Without the Spin
In 2005 I penned a piece that became a chapter in my “Something More” book. Titled “The Fine Line,” I described this “fine line” as it being a dimension found only beyond the portals, having entered the narrow gate of the Kingdom. It taps Jesus’ central message of the Kingdom of God and the deeper things of the Spirit. This fine line is “the dividing asunder between soul and spirit” spoken of in Hebrews. It’s the distinction seen from the results of a walk with God that enters into His rest. From a human stance, it is a mystery accompanying a pathway that is maintained only by speaking truth in our own hearts, in the exchange of His Life for ours.
Discerning the subtleties and distinctions of this “fine line” has become a critical factor to understanding and responding appropriately to the uncertainties of these unprecedented times. It requires reaching for more, beyond the realm that can be obtained by human effort.
For me personally, it has resulted in a serious pause, taking stock of my personal values and basis of faith. There is no question that the years I have spent working with the persecuted church have had a profound impact on me and my perception of spiritual matters. Nevertheless, in recognizing this need in the spiritual atmosphere we now all find ourselves, from the time of my annual spiritual retreat a year ago, I have sought for more … and reordered and raised the bar on the disciplined time I normally spend daily in prayer and immersed in God’s word, along with the time I spend purposefully praying with others.
Within that context, during the last several weeks I have found myself drawn to seeking the Lord for a better grasp of the fine line distinctions of what it was about Elijah’s and Enoch’s walk with God that resulted in their bypassing death.
That dimension of “more” in Him begins with eliminating the spin that erodes and detracts from the purity needed to discern and navigate this journey strategically. There is a modern-day definition of the word “spin” that is frequently ascribed to public opinion or the attempt to influence others. It goes something like: “In public relations and politics, spin is a form of propaganda, achieved through knowingly providing a biased interpretation of an event or campaigning to influence public opinion about some organization or public figure.” Unfortunately, this spin-factor has bled into becoming acceptable thinking and practice within even mature believing circles.
As believers, from the beginning, the core response to God has always been Truth. The spin defiles Truth. Unadulterated, no-spin Truth requires a pure heart, one that recognizes and processes the spin for what it is. It is one of the reasons Jesus warned His inner circle against the “leaven” of the Pharisees and the “leaven” of Herod, the influence of both the religious systems and that of the political systems. It was this distancing from the spin that resulted in Jesus pointing out to His disciples the Centurion as an example of faith that went beyond anything He had seen in Israel.
Unprecedented Times
Enoch and Elijah each lived in unprecedented times. Jesus came as God’s Messiah in unprecedented times. Not unlike those in lands of persecution, the West is fast approaching unprecedented times. Unprecedented times will result in believers doing one of two things. Each will impact their thinking.
Those people of God with ears to hear and eyes to see will pause … and with anticipatory responses, give focus to what is pure and essential with a resolute heart. From these will come the influencers and forerunners, not unlike Joseph and Daniel. Those people of God who fail to see through the veils of the spins, not unlike Peter on the Mount of Transfiguration, will go through hardships until their thinking becomes pure and resolute.
Not unlike the Centurion who clearly recognized his own sphere of authority and influence, coupled with an awareness of the full extent of Jesus’ authority, the times demand that we resist the spin in order to more aptly embrace and wield the Kingdom influence tied to our own authority and assignments.
So it was that after the parting and crossing of the Red Sea that Moses, knowing there was a dimension of much more, went to God, asking that he might truly know Him. Moses said: “Now, please, if it is really the case that I have found favor in your sight, show me your ways; so that I will understand you and continue finding favor in your sight. Moreover, keep on seeing this nation as your people.” [God answered, “Set your mind at rest—My presence will go with you.”] “Moshe replied, ‘If your presence does not go with us, don’t make us go on from here. For how else is it to be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, other than by your going with us? That is what distinguishes us, me and your people, from all the other peoples on earth.’” Ex 33-13-16 CJB
Leadership and the Pathway Marked by Intercession
Moses, as was the case with Elijah and Enoch and David, was a leader grasping the heart and priorities of God, but simultaneously the heart of an intercessor for his people. He had entered the realm of walking with God. In Moses’ quest, as in the lives of Elijah and Enoch, as well as the words capturing David’s heart in so many of the psalms, there was something uniquely pure …. in terms of their response to God and the realities around them. For each it involved facing and surviving encounters with death because in doing so, the level of the focus of their thinking had to be not only unequivocally in God, but strengthened.
