PIERCING
THE VEIL
©
Morris Ruddick
“But
the Samaritans did not receive Him, as His face was set toward
Jerusalem. So James and John asked, ‘Lord, do you not want us
to command fire from heaven to consume them?' But Jesus rebuked
them and said, ‘you do not know of what sort of spirit you are,
for the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives, but to
save them.'” Luke 9: 53-55
The
times are turbulent. They demand something more. The mark of a
high calling is not just a grasp of the times, but knowing what
to do. Knowing what to do will begin by clearly discerning the
realities and subtleties that are masked and entwined.
Knowing
what to do will involve distinguishing and penetrating a dimension
best described as a veil. There is a veil between soul and spirit;
one between light and darkness, as well as a veil between the
natural and supernatural.
The
dictionary describes “veil” as a covering that conceals or disguises.
A spiritual veil is a dimension or barrier that cannot be penetrated
with human effort. This spiritual barrier may be due to a blindness,
a hindrance, a threshold to be surmounted, or an alignment or
timing factor to bring release or change from the Lord.
Discerning
the Veil
When
facing a spiritual threshold, discerning the veil is the first
step in the process of it being pierced. Veils can be of God's
design or implanted by the enemy.
God's
Veils. God's veils characteristically allow for spiritual
alignment and the prevention of premature actions. They enable
the full impact for the God-initiated release. After interpreting
the dream for the cupbearer, Joseph confronted a veil that remained
in place until the set-time for his promotion.
Since
the time of Jesus' earthly ministry, His followers too often have
had the tendency toward missing the big picture and getting sidetracked
with their short-sighted spiritual conclusions. James and John
illustrated this in Luke 9. Jesus distinguished Elijah's action
of calling down the fire -- from their suggestion of judging the
Samaritan's rejection of Jesus. James' and John's premature judgment
not only fell short in grasping the purpose for implementing the
power of God; but it would have created a diversion from Jesus
having set his face toward Jerusalem in the greatest veil piercing
of all time.
Enemy
Veils. In an increasing number of modern-day cases, veils
implanted by the evil one create diversions targeting higher-level
Kingdom advances. One of the most diabolical strategies against
Kingdom agendas is embedded evil. Whether the result
of wolves in sheep's clothing or simply sick sheep who have wormed
their way into ministry decision-circles, the enemy specializes
in infiltrators; “plants” embedded within leadership circles whose
purpose it is to divert and undermine the work of the Kingdom.
David
Davis in his book “Road to Carmel ,” tells of a time
great advances were being made in his ministry's efforts. Volunteers
he describes as modern-day Jezebels and Ahabs began infiltrating
the ranks of his ministry. The interlopers were ones who talked
the talk, but whose real intention was to get close to those operating
in the power and anointing of God.
These
hyper-spiritual plants are typically without a viable track record
of their own, who specialize in diversions that bring chaos, confusion
and destruction within the decision-making of a genuine work of
God. They serve as usurpers and then negative conduits of the
anointing to redirect the faith and authority of the Kingdom efforts
they penetrate. Jesus revealed that: “they would be known
by their fruit.”
Another
undermining application of enemy-employed veils is a perversion
of the principle of prayer agreement. An embarrassingly large
proportion of the enemy's power today is the result of a usurping
of the anointing from misguided believers. The deception
involves being blinded by soul issues and participating in active
“agreement” (according to Matthew 18:19) in both word and prayer
with reckless judgments against members or groups from within
the household of faith. It is the devil who serves as the accuser
of the brethren. Jesus released the woman caught in adultery by
telling her that He did not condemn her, but to “go and sin
no more.” Premature judgment and agreement with the accuser
releases division, destruction and unnecessary backlash. If allowed
to enlarge and continue, it potentially can wreak havoc with genuine
moves of God.
The
fractionalization caused by veils of religious traditions and
myths undermine the unity born of the Spirit. Jesus took a hard
stand against the precepts of men, the fruit of which weakens
the simple faith required for moves of the Spirit.
Facing
Spiritual Reality
Change
begins when the veil is correctly discerned and spiritual reality
is faced. Only a remnant is needed to rise above the frays and
distortions of truth that immobilize and hold us back. It only
takes a remnant to act in faith to penetrate the veils that mask
and undermine the transforming power of God and confront the evil
of this day. Israel 's Messianic Jewish community has been just
that kind of remnant, paving the way to release transformation
in the Land of Promise . It was Daniel, during the Babylonian
captivity, who spiritually began the turning of the captivity.
It was likewise the faith of Nehemiah whose prayers began mobilizing
the restoration needed for his day.
Facing
spiritual reality involves recognizing and confronting the lies.
