There’s a reason for our starting
this Lifebyte with the poem below. Read it slowly so you can
fully grasp its key points.
STEP BY STEP
“As thou goest, step by step
I will open the way before thee”
(Proverbs 4:12a, New Translation).
Child of My love, fear not the unknown
morrow,
Dread not the new demand life makes of
thee;
Thy ignorance doth hold no cause for
sorrow,
Since what thou knowest not is known to
Me.
Thou canst not see today the hidden
meaning
Of My Command, but thou the light shalt
gain;
Walk on in faith, upon My promise leaning,
And as thou goest, all shall be made
plain.
One step thou seest — then go
forward boldly,
One step is far enough for faith to see;
Take that, and thy next duty shall be told
thee,
For step by step thy Lord is leading thee.
Stand not in fear, thine adversaries
counting,
Dare every peril, save to disobey;
Thou shalt march on, all obstacles
surmounting,
For I, the Strong, will open up the way.
Wherefore go gladly to the task assigned
thee,
Having My promise, needing nothing more
Than just to know, where’er the
future find thee,
In all thy journeying I go before.
Frank J. Exley
If you’re at peace only when all the
details have been laid out for you before you act, you need to
be reminded that King Jesus gives us only one step of guidance at a time. If you’re looking for the whole plan to be
revealed to you in advance, don’t! He doesn’t
intend for you to see the whole picture, and your frustration
over thinking you’ve missed a detail will make you
despondent and hesitant to obey our Lord. Be assured: One step
is far enough for anyone’s faith to know and obey. Take
that step before you seek the next step of obedience!
The Spirit of Jesus Himself
Guides His Followers
In Lifebyte 52 we quoted Jesus relating
the Spirit to a peculiarity of the wind’s nature: “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You
hear its sound, but you cannot tell
where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone born of
the Spirit” (John 3:8). On what basis does Jesus make this
comparison?
On the surface it seems as though a person
born of the Spirit has no real foundation, as if they’re
adrift like the wind. This is the way those who are not born again
perceive a born-again individual. That’s because those
who haven’t experienced spiritual rebirth are “outcome based”. (So are many who are born again but rely strictly on their soul—their
mind, will and emotions—for guidance rather than on the
Spirit of Jesus within them.)
If you’re outcome-based, you see
something you want and go for it. If you don’t get what
you want, you become frustrated and angry. Many outcome based
people are unable to take just one
step of faith. They’ve got to
have all their “ducks in order” before they act.
But this response only reflects their pattern of relying on
guidance from their sin nature-controlled soul.
On the other hand, one who is truly
born again is “obedience
based”. Because of their
loving trust in their Lord, they seek to obey His will. One step is
enough for their faith to act upon. The born-again person has
the Spirit of Jesus in them, and chooses to obey because of
their trust in their Lord. The consequences of their obedience
don’t have to be weighed, for they know in their heart
that “anyone who trusts in
Him will never be put to shame” (Romans 10:11).
Will the Spirit of Jesus within you ever
let you be put to shame? No! As a result, if you’re
born-again, obedience rather than rationale is key. Since you’re not driven by worldly motives,
people who aren’t indwelled by the Spirit through rebirth
can’t understand you. So don’t get upset when those
without the Spirit of Christ think you’re a fanatic. From
their carnal perspective, you ARE!
We have not received the spirit of the
world but the Spirit who is from
God, that we may understand what
God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words
taught us by human wisdom but in words
taught by the Spirit, expressing
spiritual truths in spiritual words.
The man without
the Spirit does not accept the things that
come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned (1 Corinthians 2:12-14).
• Do you hear the voice of Jesus in
you? Yes or no? If yes, do you readily respond with just one
step of His direction? Describe yourself.
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
“But the word [rhema] is very near
you,
in your mouth and in your heart,
that you may do
it” (Deuteronomy 30:14, apperceived in Romans 10:8).
As the various man-made forms of church
governments developed over the centuries, an important element
of guidance for the early Church was lost. That neglected
element that was so essential to the early followers of Jesus
is rhema, the words from God that
are intended to be acted upon.
In the Newer Testament there are two Greek
terms which mean “word”: logos (law’goss) and rhema (ray’muh).
• Logos represents God’s commands and ways,
forever unchangeable. The Bible is a part of God’s logos which has been
written down for man.
• Rhema is specific revelation given by the Spirit of
Jesus in His followers. Without His Spirit there can be no rhema. Through rhema the Spirit of
Jesus brings a particular portion of the total counsel of God
for man to a particular time and
individual.
