Freedom

As we are partaking of His increase there is at the same time a separation taking place between our soul and its ties with our flesh, and that my friend is where this hellish battle is warring intensely.
His increase spells a most painful but needed decreasing.

Simply because we have been re-birthed (born-again) this has not in itself freed us yet from the many entanglements our soul has in its ties to our flesh.

If you continue in this relationship I have called you into, you will know the Truth, and the Truth will (continually) set you free.

Rich

The Self in Control

Our whole problem with sin began as a desire to be in control of our own life. The cruel irony of this issue is that this was never really an option for us. At least, control as we wanted it was never really an option.What we wanted in the Garden of Eden and what we want to this day as independent selves is total control to go our own way. The problem is that we do not have “a way.”We can choose Satan’s influence or God’s influence but we cannot choose to be “self-influenced.” Our choice is to accept either the truth or the lie. The truth is that God is the Lord over our life. Satan’s lie is that we can be the lord of our own life. In truth, trying to be lord of our own life means letting Satan be the “power behind the throne” in our life.

The independent self is caught in the middle of a paradox. The dilemma we find ourselves in is that we want the one thing we are incapable of achieving. This one thing is the pure and complete independence to go our own way. We find it difficult (or impossible) to accept that we were simply never equipped by our creation to do this. It is for this reason that trying to run our own life inevitably leads to frustration and stress.

We get into trouble when we accept the lie of the evil one that we can walk apart from both God and Satan. This is the grand deception. What Satan neglects to tell us is that walking apart from God’s lordship simultaneously results in Satan’s lordship operating in our life. In the end, the only legitimate control that we can exercise in our life is self-control.

Galatians 5:22-23
Not only is self-control seen as legitimate but it is one of the nine fruits of the Spirit. Self-control is a gift from God.The ability to control the self is something we can only receive from the Father. Because the control of self is a property derived from the Spirit, it can only come from the individual-self. Self-control only comes through the individual self that is focused on and directed by the Holy Spirit in our spirit. Therefore the only path available to us to receive this gift is through the individual or spirit directed self. The independent self can never exercise true self-control.

(From my good friend Bill Landon)

Rich

Confidence

2Cor.1:8-11

For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came {to us} in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life;indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead;who delivered us from so great a {peril of} death, and will deliver {us,} He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us,you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through {the prayers} {of} many.

Rich

Oxymorons

James 1:20-22

20For man's anger does not promote the righteousness God [wishes and requires].
21So get rid of all uncleanness and the rampant outgrowth of wickedness, and in a humble (gentle, modest) spirit receive and welcome the Word which implanted and rooted [in your hearts] contains the power to save your souls. (and receive with meekness the engrafted word)
22But be doers of the Word [obey the message], and not merely listeners to it, betraying yourselves [into deception by reasoning contrary to the Truth].1…Knowledge makes arrogant, but love edifies.
2If anyone supposes that he knows anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know’.

Receiving the implanted, engrafted Word of God with meekness is a wonderful thing because therein lies the power to save my soul. Power derived from weakness? God seems to delight in such oxymorons!

I believe with all of my heart that the moment a Christian is translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom reality of the Father’s love and light, it was God’s intention to begin the needed and necessary 24/7 working, training and disciplining in our souls. However, this does not come without a price. We know the Lord opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. To me, this means that grace is ineffective without the necessary, crucial humbling required in our lives to bring us to see our need for Him, the grace-full One.

Many think that the various spiritual or physical maladies that seem to plague Christians exist because the believer is somehow defective. Actually, deficiency is not the issue. Defiance is the issue. This defiance (Satan in our flesh) expresses itself in the believer operating out of the knowledge of good and evil. This knowledge is Satan’s stronghold over our souls, deceiving us into believing we are doing the ‘Christian’ thing - in fact, even trying to be like Jesus, when in actuality we are not. Here’s the test - is our so-called knowledge of the Lord really transforming our souls (mind, will and emotions), or is this knowledge we possess as Christians being used to keep us self-centred, self-absorbed, divisive and derisive of other believers?

’Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart’.

I wonder how this 'meek and lowly', yet all-powerful Saviour is making Himself known to us. Maybe He will appear to be anything but kind or loving as he unveils the enemy’s lies we have believed all our lives. These are the strongholds that have kept us locked into trying to get Him to help us versus allowing Him to expand and expound upon the grace that wants to transform us, and these strongholds don't give up without a fight.

Jesus said, ‘All of you who labour and are heavy laden; come unto me, and I will give you rest’.
Is this rest some thing, or is it in fact somebody? If rest is somebody – the person of Jesus – then we need to seek Him only. The bible states that God is love and just maybe what the Lord is endeavouring to relate is this: ‘I want to give you true knowledge of my love for you, and in so doing it will allow Me to continue to set you free. Where - in your spirit? No – your spirit was already set free when my Son’s spirit was birthed within you. The freedom I want to work in you will be processed in your soul.’

Christians tend to use catch-phrases such as the following: ‘establish truth in our innermost being’, ‘reflect His likeness and image’, ‘be a self-for-others’, etc. Although these statements are good and valid, the truths resident within them will not set us free. The best we’ll have are glorious statements or correct terminology. As stated earlier, the processing occurs in our soul as we learn to submit to this discipline.

Rich

Making Darkness Light

A condensed version of Acts 9:1-22:

3As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"
9For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
15But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

What an incredible story! Talk about a man on a mission.

If not familiar with this story, it’s a good read. Saul, renamed Paul, is blinded by the Light, and it’s in this blinded state that he begins to see for the first time in his life.

What blinding situations must occur in one’s life before there is sight? It is this very issue of blindness that I want to explore.

I have always loved the following verses:

‘I will give you the treasures of darkness
And hidden riches of secret places,
That you may know that I, the Lord,
Who call you by your name.’

‘And I will bring the blind by a way [that] they knew not; I will lead them in paths [that] they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them’.

Coming to see Him, the Living Lord, as my only Life is a daily transformation occurring within my soul. Learning to live out of this miraculous union I now have with God, who has become my Father, is where true life is being discovered.

Back some years ago, the Lord impressed upon my heart words to this effect: “That which I have for you has been deliberately hidden for you, not hidden from you. What unspeakable joy you will experience as you continue to trust me in this journey! Together we will find it. Together we will celebrate the treasures of darkness.”

Without a doubt, I believe the Lord wants to make us eyewitnesses of Him, not simply to parrot what others have said, no matter how good that might be. ”Who do you say that I AM”? He wants our spiritual sight to become clear so that no matter what the circumstance, we see Jesus.

The other day, while chatting with a brother via the web, it dawned upon me that maybe, just maybe I have been suffering through some needed death experiences.

I come from a mixed background spiritually. I was raised Roman Catholic, was born anew in 1972, and subsequently traveled in Charismatic, Pentecostal, Full Gospel and Vineyard circles. It was customary to launch into spiritual warfare when being confronted with what appeared to be ‘bad things’, and wanting to appear strong in the Lord, I was determined I must overcome these negative influences.

