7 Fields
Bob Neumann
In the realm of the natural world the Sense of Sight is but one of five ways living things interact with the world around them. In the realm of the spirit it requires us to differentiate beyond our natural abilities and to discern the ESSENCE OF GOD that permeates HIS creation. But the fundamentals of the natural realm are but images of the REALM OF THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT. So to grasp the subtleties of the natural order gives us the framework to comprehend and to eventually utilize our SPIRITUAL EYES at our fullest potential. By nature human vision is binocular, which simply means 'two eyes'. As in this whole series
Vision is best at 20/20. Both eyes equal in acuity and balance with each other. If there is a weakness in one eye the other will attempt to compensate. Years ago children often were diagnosed with "lazy eye" and would wear a patch over the good eye to force the 'lazy eye' to work harder. In time the muscles strengthened and the need to compromise the overall 'vision' was removed. People with glaucoma or cataracts afflicting only one eye live with a deteriorating situation over a period of time. They often knowingly compensate by getting closer to the tv., not going to movies, driving only during daytime and good conditions, and asking others to read fine print.
Now I said often, not always, regrettably with time our ability to compensate lessens as the overall condition worsens. Many people, for whatever rationale, hide and/or ignore their problem until the problem 'takes' command, and their lives (and often others) are altered. Such also is our 'spiritual sight' compromised by sin and iniquity that creep into our lives when we attempt to compensate rather than repent. Tragically, too many have become 'spiritually blind' while rationalizing our deteriorating state out of fear, pride, or deception.
One of the most serious realities when you look at balance of vision are the difficulties when one is deprived of ëone eyeí. In the natural the attributes of depth perception and the ability to correctly see and evaluate distance is lost when one loses the sight of one eye. It is the uniqueness within GOD'S creation that true sight requires Balance. In our spiritual lives the issue of balance between LOGOS and RHEMA appears more critical each day.
Discernment is an aspect of SPIRITUAL VISION which relies on our ability to perceive beyond the surface: to be able to gaze, as THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT directs, into the deeper and darker flow of HIS SPIRIT, to look out into the distance of our reference of time into the Eternity in which THE SPIRIT OF THE SOVEREIGN LORD moves unhindered and unchallenged.
Yet, by our very nature we fall terribly short of both HIS PERFECTION and HIS GLORY. In a strangely subtle way our CREATOR utilizes our complete selves to do HIS WORK upon the world today. WHY DOES ABBA DO THIS? Personally, I believe there are three major reasons. Again, these are my opinions only based on the sum and total of the 7 Fields within my life.
First is the pleasure our CREATOR has with diversity. color, texture, variety, style - all attributes that display HIS GLORY within all of creation.
Second is the desire of our ABBA to bring us through the 'process' of changing us according to HIS GLORY. Through the wilderness, the fire, and the trials are images we acknowledge daily.
The Third I find most intriguing because it shows an aspect of THE LORD OF HOSTS, MY GLORIOUS CAPTAIN the church does not usually see. HE uses us poor sinners saved by GRACE to not only destroy the works of the enemy but to humiliate a once 'perfect cherub' whose pride caused him to sin. Not a subtle image, but extremely profound. I have heard HIS LAUGHTER as it shook strongholds.
It is the image of diversity that brings us to the aspect of 7 Fields that shapes us and our vision.
It is this variety that allows us to have scope as well as clarity. Yet it also requires us to see ourselves as parts of and not a whole in ourselves. As Paul said, we all 'see' in part, therefore we prophecy but in part, enjoying ABBA'S pleasure as we flow and fit together.
Each one of us is, therefore, a unity of 7 Fields by which our spiritual eyes see and interact on the plain of VISION.
Each of us is a walking book to be remembered and read whenever required. While everything in our lives from birth to death can be labeled as experience, we need to fine tune this as best and efficiently as possible. All learning can be chalked up to experience. The simplest way of learning is trial and error. A baby, often with assistance, will 'learn' to hold his head up, roll over, and sit up. It takes repetition to make it a 'skill'. But all these can be thought of as universal. All healthy children will grow, learn, and hopefully 'thrive'.
Yet we have begun to learn that 'thriving' goes beyond gaining weight and acquiring motor skills. All babies need to be held, spoken to, 'loved'. Not all GOD'S KIDS have gotten healthy shares of 'love'. Most emotions we experience, we personally label and categorize in this thing called the soul. A normal person has had a share of good and bad. How one copes and goes on is the critical issue.
