What is God's Wrath?

This video clip with Steve McVey is so worth the time to watch, What is God's Wrath?

Rich

Rejecting the Free Gift of Grace

When we reject the free gift of grace we must then attempt to justify ourselves before the Father by our own works. One of the most common of these works is observing the law.

Unfortunately this is not the purpose that the Father has ordained for the law. The law was not given to condemn us. I do not feel that I can stress this too often. The world in general and much of Christianity in particular has no clear understanding of the proper use of the law of God. This is somewhat understandable because this proper usage is taught in very few places in the organizations of religion and nowhere in the world. However, we are without excuse in this matter, as this proper use of God’s law is made very clear in the bible. Further, this truth, as with all truth, is available to anyone who will seek the Father to be taught about it.

I find it more than puzzling when and how we base everything upon us “trying” to love the Lord, based upon the greatest commandment; when a lawyer came to Jesus and asked, what is the greatest of the commandments, to which Jesus replied, you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, mind and strength.
The kicker is, that once again this is pointing out clearly to us, that we are not meant to be law practitioners. We love Him, (why) because, He first loved us!

Rich

Who Told You, That You Were Naked

http://rantz72.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/who-told-you-that-you-were-naked/

Morality, For Christ Sake

In not knowing, knowing internally that is, that the Law was and remains fulfilled by love, is it any wonder that much of what is supposedly conveyed as the “good news,” is nothing more than a counterfeit gospel, (one among a plethora of others), one steeped in morality. Something that gives the appearance of rightness (righteousness) but in fact has not ever been something that lovingly flows from ones heart bringing to pass an outer change because of that which altered them first from the inside.

“Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”

Last night my good friend Dave sent me a link that is still resonating in my heart (a direct answer to my crying out to God as I went to sleep) and it is the one at the top of what I’m sharing here, it’s about 16 minutes long, but well worth the viewing.

I said to my wife today, If I do not really believe and I don’t mean wish or hope, but deep down where I really live, respond to the reality that God my Father actually lavishly celebrates me as a chosen delight and treasure to Himself, then why the hell would I give a rats ass of concern for anyone else around me, other than to do it with my mouth, but my heart really not engaged in it?

It says that while I was a “sinner-enemy,” He, God, chose to lay down His life FOR me, then why is it a chore to love those still seeing themselves as sinners and enemies of God, unless of course I’m projecting law onto them?

Rich

Additional thoughts continued over here at, SINNERS, STOP IT!

Life Has a Mind of its Own

Yesterday my wife and I went out of town for special day of just being with each other. Lately there haven’t been any real good movies, but we saw one we both liked so very much, “Ghost Town”.




If life is a language spoken from the heart, then the message spoken through this movie definitely spoke deeply to ours. When grace becomes more than just a five letter word, one seems to see the magic happening all around, it’s truly amazing!

As I witnessed the main character in the movie, a man completely self-absorbed slowing coming to experience the power of love bringing him into a sober realization of all that he had missed, I too not only celebrated his awakening, but mine as well. This is one for the heart!

Also before the movie they showed the up coming movies, and this one is one my wife and I will see for sure. The Soloist. One word that is a constant in this up coming movie is the word Friend, and how that is fleshed out when two extremely different lives crash into one another.

Rich


“Love works in miracles every day: such as weakening the strong, and strengthening the weak; making fools of the wise, and wise men of fools; favouring the passions, destroying reason, and in a word, turning everything topsy-turvy.”

How Much is Enough

Whether I wore it as a bumper sticker on my car, or on the fly leaf of my bible or even had it tattooed on my arm that, “Godliness with contentment is great gain,” without it being explained (made real-experienced) in the actual setting of my particular circumstances and situations it’s just one more brick added to my already very heavy load in life.

How much stuff is needed to inflate my ego, to make me feel good about myself? I like how the Bible says that it isn’t ‘money’ but, “the love of money that is the root of all evil.”

How often does this very remote but persistent nagging thought gnaw at my innards that I was created for something far more than having or not having things?
I live on earth not somewhere in outer space where God might have a place, so how could these words have any relevance to me in the here and now: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ”?

