The Way of Humility

(This is chapter 5 of the book The Way of Sonship: Anointed to Overcome)

The original keynote of creation was the gift or incredible blessing of the absolute and complete knowledge of the light and love of God which would have brought success and happiness for everyone and everything in all things. When Adam was originally created, the light and love of God’s fatherhood shone from within him. This was because when Adam was created, Yehovah God breathed Himself into Adam’s heart. When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they gasped out the light and love of the paradise of God’s fatherhood. Their foolish hearts were darkened by the pride of becoming “as god” within their own psyche or spheres of life. That is why it says in Jeremiah 17:9-10 “Crooked is the heart above all things, and it is incurable—who does know it? I Yehovah do search the heart, try the reins, even to give to each according to his way, according to the fruit of his doings“. This is the natural state of the fallen human heart, but the darkness of this fallen state became a canvas upon which the love, mercy and blessing of God could shine. Even though the human heart descended into darkness, God did not leave mankind without the witness of a conscience. Those who follow their conscience and are inspired by God’s blessing to show love, kindness and mercy to those around them, God will continue to bless. Within ancient Hebrew culture the word “blessing” meant a gift brought upon bended knee. It had the same meaning as the word grace (in Greek “charis“). It has as similar meaning as the word “anointed” (in Greek “chrio“), Yehovah’s anointed or “Christ” was gifted by Yehovah God with the fragrance of the anointing oil which represented the life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God that gifted the anointed one to accomplish his or her purposes in God. In Psalm 105, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were all described as the prophets and the “Anointed” (“Mashiyach” in Hebrew, “Christos” in Greek) of Yehovah. The blessing or grace or anointing of God meant benefit, favour, gift, joy, pleasure and the divine influence of God upon the heart to turn people from their wicked ways and bring the true heartfelt righteousness of living a life of both faith and love. In the Beatitudes in Matthew 5, Jesus describes this sovereign blessing or grace of God upon the hearts of those who are blessed and respond to God’s blessing in obedience. For example, those who will inherit the earth are graced with the blessing of humility, those who will be shown mercy are those who are graced with the blessing of showing mercy, those who long to be filled with the Holy Spirit are those who are graced with the blessing of hungering and thirsting after doing what is right, and those who will become the Sons of God are graced with the blessing of becoming peacemakers. Their blessed behaviour in life will become their inheritance of blessing in resurrection. Remarkably, the life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God is at work within the hearts of all men to a greater or lesser extent. Even within those who do not acknowledge Him, God is at work. Without this, the world would truly be a dreadful place. For example, God sovereignly spoke to the wife of Pontius Pilate in a dream. She knew that Jesus was innocent, and she sent a message to her husband saying in effect “have nothing to do with Jesus for I have suffered terribly in a dream today worrying about you condemning an innocent man” (see Matthew 27:19). Pilate already knew that Jesus was innocent. He clearly took his wife’s unprecedented interference in his role as governor seriously and cared enough about his own conscience that he literally washed his hands publicly of Jesus’ innocent blood. It is clear that the Chief Priests, Pharisees, and Teachers of the Law had so grieved the Holy Spirit of God that He had withdrawn His blessing completely. Because of their jealousy they persuaded the people to riot if Pilate did not free the guilty Barabbas and crucify the innocent Jesus. It is those who, like the Pharisees, wilfully choose to exalt themselves, do wrong and have their consciences seared as with a hot iron that grieves the Holy Spirit. This prevents God from working within them to accomplish His good purposes. God withdraws His blessing from those who repeatedly grieve His kind and loving heart, and when this happens people have to face the natural consequences or curse that breaking the divine commandments of God inevitably brings. God’s love and blessing is so great that God will reward people for the good things that they do, even though it was God shining upon their hearts that enabled them to act. That is why Jesus said that only God is good. In fact, God is so humble and gentle, He does not mind when people imagine that the good things that they do come from themselves when actually it was God’s inspiration in the first place (see John 3:21). However, when people are proud, God must limit his blessing to prevent people’s hearts becoming puffed up beyond measure and being poisoned by the pride of self-admiration and self-exaltation that causes them to fall under the same condemnation as the devil (see 1 Timothy 3:6).