In South Florida a few years ago we encountered a major stressor in our lives known world wide as Hurricane Andrew. In this time, numerous lessons were learned about the human condition which are even now being played out. All of us, when we climbed out of the rubble, reacted in very different ways. Some said "Wow!' and immediately began to clean up and rebuild. Their 'life experiences' had forged in them different ways of 'coping' with the stress. Often it was in physical action. Hurry....Hurry....Hurry. The whys were always interesting and varied.
Some were fatalistic and 'knew' another storm was around the corner, and wanted to be ready to meet the next one head on again.
There were some that kept super busy to escape the grief and pain they were continuously running away from - yet never really succeeding.
Some were overly aggressive, rude, short tempered in their rush to do, simply because the fear and intimidation they were enslaved to was kept hidden by their 'mask' of overcompensation for their sense of inferiority.
Then there were those who crawled out, sat down, and cried: perpetual victims of situations and events. Many still, after all these years, speak as if it happened yesterday. Many never finished rebuilding. Each year the media will make the public ''aware'' of the hurricane season and invariably will find a large number of these ''fear filled'' people to push their agenda. The real tragedy is the children who parents claim have nightmares and behavioral problems, all associated with this single trauma/crisis.
Children 7 and 8 years old giving graphic remembrances of 'the night ANDREW came' grabs the attention of the TV viewers. In me it raises red flags of discernment. A child under two will not grasp details and recall them on queue as these children do. Then those who were infants and unborn 'sharing' the same fears is not natural. It is contrived to create more victims.
Finally there is the strange group of people who climbed out of the rubble, counted noses, took a deep breath, and went to their neighbors and helped them to get out of the rubble. They rebuilt their own homes, and their community. But they took their time and were able to rise above the incident. They remember, but the memory does not control or rule their lives.
The FIELD of EXPERIENCE is comprised of all these emotions and memories, tragedies and victories, tears and laughs that have shaped our characters one way or another. They are 'the baggage we carry around because they are part of us, like it or not. It is only when the baggage has a "life of its own" that it begins to first dictate our reactions to the stressors in our lives. Eventually it will take control, and life becomes a series of ''emotional reactions'' with one emergency followed by another.
When we judge anything by THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT we cannot confuse the flavors we pick up with THE WORD itself. Consider the possibility that a LOVING ABBA would purposefully use a person to add that 'flavor' and make us to go deeper than THE WORD. Does this 'emotion', 'urgency', 'fervor', accentuate THE WORD.....or detract from it?? SELAH...
If you pondered this one question seriously, then I ask you to judge this....
Acts 21:10 And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judea a certain prophet, named Agabus. 11 And when he was come unto us, he took Paul's girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles. 12 And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. 14 And when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done. 15 And after those days we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem.
Today we could say 'ain't that melodramatic', or we could pigeonhole it and say, well it has a sense of 'foreboding', 'doom and gloom', and 'crass emotionalism'. But we know with 20/20 hindsight the validity and the integrity of old Agabus, something I and no one else has earned because of the matter of record.
Each individual with any level of life experience has found things that they are 'comfortable' doing. Personally I am extremely talented at sleeping on sofas, watching other people work hard, and enjoying the 'little pleasures of life' like the smell of flowers, babies when they smile, and ice cream, in general.
I hope everyone got a chuckle and a personal thought of the like....
Yet there are things we can 'do' and not mess up, so that when the opportunity arises, a crises occurs, a need becomes known, we can wade into the fray with sleeves rolled up, with the firm intent of just ''getting it done''. By this time we also know there are people around us who, when ''looking'' at the same set of circumstances, will 'waffle'....hemming and hawing until someone else goes and does it. Likewise, we know people whose first response would be to step forward and just freeze, completely overwhelmed but afraid to back away. Then there are those who 'see' and run away. Some of this group may collapse in tears at even the first whiff of 'trouble on the wind'.
Over the years my compassion for the ''basket cases'' has grown sorely thin at times. Usually, as I myself reach the ''worn out/worn thin'' stage, similarly my tolerance of ''wafflers and freezers'' that seem to talk the talk long and loud but never do a thing, is simply gone. Sometimes the image of 'just keep them out of the way so we can work' is the only thing I notice.
Is there a witness out there?
