The Fellowship of the Mystery

On the March break my wife and I for the first time in our marriage of 33 years were able to get the same week off together....thank you Jesus!
Friends of ours that use to live in Connecticut that had retired and moved to Florida had invited us down several times, thing is, as much as we would have loved to go and reconnect, it was not an viable option, until this year...long story short we went.

I am going to be sharing over the next short while four parts of something my friend and brother wrote, it has been and continues to bless and encourage me and my wife as we grow in the grace and knowledge of the lover of our soul, the Lord Jesus Christ.

No wonder our brother Paul prayed for the church which is His body, that the eyes of our heart would be opened to see and know His purpose for the saints.

Rich


Our Union with Christ - The Head of the Body
Is "The Fellowship of the Mystery"

By Arthur J Licursi

Part 1 of 4

Col. 1:18-20 And he (Christ) is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence. 19 For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness (repletion) dwell; 20And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile (fully) all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
In "the dispensation of the grace of God" (Eph 3:2), Christ is the Head of the Body, which is the church. There was no "church, which is His body" (Eph 1:22b, 23a) in previous dispensations. We today are "branches," "vessels," "temples," "slaves," "body members," of and for Christ who manifests Himself by His nature in us, through us, and as us, as we enjoy our spirit union with Him.

The New Testament uses many metaphors to describe our union with Christ, but, the term "body of Christ" is not a metaphor, since it literally is true. Let’s consider some of these metaphors.

In John 15:1 Christ is seen as the vine tree and we are the branches. This speaks of our utter dependence upon the flow of His life that is made possible by our union with the resurrected "Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus" (Rom 8:2a, 1Cor 15:45, 6:17, 2Cor 3:17a), which came by our having received Christ.

In Romans 11:17 Christ is seen as the root of the tree, and in Isa 53:2 He is the prophesied "root out of dry ground". He alone is the root life-source who is not dependent upon any external supply. Jn 5:26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. Thus, by our union with His Spirit in our spirit (1Cor 6:17), we may find a fully sufficient Christ to be our all, both now and for eternity.

Paul writes of the one loaf of the body of Christ in … 1 Cor. 10:17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. How do we interpret the one bread with the One body? This "one bread" is a metaphor for the reality of the one body of Christ. Paul is the only writer who uses the term "body of Christ"; this is because it is part and parcel of the mystery (secret) gospel that was revealed to him by the ascended, celestial Christ (Gal 1:12), for us (Eph 3:1). We, who are of "the church, which is his body" are those who have been regenerated in the time of "the dispensation of the grace of God"; we are the one bread in full union with the "the bread of life" Himself (John 6:48). He is our inner content as the One who constitutes this one bread, entirely.

Here Paul uses the loaf of bread and the constituent unity of each grain of milled wheat, as a metaphor to demonstrate the union we have with Christ and each other by our becoming constituted with Christ as our life-content. He is in us, as the many individual grains of wheat constituting the loaf, and by this He then is also the whole bread.

We each contain all of Christ’s Spirit, by which we are complete ( Col 2:9-10). Jesus said, God does not give His spirit "by measure" (Jn 3:34). He, with His life and nature, indwells each of us individually, yet he is not divided in parts. He is totally in each of us, and yet also He is in us together as His whole body. As there are many individual grains of wheat in one loaf of bread, there are many members of the One Body of Christ, which is the church collectively.

This Isn't My Mail

Say you and I are neighbours, we both shop at a certain store and we both receive in the mail our monthly statement, thing is, this time the mailman (that's what I do for a living~deliver the mail-ha) puts your statement in my box and mine in yours.
Without even looking at who it was addressed to I open it up and discover a huge amount charged to me and in a flash I phone the store and immediately ensure them there has been some kind of mistake...I did not make the said purchase on my bill.
They ask for my account #, I rattle it off to them, only to discover with great chagrin, it is not my account, not my bill..not my mail.

I see what has been happening for a very long time within churchianity, I believe as it clearly says that ALL scripture has been written for us, but not everything is TO us!
Reading someone else's mail is what most of us do, very much like my illustration of mistakenly getting someone else's mail in my mail box.

No wonder there is such consternation within our lives, trying desperately to make it (the scriptures) all line up, heck, some have even used their trusty jig-saws and saying, see how it all fits so nicely together.

Just a thought here, as Moses was the mouth piece of God to the Jews, maybe Paul our brother is the Moses to us in Christ, and maybe in hearing what the Father has said TO us, as Paul has said in his letters, we will be established in all that the Father has purposed for us.

On a side note here and yet I see it fitting in very rightly, plus no use of a jig-saw whatsoever~ha!

As I am seeing more clearly in what is to me in the scriptures vs what is for me, I see such an emphasis upon a 'kingdom' mindset that permeates so many believers today, especially amongest those outside of the institutional churches.
As I was reading today in the letters of Paul, the overwhelming weight seemed to rest upon the choice of wording in the following, 'the body, which is the church.' Nowhere is there a mentioning of any kingdom thinking, I wonder why that is?
As a good friend once said to me, Rich, who or what is closer to you, your wife or your body? I think it is my body.
Is He the Head of the one body He calls the church, or is it about reading someone else's mail, maybe that written to the Jews and thinking, hey, we want to be part of the kingdom club as well?

Rich

The Murder Mystery

Was Jesus trying to alter/change the society he lived in for a mere three decades, or was all of humanity brought to the cross in the last Adam~Christ? A place where this previous race (in the first Adam) was terminated, and another was being germinated.

What will a person give in exchange for their soul? Apart from knowing Him (God) as our only Life, at best its but dust blowing in the wind, as the philosophers and singers chime.

There is only One reality and it is found in Him, Christ Jesus, the way, the truth and the life. It is not found in being of the right social or economic or racial or whatever standing, otherwise, this gospel of so called good news is but for the limited few, much like the hyped up message called the 'Secret' that will only work for the few at best.

In coming to know Him as our only Life, no matter where or what we face as human beings, we can turn to the I AM that now indwells us, to BE to us whatever we stand in need of.

Rich

Instinct, Behavior, or Life?

The law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free from the law of sin and death.

In the Greek the word 'law,' means to self-regulate. There are external laws trying regulate us, i.e. behavior conforming to an outer regulation. In us is the regulating law of Life, that life is the very life of Christ in us the hope of glory.
Here is where things get muddy, meaning, if there is a self-regulating law, (an internal law) one full of Life, why do we need any substitutes or anyone trying to take the place of the spirit of God in directing us?

Isn't it a wonder seeing for i.e. that hidden but ever working law called instinct within the animal world, geese knowing just when to fly south, also the butterflies doing the same, salmon knowing innately when its time to swim up stream to spawn in the very place they were birthed?

How much more of a wonder is it in what Christ has done, putting within man a law of Life that far transcends mere instinct, a self-governing, regulating law, and we are but merely co-operating with that law of Life.

Is it possible to be in that group that according to scripture is, 'ever learning, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth'? Meaning, if there is NO witness of the spirit of God with/in our spirit that we are in fact a child of God, then no matter how much we learn, it will remain in the realm of behavior vs an inner self-regulating law of Life.

Maybe if we knew that we have in fact been certified okay by God himself, that much if not all condemnation most Christians seem to be plagued with would simply be displaced?

Rich

Making A Difference

It's like the after quakes from a major earth quake, and that major earth quake I see being when man disobeyed God. Those rippling shock waves infected and affected a whole race of people born out of Adam and Eve.
The trauma and devastation that has permeated each soul born into this world may not be evident or readily seen at first, but sooner or later, as in, like what goes up has to come down, what has been hidden from view under a thin veneer, covering the 'best of lives' will become evident, a need to be loved.

