He Is Our Life

Why do we continue to live in the illusion of life apart from Him, when He is our "LIFE"

Why, because we have a choice in the matter. Also, because there are no vacuums, either we will operate out of our union in Him (the Fruitful Vine) or we will be governed by the only other moral being, Satan himself, through our soul. Our soul is going to be governed by someone...Bob Dylan's slow train coming album/// song...You've Got To Serve Somebody.

The Truth is a Person the Living Christ, to the degree we only know 2+2 = whatever (so called right) answer, and not really know Him the Truth, we will operate out of the knowledge of good and evil.
This knowledge has produced an acceptability amongst our fellow human beings. But in fact it is nothing more than a satanic morality, divided into sinful flesh or religious flesh.

There are those who believe that Jesus has a twin brother, his name being Osmosis, so if in fact the Life of the Father is not going to be displayed through us, with us having no say in it, then it will be accomplished by His twin brother Osmosis.

Somehow having the ability to freely choose Life vs death is looked upon by some as being a work we can BOAST in...what a crock!!!

Rich

Cambodia

A brief snipit from the famous author, my daughter.

When I went to the Grove alone I felt I was in a place that was right. School wasn't right, home wasn't right, work wasn't right. This forest was right and it would never brag about it. If a person ever has to tell you he's good and he's right, he probably isn't-like that girl in the sushi bar: she didn't have to say anything-her presence was enough.
Only someone who knows solitutde can tell what perfect company nature is. It's like hanging out with God. Heaven is a forest.

Rich

Saved Yet Being Saved

The following is an excerpt from my friend Art's article, entitled, Saved Yet Being Saved.

Rich


Needing a Renewal in Soul
2 Cor. 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. Even after our initial salvation our soul’s mind, emotions, and will is unchanged, awaiting a process of renewal. This we might say is the second salvation that we refer to in this paper. We all need renewal in our soul, to “be saved by His life,” not just those who may have suffered abuse or made a mess of life, none of us are righteous (Rom 3:23), we are all needy of both kinds of salvations in Christ. If we will be honest we will have to admit that we aren’t much changed after our initial salvation, not for many years, if at all. We all bear the remnants of the old fallen Adamic man and the scars of having lived in a crooked and perverse world. It is our Father’s desire that we should grow up from children of God (Rom 8:16) to become the “sons of God” who walk with Him, being “led by the Spirit” (Rom 8:14). Thankfully, it is God our Father’s work to bring us to that grown up relationship with Him – to trust and yield to Him. Such trust requires a new mindset and the yielded will of our soul.

A Great Article!

Hi,

This is a great online article by James Fowler for those that might be interested.

http://www.christinyou.net/pages/noindependentself.html

Rich

You Talking To Me?

Why is it that the love of the Father is brought into question anytime I need correcting?
I thought the proof of His love for me was in fact His ongoing correction.

Hebrews 12:5 So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?
My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline,
but don't be crushed by it either.
7It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
8But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons.
9Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live?
10For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. 11All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness.

Somehow the lies of our former 'surrogate' father Satan, seem to click in when my Father is bringing correction into my life.
Such as, this correction is really Him rejecting me!
I guess so long as one believes that they have arrived, and are simply putting in time until they get called up, any perceived correction coming from the Father are just lies trying to make me believe He really does not love me.

Rich

How are we saved and continue to be saved, by grace, through faith...

......."God covets the unique features and characteristics of our soul, and yearns to combine them with the beauties of His own person. He does not intend to destroy our personality. Rather, He intends to "conform" it to His own image and fill it with the __expression of His life.God longs to redeem our soul; but the soul is the seat of our independence, pride, and rebellion. Independence finds its assertion through our soul, until we have experienced the work of the Cross and are made aware of our {utter depravity}"*. We are strong in our soul, but this so-called 'strength' is an illusion. It is in actuality anti-Christ. Our souls are the fertile, breeding ground from which grow all things concerned with 'self' - self-reliance, self-awareness, self-concept, self-righteousness, self-esteem, self-worth, self-image, etc., attributes that are in direct opposition to God. "His dealings bring us into extremities which we would rather resist; but in them we come to appreciate the Lord." Only as our souls are broken of the illusion of being in control; only as we come to that crisis, and are thoroughly convinced that "in my flesh dwells no good thing" is there true sobriety.