It is becoming so evident to me through many painful experiences that what I’m looking for has nothing to do with finding the ‘perfect’ man, wife, woman, husband, car, job, house, country, friends, or anything of this world, but has everything to do with this God and Father making available to me right now today in this moment, His perfect unconditional loving acceptance.
We were created to be loved, and I am experiencing this energizing reality as I breathe deep of His perfect love for me, and in so doing I find myself relating perfectly with what He had/has purposed for me to BE from before the foundations of the world.

Rich

How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.

Perfection

Free to Live, Free to Love

To my way of thinking this Mystery, the Message of Christ in us the hope of glory, is something that has me wanting to firmly rest in a posture of, speak Father for your son is listening.
I am learning that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the Father’s mouth, and how it is the longing of His heart to share the ‘secret’ things with those who are His.

In talking, discussing more on “Considering the Flesh-Two Natures?”, I want to highly (strongly) recommend much of what I am sharing here either directly (and from my own ponderings on this matter) from Bill Landon’s book, “The Devil You Don’t Know” from iUniverse.com, as well as anything else he has written. As a matter of fact I just had returned to me another of his books I loaned to a brother called, “The Life That is Real Life (The Search for Our Real Nature).

I love the thought that in most instances the emphasis on buried treasure is on that particular word, ‘buried,’ one has to dig, look for it, I guess if it was lying all around on the surface, it wouldn’t be buried, hidden then would it?

The following I found to be of great consolation and comfort from the God and Father of ALL comfort.

Rich

The state of the child of God in the issue of sin is the sate of freedom and love. Our true condition before God is completely and perpetually forgiven. We do not need law, guilt, judgment or bondage to appease the Father’s anger. We are free to be the children we were created to be. Our only need is to abide in the life of Christ that is our actual life source and condition.
We are not perfect because we were not created to be perfect. We are perfectly forgiven. It was never God’s intention for the Christian life in this world to be a life of sinless perfection. God desires the Christian life be a live lived in the perfect love of Christ. Perfection is God’s realm and He will grow us up in that realm as He sees fit.
We damage and stunt our growth when we try to raise ourselves to any state of perfection based on any human standard or effort. This is equally hurtful whether the human standard is ours or someone else’s.

The children of God must allow the Father to give them an understanding of the place of sin in our lives.
The child of God sins, make no mistake about that.
However, these are not errors that arise from our spirits (our nature) and that is the difference. This is why John can say: 1John 3:9. Those who are born of God are perfect in their spirits.

In my soul I may foolishly listen to Satan in my ‘flesh’, and do something hurtful to others or myself. I need to repent of that foolishness, and accept the consequences of the action and let God teach me through it. That teaching may include some unpleasant circumstances. This unpleasantness is not very important in the long term however. What is important is that I have relationship with my Father and with my brothers and sisters. What powers that relationship is something that is far greater than any folly I can commit.
The children of God can be free from all guilt and all weight of law and striving. We have been set free to live and to love. Christians should be the least bound people on the face of the earth. The children of God have the perfection of the life of Christ in us (in our human spirit). That is our empowerment to be free to live and free to love. Sin no longer has any necessary power over us.

No Short Cuts

In response to my friend Dave and his quick wit demonstrated over here, I wanted to share the following.

A popular movement in Christianity in the past few years has been the attempt to live our lives by applying the question, “What would Jesus do?” to the situations in our lives.
This sounds good but it completely misses the point. What we commonly look for in asking this question is some kind of specific guidance such as, “Would Jesus buy a Ford or a Chevy?” It pains me to inform you that Jesus didn’t know what a “Ford” is. The object of seeking specific guidance is really to allow us to live independently instead of living through the moment by moment operation of the Father’s life in us. The Father’s life is spontaneous and operating in that spontaneity requires the walk of faith. Being told what to do, even by God, is not faith. It may be obedience but it is not faith.And obedience apart from faith is dead obedience.