In the framework of the church it seems almost always to divide into three groups. There are those 'tuned iní and eager to get done/get there. Call them 'drivers'. Just behind the ëdriversí sit those who have a different destination/goal in mind....or are just happy to impede anyone who has a destination in mind or a goal to achieve. Then there are those who just haven't a clue one way or another and are just along for the ride. Once long ago I heard an older brother describe it as the reality of church building. You invest your time and prayers and sweat to find and to equip people to be 'pillars' of GOD'S temple and then you fill it with caterpillars. Quite a profound image in many ways.
Another way to put it is that there are: 1. Doers and builders doing the work of THE KINGDOM. Then there are 2. Takers and breakers, taking all they can and never adding to THE KINGDOM. Finally, 3. The spectators waiting to be entertained in some way.
It should be obvious that I am addressing this to the doers and the builders.
There are things that we add to the KINGDOM. Often we are the last to notice what these "things" are because when it comes to areas of expertise others notice what we can do in situations better than we see ourselves. Other doers can see our 'batting average' when we only look at each pitch as it comes. The ability to defer something to another because they 'are better at it than myself' is the sign of maturity. It is the sign of "selflessness." When getting the job done, getting a need met is of sole importance. Getting creditand/or acclaim is not a rationale for even beginning a job. Not in THE KINGDOM.
Our expertise allows us to look at a prophetic WORD, a TEACHING, an EXHORTA TION, and say "GOOD STUFF" because of the familial sense of oneness the MOST HOLY SPIRIT brings to all the SERVANTS of THE GREAT FATHER. It is HE, our TEACHER and OUR COMFORTER that has established these 'abilities' in us through practical situations. Just getting it done, so to speak.
So when we 'touch' ''something'' we should discern HIS HAND/HIS SPIRIT. We should discern/ taste the 'flavors/textures' that the vessel has given. Finally we should be able to recognize the level of expertise the servant has reached as we are aware of the HOLY SPIRIT'S degree of PRESENCE and POWER as a 'job gets done'.
When someone does something and you know that you could have done it better, what do you do? If someone asks for help, do you instruct or just take over? When someone steps out and tests their 'sea legs,' do you cut them slack and give them room to try, if only to stumble? Or do you tie them down 'for their own good'?
Now this could have been titled, "Have you graduated?....Been certified?....Got your papers? But that is only in Babylon.
Every child of GOD has undergone some level of 'training' in THE FATHER"S HOUSE. Regrettably, most of the 'kids' can barely hold their own bottles, let alone begin potty training. By now those of us on this AP LIST have long been into changing diapers and 'burping' the 'little ones'. Being in THE MASTER'S HOUSE requires us to be of use. Otherwise we are just another kid among the bunch. Being a servant of THE LIVING GOD means we will be taught things important to HIM and the efficient operation of HIS HOUSE.
The problem is that too few of ABBA'S kids, who have found their desires to serve and be part of the KINGDOM, fit into the places that we commonly call ''the church''. While there are many who claim that the core issue of their 'ministry' is the equipping of the saints to do the ''work of the ministry,'' little has been accomplished. In fact, the ''church'' has been 'cloning' itself for many years. In way too many ministries few children mature and go off on their own.
Regrettably, too many local assemblies who give accreditation and provide certification to members who have completed required courses as delineated by denomination protocol, never involve the concept of mentoring within their structure.
In the hundreds of thousands of churches in America today there sit people with degrees, diplomas, certificates, and papers of some sort...and no place to serve. The worst case scenario is those who stepped out and failed, and turned away from GOD, disheartened and wounded. Walking wounded fill the roster of those who should be in service to THE KINGDOM. The problem is that everything they did was judged according to man's ways, in man's timing, and for man's reasons.
Most of the servants called to the prophetic and apostolic ministries have grown and matured, not in the sterile confines of the religious institutions but in the place called 'the wilderness'. Their training is as wide and as varied as the individuals called into service. Interestingly, ABBA has found it vividly convenient to use the hard lessons of the world to adapt us to function in HIS HOUSE. Some may call it the "SCHOOL of HARD KNOCKS", but it could be also called the "COLLEGE of DIVINE APPOINTMENTS".
While prophets are usually not thought of as 'people persons' because of their difficulty with doing something just to get along, and while all intercessors are not prophets, anyone who labels themselves as a prophet and denies the call of intercession in their lives must be suspect. According to THE WORD, the prophets are the WATCHMEN the Lord has placed upon the walls. Many see the prophets as hard, harsh, cold and distant. The label of 'lacking the mercy gifts' has been used often and is in error. The prophets weep and wail for the sins of their people. If anything, they are too often overwhelmed by the pain and misery around them.
These are but facets in the training to prepare to serve in THE HOUSE OF THE LORD.
