The 4D Life – Part Seven
The world is full of 3D people trying – and generally failing –
to cope with the circumstances of their lives as they perceive them…
AN EXCHANGED LIFE
meeting in a hotel in Inverness and discovered that the 4D reality of
the 2D word was still available today. That Full Gospel Business Men’s
meeting was a no-holds-barred introduction to the fourth dimension of
life in the Spirit. Everything was going on – salvation, healing, and
deliverance! It was my personal introduction to anything remotely
Pentecostal or charismatic and my hungry and thirsty spirit grabbed it
with both hands!
That night I was baptised in the Holy Spirit and my life was radically
changed and would never be the same again. The lid came off the box and
there has been a persistent resistance ever since to having the lid
replaced! I spoke with other tongues and received the prayer language
that has been a spiritual resource that I believe has enabled me to
receive revelation from God of the exceedingly abundantly above all
that he has provided for us in Christ Jesus, and has caused me to
exchange a life of sin for a life of righteousness, a life of defeat
for a life of victory, a life of sickness for a life of health and
strength, a life of addiction for a life of freedom, a life of
depression and despair for a life of praise and worship, etc, etc!
Tongues are our 4D language! They enable us to pray the exceedingly
abundantly above all that our natural man can ask, think, or imagine
without our mind getting in the way! No wonder the devil hates tongues
and opposes them at every turn!
I want to emphasise that before this experience I was not in a bad
church. I was in a good church where a good man preached a good message
and people were getting saved! The message of "you must be born again"
was being faithfully proclaimed!
But that night in Inverness I discovered an added dimension that I
hadn’t known existed and I determined that I could never rest until the
whole church entered that dimension! I couldn’t wait to get back home
and tell everyone in Lewis that the revival we had been praying for was
available – and more! In my naivety I didn’t realise that there might
be opposition to this message!
Even now, on our island we are surrounded by good churches where good
people are faithfully bringing a good message that declares to the
listener that they must be born again. After all, the most supernatural
thing that can ever happen to you is the exchange of nature that takes
place at the new birth. But if you don’t go on and receive the fullness
of the Holy Spirit’s provision for you then there will be a limit to
your ability to enter fully into the 4D LIFE that God has prepared and
provided for you! Being born again is merely the introduction to the 4D
life, and so if you fail to grasp where God wants to take you in the
power of the Spirit you will at best tread water, and at worst retreat
into a religious cycle of confusion, defeat and despair. Too often
there is a church that is stuck on the fence – straddling the Old and
the New Covenants – and locked into a time warp that celebrates Jesus’
death and resurrection but fails to accept what took place after His
ascension when the Holy Spirit was poured out on an already born-again
and prepared church!
The reason that God and his "providence" are still being blamed for the
death and destruction taking place in our world is generally because of
a failure to access the exceedingly abundantly above all life that
Jesus said that he came to give! It is in the fullness of 4D LIFE that
we enter into victory and understand the reality of spiritual warfare
in the battleground of this world!
From the night that I discovered that there was a 4D reality to the 2D
letters on the pages of the Book of Acts I could never again be content
with the ‘good’! There is BETTER! There is God’s BEST! There is DESTINY
to PRESS ON INTO rather than HISTORY to be LOOKED BACK TO! There is a
DESTINY TO BE OUTLIVED rather than a HISTORY TO BE RE-LIVED!
Are you committed to living outside of the box where 2D word becomes 4D
reality? Are you committed to seeing ALL of God’s people receiving ALL
of God’s fullness and reaching ALL of God’s harvest?
1 Samuel 22: 1 – 2
1 David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of
Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father’s house heard it, they
went down there to him. 2And everyone who was in distress, everyone who
was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he
became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with
him.
What attracted these people to David? The anointing!
What was so special about the anointing upon David? He was a
worshipper! Worshippers attract the anointing and the anointing
attracts others because those who are anointed worshippers have a
supernatural confidence in God’s ability to protect and to provide!
