According to Paul formerly known as Saul of Tarsus, “he saw his life being consistent with the Law and found blameless,” until his life was derailed in a head on collision with the resurrected and glorified Christ, the embodiment and fulfillment of the LAW!
If it took this head on collision to bring Saul/Paul to a beginning place of humbly acknowledging his total ignorance of this one who was addressing, confronting him, how is it that we apart from some kind of real catharsis, crisis, and possibly many more crises, is it possible for any of us to experience the living reality of Christ in us as us?
It so often appears to me that for many, it’s simply a choosing, a decision they make to leave the “church” life they have been a part of for however long, a lot like a New Year’s resolution or something. As if its simply turning over a new leaf in coming into a proper alignment to God our Father without having to experience the explosive reality of Him in us as us, colliding with all of the religious shit that has defined us apart from Himself. As if this new phase is nothing more than simply adding grace (as an add-on) to our new walk with the Father.
I am seeing and have been seeing for some time now with the reality of Him making Himself known to his sons that there is a major cataclysm set into motion as a result of this encounter of the most holy kind, turning our religious and orderly world amuck.
Without the God and Father of all grace making Himself known to us in this agonizing time of upheaval, we are ripe for that which appears to be disguised as ‘grace’ nothing more than tips and techniques.
I like what Steve McVey said when questioned about his dramatic and unsettling encounter with the Lord as to whether this was a “second’ work of grace in his life. He replied, I have no idea about that, but it seems it has much more to do with the initial work of grace that apprehended me that I knew nothing of in its fullness.
Rich
What I have shared many different times and places on my blogs is but a growing increased knowing that is in my opinion the complete and objective understanding of the grace, Mystery Gospel given to us the church. And this is dealing with ‘the father of lies’ the unseen, undetected enemy of us all in the faith.
I know that apart from the Father’s timing, without Him bringing the continued revelation and discernment, at best much of what we see is in an abstract conceptual blurred perspective.
This reminds me of one of the many, the Father brought sight to through Jesus, and in this particular case it would appear something was off in that this blind man seemed to need a double hit of healing, or did he? See here.
Without an ongoing, ever expanding, deepening relationship with the Father, knowing and growing in His total unconditional loving acceptance of us, we will desire revelation only to make us look good, and folks that is not what it is about.
The story I have pointed out here is a story that speaks to me of, ‘In Him we live, move and become more and more His expressed will on earth as it is in heaven.’
Without the growing true knowledge of the Father’s love for us, we WILL get caught up in some wonderful side eddies, but miss out on the ocean of who He is.
I believe what the Father is allowing me to see is NOT something new or special, (It’s new to me) it is all part of knowing Him as our only Life, and yet without this being ever more deeply etched into the core of our being, the other father, the ‘father of lies’ will continue to reek havoc within the lives of the believers.
As long as I have been a Christian I have heard and seen the best doing what I call a Mexican hat dance, dancing all around the bush as it were in speaking out, pontificating on what is but in my opinion, beating the air-shadow boxing!
Wow, what an arrogant ass you might be thinking, well, hang in there before it’s over you might have a few more choice words for me~ha.
Through out the body of Christ in our being fully identified with our elder brother Jesus Christ, we are beginning to see and know, experience what mere words have pointed to but left us feeling left out from the substance these words spoke of.
Jesus himself repeatedly made it clear that it was only because of the oneness of Him and his Father and out of that abiding reality; he only said and did what the Father communicated to him. The son of man can of himself do ‘nothing.’
Because of our soul has not been fully transformed, we are most susceptible to being invaded by a foreign intruder and that source is the father of lies.
The Father of our spirit has purposed to leave this liar within our flesh whether we know it or not, and believe me, most of us do NOT even know of this liars unseen, hidden within us, activity.
Nothing that Father does is without purpose, now in this present time, and through out eternity. Here is an example; “For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action), for he is a mere infant [not able to talk yet]! But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law.”
There is a plethora of wonderful and descriptive places within the Scriptures that bring us to an understanding that the voice of God our Father is a matter of life and death. His voice brings into the life of the believer an inner illumination, exposing what show to be real from the shadows that have kept us perpetually locked into shadow boxing with what we think is us.
The father of lies will never be detected without this inner work of the Spirit, and until He does, the tail will continue to shake the dog, aka, being ruled by our flesh and the impetus is our unseen adversary, Satan.
Am I being devil-demon conscious, seeing a devil-demon under every bush, I don’t think so, but what I am being is, I’m becoming intensely more aware of what has plagued me all my Christian life and those around me, the exposure of the one I contend with daily.
In closing, I love what our dear brother Paul says; “Therefore I do not run uncertainly (without definite aim). I do not box like one beating the air and striking without an adversary. But [like a boxer] I buffet my body [handle it roughly, discipline it by hardships] and subdue it, for fear that after proclaiming to others the Gospel and things pertaining to it, I myself should become unfit [not stand the test, be unapproved and rejected as a counterfeit].”
I have more thoughts to share, but later.
Rich
Before I get carried away, today’s thoughts from Oz Chambers in my opinion fits in well here.
http://www.rbc.org/utmost/index.php
It's a journey not for the faint of heart... but there's grace enough for the fainters to catch up. (Quote by Dave Aldrich)
Don't you know anything? Haven't you been listening?
God doesn't come and go. God lasts.
He's Creator of all you can see or imagine.
He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath.
And he knows everything, inside and out.
He energizes those who get tired,
gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out,
young folk in their prime stumble and fall.
But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don't get tired, they walk and don't lag behind.
Am I a pain freak, (a sadist) delighting in the pain I am experiencing along with a world of people experiencing so much of it as well?
I know it might appear that way especially when one of my friends hears me say, I am so excited for you, this is wonderful, what incredible beauty, and its usually in the thick dark and painful times in their lives.
So much seemed to pour out of our conversation last night, connecting with my Brutha Dave is always a rich treat. I am so delighted in seeing (sensing) and hearing (and by that I don’t mean by the natural senses) of the Father’s handy work materializing in his life.
It was out of that time shared together last night I am attempting to place some of our mutual understandings of the scriptures used above.
From the Father’s perspective the journey and the destination has been totally consummated, it’s a done deal. According to scripture, it says, ‘Seated in Christ’
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians%202:5-7;&version=65;
‘He is your Life’
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Colossians%203:1-3;&version=65;
None of us is seeing clearly enough to become the fourth part of trinity, so lets just cool our jets a bit and be open to the ongoing Amazing grace mosaic Father is unfolding before our very eyes.
The one word that seemed to jump out at me was, ‘But those who wait upon God’! Forget for a moment that it continues to say, ‘get fresh strength’.
What I think I see in this first of all is, waiting like any other thing we think we are to DO, or try to DO in and of ourselves is us still missing the point all together.
Food for thought on this, I believe we are the femaleness to His maleness, all of us included. We were re-birthed to bear (because of our spirit-union) only that which He alone is capable of producing within the life of the child of God.
So, maybe this whole issue of waiting is not us resorting to some cheap grace trickery.
Maybe it’s all about us basically being brought there as a result of Him using all things in our lives to indelibly etch into our hearts the true knowledge that we are LOVED!
I am seeing (sensing) that it all flows out of His love, us being loved that frees us to be, the femaleness to Him alone, knowing from deep within, nothing of our fleshly efforts can manufacture real authentic fruit, which when you think about it, the fruit of the Spirit is LOVE, and all of the other colors and flavors that are exhibited are further delights of that LOVE.
I am most pregnant and rejoice in my absolute and total barrenness, knowing there is a most fruitful one I am joined to, and I'm discovering that rest is but one more expression of His divine love making.
Rich
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