However, what I am coming to see is this: Paul, the Apostle of Grace, who was intimately acquainted with grace, and walking in the power of God’s grace, nevertheless was ushered into very dark circumstances. Three times he cried,”Lord! Remove this messenger of Satan from me!” The Lord replied, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Paul wrote, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.”

While chatting with my friend, what became clear to me was the fact that the Lord did NOT remove the buffeting messenger from Paul’s life. Why?
So that he might experience the treasures of darkness. To his and our natural way of thinking, it would seem most proper to ask a loving God and Father, “Please remove this torment”. But what Paul at that point could not see was that in the midst of the distasteful and humiliating situation, inner illumination from the Holy Spirit was about to break through. Paul was about to receive so much more than he could ever dreamed of asking! Blindness was being dispelled. He was going to see what the prophets would have loved to see and hear.

“Blessed are the hungry [for righteousness] for they shall be filled. Blessed are the poor in spirit" (or from the Living Translation) “God blesses those who realize their need for him, for the realities of the Father’s love is given to them.” I know the Lord causes the sun to shine upon the just and the unjust, but He so passionately wants there to be an intimate, experiential knowing of the reality of there not only being a God, but One who wants to become a Father to them.

What need is there for His grace in our lives if we see no need? Paul’s greatest necessity was not to be delivered from his buffeting tormentor, but to be awakened to see his need for the Lord and to rest in His bountiful provision.
Paul in this most dark situation began to see so much more of what and who constitutes grace. He said, “Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong”.

Our loving Father wants to usher us into the necessary circumstances and situations that He will use to illuminate within us the true knowledge of this glorious treasure we have in these jars of clay. Salvation is so much more than the rebirthing of our dead spirit! Heaven is not our goal - knowing Him in the now IS! Today is the day of salvation, and in this day His grace is sufficient.

Rich

Maybe there's more to this than meets the eye

2 Corinthians 12: 1-10

7And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.
9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in Hi
persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

I love this inside look into our Brother Paul’s life. It’s most fitting that he’s also known as the Apostle of Grace.

So very often, as we continue our journey through life, there’s a tendency to camp at the foot of some great blessing or event. Although the location may be good or even very good, settling there can rob of us of the best. What is the best? “That I might know Him”!

Many are called, but few choose to give up the right to themselves. Becoming a ‘self for others’ is the ongoing work of grace of God in a believer’s life.

If anyone knew the grace of God, I would say it was Paul. Yet on the heels of the abundant revelations Paul received, it’s as if the Father said to him, “Oh, by the way Paul, because you have seen and heard things that are not permitted to be spoken about I’m going to give you a wonderful blessing!”
"Wow! Oh boy!” Paul must have thought. “Not only am I privy to these spectacular revelations, I’m about to get a fabulous surprise! Okay, Lord - let me have it!”

So, what was this great blessing? It was not exactly as Paul had pictured, because the Lord allowed Paul to be buffeted by a messenger of Satan. I’m sure that for most of us, stinking thinking would kick in quite effectively at this point. A messenger of…Satan? Time to brush up on Spiritual Warfare 101: ‘How to Cast Out Demons’! However, could it be that Paul (although well versed in the grace of God), needed a further and deeper revelation of Him and His grace? I see this ordeal as being used by the Father to bring Paul further along than he could possibly have gone on his own.

In my life, I recall a time of unbearable anguish and grief because of following the leading of the Lord to “be in the ministry” (a very long, sad, but ultimately wonderful story). As a result of this quest, my wife and I lost everything.

At the time, the four of us were temporarily renting the downstairs of a match-box sized duplex. I was out mowing the postage stamp of a back lawn when I sensed my Heavenly Father speaking to me. He said, “You think you have missed my best, don’t you”? Deep within my heart I knew that is exactly what I felt. I will not elaborate now, but suffice it to say, He had the cross hairs focused square upon my heart. He proceeded to ask me - had I known what was going to happen in my life, would I have signed up for it? I didn’t have to ponder on that too long. NO!!! He continued to say that in fact He had me enrolled in something so much better than any Bible School I could have chosen – that I had NOT missed his best. He was bringing about the best! The circumstances and situations didn’t change, but there was a new hope that instilled deep within my heart - the beginnings of coming to know the Truth: Christ in me the Hope of Glory.

Isn’t it amazing that there are reserved for us treasures of darkness that can become ours as we follow Him through the shadows?

I often ponder about Joseph. He said to those who betrayed him, (his own brothers) “You sold me, but God sent me. That which you intended for evil, He intended for Good.”

Jesus said that unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone, but if it dies, it brings forth an abundance of fruit. Is it possible the Father does just that, buries His sons and daughters alive, so to speak, in the abject darkness…so that He can produce fruit?

As our souls come into alignment with our spirit union, maybe we, like Joseph, also can speak forth the truth: 20"As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive”. And as Paul said, “I Paul, the prisoner of Christ”. Notice he did not say he was the prisoner of Rome, nor of circumstances, but the prisoner of Christ.

Living as mere mortals, governed by our souls, we will miss out on His best for us. The Holy Spirit is longing to make known His redemptive purposes in the lives of His sons, but although called, many will not pay the price, will not ‘glory in [their] infirmities’.

Ephesians 4:18Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart:

Rich

What’s the sword for?

The Prince of Peace said, I haven’t come to bring peace but a sword.
Peace isn’t some commodity that is doled out to us, but instead it is a Person, and that person Christ Jesus is to be revealed to us.

Who do you say that I AM?
Is it possible that the many things we attribute to “peace” have nothing to do with Him?
Is it possible that as the Truth confronts us and our stinking thinking that in the process of the Truth setting us free, it will make us miserable first?
Yes He is the lover of my soul, with a Godly jealousy, but anything that is rooted or founded upon lies, the Truth will confront.
Either the Truth is going to be my greatest friend or my worst enemy.
I need to clarify here that the Truth to me is inseparable from Him, the Truth, Life and Way of the Father, Jesus Christ.
There are so many words tossed around in Christendom that are synonymous with things that have nothing whatsoever to do with the reality of the Truth.

I love the story in Joshua where the angel of the Lord appears to him, as Joshua scrambles to his feet, he asks, are you for us or against us?
Joshua 5
13 Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?"
14 He said, "No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, "What has my lord to say to his servant?"
In today’s language He said, I’m here to take over, you pick a side.

And a sword will pierce even your own soul--to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.

Peace

Rich

Guard Your Heart

“In the day you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your heart”.

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Of whom does the Holy testify? The Christ. Where is the Christ? “He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit”. The Christ indwells the believer!

Prophecy is so much more than what those in the pro-gift circles, who focus more on the gifts than on the indwelling Gifted One, have claimed. They focus on, even lust after the ‘gifts’ (ex. prophetic utterances, miracles, signs, wonders, casting out demons, etc.). The Holy Spirit’s emphasis is not on the gifted ones, but on the Gifted One. The subtle lie of the enemy distorts scripture so that our focus is shifted away from the centrality of the indwelling Christ and onto the gifts. The Holy Spirit will NOT testify or witness to anything that we do as a result.

