When we Refuse to be Hidden

As we continue with the message about God hiding His generals, I want to acknowledge that this message is offensive to most in our generation. We think that it is our visibility that gives us ministry. We believe (though fear to confess) that God needs as much visibility as possible to function, and that it is our duty to give Him that visibility.

But there is something I want to say. This message is not talking about our hiding. We are not the ones doing the hiding just as we are not the ones who make ourselves His generals. He is the one who chooses which generals to hide and which ones to put on the frontline.

This message is not talking about our concealing our witness. In fact, correctly understood, it is not speaking about us at all; but about what God does to protect His ministers.

Our responsibility is therefore restricted to being connected to Him and doing what He asks us to do as unworthy slaves, since that really is what we are. Our honor is as a result of our faithfulness in being just that.

We are still the salt and light of the world. We still are cities on a hill that cannot be hidden. We are still witnesses of what God is about in the world. We are still supposed to be sharing the Gospel to the nations.

The thrust of this series of messages is not therefore our influence or impact. It is not about our effectiveness or the lack of it. In fact He is the one that judges that effectiveness.

This is about the level of our connectedness to our headquarters, heaven. It is about how clear our orders are from day to day, moment by moment. And I still have the space to place one of my most favorite and sobering verses.

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. (Matthew 7: 21 – 23)

This really is what I mean with this post. I am only opening our eyes to another dynamic.

How do we do ministry yet get disqualified when it really matters?

Incidentally, the key determinant is what heaven wills. Do we know that will? Do we understand it? Are we pursuing it?

That is the only way we will be able to know where we are supposed to be, and what we are supposed to be.

Many are fine and very connected, until visibility becomes an issue. Many are content with the wilderness until the invitations to minister start flowing. Many do not mind the caves until the honoraria start pouring in.

Then you start ‘realizing’ that you are made for more; that you deserve a little more respect. You start wanting more recognition.

That is when the Gospel singer goes to a secular producer so that they can hit the market running without realizing that that in itself has defiled the anointing that was there, especially because the masses will also not realize it.

Then the producers (and congregations for the minister) will insist on a more sanitized message. Or the pressure to deliver hit after another will get you as far from the closet as possible.

And it is not much different with writers, even preachers.

We may fail to realize when publicity calls that it really was not from God. Obedience is the one that will sort out the source of publicity.

Remember the women singing ‘David has slain his ten thousands’ being the cause of David’s woes? God exposed David to kill Goliath. The women’s songs exposed David as a threat to the king and therefore a leader of sedition. Remember it was the same song that exposed him to the Philistine kings?

I have just read a story in one paper that is repeated enough times in ministry circles.

A young singer was from a very successful Gospel group that had broken up due to sin (one of them was caught in fornication). He is therefore starting a solo career, so to speak.

Then he meets an attractive girl who is everything, from a journalist to a marketer. She offers to promote him and help his new career. They slowly get together and finally have a one night stand. And the girl disappears.

Only to reappear (on phone) to tell him that she got pregnant and needs child upkeep or she spills the beans.

The guy stops everything, even sometimes lacking food and rent, to keep this mother to ‘his’ child comfortable.

However, she never allows him to see her or her child; for three years.

He finally becomes fed up and decides he is ready to face up to his sins and gives an ultimatum of sorts.

That is when the girl confesses that the child was not even his.

And someone will say that the girl was not a special program from the devil to emasculate this budding singer!

Incidentally I suspect this is what may have happened with David. Bathsheba may not have known that she was being used by the evil one when she was looking for that opportunity. And many other believers fall under the same or similar situations. And it is worse for the highly visible.

Our visibility places us at a great disadvantage because we become unwitting participants of a war we never even know exists. We will then be felled again and again before we realize what is happening because the enemy is sending general after general, weapon after weapon, all designed to bring us down.

Does it surprise you that no Bible character fell prior to his peak? They became prone to fall when they became highly visible.

That is why it is very important to allow God to reveal and hide us at His leisure (if you will allow me to use that phrase). Then we will be subject to His commitment to protect us whether we are in the limelight or not because we will be seeking to walk in His ways.