People

Cain

It says in Genesis 4:1-5 “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell“. Cain drew his own sense of identity, value, honour, self-worth and self-respect from the admiration and praise of both himself and others. By the sweat of his brow, Cain tilled or “worked” the ground of his earthly personality to make a great “name” for himself that was worthy of praise. Just as Adam and Eve worked to sew leaves together to make coverings for their “self” that were acceptable in their own eyes, Cain brought an offering that was a self-admiring “work” what was acceptable to him because it was the best that he could do. Just like the Pharisees who cleaned the outside of their cups leaving the inside stained with sin, Cain “worked” to present a false image of acceptability to earn the admiration, acceptance, and respect of Almighty God. It was not a love-gift that was freely given to God out of a loving relationship. God is love, God loves because it is the character and nature of God to love. God’s love is unconditional, it absolutely does not depend upon people being loveable. However, Cain said within his heart “I am the greatest, no one is greater or better than me“. Cain’s pride had blinded him to everything except himself and he could not receive the unconditional love of God. Instead of being transfixed or captivated by the glory, love, and unmerited grace of God, he was held captive by the pride of self-admiration. If he could not earn love, he did not want it because something “earned” was valuable and real, steadfast, and sure, dependable and worth trusting which made his own “name” great. A gift of love did not have the same appeal to his self-admiring heart because God’s unconditional love was not something that Cain’s pride could understand. For Cain, the gift of God’s unconditional love seemed like foolishness because it honoured the behaviour, character, personality or great “name” of the giver instead of Cain’s best efforts. Even though God never failed to love Cain, quite supernaturally, God refused to accept the obligation to give admiration and respect to Cain and honour the offering brought by the sweat of his brow. In love, God wanted to freely give Cain the gift of His grace, to make his “name” great by freely blessing Cain and lifting him up. But as long as Cain “worked” for God’s blessing and worshipped both himself and the work of his own hands, the unconditional love and unmerited grace of God was effectively in chains. Cain could not receive what God wanted to freely give him. Cain was incensed that his best efforts to effectively force God to accept him had been spurned. He had personalised his offering. He was furious that the “marvellous” offering of his “marvellous me” had been rejected. He felt that God had dishonoured, disrespected or undervalued his now, not so great “name“. Everyone’s favourite religion is the pride of self-worship. Pride says in its heart, “I am the answer, I can earn. I will make myself acceptable, I can achieve. I can prove myself, I will win“. Those who are proud of heart can never receive the unconditional love of God because they cannot accept that God’s love for them is not dependent upon them earning, winning, achieving, performing or being lovable or worthy. Proud-hearted people try to earn something that cannot be earned and by their own self-efforts attempt to win something that can never be won. Pride is like a deadly blood-sucking leech that puffs up its sense of identity and self-worth by feeding upon the appreciation or respect of its own “self” and the admiration or praise of others. In English, the word image comes from the Latin “imaginem” and means a copy, imitation or likeness, and the word idol comes from the Greek “eidolon” which meant the same thing. Those who are proud at heart worship the reflection of their own image. They consider themselves superior and must maintain that image of superiority at all costs, otherwise they cannot be accepted, respected, honoured, appreciated or loved. Feelings of murderous hatred and revenge are aroused against anyone or anything that threatens to wound in any way the image of their own acceptability; the image of the great “name” of their own superior and adorable “self” which is held so dear. There is a direct relationship between the pride of self-worship, faith or confidence in self, hatred and murder just as there is a direct relationship between humility, faith or confidence in God and the ability to receive God’s unconditional love. That is why John said in 1 John 3:11-15 (KJV) “For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous. Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loves not his brother abides in death. Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him“. Pride is all sweetness and light to those who pander to its cravings for praise but explodes into the furious rage of its own true murderous nature when its thin veneer of respectability is damaged in any way. This of course is often hidden behind a smile. In his “as god” heart Cain tried to save the pride of his life by justifying himself in his own eyes. He passed judgement upon his brother as being worthy of death for showing him up and undervaluing or belittling his great “name“. However, the problem was not Abel and his offering, or God and His refusal to pander to Cain’s self-effort. It was Cain and his pride that was the problem, and in the pride of his heart, the solution was murder rather than sacrificing his pride upon the altar of humility. He compensated for his wound by reasserting himself; in a fit of rage he murdered his brother. The murder of Abel did not solve the problem but made it infinitely worse. Cain left the presence of Yehovah to live in the land of restless wandering with his pride still intact. The fires of his incensed rage were never quenched, and the vengeful worms that ate away at his fallen heart never died. Cain’s restless wanderings never ceased because the fallen human heart does not have the victory within itself. The fallen heart cannot and will not change because within itself it is hopeless. It does not have the victory within itself, but the overcoming victory must somehow be won because behaviour in life will become inheritance in resurrection. Humility is the key that enables God to unlock the door within people’s hearts to the paradise of God’s fatherhood. For the humble hearted, everything is possible because they find that ever increasing faith rises within their hearts as they are filled with the amazing and unmerited grace, paradise, or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood. That is why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:14 “…and to God are thanks, who at all times is leading us in triumph in the Christ, and the fragrance of His knowledge He is manifesting through us in every place“. Pride is the blindness of heart that imagines that paradise is when everyone sings its praise. When people do not, hellish hatred soon follows in its wake. It says in Proverbs 14:12 (KJV) “There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” and in Jude 1:10-11 (KJV) “…as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain“. The way of Cain is the way of pride. It is a way that seems right to a man but ends in a death sooner than people think.

King Nebuchadnezzar

One of the greatest kingdoms within the Biblical World was the kingdom of Babylon, and one of the greatest kings of Babylon was King Nebuchadnezzar. Whilst originally Nebuchadnezzar did not acknowledge God, Yehovah God was sovereignly at work within his life. The King kept on having divinely inspired dreams. On one particular night, the King dreamt of a magnificent tree that touched the sky. The tree was visible from the whole world, it provided shelter for nesting birds and had abundant fruit to feed many animals (see Daniel 4). He dreamt that an angel came down from heaven and said “Cut down and destroy the tree, but leave the stump, let the tree be drenched with the dew of heaven, be given the mind of an animal and live with wild animals for seven times” (see Daniel 4:23). God had sovereignly blessed King Nebuchadnezzar who had become a great king with a great kingdom. However, the dream predicted that God would sovereignly humble the King. In the pride of his natural fallen “I am as god” heart, King Nebuchadnezzar imagined that it was “he himself” that had made himself great. Daniel interpreted the dream and predicted that the King would be driven from his people, eat grass like an ox, have the mind of an animal, and be drenched with the dew of heaven for seven times. This was to be until Nebuchadnezzar acknowledged that it was the Most High God that was sovereign; that it was God who had sovereignly blessed him and that it was the Most High God and not the “I am so wonderfully amazing” King that had made King Nebuchadnezzar great. Daniel counselled the King that if he humbled himself, stop sinning and showed mercy to the poor his peace of heart would continue. The King ignored Daniels advice and after twelve months the dream came true. It says in Daniel 4:30-33 (KJV) “The king spoke, and said, ‘Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?’ While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, ‘O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee. And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High rules in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomsoever he will’. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.” God had shown King Nebuchadnezzar great grace. God had sovereignly blessed the King by giving him great wisdom and the ability to build one of the greatest kingdoms of the biblical world. However, by claiming that it was “he himself” and not the Most High God that was the source of all blessing, the King had fallen under the same condemnation as the devil. In His great love for the King and his kingdom, God sovereignly humbled his heart. After seven times, Nebuchadnezzar was sovereignly healed from insanity and his counsellors, court and kingdom were returned to him. It says in Daniel 4:34-37 (KJV) “And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that lives for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he does according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What do thou? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase“. Just as it was God who blessed King Nebuchadnezzar with a glorious kingdom, it is God, not the fallen human heart, that is the source of all blessing. God loves to bless because God is love. It is from God that all true blessings flow. The good things that people do are ultimately from God, it is the bad things that people do that come from themselves. That is why James says in James 1:17-18 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruit of his creatures“. That is why Paul said in Romans 11:33-36 (KJV) “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor? Or who has first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him again? For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be glory for ever. Amen“. Those who claim that it is they themselves and not God that is the source of blessing could one day find that the blessing either dries up or worse, that they end up having the mind of an animal; in actual fact, apart from the blessing of God, that is what they have.