If we see Christ as being external to us, we will try to be LIKE Him. This is the foundation of the whole “What Would Jesus Do?” movement. Any attempt to be ‘like Jesus’ is nothing more than religious activity. Religion is Satan-inspired, a futile, man-made quest to attempt to attain a state of holiness by human efforts. Rather than causing us to acknowledge our complete and total dependency on God’s indwelling spirit, religion seduces us to focus on what we can do. This effectively cuts us off from grace.

Christ will not be formed in us if we try to emulate Him. How, then, is He formed in us? It’s Christ in us, working through us, as us: “he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit”. As Paul wrote, the fruit of the spirit is Love, and all that flows from that love is merely a living expression of Him who is Love. There are no substitutes for the true (experiential) knowledge of the Father’s love for us. The burning reality of Jesus’ words, “when the Holy Spirit comes, he will reveal me and glorify me” thrills me to no end.

“In the day you hear the voice of the Lord, harden not your heart”. We harden our hearts by default. When the Holy Spirit testifies or witnesses to the reality of Christ indwelling the believer, and we dismiss this by trying by our own efforts to be LIKE Jesus (rather than acknowledging His existing presence in our hearts) our hearts become hardened. By this I mean we have a tendency to think that by our own efforts, we have to conjure up a scheme to keep our hearts pliable - rather than seeing we are one with, indistinguishable from, Jesus Christ who indwells the spirit of the believer. His heart is NOT hardened! We are already joined to the fruitful One! Because of this union we have with the fruitful One, we will bear fruit in our soul as we learn to live out of that fundamental, heart-softening truth and by paying heed to the testimony of the Holy Spirit as He witnesses about Christ.

Is it possible the Holy Spirit is whispering in our hearts (much like a stuck record), ‘I see Jesus in you, I see Jesus in you’ over and over? If we have been reborn or re-birthed then the miraculous has taken place. Jesus’ prayer, ‘Father I pray that they will be one even as we are one. I am the vine you are the branches’ is a result of that miracle.
It has never been an issue of my truth versus your truth. There is only one Truth~Christ Jesus. Otherwise, he would have said, “Hey guys, want to hear some neat truths?” Instead He said, “I AM the Truth, Life, the Way of God”.

Does the Father desire to make us eye witnesses of this fruitful One to whom we are joined? Or do we simply mouth truthful things?

It is essential that we learn to differentiate between what Christ does and who Christ is – that apart from Him we can do nothing – that we are utterly dependent upon his Spirit to produce fruit out of a pliable heart. That is the testimony of Jesus in a grapeskin.

Rich

Fight The Good Fight

I said to a friend recently, "we're not trying to get a hold of the Truth, the Truth has got a hold of us."
The truth more often than not is seen as something separate from Him, the Truth, Life and Way.
I like where it talks about the flesh waring after the spirit and the spirit waring after the flesh. Without knowing Him as our Rest, we resort to carnal tactics.
The Truth is always wanting to make himself known to us in our daily living, as I like to say, in the nasty-now-in-now.
I'm so grateful for the ongoing and much needed illumination the spirit of God brings to me so that I can face life's challenges rather than trying to escape. Learning to live out of my spirit rather than out of my soul.
I wonder if in fact that was one of the issues Paul addressed at one point when he said, "You are living as mere natural men." Natural in the sense even though rebirthed, they were living as if the spirit of the Lord was not in them.
Nothing is as it appears to be. The natural man is fading away daily, but the inward man is being renewed daily.
His grace is the ability to fight this "good fight" of trusting in His faithfulness.

Rich

It's All His Gig

"Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain"

It's interesting seeing how those who have been so bound under law/rule doing have come to see grace much like this quote from the Wizard of Oz.

Meaning, it does not matter at all how much of an ass hole I can be at times, bottom line, It's a done deal, it's all His gig, just rest, or whatever else one likes to mix in there with no sense of having to address behaviour that does not flow out of Him being my life.
Meaning, just maybe my soul needs to partake of the same salvation my spirit has? Of course if one perceives they are crazy-glued to the permanent ON position, this much ado about nothing.

Like a husband or father, though he is a "Christian", flies off in a tirade, fit, at his kids or wife, and then excuses himself by saying, I'm totally accepted in Him. Too bad you just got slimed by my flesh, but hey, I'm forgiven.
Pay no attention to that outburst, I'm not responsible for that anymore. Why, because I'm in Christ.
Hummmmm?

Rich

Sifting

The Parable of the Lost Son

Is it possible that even though the Father demonstrated in many varied ways his total acceptance of his son on his return home, that the son may have had difficulty in believing it? Is it possible the ending of this story was in fact just a new beginning between Father and son? Is it possible that the Father would have to continue to address issues in the son’s life?
Without a progressive awareness of His unchangeable and unconditional love, it would be easy for the son to believe that the Father was in fact picking on him.
Is it possible that some of these issues were in fact issues of the soul?
The Truth will either be my greatest friend or worst enemy.
Is it Truth you are seeking, then be prepared to have your soul shaken (sifted) to the core.
The proof of Father’s love for us is His continuing correction.

Rich

Prayer?

Inigo Montoya: You are sure nobody's follow' us? Vizzini: As I told you, it would be absolutely, totally, and in all other ways inconceivable. No one in Guilder knows what we've done, and no one in Florin could have gotten here so fast. - Out of curiosity, why do you ask? Inigo Montoya: No reason. It's only... I just happened to look behind us and something is there. Vizzini: What? Probably some local fisherman, out for a pleasure cruise, at night... in... eel-infested waters...
Vizzini: INCONCEIVABLE.

[In the boat in the morning] Inigo Montoya: He's right on top of us. I wonder if he is using the same wind we are using.
[Vizzini has just cut the rope The Dread Pirate Roberts is climbing up] Vizzini: HE DIDN'T FALL? INCONCEIVABLE. Inigo Montoya: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

This dialogue prompts the thought about prayer..
Christian, you keep using that word “prayer." There is much that could be said about this thing called prayer I’m sure, but as in this movie, even though Vizzini kept using this word he was most sure of, maybe prayer does not mean what we think it does.

Rich

Who Do You Say That I AM?

Christ in you!
Apart from the Holy Spirits illumination as to some of the depths of this present reality of Christ being our only Life, are we in fact not much more than mere natural men? Meaning, (1 Corinthians 2:13-15) our point of reference is not Him alone but any number of things, and that can encompass many good things, but the good has a tendency to become the enemy (a substitute) of the best, knowing Him as Life.

