And the Word was God.

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December 1oth

Higher Grounds Coffee

There’s snow outside!!!

I’m on winter break! It is strange to realize that I have been here at the House of Prayer for six months, but nonetheless I feel as though I have grown into a new person.  It’s sort of like the way that hermit crabs find new shells…I feel like this one is substantially larger than the last, more unique, and still leaves immense room for growth.  Cheers to anyone who is picturing me as a hermit crab right now =)

Since I am unable to frequently talk to just about anyone back at home, here’s a brief synopsis of themes I have studied over the past few months here at IHOP’s School of Ministry:

• Eternal Glories of the Intercessor – taught by Corey Russell, this class included the first teachings I have ever heard about Christ being our great high priest. It brought me to the base of the Cross with a new clarity of salvation and a deep appreciation for our beautiful Saviour [for those who are unaware, I lived in New Zealand for 4 months and have since taken a liking to spelling words with 'u's.]  Anyways, read Hebrews 3-8.
• Biblical Foundations of Eschatology – taught by Dave Sliker, this class fueled my prayers for the lost, helped me understand the chronological flow of the book of Revelation, debunked common misconceptions about the 2nd Coming [one of the biggest ones being Matthew 24:36 - No one knows the day or hour DOES NOT EQUAL no one can ever know the day or hour.  So many misinterpretations...]
• Song of Solomon – taught by Dwayne and Jennifer Roberts, this course’s purpose was to study the best of all of King Solomon’s 1000+ songs [!] as an allegorical story and dialogue between Jesus and His Bride, the church.  As a believer and part of the Bride, I studied this book from a place of personal relationship as Jesus’ Beloved and went through some intense inner healing as He spoke beauty and identity over me, as well as revelation into the ways He matured me through the trials of the past two years.
• Excellencies of Christ [Christology I] – taught by Allen Hood, this class has been a series of online videos that I have been studying for two months.  It has been astounding to study the life, divinity, and humility of Jesus Christ at the same time as studying His intercession upon the Cross, His End Times plan to be reconciled to humanity, and His passionate jealous love to have a Bride.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  He is the exact image of the Father.  He was misunderstood when He came in the flesh and is equally misunderstood today.  Folks, we will never reach the depths of this Man, but oh how I want to!

That being said, I love that it all comes back to Jesus.  Here’s part of a meditation assignment I had to write on John 1 about the Word being made flesh.  Enjoy.

My time spent at IHOP has brought more inner revelation about ‘the Word’ than any other period of my life.  It seems to be from a combination of long hours in the prayer room and the intensive Bible studies.  Seeing Christ in Isaiah, John, and Revelation all at the same time is mind-blowing because there is such continuity in the language and character of this Person.  Although I’m extremely busy with all of the homework, I am grateful to be able to study Excellencies of Christ (eSchool), Song of Solomon, and the Book of Revelation all at once because it reminds me that even after all of our meticulous searches of phrases and words, the general picture of Jesus Christ is in agreement with itself, and that studying Him will reveal God the Father to us.

Calling Jesus ‘the Word’ actually makes a lot of sense to me because it makes me think of the Jesus of the Prophets.  I think of how we can see reflections of him, whether slight or blaring, all throughout the Old Testament in the Psalms, Isaiah, Malachi, Song of Solomon etc.  This makes me think of Jesus when on the road to Emmaus.  I picture his emotions as he speaks with the disciples, unraveling to them mysteries that had been hidden to the ears of man for thousands of years.  Being the One anointed with the oil of gladness [Psalm 45], I imagine him being exceedingly joyful to share the depths of himself with the blessed men who were listening.  Though having been discipled by Christ for 3 years, these men still had not stepped into the revelation of Christ as the Word [in the sense of the written word.]  I’m suddenly thinking of the common phrase, “I give you my word,” and the implications of understanding this…well…word, in the same context.  This phrase has the implication of promise, assurance, and guarantee to it.  One might even use the word ‘covenant’.  This is exactly what Jesus was from the Father – a promise of His love for us, an assuring seal that we would become His children, and an establishment of the new covenant in the blood of Christ.

I imagine the Father and the Son communing together before laying the foundations of the earth and plotting all of the world’s future history as we know it.  I imagine them like parents orchestrating an Easter egg hunt for small children, taking great delight in scattering the small treasures of love, waiting eagerly for the children to find the more difficultly concealed ones.  What was it like for Jesus to listen to Isaiah write about him? In one sense, His Spirit was motivating the writing, but what was it like for Jesus to feel the emotion of being discovered as the Messiah who died and to feel Isaiah’s own response to that?

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Tags: Bible Study, Christianity, Divinity of Jesus Christ, Higher Grounds, IHOP, Jesus, John 1, Meditation, The Bible, The Word Made Flesh