The revelation of my purpose

Let me disclose that I planned in my heart to quit blogging altogether as I feel that the world is such a place that blogging one's views is highly likely to affect one's economic survival. Yet, a prophet told me in the summer that God wants me to be courageous and I am not to be cowardly. He cited unto me the scripture from Revelation 21:7-8

7"He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.8"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

Since summer, I have been looking for a confirmation of that word, as I have felt that God can not violate his own legal precedent that a word is not established until confirmed by two witnesses (Deuteronomy 19:15). As such, I took it not likely when the Adventist Church began studying the book of Jeremiah, the unwilling prophet. The gist of the lesson is that the people and rulers of Israel were so bent and hardened in their ways of wrongdoing that God told Jeremiah that he would harden him to deal with the people and that even though they would persecute him that God would be with him. In summary, Jeremiah 1:17-19 says:

17 “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. 18 Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. 19 They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 1:17-19)

Another part of the lesson that actually affected me was this text in Jeremiah 20:9:

But if I say, "I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name," his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot.

In the above text, even though Jeremiah felt disturbed by the reaction of the people to him and his proclamation of God's word, there were times that he could not keep silent. God's message to him was such that he felt he would burst if he contained it. In my case, this is exactly how I feel when I see injustice.

The following text in Jeremiah 1:5 has also hit me like a brick:

"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."

The above text reminds me that all human beings, from before their birth or neonate state and even before conception, have been carefully thought out by God and given something to contribute to the nations. Before we came into being, God designed us to do something on the earth.

These scriptures are an important pretext to what I will now disclose.

Query and Response

On November 14, 2015, I reflected in my journal:

The basic question of who am I and what is my purpose returns to haunt me. What did God design e to do and be? How is he using events and experiences to shape me for such purposes or mission?

You will then appreciate my surprise when on the morning of November 16, 2015, approximately 3 AM I had this dream where I stood before a male and female gifted at reading marks on human beings to tell them what the marks foretell of their design and purpose. The persons examined a mark on my forehead and indicated that "You are designed with Moses-like qualities. You are designed to see problems and be moved to address them." The pair also indicated that I am designed to be a just ruler and better designed to rule with equity than most persons.

While I have been kind of afraid of my dream, in that I usually see people who read marks on human beings as being palm-reading sorcerers, the fact that the dream came after I wrote in my journal settles to me that the word is from the Lord. It also explains why I am always examining events, laws and actions in the world for fairness and justice.

Another confirmation as well as is the fact that it is God who gives dreams. Job 33:14-15 says:

14 For God does speak—now one way, now another—
    though no one perceives it.
15 In a dream, in a vision of the night,
    when deep sleep falls on people
    as they slumber in their beds,

In addition, God speaks in his word of putting marks or seals on people's foreheads (Ezekiel 9:4). Consequently, I perceive that this dream signifies something important for me to consider. While I am not in the legal field to be a judge, I do have a special role as a spokesperson to highlight problems and issues of equity, justice, and fairness. I, therefore, rest my case.

Getting the message in my condition

With the miracle of Thursday night, I was expecting full recovery by weekend. So I went to work on Friday. However, my flu-like condition plagued me all Sabbath, despite the absence of the fever and headache. I was left with coughing and sneezing. I felt extremely cold and put socks on my feet, and warm clothing. I even covered my head. Each time I felt that I was getting better, some symptom or the other reminded me that I was not yet "out of the woods".


I missed church (did not want to carry my germs into a public gathering, especially where there are infants and newborn babies.) To keep up with my spiritual food, I decided to visit Chabad.org just to read from their website anything that would impact my Torah understanding.


In one article, I read about a Chassidic practice, "set forth by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, that "From everything that a person sees or hears, he should derive a lesson in his service of G-d"" (Bolton "Tightrope"). In another article "The Chase" with a consistent belief similar to the aforementioned statement also reminded me that I need to look into my everyday life situation and reflect on them for spiritual lessons. I have not done that all day. Both articles however reinforced that I needed to extract spiritual meaning from my temporal life, so that I can reconnect[or connect] with God. (On this viewpoint, I will need to write an blog entry by itself).


I also viewed Taub's vlog, where a stick man in the video walked up to a ladder with a sign that read "Free Awesome stuff at the top of this ladder". The stick man did not want to climb the ladder, but stepped back, ran up and tried to jump to get to the top of the ladder.


These articles and the video clip that I watched, however, did not become alive with meaning for me until later in the night whilst my wife and daughter were asleep and I was up alone.