Rich

It’s a Process

As Christians we appear worse off than the rest of the world because we sometimes show forth Christ and sometimes our self-centered independent self. This inconsistency is unnerving both to those around us and to ourselves. Again, this is not due to our being inherently worse than anyone else. We are merely suffering under the influence of old habits and ways of living.
We spent a lifetime to the point of our salvation living as the world taught us to live. This was an extensive schooling in the fine art of self-centered existence. We were taught by experts and we learned our lessons well. It is not responsible for us to expect to come out from under this teaching quickly or cleanly.
The Father does not expect our instant transformation and we should not expect it either.
Our progress is further slowed by the fact that we still posses a free will. We will be allowed by the Father to make choices every day that we live this life.
As we exercise the freedom to choose to let God lead us, we grow in God and Christ. As we grow in Christ we are led away from the old understandings and habits. I am not encouraged in this matter by any progress I make away from my old self-centered ways. What does encourage me however is the Father’s patience in leading me away from the old ways of living.

The soul requires training in the ways of God. You can see the results of this training in the increasing facility we gain as the schooling goes on. As we submit to God’s progressive killing of the “independent-self” we find it easier to turn to God. In this process we see more of the individual self coming forth. This is sometimes a painfully slow process. There are areas in our lives that require lessons that are repeated (seemingly) millions of times before we begin to get it.

The Dark Side of God

It is out of God’s goodness that He created us with the intention that we should become His children. In our original created state we were very good. We were very good but we were not yet the children God wanted for His household.
The Father had already shown that loving children could not be produced by direct creation. This is the lesson of the demons and Satan. If created beings could rebel against God even while living in His direct presence then creation would not produce the children God wanted. No, the children suited for God’s house would have to be born into His family. Further, these birthed children would have to be born by God’s Spirit being placed in them in response to their free will choice.
Out of this intention to create (birth) a family a potential for evil arises. The only way that anyone can make choices that have any significance is to be able to choose freely between options. These options must be equally available to the individual. This is true of both people and God. To say that God is good (Psalm 34:8) implies that God possesses the ability to choose between good and evil. If God could not choose either good or evil then he would be amoral. In this way God would be no different than gravity or electricity.
It is only in choosing of good and rejecting evil that one can be considered “good.” The dark side of God resides in just this fact. The dark side of God is God’s “NO” to evil because He has freely chosen to say “YES” to goodness and holiness. In choosing to be good God has eternally rejected evil.
There was no force that compelled the Father to make this choice. God is purely self contained and does whatever He pleases. It pleases the Father to be (choose) good.This brings us back to the original misconception that God would create anything “bad.” If this is so, where did Satan come from? Clearly God created Satan (Ezekiel 28:15). Just as certainly, the Father knew full well what Satan would turn into. The creation and corruption of Satan parallels humanity’s history. We were both created “very good” and we both were corrupted by our own choice.

Rich

In Him

For in Him we live, and move, and have our being;

This has become an all encompassing signature on and in my life. I would like to know what it might say to others?

Rich

Ultimate Knowing

The ultimate knowing in growing with the Father is not really an accumulation of knowledge (knowing facts) at all. Rather, the ultimate knowing is the knowledge of Christ: “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (Colossians 2:2-3) When we know Christ, we have all wisdom and knowledge. By knowing Christ, we know ourselves because Christ is our only life.
Knowing Christ is a living, spontaneous knowledge. (In Him we move, live, and have our being.)
This is not an understanding that you possess so much as it is a knowing that possess you. The purpose for receiving this understanding is not to be the smartest Christian that ever lived or the wisest elder in the church. The Father’s purpose for growing us in this understanding is so that we can be the people that God created us to be. A key part of this knowledge is accepting that our old self was crucified (rendered powerless) with Christ. As we are grown in this acceptance we (the old self) are gotten out of the way so Christ can come out of us as us. This is the unique expression of Christ that God intended each of us to be.By allowing the Father to grow us up to be the people He intended us to be, we are cooperating in the fulfilment of His plan for the creation. You see, the growing of a family for God has contained within it our growth. Our Father’s desire for a family includes not only birth of children with His life in them. This desire also includes the growth of those children to be the fulfilment of our creation-----being grown up to the fullness of Christ.
This fullness is spontaneous and living. Our full growth includes both intellectual knowing and intuitive knowing: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:10-11) We can see from this passage that Paul did not have a complete intellectual knowing of the workings of God. But he knew that everything he needed to know was expressed in knowing Christ.

Rich

The Making of a Son

It is God’s greatest desire that we should be both the children of His family and that we should grow in that estate to the full measure of Christ that we were created by the Father to attain. This is the ultimate expression of the family of God. But the greatness of the Father’s love for us constrains Him. We are not forced to grow (*) and we are not forced to seek. The great promise of the Father to us is that if we seek we will find. If we desire growth, then the Father will take us to the full measure of His desire for us.

* Many would persuade you to believe the Father crazy-glued the the switch to ON, or that we were put on auto-pilot when we were rebirthed.
The Father's house will not be filled because we had no choice in the matter. Missing hell and gaining heaven is cool, but what about the Now we are living in?

Rich

Christ for us...Christ in us...Christ as us...

The plan of the Father is not just for a family of birthed children but that these children should also be grown up to the full measure of Christ: “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the (true) knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13)
This is not a call to each of us to become Christ but to become the full expression of Christ as you (and me) that God intended that we should be. This is the full and complete expression of the heart of the Father. The deepest expression of God’s desire for His creation is that we would be a family of birthed children for Him and that we would realize the full expression of His life as our life.It is in this fulfillment of both birth and growth that the family of God will be a complete and perfect manifestation of the deepest desire of the Father’s heart. It is for this birth and growth event that the entire creation yearns: “The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.” (Romans 8:19) The revelation of the sons of God is the outcome of our allowing the Father to grow us up to the fullness of Christ. Our growth in this way is the last frontier of the battle between Satan and God.

We only impose a desire for the Father’s heart on ourselves if we elect to go on in growing in our relationship with Him. The saddest aspect of this part of the Christian experience is that we so often let it be hijacked by either Satan through religion or by deceptions of our minds. I believe that this routinely occurs in church organizations and in our own thinking. The failure of people to seek God is rooted in our failure to ever let God deal with our flesh directed self and the religion it produces.As a result of never letting the Father deal with us as selves living independently from Him, we are trapped by the deceptions of organizations and religion. We long for the full expression of God: “We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:22-23)

The full expression of the family of God requires only our open-minded acceptance that this is God’s work to be done God’s way.

Rich

Perfection, Being Worked Out

Question, regarding the following scripture, how do you see Him Christ Jesus being formed within you?

There are those that either see themselves having no soul, or that in the rebirthing along with their spirit being made perfect, their soul likewise was made perfect.
I'm sure there are many other ideas floating around as well.
Somehow because of the unseen details of our soul/spirit, talking about such matters seems none relevant to knowing Him?

Galatians 4:19 My little children, for whom I am again suffering birth pangs until Christ is completely and permanently formed (molded) within you...

I look forward to any thoughts the Father is making known to you!!!

Rich

Limiting God

I was walking to work as usual, pausing for a moment on the bridge to admire the sparkling white, snow-covered river while traffic droned past in both directions. I hadn’t been sleeping well the last few weeks. Cares, worries and concerns seemed to be accumulating in my mind like fuzz on a lint brush. I feared for my kids’ spiritual well-being, for their relationships, for financial situations, for deadlines at work, for unsaved loved ones, for upcoming major decisions – you name it, I feared it. And I was tired.