Worshippers have made a DECISION to worship God and submit their whole
lives to his Lordship regardless of their circumstances and so that
DECISION determines their DIRECTION and their DIRECTION will determine
their DESTINY! The DECISION to be a worshipper is the most important
decision that you will ever make as it will DIRECT you to the secret
place of the Most High and seal your eternal DESTINY as someone who
lives in the only place where protection and provision are guaranteed!
And so – as we have seen before – these 3D guys represent real people
in the real world experiencing real problems.DISTRESS – experiencing
anxiety, mental suffering, anguish, those who are in DEBT – with an
obligation to repay something to someone else, and those who are
DISCONTENTED – restlessly unhappy, dissatisfied. The only reason people
are discontented and dissatisfied is that they are living in 3D when
they were designed for 4D! And so, the only cure is to hook up with the
anointing!
Only the anointing – God’s supernatural power – can take your 3D mess and turn it into your 4D testimony!
Remember the definition of a 4D being:
A 4D being would be a god to us. It would see everything in our world.
It could effortlessly remove things before your very eyes, giving you
the impression that the objects simply disappeared. The 4D being can
also see inside any 3D object or life form, and if necessary remove
anything from inside. The being can look inside our intestines, or
remove a tumour from our brain without ever cutting through the skin.
Remember last time – WILL YOU GO? We looked at how Abraham sent out his
servant to find a bride for Isaac. In the same way, God the Father has
sent out the Holy Spirit to find a bride for His Son. His eyes run to
and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of
those whose hearts are completely his.
1 Chronicles 12: 16 – 17
16Then some of the sons of Benjamin and Judah came to David at the
stronghold. 17And David went out to meet them, and answered and said to
them, "If you have come peaceably to me to help me, my heart will be
united with you; but if to betray me to my enemies, since there is no
wrong in my hands, may the God of our fathers look and bring judgment."
18Then the Spirit came upon Amasai, chief of the captains, and he said:
"We are yours, O David; We are on your side, O son of Jesse! Peace,
peace to you, And peace to your helpers! For your God helps you."
Essentially David was asking these guys, "Have you come here for you or
for me?" He was saying, "If you are here primarily for you then you can
never have me!" John the Baptist said, "I must decrease so that he can
increase!" When a woman marries she doesn’t just undergo a "change" but
an "exchange" – she is no longer known by her old surname but exchanges
it for the name of her husband. The Christian life is not just a
changed life – it is an exchanged life!
These men recognised the anointing upon David’s life – that his God
helped him – and so if they wanted his God to be their God and help
them then they would have to help David!
We are all designed to be followers and so we only ever function
effectively as we submit to that role. We need to allow the Holy Spirit
to connect us to and align us with those we are called to follow. I
know that the super-spiritual will arise and say that they are not
going to follow anyone but Jesus, but there is a scriptural precedent
and a God-ordained order that we must conform to if we are going to
succeed in fulfilling our destiny as the church of Jesus Christ. Great
followers become great leaders! God is always looking for those who can
inherit the mantle of those they have followed! Joshua, Elisha,
Timothy, etc were all great followers before they were great leaders!
Jesus called his disciples to follow him while making it clear that he
was following the will of his Father. Paul exhorted the Corinthian
believers to follow and imitate him as he followed and imitated Christ.
Peter wrote to elders and told them that they were not there to lord it
over the brethren, but as examples. What are examples there for? To be
followed!
Every church must have those who are following a leader who is
following Christ. If we are going to have God’s 4D authority and power
manifested in and through our 3D lives then we must remain under
authority or we will break the flow! Remember the centurion whose
servant was sick. His understanding of authority so impressed Jesus
that he declared that he had "great faith". We have neglected to
recognise the link between authority and faith. If we want to see the
"greater works" of John 14 then we must have "greater faith"
and that will mean submitting to God’s order. The other person recorded
in the gospels to whom Jesus attributed "great faith" was the
Syro-Phoenician woman whose daughter was possessed. She had to break
through what could have been considered as a "hard word" or even an
insulting word and persevere in her commitment and responsibility to
see her daughter delivered. Remember when many disciples left Jesus
because of what they decided were "hard sayings". When Jesus asked the
twelve if they were going to take off as well, Peter responded with,
"Where else can we go – you have the words of eternal life!" Great
faith understands that there is nowhere else to go where salvation,
healing, and deliverance are guaranteed, and perseveres even if it
means having to press through words that can be hard on the flesh!
