Do you know what the
opposite of the wind
is? Careful, this is a trick question.
Black is the opposite of white. Hard is the opposite of
soft. Cruel is the opposite of kind. These are easy, but what is the
opposite of the wind?
Did you guess calmness? No, that is
not the answer we are looking for.
How high must we travel to find that place where the wind is not blowing? How
far south, north, east, or west must you go to find that place where the wind
ends, and no longer exists? Obviously, these are mysteries. The wind is
something that we really cannot fully comprehend. Therefore, it is
impossible for us to accurately define it. Every person is so many inches tall,
and so many pounds heavy, but who can weigh and measure the wind?
Who can comprehend the boundaries or the dimensions of the wind? The wind
possesses many elements of mystery. We cannot fully define it. We cannot grab it
with our hands, and we can not hold it in a container. As soon as we try to put
it into a box, it magically disappears. It is there, but we can never master it.
No matter how hard we try, we cannot turn the wind into something predictable,
or something we can contain within certain boundaries. Jesus declared that God
is Wind (Spirit). It is no accident that the Greek word for
spirit
-- also means
wind.
The Divine Being is very much like the wind.
Modern prisons are nearly always
constructed out of concrete blocks. A concrete block is 16 inches long, 8 inches
tall, and 8 inches wide. You can measure it. You can define it. You can hold it
in your hands, and examine it careful. Unlike the wind, it is visible, and as
hard as a rock. The wind is light, concrete blocks are heavy. Bricks have
definite definable dimensions, the wind does not. Bricks are easy to see and
believe in, the Sacred Wind is not.
Bricks
are very much the opposite of the
wind.
When people reject truth, they get error. When they reject light, they get
darkness. When they reject the Sacred Wind, they get bricks! To run from God, is
to run toward bricks! Bricks and the wind are like north to south, and east to
west. They are total opposites! Bricks are man-made, but the wind is
Creator-made. The person headed north, has turned his back to the south. The one
traveling east, is not looking west. Similarly, when one faces the Sacred Wind,
his back is turned to the bricks -- and to all the inventions, creations, and
works of man. However, the one who embraces bricks, has turned his back on the
Sacred Wind. Spiritually, that which is brick and that which is wind are
totally opposite. One cannot kiss bricks, and face the Sacred Wind. Spiritually
speaking, the one is totally an outward matter, the other inward -- we are
Temples inhabited by an inward Wind.
The very first pages of the Bible
refer to bricks in a very negative way. In Genesis 11:1-9, the Sacred
Wind was displeased when men decided to make bricks, and use those bricks to
construct the giant tower of Babel. In the next book of the Bible --
Exodus -- the Sacred Wind is grieved by the brutal enslavement of the
Hebrew people in the brick camps of Egypt. In the first two books of the
Bible, those who use bricks are at odds with the will and purposes of the
Divine Wind. Bricks and wind simply do not mix.
Bricks are the opposite of the wind! They are of a completely different nature
and makeup. The Great Wind has always desired a sanctuary, but His temples
cannot be constructed of bricks. Bricks are contrary to His nature, completely
different, and the opposite of His very essence. Within the house church
movement, many have made the claim that there are no 'church buildings' in the
New Testament. This is not exactly true. The apostle Paul taught that our bodies
are to be Temples for the Sacred Wind. Jesus taught that His Father would make
his dwelling (or abode) with us. Thus, we see that the Sacred Wind does have a
Temple, only it is not made of bricks. The Temple of the Almighty is an
organism, and not an organization. Even as a plant is completely different from
a brick -- the one made by the Creator and the other by man -- even so the
Divine Temple located in the center of our being is completely different from a
house of worship constructed out of bricks. We must search for the Divine Wind
in the very center or our center. This is where we are to find the Wind. He does
not dwell in houses made of brick.
Today, many people are caught up in
bricks! The Bible records the following words of Jesus: "The wind blows wherever
it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and
where it goes. So is everyone who is fathered by the [Sacred] Wind! [John 1:8,
SLV **Note: In Thayer's Lexicon, the first definition of
spirit
is wind.]