Suddenly, it occurred to me that the only difference between me, a believer, and a non-believer was…that I believed! I believed in God, the Alpha and the Omega and in the finished work of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, but that was it, apparently. I no longer trusted He could or would act on my behalf. From having endured many hard knocks, I had grown to expect disappointment. I no longer trusted Him to work because I figured He wouldn’t. I believed in a powerless God of my own making.

Shame on me!

Quick-fire questions popped into my mind: Is there a God, or isn’t there? Did He not create the universe? Did He not take my place on the cross? Did He not rise from the dead/defeat the enemy/redeem my soul? Was He not all-powerful? “Behold, I am God. Is anything too hard for Me?” What difference, then, was there between me and nonbelievers? “You say you believe…but so do the demons and they tremble in fear!”

I was taken aback. I had been putting limits on my Heavenly Father for so long that defeatist thinking had become the norm. How had I reached this point? When did my joy and confidence in a mighty God begin to wane? Until I saw it face to face for what it was, I honestly hadn’t been aware of this decline. I had been sucked into this mindset by my own choosing (I’d like to blame the enemy who delights in planting such thoughts, but I hadn’t put up much of a fight).

Then and there, I determined I would break free from this habit-pattern of thinking. I had made deliberate choices to limit God – I would no longer do so. There IS a God in Heaven. He IS all-powerful. He CAN do anything. He IS trustworthy. What liberating thoughts! My shoulders suddenly felt lighter. In contrast to my former doom and gloom outlook, I felt positively buoyant!

This is NOT to say that everything will be smooth-sailing from here on in. I know I will be constantly assaulted in my mind by an enemy whose sole intent is my ultimate destruction. However, my hope rests in the sober realization that my only power to resist these thoughts is derived from the indwelling spirit of Christ. It is warfare. Taking every thought captive to determine its source requires constant vigilance, but it is essential if my desire is to know a limitless God.

Mgo

Where The Spirit Is Lord

One of the most meaningful and liberating things that has so enriched my life, is in meeting others coming to see and know Him as Life, and allowing/extending grace to me, to be able to think out loud without trying to censor or critic these unformed and unfinished fluid thoughts.

Rich

True Discipline

From: My Father and Your Father

Most of us have had trouble with the disciplining aspect of the Father’s parenting. We have trouble with it because we were taught an unbalanced message about correction. This is the gospel of correction. In this teaching, we are encouraged to see ourselves as defective rather than dependent and the Father as judicial rather than loving. Where this distortion comes from is out of our own judgementalism. And our judgementalism arises not from our Christ indwelt human spirit but from (you guessed it) the Satan indwelt flesh.
It does not matter whether we are speaking of our own correction or the correction of others. If we see disciplining by the Father as punishment because the person being punished is “no good” or even just “not quite good enough” we are being judgemental. The truth is that we are being grown up to the full stature of Christ that the Father desires for each of us. The growth process by necessity involves some error. Error, in its turn requires correction. This is not a big deal if we remember that we are well-loved children being grown and instructed by a loving Father.
The word translated “punishes” in Hebrews 12:6 is really the word for “scourge.” This is not a judicial punishment for wrong doing but is a correction in the sense of an experiential teaching. One of the hardest things that any of us must come to accept about ourselves is the fact that we are not perfect. We all have ways of getting around the fact that we are just plain rotten in our natural self. We are “not quite as bad as Hitler” but we are “good in the important things."
But the plain fact of the matter is that we, in our souls, need a lot of work. Fortunately, we have a loving Father that is willing to do that work.It is a loving Father that will not indulge his children in their errors and imperfections. Such indulgences was the sin of Eli (1Samuel 2:30-33). The truly loving father corrects and disciplines his children for their improvement. This is often referred to as “tough love.” This is the kind of love the Father has for us. The loving Father will not indulge His children’s misdeeds. In this same way, the loving Father does not punish judicially. We are not punished to make up for our errors. We are corrected to bring us away from our errors and this is a big distinction. Correction is for learning and not “paying dues.”
In order to see this distinction, we must come beyond the superficial idea of pleasant and unpleasant. These distinctions are important to the physical part of us but they are nearly so important in the spiritual. All correction is unpleasant: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11) The question we must all ask ourselves is this: In the end, if we submit to correction we will end up not only with righteousness and peace but also a better kind of pleasure than we could have any other way.
We need to keep in mind the true face of adversity. In physical understanding it is easy and natural to see hardship as punishment. This is not necessarily or even often true. The hardships allowed by the Father in our lives are as much for our growth and instruction as anything. Seeing difficulties exclusively or even primarily as punishment causes the age-old dilemma of “why do bad things happen to good people?” We grow in adversity if we let the Father work that growth in us.

Rich

A Better Mouse Trap

This portion in particular really spoke to me afresh, of NOT SEEING the reality of Satan within our Flesh!

I just don't see how the Holy Spirit - who is part of the Holy and Blameless Almighty - could reside in a stained and sinful person. I thought sin separated man from God... then how can God dwell within us, lest we be cleansed? If the Spirit is in me, I'm free from the chains of sin. Sinless!

We are FOREVER clean in our spirit-union, BUT, in our soul where there is to be an outer expression of this dynamic and miraculous union, it will not come into any visibility by clinging to the "right to myself". "He who losses his (soul) life will find it. It is in this arena (in our soul) the battle unfolds moment by moment. I see the overcoming we are called to do, is also in this same arena. My soul needs to be enlightened and the only source is the Light-Christ Jesus. Not knowledge, 2+2=?? Its as if our soul is a mirror,..... mirror, mirror, on the wall, who's the pharisee-est of them all? Who's grooming who?

A quote from my friend Bill:

"If Jesus was different at any point from what any person who accepts God's offer of salvation can be, then Christ's earthly life was ineffective.
What would God prove by coming to earth as Holy God and living a sinless life? The answer, I believe, is "nothing". Not only did Christ have a fleshly (Satan or sin) part in His physical body, He had to have such a part. The only way that Christ could possibly touch us was to become like us, exactly like us except without committing sins. The only way that Christ could fully relate to us in our earthly condition was to experience our life:
"Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." (Hebrews 2:18)
It is only in this way that Christ could become the perfect sacrifice to create a way to freedom for us. To take this even further, it was essential for Jesus to have a component of Satan in the flesh because Christ came not just to provide forgiveness of sins. The Father's plan was much more comprehensive than just extending to the remission of sins. After all, the temple service provided animal sacrifices for the purpose of forgiving sins. What the Father was looking to do through the life, and death and resurrection of Christ was far deeper than simple forgiveness:
"For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man." (Romans 8:3)
The shed blood is for the remission of sins. The broken body is for the breaking of Satan's (sins) power over our lives. When Christ was taken to the cross, Satan (in His flesh) had to go with Him: "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." (Colossians 2:15) If for no other reason than this, Jesus had to have a flesh part of His makeup. This allows the sacrifice of Christ to extend to us as the offer of a new life through our death to the old sin-slave nature."

