Play Above The Rim
1Kings
18: 36-40
36 And it
came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah
the prophet came near, and said, Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let
it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant,
and that I have done all these things at thy word.
37 Hear
me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and
that thou hast turned their heart back again.
38 Then
the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and
the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
39 And
when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The Lord,
he is the God; the Lord, he is the God.
40 And
Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape.
And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew
them there.
1 And the
sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, Behold now, the place where we dwell
with thee is too strait for us.
2 Let us
go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take thence every man a beam, and let us
make us a place there, where we may dwell. And he answered, Go ye.
3 And one
said, Be content, I pray thee, and go with thy servants. And he answered, I
will go.
4 So he
went with them. And when they came to Jordan, they cut down wood.
5 But as
one was felling a beam, the axe head fell into the water: and he cried, and
said, Alas, master! for it was borrowed.
6 And the
man of God said, Where fell it? And he shewed him the place. And he cut down a
stick, and cast it in thither; and the iron did swim.
7
Therefore said he, Take it up to thee. And he put out his hand, and took it.
Exodus 14: 15 - 21
15 And the
Lord said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of
Israel, that they go forward:
16 But
lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it:
and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
17 And I,
behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall follow them:
and I will get me honour upon Pharaoh, and upon all his host, upon his
chariots, and upon his horsemen.
18 And the
Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten me honour upon
Pharaoh, upon his chariots, and upon his horsemen.
21 And
Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go
back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the
waters were divided.
2Kings 6: 8 - 20
8 Then the
king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants,
saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.
9 And the
man of God sent unto the king of Israel, saying, Beware that thou pass not such
a place; for thither the Syrians are come down.
10 And the
king of Israel sent to the place which the man of God told him and warned him
of, and saved himself there, not once nor twice.
11
Therefore the heart of the king of Syria was sore troubled for this thing; and
he called his servants, and said unto them, Will ye not shew me which of us is
for the king of Israel?
12 And one
of his servants said, None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in
Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy
bedchamber.
13 And he
said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told
him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan.
14
Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came
by night, and compassed the city about.
15 And
when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an
host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said
unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?
16 And he
answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with
them.
17 And
Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And
the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the
mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
18 And
when they came down to him, Elisha prayed unto the Lord, and said, Smite this
people, I pray thee, with blindness. And he smote them with blindness according
to the word of Elisha.
19 And
Elisha said unto them, This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow
me, and I will bring you to the man whom ye seek. But he led them to Samaria.
20 And it
came to pass, when they were come into Samaria, that Elisha said, Lord, open
the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and
they saw; and, behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
Joshua 6:1-5,20
1 Now
Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out,
and none came in.
2 And the
Lord said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king
thereof, and the mighty men of valour.
3 And ye
shall compass the city, all ye men of war, and go round about the city once.
Thus shalt thou do six days.
4 And
seven priests shall bear before the ark seven trumpets of rams' horns: and the
seventh day ye shall compass the city seven times, and the priests shall blow
with the trumpets.
5 And it
shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram's horn, and
when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great
shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall
ascend up every man straight before him.
20 So the
people shouted when the priests blew with the trumpets: and it came to pass,
when the people heard the sound of the trumpet, and the people shouted with a
great shout, that the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the
city, every man straight before him, and they took the city.
1Samuel 17:48-51
48 And it
came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David,
that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
49 And
David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote
the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he
fell upon his face to the earth.
50 So
David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote
the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
51
Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and
drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head
therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
Judges 4:18-21
18 And
Jael went out to meet Sisera, and said unto him, Turn in, my lord, turn in to
me; fear not. And when he had turned in unto her into the tent, she covered him
with a mantle.
19 And he
said unto her, Give me, I pray thee, a little water to drink; for I am thirsty.
And she opened a bottle of milk, and gave him drink, and covered him.
20 Again
he said unto her, Stand in the door of the tent, and it shall be, when any man
doth come and enquire of thee, and say, Is there any man here? that thou shalt
say, No.
21 Then
Jael Heber's wife took a nail of the tent, and took an hammer in her hand, and
went softly unto him, and smote the nail into his temples, and fastened it into
the ground: for he was fast asleep and weary. So he died.
Acts 3:1-2,6-8
1 Now
Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being
the ninth hour.
2 And a
certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at
the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of them that
entered into the temple;
12 And by
the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people;
(and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.
13 And of
the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them.
14 And
believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women.)
15
Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on
beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might
overshadow some of them.
16 There
came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing
sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were
healed every one.
6 Then
Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the
name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
7 And he
took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and
ankle bones received strength.
8 And he
leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking,
and leaping, and praising God.