“Rhema,” writes Derek Prince, “is like
each of the broken pieces of bread with which Jesus fed the
multitudes; it is suited to each person’s need and
capacity; often it comes to us through another. Thus, we can
see the need for connectedness in the body of Christ, our need
for one another.”
Obedience to
that which is heard was the norm for God’s people in both
testaments. So that man might realize he has a spiritual responsibility that’s just as life-nourishing as his
physical needs, this principle was emphasized: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that
comes from the mouth of God” (Deutero-nomy 8:3, apperceived by Jesus in Matthew 4:4).
The Greek term used for “word”
in both the quoted Romans 10 and Mat-thew 4 verses is rhema. The Spirit of
Jesus in you reveals His will to your spirit so that you will
respond in obedience. To HEAR His Word is to DO it out of loving
response to your King.
A rhema may come from the Spirit of Jesus within you,
or through a prophetic word or word of knowledge from another
follower of Jesus. You may find as you read the Bible that the
Spirit of Jesus inspires a particular verse or passage for you
or deepens a new understanding and application for you.
Just know that your key source of rhema will always be
Jesus through His Spirit in you.
A rhema will provide guidance for one step of faith,
and even for that step of obedience you may not know why. Our capacity to
understand our Lord and His ways is so minute and His wisdom so
beyond our comprehension. That’s why He’s GOD!
‘For My thoughts are not your
thoughts, neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the
Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than
your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts’ (Isaiah 55:8,9).
Man lives “on every word [rhema] that comes from the mouth of God.” The word “comes” is in the continuous
present tense, meaning that it’s ongoing. Another way to
say this is, “We find
spiritual nutrition as we feed in
obedience on every rhema as it
comes out of the mouth of our Lord.”
Our ongoing dependence on the rhema from Jesus is
humbling to our sinful soul. Seeking His rhema is to us what
gathering manna was for the Israelites during the Exodus: “He gave you manna to eat in the desert...to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you” (Deuteronomy 8:16).
Two apostles apperceived Proverbs 3:34
when they cited the need for humility in our relationship with
our Lord: “God opposes the
proud but gives grace to the humble” (James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5). In light of these verses
and the preceding Deutero-nomy one, do you see the connection
between seeking rhema >>> which produces humility >>> which results in grace? If you want grace, then start seeking rhema! And, the
source to rhema is the Spirit of Jesus within His follower.
Note this: Europeanized Christianity teaches that Bible knowledge is the chief
issue. Wherever knowledge of biblical facts has been promoted
and the Spirit of Jesus perhaps acknowledged but not
emphasized, people’s lives remain unchanged. In fact,
Bible knowledge apart from the indwelling Spirit of Christ has produced dwindling numbers of
those who press on. Why is this so?
Because words
alone have no power unless the Spirit of God brings
them to life (see 2 Timothy 3:5)! Think of the people you know
who own a Bible or have even read it yet are unchanged. To
people who are devoid of the Spirit, God’s Word is just a
historical compilation of “good ideas”.
• Describe how earnest you are in
seeking Jesus’s rhema for your life. Describe how you seek and
confirm our Lord’s will.
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
That Which Was Important For
The First Followers Of Jesus
Must Be The Same For Us Today
The Hebraic early Church realized the
significance of pursuing God’s specific guidance. They
understood from the Older Testament that obedience to God’s direction brought blessing
and victory. For example King David
sought God’s specific guidance for his battles.
When the Philistines attacked Israel, David inquired of the
Lord: “Shall I go up against
the Philistines? Will You deliver them into my hand?” And
the LORD said to David, “Go up, for I will doubtless
deliver the Philis-tines into your hand” (2 Samuel 5:19).
On another occasion when the Phi-listines
attacked, David again prayed. This time God gave him a
different strategy: “Do not
go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack them
in front of the balsam trees. As soon as you hear the sound of
marching in the tops of the balsam trees, move quickly, because
that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to strike
the Philistine army” (2
Samuel 5:23,24).
Just because God has provided specific
guidance for a particular circumstance in your life or in
someone else’s does not mean that the same answer will
apply for all situations you encounter. Joshua and his people
were given the rhema to march around Jericho seven times to
gain the victory (see Joshua 6), yet God revealed other
strategies for subsequent battles.