Jesus describes those fathered by the Sacred Wind as being unpredictable. The
very nature of the Wind is unpredictability. You can try to carefully define the
conduct of the wind, but it will defy you. You do not know which direction it
will blow, how hard it will blow, or if it will even blow at all. The conduct of
the wind is not something that can be defined, analyzed or measured. The
wind is something to be experienced, and not something to be defined. The same
is true of the Sacred Wind. Bricks on the other hand are totally
predictable. They are easily defined and measured! The
Sacred Wind
and
bricks
are totally dissimilar. They are opposites.
Christendom has been brought into a state of chaos and turmoil because man is by
nature brick centered rather than Wind centered. In Babel -- according to
the ancient story -- a colossal tower of bricks caused mankind to become all
divided and confused. Men could no longer communicate, nor understand each
other. Spiritually speaking, the same is true within the brickdom of
Christendom. When these brothers start trying to define God and all of His ways
-- He is this many inches tall, this many inches wide, this many inches long,
and He weighs exactly this much -- they soon become all full of debate and
division. Christendom has become divided a thousand ways because men have tried
to define the Wind -- that which defies definition, and which should not be
defined. You can define bricks, but the Sacred Wind is to be experienced rather
than turned into a list of intellectual explanations -- a neat pile of
theological bricks.
Many have fallen spiritually into the
error of Babel because they essentially believe that discipleship is a matter of
learning to correctly define spiritual matters. They do not understand that the
Sacred Wind, His ways, and nature do not lend themselves to definition. The Wind
cannot be understood by acquiring theological knowledge. The Wind can only be
understood in a limited way by experiencing its movements. No matter how
much time one spends in the presence of the Wind, the Sacred Force will always
remain a mystery of unpredictability -- even as Jesus declared that
no one understands
where it comes from or where it goes.
[John 3:8].
The Bible declares that Jesus was made perfect and learned obedience through
suffering. Whenever this Divinely orchestrated suffering occurs, rest assured,
the great power of the Sacred Wind is directed to that one. Discipleship is a
matter of taking a cross, drinking a bitter cup of suffering, and being called
to a heart full of pain. This is where and how discipleship occurs. The one who
wants to experience the Sacred Wind, must expect suffering and trials. If you
want manmade bricks rather than divine wind, then seek after theological
knowledge. As a result you will end up all divided and separated from other
believers. This is always the outcome of bricks -- trying to turn all the things
of God into definable, measurable, theological explanations.
At Babel the bricks resulted in the
division of mankind. And in the land of the Nile, the Hebrews were abused and
enslaved by their Egyptian neighbors all on account of a mountain of stupid
bricks. Similarly, in Christendom believers are at odds with each other, divided
into different camps, and all confused because men try to define spiritual
matters. It is as if the Pentecostals, the Catholics, and the Baptists all speak
a different language. Babel has returned. Everything is all confused. Things
which are not definable, are turned into bricks -- clearly defined theological
objects. Theologians, declare that they know the width, length, and height of
spiritual matters -- definitions others disagree with. Little do they realize
that the Sacred Wind is too unpredictable and far to mysterious to be defined
and transformed into clever little theological bricks.. The Divine Wind can be
experienced. He can be enjoyed. But he cannot be measured. He cannot be defined.
The Great Wind is not a brick. He has a completely different nature.
The one who wants to experience the
Great Wind must not seek Him among the bricks. His nature is altogether opposite
and opposed to bricks. He is not measurable, definable, and predictable. Even
though He is totally unpredictable, and His nature defies definition, it is not
a difficult thing to find the Sacred Wind. His greatest desire is to abide in
His secret sanctuary -- His Sacred Temple -- located in the very center of ones
center. The one who seeks Him and welcomes him in the very center of his heart,
that one will find and experience the Sacred Wind. The one who wishes to touch
the Wind, must learn to look for him inwardly. One cannot swallow a brick.
Bricks are outward things. The Sacred Wind is not to be discovered by looking
outwardly. The Divine Wind is interested in establishing an internal residence,
an inward Secret Temple -- unseen by the world -- a secret place where one can
fellowship with Him in the very center of ones center.
More than anything else we were
designed to be a Sacred Temple, to possess an inward residence for the Sacred
Wind. How sad that so many are all caught up in the outward things of the world
and religion -- things other than the Sacred Wind itself. They put their eyes on
outward things -- definitions, theological measurements, pleasures, etc.
Unfortunately, all these theological bricks and pursuits by their very nature
point us outward, and away from the inward Temple of the Wind. When one is
focused outwardly, the Wind no longer has first place in that person's life.
