John 7:46
“No one ever spoke the way this man does,” the guards replied.
The Pharisees are wanting to kill Jesus they are wanting to cut him off. They, the Pharisees, for the whole Feast of Tabernacles have been look for Jesus. He is reported to be in the temple itself. The officers are dispatched. It is a very busy time of year. Josephus says that near 2 million people ascend into Jerusalem during this time. It is the last day of the festival. The culmination of all events. At the climax Jesus stands up and in front of everyone cries out.
7:37;
“Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”. The crowd is mesmerized. No one has ever done this with such grace and authoritative speaking. The Officers are in full riot gear for show. They are all decked out and ready for action. But something keeps them from acting. Their determination to disrupt and arrest a situation and a person is diffused. They are standing there jaw dropped. The words of Jesus are ringing in their heads and they somehow are walking back deep in thought about Jesus and they walk into the headquarters. The Pharisees are wondering, "Why didn't you bring him in?" ... I wonder if there was silence as the officers are waking up to the reality that they have failed in their job. Someone from the back speaks up sheepishly, "No one ever spoke like this man."
In Luke 4:22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.
Some try to depict Jesus as a revolutionary radical. But the Bible speaks of how loving and gracious he was when he spoke. Now he did have some rough words for the religious leaders. But for the everyday people he blew them away not by cleaver jibes or intellectual terror. He spoke in such a way that people always walked away deep in thought about his words.
I think of the Rich man who had it all, his confidence in self was strong. But after his encounter with Jesus he went away deep in thought and saddened.
Nicodemus came to Jesus late at night and before the compliments are wasted Jesus cuts him off and says, "Nic you need to be born again." I wonder how deep in thought he went home that night thinking on Jesus' words?
The Men who brought the woman caught in adultery one by one went away deep in thought. Or how about the woman who was a stones throw away from eternity. How did she walk away from Jesus' words..."Neither do I condemn you, go your way and sin no more."
When we spend time in the word do we hear Jesus in the same way? What effect does his words have on us? I think of all the times I have read the Bible and studied with an eye for teaching in using it in some other way other than hearing it for myself. I want to hear Jesus in such a way so that I walk away in deep thought. Then when I speak to others I want Jesus' words to be what people hear and see them impacted in the same way.
When I was into sales, I worked for a short time for a motivational company as a telemarketer. I know I'm one of those people. But the fascinating part was the training I got through the Nightingale, Zig Ziglar, Mike Ferry and many others training programs. It was a type of language called NLP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuro-linguistic_programming. Neural Linguistic Programming is used in Psychology to reprogram people who have some kind of mental trauma. It is a brainwashing technique. I know my Calvary Family is flipping their lid thinking I am a Freudian-Evangelist. Bear me out I had an experience that has resulted in a positive behavior I think is important for many to understand. Now some will take issue with me here and I am just speaking from what I learned not on behalf of the whole NLP science. I am not a psychologist. I don't believe in a Christian going to years of therapy away from the Bible. Jesus is our wonderful counselor. You can program the mind. Jesus can also program our minds. The company I worked for had a script that was so well written with this language that the folks who were victims didn't know what hit them. I could call 200 people a day and contact about 40 of them and present about 15 times and sell 10 of them. This would make me $400-500 a day depending on the skill and amount of peripherals I could sell. There were some guys who made over 100,000 dollars a year with their techniques. I could ask questions in such a way so as to illicit a response that would beg for me to ask the next question and have them so wanting what I was selling that when I asked for their credit card they already had it out. Now that is power. There was a rush of power and control that was addicting. The Hunt was fun and like fishing there is a style and art to the catch.
It didn't last long because I was pressuring people to buy what they didn't need. I knew folks didn't have the money for it as they'd give three credit cards which would all be maxed out. I was willfully programming a mind against their will to do something that may or may not benefit them. I am a Christian and I struggled with that so I quit.
But I am in tuned to this language Jesus is using to illicit from the people a response and desire for more of God. His gracious words were powerful. Romans says the Gospel is the power unto Salvation. David in Psalms says, "he meditates on God's words day and night." The reason I bring all this up is that instead of a Neural Linguistic programming I want to have a Biblical Linguistic Programming. We are to meditate on the Scriptures day and night to be like a tree planted by a river bearing its fruit. We are to be speaking to one another in Psalms, Hymns and spiritual songs. We are to take every thought captive unto Christ. We are to let our minds be transformed through the washing of the word. Biblical Linguistic Programming is lost in the plethora of media disrupting the process.
(CAUTION EMBEDDED COMANDS
MAY CAUSE YOU TO RESPOND
AGAINST YOUR FLESH)
We all have a deep desire for meaning and purpose in our relationship to God and for God. When are we,
now, going to begin,
right now, the process of washing our minds? How long until we,
stop, the madness of striving for generality and status quo Christianity. What time,
today, are you going to begin meditating. How much will you
spend on life change? What
mental activity stands in the way that is unprofitable or meaningless for eternity. So at this moment,
with Jesus, you can over come every issue through the Biblical Linguistic Programming. READ YOUR BIBLE!
Note: Embedded commands for this last paragraph are, Now, right now, stop today spend mental activity with Jesus. Some of the commands are not true examples of NLP I am just messing with your head...or am I? Buwaaaahhaaaahahahaha
Today we got to meet some very cool Christian Pastors. There was a meeting here in Iruma and about some 15 pastors got together for fellowship. They had one of the guys play two harmonicas simultaneously. That was fabulous. He was playing the melody line and the harmony using two different keyed harmonicas at once. I'd like to see Darrell Mansfield do that? Another Pastor and His wife played a song on a traditional Japanese Okarina 
