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Who Wants to be a Millionaire?God speaks to us in many different ways. Usually, those ways are subjective, not like a voice thundering in the air for everybody to hear. God’s voice is usually intimate and personal, not public. That’s why we need to discern the source of communication and evaluate the biblical accuracy of what we are hearing. Most of us who believe in Christ are familiar with the witness of the Spirit in our hearts– God’s still, small voice. But there is more. There is the logos word: eternal, unchanging, forever settled in heaven, the "it is written" of the Bible, the standard by which all other words are judged. Then there is the rhema word: the "now" word of the Spirit, guidance intended just for us, for our present moment, but not necessarily true for everybody, everywhere, for all time. This personal guidance comes as we inquire of the Lord, often after we ask Him to help us. This requires interactive prayer. Prayer is a dialogue with a Person. Prayer is praising God, then asking for what we need, then quietly listening. Listening involves expectancy as we pay attention to heaven. If we’re not paying attention, then we’re not truly listening. I learned that lesson from my wife! We only value another person to the degree that we listen to what they say. An attitude of expectancy and honor, giving attention to the present moment, is when guidance usually comes. How does this guidance from God come to us? For myself, I am often given Scripture verses in the Bible. They just pop into my head. I expect this and have prayed for God to speak to me according to His Word. I have helped this process by memorizing many passages. But the Lord frequently (in fact, customarily) uses images or pictures to communicate. The Bible calls these types of words dreams or visions. They are an indication of the Spirit’s activity in the church. (Acts 2). Of course, the Lord can also talk to us through our circumstances. But God’s most common method of giving a direct divine word to a human being (besides the Bible) is through the medium of pictorial images– a picture projected by the Holy Spirit into the mind’s imagination. (God talks about this experience for prophets, people with a gift of sensitivity, in Numbers 11.) God has built into all human beings an "imaging" capacity. We can see by the mind’s eye. Our minds store ideas as pictures. This ability to graphically visualize is a neutral ability, neither good nor evil, just human. This is one of the things that sets us apart from animals. This "seeing" capacity can be defiled, as it was in the days of Noah when everyone’s imaginations became unclean. Or, it can be sanctified. Prophetic people have made choices to keep their "whiteboard" clean so God can paint His pictures on to their minds. We can dull our spiritual vision by persistent sin, desensitize our spirit by overloading our thoughts with junk, or harden our hearts by bitterness. Or, we can increase our ability to see by the Spirit by worshiping Jesus, by meditating on God’s Word, and by living in continuous grace and truth. Right now there is a tremendous contest for the minds of young people. Satan wants to seduce our youth to employ charms and speak spells. These actions are not part of God’s holy ways. The Harry Potter movies are a primary example of this. This is witchcraft– manipulating people and events by using psychic powers or demonic forces. But just because the imagination is misused doesn’t make it wrong. When Jesus preached to crowds of curious people, He used word pictures that they readily understood. He painted pictures of fishermen, storms, houses being built, sheep, lions, wedding scenes, and servant girls with oil lamps. Pictures captured their imaginations and communicated truth. The Holy Spirit still utilizes this technique today. We can share in God’s vision if we can "envision" what He says. Visual aids are a good communication tool. So when I tell you that God talks to me through movies, don’t be offended. In fact, Hollywood is often more prophetic than a lot of the church world. For example, the movie "Matrix" painted a picture of another dimension in an uncanny way that paralleled the biblical revelation of two kingdoms. Most young people got it. Not long ago, the Lord spoke to me through "Pearl Harbor." Remember the American soldier who signed up to fight with the British? He could have avoided or postponed battle, but he felt called to be involved. My wife and I have volunteered for overseas combat! Earlier this year, we left the comfort of home and family after pastoring for thirty years in the States. We enlisted for duty on the mission field. Or, more accurately, we responded "Yes!" to the Holy Spirit’s call. Now, there are two other pictures I want to share with you that illustrate a timely truth which I believe God is speaking to me and to the whole church today. These came alive to me as we recently ministered in a supporting church in the USA. I preached a message for the first time entitled, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?" In America, everyone is acquainted with a popular televison show by that name starring Regis Philbin. I felt like the Lord was asking this question of us: "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" In other words, there is an opportunity now available for sudden wealth. Did I say that God also speaks to us through circumstances? Sometimes those times are quite dramatic, like when Balaam’s