Simon of Cyrene

The Law of Moses was given by God to save Israel from sinners, not the Israelites from the devastating disaster of the Fall caused by the rebellion of self-worship. The Law of Moses cleansed the outside of people’s cup by attempting to restrain sin from the outside but did nothing to cleanse the inside of people’s cup by redeeming their hearts from the pride of people being “I am as god” within their own lives. On Calvary Road, Simon of Cyrene was forced by the Romans to carry Jesus’ cross following behind Jesus because Jesus had been so savagely beaten that he had fallen under the weight of the cross and was unable to carry it any further. Simon had been coming into Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, to commemorate the day when Yehovah God set the Israelites free from slavery in Egypt. Poor Simon found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. Simon’s heart would have been absolutely mortified by having to carry Jesus’ shameful cross and he would have been desperate to make it clear to those who were watching that it was absolutely not his cross. Apart from the unmerited grace and blessing of God, Simon was a type or self-worshipping son of Belial with a desperately wicked and incurable pride-poisoned heart. However, if he were a true Israelite like Nathaniel (see John 1:47) within whom there was nothing false, he would have accepted this unfortunate series of events as the “providence” of Yehovah God. This was his cross; Jesus had an incredibly kind and loving humble heart and Jesus had done nothing wrong. By following Jesus on Calvary Road, Simon’s heart was sovereignly humbled by the mercy of God to Jesus’ death and his heart cleansed from pride. Simon saw first-hand the real Passover Lamb of God, Yehoshua (in Hebrew, “Yehovah Is Victory“, or Jesus) humbling himself and dying Simon’s death to set Simon free from slavery to the lust of his eyes, the lust of his flesh and the pride of his self-centred pride poisoned great “I am” and “I will” life. This prepared Simon’s heart to receive the new covenant blessing of Abraham and the victorious anointing of Kings (or Holy Spirit) poured out on the Day of Pentecost. Although scripture does not say specifically, Simon was most probably there and his sons (or his “house“) Alexander and Rufus and indeed many other Jewish Christians from Cyrene were active members of the early church. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:2-6 (KJV) “Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men: Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ to God-ward: Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also has made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter kills, but the spirit gives life“. The breath, personality or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood was poured out to free people like Simon and his sons Rufus and Alexander from the letter that kills and instead through the divine marriage of God’s Word and Spirit (or life’s breath) within their hearts make them living letters of God’s love, as Sons of God, for all the world to see. That is why Jesus said in Matthew 5:43-48 “‘Ye heard that it was said: Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and shalt hate thine enemy; but I—I say to you, Love your enemies, bless those cursing you, do good to those hating you, and pray for those accusing you falsely, and persecuting you, that ye may be sons of your Father in the heavens, because His sun He does cause to rise on evil and good, and He does send rain on righteous and unrighteous. ‘For, if ye may love those loving you, what reward have ye? do not also the tax-gatherers the same? and if ye may salute your brethren only, what do ye abundant? do not also the tax-gatherers so? ye shall therefore be perfect, as your Father who is in the heavens is perfect.” The Sons of God are called the Sons of God because, like mirror images or reflections of God, they love their enemies, they bless those that curse them, they do good to those who hate them and pray for those who persecute them. They love to live like this because their redeemed hearts are made complete or perfect by being filled with the indwelling presence and love of the breath or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood. They naturally bear His image in the way that His indwelling presence within their hearts inspires them to behave.

Asaph

In Psalm 73, Asaph had a similar experience. His foot had almost slipped, in the pride of his heart he had become jealous of the proud and envied the prosperity of the wicked. He just could not understand why he struggled so much in life and experienced the corrective discipline of God on a daily basis over the tiniest little thing but that the wicked were getting away with murder. He said Psalm 73:16 (KJV) “When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely, thou didst set them in slippery places: thou cast them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream when one awakes; so, O Lord, when thou awake, thou shalt despise their image. Thus, my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reins. So foolish was I, and ignorant: I was as a beast before thee. Nevertheless, I am continually with thee: thou hast held me by my right hand. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My flesh and my heart fail but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever“. In His great mercy, God sovereignly drew Asaph into the sanctuary to encounter God. He had been living on bread alone but now he encountered the living word of God. Paul says in 2 Timothy 2:24-26 “And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure [may possibly] will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will“. God opened the eyes of his heart and he changed. God sovereignly granted him repentance from listening to the father of lies and this led to a living faith and knowledge of the truth. This establishing of the almighty living words of God’s great and precious promises dislodged the darkness of the lies and false promises of Satan’s snare of arrogant unbelief from within his heart. The thorny corrupted crown of his pride fell from his head. He died to that which had bound him and was no longer jealous or puffed up after that. He no longer bore the image of the wicked that God despised. Instead he was crowned by the victorious anointing of Kings and bore the image or reflection of the light of Abraham’s blessing of the indwelling presence of the personality of God’s fatherhood that now dwelt within his now humbled and God-glorifying heart.

Job

In the Old Testament, Job had the same change of heart and name but in a completely different way. God had blessed Job and everything that he had. Job was the greatest man of the East. However, in the courtroom of God, Satan challenged God and suggested that the only reason that Job was a righteous man was because God had blessed him. And so, a time of testing began for Job, and everything went wrong. Although he was a righteous man, he lost his family, his great wealth, his dignity, and his health. Whilst he was innocent of wrong-doing, in his natural-born “as god” pride he could not help but grasp equality with God by calling Almighty God to account for his misfortune. It says in Jeremiah 17:9-10 “Crooked is the heart above all things, and it is incurable—who does know it? I Yehovah do search the heart, try the reins, even to give to each according to his way, According to the fruit of his doings“. Remarkably, God actually answered Job but not in the way Job had expected. As God spoke his living word, the veil of pride that had covered Job’s heart was removed, the eyes of Job’s heart were enlightened and he saw God as the great “I Am“. Out of the abundance of Job’s heart his mouth then spoke and he said in effect “I know that you can do anything and no thought can be hidden from you, I spoke things I did not understand, I spoke about things too wonderful for me to know, my ears had heard but now my eyes have seen you and I despise myself and repent in dust cloth and ashes” (see Job 42:2-6). In this, Job died to himself. His crooked and twisted heart was emptied of the pride that had enslaved him and his name was changed from “I am“, to “He Is my everything“. God gave him back everything that he had lost plus more. In His great mercy, God sovereignly did the one thing that Job could not do, and that was to set Job free from the slavery to his egocentric selfishness and the corrupted crown of his crooked unbelieving pride-filled heart. God opened the eyes of his selfish and self-trusting “I am” heart, Job’s heart, name and destiny and life’s breath were changed. Because he had cooperated with God, his sufferings that had served their blessed purpose ceased. In His great grace, God restored to Job everything that he had lost and more. However, God was angry with Job’s puffed-up comforters. In their self-worshipping hearts, they had raised themselves up on to the throne of God and pronounced judgement upon both God and Job. God told Eliphaz that unless he and his fellow comforters humbled themselves and brought a sacrifice for Job to offer on their behalf, that God would deal with them according to their wickedness.

