The Inward Journey

Editors Note:
John and Dorothea Gardner published a paper for many years called: “Lamps Unto His Feet.” According to Dorothea, “Erasing The Slate” is one of the most important articles she has written in thirty years. It is a lengthy article that sheds light on the historic context of many Biblical prophesies.

As I have read the Bible I have found that the Holy Spirit applies many verses to the inner work that is taking place in us and I believe this spiritual fulfillment is the most important, for it is the fulfillment of God’s plan of the ages — a revealing and manifestation of Himself in His people. However, I have found that we often carry with us interpretations that we learned in the system that originated in the mind of man and not God. I believe that the Holy Spirit is extracting these systems of interpretation that rob us of the understanding of what God is revealing in each of our lives. For me personally, a lot of things that I heard from the Spirit over many years became much clearer.

I believe for those who have been apprehended by God that the book of Revelation is a map of our journey as Christ is revealed in us and overcomes the man of sin — the adamic nature that wars against the seed of God in us. However, for those first Christians who were alive while Jesus walked the earth in his physical body some of the book of Revelation may have had a very literal interpretation pertaining to what they were facing. Why does this even matter? Because traditional interpretations direct our attention away from what God is doing in us right now and causes us to focus on future events. Additionally, futurism takes spiritual truth of the Kingdom of God and turns it into a physical kingdom patterned after the kingdoms of this world where Jesus is the extreme dictator. If there is one kingdom principal that the Holy Spirit has burned into my heart it is that the KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN and the physical manifestation of His Kingdom will be the result of an inner work.

I ask you the reader to carefully consider what is presented in, “Erasing the Slate.” Some of you may be challenged by it. No one has all truth, though our understanding grows from experience to experience we are still looking through a glass darkly. Perhaps there may be something here that the Holy Spirit will apply to your understanding. Ultimately we must each walk in the truth that God has revealed to us.

DBC

Erasing The Slate
by Dorothea Gardner

Back in Daniel chapter 10 we read of a great revelation which came to the prophet Daniel while in the Babylonian captivity. Dan. 10:1 tells us:

“In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia a thing was revealed unto Daniel whose name was called Belteshazzar. And the thing was true, but the time appointed was long; and he understood the thing, and had understanding of the vision,”

Then in this chapter Daniel goes on to relate how he came to under¬stand the vision. The man clothed in linen (Ezek. chapter 9) appeared to him telling Daniel why he came:

“Now I am come to make thee understand what shall befall thy people in the latter days. For yet the vision is for many days.” (vs. 14)

And the vision obviously was not anything pleasant as we see from Daniel’s reply to his visitor, for he said, “0 my lord, by the vision my sorrows (pain, pangs) are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength. ”

And when he actually saw the vision, Daniel said:

“And I Daniel alone saw the vision. For the men that were with me saw not the vision, but a great quaking fell upon them so that they fled to hide themselves. Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision and there remained no strength in me. For my comeliness (vigor) was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.“ (vs. 7,8)

Daniel obviously had a vision of the holocaust of 70 AD at the fall of Jerusalem. No wonder it made him ill! Read the rest of this entry »

Prophesy Pertaining The Coming Move of the Spirit
Received in February 2006

When Paul said, “the invisible things of God are hidden in the visible things around us I always thought of the examples in nature, but the other day I received this:

What we see happening in the natural is also happening in the Spirit.

As God pours out His Spirit we will see a new type of ministry (vehicle) birthed. The gas-guzzler-sport-utility type of vehicles that run on fossil fuel, (the energy of the flesh, i.e. money and self-promotion) is being replaced by smaller, energy efficient vehicles, (new ministry.) We see in the natural a trend toward hybrid engines that are less dependent on fossil fuel; the same is true of the anointed ministry God is raising up at this time.
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ENTERING INTO THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES, Part One

THE PASSOVER
By Douglas B. Clark

Why is there no record in the New Testament of a spiritual Feast of Tabernacles experience like there is of Passover and Pentecost? Some believe it is yet a future event that will soon transpire in this new, third day. But is there a spiritual dimension in the Feast of Tabernacles that we can enter into now?

The spiritual fulfillment of Passover and Pentecost were events that happened at a particular point in time and therefore we could also draw the conclusion that the Feast of Tabernacles would follow the same pattern. However, if we examine the significance of each spiritual fulfillment in light of our individual experience in Christ, then I think it is easier to see how this third feast fits into God’s plan, and how that each of the feasts reveal the progressive revelation of life of the Father in us.
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ENTERING THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES, Part Two:

THE FEAST OF WEEKS
By Douglas B. Clark

Seven weeks after Passover the Israelites celebrated the agricultural Feast of Weeks, (Lev 23:15; Deut 16:9) also known as Pentecost in the New Testament, which literally means fiftieth day. The Feast of Weeks was a celebration of the grain harvest and God’s provision for Israel. It was observed exactly fifty days after Passover. (Le 23:15; Deut 16:9)

The Freewill Offering
“Then celebrate the Feast of Weeks to the Lord your God by giving a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord your God has given you.” Deut 16:10

During the Feast of Weeks the Israelites were told to give a freewill offering in proportion to the blessings the Lord had given them (Deut 16:10). This opened the door for man’s interpretation since it was up to each Israelite to determine what amount was proportionate to their blessing.

I find this significant because it typifies our entrance into Pentecost. Here we see a picture of the interplay between Divine instruction and man’s interpretation. To start with, what we perceive as freewill is not what is commonly believed — that God gave us freewill because He desires for us to choose to love Him. This is not the purpose of freewill at all!
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By Douglas B. Clark

When I was fifteen years old I was full of spit and vinegar and determined to turn the world upside down for God. I was so confident that I had all the answers that I made an appointment with a Baptist pastor so I could enlighten him that his doctrine and belief of “once saved always saved” was not correct. He invited me into his office and offered me a chair across from him. I didn’t waste any time in directing his attention to the words of Jesus regarding the vine and the branches. I told him that if we didn’t abide in the vine that we would be like a branch that is pruned from the vine and cast into the fire.

The pastor gently smiled and pointed to a picture on his wall of Jesus holding a lamb on his shoulders. He then told me what Jesus said about the ninety-nine.
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