopped at turned to the bum, their eyes met and the bum’s brown eye’ were now blue. This caught the attention of this Christian person so he watched him as he walked down his sidewalk. The bum then turned into an alley that was next to his house. The Christian decided he would follow him down the alley to see where he was going. No sooner did the bum make the turn that the Christian walked over to the alley entrance only to find that the bum had vanished. The time taken from his car to the alley was only a few seconds. And, there were no places in the alley that the bum could have ducked into. Two days after that another person who had heard my teaching on angels unawares had a similar episode, only the ‘bum’ was outside of a grocery store needing food. She felt a very strange sensation about this person. She could hardly stand in his presence, and felt strongly that she should give him her groceries. She did and he thanked her and walked away. Just then within a few seconds a friend approached her and so she turned her head from watching the bum for a brief second. When she turned again to see where he had gone—he was gone. So the `mouth’ of two or three witnesses can also refer to confirmed experiences, as well.

The law of witness was used in the judgment of men in the Old Testament. One man’s testimony or witness could not bring a man to death. If one man killed another, and a witness said, “He killed him,” that was not sufficient proof. There had to be two men who had seen the killing. There always had to be two or three witnesses to establish the guilt.

7.) Take a focused action on the Word you received:

Your action must correspond to your faith. James tells us, “Faith without works is dead.” The Weymouth translation uses the expression, “Faith without a corresponding action.” The works that you want are not just any works; they are actions that correspond to your faith and to the Word of God. Suppose you receive a Word from God. You must act upon it as quickly as possible. It is not enough only to receive a word. As the word begins to come through to the human spirit by the medium of the Holy Spirit through this process just described, and it is confirmed and established and you learn the voice of the Lord, then you must take a step on it and act upon it. If you do not, that revelation flow will sink back down from the spirit level into the soulish realm where everything becomes erratic and you no longer know God’s voice.

If you follow all of the previous steps and you finally are getting revelation from the Lord, it will not last long if you do not act upon it. You must take action. If God move upon you once in a while, and you get symptoms or signs and you do nothing about them, you had better start, even if it is nothing more than reaching your hand out to pray. Act in some way. Take an action corresponding to what God is saying and to what you are believing will take place by what the Holy Spirit has been showing to you. That keeps the revelation up in the realm of spirit and lets it really flow. If you do not act, the word will sink into another level and you will lose it.

The ministry is not being given for you to hold any endowment of God in inactivity. The passivity of inaction is disastrous to faith. Faith always has to be active and aggressive. It must be obedient. It has to act with corresponding action. Inaction upon a word may have caused you to lose out many times. It may be only a simple thing that you do. You may reach out to take part in the faith, in the prayer, in the ministry, or you may go to an individual and say, “The Lord showed me something about you and I believe He wants to heal you.” You do not even have to follow through all the way yourself. Get the elders to pray with you. In some way you can act upon what God is showing you, and you can always do it humbly.

Simply the fact that God showed you someone’s infirmity does not make you a prophet or one who does not need someone else. Get other brothers to pray with you because in that way everyone is participating and entering in, and the will of God is being done humbly and simply. Action upon the word will lead you into a real process of obtaining revelation, spiritual perception, and discernment. It is a tremendous way whereby God can cause the whole word to flow to you. The gifts of the Spirit are the outflow of that action, whether it is the gift of the word of wisdom, the word of knowledge, or faith. You seek it first and then it will express itself in any one of the nine gifts afterwards. But this is the way by which it comes to your first.

8.) Exercise daily: This is the daily application of all the steps. Hebrews 5:14, speaks of those who are spiritual, who through use have their senses exercised to discern good an evil (truth from error or falsity). The babes are those who do not have their spiritual senses exercised. The spiritual senses must be exercised and used; there must be a constant consciousness and awareness developed within you. You cannot turn them on and then turn them off like a water facet; you have to learn to live with them in a constant flow. If, I were someone who was working on a schedule of eight hours a day, five days a week I would set apart a time both in the morning and in the evening for waiting on the Lord. I would divide the time between morning and evening, so that I went in fresh to work and at the end of the day I could renew myself. And, whenever I had a day or two free, I would apply myself wholly to it until the process became very real to me and I was exercising myself in it daily. I would work around the distractions of a very exacting time of employment by this constant application and constant exercise until it became a way of life, and until even in my work I would be getting the discernment and revelation. Exercise your gift daily.

9.) Explore your gift, but channel it carefully: Find out how you can effectively use your new gift. For instance, find out what the revelation is coming for and what you are supposed to do with it. Maybe, the Lord through His angels and ‘radiances’ (anointed, Master, teachers, etc.), is teaching you in the night season through your dreams about how you can be a healing to others in the outer and the inner (spirit realm). Sometimes, the Lord may take your spirit, pick it up and place it in battle, or as part of an intercessory group to stand in the gap for a certain breakthrough (s) needed. Or, maybe He is setting your spirit free to travel to Africa in the spirit and take authority over the principalities and powers that are holding that place in conflict, and maybe you will find your spirit fighting with the angels there. Or, maybe you will find your spirit has been projected into the future in regard to bringing a Word to others, to healing, etc. This is quite scriptural, Christ said: “I go to prepare a place for you, so that where I AM you will be also.” You may be tuning into the Lord and the next thing you know, find you are not only tuning in to the Lord, but to a brother, and a flow begins to come. You may sense that the brother has a real infirmity, but what is behind it? Is it a demonic battle he is going through? What are you to do about it? If you are an elder then go and lay hands on him; but if you are not an elder, start praying for him. There are many ways in which you can channel and explore the gift. There is a great diversity in the operations and administrations of it. What I see in the Lord may not be the same as what you see, and the way I act upon it m ay also be different.

Everyone has a different ministry, and the way you minister and what you do has to be learned almost by experimenting. You experiment and you check the application of what you learn and receive, but always very carefully channel it in God’s will— Your purpose is not for yourself, nor for your ambitions, but to do the will of God. You learn to be faithful as you keep working at it. This is not a complicated procedure. It is just a matter of giving yourself to do the will of God. You could sit in church and hear many sermons on gifts, but it is those who hear a simple message like this and start moving in it who will become the effective ministries. Work at it! See what you can move in. We do not need more theory. We need to practice these things and to let them begin to work for us.

10.) “Enlarge the place of your dwelling (consciousness). Lengthen your cords and strengthen your stakes” (Isaiah 54:2): Constantly build up your faith and strengthen it. Keep expanding your consciousness and vision as to what God can do. When God gives me a blessing or an endowment, I always stop and think. “What could this mean to God’s people in the future? What could the word of wisdom or the word of knowledge that God has given me mean in the days to come?” It means that the basic gifts of an apostolic ministry could bless hundreds and thousands of ministers in churches all over the land. What do I do in the meantime? Sometimes those things are so far off, and yet there is a danger of living in the future so that you never get anything in the present. Always take a little definite step now toward the fulfillment of the vision.

I know that a lot has been covered in this lesson. Pray about what has been said. Seek the Lord about it. Look for confirmation. But more than anything do not let the enemy scare you out of your inheritance. Do not let fear hold you back from entering and taking what belongs to you. There may be ten who come back with a bad report, and only two with the faith to go in and take the land. Do not let that ‘grasshopper’ complex get a hold of you. Where you stand is holy ground and know in your heart, that everywhere your foot shall trod is holy ground and that God has already given it unto you. “Lord how should we pray?” “Ask, believing that it is (already) accomplished and it shall be given unto you.” You see, the asking is nothing more than the alignment in consciousness of what already IS in God.