Apart from experiencing the present and endless love of God in Christ Jesus, there is little hope or reason for wanting to delay the inevitable awaiting each of us.
I love the reality that is bursting slowing into my world, and with it bringing such sobriety.
Is it really any different than it was 2,000 years ago when the God man showed up and how as he grew as a man and God, without few exceptions, nobody knew that Jesus was God in the flesh. Not since the fall of man had God been able to come into man's world without terrorizing him...He was incognito.
Is that not what is happening today, once again He is incognito in me, and others?

My wife shared with me some very real battles she faces that I don't see being particularly unique to herself, but none the less very real. Many on her staff compliment. praise and affirm her in her being so patient, kind, considerate etc toward her children at school.
Somehow she thinks, if they only knew the selfish me, would they be so inclined to freely say such wonderful and kind things?

What appeared to be most evident to me with her dilemma was sharing this with her. Jesus said we were to live in such a way that in all that we do, people would see through our actions-works, Him our Heavenly Father.
I encouraged her to know that those, how ever far away in seeing or knowing this 'from a distance God', were in fact seeing Him in and through her actions, a least a wonderful glimpse of Him, and His heart for those that do not believe in Him yet.
I encouraged her to acknowledge Him in all of this, Hey Jesus, Father, look and listen to what all these people are saying about YOU!!

If we are not coming into contact with His loving heart for us, we will simply exist, putting in time until we check out, but in experiencing the one and only true source of unconditional love, it will continue to free me/us to be a self-for-others. Being aware, of His love for others around us, frees us in so many different ways to simply love people, with no agenda other than having freely received of His love wanting to express it in tangible everyday ways.

It is becoming very evident to me as I continue to grow and learn of His love for me, that in my daily involvement and interacting with others that the Living God I know as my Father, is touching these very people in ways that go far beyond my understanding.

Rich

Coming Into The Light

I wonder if we view our Father's correction through the eyes/mindset of shame, how can we not perceive Him actually rejecting us?
Without the needed ongoing correction being brought into our lives (the proof of His love is in fact, Him correcting us) we will have His image in us but not His likeness.

Hebrews 12:7-9 (The Message)

In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So don't feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children?
My dear child, don't shrug off God's discipline, but don't be crushed by it either. It's the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects.
God is educating you; that's why you must never drop out. He's treating you as dear children. This trouble you're in isn't punishment; it's training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God's training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God's holy best. At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.

Maybe it's because of not knowing/seeing the truth of who we are (how we ARE accepted in Him) and who we are becoming, that the only recourse for so many is in trying to obey the rules, making the outside of the cup to look so pretty, while all the time hidden inside is one cowering in shame.
Without coming to know of our acceptance in the Father's love, we will work hard at being known for who we're not....'If folks really knew me, they would reject me.' If we believe God (the Father) sees us as losers, then why try to be someone we're not?

One of the greatest benefits of walking free of this shame, is being set free to BE the person He has called us to be, before sin ever entered the world.

Rich

Not Kingdom People, But Family

Many Christians speak of being "kingdom people."
The point of Christianity, as many see it, is to get into the kingdom of God, or to take hold of the kingdom.
This mistaken idea is another offshoot of the lack of clear understanding about not only who we are, but also about relationship. Many in the body do not understand their true relationship with the Father. God has only two roles--that of King and that of Father. What many Christians do not understand is that the role of Father is more precious to God than the role of King. God is King over all creation. Every person on the face of the earth will one day acknowledge God's sovereignty. However, only God's children can call Him "Father." We often do not understand that the kingdom refers to the nation of Israel, not to Christians. It was never God's intention that we were to become kingdom people. Our relationship is deeper and more intimate than a kingdom relationship.

Many of Jesus' teachings show that there is a definite difference between the kingdom people and the children of God, for example, "I say unto you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 8:11-12)
How can Jesus say both that many will come to the kingdom and that the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown out? Obviously, Jesus speaks here of two different kingdoms.

The first kingdom Christ refers to in this passage is the kingdom of heaven. This kingdom is the family of God. The second kingdom mentioned is the kingdom of earthly people, or Israel. Being members of God's family is a relational matter which is not dissolvable. Membership in an earthly kingdom is a temporary state of affairs and can change with changing situations. It is for this reason that when a Jew accepts Christ, he is reborn and ceases to be a Jew. Just as anyone who accepts Christ ceases to be who they once were and becomes something new--a Christ-person (2 Corinthians 5:17).
If the idea of loosing your national, racial, or cultural identity is offensive to you, there is a question you need to ask yourself. You need to ask yourself, "Is my culture or racial identity more important to me than Christ?"

Too often, the people of the family of God are trying to establish themselves in a lower place that God would have for them. Often the Father's children try to be citizens of an earthly nation or God's employees or to engage in some other non-personal relationship. God's desire, however, is that we should have a personal relationship with Him. God seeks from us intimacy in our relationship with Him. God desires the intimacy of family relationship, because this is a permanent state of relation. It is because God is eternal that He desires permanence in His relations with us. Employees are hindered and fired. Citizens can be exiled or banished. But children are children forever. It is the permanent family relationship that God desires to have with us.

Rich

Excerpt taken from my good friend Bill Lnadon, from his book, Life In The Leper Colony

Darkness, Trying To Be Light

In my opinion, what was offered in the garden of Eden, was a heart relationship with God the Father. That was not fully realized in that they (man) choose to accept the lies of another father, the 'father of lies' as Jesus referred to him.

There is no sense in trying to copy something that has no intrinsic value, you won't see any bogus brown paper lunch bags being made, why, they are of little worth.

What was being offered on the baited hook of the serpents offer to Adam and Eve was in its purest form, nothing but religion, in fact I see Satan disguised as the serpent being the father of all religion. Could the heart beat of religion be, that Satan wanted to be worshiped as god?

In giving man the freedom to choose, i.e. the two trees in the garden,God was setting man up so that he could serve somebody....Bob Dylan sang a song about that I think?
Man was created to be dependent upon another for the impetus to be propelled forward in his living, the lie or at least part of it was that he, in listening to the serpent, thought he could be self-propelled. (self-governed)

Question, how can that which was created to be dependent upon another ever become independent? Man choosing to imbibe in the lie, saw himself becoming what appeared to be, independent.

Is it a religious contract the Father offers to us today, our is it to know Him? I am come that you might have Life!!

Rich

He is the Life-Way-Reality

It's not our ideas that define the truth-reality, it is Him in us wanting to bring us into the Truth, defining that which is real.
This realness (reality) will be the only thing that can transform us-set us free..free from what, evil, bad stuff? No, more often than not what I see Him setting me free from is anything that has tried to take the place of knowing Him as my all.

Is it possible to have a 'faith' passed down to us by others, as it was in the case of Job..the basis of his faith hinged upon the repeated oral teachings from father to son.
It was only after all hell was loosed upon Job that he was brought into contact with the One who allowed this hellish nightmare to be unleashed in his life.
His faith-relationship was now dependent upon the truth of seeing God for himself.

Job answered God: "I'm convinced: You can do anything and everything. Nothing and no one can upset your plans.You asked, 'Who is this muddying the water, ignorantly confusing the issue, second-guessing my purposes?'I admit it. I was the one. I babbled on about things far beyond me, made small talk about wonders way over my head.You told me, 'Listen, and let me do the talking. Let me ask the questions. You give the answers.'I admit I once lived by rumors of you; now I have it all firsthand—from my own eyes and ears!I'm sorry—forgive me. I'll never do that again, I promise! I'll never again live on crusts of hearsay, crumbs of rumor."

