Month: May 2020

I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name. Isa 45:3

I’ve made the same bold declarations to incoming Bethel College freshman for over ten years. My students have been a mix of 18-year old high school graduates and adult learners of all ages.

I hand them the Old Testament (OT) Survey syllabus and -with no introductions- fire away: “This is one of the greatest courses you will ever take in your life! “

“The OT is real, raw, and relevant, and is pregnant with meaning! You will be a different person by the end of the semester!”  

I am sure they are wondering, “who in the world is this guy?!!” By the end of the semester, the vast majority of them believe. 

They believe and become different people because they’ve spent 15 weeks uncovering hidden treasures.

Few Christians have an appreciation for the treasure hidden in the OT. We are going to unlock some of that treasure in this article.   

You see, there is a key that unlocks the door to divine revelation. Before we reveal the key, let’s do a quick review of the past two weeks.

“If God promised to guide you, tell you, speak and declare to you, then why would He make it hard for you to hear His voice?”  (John 16:13-14)

If you desire to become familiar with God’s Voice: 1) be born again; 2) know God’s word; 3) love God’s word; 4) practice a lifestyle of humility; and establish your “need to know.” 

The need to know is critical. God will rarely speak to you if you aren’t going to do His will. Now let’s move forward. The key that unlocks the door to divine revelation is worship.  

The salvation story in the OT begins with a family. Abraham is head of this family. His family endures generations of hardship, struggle, and 400 years of slavery. The family’s emancipation from slavery is also its birth as a nation-the nation of Israel.  

God chose Israel above all the nations on the earth because He loved them, and to keep the promise He made to Abraham. (Deuteronomy 7:7-8) God’s only requirement of Israel was to worship Him. Jesus summed up all of the instructions given by the OT law and prophets:

 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ (Mark 12:30-31)

Here Jesus describes what worship to God is, and those who set their hearts and minds to worship Him, unlock the door of divine revelation.  

Those who enter the storehouse of God’s riches are not impressed with themselves. They are humble servants of God eager to express their worship to Him by serving others.  

Worship involves giving thanks to God out of a pure heart. Worshippers actively pursue God. They desire to know Him.

Some think of worship as singing, dancing, shouting, praising, serving, etc. They are correct because worship to God can be expressed in these ways.

But outward expressions only become worship when their intended purpose is to give glory to God. Allow me to transition here to address some important related issues.

The way people describe worship can draw people near to God or repel them from God. Allow me to explain.

Over 20 years ago, our church’s prayer ministry was led by some great women of faith. I was blessed by their leadership, but I occasionally struggled with the way they described worship. 

I did not want to be rocked in “Daddy’s Arms,” feel a “warm embrace” or have God “kiss me on the cheek,” etc. Now there is nothing wrong with these expressions, but our examples and illustrations must be more inconclusive.

Admittedly, for years I viewed worship as being soft and feminine. I struggled relating to their very genuine expressions of their love for God. As a prayer leader myself, this attitude toward worship hindered me, but I grew and learned.

In the OT, men of God worshipped Him on the verge of battle, and during mortal combat. Men of God also worshipped God in the aftermath of bloody conquests.  

These men were not waiting for a warm embrace. Their acts of worship included combating fear, accepting risk, caring for wounded comrades, and shouting chants of faith like: “let God arise, His enemies be scattered!”

Ultimately worship is an inner attitude that finds outward expression. What expressions does God like? He likes and receives authentic expressions of your love for Him.  

Strive to express your devotion to God in ways that reflect the person He has made you to be. Be Real!

Worship is the thread that ties together OT figures that God spoke to regularly.

As noted previously, you can worship in singing, in the playing of instruments, in dancing, in prayer, in the giving of thanks, and in the lifting of our hands to honor God.  

You can see acts of worship in expressions of faith, in the giving of material possessions, in self-sacrifice, and in boldly speaking God’s truth to unreceptive individuals or audiences.  

The motivation of worship can be judged by this one standard: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and, love your neighbor as yourself.”   

“I will give you hidden treasures, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the LORD, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.” ( Isa 45:3)

Worshipers receive God’s hidden treasures, and riches stored in secret places. Worshippers know God.    

Cultivate the art of hearing from God by worshipping Him daily. Next week we will reveal more hidden treasure that relates to hearing from God. Exciting times await. Until then, God Bless! Press On!! Kevin

God is in the “intelligence business.” He grants access to some and restricts it from others. The proud and arrogant will not hear from God.

I graduated college and entered the Military Intelligence branch of the Army in May, 1977. There are aspects of the intelligence business that are secretive and behind closed doors. It is a world of protections, protocols and security procedures. 

Classified information is safeguarded with different levels of protection. If you meet the right security clearance requirements, you can access the information.  

There is one critical question regarding your access: Do you have a “need to know?” Upon reflection, I have concluded that God is in the “intelligence business.”  Allow me to break this down for you. Here we go.

I remember those Sunday mornings back in 1979. I used to walk up to her door to pick her up before church. I’ll call her “Sister E.” I had a brand new 1979, Metallic Red, Cutlass Supreme.  