(*the author originally used the word 'weakness' which is not accurate, in my humble opinion. We have NOTHING to offer the Lord - neither strengths nor weaknesses.
Our soul is hopelessly corrupt, in opposition to God, and needs to be renewed, transformed, quickened by the life of God that exists in our spirit-union.

Rich

By One Spirit

For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body, whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.

That which the Father has accomplished is wonder-full!
The same Seed in all of the rebirthed, and yet one would think that there is a Pentecostal, Charismatic, Baptist, Catholic, Greek Orthodox Jesus. What is this all about anyway?
Without the illuminating work of the Holy Spirit, we will strive for that which is already ours in Him.
The wonder of Him being able to uniquely express His life through each of us, and each displaying flavours and colours of His grace that makes the most beautiful sunset pale in comparrison.
In looking at a sunset, being part of a crowd, I'm sure each person would see their favourite colour, but in fact each is seeing that which is being reflected from the same sun.
No wonder Paul prayed so fervently for the eyes of our heart to be opened (and flooded with light) to "see" the same Jesus in all of the rebirthed.

Rich

Delivered Unto Death For Jesus' Sake

"FOR JESUS’ SAKE" Some thoughts from Cornelius Stam, passed on with some thoughts from Art Licursi

"Delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake" (II Cor. 4:11).There is much that we all do for our own sake, for the sake of our children, our loved ones or others, but the real test of the believer’s love for the Lord is what he does "for Jesus’ sake." One such thing the grace Apostle, Paul, calls us to undertake "for Jesus sake" is the matter of forgiveness of others. Now considering the contrast between dispensations of ... law and ... grace, concerning forgiveness. - LAW: Our Lord, born under the dispensation of the law (Gal 4:4), told His disciples that to be forgiven they must forgive: "Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven" (Luke 6:37), "but if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses" (Matt. 6:15). This is law, NOT grace. Anytime we see an "if ye" we now we are seeing law, since grace is unconditional. - GRACE: But now, under the Pauline dispensation of grace of the grace of God (Eph 3:2), Paul exhorts us to forgive one another "even as God for Christ’s sake HATH forgiven you" (Eph. 4:32). Consider the striking difference. - Before the cross: If you want to be forgiven, you MUST forgive. - Now, in the light of the cross: You have been graciously forgiven "for Christ’s sake." Paul says, In the light of this "be tenderhearted and forgiving toward others." Thankfully, we as the regenerated children of God are "no longer under the law, but under grace" (Rom 6:14b, 7:4, 10:4, Col 1:26). And we are to go yet farther than this: Not only are we to forgive our brethren in Christ, but we are to be prepared to have this attitude toward the world as well. Paul said: "For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all" (I Cor. 9:19), and referring to his persecutions by unbelievers, he said: "We... are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake" (II Cor. 4:11). How many unbelievers would be won to Christ; how many of our Christian friends would be strengthened and helped, if we adopted this attitude toward others? As to suffering itself, the Apostle also gladly bore this "for Jesus’ sake." In writing to the Corinthians, he said: "I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then am I strong" (II Cor. 12:10). He had learned that in weakness he leaned all the harder, and was brought closer to His Lord, and herein lay his spiritual strength of life.

In Him We Move, Live and BE

As I was sharing with a friend, it is a fundamental and foundational thing He must work within us, that our soul has nothing to offer us in the way of enlightenment
All of the "wilderness" talk irks me to no end. The wilderness that is so often refereed too, is nothing more than us still trying within our soulishness to see, know, understand
It ain't going to happen, and that frustrates us to no end
But it is this very frustration being used of our Father to bring us into sobriety.

Life Happening

2 Corinthians 3:16 (1) but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where (2) the Spirit of the Lord is, (3) there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, (4) beholding as in a mirror the (5) glory of the Lord, are being (6) transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from (7) the Lord, the Spirit.

Where there is on going illumination, and transformation, won't there be an outer transparency?
Is the Holy Spirit producing more self-consciousness within us, or is he in fact wanting us to move, live and have our being in a Christ-consciousness? The facts are ,those whom He loves, he corrects.
If this correction is viewed as rejection, is it not possible that we can frustrate the grace of God in our lives?