For example, whether we like it or not the word of God says that the
husband is the head of the wife and Christ is the head of the husband.
That is God’s order and because we have often chosen to ignore that
order is one of the reasons that there are so many broken and messed up
individuals and families around.
Headship equals responsibility, and so where husbands have not
submitted to Christ, they have often abdicated their place of
responsibility and authority and so wives have been forced to fill a
position they were not designed for. God’s word to husbands is that
they love their wives. In fact the only time the Word of God says that
it’s okay to love yourself is in relation to husbands loving their
wives. Because in marriage we are made one flesh the scripture says
that a husband who loves his wife loves himself. God’s word to wives is
that they reverence and respect and honour their husbands!
Remember – all human beings see things in 3D – three dimensions –
width, depth, and length. That is why so many can see no way out of
their problems. But God has another dimension that he wants to bring us
into – where he can reveal his supernatural ability – his supernatural
help – to overcome in our 3D world. When we align ourselves with God’s
order and submit ourselves to His Lordship then we are in a place where
his authority over sin, sickness, oppression, etc can be manifested in
salvation, healing, and deliverance.
It is only as we continue in the role of a servant that God can lift us
up and we can experience the HEIGHT of his love as his mercy and grace
flow in our lives. All leadership in the kingdom is servant leadership
and so the day we stop following we lose the right to lead. We are all
leaders and we are all followers but we are only qualified to lead as
long as we continue to follow.
The day King Saul thought he could ignore God’s Word to him was the day
he was disqualified from leadership of God’s people. Who did he blame?
The people! He was supposed to lead the people – they were responsible
to follow him, as he was responsible to follow God’s instructions.
Everything was out of order because when you reject the Word there is
no anointing. The Holy Spirit comes to empower the word and bring it to
pass! When Saul rejected God’s Word he lost his spiritual authority and
fell into illegitimate authority where one has to resort to witchcraft
– domination, intimidation, and manipulation – in an attempt to
maintain control.
And so, the eyes that run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show
himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are completely his found
David the worshipper, and Samuel the prophet was sent to anoint him as
the next king of Israel! David is the man who had the revelation that
the LORD was his shepherd and so this flowed down through his
shepherding role over the people, as Israel was never so stable,
peaceful and prosperous as it was during David’s reign.
How often do we see control in churches and marriages and other
relationships? Whenever someone gets into control it is because they
have rejected God’s word at some point! Remember – what we do to
someone else is always a manifestation of what we have first of all
done to God!
Remember the revelation that Jesus gave to a social reject and moral misfit.
John 4: 23 – 24
23 But the hour is coming, and now is when the true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such
to worship him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and truth.
This revelation turned this woman’s life around as her shame became her
testimony and her decision to become a worshipper caused her to receive
the word that changed her direction and sent her to those who had
rejected her in order to fulfil her destiny as an evangelist!
People recognised that the Holy Spirit’s power and anointing upon Jesus
as he went about doing good and ministering salvation, healing, and
deliverance was the evidence that God was with Him!
Romans 8: 14
14As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God
The Spirit of God will always lead us into God’s order. When God spoke
into the chaos in Genesis 1, the Holy Spirit began to bring order. When
God speaks to a worshipper the Holy Spirit comes to bring light out of
darkness, death out of life, health out of sickness, freedom out of
bondage, etc.
Ephesians 3: 14 – 21
14For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, 15from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be
strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17that
Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted
and grounded in love, 18may be able to comprehend with all the saints
what is the width and length and depth and height– 19to know the love
of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the
fullness of God. 20Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in
us, 21to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations,
forever and ever. Amen.