Who do you say that I AM?

Rich

His Life, The True Matrix

After reading something from another blog, I would like to share my thoughts here.

‘Once you’ve stepped out of the bonds of organized religion and come face to face with the fresh reality of your relationship with your Father, something slowly begins to happen.’

I’m wondering about your thought here? Is/was ‘organized religion’ restricted/confined within a set place/building/program etc?
Where it talks about not letting the world squeeze us into its mold, (but be transformed by the living breathing Matrix of Christ in you) maybe speaks of the fact that all/the whole world outside of knowing Christ as our only Life is religion in one form, flavor or color?

I often see this kind of thinking, that it all ends by stepping away from the building/temple worship and all that clings to that one expression of religion, but in fact the father of religion is resident within all flesh, relentlessly appealing to our yet imperfect soul to imbibe in something not necessarily bad/evil, but in fact a mere substitute for Him as our All.

Rich

A Consuming Fire

What is about to be unleashed upon the earth is a storm unparalleled, this will eclipse all other storms, and yet He speaks to me, 'Let not your heart be troubled (unbelieving) be of good cheer, for I have over come the world.'

I am beginning to recognize that the physical storms are nothing in and of them selves, but they must come to bring to the surface the truth of what/Who is real in me.Jesus spoke long ago to His disciples, follow me, it has not changed, He speaks to me/us today, Follow Me.
I will never face, or overcome the storms of life while pretending there are no storms hidden within my soul.

You have breathed your Life/breath into me, the wind of your Spirit is wreaking havoc from deep within, oh how I welcome this Holy terror, this impenetrable darkness gnaws at my bones, come devour me.

Rich

Try me, and know my anxieties

"Many of us have been brought up to believe that to judge is wrong but to discern is alright; judgment is negative, discernment is positive. Somehow discerning and perceiving sounds much better (and more 'spiritual') to us than 'judging'. However, our English dictionaries define discernment as judgment and judgment as "discernment - making critical distinctions to achieve a balanced viewpoint".


Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God!

Father, the longing of my being is to see You, to have a singleness of vision. Make my eye single, that my whole body might be filled with Light.

Rich

Committing Adultery with the Bride of Christ

Often eunuchs were put in charge of a King’s harem for the obvious reason that they had been emasculated, therefore no sexual appetite or desire would interfere with their job assignment, and involvement in the many needed and necessary duties assigned by the king. Frequently, these duties would involve the eunuch being in very close proximity to women when performing their purification preparations. They would see the women partially or totally disrobed, and would even assist in overseeing the proper bathing protocol. These women were the King’s property and any hint of sexual impropriety would not only contaminate the woman (whose life would quickly be snuffed out), but the eunuch in charge would meet with the severest and most gruesome of punishments.

What I believe I am seeing is this: we all have egos, and the degree to which my longing or needs are not met in Him alone, I will be a moving target for the enemy of my soul to entice me to take that which is His and use it for my own selfish unrestrained appetites – much like Lucifer trying to steal the glory of the Father. My involvement in and amongst the body of Christ will be (whether consciously or not) to solicit or steal the heart affections of a member of His bride to meet some unmet need within my soul. In other words, I see it being very possible to commit spiritual adultery with another Man’s wife-to-be. How is this possible? Let’s say in my soul I crave affirmation, attention or recognition and I love to hear how my spiritual insights or counsel bless others. Let’s say those insights or counsel are spoken to someone who craves (in his/her soul) someone to lead them, to advise them, to comfort them – a role that should be fulfilled by the Lord alone. That person would look to ME instead of to the Lord, and in that sense I would be committing spiritual adultery.

The real inner workings of a man always seem to be where he cannot see, in the depths of the heart, where the motives and the intents dwell. The enemy of our soul knows exactly where the twisted areas of our soul are, and he seduces us from those vantage points.

However, as one brother put it, ‘the whole discipline of life is to enable us to enter into this closest relationship with Jesus Christ’ (becoming His friend, meaning identity in thought and heart and spirit), and a friend does not usurp that which is not rightfully his.

I like how plainly ‘The Message’ reads:

‘John answered, "It's not possible for a person to succeed—I'm talking about eternal success—without heaven's help. You yourselves were there when I made it public that I was not the Messiah but simply the one sent ahead of him to get things ready. The one who gets the bride is, by definition, the bridegroom. And the bridegroom's friend, his 'best man'—that's me—in place at his side where he can hear every word, is genuinely happy. How could he be jealous when he knows that the wedding is finished and the marriage is off to a good start? That's why my cup is running over. This is the assigned moment for him to move into the center, while I slip off to the sidelines.”

We need to be ever soberly vigilant that we direct others to depend upon the Lord, and not on us or anyone else, be they preachers, teachers, evangelists or brothers or sisters in the Lord lest we discover, too late, that we have stolen the affections of His Bride.

Rich

Communicating Truth

This is in response to a comment made on my last entry on my blog yesterday.

Bro,

I don't know that we're even talking about the same thing, but thank you for your thoughts.

What I tried to share in my last entry on my blog wasn't about some little glitch, or annoying speed bump, it has hounded me all of my journey with Him.
The beautiful thing is I do not need anyone to see or understand what the hell I'm trying to say.
I have and I will probably continue trying to fill that void with meaningless chit chat.
As I have shared with different ones (those I consider being of a kindred spirit) most of my life as a Christ one, I have played the role of a spiritual prostitute, willing to do almost anything to fit in, belong, connect..whatever it took. Really not much different than how I lived before coming to Christ.

I'm tired of lying to myself in the name of God for the glory of God shit. I'm tired of eating (stuffing myself) on cotton candy, or as I like to call it, soul cocaine, to try and fill that void created by my Father for one purpose..to KNOW Him!!

I'm including some comments from my dear Friend and Brother Dave left on my blog after I crashed and went to bed with a horribly sore back and yes, feeling so over whelmed in the sea of loneliness.

Rich

Dave said...

Maybe in all that we've been going through lately... we're realizing that we are dying to that need for fellowship that is more the "mutual accommodation of self needs" (as Wayne has said somewhere).
That need for visibility, acceptance, vindication, me, me, me. And we are seeing what we've known for a long while... that only He can meet that need... only He can fill that loneliness.
The GJ forum can be that substitute for sure. Looking for love and Life in all the wrong places.
So maybe it's a matter of seeing with new eyes. Seeing and embracing real fellowship... not for what we get out of it but a fellowship of serving others and laying down our agendas and needs that we might be free to draw others to Him.

Loneliness

In sharing with my brother Dave today, we put out many different thoughts out to dry like laundry blowing in the wind.
No iron clad definite conclusions, but for certain, a continuing gnawing upon our souls.

Before I share some of my thoughts I sent to my brother after our time of thinking out loud earlier today, I want to scratch and sniff this new fragrance.
It's called Canned Son Shine, that original fragrance from the mountain top experience.

Can you use your imagination for a moment we me, let's pretend shall we.
If you are familiar with the story where Jesus takes Peter, James and John with him up to the mountain top, and suddenly it says, Jesus was transfigured before their very eyes, He became brighter than the noon day sun.
Many things happened there, but this one I am speaking of sticks in my memory like an egg to a frying pan with all of the Teflon gone.