I wonder about the on going workings of the Father within us as His child, Him wanting to bring a separation within us, separation from the soul and spirit.
The worth, value, significance we all want is found only in Him and His love for us. True validation of our worth! But to the degree we continue to operate out of our soul rather than out of our spirit, we endlessly look for that validation based solely upon our endeavours, religious dead works.
If we reject the inner truthful illumination that the Holy Spirit brings regarding our total acceptance in Him, then we will look for "fig leaves" to cover our supposed nakedness.
The necessity of seeing 'salvation' as being Someone, rather than something that happened to us.
Apart from this inner illumination, we will view ourselves as trying, still trying to measure up...find acceptance, and in so doing, we frustrate His grace.

Take a look at these thoughts from James Fowler, (from his on-line book Spirit-union Allows for Soul-rest) I see them to succinctly tie in here.

http://www.christinyou.net/pages/spiritsoulrest.htm

"Soul-rest relies on the “finished work” of Jesus Christ. When Jesus exclaimed, “It is finished,” from the cross, He knew that redemption was accomplished and He had set in motion the restoration of humanity by the available presence and function of His own life in man. We rest in the dynamic of His continuing “finished work” of manifesting His life in us.
The Spirit of Christ (Rom. 8:9) is the “Spirit of liberty” (II Cor. 3:18), and “it was for freedom that Christ set us free” (Gal. 5:1,13). The freedom of the Christian is not only a freedom from sin, law, and death, but also a freedom to be and do all that God wants to be and do in us. Religious bondage always produces restlessness, but our freedom in Christ allows for soul-rest. We are free to celebrate and enjoy life. By His abundance of “party parables” Jesus often portrayed the Christian life as a celebratory opportunity.
Living as Who We Are

Knowing our spiritual identity, who we are in spirit-union with Christ, allows us to experience the soul-rest freedom to be ourselves. We are each unique and novel expressions of the life of Jesus Christ. We do not have to conform to others’ expectations of what they think a Christian ought to be or to do. With a “positive personal concept” of who we are in Christ, we can “be real” and avoid the hypocritical masks of trying to be what we are not and do what others expect of us in religious role-playing. Avoiding the self-protective barriers of self-consciousness and self-reputation, and comfortable with who we are, we can spontaneously express Christ as us. We can be open and transparent, not embarrassed to share feelings of tenderness, compassion, joy or sorrow. We can be vulnerable to engage in emotional intimacy with others. In our unique expression of the life of Jesus Christ, it is permissible to be different, to “take a stand” and “stand alone,” to “march to the beat of the distinctive drummer that Christ wants to be in us.” Unfazed by what others think, we have the soul-rest to be bold, courageous, uninhibited, confrontational, or whatever Christ wants to be in us. Such behavioral expressions will, however, always manifest the character of Christ, the “fruit of the Spirit” (Gal. 5:22,23), for Christ always “acts in character.”
Living in soul-rest allows for a Christ-consistent spontaneity that might even be expressed as “doing what comes naturally.” Since we are “partakers of the divine nature” (II Pet. 1:4), when we live out of that nature of Christ within, we live in the realm of the Spirit-natural (almost an oxymoron) wherein it seems natural to manifest His character of holiness, righteousness, goodness, etc. In fact, it can become so natural that the Christian has no recollection of being loving or humble, no awareness of sufferings or trials for they are regarded as opportunities, and no consciousness of temptation for it rolls off “like water off of a duck’s back.” Ceasing to analyze every detail of what he is doing, the Christian can live so spontaneously that he feels like he is not “doing” anything, as he lives by the Life of Another."

Rich

What Has Love Got To Do With It?

"Punishment illustrates only a small bit of the cross and only from our perspective. God did something so much greater there that if we understood it we would never doubt Jesus’ love for us again no matter how bad our circumstances got, and we’d never try to smash another brother or sister into a religious box again. The reason we have so many broken relationships around religious things is because we are still managing our shame and that of others around us, instead of living in the reality that Jesus has already answered for us in himself, everything God would ever require of us. If we knew that, we would know how to relate to each other in a way that edifies, serves and loves, without manipulating, comparing or abusing..." *


Used with permission from Wayne Jacobson *


Living in this reality is an invitation too us all...In Him we live move and have our being.

Rich

There is a season, turn, turn, turn

Hello,

I use to be on Type Pad but I saw that I was not using it that much. A very good site, but it was costing me too much to not be using it, and it was renewal time. Couldn't justify the cost.
Let's see where this goes eh?

Rich