“Are you sure it’s in this chamber?” I asked.
“Absolutely,” he answered, with much assurance.
I searched again, but with no more success than before.
“I give up,” I said. “It’s definitely not here. If it was, it’s not anymore.”
“But it is here,” he said. “I’m looking at it right now.”
“Where?”
“Right in front of me,” he said. “It’s you. You are the scroll of God. You are the vessel on which He has now written His Word, His message of salvation, and His divine revelation. Your life is the translation of His Word, the translation of His love, the translation of His nature and His salvation. And it will be the best translation many will ever see, and the only translation some will ever read. Whenever they see His work in your life, His grace in your actions, and His love in your love, they will be reading the scroll. And now that you know where it is, you never have to lose sight of it again. Make your life the scroll of God . . . and His Word will reach the lost.”
The Mission: Today, translate the Scripture into thought, action, reality, life. Make your life a scroll, a living translation of the Word of God.
Jeremiah 31:33; Matthew 5:16; 2 Corinthians 3:2–3
The Book of You
DAY 303
THE LOGOS CRUCIFIED
IT WAS A cool desert night. The sky above us was stunning in its clarity. Its deep black background made visible a vast multitude of stars, which in some places were so small and many that they fused into a white mist.
The teacher was gazing upward as he spoke: “‘In the beginning,’” he said, “‘was the Word . . . and the Word was with God . . . and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.’ Imagine that,” he said. “All things came into existence through the Word . . . the earth, the oceans, the moon, the sun, the stars, the galaxies, and the universe itself, all came into being through the Word. And what is the Word?” he asked.
“The Word of God,” I replied.
“Yes, but in the original language, the word for word is logos. And logos also means the cause.”
“All things came into being through Him . . . the Cause of all things.”
“The Logos caused the universe to come into existence. Therefore, the existence of the universe rests on the existence of the Logos.”
The teacher gazed at the ground, then up again at the sky.
“But the cosmos is fallen,” he said. “The world is darkened by evil, and this life by sin. ‘And the Logos became flesh and dwelt among us . . . ’ The Logos became flesh and blood. Why? Because only that which is of flesh can die for our sins. Who died on the cross?”
“The Messiah.”
“Messiah is the Logos. It was the Logos that died on the cross. The Logos was crucified. That means the Word was crucified. The Cause of everything was crucified. And if the Cause is crucified, nullified, then so too is the effect. The effect is nullified. It disappears. If the Logos dies, the cosmos is nullified . . . the old world dies . . . the old life dies, the fallen past dies . . . the old you dies. And if the Cause of existence is removed, then all the sins of your life are brought out of existence, as if they never existed in the first place. So for all who are in Messiah, the old is gone. And they become new, as it is written, ‘If anyone is in Messiah, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, behold the new is come!’ For the Logos has been crucified.”
The Mission: The Logos has died, and with it, your old life. So stop letting the past affect you. Live free today in the newness of having no past.
Isaiah 43:18–19; 44:22–23; John 1:1–14; 2 Corinthians 5:14–17; Revelation 21:1–5
The Keburah
DAY 304
THE POWER OF APOLUO
IT WAS A hard lesson, and hard to forget. The teacher had me go through the entire day wearing a cloth backpack filled with stones. Everything I did became a burden and a strain. At the end of the day he approached me and asked, “Would you like to keep carrying it or let it go?”
“Is that a serious question?” I replied.
“Release it,” he said. So I did.
“I know,” he said, “it was not a pleasant experience for you. But that’s how many go through life . . . for years. In the Gospel of Luke, Messiah told His disciples to forgive. But behind the word forgive is the Greek word apoluo. When Pilate decided to release Barabbas from prison, behind the word release is the same word: apoluo. When Messiah saw a woman suffering from a condition that caused her to be crippled for eighteen years, He said to her, ‘Woman, you are loosed from your affliction.’ Then He touched her, and after eighteen years, she was healed. But when He said to her, ‘You are loosed,’ it was again the same word: apoluo. And when the believers of Antioch sent forth Barnabas and Paul to begin their ministry to the world, behind the phrase sent forth was again the word: apoluo.”
“That’s a lot of meaning for one word,” I said. “What’s the connection?”
“The connection and the key is this: apoluo means to forgive, but it also means to be released. If you don’t forgive, you won’t be released. You’ll stay bound and imprisoned. But the same word speaks of healing. So forgiveness is linked to healing and the lack of forgiveness to the lack of healing. Those who cannot forgive cripple themselves. And the same word speaks of moving on and being sent forth for the purposes of God. If you don’t forgive, you won’t be able to move on or to let go of the old. Nor will you be able to be sent forth and fulfill God’s calling for your life. So it is written: ‘Forgive and you shall be forgiven.’ But the word is apoluo. So it can also be translated as: ‘Forgive and you shall be released.’ ‘Forgive and you shall be healed.’”
“Let it go,” I said, “and you’ll be set free.”
“Yes,” he said, “release it, and you yourself shall be released. Then you’ll be free to move on with your life . . . and free to fulfill the calling for which you were born.”