Rich

Freedom to be...

Faith without works is dead…What work/s are we talking about here?
This is the work of God that you believe on Him, whom the Father has sent!No longer trying to get it right..justfying myself.
Whatever is not of faith is sin.
Jesus is the fully finished/processed work of the Father, and now He is the Life-quickening Spirit that wants to awaken within us that same Life that does WORK.

The finished work of God is a bright and shining light, and as we simply move, live,and have our being in that finished and perfect work of the Father, others will see Him, and glorify Him.

"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Rich

In Him, we move, live, and have our being…

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 our self 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 or 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: “For Christ died for sins once and for all, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,” (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: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)Living independently from the Father is bankrupt living. There is no legitimate 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. There is the ONLY way we can live effectively.

Rich

Truth In the Strangest Places - Million Dollar Baby

I loved the following quotes from Wayne Jacobson's blog regarding the movie, Million Dollar Baby:

http://www.lifestream.org/wblog.html

But I kept hearing this movie wasn’t really about boxing. That was only the context for a compelling human story.



“Extremism is so easy. You’ve got your position, and that’s it. It doesn’t take much thought. And when you go far enough to the right you meet the same idiots coming around from the left.”

The times call not for idiotic extremism, but the ability for God's people to articulate his truth with his compassion.
Don’t believe everything you read. I’m sure this situation is far more complicated than any of the advocates want us to know. Human stories rarely fall into such one-dimensional morality plays with the villains and the good guys so clearly visible. I do know this, we shouldn’t trust what others say if we don’t have our own firsthand knowledge. And until we can see God’s compassion for all the people in the story, we won’t be redemptive in it. We’ll just use it to bash people who disagree with us.

Maybe like Wayne shared on his blog, how many things did not fit what I saw as being important to "look at" simply because I did not like or agree with the context/setting? How many compelling stories are happening around me every day?
Like the movie because of the subject matter, (judging a book by its cover mentality) can cause me to read so much religious crap into it, that I maintain my so called separation from the evils of life.

BTW, my wife and I saw the movie, fantastic!



Rich

Grooming

Part 2

Satan uses circumstances and situations to mould us into his image. He is constantly there to corrupt the truth. He grooms us. When we are hurt, he pacifies us with self-pity. When others get more attention, he is sure to point it out to us, so we compete by escalating our self-seeking behaviour. He convinces us that we can get what we want by our looks, money or our charm, so we become manipulative and self-absorbed. Contrarily, perhaps we make a concerted effort to become ‘good people’ and choose to live our lives in a seemingly moral and just fashion, looking down our noses at those who do not share our ‘values’…becoming self-righteous in the process. Self-pity, self-seeking, self-absorbed, self-righteous…is there a common thread here?

Little children lack the capacity to assess an experience accurately or rationally. As my husband has often said, “Children are great observers but terrible interpreters”. For instance, a parent can tell little Mary over and over that she is loved, but if she notices her baby brother getting attention, she might perceive that she is not quite as beloved as he. The groomer is present, not only to suggest that subtle lie to little Mary, but to fan it into flame as years go by. “Hey, Mary!” whispers the devil. “Did you notice how your mom just hugged your brother? She didn’t hug you! She loves him more!” Because he not only planted the initial lie but feeds and waters it, Satan has set Mary up. He knows EXACTLY what buttons to push when it comes to feeding her self-pity. In years to come, he’ll point out to her how she is ignored when he is noticed, when he gets something she doesn’t, how people pay more attention to him than to her. For the rest of Mary’s life, she will believe the lie that her parents love her brother more than they do her, no matter how insistent her parents are that it is not true or how much they try to convince her - even to the point of spending MORE time and effort with Mary than with her brother. As the years go by, she’ll transfer her wounded self-pity into other aspects of her life. She’ll become the victim that can never get a break – the one that gets the dirty end of the stick, the martyr. The grooming is successful. The target is putty in Satan’s hands. The lie becomes entrenched. Black becomes white.

It is essential that believers acknowledge this grooming process. We are the roaring lion’s prey, seeking whom he may devour. The assaults do not stop when we become born again – they may even escalate. Satan initially attacks when we are helpless, naïve children. He takes advantage of our innocence and trust. He appears as an angel of light. He beguiles, charms and woos us. He becomes our confidante and coddles our wounded sense of self. We trust his motives. We are mesmerized. Then, when we are at our most vulnerable, he goes in for the kill.

We believers tend to blame parents, teachers, friends, co-workers or even the institutional church for our shortcomings and failures, but we fail to realize that they have also been groomed and fallen victim to this diabolical molestation. Like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz” who is admonished to ‘pay no attention to that man behind the curtain’, they simply cannot see who is orchestrating the deception. As many have said, Satan’s greatest triumph has been to convince humankind he doesn’t exist!

In the movie, “The Matrix”, Morpheus gives Neo an insight into this hidden world:
“The Matrix is a system, Neo. That system is our enemy. But when you're inside, you look around, what do you see? Businessmen, teachers, lawyers, carpenters. The very minds of the people we are trying to save… You have to understand, most of these people are not ready to be unplugged. And many of them are so inured, so hopelessly dependent on the system, that they will fight to protect it.”

As years go by, we become so convinced of Satan’s lies, ‘so inured, so hopelessly dependent’ that the lies become the building blocks of our identity, who we perceive ourselves to be and how we behave. However, as believers, it is crucial that we begin to recognize the truth - but this means making a conscious decision to turn away from the groomer’s lies. This is not an easy task, but it is ultimately a glorious one. It means wrenching away from the stranglehold that has gripped us for years. It is warfare. In ‘The Matrix’, Morpheus describes the devil’s arena: “…you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.”

When we believers begin to see the man behind the curtain for what he is and how he has blinded the eyes of men and women since the beginning of time, we can begin to be set free in our thinking. We recognize the enemy for who he is, and that he is resident in all of us. The grip of the molestation we have endured for years is broken when we acknowledge the truth - that we are brand new creatures, unshackled by events of the past. When we see how fellow human beings have been similarly groomed, manipulated and controlled by the enemy of their souls, we are no longer in a position to judge but to feel compassion. We see everything in a different light – the light of truth.


Mgo

Grooming

Part 1

Recently, a pedophile was featured on the Oprah Winfrey show. He acknowledged that he was a sexual deviant who had molested his two step-daughters, one of whom was mentally handicapped. He decided to appear on the show because he wanted parents to get a handle on the perverse inward workings of the mind of a child molester so that they could be on the lookout for others of his ilk.