But we love those Facebook likes, and those twitter reactions. We love the floods that visit our blogs and websites as they make us feel significant. We love those invites to perform and teach, and of course the honoraria that accompanies them. We love the Oohs and Aahs after our performances and would not exchange them for the world.

Do you realize that those are the same things the enemy will use to let you move out of the straight and narrow? Do you realize that some of those things are sent by the enemy of what you stand for?

Would you trash that smart phone if God told you or will you rebuke that voice? Would you get off social media if God ordered or will you call a prayer team to stand with you against enemies of your elevation? Would you decline that invitation if you sensed God’s displeasure or would you enjoin them in praying against those obstacles? Would you end that relationship if God disproves it or you will ascribe that voice to the enemy of your progress?

You see, many times God does not lead away from the bad, since bad rarely tempts. He many times will lead us away from our best. We many times feel utterly deprived when He so orders.

I look back at some relationships I protested when God closed, relationships that I had thought were perfect, as perfect as humanly possible. The bonding was excellent. They were unquestionably healthy as I was as radical for Christ as I am now. I almost thought God was unfair.

Looking back at where God has taken me, I realize that those girls had no capacity to walk the journey God has walked with me.

They did not backslide or anything of the sort. It is that they are not made of the spiritual matter to be able to walk with me in the path of obedience God has called me. They really, even today, are unable to conceptualize, let alone understand the path God has called me to walk.

It is not about good, better or best. It is His way versus everything else if you must walk with Him.

That is the level our visibility plays at. Many times God wants to take us from the public realm to the desert like He did with Philip the Evangelist in Acts 8. What would you have done if it were you?

It may be a simple command to stop watching or listening to your favorite TV or online pastor. It may require you to stop attending some church you really fancy as it completes you. It may require you to stop supporting a cause you think is the epitome of spiritual responsibility. And many times it may require you to switch off that cellphone or internet for some time to be able to hear your order clearly.

How radical are you in your faith?

Reading, Hearing, Watching

I want us to discuss the most effective way of storing God’s word in our hearts. Why?

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11)

It therefore means it is the word that is stored in our heart that has the capacity of helping us resist temptation and sin.

By that, I want us to understand the workings of the human brain under different inputs. What do these media activate in the brain? When is the brain most utilized?

Reading activates the brain at the highest levels. You see, reading opens you to something like a conversation with the writer. You cannot fly through writing. Reading makes you get into the situation the writer was at when writing whatever you are reading.

Reading demands focus as your eyes can’t be looking elsewhere when you are reading. On the other hand, the brain is at its sharpest. That is why you will find yourself going back to a paragraph or page to clarify something you feel you may have misunderstood the first time. And that is why reading is tiring. It is very easy to fall asleep when you are reading because it is hard work. There is no escape route to reading, unless stopping to read.

That is the reason other religions warn their people against reading the Bible. That is the reason the devil invests his best efforts to stop believers from reading the Bible, and when he fails, discourages them from reading it consistently. He knows you can never read and remain the same. Or have you ever heard anyone asking people to read the Bible for fun? You can never read for fun because reading engages the brain at the highest level.

Hearing, in other words listening, engages the brain, but at a lesser level than reading.

This is because, whereas the mind is engaged, the eyes are free to roam, meaning that part of the brain will be pursuing the running of the eyes. However, the brain is still active. It is very hard to think of rewinding to something that has passed you because the brain is slow to respond as information is still flowing. That is why retention of what one hears is incomparable to what one reads.

Watching is another thing altogether.

Watching is passive. The brain is at its lowest because what is seen engages the whole brain, yet demanding nothing in return. The brain basically goes for a cruise, allowing nothing else to challenge it. It more or less stops thinking and focuses on whatever it is seeing. It has no capacity of discriminating between useful and dangerous because it has been captured.

The brain has no capacity of arguing with what it is watching. It swallows it wholesale. It is after you stop that you wonder why something you disagree with vehemently was able to pass through your filters so easily.

That is why we have subliminal messages on videos. They put them there because they know that nobody will have the mental strength to challenge them, or anything else they push for that matter.

I was an avid fan of wildlife movies and documentaries until I realized that they unashamedly advance the evolution narrative. You therefore are swallowing an abominable doctrine as you enjoy wildlife.