Abraham

Scientists estimate that at the time that Abraham was born the population of the world was about 27,000,000 people. The population of Ur of the Chaldeans was large, possibly as high as 65,000 people. God brings the grace or blessing of rain upon both the righteous and the wicked. God had given the grace of his blessing in some way to all the peoples of the world at the time of Abraham. However, God had the special blessing of amazing grace for Abraham. Fathers have both natural and spiritual authority over their sons. Both blessing and in many cases curse pass down from father to son through the generational seed line. Abraham was sovereignly chosen by the election of grace and called by invitation only out of his own natural father’s house and generational seed line into the amazing grace of being adopted into a Father-Son relationship with God. It says in Psalm 53:2-3 (KJV) “God looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, that did seek God. Every one of them is gone back: they are altogether become filthy; there is none that does good, no, not one“. Abraham was not seeking God, but God was seeking Abraham. God promised to make Abraham’s character, personality, or name great and remarkably bless all the families of the whole world with the blessing of Pentecost (see Galatians 3:14, Acts 3:25) if Abraham left his natural father’s house and went to live in the land of Canaan (in Hebrew, humiliation) that God would show him. It would have been an almost impossible thing to do, Abraham was his father’s house and his father’s hope of an inheritance within the next generation of Sons. Abraham had to humble himself and literally die to everything that he knew, even his own natural father’s blessing. In the land of Ur, and within his own father’s house, he was a somebody. Abraham was divinely inspired to humble himself, becoming a nobody, emptied of himself and as good as dead in the land of Canaan in the hope that the living word of God’s promise of Sonship for Abraham and his seed or descendants of promise would become a reality within his heart. Hebraically, blood comes from the fathers, and according to Leviticus, the breath of life is in the blood (see Leviticus 17:11). The word of God’s blessing upon Abraham was a father’s blessing which foreshadowed the blood of Jesus (see John 6:56) by redeeming his blood and changing Abraham’s heart and life’s breath from the fallen egocentric self-filled “I am somebody” heart of his natural father, to the humble heart of a Son filled with the life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood. Abraham knew nothing of the relatively modern culturally Greek religious concept of being “saved” from hell after he was dead, Hebraically there was no such thing. Yehovah God appeared to Abraham and said to him in Genesis 17:1 “I Am God Almighty, walk habitually before me [in my presence], and be thou perfect“. Abraham lived and walked in the presence, of seeing the face, of having a personal relationship with God, and Abraham’s heart was made complete or perfect in the light of God’s love. Because Abraham was no longer under the authority of his natural father’s “house“, the sovereign blessing of God’s fatherhood was enabled to break every curse and “save” Abraham every day and in every way. Abraham’s faith was not a work. Abraham’s faith did not precede, trigger, author, deserve, earn, or oblige God to show him amazing grace. Rather, Abraham’s faith was simply an obedient response to the immediate present tense presence, gift, or blessing of God that granted Abraham success in all things. It was the grace of God that saved Abraham day by day in the practical experience of life, not Abraham’s faith. Behaviour in life will become inheritance in resurrection. Being saved in life prepared Abraham’s heart for the inheritance of the better resurrection of the Sons of God out of the curse of death that came naturally from Adam, the original sinning father, through the Fall. That is why it says in Matthew 27:51-53 (KJV) that when Jesus died, “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many“. Abraham would have been included in this mysterious group of resurrected saints because by changing fathers, Abraham had become a God-breathing foreshadowing of Jesus, the Son of Abraham, the Son of David, the Son of Man, and the Son of God. Jesus of Nazareth was the heir of the crowning anointing of Abraham’s blessing and David’s overcoming victory that was poured out upon the humble-hearted true Israel of God on the Day of Pentecost.

Esau

Abraham’s son Isaac had two sons who were twins, his firstborn was Esau and his brother was Jacob. Paul says in Romans 9:10-13 (KJV) “Rebecca also had conceived by one, even by our father Isaac; (For the children being not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calls;) It was said unto her, The elder shall serve the younger. As it is written, Jacob have I loved, but Esau have I hated“. Before the children were born, before they had done anything good or evil, so that the sovereign purpose of God in the election of Sonship might stand, God had already rejected Esau as the natural heir of Abraham’s blessing, but had sovereignly chosen Jacob his younger brother instead. There are many who imagine that both Esau and Jacob were actually masters of their own destiny and that the sovereignty of God must be subordinated to the sovereign will of man, otherwise God is unfair. They argue that God must have foreseen Esau rejecting God’s call, so God could not possibly choose him but that, luckily for God, He foresaw Jacob accepting God’s call. For them, Jacob’s sovereign will gave God permission to choose him; if Jacob had not given grace to God to allow himself to be chosen, there would have been no heir for the blessing of Abraham. The danger is that this kind of culturally Greek logical religious thinking “reasons away” the glorious purpose of God in election which no longer stands but instead falls, is stamped “unfair” and trampled under the feet of those who take the credit for their own salvation. Abraham and the ancient Hebrews did not think or reason in that way. For Abraham, the life’s breath, or Holy Spirit of the blessing of God’s fatherhood, was about a relationship that was by invitation only; it was absolutely not the religion of being a self-made man. What mattered to both Abraham, and God, was behaviour and not religious beliefs, because within ancient Hebrew culture, a true son is the image or reflection of his father in the way that his father’s blessing inspires him to behave. Both Jacob and Esau lived in the same household and both experienced the same childhood upbringing. God did not have the sovereign purpose of Sonship for Esau, but God did have the sovereign call and purpose of Sonship for Jacob. God wanted both sons to be blessed with what was “good“, but only Jacob was chosen to be blessed with what was “God“. That sovereign call was expressed practically day by day in the way the children were inspired to behave. As the children grew up, Esau was puffed up by “as god” pride but Jacob’s heart was humbled by the sovereign mercy and blessing of God. Esau believed that as Isaac’s firstborn, his father’s blessing would naturally be his. Jacob knew and understood that his heart had to bear the image, name, or reflection of his father’s heart for him to receive his fathers’ blessing. As they grew up, the heartfelt choices and judgements they made in life separated them, determining what or who they would eventually become and the name that they would eventually bear.

