Touching the soul The children s children s children Jim Smith Jim Smith: October 2015 This material may be downloaded for personal, group or church use. It is not to be changed and it is not to be sold. E: kayisefa.gh@gmail.com 1
Introduction During the crowning March of August 2015, I spoke to a group of young Christians. They asked me about the future. I said to them that the future of Ghana rested in the hands of the children not yet born. You, I said have children to create. You must teach them the ways of the Lord, and explain to them how the nation of Ghana has lost its promise. Then they will have children, to whom they must also teach the ways of the Lord. These children will have children and these are the ones who can perhaps enter again into the promise which God made to Ghana. As we begin to try and rescue the heritage, it s important to us to know who we are preparing. We are looking to our children s children s children. Why so far ahead? As we try to rescue the heritage which is in front of us, we have to realise that many of these young people are as polluted by the prosperity Gospel as is the current senior generation. We have to try and find within this polluted heritage those who are pure. These are the ones who will have children and they can teach them purity of faith. Then the children s children have a greater chance of expunging the filth and the sin, and can begin to offer to God the pure lives for which he is looking. But that generation will not be the one to reclaim. Only the next one might be able to do that. Streams What streams would we want to flow down the generations into the children s children s children? 2
* Heritage of good things not to be forgotten Joshua taught us this - These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever. (Joshua 4:7) If the heritage are going to survive, first they have to be encouraged to hold on to the blessings of the past. What might they be? 1. The original promise When God established Ghana, he had a promise for us. He chose us out of all West Africa to be a blessing to West Africa. He promised Through you I will pour the fire of my Spirit, and this will flow from you into all the lands around you. Why did he choose Ghana to be so blessed? Here is a vision which gives us a glimpse:- I was in the heavenly places, and saw a large table, with chairs around it. I asked the Lord What is this? The Lord replied This is where the nations of the world come to worship. Each chair stands for one nation. I looked and saw that one chair was empty. What is this? I asked. This is where my child Ghana should be said the Lord, and began to cry. It is quite simple. The Lord loves his son Ghana. That s why he chose us, and if he chose us because he loved us, then that love is still alive for us to claim and pass on. 2. Continued love In the book of the prophet Hosea, we see the heart of God for his people. (Hose 11:18) They failed him over and over again, but he cried out:- How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, Israel? How can I treat you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboyim? My heart is changed within me; all my compassion is aroused. God loves with a very special love agape love. The Greek word agape is often translated love in the New Testament. The heart of agape love is self-sacrifice. Agape love is unique and is distinguished by its nature and character. Agape is love which is of and from God, whose very nature is love itself. The apostle John says this in 1 John 4:8: God is love. God does not merely love; He is love itself. Everything God does flows from His love. God loves because that is His nature and the expression of His being. 3
He loves the unlovable and the unlovely (us!), not because we deserve to be loved, but because it is His nature to love us, and He is always true to His nature and character. This is the love the Lord has for Ghana. It s hard to believe it but this agape love never ceases. The children s children s children can live in it as much as we do. They need to know this and they will only know it if it flows through us, through their parents and grand parents. 3. Continued protection of Shekinah Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out until the day it lifted. So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels. (Ex.40:34-38) Shekinah The work Shekinah is from the Hebrew word shekinot means to settle in or dwell with. This word means the place where God is dwelling, settling or where His Divine Presence is. This glory is seen when God s glory filled the Temple and even in the wilderness where He was a light during the night and the Shekinah cloud of His glory shaded Israel in the scorching sun of the desert. His presence was shown by the intense light that filled the Tabernacle, the Temple in Jerusalem and even in the Transfiguration on the Mount where Jesus shone brighter than the sun when He spoke with Moses and Elijah as we shall read about later. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ is the dwelling place of God s glory. Colossians 2:9 tells us that in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, causing Jesus to exclaim to Philip, Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father (John 14:9). In Christ, we see the visible manifestation of God Himself in the second person of the Trinity. Although His glory was also veiled, Jesus is nonetheless the presence of God on earth. Just as the divine Presence dwelled in a relatively plain tent called the tabernacle before the Temple in Jerusalem was built, so did the Presence dwell in the relatively plain man who was Jesus. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him (Isaiah 53:2). 4