Peter immediately thinks this unearthly moment should be captured for posterity sake.
He bursts out, 'Lord it is good we are with you, seeing all of this splendor. lets build three booths, one for Elijah, another for Moses and of course, one for you.
Canned Son Shine! You know so when things get dull, lonely, boring or whatever, we along with Peter can open our Canned Son Shine and savor that moment of splendor from long ago.
Are we, am I called to live on how others have seen Him, or are seeing Him today?
When the crunch comes which could be just about any day, am I going to quickly listen to the latest Christan pod cast, or look for someones keen insight being quoted from some brilliant somebody within Christendom?

Maybe this whole unrelenting issue of loneliness is not ever going to go away, except for when I choose to camp at the feet of some cheap substitute, and even then, it simply is used to put me to sleep, and all the time I join in on the song being sung, 'This is like heaven to me'.

Here are those thoughts I shared with my friend Dave.

Bro, I loved our sharings today! I copied and pasted all of it onto a word pad screen for Margi to read. I wanted her thoughts on it all. She loved it as well.
As she saw what we were trying to get in touch with, it is so easy to simply pitch our tents and camp or become a camp of fellowshipping saints out side of the religious box, only to use this strong desire to connect, to maybe drown out the loneliness we all are experiencing to one degree or another. Especially for those of us who were visible and vocal within the ic, so much of being so active with 'meetings' was like a narcotic to drown out the deep loneliness at least for me that never seemed to go away except for the next fix-meeting. But maybe that loneliness was meant to drive us toward Him?

Rich

Staying Fit

This past weekend was most interesting, some real ups and downs for sure. How easy it is to be or get distracted from that which is real-important, swept up into some side eddy, like a barker beckoning you to try your luck at his booth, only one dollar for three throws.

As I wrote in my first entry for the New Year of 2007, ‘Is God enough’? The things that would try and lead me to drift away from Him are not seen as evil, loathsome things at all. In fact I can be so certain it is Him leading me to do what I am doing.The never ending pull of the undercurrent of the enemy of my soul tries the same thing all over again, no new tricks up his sleeves; the old ones seem to work just fine.

I think of Paul speaking to a group of believers about how he was greatly concerned in how easily they were being led astray, allowing their heart felt devotion to one husband, Christ Jesus, to be taken from them, and possibly looking for a different lover.

Getting back to my weekend, after experiencing some very turbulent waters between my wife and I,( only because of what I am trying to say here, being deceived by that which seemed so good, and yet was in fact the enemy of the best) we were, I was, able to see how if I am not sober, vigilant, I can be so easily sucked into something looking so good, and yet be so void of Life and lasting fulfillment. I’m grateful the Lord is a jealous lover, and His jealousy is a constant thwarting of anything I do, and finding out, only He will satisfy the longing in my soul.

I am so grateful for how my Father spoke such life and healing once again into the core of my being yesterday morning through my precious wife, once again seeing so much more clearly that which is important-Him, He is enough!!

As I was reading from 1st Timothy this morning, these were some beautiful words of love drawing my soul unto my Lover, chasing the cobwebs from my eyes.

Rich

Stay clear of silly stories that get dressed up as religion. Exercise daily in God—no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gymnasium are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. You can count on this. Take it to heart. This is why we've thrown ourselves into this venture so totally. We're banking on the living God, Saviour of all men and women, especially believers.

Running Hard

But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses.

I'm charging you before the life-giving God and before Christ, who took his stand before Pontius Pilate and didn't give an inch: Keep this command to the letter, and don't slack off. Our Master, Jesus Christ, is on his way. He'll show up right on time, his arrival guaranteed by the Blessed and Undisputed Ruler, High King, High God. He's the only one death can't touch, his light so bright no one can get close. He's never been seen by human eyes—human eyes can't take him in! Honor to him, and eternal rule! Oh, yes.

Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage—to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life.

And oh, my dear Timothy, guard the treasure you were given! Guard it with your life. Avoid the talk-show religion and the practiced confusion of the so-called experts. People caught up in a lot of talk can miss the whole point of faith.

Overwhelming grace keep you!

How Could This Not Be God?

Location: entrance to heaven

Cast: Ministers, preachers, teachers, televangelists, leaders of small groups or bible studies, facilitators, etc.

Background: These people have devoted their lives to helping others. All have followings. All are highly regarded, respected, 'looked up to'. All believe they were 'called'. But - at their death, all are horrified at what they see. They see that in essence, they have robbed God. Stolen from Him, taking what was rightfully His... for themselves. How could this be? Because innate in every human is the flesh (born in sin, shaped in iniquity) and Satan appeals to human ego from that vantage point. What was his initial lie in the Garden? It's this: God's not enough!

People are ALWAYS looking for someone to lead them. It is as true today as it was in Moses' day. They don't think they can hear from God themselves, and those in positions of authority are all too eager to agree with them. So, some charismatic, affable individual comes along who has spiritual 'insights', who is 'mature', who can help the poor misguided find their way, who can lead the sheep to pasture, and the sheep willingly acquiesce. We have all marveled at this phenomenon - how nice, ordinary, everyday people-next-door types could give up everything to follow the Jim Joneses of the world to South America, eventually going so far as to drink poison Kool-Ade simply because he told them to do so!

The point is - we all must be vigilant as to the secret desires and motives of our hearts. Satan can and DOES appeal to us as an angel of light. Things that look to us to be so good are not necessarily so. If we are brutally honest with ourselves, we have to ask some very direct questions - Why am I doing this? Am I deluding myself? Is God really in this, or am I being seduced by the father of lies to satisfy my own lusts? Do I have a deep desire to be recognized, to be noticed, to get attention, to be appreciated, to be flattered, to be needed...? If so, am I attributing these fleshly cravings to God? "God called me". "God led me". "God has directed me". Oh, really? The enemy is nothing if not subtle and diabolically devious to the point where the very elect can be deceived!

So to get back to the issue of robbing God: how many pastors, preachers, teachers, etc. have taken God's place in the lives of His precious children? Who do these people listen to? Who do they run to for guidance or comfort? Who instructs them? Who advises them, who helps them along the way? Who do they look up to?

I once heard it said, "God is not enough. We also need each other". If that's true, what about the naked, cold saint of God who's wasting away in a damp prison cell in solitary confinement, and all because he loves the Lord? Is God not enough for him?

We are all responsible for our choices - those in positions of authority and those who follow them. If we think God is not enough, then we'll listen to and follow the teachings of others. If we think God is not enough, we'll set ourselves up as spiritual leaders. It all looks so good and innocent, but the basis of it all is Satan, twisting and perverting. If he can't keep us from being born again, he'll keep us from knowing our identity in Christ. We'll eventually make it to heaven, yes, but at what cost?

So here's the bottom line: Is God enough?

Rich

A Thankful Heart

Father, I thank you for allowing me to experience You, to know You!
The many experiences I have had in following you have never been given to make me shine, look special, it is only in experiencing you, my Father, this alone, truly satisfies the longing in my heart.

Rich

Embracing The Light

A quick thought here before I head out to work.

I am enjoying like a pig in mud my new note book.
I try as best I can to keep it tidy and neat inside and out. I usually use it (although it is hooked up to a wireless router) in our main PC room, in there at best I'm working with lamp lighting and some outside light coming in through the window.
I can look at my screen and say it looks very clean, but take it out on my dinning room table and let the Son shine touch the screen, and ouch, what filth, dust all over it..how the hail did that get thar??

All of this to say...The Father's heart alive in our King, Jesus, is going to address our thoughts regarding His kingdom, and they, our thoughts just might be in disarray.

When Jesus was about to confer upon his beloved friends a Kingdom, and walked it out in the upper room, when He striped himself down to a servant and proceeded to wash Peter's feet, there was a NO from Peter, No Lord you will not do this to me.
Jesus said, unless you allow me to do this you will have No part in Me.