It says in Hebrews 12:14-17 “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled; Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birth-right. For ye know how that afterward, when he would have inherited the blessing, he was rejected: for he found no place of repentance, though he sought it carefully with tears“. In Hebrew, the word for repent meant to turn back or change direction. It is a divine law that, despite what the religion of tradition argues, or people are told to intellectually believe, wicked behaviour is not the blessing of God. The absence of blessing is called curse and cursed behaviour in life will bring an inheritance of curse in resurrection. It is the goodness and blessing of God that leads people into a life of blessing by inspiring them to turn away, repent or distance themselves from their naturally evil or wicked ways. It is those who are led by the life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God to behave like Jesus that are the Sons of God. In Isaiah 6:9-10 it says “Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed“. Esau had ears but did not hear, eyes but did not see and a heart that did not consider or turn or understand. He knew all about his own personal family history, God’s sovereign call upon Abraham and what would become God’s new covenant blessing for all the families of the Earth. However, he was blinded by pride and took it for granted that his father’s blessing would naturally be his no matter how he lived or behaved. Esau knew the difference between good and evil, and right and wrong but Esau did not follow his conscience. Instead he blessed himself by living just however he wanted to live, he said whatever what he wanted to say and did whatever he wanted to do. He chose to bear the name fornicator (“pornos” in Greek) and became a profane person (from the Latin “profanare” meaning to desecrate). He desecrated the temple of his own heart. He traded with the rebellious father of lies and by gratifying his rebellious lusts, he continued to bear the name “son of rebellion“. When the time came for blessing, Esau sought his father’s blessing with tears, but Isaac could not repent to bless his son because of what his son had chosen to become and the name that he had chosen to bear. As Esau heard the Isaacs words “you will be far from the dew of heaven” Esau wept bitterly, nursed a grudge against his brother, and a root of bitterness was sown within his heart. Just like Cain, as a son of rebellion, he comforted himself with thoughts of murder. Eventually, Esau did inherit his fathers’ great wealth, but by clinging to worthless idols, he had forfeited the grace that could have been his (see Jonah 2:8). Esau could never have become a Son, image, or reflection of the invisible God in the way he was inspired to behave because that was not God’s gift to him. However, he was still responsible for the way he behaved. He could not have inherited God, but he could still have inherited what was good. He did not have to behave like a complete lunatic. He roamed the plains with his own private army looking for trouble; he found double trouble when he took two terrifying daughters of Heth as his wives without his father’s knowledge, consent or blessing. He brought these promiscuous women into his father’s household, and these Canaanite women made his mother’s life a complete misery. As Isaac’s firstborn son, in the pride of his heart, Esau believed that his father’s blessing would be his no matter what. It was Esau’s behaviour not his religious beliefs that disqualified him from inheriting a blessing. Religion is an intellectual pursuit, relationship is not. As such, the foundation of the amazing unmerited, unlimited, unending, and sovereign grace of God still stands, having this seal, “The Lord knows them that are His. And, let everyone that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity“. In life, Esau sowed to the flesh and for any destruction that he may one day reap, he only has himself to blame. Jacob however sowed to his father’s blessing, and from the grace of that blessing he reaped life. He will only ever have God to thank. Anyone who is humble hearted enough to be truly amazed by the grace of God is changed by the life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood to love like Jesus loves. They are sovereignly chosen to the praise of God’s glorious grace to do so. Being freely accepted in the Beloved they become holy and blameless in the sight of God’s love. The guarantee of their inheritance of God is the seal of the life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood because, Hebraically, behaviour in life will one day become inheritance in resurrection.

King Saul

In the Old Testament, a change of heart temporarily happened for Saul, but unfortunately, it did not end happily. King Saul was anointed by the prophet Samuel in the Name of Yehovah with the blessing of Abraham and the anointing of Kings which revealed to him God’s love and crowned his heart with victory. The living word of God sovereignly changed Saul into a different person with a different heart and a different life’s breath, name, or way of behaving. It says in Proverbs 16:18 (KJV) “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud“. In Hebrew one of the words translated “pride” means literally “lifting strength“. It is applied to someone who becomes swollen or puffed up with themself or someone who exalts themself or raises themself up beyond measure. In English, the word “humble” comes from the Latin “humilis” which means “on the earth“, “humus” being the Latin for “earth“. In Hebrew, one of the words for humble means the same thing. Saul began his reign as King with a humble heart. He had been a farmer running after his father’s lost donkeys. God chose him as King, and within the anointing was a foretaste of the fruit of the tree of life and everything that Saul needed for life and success as a victorious King on behalf of Israel. Unfortunately, Saul did not hoist the sails of his heart to catch the breath or wind or personality (or Holy Spirit) of God’s fatherhood within the breathings of his personality. In the pride of disobedient unbelief, he chose to allow the father of lies to disinherit the almighty word of God and crowning victory from his heart. His heart departed from Yehovah, turning back to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. As the father of lies traded himself into Saul’s heart, Saul bore the devil’s image by becoming self-conscious, egocentric, and puffed-up, the crown of victory fell from his head. His natural born “I am as god” selfishness returned. His heart turned to sorcery in an attempt to manipulate and control God into maintaining Saul’s serpent-inspired image and sense of arrogant self-admiration. Fearing the rejection of the people who were greedy for plunder, in pride he rebelled, disobeyed, and rejected the word of God. Because he no longer had a place for God’s word within his heart, God had no choice but to reject him as King. Saul had agreed with the devil and the lying breaths of the devil had taken God’s place within his heart. God chose David to replace him. In his hypocritical conceit he never repented or came down from his high horse. Instead he begged the prophet Samuel to honour him before the Elders. He then continued to partner with the father of lies and waged a personal vendetta against David and anyone who dared to threaten his own Satan-inspired over-inflated opinion of himself. Sadly his reign, which had begun so well, became one of diabolical lunacy and descended into hot-headed but cold-blooded murder, ending in witchcraft, the death of his sons, his own death, and Israel itself being defeated by the Philistines in battle. Just as pride always comes before a fall, Saul eventually committed suicide by falling upon his own sword in order to protect his own pride-poisoned egocentric sin-stained Satan-engulfed heart from being further shamed by the Philistines.