But when we get to heaven, we will see both the Son and the Father in all their glory, and the Shekinah will no longer be veiled (1 John 3:2).This shekinah glory is still with us. The Lord places his resurrection glory in the church:- And now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work in us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations for ever and ever! Amen (Ephesians 3:20-21) In the new covenant, the glory of the Lord rests in the church. In one way we are the glory of the Lord. We are to live pure and holy lives. We are to put aside corrupt and underhand ways. We are to live as servants, humbly walking in the way of the Lord. We are to show his power and healing to the broken world. In this way, we bring our nations back under the covering, protection and love of the glory. The glory is still with us. 4. The protection of the cross Here is a passage from the material The way of the cross. Sicknesses, despair and division broke out among the Pilgrims. Some died, and some abandoned their faith in anger, resenting the sufferings they were having to bear. Some became deniers of the Lord. Some became betrayers. Some attacked their fellow Pilgrims by word and deed. The Pilgrims were beaten down, hard pressed, ignored, insulted and despised. But a few understood that this was the path they must walk. This was the way to the place of mending. In their own bodies they were bearing the sorrow of Jesus. They were bearing the marks of the cross. As they took this into their spirits, and accepted the suffering, the enemy withdrew in desperation. What esle can I do? he said. These people have got hold of what I most feared. Thy have taken the strength of the cross into themselves. I know I can never break that. The cross is our protection - it always has been and it always will be. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.(1 Cor 1:17) And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Col 2:15) 5
5. The protection of the blood Another quote from The way of the cross:- A priest came to begin work in a town, and he was called out to see a sick member of his church. To his astonishment, when he met the person, a strange voice addressed him. It said We are in charge of this town. The priest had never experienced such a thing before, but he found the right response. No you are not. We are going to preach about the blood of Jesus. There was a pause, and then the strange voice replied We know. That is what we are afraid of. Then the Prophet showed the people the blood of the cross on his hands, and they all prayed for courage. In heaven, the Lord put his broken and bleeding hands around the child. His tears ran down onto the ground. Wherever each tear fell, flowers began to grow. The blood of Christ marks us out as his people, (Exodus 12:12-13) sets us free (Hebs. 9:11-15) and is our constant source of renewal. (1 John 1:8-9) * Heritage of bad things not to be forgotten. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father s family, have committed against you. 7 We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses. (Nehemiah 1:6-7) Remembering what went wrong is vital. I have outlined this in the material Touching the soul of Ghana. Readers should download and read The seven sorrows of the soul from www.touchingthesoul.org. Look for the KEY DOCUMENTS page. I am not going to repeat all that material here. But what follows is a series of pictures, to help explain what happened. The lost child One day, a man and a woman came to stand before the Lord. They were full of confidence. Who are you? the Lord asked. We are the church in Ghana they replied. We have done many great things in your name. We have praised you, we have spoken about you and we have spread all over the nation. We are known as a powerful and praise - filled church. Everyone tells us that the Spirit moves in us. We honour your name. 6
The Lord was quiet, and the man and woman looked at each other, and they wondered why the Lord did not thank and bless them. So they said - and we learnt to heal the sick. We collected money - lots of money - and raised up buildings for you, and works in your name. We wrote songs, books - we made DVD s - all for your glory. Still the Lord was quiet. So they continued:- Our nation lives in peace because of our prayers. Look at all the lands around us. We know that we are special. The Lord began to cry, and the two people were amazed. Everything they had said was good. Surely this was what the Lord wanted to hear? Then the Lord said - and where is your child? They were now really amazed. What child? they asked. The one I trusted you with. The one which was so precious to me. The one you were to care for, nurture and raise up? But Lord, they replied, we don t know what you are talking about. We had no child Yes you did said the Lord. I trusted a very precious child into your hands. What is this child called? they asked. The child was called Ghana. You were to take care