He is that Light shinning ever so much more brightly into our hearts, and I welcome it.
There will be NO decreasing without seeing Him! None!

So much of what most of us believe is pre Job 42..you know, all that Job knew of God was founded in what others had said..after Job 42 we see it is in his seeing God for himself, that his life took a drastic turn.
It is in His light we will see.
Shine Jesus shine. Who do you say that I AM?

Rich

King Of King's And Lord Of Lord's

He was, and ever shall be, The King of Kings and Lord of Lords-Jesus Christ!

The Father's foolishness will always be so much more wiser than man's so called smarts.
In sending His son, how could this be construed as a threat? He didn't come leading a army of soldiers mighty in battle arrayed with all of the trappings of military might.
How could this unseen fetus growing in the womb of a young virgin maiden be a threat to the Prince of darkness and all of his hordes?
Why would Satan suddenly seem to come unglued in his attempts to set into motion such devastating destruction to stop this One?

Did this One come as an invader, ushering in an invasion? Or did he come to make known that which has been buried/hidden from all eyes..the revelation of His Father heart for man?
Without seeing His heart FOR us, all of the kingdom speak will be just that, more religious verbiage.
In this unknown child, Jesus, was hidden to the world, the unspeakable gift..the Father's heart!
This was not an invasion of military pomp, might and majesty, it was a royal invitation to receive His gift to us.

More to follow... Part 2..Satan Stole, Jesus Invited.

Rich

Open My Eyes Lord

Religion Can't Save You

Romans 2:18-20 (The Message)

If you're brought up Jewish, don't assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you're an insider to God's revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God's revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I'm quite serious. While preaching "Don't steal!" are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, "It's because of you Jews that the outsiders are down on God," shows it's an old problem that isn't going to go away.

I trust that my heavenly Father is healing me of my blindness of heart.
Not knowing and continuing to grow in the true knowledge of God's love for us becomes fertile soil for all kinds of weeds to grow, which only hinder us from seeing clearly as He sees.
Speaking for myself, in my own life, I am slowly beginning to know a dimension and security of the Father's love whereby I can not only make room and allowances for my halt and lameness often coming to the surface from within my soul, but also in the lives of others.

There is a story in the New Testament where it says that Jesus came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho, great crowds followed along, there along the way was a blind man, Bartimaeus, when he heard that it was Jesus, he yelled out for him to have mercy upon him.
The crowd thought this to be most inappropriate, and told him so......BE QUIET!~SHUT UP!
Recognizing his desperate need, this blind man yelled out even the louder. He was ushered into Jesus presence, and as we know, those having read this account, he was healed.

The blind although very much saved, whatever that might mean, are in my opinion in many cases doing just the opposite from what well meaning Chrischuns are telling them..be quite, there, there, now now!
It seems to be incongruous to be a Christan and yet be so needy, yes needy, I thought it was the needy that qualify for the Doctors help?

I am learning it is only in being as real as I know how to be with Him, my Father, that I can be truly comforted, and in like manner can I comfort others with His comfort.
I want to make room for the crippled, lame, blind and halt of soul whoever where ever they might be, rather than giving them something that only anesthetizes their symptoms.

Rich

Swimming Upstream

Getting back to that infamous Sunday morning when I heard the 'Voice'.
I was trying to fit in, going through the motions at least, when suddenly what I saw next was most perplexing. It was as if I was at a big screen movie showing. There was this large and rushing water fall that seemed to descend at almost a 90 degree angle into a pool of water that stirred up much turbulence.
There were many large fish floating belly up from having tried to go against the vicious current, and as I pondered upon this site one of the live fish swam up to me singing, this is like heaven to me.
I immediately said..NO, this not like heaven at all.
It was as if this fish could read my thoughts, pointing out what was stirring hidden within my thoughts..you're not thinking of trying to go up stream are you? To which I replied-YES. He then said, you know you will be killed if you try, I said, yes that is most likely true, but this I know, if I stay here I am already dead!

It was on the heels of this sight, I then heard my Father speaking to me and giving me an invitation, you can go and live, or stay and die.I had no understanding of what awaited my going and living, why, because my whole identity was barnacled to the sinking ship of religious temple service/activity.


Staying and dying I knew only to well, that trough I had been feeding out of for some time.

This had to be one of the saddest and at the same time painful days of my life. Everything I had ever wanted, everything I had known was connected to being in the 'ministry', I had been willing to sacrifice anything in order to follow Him. Going and living was most appealing, vs. staying and dying, but..was there Life outside of temple worship and all that had shackled me there?

I sat on what I saw and heard for some time, only sharing with my wife the events. I later shared this with my pastor my once fellow colleague, and he blessed me/us in cutting our ropes from the ship of religion, although he had no more understanding than I did at the time, but I knew to do anything less was now not an option.

This dismantling of my/our lives was set into motion in an accelerated fashion, there was no escaping our appointment with being buried alive.
It's funny how Father brings things back to our memory, especially during this most suffocating time.
He spoke to my heart about that time back in the 70's when it was cool/fashionable to have friends write a blessing of some kind in the fly leaf of our bible, I remember our pastor writing from Phil. 3..That I might know Him etc..The Lord was now speaking to me saying, you had that written in the fly leaf of your bible, but I am going to write it into your heart.

No man is going to see God and live, there has to be a death, or better yet a continuous dying, being separated from the lies of that which had fashioned my identity was much like a petrified corpse, and Satan was not going to roll over and play dead in seeing me delivered.The daily deliverance of trusting Him to save me from returning to those lies, is an ever living gift of His love.

Those were the days my friend, we thought they would never end, the song says, and yes that was but the beginning of being awakened to a world/realm of living that had no ties or connections to temple living/worship.
This newly found and unfolding discovery of Him being my freedom was most humbling as well as unnerving. His intention was to finish that which He had begun, but there were many more tunnels to yet pass through.
The illusion we buy into, is that once you have been through something as crushing and dismantling as what I and so many others have faced, you are into a zen like flow now.How wrong can you be. There are seasons of the soul, and the Father's training is prolonged until we get home.

Are we there yet??

Rich

Disillusioned...Or....Dismantled?

I remember that fateful morning looking back seemingly so far and long ago. Sitting or perched in my spot within the sanctified building enduring another Sunday morning 'church service'. To this day I have NO recollection of anything that was going on around me that morning, but I was THERE!

There is so much that precedes this snap shot moment in my story, but suffice it to say, long before this morning of the axe being laid to the root of my tree, I had said to God, 'Lord, I do not want to ever even think of leaving or doing anything that is simply me being disillusioned or being impulsive.'
When I said this I meant it, but never dreamed He would in fact be confronting me, as He put it, 'You can go and Live, or stay and Die'!What He was saying to me has no reflection upon those (my brothers and sisters in Christ) who were there with me that morning, I have no idea of what, or anything He might have been saying to them, BUT, I was wide awake to Him speaking to me.

Its as if I was dreaming, or as Ray (Kevin Costner) Kinsella said in the movie the Field of Dreams.."I'm 36 years old, I love my family, I love baseball, and I'm about to become a farmer. But until I heard the voice, I'd never done a crazy thing in my whole life." I'm throwing this other quote in here as well re: dreaming..I love this conversation taking place in the movie..."Is this heaven? No, its Iowa! Iowa? I could have sworn this was heaven. Is there a heaven? Oh yeah. It's the place where dreams come true...maybe this is heaven."

