Copyright © 2015 by Ted Dekker Published by Outlaw Studios All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.” (www.Lockman.org) Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www. zondervan.com The “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™ Scripture quotations marked (ESV) are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the Holy Bible, King James Version. Public Domain. Cover concept by Allison Metcalfe Cover design and interior layout by Yvonne Parks at www.PearCreative.ca Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN 978-0-9968124-0-5 THE FORGOTTEN WAY CONTENTS Before You Enter 5 The Forgotten Way 7 Your Journey Forward 41 The Meditations 51 The Truth 1. Look! How Magnificent Is Your Father! 55 2. There Is No Fear in Love 63 3. The Story of Your Father 69 4. The Story of You 75 5. Seeing Who You Are 83 6. The Great Mystery 93 7. Sons and Daughters of the Father 101 The Way 8. The Tale of Two Kingdoms 111 9. What Defies Earthly Eyes 121 10. Seeing in the Dark 131 11. Seeing Is Believing 139 12. See Like a Child and Be Free 147 13. Beautiful, Beautiful Brother and Savior 155 14. Step out of Your Prison 163 The Life 15. The Evidence of You Is Love 177 16. Being Love in the Darkness 185 17. Let All Your Troubles Fall Away 191 18. Giving Is Receiving 197 19. Enemies and Friends 205 20. Finding Superman 215 21. A New Declaration 223 Our Declaration 230 Scriptures and Reflections 233 3 FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON ADDITIONAL PERSONAL AND SMALL GROUP RESOURCES AS WELL AS SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS VISIT: THEFORGOTTENWAY.COM (See Last Page for More) 4 THE FORGOTTEN WAY BEFORE YOU ENTER This simple book is a gateway to a simple journey of radical discovery for Christians, laid out in three sections. The first section, calledThe Forgotten Way, unpacks the conflicts we find on the pathway we call this life. As a matter of sound faith and doctrine, you are filled with the Spirit in this life and saved in the next life, and yet you struggle to be saved from the storms that rise up against you in this life. Although you know that the evidence of those who know God is love and that the fruits of the Spirit are peace and joy, conflict and strife batter your mind while you walk this earth. Read this section and you will surely see yourself on the page. The second section contains theMeditations on the Way of Yeshua for peace and power in this life—that way so easily forgotten by each of us every day. Like a symphony that builds, together they create a whole that must be experienced, not read like sheet music. The meditations are delivered in three movements: 1) The Truth of who your true Father is and who you are. Here, the news is good. 2) The simple and only Way to find peace, love and power in this life. Here, the news is even better. 3) TheLife you will lead when you follow the Way. Here, the news here is better than you have ever imagined. The third section contains theScriptures from the meditations and Reflections which delve deeper into those references, written by Bill Vanderbush. Throughout this book, except where noted, Scriptures are taken from the New American Standard Bible. 5 THE FORGOTTEN WAY This is our reformation in Yeshua: to be free from the lies that hold us captive to the old way of being in this world. This is our healing: to see what few see. This is our resurrection: having been raised with Christ, to now be his body on earth as apprentices in The Forgotten Way of Yeshua. The time for our transformation has come. 6 THE FORGOTTEN WAY THE FORGOTTEN WAY I have called this book The Forgotten Way because we, as Christians, so often forget the truth that empowers in this life. And I use the term Way because Yeshua’s followers called themselves the people of the Way in the years after his resurrection before others later began to call them “little Christs” or Christians. I am one of those Christians, and the meditations in this book are written to myself and to my children, and to any who find themselves drawn. They are our constant reminder of those truths we so easily forget each day, leaving us powerless to find peace in the storms that rise against us in this life. Like Paul the apostle, I find myself the chief of sinners.1 Just like you, I’m prone to struggle because life happens in cycles of ease and challenge, highs and lows, remembering and forgetting often in the space of a single day or hour. All that is written here is for me more than for any other. Herein are words that point to the way of freedom. Following the Way requires no specific affiliation with any particular Christian institutional organization, even though gathering together is a critical element in our journey. The Way is a path of discovery experienced by each of us, together and alone. It is our transformation from victims in a world darkened by deception to overcomers through an awakening to our true identity. As such, the Way isn’t a set of facts or labels or dogma, but a living, breathing journey on which all Christians find themselves. The journey from hate to love. The journey from fear to faith. 7 THE FORGOTTEN WAY The journey from insecurity to complete rest and peace. The journey from crawling to flying. Being in the eternal realm of the Father’s sovereign presence here on earth, empowered by the Spirit, we will find peace in the storms; we will walk on the troubled seas of our lives; we will not be poisoned by the lies of snakes; we will move mountains that appear insurmountable; we will heal all manner of sickness that has twisted minds and bodies. Joy and peace are our clothing because they are states of being rooted in Christ, not merely emotions that come and go like the tide. Love will flow from us as living waters, because the manifestation of the kingdom of heaven on earth is love. And when we love, all will know, there goes one who is filled with the Spirit and can fly. The Forgotten Way is a journey of experiencing that great triumph in this life, not only in whatever life awaits us, by awakening to our true identity. Indeed, we are now, at this very moment, those who can fly. But we cannot be who we are unless we see who we are, stripped of all the lies that have blinded us. Unless we remember who we are. Unless we actually come to believe the truth about our Father and ourselves. This is the journey of transformation, of awakening, of the renewing of our mind. In the end, the journey is letting go of who we think we are, to see and so be who we truly are right now, in this moment. THE CONFLICT WITHIN If there is one elephant in the room among us who are joined with Christ and filled with his Spirit2, it is that what we think and say we believe and what we actually experience are all too often two, radically different realities. Ironically, we ourselves are often the last to see this disparity. We think and say we believe in Jesus, but we are anxious for tomorrow and cringe with fear in the face of the storm. We think and 8 THE FORGOTTEN WAY say we love our neighbor and our enemy, but we court jealousy of those who have what we want, and we secretly despise those who attack us. We are Christians with various emphases in doctrine, yet in our daily lives we seem to be the same, often stumbling in darkness and feeling lost and judging with anger, not only ourselves but all those around us. The evidence of our lives does not match our rhetoric. Have we forgotten the teaching of John? There is no fear in love. Have we lost sight of Paul’s teaching? He made it plain: The preeminent evidence shown by those who know the Father is this: love. And not just any love, but the unique kind that loves enemies, not only those who show us love in return. A love that is patient, showing no jealousy or arrogance, keeping no record of wrong, not seeking its own and not provoked by another’s behavior.3 This is to love as Christ loves, submitting to each other without judgment.4 Thus we show all manner of evidence but the one that matters the most. We show the evidence of profound words to others, speaking truth in the tongues of men and angels5, yet if we rise up in anger at our brother we are as guilty as any murderer as Jesus said.