Vicarious Living

There are many expressions of dis-ease that religion has produced in Christians such as, dissatisfaction, frustration, disillusionment, anxiety, guilt, shame just to name a few.
What started out as a ‘big bang’ supernaturally being brought into a living relationship with God has somehow, somewhere been hijacked, and that is what is on my heart to talk about.

With out continued revelation, “(Man shall not live by bread alone, but by ever word that comes from the mouth of God”, and, “In the same way you have received Christ Jesus, continue to walk in Him),” its just a matter of time before we start acting as Jesus impersonators, and how is that done you might ask?
Well, its always the same, we started out in, by and through His spirit, in the beginning we had no need for surrogate or foster parenting, we operated freely for some, a very short time and some longer out of the unlearned intuitive flow of His life (regulating) in and through us, it was heaven on earth.

Loosing our spiritual equilibrium is sort of like an animal or bird that sees you instead of its real parent in its entry into the world, often there is an imprinting that happens where you are mistaken for its parent.
Because of some shifting at a heart level we slowly become fixated with people we start looking up to, that can be just about anybody that we see as being really ‘spiritual.’ If in fact what we are seeing is truly them living because of the life of another, Christ in them as them, we indeed can learn much from them.
But on the other hand if it is nothing but a form of godliness, then it might simply be, the blind leading the blind.

Where a sibling is living out of His life in them regulating their living, moving and being, as a direct result of the unfolding revelation of Christ to them and we do not detect this, then the next best thing we usually resort to, is trying to apply, walk in a similar walk as they are, but finding out sooner or later that the life God offers has nothing to do with imitation!
One doesn’t have to look to hard or far to witness so many trying to live the Christian life as if that were attainable, trying to make what they have read or listened to from other siblings, to work for them not realizing that this is trying to live vicariously rather then living spontaneously from within.

Somehow in not having the eyes of our heart opened to see and know (the true knowledge) of whose and who we are, we begin to resort to acting out of the residual lies embedded within our flesh, and the lie of all lies is no different than the first one offered to Adam and Eve, “You can become like God.”
The short cut is most alluring to our flesh, we can attain at the click of a mouse, or listen to a pod cast, read a book, and think in the assimilation of that information we can mature, grow, and yet if there is no revelation we have only retarded and stunted our growth by being puffed up rather than being built up.

Can you hear the Father’s call to you, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Rich

The Allure Of Rules

Why wouldn’t hidden but subtly disguised rules be an alluring attraction to us when resident in our flesh undetected, lies the father of religion and lies, the same one disguising himself before Adam and Eve to take a bite out of his tasty alluring tidbit, to become like God, unless of course the wonder and beauty of this irresistible Christ in us is there, but not recognized. There must be some pretty strong magic altering our minds within these poor substitutes. Isn’t that some of the alarm and concern Paul voiced over some believers, “Will you put up with a little foolish aside from me? Please, just for a moment. The thing that has me so upset is that I care about you so much—this is the passion of God burning inside me! I promised your hand in marriage to Christ, presented you as a pure virgin to her husband. And now I'm afraid that exactly as the Snake seduced Eve with his smooth patter, you are being lured away from the simple purity of your love for Christ.”

There is no contest to this, Jesus has never and will never be in a pout over the hucksters peddling their make belief wares, in fact, he is allowing it all to happen, why, so that there is right in front of us an opportunity to see that we do have a free willed choice, life, or death!

Why do bad things happen to “good people,” so that we will have the privilege of actually having the ability to freely choose, death, or Him, in the face of some very nasty life altering circumstances and situations? The Father has no intentions of bringing down the visible exterior expressions of what we refer to as religion and its institutions, but if permitted, he will in fact set us free from the inside where all of this other crap is birthed from. Without there being presented us one of two ways to go, please, do not say we have made a choice.

No matter how alluring and attractive the outer showings of being ‘like God’ become, when He is detected in the life of one of His, there will be no need for any Jesus impersonation.

Rich

Is it Christ-Life, or Church-life

I was on my way home finishing up my mail route when this thought burped up into view.
Am I being loved of the Father because “It’s His ministry”, or am I being loved for who’s I am?
I can just imagine the looks on the face of my wife, son and daughter when I tell them, you’re so loved by me, why, because it’s “my ministry”.
They look at me and ask, ‘what ministry is that dad,’ to which I reply, surely you jest, why of course it’s the ministry of I’m so full of myself I can hardly stand it!