The first followers of Jesus knew not to lean on their own understanding (Proverbs 3:5); that is, they wanted spiritual
revelation, not reason, to guide them. They also trusted that
where there is no revelation, people cast off restraint (Proverbs 29:18a).
Whenever the revelation of God is lacking,
people increase in wickedness. Unrestrained people give ever-increasing vent
to their sin nature, moving along from sinful thoughts to
“secret” sins to blatant, open rebellion to Him and
His ways—all the while rationalizing.
Consider how important seeking God’s
guidance was to the fledgling followers of Jesus who earnestly
came before Him with open spiritual ears:
In the church at Antioch there were
prophets and teachers... As they ministered
to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said,
“Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they
sent them away (Acts 13:1-3).
The rhema from the Lord’s Spirit, His specific revealed will, set apart Saul and Barnabas for their particular
ministry.
You may be wondering how this trusting
dependence on the Spirit of Jesus was lost as an essential
element of Kingdom living. Much of the responsibility can be
laid at the feet of Augustine (AD 354-430). Insisting that
because God was a rational being Who had given mankind a mind
like His own, Augustine taught that we must doggedly pursue
knowing and understanding Him through
the mind. In other words, you cultivate your mind as
the only instrument by which you can know God.
However, God has always sought those who
worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23,24). The union of our spirit with His Spirit first ensures that we recognize the truth of His Word. Then we are empowered by His
indwelling Spirit to choose to obey that Word. The mental
faculties He has imbued in each person are thus subject to His Spirit at work in our spirit so that our will can align
with His. And, His will always coincides with the truth of His
Word.
The influence of Augustine’s
theology caused European Christendom to put their confidence in
human logic and knowledge acquisition. As a result, when
a young man wanted to devote his life in service to God,
monasteries and seminaries required him to spend years studying
prescribed areas of learning such as rhetoric, philosophy,
theology, and the Bible for its content.
Because of the focus on the mind with
little emphasis on the spirit, clerics were trained who for the
most part directed their influence toward others who also had
been highly educated. Those in the pew had no opportunity to
discover their worth as fellow heirs in Christ through their
spirit. Similar to the attitude demonstrated by many scribes
and Pharisees, the clergy looked down upon the “common
masses” but lifted not one finger to help them grow in spirit through His Spirit. This is evil of Nicolaitanism that has
subjugated so many over the centuries.
As is so common today, the spirit is given
lip service but the focus is on the mind — the very area
in which man is prone to deception unless it’s submitted
to the Spirit! Sermons and Bible studies are aimed at
rationally and systematically conveying content to the human
mind.
But your mind alone is unable to move you
to submit as a way of life to the Lordship of Messiah Jesus. Only the
indwelling Spirit of Jesus can bring about that change as you earnestly
seek His rhema on your lifelong journey to salvation.
• Do those who know you well call you
a “Spirit-led person” or one who relies on your
mind alone in making decisions? Describe yourself, then solicit
their input.
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Rhema: A Vital
Power Encounter
With Our Lord
When God reveals a rhema for a specific
purpose, He also empowers the individual involved to fulfill
it. In the New Testament the angel Gabriel told Mary that she
would give
birth to a son who would be called the Son of the Most High
(Luke 1:31). When she asked how she, a virgin, could conceive,
the angel replied, “Nothing
is impossible with God” (v.
37).
In other words, every word (rhema) that comes
from God will bring with it the power
to fulfill His purpose.
Mary’s humble acceptance to willingly obey what had been
told her was faith enough for God to act: “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word” (v.
38).
In the Bible, wherever you find a rhema of God given
and received, you see His spiritual power go forth to
accomplish His will. But be aware. There are consequences when
you receive a rhema and fail to trust it with follow through!
For example, Gabriel also appeared to
Zechariah with the startling message that his wife Elizabeth
would bear a son. Doubt and unbelief filled the response of the
elderly priest as he focused on his mind’s rationale rather than on the miracle-working power of God: “How shall I know this? For I am an old
man, and my wife is well advanced in years” (Luke 1:18).
What a sad contrast to the loving trust of
the humble young woman from Nazareth! That doubt cost him the
joyous testimony he could have shared with others during the
course of his wife’s pregnancy: “But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in their own time” (v. 20).
The will of our God WILL be accomplished;
you can cooperate with Him the easy way or the hard way!
• What kind of Holy Spirit
“power encounters” have you had as you obeyed our
Lord’s guidance? What was the response of those with whom
you shared your testimony of these?