I don’t mean to imply here that we cannot expect to get guidance for our living from the Father. We can expect to be led by the Father in our daily living. This is not the prescriptive “go and do” type of guidance we are often taught to seek. Rather, when we live by the Father’s life leading from our spirit we are guided moment by moment. This is most often the leading of “God’s unspoken yes.” We have God’s leading from our reborn human spirit continually. The life of Christ in us is continually operating. We go through our days confronted by a series of choices. As long as we are making choices that are acceptable to the Father we feel no hesitation. If we consider a course that is harmful (to ourselves or others) we will experience a “check” or sense to not go there. We can heed the check or we can ignore that check and live with the consequences of walking in our own way. These consequences need not be dire but we will see our plans fail and our expectations not be met.This is not a BIG deal. We learn to follow the Lord’s leading by our mistakes as well as our successes. The Father knows this is part of the process---this is why Christ died for ALL our sins everywhere; past, present and future. (1Peter 3:18)

As we gain experience in listening to the Father’s leading we will make fewer mistakes. We will learn to listen better and turn more quickly. In the end there is NO substitute for dependence on the Father’s life as our only life and resource for living: (John 15:5)
Living independently from the Father is bankrupt living. There is no legitimate reason for walking apart from the moment by moment resting in dependence on the Father for all things. This is the way we were meant to live. This is the ONLY way we can live effectively.

Once again this is taken from Bill Landon’s book, ‘My Father and Your Father’.


I am so thrilled that NO man can teach us this operation of the Law of the spirit of Life in Christ Jesus and its unfolding work of grace within us, liberating us daily from the gravitational pull from the Law of sin and death!!There are NO short cuts for any of us. In being awakened to the depths of His matchless grace and unconditional love, we are freed to join Him in discovering just how deep the rabbit hole really is.
Yahoo!!!!

Rich

The Father's Love

Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it 4-ever.



Rich

Guard Your Heart

I think Jesus once said, ‘Guard your heart, for out of it flows the issues of life.’

I am thankful and grateful that I have a heavenly Father that continues to make known His compassionate and loving heart toward me that I might show the same love to all.

Religion, any religion has defined defilement basically on outward stuff, do’s and don’ts, but as Jesus said, true defilement is not what goes into a man, but what proceeds from within.

In learning what it encompasses to BE loved and to live loved by the God and Father of love is a living freedom beyond measure, but, this freedom will never be a license for me to act unloving toward anyone else, ever. This inevitably spells impossibility in our own strength, but all things are possible with God!
Regarding this freedom in Christ my heart reflects upon the beauty, wisdom and sobriety of these words from Paul, ‘It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don't use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that's how freedom grows. For everything we know about God's Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That's an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

One of the liberating traits of His unconditional love is it frees us from the oppressiveness of sin and its torturous assaults.

I found this quote from Kathleen Norris’s book Amazing Grace unpleasantly sobering.
“But oppression is a slippery thing, and labeling a tricky business: the twentieth century has given us plenty of evidence to suggest that the quicker we are to accuse others of oppression, the more we risk becoming oppressors ourselves. The past hundred years has forced us to look straight into the murderous heart of oppression, alerting us to its presence in our most cherished ideals. Over and over, we have seen patriotism turn into fascism, liberation movements solidify into totalitarian regimes, struggles for religious freedom translate into intolerance of the faith of others.”

Father I want to learn what it means to know no person after the flesh, but to receive every person as Christ.

Rich

Motive and Intent

The intent and focus of our Father's heart and affections are addressed toward our need, and that need above all and everything else is to KNOW-EXPERIENCE His love, that is what we were recreated for.
To this end He ever works. His focus is pure, it is focused without any distractions. Its not our fears, our sense of shame or anything else that detour's Him from ever moving forward in this divine romance, wooing our cold lost hearts into the security and warmth of His forever loving heart.

His gaze is intense, it looks far past my faults/sins and sees my need, and that need is to KNOW some of the depth and intensity of His jealous love 4-me!!
This is the only thing that matters, coming to see that even my ability to respond to all and anything related to His love for me is but His grace actively working in me.

I am seeing ever more clearly that without Papa and His love for me, my life will be defined by something, I was created to be complete in having worth, value, significance, but that will only be possible as a result of experiencing His pure intense jealous love for me.
There are no vacuums, without knowing, experiencing daily His love, I will be either conformed to this worlds currency, performance based living, or I will be transformed into His likeness and image, and that option is totally possible only because of BEING Loved.

Rich

It's a Darn Shame

Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

It’s pithy how such little words as ‘in’ can have such a powerful momentum/impetus. Kind of like my classic illustration of, ‘Even a blind man can count the number of seeds in an apple, but only God can count the number of orchards in a single seed.’