I always held the door for her and treated her special. Church services would end and I often gave her a ride home. It was all normal. After all, I was 23 years old and single.  

I’d gotten saved in Korea in 1978. In January 1979, the Army reassigned me to Fort Meade, MD-near my home in DC. I had a plan. 

I was going to find a church, find a Spirit-filled young lady, get married, leave the Army in three years, and serve God.  Well, I found a church. Now on to phase two!

Months after I began picking Sister E up, I had no dates, purchased no ring-nothing. I tried to be charming. I went to church wearing those tailored-made suits I purchased in Korea, had the fancy car, etc. 

I should add that I also had a full head of hair back then and a mustache too. Bottom line: despite my best efforts, my plan was not coming together.

Before I go any further, I should probably provide an important detail. You see, Sister E was easily in her 70’s. My driving her to and from church was for other reasons.  

I was looking for someone much younger if you know what I mean. I picked Sister E up because I couldn’t stand seeing her struggling to walk up the hill to church on Sunday mornings. Funny how God works.  

Sister E was different. She told me that folks at the church did not like her. I noticed that she did not fit in well with the other seniors. 

She had an unpleasant body odor; perhaps that had something to do with her relationships, but I think there was more to it.

Anyway, some things were evident about Sister E. She loved God. She loved serving God, and…Sister E heard from God regularly.  

I don’t want to offend my Pentecostal brethren, but I never heard Sister E speak in tongues, but I’ll tell you this. The Holy Spirit spoke to Sister E. 

As I mentioned last week, Jesus said “He (the Holy Spirit) will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me (Jesus), for He will take of what is Mine, and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-14) 

I believe God occasionally speaks to believers and unbelievers. God spoke to Sister E regularly. Sister E is an excellent case study for those who want to cultivate the art of hearing from God.  

God is in the intelligence business. He grants access to some and restricts it from others. The proud and arrogant will not hear from God.

Jesus said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and have revealed them to babes.” (Matthew 11:25)

The Apostle Paul said it this way: “God will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” (1 Corinthians 1:19)  

Coding is used in the intelligence business to conceal secret information. “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, And He will make them know His covenant.”  (Psalms 25:14)

During World War II, the German military used the “unbreakable” Enigma coding machine to pass along its war plans. Unbeknownst to the Germans, the British broke the code, saving untold Allied lives and shortening the war.

Parables were one of Jesus’ favorite coding methods. Jesus would hide eternal truth right out in the open to display His preeminence over all.   

The disciples asked Jesus why He spoke in parables. Jesus said “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but others are not.” (Matthew 13:11)  

Sister E’s case study reveals that you must first know God to hear from God. We come to know God through confessing with our mouths the Lord Jesus and believing in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. (Rom 10:9-10) 

You must not stop at salvation. Salvation is the entry point. Sister E loved God, and so much so, that she became His disciplined follower-a disciple. 

She established a relationship with God and became familiar with His voice.

How did Sister E come to know God so well? She came to know Him because she came to know His Word-the Bible. She came to love God, because she came to love His Word.

Sister E also became familiar with God’s Voice because she established her “need to know.” She established her need to know because she went about doing God’s will. Those who set about their own plans and purposes will not become familiar with God’s Voice.

Sister E would periodically give me Bible verses on scraps of loose-leaf notebook paper. Those paper scraps were priceless.

She would say, “Brother Willis, the Lord “vealed” (revealed) this to me the other day. Those verses were always HUGE in my life. Allow me to detour just a bit.

When I was in high school, my small circle of friends included the smartest people in our graduating class. My closest friend was voted “most intelligent,” “most brains,” and “most likely to succeed.” He was also president of the debate team.

As for me, let’s just say I finished in the top 50% of the class. I still have a relationship with my brilliant friend. He has listened to me talk about God and salvation.     

Thank God he attends church but we never connect on a spiritual level. He can be pretty arrogant at times. God resists the proud.

In my 40-plus years of serving God, those who hear God best are the humblest people I know. Sister E was very humble. Remember, she was also a bit of an outcast.

Many who hear God well are outcasts. They don’t fit in with the crowd. Here is another interesting point. Age is not a discriminator.  

God speaks to children and the childlike. Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 18:3)

God is in the “intelligence business.” He grants access to some and restricts it from others. The proud and arrogant will not hear from God.

I picked up Sister E because she was struggling to walk up that long hill. Sister E passed many years ago, but as I write this, she is speaking from the grave through me. (Hebrews 11:4)

If you would hear God’s voice: 1) be born again; 2) know God’s word; 3) love God’s word; and 4) practice a lifestyle of humility. Caution…you may become a bit of an outcast.  

If you desire to become familiar with God’s Voice, establish your “need to know.” Set your heart to make God’s will a priority in your life. Those who need to know are those who do His will.  

Sister E will have more to say in the weeks to come. I hope you will stay through the entire series because I have a revelation about Sister E that you will not want to miss. 

Until then, God Bless! Press On!!  Kevin