Signal Hill Foundation Blog

During three years of public ministry, did Jesus go everywhere in the world? Did He heal everybody? Did He raise every dead person of every grieving family? Did He always walk on water? Did He always feed every hungry person? Did He always do what people wanted Him to do?

The answer is NO. He did not operate indiscriminately or haphazardly. Every work of His was directed by something.  What was that something? And is it something we should use?

The secret can be found in His statement and His actions.

In John 5:19-20 He said,

“Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.”

Here we see the secret of His operation –

1. He does nothing of Himself – meaning that He does not operate by flesh, mental logic, or His own human ingenuity or power – nothing!
2. He performs on the basis of what He sees the Father doing  and He does exactly that, nothing more and nothing less.
3. He believes that the Father will show Him other things as well.

He reiterated this concept again in John 14:10 where He affirmed,

“The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works.”

In chapter 11 is the classic example.

Lazarus, his beloved friend had died. The family was upset that Jesus had not been there to heal him. But Jesus was away with His disciples. When He heard word of the death, He did not respond but waited which further puzzled his friends. He waited until Lazarus had been in the tomb four days. Then He went to the tomb.

The secret to this procedure is found in 11:41 where He prays a simple little prayer as He stands before the tomb.

“And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”

He was there only because the Father had shown Him what was to happen. He was there when the Father said to be there.

Thus, there was no question, confusion, or concern.

Jesus knew beforehand what was to happen. He saw it from the Father. The Father showed Him what to say, when to arrive, and what would happen.

Jesus did not have to use much faith or take a blind leap of faith or risk anything. He was absolutely sure of what would happen and even why it would happen. He had already seen it when He was away across the brook with His disciples.

This is why He arrived when He did, why He spoke what He spoke, and why what happened, happened.

The same type illustration is in the Old Testament with the story of Elijah and the Prophets of Baal in the “showdown” on Mount Carmel. Elijah responded much the same way as Jesus. He got a word or vision from God, went to the mount and did little more than offer a prayer of thanksgiving. The fire fell immediately and consumed the altar that had been drenched in water. Read the story.

Now, does this apply to us?

Absolutely, I believe that it does. We are to get God’s word on our heart – see what He wills and wants – see His Word and act on it by faith.

But is this difficult? Yes it is. We have to pray, fast, try to get our head straight and our heart receptive.

We cannot deal fully with this here, but it is the core of my book, Logo Dynamics and something I believe in deeply.

Our goal ought to be to get to the place where we do only what we see on our heart that is a word from the Father. Then with just a speck of faith we do what we see.

Let us not be so carnal and animalistic that we are dull of hearing and seeing and doing. Let us not be like those Jesus spoke about that had eyes to see but saw not – ears to hear but heard not – and a hard heart that He could not work.

This is our goal – the example of Jesus.

By Jerry Smith, Signal Hill Foundation Director

Recently I discovered something I had been over-looking for years. There is a little known teaching that has been obscured because we have mentally and logically assigned it to the physical realm. What I discovered was that there is a Secret Place mentioned by Jesus in His teaching and also by the Psalmist David which can be applied to the spiritual-mental as well. Let me explain by sharing the Scriptures that led me to this discovery.

First, I was reading the statements of Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount – Matthew 6. There He gave a tri-fold illustration regarding doing a charitable deed (v.4), prayer (v.6) and fasting (v.18). In each of these He mentioned that “the Father who is in the secret place,” and “who sees in the secret place,” will “reward you openly.”

Then one day I was reading from Psalm 27:5-6 -

“For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.”

All of a sudden it occurred to me that the secret place was not a physical closet where we go to pray. There was something more and deeper.

Take this with the fact that Jesus said, “…the kingdom of God is within you” (Luke17:21), and you have a different view – an inward view – an internal concept, both spiritual and mental.

Jesus said so much about the “heart” of man as being the place where things happen. What we express comes from our heart. We must believe from our heart,etc.