King David

Something similar happened to King David although it ended happily but not without a great deal of heartache and brokenness. King David was anointed by the prophet Samuel with the blessing of Abraham and the anointing of Kings which imparted to him the crown of overcoming victory or salvation. This sovereignly changed David into a different person with a different heart and a different life’s breath, personality, name, or way of behaving. Just like Saul, David began his reign as King with a humble heart. In Hebrew, the word David means “beloved“, God loved David, and David loved God, he was described in scripture as a man after (or alike) God’s own heart. However, King David also committed two absolutely diabolical sins. When the time came for Kings to go to war, King David did not go to war. He sent his mighty men to fight his battles for him but he himself decided to stay at home for some quality “me” time. He soon got bored with himself and from the rooftop of his palace he saw Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, bathing which he found much more interesting. God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (see 1 Peter 5:5). Somehow, the yeast of pride and hypocrisy must have found a place in King David’s heart. By missing the blessing and grace of God, David allowed the great pretender and father of lies to dethrone the living word of God and blessing and anointing of God’s fatherhood from the place of overcoming or saving victory within David’s heart. The father of lies appealed to the lust of his eyes and the lust of his flesh and David received within his heart the words of lying breaths of Satan. David fell out of a relationship with God and into a relationship with good and evil. Instead of sowing to the blessing, life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God, David sowed to the flesh. The crown of victory fell from his head as he forced himself upon Bathsheba when her husband was away with the King’s mighty men. He got Bathsheba pregnant, and then continued to partner with the father of lies by conspiring to have Uriah murdered by the sword of the Philistines. This was to save the self-worshipping pride of David’s naturally born “I am as god” heart from the shame of being confronted by Uriah with the truth of what he had done to his wife. Within ancient Hebrew culture these sins were particularly heinous. Just as Saul was challenged by the prophet Samuel over his sin, David was eventually challenged by the prophet Nathan. According to 2 Samuel 12:9, David had despised the word of Yehovah by doing what was evil in the sight of God’s eyes. Unlike King Saul, David repented from what he had done and Nathan promised that God would forgive him. Psalm 51 records David’s prayer of repentance. In verses 4-7 (KJV) David says “Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou might be justified when thou speak, and be clear when thou judge. Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me. Behold, thou desire truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee. Deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness. O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise. For thou desire not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delight not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise”. God answered David’s prayer and granted over an extended period of time, not all at once, what David had asked for. Just like Saul, David was a man who had been mightily blessed by God with the blessing of Abraham and the anointing of Kings. David had agreed or traded with the father of lies and chose to accept the devil’s lies as truth within the breathings of his personality or heart. This dethroned Yehovah his saviour (in Hebrew, Yehoshua, or Yehovah Is Salvation) from his place of pre-eminence within his heart. In his natural fallen self, David had been shaped in iniquity and, like Cain, was still a son of Belial. Without the unmerited grace or blessing of the saving power and anointing of Yehoshua within his heart he was just as capable of sinning as anyone else. David’s sin was out of character, or behaviour or name for David but it did happen, and it is a divine law that whatever is sown must one day be reaped. David said that against God and God alone had he sinned, this was because in His great love, God feels the pain of those whose hearts are broken by sin. Nathan the prophet had pronounced God’s forgiveness, but he also pronounced that the sword of these same sins (symbolised by crushed or broken bones) that David had committed would “come home” into his own family. In his prayer, David had declared that God would not despise a contrite and broken heart. For David part of his brokenness was that he, his whole family, and the whole nation had to face the consequences of what he had done. For a season this was the crown of thorns that he had to wear and the humbling cross that he and his family had to carry, even though he was forgiven. His daughter Tamar was raped by Amnon her elder half-brother, Amnon himself was murdered in revenge by the servants of Absalom (Tamar’s full brother), and eventually Absalom led a revolution that turned the whole nation against his father. David did not bring to God religious sacrifices and offerings. It says in Jeremiah 17:7-8 (KJV) “Blessed is the man that trusts in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreads out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit“. Despite his great sin, David continued to trust in Yehovah God. He humbled himself and wept, allowing God to purge him practically from bloodguilt with the hyssop used to sprinkle the sacrificial blood of the cross on which his own Yehovah God and King would one day die. Jesus came as the Son of David to reap in his own body and personality the grief, heartache, and misery that David his father had sown into the heart of Bathsheba and Uriah and their family by his despicable act. David was not cast from God’s presence, and David allowed the living word of the love and blessing of God’s fatherhood (or Holy Spirit) to once again bring a right life’s breath (or spirit) or character or name within him. Day by day God gradually restored to David the joy of God’s salvation (Yehoshua, Yehovah-Yasha, Yeshua, or in Greek, ‘Iesous or Jesus). Through the anointing of the amazing grace of God’s unmerited blessing, David’s overcoming victory (in Hebrew, “Yasha“) and Kingdom was gradually restored. He was even able to bless and honour Bathsheba whom he had dishonoured by one day commanding that Solomon, their son born in the place of their baby who died, was to be anointed by Nathan the prophet and crowned by Zadok the High Priest as King of Israel.

Moses

In Numbers 20, as the people of Israel wandered in the wilderness they eventually came to Kadesh (sanctuary or set apart place in Hebrew) where Miriam died. For the second time, the people were brought to a place where there was no water. The last time this happened, Yehovah commanded Moses to strike the rock with his staff, water came forth, and the thirst of the people was satisfied. On this particular occasion Yehovah commanded Moses to speak to the rock, the rock would obey the word of God that Moses spoke and bring forth water. Although Moses was the most humble man upon the face of the whole earth he had been driven to absolute distraction by the constant murmurings and bickering of the Israelites. They stubbornly refused to establish the truth of the living and saving life-changing words that God wanted to speak into their hearts. Moses’ patience had finally run out, and the pride of his natural fallen self-worshipping heart began to rise within him. In Numbers 20:10 (KJV) it says “And Moses and Aaron gathered the congregation together before the rock, and he said unto them, hear now, ye rebels; must we fetch you water out of this rock? “. Instead of speaking to the rock, in the hypocrisy of rebellion, Moses spoke to the people. In anger towards the people Moses then lifted up his hand and struck the rock twice and water came forth. The striking of the rock had been the word of God on a previous occasion but this time, it was not the living inbreathed word of God. In this moment, Moses did not establish the almighty sovereign words of God as absolute truth. Instead he played fast and loose with God’s commandment, he no longer sat in Moses’ seat as God’s delegated leader and judge over the people. In his natural pride-poisoned self-worshipping “I am as god” heart, he had ascended on to the throne of God and considered God as his equal. Yehovah then spoke to Moses (v12) and said “Because ye have not believed [established] in Me to sanctify Me [set me apart from you and Aaron] before the eyes of the sons of Israel, therefore ye do not bring in this assembly unto the land [of promise] which I have given to them.” In his natural fallen state, Moses was actually no better than the Israelites, he had momentarily considered God as his equal and did his word instead of the word of God. The promised land was the land of Canaan promised to Abraham and was a symbol of the word of God “Son” perfectly reunited to the living breath or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood. Whilst Moses was an incredibly gifted leader who was used mightily by God to bring the people out of slavery-to-sin symbolised by Egypt, because of his natural born “I am as god” fallen state “he” was unable to save or lead “himself” and the people across the River Jordan into the land of promise. Yehovah God showed him the promised land. However, only Yehovah God Himself made man, Jesus or Yehoshua of Nazareth, foreshadowed by Joshua (or Yehoshua) the son of Nun, could humble himself to death, symbolised by the Jordan River, and through his resurrection bring the people into the land of God’s promised blessing. The promised blessing was Jesus’ identity as the Son of God, the blessing of the eternal life’s breath or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood indwelling the hearts of the Sons of God, sovereignly poured out on the Day of Pentecost.