Some of us have been trained to be 'good listeners.' We allow people to be comfortable and express themselves openly. Often those who are intimidated by 'authority' can find it ''easy'' to lay down their burdens at our feet. Those of us trained at 'listening' hear in stereo as we listen both to the person and to THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT.
Some of us have been trained to be ''gentle speakers''. We are allowed to speak to and into a person's life and situation with gentle and meek power and authority. Besides hearing THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT and knowing what to speak, we have learned how to say it and when to say it.
Some of us have been trained as "WATCHERS,'' to see that which moves in and through the realm of the SPIRIT, to discern not only the VOICES of our DEAR ABBA, our SHEPHERD and CAPTAIN, and THE MOST PRECIOUS HOLY SPIRIT, but the other voices not holy. Many "WATCHERS" can distinguish those voices and delineate their source: a good skill honed to sharpness over time.
Some of us have been trained as "Sheepdogs," called to stand guard over THE MASTER'S SHEEP, to assist Shepherds as they MOVE and TEND the lambs, sheep, and even the goats that THE GOOD SHEPHERD calls HIS OWN.
Some of us have been trained as "WATCHMEN," to stand guard over the city, interceding and continually calling out on behalf of our people, sounding the warnings when danger approaches and holds the gates and fills the breaches until the children arise...(SOON, I HOPE).
Some of us have been trained to be "STEWARDS" to train younger servants, to share our knowledge and skills with those desiring to serve in HIS HOUSEHOLD - to 'reproduce' ourselves so that we cann be called even farther into service.
Some of us have been trained to be "CORPSMEN"....to rescue those who have fallen in battle. To render immediate aid to shorten the time of recovery. To remove the injured and wounded 'out of the line of fire' so that further wounding may be prevented.
And then there are those that I have heard others call ''DREAD WARRIORS." Servants of THE GREAT FATHER TRAINED WITH THE SWORD....SENT INTO THE DARKNESS TO ASSAULT THE KINGS OF THIS WORLD. To take back by force those people held in darkness.
Every one of us has been trained in areas important to THE KINGDOM. Many of us have been cross-trained in more than one area. Our 'vision' of things is influenced by not only what THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT has trained us to do, but how we were trained and why we were changed, truly unique flavors in themselves.
Unlike the concept of TRAINING, Talent is more dependent on the HOLY SPIRIT as we flow and function in the GIFTS and the FRUITS of the SPIRIT. While all of ABBA'S children have been given all the GIFTS, few servants actually flow in POWER with all of the GIFTS. More interesting is the reality that no one who does flow in a specific GIFT flows all the time, or to the same degree each time he ministers.
Most of us notice the 'difference' each time we move in THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT. Call it a different "feel" or "flavor'', but we do notice.
There are many ''prophetic people'' who move frequently in "WORDS"....."WORDS of ENCOURAGEMENT, WORDS OF EDIFICATION, WORDS OF COMFORT" yet have never moved in any other gift. This affects how they view others who give "WORDS of PROPHECY" that might fall into the category of "WORDS OF ADMONISHMENT .… WORDS OF CORRECTION".
There are many who think of a "WORD OF KNOWLEDGE" as referring only to the area of "MIRACLES AND HEALINGS". Yet there have been times where THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT has given HIS VESSEL intimate knowledge about the person being ministered to, whether to confirm to the person it can only be GOD, or to confront someone who desires to deny the fact.
While the "WORD OF WISDOM'' tends to be less confrontational than that of "KNOWLEDGE" it can be quite overpowering to those who have not seen it in operation. Like a musician that practices upon an instrument, we are 'given' a talent for....but it improves with practice. Anything we may endeavor can improve to some degree with practice. Regrettably, those who have no 'talent' will improve their "performance'' to some degree if they practice long and hard. The only problem is in the area of proficiency.
Training and determination cannot replace talent, but they can substitute for it.
The problem in the 'church' is that we have promoted ''style'' and called it 'talent'. Likewise we have acknowledged 'talent' and not demanded virtuosity. Excellency was ignored because we idolized and elevated the GIFT. Performance became all important as long as it fit our expectations. In each scenario GOD gets short changed. THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT can not be trusted to stay in our definition of order, so let's restrict the 'flow' and limit the "GIFTS".
For this and other reasons there is not an abundance of Talents functioning in THE BODY. Those who have 'learned' from THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT and are 'talented/anointed' have become so over time and practice. THE GIFTS OF THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT which HE chooses to use through us often require our sensitivity. THE GIFTS always require our obedience.