Because there are NO vacuums, if we are not deriving our true identity based completely upon the love of God the Father, then we are going to establish it another way, interesting when you consider that He is the only Way…hmmm?

From the fall of man there has been an indelible stain that his sin has permeated him with, and that is shame. Sin and its fruit sins, are specifics things we have done, but shame, well this is a twisted monster for sure. It has manifested itself in blatant overt ways, and in just as hideous covert ways. Shame is that which has defined all of man kind, and the only hope for man is pointing to that illuminating word ‘IN’ Christ!

None of us know what real love is until it is experienced in a face to face encounter with the God that IS Love, and even then it can take a very long time as the soul is being transformed, weaned from its strangle hold on us, hidden yet within us the under current of sin still trying to dictate-define who we still are, no matter what we say we believe God has said/done.

I am experiencing along with so many others, the slow day in day out transformational workings of the grace and love of this Father who has promised to finish in my life what He alone started.There is NO healthiness or well being outside of His love and its power freeing us from the vicious lies that keep multitudes endlessly trapped in the unnecessary cycle of either seeing themselves as unfit, unworthy, or, ‘hey, look at me I’m mister wonderful.’
If we have (in the natural) come from ‘poor stock-pedigree’ we are always trying to cover up our shame, but those who see themselves coming from ‘good stock-pedigree’ do not as easily recognize their hidden shame. Funny thing is all stock according to the flesh, good and bad has had a collision course encounter at the cross in the person of Gods son Jesus Christ.

The wonder of His love is invading so many hearts and lives and with it bringing in a living message of hope and freedom. In experiencing His love, we are learning to NO longer define our worth, value or significance based on our color of skin, our education, our sex, our financial status, the neighborhood, the car we drive or don’t drive, having friends or no friends, go to church or outside the church, etc!

Rich

Fathers Needed

I read this, this morning and liked it a lot. (By John Collings)

Rich

If we live as children in a world lacking real maturity, then we are led by those who are physically stronger or intellectually more articulate. We perceive ourselves as grown because there are no examples of adult obvious to us. We operate as adult even as orphaned children must in order to survive. Yet something within us proclaims a restlessness that there must be more. It is because children should be children. Desiring to be a father and caring for children does not make one a father. Becoming a father is a process of time, an accumulation of experience, and involves the transference of a seed of life into a suitable container to contain that life.

This is the predicament of the organized church. Children who know no real maturity striving to proclaim reality which is past their experience and comprehension. Because they cannot ''know'' by virtue of their ''age'', they must operate not by spontaneous living, but by structure and rules which only gives the appearance of what they wish to be.

There must be fathers within the church. Those who operate by an inner knowing of who they are and are able to comfort the children. Encouraging them to be children. To give understanding to the young men, knowing their rebellion and search for gifts and God's power is a natural part of their becoming. Fathers who have no goal and no vision, except to love those whom they have been given that they also might know the Life. Fathers who produce fathers.

Is God Just a Concept?

At different times and places I have either mentioned on my blogs or in person how I dislike with a passion the use of the word ‘concept’ especially in relating that toward the Truth Himself and what the Truth wants to make known to us.
For example, ‘Wow what he shared in his book, what a powerful concept.’ As if it’s simply a matter of time of deducing and trying to assimilate this into a workable 2+2 = the right answer that will fit in well with what I think I know, but is the reality of God the Father being LOVE, just a concept? Or is it something that you put under a microscope and try to figure out what makes it what it is?

Is it like the dyslexic agnostic saying, ‘Is there really a Dog'? (of Love)

I really wonder if we look at God’s wanting to not only approach us but to bring us into an eye/heart witness encounter of what (Who) Love is, (you know those who have been labeled as having ‘intimacy issues’, well welcome to the human race, born into a world who’s only working definition of love is spelled out, try harder, and after that, try some more to measure up) we revert to looking at his love purely academically, intellectually?

I like Os Chamber’s thoughts here, and here.

In my opinion all religon is looked upon as a intellectual, conceptual or philosophical study thang, my truth of concepts vs your concepts, and at best only having a vicarious relationship with whatever god through the soul/mind, intellect.