Well I had done some very crazy things in my life and walk with the Lord up to this point, but there was more unfolding than simply being disillusioned here.It was the worst of times that morning as well as the best of times, but, it was just the beginning of my world being dismantled.
Thank you Father.
He then proceeded to fill in some of the blanks for me..Stay tuned.

Rich

Nothing Is As It Appears To Be

If the whole world lies under the power or influence of (the evil one) Satan, then everything outside of Christ is religion!

Nothing is as it appears to be, we live in world of illusion, which has been pulled over our minds, making all of us prisoners to the Matrix that the father of religion has constructed.

Religion, no matter what color, size, shape or packaging it comes in, is powerless to keep a person ensnared without there being something hidden from sight, some impetus that gives the Matrix of religion its enslaving power.
That power is Satan working, maintaining and keeping this illusion alive and well in to many minds (souls) to count.

The movie The Island, clearly depicts this subterfuge of the Matrix, as soon as there is the slightest rip, or tears in the fabric of the lie/s being used to keep minds held captive, something happens as in a shift of focus to distract one from ever seeing the Truth, but as the truth is revealed to the two main characters in the movie, they are used to free the rest of those still imprisoned.

For all of us who have been rebirthed, the truth is at first and best simply (although we use the right language) a conceptual thing.Seeing the truth as in the person of the Christ is not what the father of lies and religion can ever afford anyone to see.

The Truth sets the clouded mind free, as so well put by Paul when sharing with certain believers, ‘Who has bewitched or beguiled you’?Religion at best is bewitching, casting as it were a spell over the soul, giving the impression of freedom which is its power of illusion.

So many are becoming disillusioned in and with churchianity, but this is just the beginning, it will take much more than being disillusioned to be extricated from this prison house. The house will have to be torn down; unfortunately it is in the demolishing of this structure, which is defined in us as an identity that is false. (A form of godliness, but no substance to it)
As this process of separation unfolds the temptation to want to take the ‘blue pill vs. the red pill’ (see the movie The Matrix) will never be so real.

Hells lies are being exposed for what they are in light of Him the Truth. Our enemy although defeated by the One, who is our only Life resident in us, knows whether we know Him as Truth or simply a mind-conceptual thing.
He (Satan) will, and is contesting this attempt of the light shinning into the darkness. He knows that a person can not loose their salvation, but, he also knows that through trickery and cunning deceit, he can keep the believer from ever becoming a threat to the lies that still keep so many captive to the Matrix of religion.

The saying, “Most have more faith in Satan’s ability to deceive us then in God’s ability to lead us” has never been truer than in the hour we now live.
Jesus constantly used comparisons-contrasts…I am the ‘True vine, bread, shepherd etc.’ there is the Father, and then there is the father of lies as Jesus referred to Satan.It seems in our not knowing Him as our only Life; we readily accept the word-voice of the father of lies instead. Our blindness in not seeing and in hearing the lover of our soul speaking to us, further ensures our prolonged stay in the prison of the matrix.

Rich

Shape Shifter

I was watching an episode of the X-Files the other night, and the story reminded me of something that is becoming very clear to me.

Shape-Shifter ~One that seems to be able to change form or identity at will.

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."

Mulder and Sculley were investigating a supposed murder and in the process of their investigation stumbled into discovering a cave, but before they went into this cave they accidental stepped on some mushrooms that exploded with a release of spores.
Little did either of them know, that by stepping on those mushrooms and ingesting the spores, that this was a deliberate and planed strategy by something that had no resemblance to what was going to try and kill both of them.
Deep beneath the surface there was this plant life that covered numerous acres, it was a fungus plant life that needed to feed on living (human) tissue. Before it could begin its work of dissolving the tissue, it attacked their minds, sedating the victim and rendering then powerless. Maybe this looks something like this in one of the conversations Paul was having with a group of believers.

Paul: "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.It seems that if someone shows up preaching quite another Jesus than we preached—different spirit, different message—you put up with him quite nicely."

I think Paul saw through the smoke screen here and was warning them and us that there are no other options to consider in knowing Freedom. The baited hook that was and is offered to us all as it was in this setting was an enlightenment, but hidden within it was the entrapment.

All the time, in this case with Mulder and Sculley the hallucinogenics from the spores from the mushrooms were working in giving then the illusion of being somewhere else, living their normal existence, but in fact they were being slowly dissolved by this fungus.
They both ended up escaping, but just barely.

Isn't it interesting that Satan can not stop the miracle of grace translating a person out of his kingdom into the realm of the Father, but it does not mean by a long shot that he simply rolls over and says, the hell with it!He is the hidden shape-shifter in us all, and until, (and this is a process), we come to see that even though rebirthed, we can still be very busy, according to our understanding, following hard after God, doing the stuff, whatever that might be. But maybe as in the episode I watched, the hallucinogens of religion working its work in us, gives us something tangible, measurable, what we think is really happening, but in fact we're going fast nowhere.

It was for this purpose that the Son of God was manifested in the flesh, that he might destroy the enemy's bewitching/beguiling works, or release us from the religious Matrix that wants to keep us trying, resorting to our efforts to please God, by trying just a bit harder.

Why is it so soon in most cases after a person has been rebirthed they end up sucked into something so far from reality? Maybe it is because we are trying to mix or blend this relationship with the Father with something that has nothing to do with Life.
The shape-shifter (Satan) hidden within our flesh is working through the hallucinogens of religion to keep us believing we are in fact pursuing and pleasing God.

Our enemy knows that there is only one thing that can shift and shape our being and that is the Love of the Father, and so he works with whatever it takes to keep the believer fixated on lies that will flatter the persons fleshly ego.

I love this quote from A.W. Tozer.."We are to a large degree the sum of our loves and we will of moral necessity grow into the image of what we love most; for love is among other things a creative affinity. It changes and molds and shapes and transforms. It is without doubt the most powerful agent affecting human nature next to the direct action of the Holy Spirit of God within the soul."

Rich

More Thoughts On Family

I read this, this morning, and reflecting upon it, I see some things that tie in with what I posted earlier regarding seeing who and what ‘family’ just might be.

As our loving Father brings in the needed and ongoing separation between our spirit and our soul, that internal separation will spell (and spill out) more often than not an external separation, i.e. great loneliness, and isolation, but there is a divine and loving heart behind all of this newly discovered prolonged pain.

It has nothing to do with trying to be better than (there is nothing sacred about being sanctimonious) or trying harder to please God by trying harder. But in fact it is us being drawn into a realm of reality that yielded to will bring forth Life out of death, Light out of darkness, but it is a process, being processed by the very Word that was fully processed by the same Father, our Father!

How many times has this same story unfolded through out the centuries, from the earliest of times even shortly after the church was birthed on the day of Pentecost?

“Christians have always tended to transform the Christian Revelation into a Christian religion. People tend to transform Christianity into a religion because the Christian faith obviously places people in an extremely uncomfortable position: ­ that of freedom guided only by love and all in the context of God's radical demand that we be holy.”

I wonder as I am being awakened in this new world of His reality, ‘without holiness, no man shall see God?’
The Holy One is in His temple, in me, but is this reality worth all that it will cost me?
Lord, be it done in me according to your Word!