It will entail discerning the difference between the enmeshed
precepts of misguided religious and overt occult conventions;
with the need to genuinely hear the voice of the Lord. Intellectual
religion that shuns the Spirit and power of God is vulnerable
to the seducing tactics of the enemy's propositions. Wherever
a significant move of God is underway, there will be counterfeits
and diversions.
Quieting
the Soul. Facing spiritual reality means getting beyond
our soul issues, as well as our sacred spiritual crutches and
precepts to allow the pure input of the Holy Spirit. Only then
will we be released to operate with the unwavering faith needed
to embrace and execute the will of God. Spiritual activity can
mount to frenzied levels. Yet, one of the most frequent statements
made by the Lord during His earthly ministry was “fear not!” Jesus
always removes the barriers with which religion has complicated
the pathway to God. In an article from Israel 's HaAretz (July
31, 2006), a young Jewish IDF medic facing the conflict in Lebanon
was quoted as saying: “I want time to pray before going into
battle. Not many of us are religious, but most of the guys believe.”
Sometimes,
like James and John, our misguided zeal, premature judgments and
limited vision cause us to make things more complicated and miss
the simplicity of the big picture. Faith in God is the potency
needed to overcome fear and release the power of God that defies
the odds. It is that simple faith that will lead this Israeli
medic and many others like him into the reality of knowing His
Jewish Messiah. It is the quieting of the soul before God that
will clear the confusion to discern accurately the spiritual realities
around us.
Walking
into the Fire. Facing spiritual realities may require
us to walk into the fire. The peace or “shalom” outlined in the
Bible is not the absence of conflict. It is the result of that
alignment or completeness that comes from doing God's will. Confronting
evil and reversing its damage may require sacrificing our comfort
zones; or even taking a stand that requires risking it all. Shadrach,
Meshach, and Abed-Nego refused to compromise. Yet they met the
Son of God in the flames of Nebuchadnezzar's furnace and emerged
without the smell of smoke. (Daniel 3:15-18) Walking into the
fire involves a choice. The choice is to respond in faith or to
respond in fear.
Combined
Anointings. The days upon us are evil. Few who are confronting
the realities of this hour are able to pave a lone pathway. We
need new strategies and we desperately need one another. The turbulence
and intensity of the battle is calling for a release of the power
of God resulting from the Body functioning in unity. This release
is maximized by the advantage of combined anointings. Yet, the
potential impact of combined anointings is tied to overcoming
the operational hurdle of “pointing the finger in scorn”
at the splinters seen in the eyes of members of the Body outside
our preferred in-groups.
Combined
anointings represent the right spiritual chemistry mixture directed
toward a common purpose that creates the synergy that breaks strongholds.
Revival releases combined anointings and vice versa. What happens
with revival is that barriers are broken down and there is a pure
flow of God's Spirit among those operating together. Birds of
a feather and loyalty are all nice to have when working together,
but unfortunately within the Body, “in-group” standards can become
so restrictive and in-bred that they squeeze out spontaneity and
innovation and even the anointing. Our boundaries need to be extended.
This
is a time when the Lord is putting together unusual alliances
between ministries; between businesses and ministries; as well
as between businesses, governmental entities and ministries. Collaborative
efforts reflecting combined anointings will bring significant
results that far surpass the natural. Combined anointings involve
much more than gathering for group prayer. It is much more than
the type of synergy when two and two make five. It involves a
strategic convergence of diverse segments of the Body joining
together and actuating results on a level of one and one making
a hundred and one.
Emerging
Beyond Human Effort
Today's
challenges and conflicts are requiring decisions, plans and strategies
that go beyond the human effort of even the most talented from
our ranks. The societal transformation set in motion by Jesus'
followers was led by everyday people simply willing to believe,
obey and take action with strategies based not on the precepts
and traditions of men, but on the basic truths of His Word and
on hearing the voice of the Lord. It involves knowing what to
do so that the efforts are beyond the arena of the best that human
effort might employ. That will involve the combined interaction
of an identity totally tied to God, Kingdom truths and dominion.
Identity
Issue. The church's job is to perfect the saints for
the work of ministry; to equip and mobilize the saints as they
grasp and move into the fullness of their callings. That begins
with settling the identity issue: of who we are in Him and what
we are here to do. Joseph's identity-in-God was recognized and
respected by the Egyptians. His faithful stewardship, within that
identity, brought honor to the Lord. Becoming secure in our identity
and calling of God is a prerequisite to piercing the veil.
Kingdom
Truths. The Son
of God summed up the wisdom of the Scriptures in the Sermon on
the Mount and with a series of parables unveiling Kingdom truths.
These truths are paradoxes to the natural mind; yet their application
represents gateways into results surpassing the limitations of
human effort..
Dominion.
Jesus' mission was to destroy the works of the devil and to restore
man to the purpose for which God created him; which is the cooperative
interaction between God and man to take dominion; to rule over
the works of His hands.