Listen to these thoughts, ‘Being saved and seeing Jesus are not the same thing. Many people who have never seen Jesus have received and share in God’s grace. But once you have seen Him, you can never be the same. Other things will not have the appeal they did before.’

‘Our Lord’s Cross is the gateway into His life. His resurrection means that He has the power to convey His life to me. When I was born again, I received the very life of the risen Lord from Jesus Himself.’

Is it any wonder why we find ourselves feeling cut off, alienated from this so called God of love when we keep trying to fit Him into our workable 2+2 concepts? I’m not sure a concept has the power to dismantle the kingdom of fear and its tormenting crippling effects within my soul, but when Love comes to town, well, look out baby cause our lives are about to be turned right side up for the first time.
Bring it on Papa!!

Rich

Freedom in Being Loved

Over at Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!

Especially these couple of posts, and here .

Jim is processing much as he is being processed, and in that process discovering what and who freedom just might be.

It is a wonder to see as His unfolding grace (the unforced rhythms of grace) frees a person from the inside out.

Rich

More Losing of Religion

Talk about an oxymoron, never has it appeared to me of that being more true than today.
I am viewing Christianity as becoming more and more irrelevant to so many, but especially to many, many Christians.
I can not but see God the Father’s hand in all of this; it is a wonder in the making.

Why (and I’m being rhetorical here) has Life-Truth-Love become synonymous with simply furthering what we were doing before the personal God encounter in our lives?
Meaning what has Love-Life got to do with it, perpetuating although now under the banner of ‘Christianity’ any religious adherences?
I thought it was all about God in the person of His Son saying, ‘I have come that you might have Life, and experience it to its fullness.’

Somehow Jesus is seen as someone who came to establish the only right religion, no longer the old format called Judaism but bringing to birth a whole new improved and MUCH better religion called, ‘Christianity’.
As I mentioned in a previous post, that in my opinion the basis of all religion, (or the impetus aka the father of religion being Satan himself), is based solely upon a performance based acceptance towards whatever God we say we worship.
And why shouldn’t it be that way when all we have ever known from birth was the religion of the age (the religion of our fathers), be a good vs bad boy and you will be rewarded etc, from the sublime to the ridiculous, really its all ridiculous isn’t it!

So somehow in becoming a recipient of the Life-Love God freely offers, why is it necessary to perpetuate any expression of any religion?

Rich

I wonder?

He Lives

I am sure that what we are suffering now cannot compare with the glory that will be shown to us. In fact, all creation is eagerly waiting for God to show who his children are. Meanwhile, creation is confused, but not because it wants to be confused. God made it this way in the hope that creation would be set free from decay and would share in the glorious freedom of his children. We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth.

What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us? God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won't he freely give us everything else? If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God's right side, speaking to him for us. Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death? It is exactly as the Scriptures say, "For you we face death
all day long.
We are like sheep
on their way
to be butchered."
In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. I am sure that nothing can separate us from God's love--not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God's love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!

Rich

Dance To The Music

Thirty four years ago, suddenly the black and white world I was use to, abruptly became alive with colour. All because of meeting the girl that would (rock) turn my world upside down.
I found it so intoxicating as I was browsing through some of the pictures of my wife, when I came across the one I am using here, like a shot to the heart all I wanted to do was not just celebrate, but, Dance to the Music!

Happy Anniversary to the Treasure of my life, my wife Margi!

Rich

For those (Kent and Jon) who posted comments on this entry, sorry for them not being here now.
I was not satisfied with how the video was being presented, so I tinkered with it until it was better.
Thanks to both of you for your kind best wishes, they are much appreciated.


Dance to the Music, Charlie Brown

Crippled Inside

I was looking for a quote from the book the Shack by Paul Young, I couldn't fine it but discovered something I need to hear afresh, He is so good.