The Condemned Man

Paul said in Romans 9:20-23 (KJV) “Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it, ‘why hast thou made me thus’? Has not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour? What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction: And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory“. When Jesus was crucified there were two others condemned to death with him, one on his left and one on his right (see Luke 23:39-43). Both of these condemned men were made from the same lump of clay and both had been condemned for the same crimes. Yet, one was a “vessel of wrath fitted to destruction“, and one was a “vessel of mercy prepared beforehand for glory“. The one on his left cursed Jesus and said, “If thou be Christ, save thyself and us“. He was a son of Belial with an arrogant puffed up pride-poisoned heart. The one on his right slapped him down saying “Do not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man has done nothing amiss“. Then he said to Jesus “Lord, remember me when thou come into thy kingdom“. This was a remarkable statement of God-given faith. Jesus had been condemned as a blasphemer, beaten and crucified. His whole body torn to shreds and his face disfigured beyond that of any man. Yet the almighty word of God had sovereignly come into the heart of this condemned man who had been humbled by what he had done. Paul said in Romans 11:5-6 (KJV) “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work“. This man was truly a “vessel of kindness prepared beforehand for glory“. He knew by revelation and not education that Jesus was in reality the Son of David. This man did not pray the sinner’s prayer asking to go to heaven when he died because that was not part of their culture. Instead, according to the praise of God’s glorious grace he was freely accepted within the Beloved. He was sovereignly inspired to asked Jesus to remember him when Jesus as the Messiah came into His kingdom. Within ancient Hebrew culture to remember meant to act and do, it was not wishful thinking. In love, Jesus spoke the living words to this man by the breath of God “Verily [truly] I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise“. This would have both amazed and comforted him. People often remained on their cross in agony for days. Jesus promised this man the paradise of God’s fatherhood today. By a living faith in the inbreathed word of God his heart had been humbled and his identity as a son of Belial sovereignly changed into a Son of God. That is why Paul said in Philippians 1:21 “… for to me to live is Christ, and to die gain. And if to live in the flesh is to me a fruit of work, then what shall I choose? I know not; for I am pressed by the two, having the desire to depart, and to be with Christ, for it is far better.” Since Jesus’ resurrection, to depart to be with Jesus in heaven is a blessed hope, but dying and going to heaven is temporary, resurrection is permanent. That is why Peter said in 1 Peter 113 (KJV) “hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ“. When Jesus is revealed, this poor condemned man who was humbled in his death together with those chosen according to the election of amazing grace whom he represented, will be remembered by being revealed together with Jesus. They are the clouds of the witnesses of the resurrection upon which Jesus will come.

Joseph

Joseph was Jacob’s favourite son. Jacob gave him a coat of many colours which made his self-worshipping brothers jealous. Joseph’s brothers were sons of Belial with pride-poisoned puffed-up great “I am” and “as god” hearts who hated their brother. Just as Abraham was sovereignly called out of his father’s house by the grace and mercy of God to become a Son of God, so was Joseph. In his youth, Joseph was not wise. He dreamt that his brothers, father, and mother would one day bow down to him, and he told them so. His father rebuked him for such arrogance but wondered if the dream could somehow be from God, which it was. Like Cain, his brothers, being imprisoned by pride, were enraged and decided to kill Joseph. But God sovereignly intervened. Instead of killing him, they sold him into slavery, and he was taken to Egypt. Just like Jesus, Joseph was sovereignly chosen by God to be the heir of Abraham’s blessing. It says in James 4:4-5 (KJV) “God resists the proud but gives grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you“. Joseph willingly humbled himself under God’s almighty hand and God raised him up. Despite the difficult circumstances of his life, Joseph was inspired by the blessing or Holy Spirit of God’s fatherhood to firmly resist falling into the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, the favourite lying tools of the devil’s tempting trade. God gave him the grace of an upstanding, resurrected, or righteous heart. Within ancient Hebrew culture, this gift of grace was the heartfelt blessing of God-given success in all things. God blessed Joseph and everything that he did in Egypt and those who met him were blessed with success. Through the blessing of Abraham, God’s sovereign grace guaranteed Joseph’s moral integrity which guaranteed that the blessing would continue. However, Joseph’s personal circumstances seemed to get worse and worse. He was falsely accused of rape and thrown into jail. He continued to be a blessing to others but he himself remained a slave of circumstance. However, God used his personal circumstances to humble him and prepare his heart for the crown of Sonship. He had to die to his identity as Jacob’s favourite son, die to his parents, die to his family, die to the injustice of being forced into slavery, die to being falsely accused and incarcerated in prison for a crime that he did not commit and die to any hope of anything other than being a slave. This was the cross that he had to carry but because he was inspired to walk with his father’s God and the blessing of God’s fatherhood, instead of becoming bitter and full of hatred like his brothers, his heart was changed and no longer bore the name “I am“. Just like Jesus, he became humbled to death, he became nothing at all in himself and God became his all in all. Through the heartache and brokenness of Joseph’s life, he was humbled and made perfect through suffering. He was freed from being imprisoned by pride and readied to enter into his glorious God-given destiny. God gave Pharaoh a dream that only Joseph could interpret. God warned Pharaoh that Egypt was going to be subject to a severe seven year or complete and totally destructive famine. Joseph was instantly set free from prison, promoted, or ascended to become the Vizier of Egypt, who wore Pharaoh’s signet ring of authority and sat at Pharaoh’s right hand. In Hebrew, the name Jesus is Yehovah-Yasha which means “I Am your salvation“. Yehovah God became Yehovah-Yasha or Jesus to Joseph and his family by saving Joseph, his family, and the whole of Egypt from disaster. Joseph’s dreams were fulfilled. His brothers came, humbled themselves and bowed down before him. For many years Joseph had lived in the regret of what they had done. Joseph had the power to retaliate and have his brothers killed. In God-given humility, as a Son of God like his father Abraham, Joseph was able to forgive his brothers and release his pent-up pain. Joseph’s pain was so great that he wept so loud that even Pharaoh heard about it. His brothers had also lived in regret and had seen how their dreadful sin had made them miserable and grieved the heart of their father. However, through mercy, humility and brokenness, their relationship with Joseph was restored. The whole family was saved, not only from starvation, but more importantly, from being imprisoned by the devil’s pride, murderous hatred and being empty of God. When Jacob died, Joseph’s brothers’ faith still had not been fully perfected in the presence of God. They were not yet made perfect in love and they still feared that Joseph would have them killed. It says in Genesis 50:18-21 (KJV) “And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, ‘Behold, we be thy servants’. And Joseph said unto them, ‘Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. Now therefore fear ye not: I will nourish you, and your little ones’. And he comforted them and spoke kindly unto them“. Despite the most trying of circumstances God works sovereignly for the good of all those who love him and are called by Him to accomplish His good purposes. When, in humility, Joseph was in the right place with God, the almighty glorious living inbreathed Word of God was in the right place within him. Through God-given humility, the blessing of Abraham and the anointing of Kings, Joseph was freed from his natural “I am as god” heart and enabled to abide in the supernatural presence of power where the salvation of victory was assured.