The 'anointing' by which THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT moves provides depth, resolution, and clarity to that aspect of VISION we call PERCEPTION. I have substituted the term "TALENT" for the more readily accepted term "ANOINTING'' because it is grossly overused for anything of/or pertaining to THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT. Often it is used without the secondary aspect of accountability. So by referring to "TALENT" I am giving reference to the parable of the "TALENTS" and the tragedy of the single talent that was buried. With this we move to the....
Here is where the previous FIELDS must begin to overlap.
Our EXPERIENCES, good, bad, and indifferent all come together to make us who we are and how we perceive the 'worlds' around us. Likewise what the world sees in us are the sum and total of our experiences and what THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT is actively doing in us to shape us into the VESSELS ABBA has intended us to be. Please note the two key elements here, 'actively doing' and 'to shape'. In simple English we are all in ìthe process of.
Our EXPERIENCES shape our PERCEPTION of all things. Once again we see the image of BALANCE at play here. If our balance is distorted by pain, fear, and bitterness, so will be our perception. Likewise, any insecurity and doubt will restrict the depth and focus of how we perceive even THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT.
Our EXPERTISE accentuates and sharpens our focus. It adds clarity as we draw on THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT to fine tune us like a precision instrument to look beyond simple words to differentiate the subtleties of THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT from the VESSEL HE has shaped.
Our TRAINING dictates how we approach all things of the SPIRIT, to discern HIS VOICE and the TALENT/ANOINTING that is being developed, and to discern the degree of how much of the VESSEL adds to THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT. It is also our TRAINING that spots the snakes and wolves that ABBA'S SHEEP AND KIDS attract.
Please remember the simple fact about the NIGHT....the brighter the LIGHT....the more bugs you will attract.
Finally, the TALENT/ANOINTING that grows and strengthens with the continued obedience to THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT literally widens and expands our total FIELD OF PERCEPTION as we continue daily to grow and develop and mature. Between the FOUR ASPECTS OF THESE FIELDS OF VISION we can eventually see where we are headed...
Solomon wrote the key verse for us when we think of THE KINGDOM...
Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven
We can easily acknowledge Times and Seasons because we are always going through them. Yet when we confront the reality of exactly what ABBA'S PURPOSE is in regards to the 'stuff' we are going through we are often mystified, befuddled, and clueless when we realize that the whole issue of FAITH needs to step in and activate us. To walk in faith and not sight is perception of the 'deeper things' of our GOD, to begin to ''see'' in and with the fullness of our empowered spiritman and to disregard our 'old man'.
There is a passage in JOB that seems to speak about dreams and visions and how GOD speaks to man. Only there is more to it...
Job 33:14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumberings upon the bed; 16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, 17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. 18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword.
To perceive what GOD desires to impart is something man does not easily or naturally do. Yet the knowing of GOD'S PURPOSE can lead to pride and the second death if GOD does not intervene. Such is the danger of the life not in perfect BALANCE with the WILL of GOD. So, balance in our vision is based on all our FIELDS of Vision BALANCED in HIS MOST HOLY SPIRIT. This allows us to PERCEIVE GOD'S PURPOSE, and each of us have purposes within HIS KINGDOM as unique, specific, and focused as we are in HIS EYES.
But what is that purpose....there are a couple of possibilities.....ponder where you fit and where you are used...
Proverbs 20:18 Every purpose is established by counsel: and with good advice make war.
Ecclesiastes 3:17 I said in mine heart, God shall judge the righteous and the wicked: for there is a time there for every purpose and for every work.
Isaiah 14: 25 That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. 26 This is the purpose that is purposed upon the whole earth: and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all the nations. 27 For the LORD of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it? And his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back?
Jeremiah 51:29 And the land shall tremble and sorrow: for every purpose of the LORD shall be performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation without an inhabitant.
Romans 8: 28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. 31 What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
Romans 9:17 For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
1 John 3:8 He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
Our purpose of JUDGING PROPHECY is to destroy the works of the enemy. In fact, we are called to judge everything placed upon the table before us, preaching or teaching, song or psalm, poetry or prose by HIS MOST HOLY AND PRECIOUS SPIRIT that has slowly, surely been walking each of us through these FIELDS so we may see as HE HAS DECLARED for us to see........ WITH HIS EYES. Walking together.
Bob in Miami
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Where can I contact Hollie L Moody. How can I read your content in English?
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