He described the process of setting a child up for eventual molestation as a gradual one. He referred to it as ‘grooming’. Child molesters often don’t simply attack their victims outright. Typically, they worm their way into a child’s confidence by being a ‘pal’, a confidante or by showering him/her with gifts. The ‘grooms’ frequently seek children with emotional wounds or who come from a broken family. They’ll begin the molestation by assessing the child’s comfort level with such seemingly harmless activities as patting the child’s shoulder, stroking his/her hair, etc. Later, they’ll advance to engaging in rough-housing or tickling. If the pedophile can sense a child is comfortable with that, s/he’ll begin to touch the targeted victim in more familiar ways. The molester comes to know the child so well, that s/he will back off if the child objects in any way but will then try another tactic (or look for a more compliant victim).

I began to think that this is exactly the way Satan operates in us from birth, if not before. He ‘grooms’ us. He knows the circumstances into which we were born, for example into a single-parent situation, as a result of a rape, into a loving two-parent family, etc. Were we born in poverty or in the lap of luxury? Where did our birth place us in the family dynamic – first? Last? Middle? What were our caregivers like? Did we have siblings and how did they treat us?

Because we were ALL ‘born in sin and shapen in iniquity’, Satan was there from the beginning to deceive, distort and beguile. It is his modus operandi. He knows us intimately from the inside out. His deception is so alluring that ultimately we become convinced that black is white. His fiendish desire is that we never come to the realization that God exists, or if we do manage to become born-again, to make us ineffective as believers. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, he whispers, “Yay, hath God said?” He is the father of religion – he convinces us that by our works we ‘can be like God’. He soothes us with comforting scripture. He does not want us to know that there is absolutely nothing in us that can make us acceptable to God because the truth is, by nature of our birthing, we are irreparably corrupted. Only Jesus’ sacrifice, obliterating Satan’s handiwork, can set us free, but of course, the Father of Lies will do anything in his power to keep us from seeing that. He hides the fact that he is in it for his own monstrous gratification – our ultimate destruction.

Mgo

why do you call me Good...

There is no human attribute that is so good that it cannot be turned to wickedness by the unrestrained, egocentric self. Because self is only interested in the unlimited glorification of itself it can pervert anything. Satan fell because he sought his own glorification and not God's glory.
Satan forgot that all the assets he had came from God. The devil is God's object lesson about the power to do evil that resides in the part of our self that wants to be the god of its own life. This is the self that has submitted to the moral and spiritual leadership of Satan in the flesh.

Rich

Unity, Part 2

It was Christ’s express desire that we should be a testimony about Him in the world. He was quite clear on how we should do this: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35) It is very difficult for us to convince anyone that we love one another when we cannot tolerate even the most minor differences in understanding between brothers and sisters in Christ. It is not through evangelical programs but through love relationships that we truly testify to the world about Christ.We are to love one another as members of the same spiritual and eternal family---the family of God the Father. It is in this way only that the world will know the glory of Christ our Savior.All the witnessing programs and all the efforts at evangelism that have ever been will result in little apart from the love of Christ demonstrated in the lives of believers. If we are to demonstrate the love Christ, it must begin with Christians loving one another. You may well say that Christians loving each other is too elementary an act to have much effect on the unsaved world. However, the strength of this “simple thing” resides in its elementary nature. If we cannot do so basic a thing as loving each other, we shall never convince the world that we sincerely love them. The power of the love Christ to change lives must first be expressed in the tolerance we show to each other.

Used with permission from the book, "My Father and Your Father" by Wm. Landon

Rich

* Unity

E Pluribus Unum

The motto on the seal of the United States is the Latin phrase “the many are one.” This should be the description on the Christian church. However, the reality of Christianity today is that we are fragmented and are daily becoming more divided. As more and more organizational church denominations spring up the fragmentation grows. What message does this send to the unsaved world? A South African bishop once noted: “The presence of denominations is Christianity’s testimony to the world about how much we hate each other.”
Sadly, the bishop’s statement is most correct. We cannot show forth the love of Christ if we cannot tolerate any shade of difference among the members of our own spiritual family (the family of God) The hundreds (and perhaps thousands) of Christian denominations that exist today are the result of our intolerance of each other that grows out of our insecurity. I believe that our denominationalism is the principle reason why Christians are seen by the world at large as being a group marked by intolerance. The world has no vested interest in church organizations and therefore has no reason to gloss over this shortcoming. For this simple reason, the world sees this situation clearly---more clearly than most Christians. No Christian should wonder why the person from the world is inherently distrustful of our intentions.

* Used by permission from my friend Bill Landon

Rich

The second Man, the last Adam

The ever subtle seduction that would try to steal the affections of our hearts for Him.
Without the innate and intuitive ability of His life in us, we are moved to worship that which has the form of Godliness, but is void of any true power.There is still very much alive and active within some, a predisposition towards all of the so called outward markings of a true man, woman of God.
Natural (the first Adam was a living soul, a natural man) fleshly abilities that have nothing to do with who He truly is.As our spirit was originally created to be a container for Him, the one that wanted to become the Father of our spirit, so the unique self that we are was designed to be complete in displaying Him alone.
When was the last time you heard of a mirror getting bent out of shape because everybody was busily looking at themselves in it? A mirrors function is to reflect another’s image, much like the moon reflecting a light and glory of another, the sun.Without understanding who He is, and who we are in Him, it will be a perpetual jockeying for self-recognition one way or another.Too many identities are derived from our fleshly abilities, and it is theses that oppose Him.
I know of folks that I refer to as “steady eddies”, never too high, or too low. Mistakenly so many that are not that way, look upon a person displaying these traits as being spiritual, under the control of the Holy Spirit. When in fact it is nothing more than a soulish expression. Without the inner illumination of the Holy Spirit we blindly accept remnants of the first Adam to be Life for us.Our Father is a jealous lover (God), and in the process of being permitted to make Himself known to us, there will in fact be idols that must come down.He is the Living Sword, wanting to bring moment by moment separation between our soul and our spirit. As the Light shines, anything that has become a substitute for Him the Prince of Peace will have the sword applied to their life. I believe He said, I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.

Rich

An Exchange Of Life

The following is a copy of an instant message sent by my good friend Rick to another brother.
I asked him if I could post it here on my blog, because in it I see so much that revolves around the Truth-Life-Reality of what it means to be in Christ.

I have never met Rick in person, but our meeting with one another is no less real. I am indebted to our Father for the richness of His life that I have to come to experience in my brother.
In Him we move, live, and have our being!!!!!! A link to his blog http://acceptedinthebeloved.blogspot.com/

I do not have time right now to have my precious English Major wife to go through all of this and bring in the magical final touches needed, but it shall happen.

Rich



Everyone no doubt has a perspective, brother Frank. Of that there is no doubt. What I hear your soul crying out for is the Truth. Receiving the Love of the Truth is a good thing! You won’t go too far wrong in seeking the one Truth, for that is who He is.

As one who spent years in both the Charismatic movement and the “Grace” camp, I have seen the destruction that both can cause, when Truth is abandoned. What I found in the Charismatic movement is that much (but certainly not all) of what is attributed to demon spirits is demonic all right, but has its root, not in the celestial cities, but in the flesh of man. Casting out spirits of lust, fornication, lying, etc., does not really free anyone in the long run, because the primary manifestation of the enemy against a person’s soul is through their own flesh, something that cannot simply be exterminated or cast out, unless one can somehow remove his own brain (as it dwells in the body of man).