"Tell me what you are afraid of, Mack. Well, I am afraid of looking like an idiot. I am afraid that you are making fun of me and that I will sink like a rock. I imagine that-------Exactly, Jesus interrupted. You imagine. Such a powerful ability, the imagination! That power alone makes you so like us. But without wisdom, imagination is a cruel taskmaster. If I may prove my case, do you think humans were designed to live in the present or the past or the future? Well, said Mack, hesitating, I think the most obvious answer is that we were designed to live in the present. Is that wrong? Jesus chuckled.
Relax, Mack; this is NOT a test, it's a conversation. You are exactly correct, by the way. But now tell me, where do you spend most of your time in your mind, in your imagination, in the present, in the past, or in the future? Mack thought for a moment before answering. I suppose I would have to say that I spend very little time in the present. For me, I spend a big piece in the past, but most of the rest of the time, I am trying to figure out the future. Not unlike most people. When I dwell with you, I do so in the present-I live in the present. Not the past, although much can be remembered and learned by looking back, but only for a visit, not an extended stay. And for sure, I do not dwell in the future you visualize or imagine.
Mack, do you realize that your imagination of the future, which is almost always dictated by fear of some kind, rarely, if ever, pictures me there with you? Again Mack stopped and thought. It was true. He spent a lot of time fretting and worrying about the future, and in his imaginations it was usually pretty gloomy and depressing, if not outright horrible. And Jesus was also correct in saying that in Mack's imaginations of the future, God was always absent.
Why do I do that? asked Mack.
It is your desperate attempt to get some control over something you can't. It is impossible for you to take power over the future because it isn't even real, nor will it ever be real. You try and play God, imagining the evil that you fear becoming reality, and then you try and make plans and contingencies to avoid what you fear.Yeah, that's basically what Sarayu was saying, responded Mack. So why do I have so much fear in my life? Because you don't believe. You don't know that we love you. The person who lives by their fears will not find freedom in my love.
I am not talking about rational fears regarding legitimate dangers, but imagined fears, and especially the projection of those into the future. To the degree that those fears have a place in your life, you neither believe I am good nor know how deep in your heart that I love you. You sing about it; you talk about it, but you don't know it."


you can shine you're shoes
and wear a suit
you can comb your hair
and look quite cute
you can hide your face behind a smile
one thing you can't hide
is when you're crippled inside
you wear a mask
and paint your face
you can call yourself
the human race
you can wear a collar
and a tie
but the one thing you
can't hide is when you're
crippled inside
well now you know that your
cat has nine lives babe
nine loves to itself
but you only got one
and a dog life ain't no fun
mamma take a look outside.
you can go to church
and sing a hymn
judge me by the color
of my skin
you can live a lie until you die
one thing you can't hide
is when you're crippled inside.

The words from above are by John Lennon from the song, 'Crippled Inside'. This so illustrates this quote from the Shack.

I am finding as I am discovering how dangerous His grace is, that true lasting freedom is not just a hope for one day, but I'm experiencing it's reality today!

Rich

Disturbing Grace

It seems I am stumbling into/upon more and more individuals who are experiencing a reality (like a Son-rise within their soul) that they never thought possible, nor the pain that is coupled with it.

This so reminds me of the scene in the movie, The Wizard Of Oz, when Dorothy's dog Toto begins pulling back on the curtain being used to hide the shenanigans of an old and decrepit man, masquerading as the Great Oz, and with his best trickery, bellows out, 'Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain'.
As an additional thought regarding the Oz story, didn't Dorothy, as well as her three companions already have what they thought only the Great Oz could give them, but were totally blinded from this truth?

If we were hard wired as it were in the re-birthing to be defined by God the Father's love, then anything less than that will continually create a cheap and disturbing placebo within us.

When Love, His love begins to break through in a persons life, it is in my opinion, much like the scene in the Bible where it says that Jesus came to Jericho and then leaving it, there was this blind beggar named Bartimaeus, who began to yell out loudly, 'Jesus Son of David, have mercy upon me'.

It goes on to say, those around Bartimaeus sternly reprimanded him for not exercising more dignity and restraint, and yet in spite of their scorning (chastising) him, he yelled all the louder, what a painful but hilarious scene.

Jesus hears the hub-bub and says to those trying to muffle Bartimaeus, bring him here to me, and he ends up regaining his sight.
In light of one of the quotes below, it is this reality of His love that begins to evoke, penetrate a persons soul which causes in my words, birth pangs, much like the labor pains of a very pregnant woman about to explode if she isn't soon delivered.