Where do you get revelation of God’s 4D LOVE? In worship – the place of
intimacy where you open your heart to give your all to him, and to
receive his word and the revelation of his heart. Worship is where the
2D word comes off the page – where it can no longer be manipulated by
our 3D pride, prejudice, and preconceived ideas to say whatever fits
our personal preference – and is made alive in us in all of its 4D
power and reality.
Worship is the highest expression of love. Jesus said that we must love
the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind, and
all our strength.
When we give ourselves to him in worship – as we give all our heart, we
receive all of God’s heart and our desires, our affections, our
motives, and our priorities, etc are exchanged for his. Except his all
is not like our all – his all is exceedingly abundantly above our all!
As we give all our soul, we receive all of his soul and our will and
emotions are exchanged for his – righteousness (the greatest gift of
God’s unconditional love), peace (that the world can’t touch) and joy
(inexpressible and full of glory) in the Holy Spirit.
As we give all our mind, we receive all his mind and our thoughts are
exchanged for his. We begin to think his thoughts towards ourselves and
others – thoughts to prosper and give a future and a hope. Thoughts of
mercy and grace, of healing and deliverance. Remember – his thoughts
are exceedingly abundantly above anything we can think!
As we give all our strength, we receive all his strength and our ways
are exchanged for his ways as we are anointed to receive and to
minister supernatural salvation, healing, and deliverance! Remember Psalm 103!
When Catriona and I were in Toronto in 2004 we received a prophetic
word that the oil of intimacy would become more important than the
flame of ministry. The truth is that the oil of intimacy is the fuel
for the flame of ministry. It is as we love God with all our heart,
soul, mind, and strength that we are equipped to love our neighbour and
are prepared for effective ministry. It as we worship in spirit and
truth that we will overflow into effective evangelism. Many have burned
out because they tried to keep the flame of ministry burning without
the oil of intimacy.
Do you want to experience 4D LIFE? Pray in the Spirit! The High and
Lofty One who inhabits eternity – the 4D – knows the end from the
beginning because he is not limited or restricted by our 3D time!
Because of foreknowledge he was able to predestine and arrange for your
salvation, healing, and deliverance. It is by praying in the Spirit –
employing your 4D language – that you receive the revelation of the
fullness of God’s provision and protection that enables you to access
his power for supernatural transformation.
People have struggled to understand the doctrines of election,
predestination, etc, simply because they have tried to make sense of 2D
words on a page rather than allowing for and accepting the 4D LIFE as
it manifests.
We need to be a people committed to seeing the 2D word become 4D reality!
Just over a year ago the Lord showed me that he was purging / purifying
his body of all that was a hindrance to worship in spirit and truth. A
few days after he showed me this I woke up choking, and with a strong
taste of vomit in my mouth. It was a really horrible experience and so
in the morning I asked the Lord what it was about. He brought to my
remembrance what he said to the church at Laodicea in Revelation 3.
The church in Laodicea were basically a self-satisfied bunch who were grossly deceived and in danger of missing God bigtime!
I believe that God is saying that it is time to purge and purify the
church of every symptom of the Laodicean disease. The Laodicean lie is
that everything is wonderful just as it is, thank you very much. But
God wants us to be a people who are committed to seeing the 2D word
become a 4D reality!
When you think of purging and purifying you tend to think automatically of the big and obvious sins, but Jesus said in John 15
that we are already clean because of the word that he has spoken to us.
We have been declared righteous by his word. It is the revelation of
righteousness that causes you to exchange a life of sin and bondage for
a life of faith and freedom.
Remember – Jesus said that it is those who are already bearing fruit
who are purged. The Lord has been showing me that it is everything
related to SELF that is the major hindrance to worship in spirit and
truth, and so we are going to be purged of all that prevents us walking
in 4D love (heart, soul, mind and strength) towards God and towards
others.
I believe this will be a very personal purging that the Lord himself
will direct in the lives of those who commit themselves to be
worshippers in spirit and truth. He has shown me that he is going to be
dealing primarily with our attitudes and cleansing us of all the
negative attitudes that have hindered the flow of his mercy and grace
to and through our lives!