of it, help it grow, protect it from harm, crown it with glory and make it strong. This was your sacred trust. Where is the child? The two people had no answer to give. This failure to care for Ghana and to go after the world left the child vulnerable. The enemy wasted no time. The consequences of our betrayal become clear. Sadly, most had no idea of what was going on, or if they did, they did not care. They were too busy getting what they could out of the Lord. The dying child I saw a child, surrounded by dark forces, pushing the child down, crushing it on every side. I heard voices, evil voices - To kill! To kill! To kill! The child cried out in pain, but few saw what was happening, and those who did - they did not know what to do. The child was at the point of death. The child was called Ghana. The iron man A child lay on the ground, covered in dirt and filth. The storm beat against the child, beating and beating, and the child had no defence. Eventually the child was broken in heart, in hope, in spirit. Then a man came an iron man, strong, hard, unloving, merciless and greedy. He took the child and said - Now you will serve me. 7
I will give you to others who will abuse you, and I will make money from your pain. I will exalt myself over you. You will serve me in misery and shame. I will show you to others and we will mock you. This was my plan, and now I have my way. No one can stop me. The child grew. Every day was an agony of crying and abuse. The child cried in despair - Why has this happened? Did my parents not see what was happening to me? Why did they not care for me? The man and the woman bowed their heads in shame. We never thought it would come to this they said. Tears, like drops of blood, fell from heaven. I tried to warn you said the Lord said. But you were deaf to my voice. I saw the danger, and called you again and again. But you became greedy, and filled with self. No matter how much Ghanaians say God will away bless us, this is what will happen to us. The child dies The child was tied with cords of anger. His voice was silenced. No longer did praise rise up from him. Death whispered - I have you now. Never again will you be free of fear. The demons swept in, tormenting, mocking, destroying. You will worship us now they screamed. We own you now. The child no longer cried out, and no tears fell. Hope died. Silence Darkness descended and the people knew their shame. But still they did no repent. They blamed others, but they would not blame themselves. So the voice remained silent and the agony - his and ours had no relief. The heritage is lost Losing was easy. It only took selfish arrogance, and we Ghanaians have that in abundance. But like so many before us, we will discover that while losing was easy, regaining is much harder. And it is time that we accepted that no amount of wealth, prosperity, false optimism, or personal blessing is going to work. The promise is broken. The heritage is wasted. Our only hope is that in his mercy, God will remember mercy. That the blood will avail for us again, and that the Spirit will move. It is now totally up to his mercy. All we can do is bow in confession, shame and repentance. But the Ghanaian spirit is arrogant. It is not going to be easy. 8
Is there any hope? Here are the final visions in this series. The broken man I saw ahead of me on the path a man a broken man with his face stained with tears - a face that had known pain. He was bent over with suffering. In his arms he held broken and bleeding child, and he grieved over the pain the child had known. As he cried, his tears fell onto the child, and I saw a flicker of life flow. After so much, could it be that there was still life and hope for the child? I came up to the broken man, and shared his agony. I have the spirit of Ghana in me I said. Will you trust the child to me again? I reached out my arms, and waited. The beautiful house This is taken from The way of the cross. It points to the possibility that the children s children s children might just save Ghana The Pilgrims wanted to mark the new beginning and the new hope. So they build a beautiful new house for the Lord. Into the foundations they poured their love, and the walls were built from their praise. A river of forgiveness flowed in the house, and they were daily cleansed and made new. They promised that they would never come to his house to take, but only to give. In the house, the name of the Lord was held in high honour. Glory shone and heaven rejoiced. Satan was afraid and feared to come near. Then the Lord came again to his people. They rejoiced at his presence and offered him love from a pure heart. He walked with them, and was their covering. The Lord gave the House a name - The Hope of Ghana and he came and spoke to his people:- Once this land was chosen to be the place where my Spirit would flow into all of the surrounding countries. I wanted to bless you and use you as a blessing to others. But you wasted my promise, and now it is no more. 9
Now I give you a new commission. Your land is to be a well of forgiveness and healing. Many will come and draw water from your well. They will return to their own lands and healing for their lands will flow. Then they will bless my name, and bless Ghana for its faithfulness to my cross and my sacrifice. We must believe, pray and hope. 10