So here is the point. The “secret place” is not a physical closet or church building. It is not physical at all! It is our heart, our subconscious heart, the place where God touches down, where we meet Him, the “mercy seat” of the “Ark of the Covenant.”

If you want to be “rewarded openly” then the key is to get into the “secret place.” When we do, the God who “sees” in the secret place and “is in” the secret place will reward you openly. A great truth don’t you think?

I will speak more about this in the next blog article as we look deeper at what it means for our lives personally and practically.

For now, you can download my pre-published book Logo Dynamics as an e-book which relates to a lot of this. Go to our website: www.signalhillfoundation.org/Store.html

By Jerry Smith, Signal Hill Foundation Director

Giving is a powerful element in each one of us. If we can overcome the natural, from-birth, tendency toward self-centeredness and selfishness we will tap into a great life principle.

The basic word for “give,” not counting any other similar forms, is found in 866 verses of the Bible with 937 specific mentions. God gives. He asks us to give. Most of His creation gives. It is a powerful, Biblical, and spiritual principle.

Here are a handful of truths regarding the powerful principle of giving.

1. Everyone can give.

It may be nothing more than a smile, but most people have some thing that they can give. The issue may be learning what you have to give and practicing the giving of it.

2. Giving is the key to receiving.

Jesus said:

“Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you” (Luke 6:38).

3. Giving releases blessing in, at least, three different directions; toward others, toward God, and toward one’s self (at the same time!).

“Release” could be the operative word here. Many do not receive because they have not released. Notice that the very first word in the previous text is “Give” or “You give, and….” You must start the cycle. You must give by faith first, before you can expect a return. But it does not have to be much. It is a leverage principle.

Jesus said:

“And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you , he shall by no means lose his reward” (Matthew 10:42).

“For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward” (Mark 9:41).

4. Giving should be done “properly.”

The Bible talks about giving by “faith” and with a “cheerful heart,” “not grudgingly.”But there is improper giving. We can short circuit the powerful principle of giving if we fail in our attitude and method of input.

5. Giving garners the attention of God.

Jesus noticed the improper giving and attitude of giving by the religious leaders of His day and made mention of a poor widow who gave with a proper attitude. He not only noticed but said that her testimony would live on. He did not say that of the religious leaders.

For more concepts like this visit our website store at Signal Hill Foundation, www.signalhillfoundation.org, and see my new publication:

Logo Dynamics – Your Internal Dream Machine.   Click here

By Jerry Smith

Not only is WHAT you believe important, but HOW you believe and even WHY you believe.  Few seem to examine the basis of their belief. In centuries past men believed that the earth was flat! Sounds preposterous to us now but they operated from FEAR that if they sailed out toward the horizon that the ship would just drop off the edge!

Belief or faith is an important concept for all of us. Even the business world and Wall Street operate with a form of faith called risk taking. When you purchase a stock or start a business you have to have faith, and you take a risk. The key concept to understand has to do with the basis of your belief, faith, or risk. What are you basing your faith action upon?

People talk about taking a “blind leap of faith” as if this is some courageous thing to do. Mostly it is just a stupid thing to do. Jesus operated by faith but never ever took a “blind leap” and never taught us to.  There is the “basis,” or the “word” that we are to act upon.

Why you do what you do, respond the way you respond, or fail to do or respond is based on a “word” you have consciously or subconsciously allowed to be established in your life. You may not even realize you are responding to a word that you or someone planted in you years ago.

Another misconception is that it takes a lot of faith. “If I just had more faith,” some will say. But never does Jesus or the Bible say we are to have a huge amount of faith – quite the contrary – just a speck of faith will do! Jesus said that if we had faith as small as a grain of mustard seed we could move mountains. What then is the big thing – the huge amount?

You can find the answer in the chapter on Faith in my book, Logo Dynamics -Your Internal Dream Machine. You will also discover four other essential elements that will help you fulfill your dreams and make your life more successful. See our site at: www.signalhillfoundation.org