Everything which takes our eyes outward is trouble. The Great One is to be
passionately first in our lives. His dwelling place -- His Sacred Temple -- is
inward. Our total passion, love, devotion, and worship must be focused on the
Inward Wind.
There are entire multitudes caught up in the business of finding proof verses
for all their favorite doctrines, measurements, and theological definitions.
Spiritually speaking, this is
building a house of theological bricks.
The disciples who walked with Jesus did not
spend their days and nights drawing up lists of proof verses by which to prove
doctrinal matters. Their eyes were focused on a unique Person, and not a bunch
of theological issues. Even so today, our eyes should be focused on a unique One
-- the Sacred Inward Wind. To do this does not require the ability to read,
theological learning, great knowledge, nor keen intellect. It merely requires
passion
-- a heart which loves the Sacred Wind more
than anything else, and makes that Inward Breeze absolutely the most important
thing in ones life.
The one who gives the Sacred Wind
priority over everything else, that person's journey will be a fantastic
adventure. It does not matter how ordinary or common that person may be.
Experiencing the Sacred Wind surpasses any other experience. Nothing compares to
that. Touching the Sacred Wind has nothing to do with learning Greek, Hebrew,
Latin, or theology. It is not a question of correctly defining theological
concepts, or speaking in the religiously correct way, or saying a certain kind
of repeat after me prayer. Experiencing the Sacred Wind is simply a
matter of allowing the Divine Wind to establish His Kingdom inwardly, and then
turning ones inward focus and passion upon the Sacred Wind Himself. For such a
one whose eyes are turned inward, there will be pains, unbearable sufferings,
and burdensome crosses, but their will also be resurrections. The one who
passionately purposes to live always touching the Great Inward Sacred Wind,
that believer is guaranteed an absolutely fantastic and marvelous
relationship with the Divine Life. For such a person, a marvelous
adventure will take place in the hidden secret sanctuary of the heart.
The famous 23rd Psalm ends with the
following words: "And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." The
intention of the Sacred Wind has always been for us to dwell in His Temple.
That Sacred House is not outward.
It is inward. We have not been
called to dwell on outward things, but to fellowhip and interact with a
Sacred Wind who dwells in a secret hidden Inward Temple of the heart. Today,
the Sacred Temple is inward.
The Bible speaks of an outward Temple
which was built and existed in Jerusalem. That temple had three main parts.
Outwardly, their were enormous courtyards and shady porches. The famous Temple
choir assembled and sang hymns and anthems in these outward courtyards.
Musicians beat on tambourines and strummed their string instruments in these
outer courtyards. Men discussed theology, debated doctrines, and defined
religious matters in these shaded porches. Their was much discussion,
activity, noise and music in the outward courts. Great multitudes gathered
and socialized in these enormous temple courtyards.
However, near the center of these
outward courtyards there was a Sacred Place -- sometimes referred to as the Holy
Place. A few priests entered this room, and daily performed sacred ceremonies
and rites in this room. Even more importantly, at the very heart of this grand
Temple was the most sacred room of all. This room was the Most Sacred Place
-- also known as the Holy of Holies. Only the Highest Priest entered
this room, and then only once a year. The Divine Life dwelt in this room.
Today this outward Temple is a pile of rubble. It has been in that
condition for nearly 2,000 years. However, still today, the Divine Wind
has a Great Temple, only it is entirely different and inward. This new and
better Temple also has a Most Sacred Place -- a Holy of Holies
into which we have access.
This Most Sacred Place is now
located in the absolute center of our center.
We are the Temple!
We have access in this place to the Sacred
Wind. We have something better than theology, something better than definitions,
something better than theological explanations, something better than bricks,
we have Him
-- the one known as the Great Wind.
We have access to the Sacred Wind in the Most Sacred Room of the Inward
Temple where He dwells. Two thousand years ago, when the highest priest entered
into the Most Sacred Room, he did not do so with noisy choirs and ringing
tambourines, but in total silence. The same is true in the most Sacred Place of
our Inward Sanctuary. Turning our eyes inwardly, and resting quietly in His
presence, we are to passionately give Him first place over all other things. The
minute we step inwardly into that Most Sacred Room, we lack absolutely
nothing -- for there we are brought face to face with the Great Wind. To touch
the Sacred Wind in the quiet and stillness of this inward Temple, nothing
surpasses that!