These are
but a few of the mighty exploits performed by people of God who were devoted to
following and serving Him. As always, I encourage you to dive into the word of
God to explore these exploits in context. When you do I believe you will find
some common traits in those men and women who did powerful works for the kingdom
of heaven. You see one of those traits was they believed in God, another was
that they exhibited faith unfeigned. They were courageous and righteous, but
perhaps, above all else, they desired that the works they displayed and the
miraculous outcomes would lead the people to God, as evidenced in the prayer of
Elijah.
“Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that
this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned
their heart back again”.
Their
desire was that God was recognized not they. Their desire was that by their
actions and interactions with God and by partnering with Him in miracles signs
and wonders the people would be blessed, and enriched, not them. And yes, I did
say partnering. I teach this often, when it comes to miracles signs and
wonders, you are the other half of the equation. This is not to say that God
does not perform miracles autonomously because he does. However, God does want
to perform them through you as well. It is by this a full picture of what a
relationship with God can become as witnessed by the unbeliever.
When
moses cried out to God about their situation, when he and the Israelites were
trapped against the red sea shore and Pharaohs army was closing in, God asked
Moses why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to move, raise your staff
and part the waters, as if to say use what I have given you. Your faith and
courage plus a right relationship with God will equal miracles signs and
wonders flowing through you. I know this by experience. But take heed, unless you develop the right
relationship you may end up bringing discouragement and discontent between God
and His people.
When
I first became a seeker/follower of Yeshua, Jesus the Christ Child of Nazareth.
I was met by the Holy Spirit in a worship session. This was at a time in my
life when I sincerely needed to find solace and meaning, it was a matter of
life and death. At first the situation was an extreme embarrassment for me. An
embarrassment so grave that I almost walked out never to return to that
particular gathering again, but the Lord really worked on my heart that day
through others and I was lit on fire. I began removing unseemly influences from
my life. I committed myself to diligently studying the word of God and
attending meetings, prayer sessions, sermons and worship sessions. A hunger for
Kingdom principals and the knowledge thereof took up all of my free time. I
dedicated my life to the pursuit of not just knowing the word or being a hearer
of the word but being a doer of the word as well. I fasted and prayed and
studied while observing from the background every ministry I encountered. In
the midst of this my discernment began to grow and I began to have dreams,
vivid dreams, dreams that came to fruition to a degree so compelling that I became
to know God was speaking to me. I knew by my studies that my dreams were
prophetic. Some dreams were literal and some mostly symbolic and some a
mix. In this time, God began to make
known to me information about the condition of His church today. As I said, in
my hunger I attended many different functions. I witnessed many people
evangelizing the gospel and “practicing their faith”. Unfortunately, for me,
what I began to witness was that the disorder in the body was greater than the
order that should be. Messages being preached were out of alignment with
scripture, and people were acting out biblical teachings with little to no
effectual results.
I
once watched a video discussion by some men who were portrayed as great leaders
of the faith at that time. Some were very popular. These people were charismatic
with large followings on social media. During this session a question was posed
to the group and that question went something like this, “Why when you lay
hands on the sick and pray, it doesn’t always work”? While most were really
speechless in answering this question one spoke up to say, I don’t know why it
doesn’t always work, but in faith I keep trying anyway.
Much
of the bible contains instructions for life that the believer should adhere to
and do every moment of every day. Things that once you are told to do you do
not have to wait for permission to repeat or flow in in everyday life. Now
there are exploits, instructions and examples of how believers should conduct
themselves in certain situations that are not so straight forward. These are
circumstantially led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus himself taught this,
“For
I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a
commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. Verily, verily, I say
unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do:
for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. Believest thou not that I am in the
Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of
myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then
shall ye know that I am he, and that I do nothing of myself; but as my Father
hath taught me, I speak these things”.
We
are to walk like Him. Jesus only did what the father instructed Him to do and
said what the Father instructed Him to say. Since His departure we have the
option of receiving the Holy Spirit through obedience to God and by the prayers
of Jesus. This is the Spirit of the living God. Pray for them but remember, not
every sick is to be healed. Pray for them but remember, not every dead is to
rise in this life. Not every devil is to be cast out. Some devils are tares
which we are instructed not to pull up and some, if you cast out before the
appointed time will reinhabit that person it was removed from and bring along
with it seven others more wicked than it. If you have no relationship with the
Holy Spirit and you move to act in these circumstances without His specific
instruction, the ineffectiveness of your operations will bring disappointment
and lack of faith to witnesses. Acting for your own glory and popularity can bring
discord amongst the brethren which is something no one should desire to do for a
bringer of discord amongst the brethren is one who God hates. A simple rule of thumb is Ask in prayer, test the spirits, listen to the Holy Spirit, if you're not told don't do, if you're not sent don't go.