So it was, that in describing the wrap-up of this cosmic dynamic that Jesus stated: “Just as the days of Noah were, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.” The days of Noah were a time when people were swept up by the spin, yielded to becoming self-absorbed and blinded from the realities and purity of Truth.
“For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark.” Matt 24:38
The No-Spin Standard for the Season
Luke makes another comparison with the wrap-up as it was during the days of Noah, adding to it the parallel to when Lot was delivered from Sodom and his wife looked back, with the admonition to “remember Lot’s wife” explaining that “whoever seeks to save his life will lose it and whoever loses his life will preserve it.” Strong words for this season.
Could it be that what we refer to as spiritual maturity is that our thinking and the focus of our perceptions and values concerning God’s priorities … are without the spin … either of our own or that from the leaven Jesus described being offered by those considered the elite.
While what I have sought to better understand from God’s perspective …. in what it was that prompted the Lord to pull Elijah and Enoch into eternity without experiencing death, the reality is found in the simplicity of the pure and resolute heart that recognizes and embraces God for who He is, without the spin.
One of the sadder examples in scripture of the impact of this spin was when in the Gospel of Luke that Jesus, having already achieved notoriety, spoke at a synagogue in His hometown of Nazareth. The people there were blinded by the spin of this being the carpenter’s son.
Jesus’ response was to expound upon the faith of two Gentiles who also lived within unprecedented times: Naaman the leper and commander of the Syrian army; and the widow at Zarephath who God sent Elijah to during the famine that was underway during the time of Ahab and Jezebel. Not unlike the faith of the Centurion Jesus pointed to, both Naaman and the widow each believed, followed by them walking in the wake of the influence of the authority of their assignment.
The Times and the Focus of Our Thinking
The times emerging are unprecedented. They call for much more than what was required even a handful of years ago. The added dimensions begin and end with our thinking and the issue of the focus of our trust and faith …. which determine our priorities and hope. Jesus announced His earthly ministry with the words: “The Kingdom of God is at hand.” Both recognizing and not yielding to the leaven being offered both internally and externally, there is a need to identity the influence of the spin in our thinking, instead resolutely reaching for the purity of a Kingdom mindset.
We get a further clue about Enoch and Elijah transcending death from the impact of the time Moses’ spent with the Lord. Scripture tells us that the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Following the transgressions of God’s people during Moses’ first sojourn on Sinai, in Exodus 34, Moses subsequently intercedes for his people with God establishing a new covenant with them. The times that followed when Moses was spirit to Spirit with God made his face shine, becoming a reflector of God’s presence and authority.
Likewise, when faced with unprecedented, life-threatening challenges of the king’s edict concerning his dream, Daniel whose life-long strategies in interceding for God’s covenant people have become models for this day; immediately sought out his most trusted companions to collaborate with in seeking God together in prayer for the needed answers. So it will be in establishing trusted, prayerful alliances for this season now emerging.
Beyond the Narrow Gate Portals
It all goes back to the opening statement about the fine line being a dimension found only in a context beyond the portals of the narrow gate, in having entered the domain of God’s Kingdom.
All of which has resulted in global preparations and alignments now shaping under-the-radar and strategic, divinely coordinated assignments for this season. Let me illustrate the significance of these assignments. Not presuming on the extent of these developments, after having spent roughly a decade of working in Israel, along with a number of sub-Saharan nations emerging from the oppression of colonialism, in 2008 the doors opened for us to begin work with the persecuted church in Asia.
While in prayer at that time, pondering the relevance of the range of these unique segments of God’s people, I captured a glimmer from on-high of the potential represented of a time when there would be an alliance between the persecuted and oppressed segments of the Body that would serve in the restoration of Israel.