The Mission: Today, apply the power of apoluo. Release and you shall be released, loosed, freed, made whole, and sent forth.
Leviticus 25:10; Matthew 27:26; Luke 6:37; 13:12; Galatians 5:1
Notes on Forgiveness
DAY 305
UNDER THE HUPPAH
HE TOOK ME into an olive grove in which, in the midst of the trees, was a canopy, a large white cloth embroidered with decorations and held up by four long poles.
“It’s called a huppah,” said the teacher.
“What’s a huppah?”
“The huppah is the wedding canopy. In the Hebrew marriage, the bride and groom exchange their vows and pledges under the huppah. And under the huppah, they become husband and wife.”
“And what does it signify?”
“The covering of the bridegroom over the bride, and the covering of God over both of them. In the fourth chapter of Isaiah it speaks of the last days and the coming of God’s kingdom on earth. It describes Jerusalem as filled with God’s glory. And ‘over all the glory there will be a covering.’ Imagine, a covering from heaven over the glory of Jerusalem. But what covering?” he asked. “The mystery is revealed in the original language. The word translated as ‘covering’ or ‘canopy’ or ‘defense’ is much more than that. It’s the Hebrew word huppah. In other words, in the days of the kingdom, the Holy City of Jerusalem will be covered by a . . . ”
“Wedding canopy!”
“Yes, a wedding canopy, a huppah over all Jerusalem. And what will that mean? It will mean that Jerusalem will be married to God. And through Jerusalem, the world itself will be married to God. In that day everything will be joined to God. Every part of life, every earthly thing, will be married to the heavenly. And that which is married to God will become holy and glorious. And there’s a secret here.”
“Which is . . . ”
“You don’t have to wait for the kingdom to come in order to live in the blessings of the kingdom . . .
even now. The key to living in the kingdom is to live under the huppah, under the wedding canopy. Spread the huppah of His covering over everything in your life. Bring everything in your life under His huppah. Marry every part of your life to God . . . and everything in your life will become holy and glorious . . . under the huppah.”
The Mission: Spread today God’s huppah over your life. Bring every part of your life under His covering and pronounce it “married.”
Psalm 91:1–4; Song of Solomon 2:3–4; Isaiah 4:2–6
Under the Huppah
DAY 306
ADONAI
THE TEACHER BEGAN drawing letters in the sand.
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s the Hebrew word for lord, adon. Adon means the ruler, the owner, the master, and the one who’s in charge.”
“So Adon is the Name of God as Lord of the universe.”
“Yes and no,” said the teacher. “The word adon can be used for any ruler or master.”
He lifted up his stick and added a small mark at the end of the word.
“Now,” he said, “it’s the Name of God, Adonai.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Adon means lord. But Adonai means my Lord. And God’s specific and sacred Name is Adonai, ‘my Lord.’ So in order to utter His Name, you can’t just say ‘Lord’; you have to say ‘my Lord.’ It means the only way to know God is to know Him personally, to know Him as your God.”
“So then ‘my Lord’ is not just the One who rules, but The One who rules over me.”
“Exactly. Adonai is the One to whom you submit your life, your will, and your heart. It means He’s the One in charge of your life. If you call Him Adonai, ‘my Lord,’ then you have to follow His will above your own. But there’s more to Adonai. To say ‘my Lord’ in Hebrew, should be Adoni. But God’s Name is Adonai.”
“What’s the difference between the two?”
“Adonai is ‘my Lord’ plural. Literally, to say Adonai is to say, ‘My Lords.’ What it means is that the reality behind the Name Adonai is so great that the Name can’t contain it. So Adonai means my Lord followed by a multitude of exclamation points. It means He’s my Lord!!!!!! And thus to use the sacred Name means you don’t just follow Him and submit to Him, but you follow and submit to Him with a multitude of exclamation points, and with all your heart and zeal. The heart of Adonai is this: My Lord is so amazing that even saying Adonai, my Lord, cannot even begin to describe who He is. Let your heart learn what this one word truly means. And then live in light of it . . . and with exclamation points . . . For He is your Adonai!”
The Mission: Ponder and live the mystery of Adonai, make the Lord your “my Lord” whom you follow and submit to with endless exclamation points.
Ezekiel 36:22–23; Daniel 9:4; Zechariah 13:9; John 20:28
YHVH
DAY 307
THE CHILDREN OF THE EIGHTH DAY
IT WAS A warm, breezy morning. We were sitting on the side of one of the hills that overlooked the school.
“I believe I made a discovery,” I said.
“I’d love to hear it,” said the teacher.
“Shemini Atzeret is the Eighth Day . . . but there’s another Eighth Day.”
“And what day is that?”
“The resurrection,” I said, “the day of the resurrection. The resurrection happened on the first day of the week. Therefore, it was the Eighth Day.”
“It was the Eighth Day. So what does that mean?”
“The Eighth Day is about leaving the old creation . . . ”
“Yes, and the resurrection is also about leaving the old life.”
“The Eighth Day,” I said, “is the day of transcending, of breaking out of the limitations of the finite and into the realm of the infinite.”