Rich

Faith vs Belief by Jacques Ellul

Belief provides answers to people's questions, so as to find assurance and provide a solution; so as to fashion for themselves a system of beliefs. Faith is not to supply us with explanation, but to get us to listen to God's questions. Belief talks and talks, it wallows in words, it takes the initiative to explain. Faith listens patiently. Belief brings people together, joined in the same institutional current, oriented toward the same object of belief, sharing the same ideas, following the same rituals, enrolled in the same organization, speaking the same language. It has the social benefit of consensus and identification. Faith individualizes. It has to do with a personal relationship with God in which God confers each with unique identity. Faith separates people and makes them unique, set apart for what God wants to do. Belief is antithetical to doubt. It is the basis of fundamentalism; people unbending in their convictions, intolerant of any deviation. In their articulation of belief they press rigor and absolutism to their limits. Belief is rapidly transformed into passwords, rites, orthodoxy. Faith recognizes doubt. Faith puts to the test every element of my life and society. It leads me to question all my certitudes, all my moralities, beliefs, and policies. It forbids me to attach ultimate significance to any expression of human activity."

taken from Jacques Ellul - Living Faith.

Obedience is Thicker Than Blood-The Truth Hurts

The reality and Life of the Father suddenly appears to burp up into our consciousness and this is but the beginnings of great turmoil and pain!
Why? We either continue to play the game (make believe) or we dare look into seeing how deep this rabbit hole in fact just might be.
In the process of trying to share our pain, confusion, with 'family' as a direct result (although this is not seen at first) of the Life of the Father gripping ones soul and only being brought to a place of total bewilderment when those faces do not reflect a message of, wow, oh yes, I understand what you are saying, going through. If anyone should understand it, it would be family..right? Maybe we need to take a fresh look at who and what family just might BE.

I love the story a friend of Wayne Jacobson's (Jack) shared with him on a recent pod cast, http://www.thegodjourney.com/wordpress/index.php

'When You Can't Play The Game Any Longer', and it is this part in particular I want to capture, as it ties in so well.

"I don't understand this, I'm sharing with family and yet something is wrong. He later came to realize he wasn't sharing with family, he was sharing with dear,dear friends,very good friends, but they weren't family, they weren't people on the same journey. They were just good people, good Christan's trying harder to please God by trying harder."

I know the Father is no respecter of persons, but just maybe he is a respecter of hearts..you know, Man judges a book by its cover, sees man on the outside, but our Father looks upon the heart.

Here is an interesting scenario unfolding as Jesus is interrupted while sharing His heart with the people..

Matthew 12 (The Message)46-47
While he was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers showed up. They were outside trying to get a message to him. Someone told Jesus, "Your mother and brothers are out here, wanting to speak with you."
48-50 Jesus didn't respond directly, but said, "Who do you think my mother and brothers are?" He then stretched out his hand toward his disciples. "Look closely. These are my mother and brothers. Obedience is thicker than blood. The person who obeys my heavenly Father's will is my brother and sister and mother."

This isn't about me-us vs them, but it is very much about learning who my family..brothers and sisters are. There are those who are sent ahead as it were into this living hellish crucible and coming out of it on the other side, much like how it is portrayed in science fiction shows when someone passes through a worm hole. They have come into a whole new world of reality that may not have anything to do with how they sized things up (measured reality) in their previous world.

We have all been born in sin and shaped (defined by its power) in iniquity. Maybe I, we, are not the people we think we are.
Maybe this Jesus~meek and mild, won't hurt a child is not the (Aslan) Jesus that rebirthed us? He is a Lion, but He is not tame. In this Lion there is the Lamb.

Everything within us has been defined, shaped by this death-life we inherited by being born into the human race. How can that which is man, created to be dependent, ever become independent, and yet that is the lie all of us have partaken of.
The illusion is that we are our own god, living independently of the True God, but in fact Satan living in our flesh has blinded us from seeing that in our defiance of not looking to Him as our All, we became totally dependent upon another-Satan.
Is there any difference at all from that which Neo faced in the movie The Matrix, or as it was so excellently depicted in the movie, The Truman Story? Simply living out a pre written script for us, giving us the opiated belief that we were doing our own thing.

All of creation is standing on tip-toe with baited breath, watching diligently for the manifest sons of God to appear, to liberate them from the curse.
As Jesus went into the wine-olive press alone to be bruised, crushed and broken, so we to are invited to share in His triumph.
It is in coming out on the other side of these most necessary times that we will be there for those being unplugged from the Matrix of religion and Being Him to them.

Rich

Self-Discovery

Some words from ...Norman P. Grubb
Karuizawa Japan Conference of 1954Topic: “The Liberated Self”

"I just point out what is of course obvious to us who are Bible teachers and Bible students -- how you can trace out in almost every great life of the Bible, the period, the long period that it took for God to get a person to discover his insufficiency, to break to pieces his self-reliance, and then to replace it by God-reliance. And God-reliance is union. In every case you’ll find great moments when these men came out into union. But the union couldn’t be realized until the man had become the nothing so that God could become the everything. It couldn’t! You cannot know a free Christ inside you until you’ve been freed from yourself. You can’t know two people inside at the same time. You can’t know the indwelling Christ in His liberated presence conveying His mind to us, conveying His Word to us, conveying His power to us, and conveying His beauty and purity to us unless we’ve first of all been through that basic experience which has put out the self-sufficient self. Put it out! And it’s a real putting out. It’s as real a crucifixion for me as it is for Jesus Christ in the Spirit. When Paul said, “I am crucified,” it wasn’t a theory. It was something he had gone through. Those nails had pierced his personality even as they had pierced those Holy hands and feet. And we all no doubt take delight in digging out those simple facts for ourselves and expounding to others the evidences in the histories of the great biographies of the Bible. The years it’s taken God to give blind, earnest, utterly consecrated men such an eye opener to their helplessness, and then the replacement of their helplessness by Himself. That’s the meaning of the burning bush. We all know the story of Moses. I needn’t dwell much on these things because we know them so well."

Rich

Obedience, Or Lip Sync

I was thinking about obedience being better than sacrifice, yes I realize this is from an OT (Old Testament) quote, but hear me out.

Without knowing, (seeing-hearing) the work of the Spirit or how Father is speaking to a person, at best, most imitate/fake it, and expect there to be some kind of results. When that doesn't work, well, just try harder right??
Of course if the bottom line is.."It works" then one can't go wrong, or can they?

Knowing His love, produces (for it is Christ that works in you both to will and to do) what He desires for us.
Is Jesus looking to be flattered by us imitating Him..."Imitation is the greatest form of flattery?"

But isn't that what religion has done from the very get go? It takes Him initiating the work, we at best stumble into the outer expression, in the visible realm where it suddenly appears that we have in fact done the right thing!
Multitudes seem to be wanting to simply follow or mimic the actions of those that are 'led' by/of His spirit..you know, 'Those that are led of the spirit, they ARE the sons of God stuff!

I remember reading a story once where this person who worked in a group home for the hearing impaired as well as the deaf.
He was listening one day to some great tunes on the radio, bopping and grooving to the beat, snapping his fingers and tapping his foot. He was in sync with the beat~man.
There was this deaf boy watching this interesting drama unfolding. Not having ever had the use of his ears or being able to hear from birth, he tried to mimic the other hearing boys actions.
It was most humorous (but sad) to see, the deaf boys actions were not in time or sync with the music or beat, it was like watching a bad movie.

Isn't it much the same with what churcianity has been doing for a very long time, their inability to hear for themselves, the individual, have been imitating those that can and do hear from the Father.
Is it any wonder that this to has appeared as a bad B Japanese dubbed movie?

Is our Father lacking in creativity, or is it us, so afraid of being the one and only unique expression of Him in you, marching to His beat?

I guess there is always the option of just blending in.

Rich

Paradigm Shift, Or Amputation...Cut Off At The Knees?

Was it just a shift, a new paradigm that Saul needed in his hellish bent and determined madness of coming directly against the Lord?Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting ME?