Have you ever noticed that most Bible based movies change the Bible narrative so blatantly until you wonder what Bible they use when making those movies. Yet many have based their theology on those movies. Our children know the Bible as corrupted by those movies. Worse still is the fact that the same movies are responsible for hardening people against the same Bible, making it very hard to convince the same people to read the Bible or trust it.

You realize that most perversions grow in acceptability through the media increasing their airtime, especially the visuals. Things we never imagined become acceptable (even though we know and confess they are wrong) because we have watched them constantly. Most young men who got into smoking in the 70s and 80s started because most of the movie stars smoked, making smoking look cool. Most of the shameful dressing we see even in church is a direct product of what we expose our children to on the screen.

We realize then that the most influential medium is the one we swallow without thinking. In other words, it sinks without asking for our logical permission.

We are slowly accepting fornication and adultery because that is what our movies and their stars have normalized. The western world, even the church, has more or less normalized divorce and remarriage because they have been exposed to the visual media (especially TV) for the longest time. And the same is getting into the rest of the world because of the internet and especially social media.

I am not here to discuss movies and TV programs. God has called me to open our eyes to the fact that He needs us to use our brains to determine the course our lives will take. And we can only do that if we read His word above whatever else we may listen to or watch.

Again I am not talking about us becoming Bible scholars or theologians, just faithful readers of His word. And consistent ones at that!

Reading through the Bible again and again makes you appropriate God’s word in a healthy way. Though you may not know where this or the other verse is, it is safely stored in your heart. Any mention of the same will arouse a response. Any quote out of context will arouse a negative response; all because the word is stored in the heart through consistent reading.

I know people who have memorized chunks and chunks of verses and other combinations who are unable to resist sin or even have positive theology.  One thing you may realize is that they really do not read the Bible. They look for verses to memorize or passages to preach. Their theology therefore lacks a foundation.

I can memorize all the verses about God’s love yet fail to know the God this love comes from. I therefore swallow all that love, but miss out on God.

That is my problem with motivation and motivational preaching. They sanitize the Bible until it loses its character. That is why you will never hear a motivational pastor address sin in his congregation, unless it is the sin of questioning his motivational excesses.

That is why reading the Bible for yourself is the antidote for everything negative, from false doctrines to practices. And it is simply because all these point you to alternative sources of truth, whatever those sources treat as truth, but the Bible is the truth that points to the TRUTH, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible connects you the AUTHOR as opposed to the interpreters and critics of the intentions and meanings the author may have had.

You do not need to attend enough lectures to understand cults and their doctrines. And it is because the teachers of those lessons may have swallowed cultic things. You just need to be a lover of the WORD OF GOD. Then you will be spending quality and quantity times ingesting it into your mental and spiritual system so that it becomes the one guiding your worldview. The Bible itself will expose cults and cultic things even if they are things you have believed and practiced all your life.

The Pharisees and scribes believed in Christ after His resurrection because the scriptures were able to penetrate their initial resistance to Christ because they spoke about Christ. As I have said again and again, there is no scriptural reference of a single Sadducee getting saved for the same reason; they had no place for God’s word. They therefore had no reference point to find Christ.

That explains why a lot of the church leadership only plays lip service to the Bible. They really do not want their people to be reading the Bible as that will water down their authority, because it is not authority from God. It also explains why over the centuries authorities fought bitter wars to ensure that the Bible does not get to the masses. Luther’s protest was basically one that sought to bring the Bible to every believer, having to even translate the Bible to German. And how many other translators were killed for that single pursuit?

Read the Bible for yourself. Let the preacher and teacher be like a spice to add taste to what you enjoy alone. Then you will be able to spot a useless or dangerous spice when it gets into contact with what is already in.

Some preachers so elevate rhema over logos that it appears illogical to read the Bible unless for that special word in season.

What they fail to realize is that God breathes life to the word ALREADY stored in our hearts as opposed to giving us a new word every time we need it. It is as if no word is inspired before it becomes rhema.

ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. (2Timothey 3: 16, 17)

In short, logos is as inspired as rhema. In fact it is logos that gives life to rhema. It all comes from the same source, God. Unless we deny God is the source of logos.

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)

That verse does not make sense if we need only a word in season.