“Grace” people, for the most part, as you have probably noticed, make much sport of anything demonic. The devil/the demonic is really just the big boogey man/illusion, with no power to war against the soul of the saint. But this is not what the scriptures teach. Haven’t you asked yourself why in much of “Grace” teaching scripture use is either very selective, must be re-interpreted, or is disregarded altogether? If Jesus is the Truth, and the scriptures testify of that Truth, and I love the Truth, why would the writings of Christ or the Apostles be a stumbling block to my soul, unless I don’t really love the Truth. And who possibly would be directing and deceiving my soul away from the Truth and Light? My friend and Counselor, the Holy Spirit? Or perhaps the enemy of my soul? Is the Jesus of Revelation speaking to the churches the evil twin brother of the Jesus with the children on His lap? I used to think so. But as I awoke out of my soul slumber, I found that it is indeed the same Jesus, the Lover of my soul, and the one who speaks Truth, for that is what/who He is. If that Truth produces both Love and Reverence in my soul, is that not a good thing?

Those who would tell you that their message of license and liberty cannot possibly lead to vice, are either not being honest (would not be the first time for that on the Internet), or not being truthful (wouldn’t be the first time anyone was deceived), either totally reinterpreting what vice means, what sin means, even what Grace means (nothing more than an altered state of mind that a good hypnotist can accomplish. I know the latter because I used to be involved in “ministry” that used hypnosis).

I can only tell you what I have seen. We had a mini-“Grace revival” years ago, where a “Grace” teacher came in and taught that it was ALL finished. That you could live your life as you pleased. That this is God’s will and good pleasure. That sin is only an illusion now because it had been fully paid for. That All are reconciled to God and will experience Salvation, etc. Strangely, the fruit of that message in my own and others lives did not resemble the fruit of the Spirit, but the fruit or works of the flesh. I have seen widespread divorce, adultery, sexual immorality, lying, cheating, alcoholism, drug addiction, hatred, self-seeking, you name it, all done under the banner of “Grace”. Heck, even the “Grace” teacher himself returned to a homosexual lifestyle. Are these manifestations particular to the “Grace” movement? Certainly not. Are they evidence of deception/darkness in operation rather than Truth/Light? I think you know the answer to that yourself. Anyone who says that sin does not, when full grown, produce destruction in my soul, needs to think again.

Am I saying that these folk aren’t children of God anymore? Not in the least. Our spirits are in perfect union with Him. However, Is this “gospel” (or any other which is not of the Truth) the Path to sonship, to salvation of the soul? Does it lead us to walk in the Light, or in the darkness? Does it lead me to walk in the Spirit and treasure His Counsel, or walk in the flesh, and value its “advice.” Does it lead me to Love his Appearing, or dread it (or even make His Appearing into something it is not)? Does it lead me to a Love of the Truth, or a disdain for the same? Does it lead to a perfecting and maturity of my faith, or possibly a shipwreck of that same? Does it lead me to a yearning to see His good works borne through my soul, that He may be glorified, or a mind set on the things of the world/flesh, and how I might please myself? Does it lead to real Life working in me to overcome the desires of the flesh/enemy directed against my soul (aka temptation), or does it lead to justifying the desires and works of the flesh? Does it lead to putting on the full armour of God to stand against the wiles or strategies of the evil one, or to laying that same armour down, thinking either that the war is over, or even that it is impossible for me to be deceived.

Have you asked yourself why much of what you hear seems to be such a shell game, with no real answers to your questions? Perhaps because it is. Anyway, I am not trying to promote any agenda. And this is Robert’s site, so he obviously is paying the freight here. But maybe that Voice telling you that something is not right in this teaching is not “stinking thinking” but of your and my True Friend. He doesn’t disagree with the Scriptures. Amazingly the Life He desires to manifest through our souls does nothing but affirm the Truth witnessed to in the Scriptures, and the Scriptures themselves are meant to affirm the witness borne through our own soul, by that same Spirit.

Anyway, I just want to encourage you in your walk in Him. As one who spent years asleep in my soul in the darkness, I can testify that this is a very unprofitable path. Thank God for His Mercy! Blessings to you brother!

Your brother in Christ,
Rick

The Warm Fuzzies, Or The Truth

Knowing The Truth

If Jesus was and is (as He declared to be) The Only Truth, Way and Life of the Father, then there has to be so much more than what we’re seeing in ‘churchianity’, meaning, so many see truth being “ a wonderful concept”. What is the definition of ‘concept’?
Main Entry: con·cept Function: noun Etymology: Latin conceptum, neuter of conceptus, past participle of concipere to conceive -- more at CONCEIVE1 : something conceived in the mind : THOUGHT, NOTION2 : an abstract or generic idea generalized from particular instances synonym see IDEA
Do the scriptures indicate that He who has the Son, has a great thought, notion or idea?? No! He who has the Son has LIFE, for the Life is in the Son!
Somehow, I do not see Paul, the Apostle of Grace saying, “Hey do you want to hear some great concepts?” Conceptual thinking, in my opinion, has nothing to do with knowing Him. It takes revelation, not special glasses or self-proclaimed holy anointed gurus! (Eph. 1:16-19)
Truth has to be much more than good doctrine or ecclesiastical fodder aimlessly thrown about. It’s not MY truth versus YOUR truth. That’s nonsense.The Truth is a Person. Salvation is a Person. God has so much more than a wonderful plan for each of us. He has a Son He wants us to know. Oh, that I might know Him!
If there is to be any meaningful fellowship, then it must flow out of the source of all truth, God’s Son Christ Jesus.
TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS.
Without listening or taking heed to His voice we are left with conceptual thinking. Truth is inseparable from a Person; otherwise we are left with nothing but concepts and abstract thoughts that cause dissension and division within the body of Christ. It is this kind of thinking that has done anything but foster a mutual love for each other.

Rich

The Truth Telling Us the Truth...

The Truth Will Make You Free

So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine;
and you will know the truth, and the truth will make (set) you free."

If you read this encounter in John chapter 8 you will see the folks Jesus is speaking to trying to cling to a lie that is coming from their father, (not God). It is seen by them as being truth, but the Living Truth is shining through all their smoke and mirrors stuff.

Is it possible for any of us to be so zealously convinced that just because we say, 'we believe something', that, that in fact is the truth?
In the ongoing process of the Father training us to become fully mature sons, no longer being children, I see a very real possibility of us coming to see many things (in the Light of Him being the Truth) that we have accepted as truth, but in fact were mere substitutes for the Truth!
Jesus was not a new spin-doctor trying to flatter fleshly thinking. Instead, He being that Living sword that separates between spirit and soul was clearly exposing the fleshly thinking for what it was.
As long as we are in these tents of flesh, this will be the order of the day...the Truth setting us free, if in fact, that is what we want.

Rich