These
signs follow those who believe on Jesus. This includes only doing and saying
what the Father tells you. When God gives you a specific instruction and you
move to follow it out just as He instructs what goes with you is His spirit and
the full authority and power to accomplish the task. The group of evangelists
described above primarily acted for self-glorification and personal notoriety.
They are not primarily interested in serving God for the purposes of others
witnessing His glory and turn their heart back again, to Him.
Last
week we discussed nearly unbelievable exploits of power demonstrated by the
darkness of this world. At some point mankind is going to have to come to terms
again with knowing the existence of the spiritual realm and the dangers
associated in not confronting the darkness that can come out of it. Elisha
could see into it the spiritual realm and see the armies of God that were with
Him. I pray that you can visualize this believe it and see it for yourself.
Also, I implore you to understand this, regardless of the display of great
power by spiritual wickedness, when in Yeshua, Christ Jesus, the power you are
called to operate in far exceeds that of anything wickedness can produce. The
key to this is making your spirit man connect to God through the Holy Spirit.
This will cause a change in your flesh and soul that allows a complete
partnering with God to perform at higher levels as His witness, for His glory.
This is playing above the rim.
The
phrase playing above the rim was first termed to describe athletes in
basketball. These are those who excelled far beyond their competitors by having
the ability and strength to jump high enough to dunk a basketball unimpeded by
those who could not. Playing above the rim now has generally come to mean
operating or playing at a level that is far above what others do. This includes
using ways and strategies that are not fathomed by most all other people.
When
we first moved into the ROC, we were beset upon by other churches who did not
want us to worship or minister in any capacity here. With out getting into too
much detail, pastors from the largest churches in the area started a campaign
to have us removed. There were gossips, rumors and petitions submitted to the
public. There were complaints to the city, attempts to get our house condemned
due to structural concerns. The list went on and on it seemed.
In
the midst of that time of confrontations God gave me a dream and to the best of
my recollection, it went like this,
I
was in an out-door basketball court just dribbling and shooting the basketball
randomly. After a few shots I decided to try a few layups. As I went up for my
first layup I found my self chest level with the rim. To my amazement I
slam-dunked the ball and landed softly back on the court. This started me on a
series where I was just jumping and slamming the ball.
As
this went on, my younger brother entered the court while watching me dunk. On
one try, I jumped so high that my feet were even with the rim so I actually had
to shoot down to make the basket. When I softly landed my brother came to me
with a look of aw and unbelief on his face. He began asking me, how are you
doing this, how is it possible, and can you show me? I responded by saying I’m
not sure how. I just started jumping and I found out I could play above the
rim. Each time I tried I just got higher and higher. I think its God teaching
me to play above the rim. I think if you believe you can, you will be able to as
well. Do you want to try? I asked. He said yes. Excitedly, he took the ball in
his hands and approached the hoop. He leaped into the air and just as it seemed
like my brother was going to dunk the basketball a man who resembled our
earthly father walked onto the court. He looked at my brother with stern
disapproval and just as my brother saw him, he stopped midair, all of the
excitement flew out of him and he came crashing down on the court. After that,
I watched my brother get up with a sad dejected look on his face then walk to
our dad and I watched as they both walked off the court as my brothers head
hung down.
I
walked off the court and down the street to a cul-de-sac. At the end of the cul-de-sac
on the other side of the side walk was a path worn into the grass. I felt drawn
to this path but as I got to it I saw that it was over grown with thick brush.
I decided to work my way through the brush. It took great effort. I was
pushing, branches were snapping and slapping me until I finally broke through
into a small grass carpeted clearing. The path had led me into a forest that
was densely overgrown by a canopy of tree branches that started at about
fifteen feet high and stretched upward, how far I could not tell because the
view was obscured by the branches. At the other end of the clearing was a
massive Gemsbok or (Oryx). Her markings and lines were crisp. She was
remarkably beautiful. When our eyes met there was no fear, I knew she was there
to help me in some way because what I saw in her eyes was care. Like she was
there to care for me. As she looked at me, she made a head motion as if to say,
come, follow me. Just as I moved in her direction, she leaped up into the
canopy. I leaped up after her. As we ascended, I could hear the loud snapping
of heavy branches. I could see them falling all around me as she was breaking
through but her massive body shielded me from the debris. I looked up just in
time to see that she had made a large hole through the branches. There were
blue skies with whisps of clouds. As she went through, she flew off to my right.
I was soon to ascend up through the hole she had made and when I did, I turned
to fly in the direction I saw her go. I found my self drifting over a vast
forest, tree tops as far as the eye can see. I was some distance above the tree
tops but I could not see her any longer. I flew for some time to see if she had
made a hole down through the canopy anywhere marking a landing spot but I found
none so I flew on until the dream ended.