“And the resurrection is also the day of transcending the old, overcoming the ultimate limitation, death, and thus every limitation.”
“And the Eighth Day is the day after the end . . . ”
“As is the resurrection . . . the day after the end of the old life, the old existence, and the power to live beyond it.”
“So the two days,” I said, “the day of the resurrection and the day of eternity, are joined together.”
“And on what Hebrew holy day was the resurrection?” he asked.
“The Day of the Firstfruits.”
“Yes,” said the teacher. “The resurrection is the firstfruits of the age to come, the first manifestation of the Eighth Day, heaven. And when in the week do most of Messiah’s people gather?”
“On the first day.”
“Which means they gather on the Eighth Day. They gather on the Eighth Day because they are of the Eighth Day. For all who are of Messiah are given the power of the Eighth Day, the power to leave the old life, to transcend this creation, to overcome all limitations, to live after the end, and in the realm of the heavenly. So do not be bound by this age. Live beyond it. For we are not of this world . . . We are children of the Eighth Day.”
The Mission: Learn the secret of living in the Eighth Day—beyond the flesh, beyond the world, beyond the self, beyond the old—in the beyond of now.
John 20:1; Acts 20:7; Romans 6:5–11; 12:2; 1 John 4:4
The Mystery of the Eighth Day I–III
DAY 308
AWAKE THE DAWN
HE HAD IN his hand a parchment and was studying its text. “It’s from the Book of Psalms,” he said. “Some translations render the passage as if it was speaking about waking up early. But it can literally be translated as, ‘I will awake the dawn.’ Imagine that! Imagine if you had the power to wake the dawn! Would you like to know how?”
“To wake the dawn?” I asked.
“Tell me,” said the teacher, “why is it dark?”
“Because it’s nighttime,” I replied.
“Not really,” he replied. “It has nothing to do with the time. We think of night as a period of time. And, of course, in one sense, it is. But night is not so much a period of time as it is a state of being. It isn’t dark because it’s nighttime. It’s nighttime because it’s dark. Night is the effect of the earth’s turning away from the light of the sun. Night is the earth dwelling in its own shadow. God is Light. So when you turn away from God, you create the night. When you turn away from His presence, night comes into your life. When you turn away from His truth and away from His love, darkness comes to your heart. And you end up dwelling in your own shadow, in the shadow of your turning.”
He paused a few moments before continuing to speak.
“So is the night,” said the teacher. “What about the dawn? What is the dawn?”
“Dawn is when the earth turns away from the darkness and back to the sun.”
“So how do you bring about the dawn? How do you cause a sunrise? You turn away from the darkness. You turn away from your sins, away from substitutes and distractions and idols. You turn away even from focusing on yourself and your own shadow. And you turn back to the Light. You don’t have to wait for the dawn. You can cause the dawn to come. You can make the sun to rise. Turn away from the darkness. Turn away from all darkness, and turn to the Light. Then the Light will break through your darkness. Then the sunrise will light up your life. Then the joy of the morning will replace the tears of night. Imagine if you had the power to cause a sunrise! In Him, you do . . . Now awake the dawn!”
The Mission: Today, turn your eyes away from darkness. Turn them back to the Light. Cause the sun to rise. Awake the dawn!
Psalms 57:8; 112:4; Acts 26:18; Romans 13:12
She Like the Dawn
DAY 309
THE CENTRALITY FACTOR
HE LED ME to an ancient monument. It was too badly worn to tell what it was.
“What is it?” I asked, “Or what was it?”
“It was a testament,” said the teacher, “a monument, a tribute to a civilization that once believed itself to be unconquerable and unending, but which now can only be found in ruins and history books. If we w
ere to look at those kingdoms and powers that once stood at the center of world history over the course of ages, what would we find? Thousands of years ago, we would have found the center of history in Egypt and Babylonia, and then in Assyria, Persia, Greece, Rome, Byzantium, and then the great European empires, and then Russia, and America. Now what if we had come from another planet and we knew that God had intervened in the history of earth . . . where would we expect His intervention to have taken place, in the outer periphery of history or in its center?”
“In the center of history,” I replied. “And if He did act on the outer periphery, it would end up, by His acting upon it, in the center of history.”
“It would,” said the teacher. “And yet if we look at the center of world history from the days of the pharaohs to the age of the superpowers, there’s no common thread, no common kingdom or power. Those at the center of history in the ancient world are on the periphery in the modern world. There’s no common nation or people . . . except for one—the nation of Israel, the Jewish people. When ancient Babylonia was the center of the world, they were there. When it was Rome, they were there. From the Egyptian Empire to the British Empire, they were there. From the Persian Empire to the Soviet Union, they were there. From streets of Ur of Chaldea to the streets of New York City, only one nation has always been there in the center. If God were to use a people through whom to bring forth His Word and His redemption to the world, that people would remain at the center of history. And so they have. And it just so happens to be the same people through whom came the Book of books, the Word of salvation, and the One known throughout the world as Salvation. If God were to intervene in the course of this world . . . ”
The Book of Mysteries Page 44