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
• Are you aware of any rhemas in your life
that you failed to act upon? If yes, what were they and what
was the result of your disobedience or resistance?
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Love Your Wife As Christ Does:
Guide Her By Rhema
A married man is commanded to apply the
truths of Scripture to his family, particularly in his
relationship with his wife: “Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her,
that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of
water by the word” (Ephesians 5:
25,26).
“Sanctify and cleanse her with the
washing of water by the word” indicates a
husband’s vital role in his wife’s spiritual
development. “Word” in this verse is rhema, not logos. The husband
is not being enjoined to teach his wife the written logos, that is, the
Bible. His responsibility is far deeper than that.
Our Lord wants a husband to humbly seek
His rhema for their lives together. In this light, he is
directed to both uphold God’s will and guide his wife and
family in a way of life that pleases Jesus (see Ephesians 5:
8-10).
This means he needs an obedient spirit that
follows through with pursuing rhema with the intent of
applying it. Depending on others to
teach his family for him indicates his own neglect of the
Spirit in him. And, that example disheartens his wife and
speaks to his children that Jesus isn’t really the Lord
and King he proclaims Him to be.
• If you’re a married man,
describe the rhema you provide for your wife and how you go about
discerning it. If you’re a wife, how does your husband
provide our Lord’s guidance for you and your family?
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Rhema: The
Sword In Our
Spiritual Battle Against Evil
An essential facet of winning a war is gathering intelligence about your enemy. Many conflicts have been won by
knowing beforehand what the enemy would do and when.
Appropriate countermeasures can then be put in place to thwart
your opponent’s plans and weaken his position.
Rhema from our
Lord is key in our battle against the spiritual forces in the
heavenlies. When you cooperate with the Spirit of Jesus in you,
you are aligning your spirit with the purpose for which He
became Man: to destroy the
devil’s work (1 John 3:8).
Our King provides the guidance for us to
carry on His work against Satan. With-out a solid biblical
understanding of the ongoing battle between our Lord and Satan,
the religious system and its appeal to your soulish self will
prevail. Then your need for the rhema that only Jesus can provide through your spirit
will diminish.
Only through following the counsel of the
Spirit will you be victorious in spiritual warfare. The sword of the Spirit, which is the rhema of God (see Ephesians 6:17) is powerful in combating
the hosts of darkness! The specific applied rhema which the Spirit
quickens to your spirit helps you discern the nature of the spiritual
forces that oppose you in serving our Lord’s will and
purposes. As well, the rhema He reveals guides you in resisting and
defeating the enemy’s agitating servants.
• The devil loves ignorance of his
warfare strategies. What has Jesus shown you about the demons
who battle against you, and any leeway you’ve given them
in your life?
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
Rhema:
God’s Guidance In Leadership
If you aspire to serve as an elder or are
doing so now, be determined in providing those you’re
serving the Lord’s rhema. Only by discerning rhema with those
you’re guiding in Jesus can you help to equip them to
fulfill their purpose in the Kingdom. Our Lord isn’t
short on revealing His rhema, His revealed will for specific purposes and
situations! But He does depend on elders like those He spells
out in Timothy 3 and Titus 1 whose spiritual ears are listening
and whose hearts are open to obediently follow through.
Have you ever heard the old saying,
“Don’t rest on past laurels”? In our context
it means that biblical eldering shepherds can’t get by on
practices and knowledge that may have been effective in the
past or were good for someone else. Just as God’s mercies
are new every morning, so are His plans and opportunities for
spiritual growth for each of His people. Constant diligence and
willingness to seek guidance are needed if you are to know the
mind of Christ for those you serve!
Shepherds who fail to diligently seek His
Spirit’s guidance face dire consequences:
For the shepherds have become
dull-hearted, and have not sought
the LORD; Therefore they shall not prosper,
and all their flocks shall be scattered (Jeremiah 10:21).
• If you’re serving our
Father’s children in leading, how well are you helping to
provide rhema for them? Ask them.
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________
• If
you’re in a faith community whose leadership isn’t
seeking rhema to help guide you, please leave. If you
don’t, your spiritual power will dry up, you’ll
learn how to be religious, and you’ll falter in wholly
serving your King.
Hear Only The Voice Of Jesus
Over the years we’ve encountered
many who ask, “How can I be sure if I’m listening
to the Spirit or a demon? Often I hear two conflicting
voices.” If you’re hearing two voices, be assured
of these possibilities.
1. You have NOT demolished all the