Personally, I have wrestled with a natural cynicism – an attitude of
scornful or jaded negativity, especially a general distrust of the
integrity or professed motives of others – that is nothing more
than unbelief dressed up in its Sunday best! Cynicism can result in
false judgement and a critical spirit that is a major stumbling block
to the free flowing of God’s Spirit as he seeks to lead us into the
fullness of his will and purpose for our lives. Cynicism can cause us
to miss God!
Several years ago I woke up with a word in my mind. I had heard the
word before but didn’t know what it meant. After a few days of being
unable to shake this word off I went to a dictionary and looked up the
definition. The word was pejorative and the meaning given was having
critical or negative connotations; disparaging or belittling. As I read
it the Lord said, "That’s in you!"
Since then I have sought to show as much grace and mercy to others as
God has shown me, but there is always room for improvement!
I read a scripture recently that really arrested my attention.
John 12: 47 – 48
47And if anyone hears My words and does not believe, I do not judge
him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48He
who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges
him–the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.
That shocked me! Obviously I have read it before many times – but this
time it came off the page and grabbed me! Is this how we deal with
people who reject our words? Is our attitude to continue to reach out
with salvation, healing and deliverance – or are quick to judge and
write off those who are unwilling to receive our message?
At the end of the day we will all be judged by the plumbline of God’s
Word and according to how we responded to what God said to us
individually.
Our responsibility in communicating the message is to ensure that it is in 4D and not just 2D!
Religious spirits love the 2D word – they feed on the dead letter and
they use it to fuel debate, generate strife and division, and bring
confusion to people as the simplicity of the gospel becomes something
so complicated and complex it is almost impossible to understand!
Jesus’ opposition didn’t come from the prostitutes, or the rogues and
big-time sinners – it didn’t even come from the might of the Roman
Empire as Pilate refused to condemn him. Jesus’ opposition came from
the religious leaders who sought to put him to death on the basis of a
2D word when he was actually the living manifestation and demonstration
of the 4D word in all of its glorious reality!
It wasn’t the drug barons or gang leaders or heroin addicts that told
Jackie Pullinger that she couldn’t lead the work she was doing in the
Walled City in Hong Kong because she was a woman. It was the church
leaders outside the walls who had probably ignored the place for years
or written it off as a lost cause! But when JP took her new converts to
their churches they didn’t want them, and so she had to go back and be
a 4D manifestation of the LIVING WORD – and move right on getting
people saved, healed, and gloriously delivered!
Is it possible that we have sometimes missed the 4D reality because we
have wrongly judged it with our understanding of a 2D word? Maybe we
need to look and listen for God and his heartbeat in some of the things
we have rejected and cast aside! God has dealt with me a lot on this
issue over the past few years, and I know there is more to come!
In the Book of Esther, Queen Vashti was rejected by King Ahasuerus
because she refused to come to him when commanded by the word that came
to her through the King’s eunuchs . This, of course, opened the way for
Esther to become queen. But first of all she had to undergo
twelve months of preparation – which she submitted to without making
any demands. This is a perfect picture of worship – the highest
expression of love – that is more focused on giving than getting!
I believe that this is the time when the Vashtis who have who have
enjoyed the privileges of Royal favour but have played fast and loose
with the Word of the King will be bypassed, and the Esthers – whose
only desire is to be pleasing to the King and are completely submitted
to his every request and command out of pure love and fervent worship –
will arise.
Esther’s life is a perfect example of submission to authority that
leads to blessing. She remained completely submitted to Mordecai who
had brought her up after her parents’ death and to the King.
Remember – it was Esther’s commitment to the King and to Mordecai that
brought about the deliverance of God’s people. Worship in spirit and
truth is always the key to effective evangelism!
One of the words that I have heard come prophetically over the past
couple of years is "For such a time as this". This, of course, is the
word that Mordecai spoke to Esther before she went into the throne room
on behalf of God’s people.
Esther 4: 14
14 "Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?"