It is in this quiet time of solitude that God revealed to me that this illness was a way of getting my attention. He wanted me to reflect on my illness and get the spiritual lessons that he placed in it for me. The illness was indeed my opportunity to pause and do spiritual accounting. God did not just want to heal me immediately, so that I could go back to my extremely busy routine, where i kind of sidelined personal time with God in order to achieve "more urgent and pressing" career goals and objectives.


He wanted me to stop me and get my attention, so that he could get me to refocus. Thus, the first step to doing this was for God to reveal to me the need to focus on the spiritual issues in my condition, and extract from it. It is God's desire that we all look for spiritual meaning from the mundane and temporal. After we do this, we open ourselves to realms of revelation about God that we were previously closed to.


So when I began to look for the lessons in my condition, God was able to reveal to me that I just wanted instant healing to get MY work done and meet temporal deadlines. However, God wanted me to stop and refocus my priorities for him and HIS work. God wants me to take each day at a time, build character day by day and to go through my life by drawing on my relationship with him.


Heavenly Father,
I hope I got the lesson or message right.
And I share this now that someone else will get the message.


References:

Bolton, Tuvia. "The Tightrope." Chabad.org Stories. Shabbat, Kislev 11, 5770. November 28, 2009. http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3146/jewish/The-Tightrope.htm

Taub, Dovid. "The Ladder." Stick Figure Vignettes Chabard.org Shabbat, Kislev 11, 5770. November 28, 2009. http://www.chabad.org/multimedia/stick_figures/default_cdo/aid/773649/jewish/The-Ladder.htm

"The Chase." Chabad.org Stories. Shabbat, Kislev 11, 5770. November 28, 2009. http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/1043183/jewish/The-Chase.htm

The spirit of wisdom and revelation

Name of Fellowship: Mona Baptist Church
Location: 4-6 University Meadows, Kingston 6
Date: June 14, 2009

I attended the Sunday school, where the theme of the Lesson study was: "Power for Living", Lesson 7 in the quarterly Caribbean Bible Lessons: Walking Together Vol 4 No. 3 (2009):25-27. This lesson was written by Mrs. Zoe Simpson from Jamaica, a member of the Missionary Church in Jamaica.

The lesson study focused on a discussion of G-d's power and the power available to Christians.

However, as we read Ephesians 1:17, I was able to share and learn from G-d through our interactions about wisdom and revelation.

Wisdom - is the rightful application of knowledge. It is determining the right information or action that is needed or appropriate for the situation, problem or the time. You can have knowledge, but it can be wrongly applied. You can apply the wrong knowledge to a situation. Thus wisdom goes beyond knowledge and the recall of information, to the ability to act or speak correctly when the situation presents itself.

Revelation - on the other hand is the the gaining of knowledge without formal teaching. Or the gaining/acquisition of information and knowledge that you would not otherwise know. Thus, this type of information or knowledge acquisition is supernatural. For example, you misplaced something, and have no clue where you put it. Then all of a sudden, a thought comes to your head that tells you the exact location of the loss item. When you check that location, you find the loss item.

In the text Ephesians 1:17, the apostle prays that the church receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation so that they can know G-d. In this lies an important truth that theology ignores. Ironically, the very word "theology" claims to be the study of G-d or the knowledge of G-d. Yet, the apostle indicates that there are only two paths to knowing G-d. While one can study about G-d, and graduate from theological college, that by no means qualify them in knowing G-d.

Knowledge of G-d is not the end result of study, teaching and learning. Knowledge of G-d cannot be taught via a formal process or curriculum. Knowledge of G-d comes from the rightful application of what is studied as well as via G-d's supernatural intervention. As JESUS stated in John 6:44 (New International Version)
44:

"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day."

The knowledge of G-d is hidden and only G-d chooses to whom he reveals it. In addition, G-d chooses whom he will teach.

Thus knowing G-d is hardly something of our own personal effort. It is important though that we study, so that we can have knowledge from which G-d can draw on to teach us and give us wisdom.

Christianity and Judaism should both be about the studying of word and doctrine, for future information retrieval and application. We should study G-d's word before we understand it. We must constantly and diligently study the scriptures to prepare us for G-d to give wisdom. He will use our previously studied information and knowledge from the Scriptures to teach us. We do not know when he will give us wisdom, but we must always be prepared.

For revelation on the other hand, we can do nothing to receive it, apart from live out what we already know, so that we appear faithful stewards of what G-d has given, so that he can entrust us with more than we already know.

For today and for the rest of your life, may you receive the spirit of wisdom and revelation that will increase your knowledge of G-d.