In the face of what APPEARS to be real, the looks upon the faces of my fellow Christian brothers who 'appear' to have it all together, are no longer able to stop me from becoming the biggest (fool) horses ass in many counties. (To borrow a line from the movie, Field Of Dreams, where the role Kevin Costner is playing, he decides to plow under his corn field in lue of building a baseball field in its place, which was pure insanity in light of needing the cash from his corn crop to try and offset an impending bankruptcy).

Life is designed to cooperate with what Jesus said would happen as a result of being in this world, 'In the world you will have trouble-pressures, multiplied many times over'. This distress is designed for the purpose of being used in His skillful and loving hands to free us from the lies, you know, those lies we've all bought into, thinking we can live this Christian life, or believing we have the where-with-all to deal with the shit kicking that WILL happen.

Seems to me it is a life long journey of staying in this living, loving orbit, revolving around the Son, and in so doing, the progressive discovery of being extricated from the lies...'you will know the Truth and the Truth will set you free'!

Grace has been given a bad rap especially seen from the eyes and hearts of those 'going through the wringer' of life, maybe for more than just the first or second time.
Seeing what they perceive is the work or fruit of God in another's life whereby whenever they experience life's dumping on them, they seem to bounce back good as new, seemingly with the slightest of ease. Not realizing that what they think is the grace of God operating in their lives, is but them relying solely on what they have by virtue of heredity, and that will never be enough to withstand the storms of life, and in fact will rob them of being intimately acquainted with Him in the fellowship of His sufferings.

Thank God for the tsunami effects of His stubborn love awakening such seemingly out of control desperation in the souls of men and women throughout the earth. So many are desiring to hush them up like a questioning and fidgety child in some mausoleum called a church, asking 'Why, am feeling so empty, why is nothing making any sense no matter how hard I try to serve God'.
I am so grateful that Father has his priorities clearly fixed in His heart regarding those he IS disturbing with His wonderful grace...Just like Peter, we say to those noisy moms with their crying babies, don't call us, we'll call you, BUT, Jesus hears that and says, 'Bring the children unto Me'!

Amazing His Disturbing Grace!

Rich


I can TOTALLY relate to your story. TOTALLY!Thanks for your raw honesty. It makes me feel less "weird". It can be very lonely trying to describe some of those feelings to other christians who appear to have it all together. So thank you!
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Denise, the raw honesty is where it is really at. It is so painful but it is the process that He uses to make Himself known. God accepts us as we really are. We learn to accept Him here as He really is. I think everyone who seeks Him goes through this. It is not as evident because folks try to cover it up like a dirty family secret. That just makes it harder as we feel "weird" and lonely and thinking we’ve done something wrong. But Father also uses that to draw us to Himself.

It really has nothing to do with being Christians who appear to have it all together. After you go through the "wringer" a few times their is very little, if anything, of your civil self left. There is only your real self & raw emotions standing before God. That is what it takes for Him to work on us.

We are all different, so He needs to work on us differently, but it isn’t pleasant or pretty for anyone who is willing to let God work on them. I also can relate to this story. The first part anyway. I haven’t come out the other end. I’m still making more passes through the wringer. But I do have a renewed Faith that He who began a good work in me WILL carry it through to completion.
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This fall I took a 12-week class from the Center for Professional Excellence called the Sage Hill Institute. One of my goals over the holidays has been to compile some of my notes. I thought I’d share some here that spurred further thinking.

God is more concerned with you having you than he is with you having him. It sounds heretical at first. However, if you really think it through, it makes frightening sense. The more we know and have ourselves, the more we realize that we are not enough. So much of our efforts attempt to gain more control over life. If we are honest, though, we’ll grasp the fact that we can’t, and if we ever think we have, we’re in deeper trouble than when we started out. Our authentic lives genuinely get started when we are brought to the end of ourselves. Once at our limit of life that we can handle, we experience a "cry out". A "cry out" is our desperate plea that acknowledges God as the only one capable of satisfying our need.

God loves our "cry out" because it means that we know and have ourselves, and we realize we need more. I am not enough. God wants all of us because we have to have him, not because he is one of our options for life. He wants us because we can go nowhere else. And so God is first concerned with you having you before he is with you having him. Are you willing to travel to the end of yourself to risk finding God?