Simply said, if we only need to access the word in season, God had no business writing the Bible for us; and expect us to be reading it consistently.

Of course a few other verses make no sense at all if we only need that occasional word from heaven.

I have seen an end of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad. O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day. Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me. I have more understanding than all my teachers: for thy testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, because I keep thy precepts. I have refrained my feet from every evil way, that I might keep thy word. I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me. How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path. (Psalm 119: 96 – 105)

Or

This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:8)

How possible is it to meditate on a word here and a word there when they are many other voices all over and around us?

How will you enjoy the sweetness of the word of God if you only bite a bit here and a piece there?

Hiding as a Strategy for War

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8)

We are continuing with the message ‘When God Hides His Generals’, today looking at reasons God hides them.

We will look at warfare between God and the evil one as the arena through which the hiding is viewed.

The outcome of a war is at all times pegged on the strategy each warring party employs. We also know that surprise is the determining factor in many wars. By this I mean that the army that springs surprise after another many times ends up the winner. By the way, surprise is where terrorism gets its sting.

Let me talk about a modern war I have watched, the Gulf war.

Saddam used decoys. At the initial stages, the allies bombed ‘cartons’ for targets, so to speak. Then Saddam boasted about it through media friendly to his side.

Of course it was disheartening to the allies and their supporters and fans.

But they won through springing an even more ingenious surprise; and they used the media in advance. Propaganda is a crucial ingredient of war.

They boasted of a naval attack that was invincible and inevitable. They paraded the equipment they had ready, the strategy they would use and in short why their naval attack was the next arena of war.

Like any logical general, Saddam took his best forces to resist that naval attack.

But that attack was also a decoy. It was meant to open the desert to very little resistance. No wonder they called it desert storm.

It is not much different in the spiritual realm. The devil strategizes. But God is the better strategist because the devil’s strategy is included in His strategy.

For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. (Revelation 17:17)

Another thing that differentiates them is that God does not use propaganda as a tool as He will not lie, unlike the devil who uses lies as currency.

Let us look at a battle, probably a few, in the Bible to get what I am sharing.

Remember Goliath?

The Philistines were a bigger and better army than Israel at that time. They could therefore have beaten Israel if the armies had clashed man to man.

But then they had a secret weapon, a weapon that meant that they could win the battle without losing any soldiers.

That is where Goliath came in. Champion versus champion meant that they would win hands down. And they knew the Israelites had no giants. And the stronger army normally dictated the rules of engagement.

Incidentally, through military intelligence, they knew that the tallest (and of course biggest) soldier was the king, and the said king was not very brave. There was therefore no match for their champion.

That is why they were in no hurry to start fighting. In fact the waiting increased their chances greatly as it completely intimidated their foes. Imagine Israel would flee at Goliath’s approach!

I believe what would have followed is Israel surrendering to whatever terms as would have been placed on them by an army that had completely vanquished them without lifting a spear.

And that is where God comes in.

He has been preparing a general in the secret place, beyond the radar of the military intelligence of both armies.

And He presents him as a worshipper and not a soldier. You see, only worshippers can be God’s generals.

Why do I say that?

He is offended by the blasphemy Goliath throws carelessly around. He is irked by the kind of person he is (uncircumcised) and the kind of god he represents.

Then God makes an appearance. And tables are turned dramatically.

Do you think the same would have happened if David had been a gym fanatic who had won all sling shooting contests wherever he went? Would the same have happened if David was a famous person in the army for his expertise in this or the other skill? Would Goliath have challenged Israel if he had envisioned anyone with such capability?

That is why God must hide His generals. He releases them only when He needs to use them.

We see that when we read God’s strategies in war. Remember when He used lepers to scatter an army that had vanquished Israel by simply laying a siege? Or when a choir led the army in war?

But the biggest reason God hides His generals is because the devil is an unrelenting enemy. He never gives up even when he knows he is losing. He is therefore watching out for any slip to strike.

The devil can suspect when something major is being planned in the heavens. He does not have all the details but he has an inkling of what is being planned. Another thing we need to realize is that he believes the scriptures more than most believers. He does not have doubts about what the Bible says. The only problem is that he believes negatively. In other words he believes with the purpose of nullifying God’s purpose.