So,
as I stated earlier, we were under persecution. Pastors from the largest
ministry in our region were petitioning the city to shut us down and declare
the building structurally unsound. Because of this, the city requested that we
have the building inspected by a licensed engineer to validate the structural
integrity of our building. They contended that if we were able to produce a
letter from such, that it would satisfy the city requirements and mitigate the
issue.
In
the church we previously attended, in the men’s group, I had come to be friends
with a young structural engineer. I contacted him and invited him over to
discuss the city’s request. When we met again, we began catching up on events
that had transpired since we had last seen each other. We shared stories and I
witnessed to him some of the miracle’s signs and wonders we were experiencing,
especially how we received the building and the dreams that prophetically spoke
of us receiving it, in detail, nearly one and a half years prior. We spent
hours climbing through the building, mapping its foot print and drawing plans.
My friend expressed how he wanted to be a part of what we were doing and that
his opinion was that the building was structurally sound, however he had a
senior associate that he worked under that would have to come and verify the
condition himself.
The
senior associate did, in fact, come and inspect the building. They together
informed me that they would discuss the issue and how to move forward. They
conveyed that they would contact me to let me know when I could come to their
office and discuss their findings. To me the outlook was good. I knew God moved
us in and instructed us in what to do. We were wading through and prevailing
over one attack after another.
After
a few days I got a call from my friend the engineer. He called to verify an
appointment for us to meet at their firm’s office on a Monday. When that day
came, I went to their office building which was a new steel building mostly
open on the inside. There were really no divider walls past the reception area.
My friend met me at the reception door and escorted me back to his desk. There
were a few desks scattered throughout the building.
As
I entered, I noticed that there were trophy mounts hanging on the walls, taking
up most of the wall space as we walk to his desk, I saw that the senior
engineer that had met us a few days before was sitting at another desk across
the room. We exchanged greetings. As I sat in the chair across the desk from my
friend we began to make small talk, you know the usual like how have you been,
how is the wife and children, how was your weekend, who’s the hunter?….. Then
when we finished with the small talk I said bluntly, so, have you decided about
drafting a letter to the city for me? As I asked my friend looked at the senior
associate. Just as he did, I did . We both saw the look of disapproval on his
face then I turned to my friend. It looked like some life left his countenance.
I asked again are you going to write the letter for me? He bowed his head a
moment then looked up at me and spoke. My boss does not want to get involved;
he doesn’t want to write a letter for you. My heart sank a bit, I thought for
sure they were on board. I looked over at his boss. He would not make eye
contact. However, as I looked in his direction, I noticed, high on the wall
above where he sat was the trophy mount of a massive beautiful Gemsbok. I sat
for a moment taking in the experience, the build up and the ultimate rejection.
I stood up said thank you very much and walked out.
I
walked out onto the side walk and called Tomika to deliver the unfavorable
news. Our only option at that point was to press in and pray and find another
engineer. So, we did both. There is a man in our community whom I had known
about since before I left California, to move to Idaho. As I was searching for
engineering firms, I found his name listed in the business section as a
licensed structural engineer. I was surprised to find that he wasn’t only a
local politician but an engineer as well. I called his firm and explained the
situation. He responded immediately and showed up with another young engineer
from his office. He said he was familiar with the building somewhat as he had
read about it in the papers. After inspecting the building, he agreed to write
the letter. Not only did he agree to write the letter, he agreed to provide us
with any necessary engineering services for free when it came time to do the
major renovations.
Now,
this man was going through persecutions of his own. As a staunch patriot he was always under
attack in his private life and political career as well. We invited him to a
prayer and worship night where we prayed for his protection and advancement.
Today he is an Idaho state Senator.
It
is written, “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he
himself is judged of no man”.
So,
as this episode in our lives was unfolding, I was greatly encouraged by God.
Soon after I saw the Gemsbok on the wall of the office, I knew I was going to
have to fight for a bit to walk a path that led to a clearing. The Gemsbok
represents a swift pursuit of God and is symbolic of our walk with him. In the
moment of perceived defeat, I had a choice. Give up or soar, the choice was
clear, God said soar above it all. So, we took flight and have spent much time
soaring ever sense.
As
many of you might have read we have a prophetic word of guidance for this year.
“There
are many major changes happening and more coming. Changes for the overall
good”. Prepare to play above the rim. 12/21/2025
Just
remember, you must be careful when playing above the rim because when you are above
the rim, everyone can see you. You are no longer lost in the crowd on the court
but raised up to be and example, a light on a hill. You are highlighted to
witness for His glory.
In
all of our interactions, our overall desire should be as the prophet prayed, “Hear
me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the Lord God, and
that thou hast turned their heart back again”.