I believe we have come into the kingdom for such a time as this – a
time to fast and pray, a time to go into the throne room, a time to
worship in spirit and truth, a time to see salvation, healing, and
deliverance manifested, a time to see the harvest brought in, a time to
see the enemy defeated. A time to see the 2D word become a 4D reality
in and through our lives!
I believe the Lord is saying this year is a year of purification – the
Father has sent the Holy Spirit to find a bride for his son. A bride
that says, "I will go! I will be subject to the bridegroom in all
things!" A bride that has been purified from all the pollutions of
Laodicean lie and throws open the door to the bridegroom!
The Lord also told me that Psalm 15 was relevant in regards to
this purification process . It describes the character of those who
live in God’s presence. As we spend time in His presence as worshippers
in spirit and truth our old thoughts, attitudes and ways are exchanged
for his as we are filled with his fullness and so we go out into the
world and overflow as a manifestation and demonstration of 4D LIFE!
Psalm 15
1 LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy
hill? 2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who
speaks the truth from his heart 3 and has no slander on his tongue, who
does his neighbour no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, 4 who
despises a vile man but honours those who fear the LORD, who keeps his
oath even when it hurts, 5 who lends his money without usury and does
not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will
never be shaken (shall never be moved).
4D LIFE is resurrection life! When you start walking in resurrection
life you will attract more opposition than ever! Now you don’t just
have to deal with the natural hazards of sickness, etc – because the 4D
LIFE in you is affecting others and bringing them to faith the powers
of darkness are stirred and will plot against you to kill you! Lazarus
got sick and died but after Jesus raised him up "the chief priests
plotted to put Lazarus to death because on account of him many of the
Jews went away and believed in Jesus" (John 12: 10 – 11)
Just as Lazarus needed to have the grave clothes removed from him
following his being raised from the dead we must have our 4D LIFE
unwrapped! All of the "coverings" that are associated with death must
be removed so that the 4D LIFE can be manifested. All of the pride and
insecurity must go and all of the religion must go so that the 4D LIFE
that is the fruit of a revelation of the breadth, length, depth and
HEIGHT of God’s love can bring the exceedingly, abundantly, far above
all of the fullness of God to his people and cause it to overflow into
the lives around them so that God will be glorified in the greatest
harvest of souls the world has ever seen!
Hey, remember the statistics! Pentecost is being repeated every 25
minutes – more people have already been saved in our generation than
all other generations put together – if current trends continue then by
2032 there will be more believers than there are people!
That is the exceedingly abundantly far above all! "Oh brother, but it
doesn’t fit with our eschatology" someone declares! Let the 4D reality
come and that will reveal the correct eschatology! Are you ready to
have all your neat little 2D belief systems challenged and see some of
them blown away? Are you ready for the lid to come off some of your pet
theories? Are you ready to exchange your thoughts of the worst for a
belief in the fulfillment of God’s best?
I had an awesome thought as I sat at my desk recentl. What if every
knee bowing and every tongue confessing that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father (Romans 14: 11; Philippians 2: 9 – 11) was to happen in our generation? So I turned to Isaiah 45 from where Paul was quoting!
Isaiah 45: 22 – 23
22 Look to Me, and be saved, all you ends of the earth! For I am God
and there is no other. 23 I have sworn by Myself; the word has gone out
of My mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that to Me every
knee shall bow, every tongue shall take an oath.
Are you a dreamer of impossible dreams? The world is looking for
something beyond their 3D mess! 2D religious rules, regulations,
theories and arguments don’t meet their need! They are looking for 4D
LIFE – 4D REALITY! They need to be able to look at a church that is
manifesting and demonstrating that reality! Most of them would come to
a church like that!
Are you ready to exchange your life of singleness – of living for self
– for a life where your heart is united to the heart of the bridegroom
– to be submitted to his Lordship and to become involved in what he is
doing in the earth?
We can only experience 4D LIFE in as much as we are united with him!
Let’s submit to the purification that will release the power of God in
us as we obey his command, and that will result in God being glorified
as a mighty harvest is brought in through worshippers in spirit and
truth who overflow in effective evangelism and 4D LIFE!