Why were the males killed in Egypt when Moses was born? Why was it for that short season?

I believe the devil must have seen movement in the heavens indicating that something major was afoot among the Israelites. Then he remembered God’s promise to Abraham and the years he was told. He then put two and two together and realized that Israel must have a deliverer for that promise to come to fruition.

That is why the boy child had to die to subvert that agenda.

You see the same during Jesus’ time.

That is the primary reason God must hide His generals. They need to mature before they get ready for war.

The second reason is compromise.

Let me use Balaam as an example. Balaam was a famous prophet. And he was a true prophet from what we read. It was his big name that opened him to the offers from the palace. And that offer aroused his base desires beyond his capacity to resist; to the point that he dies the death of the rebellious. His visibility was the handle that the devil used to open him to uselessness and death.

Many pastors are shameful shadows of the ministers they were before their visibility opened them up for irresistible offers from the other side veiled as ministry openings, partners and supporters.

Incidentally, even the devil hides his generals. And he uses them to pursue his agenda which is to trash God’s agenda.  And his generals are not always the physically or intellectually endowed. Most times they are just attractive worshippers of his agenda.

We start with the serpent in Eden. You see him using the most attractive and intelligent animal (I suspect it may have had legs). From the scriptures it appears as the beast closest to man in intelligence, forget about the apes evolutionists talk about. That is the animal the devil used to bring man down.

We see him using Hagar to try and defuse God’s promise. We see him using the allure of Sodom to bring Lot down.

What brought Samson down? An attractive and passionate girl, yet one so powerful she could negotiate with five kings.

Jezebel was a strategic alliance from the enemy of Israel. And it was stretched to Athaliah in Judah.

Do you realize that the most potent and visible influencers were yoked to generals from the other side?

Moses was given a priest’s first born to wife. Joseph was given a priest’s daughter to wife. And Solomon of all people was given too many foreign generals to remain loyal to God even after God had appeared to him twice.

It is from those alliances that God hides his generals from. A visible general is easy bait for the enemy of souls.

Some pastors lost their cutting edge because of the wives they married. Some lost it when they were offered positions in big churches. And many times it was their visibility that attracted what I call spiritual refrigerators as partners.

If you must be made public, let God Himself do the publicizing. If you must be advertised, let God Himself do the advertising.

Advertise God only. Publicize God only. Then get out of the way of God’s display.

Let God shine forth. Leave your name and identity out of it.

Musicians are the most notorious. It appears like an abomination to leave their name out of the song they compose. And I am not even talking about the videos which are on a whole different level.

It makes it very difficult for God to hide you.

Some of the titles we take unduly expose us. The CVs we parade many times leave God no space to show off, or even show up.

Is what I am writing even scriptural? I know someone is asking.

He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:30)

Moses is another example.

You see, God cannot hide us if we are fighting to get some exposure. He cannot shield us when we are fighting to get into the limelight.

Giving God the chance to show off gives Him the master key to do whatever He wants with our lives, even if that is hiding us.

As an aside, have you ever wondered where those crowds following Jesus to the wilderness until He has to multiply bread came from yet He never advertised His meetings? In fact He did the opposite; He hid from those crowds.

Who fills the persecuted churches yet not only must they not advertise, they must worship in secret?

Who brought the over twenty thousand crowds to John Wesley’s meetings yet not only did he not advertise; he was rejected by the church?

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (John 12:32)

Our responsibility is really simple, lift Christ up. Just like it says in Matthew 6:33, the rest is none of our business.

God draws people to Himself in places He is lifted up. Advertising may actually do the opposite as it draws people to man and his effort.

Will you allow God to hide you?

Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war: for with thee will I break in pieces the nations, and with thee will I destroy kingdoms; (Jeremiah 51:20)

Will you allow God to use you as He wills?

Or will you insist on being on the pedestal in the misguided belief that that is when He uses you better?

Like it says in another place, a tool is really nothing outside the wielder’s hands. And that is what we are.

I choose to be what He chooses to make me. I choose to be where He places me. I choose to do what He asks me to do. I choose to be His servant, doing only that which He demands of me.

Otherwise Matthew 7: 21 – 23 will be my portion.