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“School is in. Break is over.”

As the Lord said these words to me, it wasn’t long and I found myself waist deep in some other words; words from 1891 when the world then knew revolution. Revolution that would continue to have seismic ripple effects on the very nations we live in today.

The words were..

“TO BE A CHRISTIAN is to be a warrior. As he puts on piece by piece of the panoply provided for him in Ephesians 6, he may wisely say to himself, “This warns me of danger; this prepares me for warfare; this prophesies opposition.

Difficulties meet us even in standing our ground. In the rush of the fight, men are apt to be carried off their legs. If they can keep their footing, they will be victorious; but if they are borne down by the rush of their adversaries, everything is lost. You are to put on the heavenly armor in order that you may stand; and you will need it to maintain the position in which your Captain has placed you. If to stand requires all this care, judge ye what the warfare must be!” (Charles Spurgeon, April 19th, 1891)

Here we are. Violence, tension, escalating threats of war have found us and there is no doubt that events as significant as these, are framing how we see life, the future, what we choose as our values.

And in the face of such significant human events, what will we let frame our reality?

School is most certainly in.

WHAT ARE THE CHOICES FOR FRAMING OUR REALITY?

I was chatting with a colleague about a year after the pandemic began. She made a comment to me that has echoed  in my being. She said, “I make no assumptions that the person I knew before the pandemic, is the same and values the same. I have found so many have changed.”

“if they are borne down by the rush of their adversaries….”  What then? 

There is no doubt that in some moments of our lives, we are absolutely overwhelmed, bewildered and stunned by the ‘rush of adversaries”.  Adversaries come in many forms; sickness, financial and relational tension, job loss, literal war. 

School is in and break is over.

GOD’S BUILDING OUR FRAME BIGGER 

As I soaked in what the Lord had just said, my eyes glanced down and I was drawn to the pages open in front of me. 

“During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet… So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him.” (Daniel 9:2) 

There is a learning we are all doing right now. A learning that will frame our reality. School is in. Who is teaching you?

Daniel chose the Word of God. He learned from it. He read it and allowed it to read him and the moment he was living in. 

Spurgeon said, “The Holy Spirit is God, and therefore he is the greatest spirit in the universe. All wisdom dwells in him. He thought out the laws which govern nature and direct providence. The Holy Spirit is the great teacher of human spirits: he taught Bezaleel and the artificers in the wilderness how to make the fine linen, and the gold and carved work for the tabernacle. All arts and sciences are perfectly known to him, and infinitely more than men can ever discover. 

Yet he will not use these things in this holy controversy. In the quarrel of his covenant he neither uses philosophy, nor science, nor rhetoric. In contending against the powers of darkness, “The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.” “It is written” is his master-stroke. The Holy Spirit judges this to be so effectual a weapon against evil that he uses this, and this only, as his sword in the great conflict with the powers of darkness.”

Daniel who is a highly ranked and knowledgeable  official in the Kingdom of Babylon (Daniel 1:20), sees this and while wielding this sword in prayer, Daniel has a supernatural experience.

“While I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, reached me about the time of the evening sacrifice… Gabriel said, “O Daniel, I have come forth to give you skill to understand.. at the beginning of your supplications the command went out and I have come to tell you.” (Daniel 9:21-23)

Daniel has an encounter with one of Scriptures named three Arch Angels, Gabriel. Daniel is invited into being tutored by an Arch Angel. This was a literal experience, not symbolic. The spiritual realm is real and it holds a knowledge and understanding that is powerful.

The Word of God is supernatural, it has a source and authority above the natural. It is experienced and felt not only in the natural realm but by evil spirits. It divides soul and divides spirit. (Hebrew 4:13)

THE INVITATION NOW SCHOOL IS IN

One of the greatest needs of this moment, is to discern what is soul and what is spirit. The Sword in the hand of the Holy Spirit is our tutor.

If you have been in a season where hearing or perceiving the voice or presence of God has seemed cloaked or hindered. It has. But the break is over, school is in. Right now, there are new ways of knowing and understanding all that God has.

The Sword of the Spirit, is a sword fitted to the Holy Spirit’s hand and Holy Spirit’s one focus is to glorify Jesus not only by what He reveals but also by what He overturns.

School is in. Break is over and the day beckons us to esteem, humble ourselves and lean in to learn the Sword of the Spirit on a whole new level.