Piercing
the Veil
Not
withstanding the God-ordained veils that need to ripen into maturity;
piercing demon set veils begins with facing spiritual realities
in the power and presence of God. That will involve progressive
revelation, consecration and spiritual saturation.
From
the days of Adam, Noah, Abraham, David and the prophets; to the
days of Jesus and the early Church, the key differentiating factor
between the religions of the world and the God of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, the God of our Lord Jesus has been that God speaks
and interacts with His people.
“Hearing
the voice of the Lord” involves learning to recognize and correctly
discerning God's guidance as it is unveiled through His Word,
through wisdom and through revelation. In the same way that Peter
admonished us to wash ourselves in the truths of God's Word, we
also need to bathe the revelation we receive in prayer. Our spiritual
receptors mature with use over time. Likewise, the depths of the
wisdom of God are such that initial words of guidance received
from the Holy Spirit are just that. They are preliminary and in
most instances, the framework for receiving the next level of
revelation. Revelation typically comes progressively in layers,
as we diligently seek Him and mature in our ability to correctly
discern between soul and Spirit.
Genuine
consecration releases authority and the supernatural. Consecration
combines prayer, humility and judging yourself before the Lord.
Jesus said, judge yourselves that you be not judged.
It is an examination of the human effort, so that we might yield
ourselves more fully to the divine effort. Consecration is a conscious
process of spiritually purifying ourselves for the purpose of
operating to a greater degree in oneness with the Lord.
Consecration
will involve the removal of the beams of our own eyes that create
schisms within the Body; avoidance of “evil-speaking” and premature
judgments of members of the Body not of our ilk; eliminating the
rumor-mill or hearsay as a means of input in the decision-process;
averting the orientation toward pat formulas that undermine the
wisdom and revelation that are available for specific situations;
and removing the infiltrators from within Kingdom decision circles
whose impact demonstrate chaos, confusion and reversals.
Consecration
will entail spiritual saturation. Spiritual saturation will result
from active spiritual maintenance, by effectively employing His
Word and the prayer needed to overcome the odds. It involves immersing
yourself in God's Word and disciplining yourself to enter that
place that Paul spoke of as “praying without ceasing.” It is an
alignment process. With the alignment will come the release of
God's intervention.
“By
His Spirit He adorned the heavens; His hand pierced the fleeing
serpent. These are but the mere edges of His ways, and how small
a whisper we hear of Him! But the thunder of His power, who can
understand?" Job 26:13-14
The
issue for the times upon us is in knowing what to do. The scripture
in Luke 9 tells us that Jesus had set his face toward Jerusalem
. Yet, in this process, the Samaritans rejected Him. James and
John's misguided passion was born of spiritual myopia: to employ
the power of God to respond in-kind and bring down judgment on
the Samaritans. Jesus knew that the answer to the Samaritans was
tied to what would unfold in Jerusalem . James and John responded
like zealots, which was contrary to the thrust of the Lord's earthly
ministry. Jesus put things back in focus for them -- and for us,
with the words, ‘the Son of Man came not to destroy men's lives,
but to save them.'
Piercing
the veil that empowered the transformational move of God described
in the book of Acts came with the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
It followed one of history's most brutal times of waiting on God.
The cost was paid at the cross. The release came at the resurrection,
but the veil was pierced for the believers at Pentecost. It remains
the model for this day. It was the veil-piercing that broke the
bonds; that constrained the followers of Jesus -- then and now,
of their misguided zeal, premature judgments and all the other
limitations to our best human efforts.
Our
impact will mount as we prepare ourselves, as a Body. As we learn
to accurately discern the veil, and in faith face the spiritual
realties beyond our limitations; we will sharpen our alignment
with the Spirit of the Lord and emerge beyond our good intentions
and zealous human effort with the power of God to traverse the
change and pierce the veils.
“You've
not passed this way before, so consecrate yourselves, for the
Lord is going to do wonders among you.” Joshua 3:4, 5
___________________________________________________
Morris
Ruddick has been a forerunner and spokesman for the call of God
in the marketplace. He is author of "The Joseph-Daniel Calling"
and "Gods Economy, Israel and the Nations," which address
the mobilization of business and governmental leaders called to
impact their communities with God's blessings. They are available
from Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com and other popular outlets.
Mr.
Ruddick is also the founder of the Global Equippers Entrepreneurial
Program, which imparts hope and equips economic community builders
where God's light is dim in both the Western and non-Western world.
To schedule a speaking engagement, sponsor a workshop, make a
donation or to get more information on how you can help, contact
Global Initiatives at 303.741.9000.
2009
Copyright Morris Ruddick - response@strategic-initiatives.org
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Since 1996, the Strategic Intercession Global Network (SIGN) has
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