When the Father knocks on the door of our Hearts

God’s rejection of Cain’s gift had nothing to do with the gift, but the attitude of the giver. One example is when Cain rejects divine counsel because of being so self absorbed by his emotions. Swayed by the anger that burns within his soul, Cain can no longer reason. He incorrectly believes that he is alone and is given the right to sabotage his brother.   He fails to understand his responsibility to care for his brother’s life. What he chooses and what he pursues is in opposition to the Lord’s gracious leadership.

The Lord requires you and I to serve our brothers interests in order to walk in integrity. How then can we bend our heart’s towards the Lord’s counsel? I believe the first truth is, at times an attempt to remove anyone who causes us pain. For example, Cain has to experience the pain of facing his faults in order to be healthy. Another example is, I’m sure that the Lord allowed Cain to experience rejection so that he would develop his faith so he could conquer his anger.

One major problem that still is evident today, just like in the days of Cain, is that we don’t know how to live with ourselves and with each other. Yet I can’t focus so much on Cain’s behavior, I must focus on the Lord’s heart towards an unrepentant individual. Cain’s actions can confuse us, however God’s dealings moves our hearts to want to know the Lord more. The Lord protected Cain even though he embezzled his future. What Cain did was make a decision when he was angry, disconnected, offended, rejected and resentful. However the Lord isn’t an angry Father, anger isn’t His default. The Father lives with a conviction and when humanity lives without moral conviction they cease to live.

The loving Father puts our conscience in check so we would pause and listen. Simply because our Father doesn’t want us to fail to inherit His promises. The Father came to Cain because He wanted him to live well, otherwise Cain would fulfill his own lust and then ask God for mercy. We have to realize there are moments when the Father knocks on the door of our hearts.

So why is Cain protected? Why are the guilty protected and yet the innocent unprotected? Is this justice? Why isn’t the innocent warned? Why wasn’t Abel warned about his brother’s plan to end his life? By not allowing Cain to be killed, is the Lord disregarding the standards of justice? In other words, does the Lord have a defect in His justice? Does the Lord delight in hurting Abel, does He delight in hurting us? Disregarding the standards of justice?

I believe the answer isn’t as complicated as we think, the Lord doesn’t just give us a revelation of Himself, the Lord graciously gives us a revelation of us. Because there was greater evil in Cain then when he murdered his brother, it was his indifference to murder. Cain had become indifferent towards the evil in his own heart. Indifference is the the opposite of the Lord’s heart towards humanity simple because indifference is self centered. Indifference is idolatry because it doesn’t consider its neighbor. Simple concern for our neighbor is the greatest act of justice whether that neighbor shares our ideology or not. So what is the answer? Abel is still speaking Cain isn’t. Hebrews 11:4: “By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.” Abel’s offering cost him his life, what am I giving that cost me my life?

The Prophet

The prophet sees the Lord’s vision for humanity. Because they feel fiercely, tears flow from their eyes because many aren’t even conscious that the word of God is disregarded. The prophetic message that is spoken isn’t to be shunned because the Lord has concern for all of His creation. Prophets aren’t worried about if their the minority because they have learned to maintain their loyalty to the Lord over popular opinion. They seem to live out of a much different kind of value system.

Because their testimony didn’t originate from themselves they don’t just burn for a season, their words burn for eternity. They have been touched by the eternal word of God which has extinguished the self centered ego that plagues humanity. Any need to prove themselves, has been replaced by a tenderness for the heart of the Father. The decree they speak isn’t necessarily a message of comfort, but a message that challenges. When the rights of others are forsaken they scream, and when human obligations are neglected, they weep. Their hatred towards sin doesn’t produce hostility towards others, it exhibits a desire for reconciliation. Their wholeheartedness for the honor of God is at times misinterpreted as an anger towards men and women who don’t share their beliefs.

For the prophet, to refuse to worship God is scandalous. The prophet doesn’t ask who men and women owe their ultimate allegiance to, for the prophet this is never a question but a demand. In other words, the prophet understands that ultimately autonomy that is fueled by human ambition leads to social confusion. The prophet of God may be misunderstood, however they are really pleading for the well being and prosperity of the nations. They passionately forgive and serve those who have rejected their words. With certainty, they preach not only the sense of indebtedness to God but a sense of indebtedness to every son and daughter of Adam.