Right from the get-go I know I am not stupid enough to think for even a nano second that I am going to write some definitive treatise on differentiating between one word and another. In this case the difference between the Life of (Christ) the Father and church life.
Words are, and always will be synonymous with meanings that might be true to a person, and yet when one believes white is actually black and vice versa, does that make it so-true?

It takes what it takes to slice, cut through the deception and blindness in us all, none of us has escaped or gone unscathed being born in sin and shaped in iniquity, none!
The disentanglement taking place within a believers life is an inside job, the One who has called us is the same one saying the same thing, “If you continue to follow me, you will KNOW the truth and the TRUTH will set/make you free.”
Truth is only relative as long as it is not evidenced in a person, the Christ as Jesus.

More and more I am seeing ‘ministry’ being a cheap substitute for something that will impress others with who I am. Only the love of the Father is able to bring definition and completeness in and to us, and make us living expressions of His heart for this world. Why would I want a ministry when His grace has opened a door no man can shut, a door he has opened wide to know this One who has called me to BE His.

I remember my former pastor saying to me in light of sharing some of things Father had been making real in and to me, “Rich, we are saying the same things.” I went away shaking my head in bewilderment; we were NOT saying the same thing. White really is Not black.

A table is not a chair, and a chair is not a table, oh the desperate need for the eyes of our heart to be opened, that He would flood us through and through with His wisdom along with the spirit of revelation and continue to pull back the (curtain) veil, that we might SEE Him and no longer confuse His life in us as us, for the best that flesh can do calling it the church!

Even so Lord, come!

Rich

Art Imitating Life

If we are; “For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].” living breathing expressions, displays of His handiwork, why is there the need to fake it, trying to imitate?

Is it not Life, God the Father himself being expressed through us, His masterpieces? Each one shimmering and shining forth a very unique expression of His heart and love for us and His world.
If God has gone to such an elaborate detail of creating multiplied thousands of sub species of one insect alone, what does that say about man, and his intimate fascination with each and everyone of us?

The availability of His unconditional love freely received turn us the petrified, static, into that which lives, moves, fully living beings.

Rich

Follow Up

I tried to post this in response to what Dave had said in his comments, but for some unknown reason it wouldn't do it, so here it is.
In light of what Art is sharing here, I thought I would ask him about something that has troubled me re: the whole issue of man bearing His image, as if we are ALL His children etc, here are his thoughts.

Rich

Hi Richard:

I consider the matter of man being in the "image of God" as follows:
The word image speaks of an "empty representation" of the "real thing" - such as a shadow may be of our body. Man is an empty vessel.

Man is like a well suited Ferrari, but lacking fuel and a proper driver to drive (guide) him. Christ as the proper driver in man fits the drivers seat perfectly - Spirit to spirit.

The Bible figures for this are the words such as Temple, and branch, etc. I like the vine because it relates to bearing a life, it has the capacity to receive the life of the vine-tree. Even the branch fits the tree, but it can do nothing of itself - it must have the flow of life from the vine-tree, which is Christ. Man was created as a "yet to be completed" being. By creation man had the proper organ (his spirit) to take in the content that he was missing - Christ's life; and man has and faculties of soul (mind emotion and will) to give expression to that innermost life. By receiving Christ the "image" is then filled with the "real thing."

The word "likeness" on Romans goes even further in this analogy. Where image speaks of the empty container suited to receive Christ. The word likeness means much more. Some time ago I discovered that the word "likeness" is from the Greek word root "homoioo." It means the ability to "assimilate," (<<<
Strongs) "take in," like a sponge may "absorb" or take in water. Man's empty spirit is the precise container in man having the ability to "assimilate" Christ's Spirit of like.
Here are a couple of "likeness' verse to consider:
In Rom 6:5 we as believers have "assimilated Christ's death and life as our death and new life".
In Rom 8:3 Jesus "assimilated man's sinful flesh", so as to be able to condemn it.
That's my view on image and likeness.
Art

It's The Good That Hates The Best

In continuing with yesterdays thoughts, once again I am seeing so much truth being most relevant with what Oz shared in todays thoughts.

http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/my_utmost/utm.cgi
The Offense Of The Natural

I am convinced that one size does not fit all, meaning, living within the Matrix there is a very specific expression of it just for you. What wouldn't be a temptation or pull upon your soul towards something tantalizing, or enticing, there will be so within the Matrix and its custom design for you.

The Father is not looking for cheap imitations of His son, but in fact the very opposite. Oz says it so well here: http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/my_utmost/utm.cgi?0723

Rich