With that thought in mind, there is now underway global preparation and alignments toward the goal of birthing mutually exclusive but interlocking assignments that are to serve in the restoration of Israel. The prophet Isaiah (Isa 43) spoke of times when, from the most unlikely places, that the Lord would birth new things.
Systematically what God has been doing in Israel since Israel became a nation in 1948 has dovetailed with moves of God’s Spirit and assignments in the Church resulting in quantum leaps forward. The coordinated, Spirit-directed efforts that result from serious clashes in Israel combined with these moves of the Spirit from the Church in 1948 and 1967 is again at the cusp of another key juncture. Rather than wild speculations and the spin from either the world or misguided but internal sources and precepts of God’s people, it requires the fine line discernment that will come only by getting the alignments right of the needed preparations, assignments and alliances of what the Lord is now orchestrating.
Again, from the prophet Isaiah (Isa 30) we glean the importance of drawing our strength from a quietness and confidence of those fine line distinctions that follow the entrance and focus that result after … having resisted what Jesus warned of concerning the spin of the precepts of men, is to be found having gained full entrance into the Kingdom domain.
Doing so reshapes our thinking and perception of reality. It harnesses mysteries that release righteous power in a corrupt world. It no doubt will trigger kingdom clashes and face-offs involved in this seeming timeless struggle between good and evil. Its application and key to overcoming requires operating as a culture within a culture in our assignment as Kingdom game-changers.
Not unlike the days of Joseph and Daniel, this fine line balance will penetrate and pervade religious and governmental seats of power, economies and cultures. From a human perspective, this Kingdom stance is an anomaly in which true life is found by dying to self. It goes against the grain of standard human effort as we lead by serving, we gain by generosity, order results from change, we bless when cursed, wisdom is found in simplicity, and success is nurtured by humility and service. The lynchpin is in bestowing honor that one of the older translations more aptly refers to as being done through charity.
All of which requires the exchange of His life for ours, the fear of God, and brutally speaking truth in our own hearts … without the spin.
In conclusion, the God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. In other words, we must be looking beyond the institution and the too frequent spins tied to the church as an institution …. as we align and discern what will result from the no-spin preparations needed for the post-Covid parallels to what the Lord released during the late forties and late sixties.
Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were four horns. And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these?” So he answered me, “These are the horns that have scattered Judah, Israel, and Jerusalem.” Then the LORD showed me four craftsmen. And I said, “What are these coming to do?” So he said, “While these are the horns that scattered Judah, so that no one could lift up his head; the craftsmen are coming to terrify them, to cast out the horns of the nations that lifted up their horn against the land of Judah to scatter it.” Zech 1:18-21
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Morris Ruddick has been a forerunner of the Joseph-calling and God’s economy message, being an international voice for the higher dimensions of spiritual game-changers and intercessors since the mid-90s. As founder of Global Initiatives Foundation, the Strategic Intercession Global Network [SIGN] and designer of the God’s Economy Entrepreneurial Equippers Program and the Jewish Business Secrets YouTube series, Mr. Ruddick’s messages equip leaders and economic community builders with strategy where God’s light is dim in diverse regions around the globe.
He is author of “The Joseph-Daniel Calling;” “Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations;” “The Heart of a King;” “Something More;” “Righteous Power in a Corrupt World;” “Leadership by Anointing;” and “Mantle of Fire,” which address the mobilization of business and governmental leaders with destinies to impact their communities. They are available in print and e-versions from www.Amazon.com, www.apple.com/ibooks and www.BarnesandNoble.com.
Global Initiatives Foundation (www.strategic-initiatives.org) is a tax-exempt 501 (c) 3 non-profit whose efforts mobilize economic community builders imparting influence and the blessings of God. Checks on US banks should be made out to Global Initiatives and mailed to 3838 South Wabash Street, Denver CO 80237 or by credit card at https://strategic-initiatives.org/donate/
2022 Copyright Morris Ruddick — info@strategic-initiatives.org
Since early 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has mobilized prophetic intercessors and leaders committed to targeting strategic-level issues impacting the Body on a global basis. For more information go to https://strategic-initiatives.org