Greatness isn’t something prophets attempt to obtain through their own ambition, it’s a gift. Because they’ve chosen to adhere to the relational expectations the Lord has laid out. In other words, to cultivate indifference for a prophet is the result of a conscience that is silenced by a culture that is unaware of the divine presence. Prophets champion the oppressed that are to broken to speak. The appeal for justice isn’t something the prophet can shake off, because the need for justices burns in their hearts. For anything that threatens the very source of life must be confronted.

Those who automatically have a prophetic voice never lose sight and never lose drive towards what matters to God. How God thinks, how God feels, how God acts, never leaves the prophets conscience. The prophet isn’t shaped by impulse, the prophet is shaped by the inner conviction that God is ever present in everything we do. Without an ambition for what is vain, without an infatuation with success, the prophet is entirely content being a friend of God.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

A Divine Partnership

God is not looking for our knowledge, He’s looking for our trust. By eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, it would change the very nature of Adam and Eve. Meaning, what we eat spiritually changes our very nature. That is why we must eat right. A sense of vulnerability, shame, exploitation and exposure happens when we eat from the wrong source. Although the Lord prohibited Adam and Eve from eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, the serpent told them “why forfeit your personal rights? Just eat whatever you want.” The serpent seemed to capitalize upon their love and loyalty.

That’s why divine partnership is so crucial in our spiritual development. By choosing to partner with the serpent, Adam and Eve failed to not partner with God, but also by not partnering with each other. The serpent was never a suitable helper. Because finding the appropriate partner allows us to walk in the fullness of our humanity.

One of the greatest tragedies in the garden was that Eve lost her dignity because of Adam’s silence. For in Genesis two, the Lord was teaching Adam how to value Eve, however by not protecting the partnership, Adam doesn’t value her like he should. Therefore Eve is left to fight the serpent herself while Adam just stands there.

I believe Adam and Eve forgot who they were because of the intense battle with the serpent. They failed to remember that in the creative order of God, they were the only ones in the Lord’s creation that could pray, because they were able to commune with God. One of the truths that seems to be before us is that without exercising our true God given identity we are taken advantage of by the enemy. Our curiosity becomes catastrophic because of our hearts ability to trust in the goodness of God is compromised. Because like Eve, we begin to question the Lord’s heart towards us.

We also must discernibly look at the reality of why Adam demonstrates absolutely no resistance when Eve offered him the fruit. Why? Simply because trusting God’s heart is so intimately related to resistance. In other words, when we possess the correct core convictions we won’t allow the enemy to exploit the vulnerability of those who we are in partnership with us.

I believe the cure is to find refuge, not in restrictions but in appreciation. Because without exercising appreciation we are trapped in an attitude of indifference. Since knowledge without appreciation turns into self deception. Therefore we must operate with love in our dealings with each other if we are going to maintain a healthy partnership. We can’t afford to keep ourselves away from the Lord’s eyes. Absorbed with a selfish attitude and attempting to hide in our own manufactured identity. Partnership permits exposure and when love is at the center of the community, the guilty get forgiven and empowered.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

What is the destiny of humanity?

I believe that religion without relationship is the biggest distortion of the image of God. I am also convinced that what drives us when no one is watching, tells us what we have a passion for. For instance, when we have a correct response to God we then, and only then, can correctly discern reality.

Adam had all his hearts desire yet something happened in Genesis three. I admit, although he had everything, those things couldn’t keep him safe from the onslaught of evil. Only having the Lord as his one desire could keep Adam for falling. This is why when relationships don’t operate appropriately, our ability to love the Lord effectively, is frustrated. Our lives are to be uniquely balanced however, we also need more passion for God.

We were created to reflect what the Lord is thinking and feeling, not a narrative of what culture is preaching. Simply because in the very beginning the Lord stood near by and spoke humanity into existence. He took a piece of Himself and gave it to us while we were shrouded in darkness and nothingness. Our brokenness made us extremely vulnerable to His voice. Prophetic proclamations are the activity of God, meaning, His speech is what made us good. For without His voice we are an unproductive wasteland. The good news is that the unproductive becomes productive at the sound of His speech, the uninhabited becomes habituated when He uses His voice. No one is able to contest His word over us, for He is the author of all things. For His word is a creative act shaping and molding us in His likeness. Being made in His likeness isn’t merely physical, it’s the fact that men and women can partner with God, can reason like God and speak for God.

This dimension we bare isn’t to be Lord over Him but to be both responsible and worshipful towards our relationship with Him. Valuing who He is and honoring what He has entrusted to us. This eliminates the pride of self sufficiency and causes us to focus upon the command to love our neighbor. That way we can rule effectively and rightly represent His likeness. Our dominion then becomes a partnership with the Lord, not a call to control. We in a partnership with the Lord, we reflect His divine nature by how we manage and treasure what He has given to us.