Paul the Apostle

The love, mercy, power, grace, and blessing of God is unlimited, but because of people’s pride, God has to limit the release of his power. This is because, in the pride of their hearts, people attribute to themselves a great work of “faith“, a faith of tradition that works the cursed ground (see Genesis 3:17) or personality of fallen human nature into a “sweat” that obliges God to respond by giving people what they want. Such a “work” of faith effectively binds the grace of God because a gift of grace cannot be earned. If the “work” of faith earns the “gift” of grace, then the gift is no longer a gift but an obligation. It does not testify to the glorious and amazing grace of God, instead it gives glory to the “sweat” of the brow of those who worked for it. Such is the pride of religious “faith“. Paul said in Ephesians 2:8-9 (KJV) “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast“. True faith is an astounded response to a personal encounter with the God of all grace, not a prayerful attempt to oblige God to wake out of His seemingly unconscious eternal slumber by prodding him with the “believing” stick so that he will serve people’s so called “faith” by doing what they want. True faith is a response to the amazing unmerited grace of God; grace always comes first. Faith simply opens the door to what God has freely and sovereignly chosen to do, and humility opens the door to faith. People secretly want the miraculous release of God’s power to prove how great they are so that they can boast. They secretly want to take the credit for the glorious things that God wants to do and often this secret is hidden even from themselves. God is longing to release his power, but the release of God’s absolute sovereign grace is shackled by pride. It is chained by the fantasy of the so called “faith” of religious tradition which, like Simon the Sorcerer in Acts 8, tries to buy the gift of God’s grace. The Apostle Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:9-10 (KJV) “For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me“. Paul was on the way to Damascus to persecute the church there when God sovereignly intervened in his life. Despite his zeal for the religion of his tradition that approved of the stoning to death of the innocent Stephen in Acts 7, in his heart Paul was not seeking God. Without the grace of God, no one ever does. God had chosen Paul according to God’s eternal purpose, not the purpose of Paul. Despite what the religion of tradition may say, God has that divine right. Paul was blinded by a bright light. He fell off his horse and heard the audible voice of God. Paul asked, “Who are you, Lord?” Jesus then answered him from heaven in Hebrew and said to him in Acts 26:15-18 (KJV) “I am Jesus whom thou persecute. But rise, and stand upon thy feet: for I have appeared unto thee for this purpose, to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen, and of those things in the which I will appear unto thee; Delivering thee from the people, and from the Gentiles, unto whom now I send thee, To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me“. Paul was understandably completely humbled by his experience and from that moment on, everything changed. It was no longer all about Paul, Paul’s religion, what Paul believed, Paul’s prayers, Paul’s faith, or anything else about Paul. In fact, for Paul it was about dying, and dying to live. That is why he said in Galatians 2:20 (KJV) “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me“. Paul did not live according to his own faith because the pride-poisoned fallen human heart has confidence or faith in nothing except “self“. Paul lived by the faith of Jesus’ absolute trust in the faithfulness of God imparted to Paul as Jesus’ brother or Bride. His faith was the gift of God’s grace, it did not come from his “self“, so he did not boast (see Ephesians 2:8). For Paul, his faith was not theoretical or theological but intensely practical which released within him resurrection life. This was not the end of his journey in life, but only the beginning. He said in 2 Corinthians 4:10 -11 (KJV) “[We] always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh“. This was because he knew that the glorious overcoming victory would not simply fall into his lap like a ripe cherry. Paul was divinely inspired to share in Jesus’ identity as a Son of God. Through establishing (or believing) the anointing of blessing of the indwelling breath of God’s fatherhood sovereignly given to Abraham, and of course Jesus as Abraham’s son and heir, Paul was no longer diabolically egocentric, self-admiring, self-saving and self-trusting. That is why Paul said in Philippians 3:8-11 (KJV) “Yes doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead“. Having died to his natural heritage as a Hebrew of the Hebrews and died to the diabolical pride that had bound him, Paul became conformed to Jesus in His death. In the power of the resurrection Paul became a humble image or reflection of the invisible God. That is why he said in Colossians 3:9-10 (KJV) “Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him“. Paul lived by the faith of Jesus and day by day the righteous requirements of the law were fulfilled within the humility of his God-inspired behaviour. He was filled with God and bore the fruit of love just like Jesus, the Son of Abraham, and the Son of David. It says in Acts 4:33 (KJV) “And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all“. For those who are like the apostles with grace-humbled hearts and who are absolutely convinced that they are nobodies and nothing without the divine life of God surging through their bodies and personalities, God sovereignly lifts them into the paradise of wonderment where all things are within their supernatural reach. For those whose humility unshackles the glorious unmerited, unearned, unlimited, and amazing sovereign grace of God, there is no limit to what the God of all grace is enabled to accomplish through them. This is the way of humility.

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