donkey turned and talked to the prophet. Other times it is a matter of being in the right place at the right time and noticing something significant. For example, I have watched the "millionaire" show all the way through only three times. Yet each of the three times I have seen it, someone went all the way to the top! That show has not had all that many million dollar winners. My experience of being a witness to three such episodes was beyond mere coincidence. Why? Because God was talking to me about wealth. The second visual word picture came from an older movie, "L’il Orphan Annie." That delightful musical portrayed a little cheerful girl who was taken out of an orphanage and adopted by a very rich who lived in a mansion. The man was named "Daddy Warbucks." When I saw this movie years ago, the Lord spoke to me out of it, a word-picture which He recently brought back to my mind. What the Lord said was this: "During times of war, there are opportunities for promotion." And, "There is money to be made when you help finance the war effort." You see, times of war require a different kind of leader than times of peace. Background, training, and character traits that are overlooked or unnecessary in peace may be sought after and valuable in war. Winsome personalities aren’t as critical in the heat of battle as visionary foresight and resolute determination. We are in a new spiritual season in the church of Jesus Christ. The times have changed and we need to discern the new season. In this new season, a new breed of leader is now being called for, the apostolic generals and the prophetic seers. Their type of gifting and their mode of operation is different from patient pastors or scholarly teachers. They are designed by God to engage and defeat the enemy. They are men and women of war, not of peace. They are bored by safety and stirred by risk. It is in their DNA to take new ground and liberate captives. If this is on God’s timetable for the church, then the practical question is, "How do we finance this operation?" The answer is, "Daddy Warbucks." God has an end-time transfer of wealth is store for the church. That transfer is not for everybody, but for those who will support God’s soldiers, His servants involved in the war effort, laboring to defeat Satan’s works and extending God’s kingdom. I suppose that’s why the apostle Paul could make extravagant promises to his partners such as, "My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory." (Phil 4) That promise was made to Christians on the home front who had teamed up to support apostles on the battle front. This is a day of opportunity for promotion and wealth. Those who get it will be given to much prayer and to taking new ground for God, driving out devils and liberating captives. Why? Because war has broken out in the heavens. Years ago, as a young lad of fourteen, I wanted to buy a .22 rifle so I could hunt rabbits. I remember it was an Ithaca single-shot lever-action saddle gun. My mother said, "You’re too young. It’s too dangerous." My father said, "If he can raise the money, he can have the gun." I got a job mopping floors in a nursing home for the elderly and saved my money. That rifle killed hundreds of cotton-tails. Then I needed transportation to keep that job, so I wanted to buy a motorcycle. My mother said, "He’s too young. It’s too dangerous." (Indeed, motorcycles ARE dangerous!) My father said, "If he can raise the money, he can get it." I borrowed money from a bank (with my brother’s help), and started driving that motorcycle to and from work and school. I was only sixteen. After that, I wanted to go to the Bahama Islands to preach when I was eighteen. My mother said, "You’re too young. It’s too far away." My father said, "If he can raise the money, he can go." I raised the money and spent the next three summers preaching from island to island in the Caribbean. That was my boot camp in God. My dad kept using the acid-test of money, the reality-check of finances, to see if I was capable of doing what I was dreaming. I think our Heavenly Father is similar. In South Africa, we have a dream– a team of men and women, blacks and whites, who model reconciliation in Christ and can help heal the nations. We need land, vehicles, talented people, property, and a vision to make it happen. As we faced the opportunity to go the mission field earlier this year, I heard my Father in heaven saying, "If you can raise the money, you can go." We all face these kind of reality checks, even in God’s work. Is our faith up to the task? Can we form a coalition that will empower us to deal with the enemy? Are we willing to work together as a team? Before you build, before you go to war, count the cost. This doesn’t work just for preachers. Some of the greatest works of faith are now being done in the marketplace. Our labor and our vocation is a gift from God that enables us to extend Christ’s kingdom. You see, all work is holy when done as unto the Lord, for God’s glory. He’s the Owner, we’re merely servants. Work is not secular, not if it is done in faith with a desire to please God and an intent to use our riches to help spread the gospel. In this season of extravagant grace and abundant gifts and enormous opportunities, while a spiritual battle of cosmic proportions is engulfing the world, God is asking us, "Who wants to be a millionaire?" And He is taking down the names of those who volunteer. Ron Wood www.touchedbygrace.org THE ARCHIVES
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