Our yearning to be like Him isn’t only that we may rule effectively but that we may love like Him and love Him well. This is the cry of the image barer. This is the cry of the soul who wants to want Him. We are called to live in His world on His terms, this the destiny of humanity. Living on God’s terms means choosing to love Him and pushing away the desire for independence. This is a fight, however I believe the inner urge to see all the Lord has done for us will overthrow the urge to disobey His voice.

Sincerely,

John Harke Team

Choose to Engage in the Season You Are In

Many Are Called But Few Are Chosen

Did you know that there are other people on planet earth besides you? There are people who live in the same city, the same town, even the same home. In fact, beyond geography and time, there may be other people living in the same season of life or circumstances as you are. You live in the same political climate as your next door neighbor, you have the same boss as your co-worker, you might eat at the same restaurant as all your friends. However, this does not mean that your experience or what you get out of things are the same as others.

When the giant Goliath came out to challenge the Israelites, David was not the only one in attendance. He was not the sole recipient of Goliaths’ threats, David was not singled out and challenged by the giant. There were tens of thousands of people experiencing the same moment and situation as David was. However there was only one that chose to run to the battle line and engage with the enemy of the season to bring the victory that was needed.

David demonstrates a characteristic that God is calling for in this season. It is a willingness to engage in the season that you are in; to squeeze out every bit of potential that God has placed within it. This is a characteristic of kingship. David’s brothers and the other soldiers on the field demonstrate what not choosing to engage with your season looks like. Probably the strongest example of this is Saul who didn’t even bother to come out of his tent. Talk about fear driven apathy.

So let me ask you this, have you been engaging in the season that God has placed you in? Could not engaging fully in the way you know God is requiring of you because of feelings, fear, apprehension, unworthiness or any other factor be the main reason why you feel like your advancement has reached a stalemate? Could it be that if you demonstrate a posture like David and engage in your season, even if things in the natural fight for you to do the opposite, you could unlock many of the things that God has promised you?

If you have not engaged in your season, I encourage you, God wants to show you how. Ask Him, then do it.

Sincerely, John Harke Team

The Key of Intentionality

Isn’t it interesting that when you receive a word from the Lord it seems that everything around you conspires to pull your attention from what was said? Adversity, difficulties, crisis or even just the trudge of the grind of everyday life seem to work in concert to make us lose track of what God has spoken for this season. What this distraction produces is a lack of intentionality for pursuing the Word of the Lord spoken over our lives. This must not happen. There is too much that God wants to do through your life to allow this to rob you of the potential that God has spoken. 

That is why the key of intentionality is so important. 

Intentionality Brings: 

• A position of purpose and strength 

• Causes a re-ordering of your life to fall in line with what is truly important 

• Is a declaration that this is of the utmost value to you

• Opens your eyes to the doors that are opening to you to walk into fulfillment of what God has spoken

• Increases your sensitivity to the Holy Spirit

• Eradicates the emotional and strength robbers that are hidden in distraction 

• Releases joy in the midst of your work 

After reading just a few of the benefits, you might wonder why more people do not choose to be intentional with what God has spoken. The primary reason is that among other things, intentionality is an invitation into the new and the unknown. For most people, they would rather embrace the comfort of the mediocre that they know and can control over the reality of something new. This is a fruit of our fallen nature, and yet while it is understandable, it cannot be allowed to rule how we live our lives. Gideon is a prime example of this, he could have stayed at the threshing floor, providing for himself and his family, but God wanted to use Gideon to provide freedom for an entire nation. However in order to accomplish this, he needed to embrace the new and the uncomfortable.

Embracing Intentionality Means: 

• Saying no to certain things, people and situations that are vying to be a priority of your time and attention. 

• Being okay with the fact that people will not understand and may even reject you as a result of this. 

• Having grace and compassion for yourself because what you will walk into is so new and you will won’t have it perfect 

• Letting Go of Your Routine 

• Stepping out of your comfort zone, not just one time, or for a day or for a week, but a lifestyle of eradicating fleshly comfort 

• Choosing to sit still and take time to listen to the Voice of the Lord 

I encourage you to take a moment of intentionality right now, to silence yourself before the Lord and ask Him to bring to remembrance the Prophetic Word over your life. Allow Him to show you how to walk in it more fully, what to weed out of your life and how to re-prioritize it so that you can flow into the reality of the new that God wants to bring. 

Sincerely,

John Harke Team