I guess if one is 'sincere' it can't be all bad, right? Wrong!! No doubt about this mad man being sincere, but most sincerely wrong. His life was an accident looking for a place to happen.

It will never be about developing a new language, or getting the words/wording right, aka, a new paradigm. It is and continues to be an unfolding revelation of Him..He must increase, I must decrease.That sounds pretty easy, we've got the formula, lets get on with the show~ha!

It is much more than simply trying to wade through a mixture of muddled thoughts. It is going to be a hellish night mare, the Prince of Peace welding His sword and plunging (impaling) it deep into the core of our being.
His (Him being that Living Word-sword) word is sharper than any lazar man has, (man can separate the bone from the marrow) in bringing division between the spirit and the soul.
To my way of thinking this is a fulfillment of that which the Lord did through the prophet Jeremiah, Your job is to pull up and tear down, take apart and demolish,And then start over, building and planting." Sounds like fun? A piece of cake this transition will be...right?

Maybe the devastation that comes as result of His word rooting out (sorting out things aka separating) in the depths of our being might have something to do with..Blessed are those who mourn-grieve, for they shall be comforted.
What might one be mourning-grieving..maybe the lose of that which was most failure to us, that false identity we thought was really us.
As He is tearing down all that has been established within our lives that represented who we thought we were, might it not be an occasion to 'rebuke the devil', thinking, this couldn't be my Fathers work..could it?????

I am seeing more and more that this evolution-transition-transformation, is going to bring more and more instability into my equilibrium before the unshakableness of His life in me becomes evident.

I do NOT see Jesus ever saying or implying that this miracle of being transfered out of the kingdom of darkness into the marvelous kingdom of light and love of the Father is ever going uncontested by the enemy of our soul..NEVER! The gates of hell will NOT prevail, but there is going to be a contesting!
Can you just hear Jesus (according to our self-preservation) saying to Peter..Satan has asked over and over to have you..to sift you as wheat, and I have given him the okay to do this. No reason to fear Bro, the transition is going to be totally pain free~ha!

Yeah, that's what our fleshly, carnal thinking is purposing. I want to know Him deeply, I want a growing relationship with Him, but none of this ongoing work of the cross please.
It was hellishly painful for Peter to be thrust into this living nightmare at the hands of the Lord saying, go ahead Satan, give it your best shot.

Another picture that is somewhat askew in our muddled thinking, the young rich ruler asking Jesus what he needed to do to have everlasting life?
Jesus seeing that this fellow was being ruled by what he though he ruled with and over, said, go sell all that you have and give the money all away, then come and follow me.
Many would love to read it like this..Jesus speaking to the young rich ruler, Now listen up Bro, it's not as bad as you think it's going to be, I'm going to make this transition to be as painless as possible for you, remember, meek and mild, I wouldn't hurt a child Jesus...well thats me, you just keep what you have and follow me~ha!

I especially see a loving Father amputating another one at the knees, this time it being Saul of Tarsus. It wasn't just a minor tweaking, or new paradigm shift this murderer needed.
The transition was going to come out of a head on collision with the God and Father of all comfort, but first, it was going to feel much like a hellish BB-Q taking place.

Is it any wonder in the ongoing miracle of His grace bringing into alignment, our spirit with our soul, that it might be looked upon as the enemy's activity instead of a loving Father's care?

I love the real/true illustration Steve McVey used in his first book he wrote, talking about the time he rushed his son to the emergency room at the hospital, and finding out that his son was in most critical need of immediate attention to alleviate a build up to toxic poisons as a result of a blocked bladder.
The Doctor needed to insert a catheter into the boys penis, this was more than the little boy could stand, the pain had him writhing like a slippery snake.
The Doctor insisted that his dad forcefully hold his son down while this was inserted in the boy. Steve's son already consumed with fear and crying asked, Dad, why are you letting this man hurt me? Only to see his dad now forcefully holding his weight down upon his sons chest holding him still while the doctor caused even greater pain.
This was too much to bear, not just for the son, but even more so for Steve, the father.

Our Father's intention is not having us living a pain free life, in other words, His top priority is not our immediate happiness, but to be conformed into His likeness..that transition is going to be much more than 'a new learning curve-paradigm' cross over.
Our Father's continuous work is to destroy in our flesh the plans and purposes of Satan, in destroying this hidden destroyer, we will not understand much of the needed amputation taking place at all, but, do we really want new wine in an old wine skin?

Rich

A Mixed Message

Blessed are the Poor in Spirit!

Was the Father offering nothing but a religious (illusory) fantasy to the poor through His Son?
Or is that the best that religion has to offer mankind?

Who and what is the oppressor of mankind, is it not the father of all religion, Satan, hidden, incognito within all flesh, the one that torments and rules man, rather than man ruling?

Jesus said you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

"Speaking to the people, he went on, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot."

I found what Marx had to say about religion to be most insightful as far as it went, and especially that religion was but in fact a 'symptom' of a far greater disease.
This 'dis-ease', a lack of confidence, (significance, worth, value) security, strength, hope can never be found in the soul candy-cocaine that religion hands out to us!

Jesus did not come to bring Utopia to earth, or Shangri-la, but he came to give His life as a Ransom, to liberate man from the one hidden within him that was slowly but certainly destroying him.
This Peace was going to be defined in the person of God's Son, Christ Jesus...He himself said, I have not come to bring peace (in fact He was and is the Prince of Peace) but a sword.
The rule and reign of this peace is only available in His person-Life, the ability to stand, having done all...STAND! No longer being tossed to and fro by the cunning and craftiness of men.

Being extricated from the Matrix of religion is a most painful and costly adventure..as one man put it (the apostle Paul), because of this Man, I have suffered the loss of ALL things.

Rich

Is Religion the Opiate of the Masses?

This quote is reproduced a great deal and is probably the only Marx quote that most people are familiar with. Unfortunately, if someone is familiar with it they are likely only familiar with a small portion that, taken by itself, tends to give a distorted impression of what Marx had to say about religion.

Religious distress is at the same time the _expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, Or is that the best that religion the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions.Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right

Usually all one gets from the above is "Religion is the opium of the people" (with no ellipses to indicate that something has been removed).

Sometimes "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature" is included. If you compare these with the full quotation, it’s clear that a great deal more is being said than what most people are aware of.

In the above quotation Marx is saying that religion’s purpose is to create illusory fantasies for the poor. Economic realities prevent them from finding true happiness in this life, so religion tells them that this is OK because they will find true happiness in the next life. Although this is a criticism of religion, Marx is not without sympathy: people are in distress and religion provides solace, just as people who are physically injured receive relief from opiate-based drugs.

The quote is not, then, as negative as most portray (at least about religion). In some ways, even the slightly extended quote which people might see is a bit dishonest because saying "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature..." deliberately leaves out the additional statement that it is also the "heart of a heartless world."

What we have is a critique of society that has become heartless rather than of religion which tries to provide a bit of solace. One can argue that Marx offers a partial validation of religion in that it tries to become the heart of a heartless world. For all its problems, religion doesn’t matter so much — it is not the real problem. Religion is a set of ideas, and ideas are expressions of material realities. Religion is a symptom of a disease, not the disease itself.

Still, it would be a mistake to think that Marx is uncritical towards religion — it may try to provide heart, but it fails. For Marx, the problem lies in the obvious fact that an opiate drug fails to fix a physical injury — it merely helps you forget pain and suffering. This may be fine up to a point, but only as long as you are also trying to solve the underlying problems causing the pain. Similarly, religion does not fix the underlying causes of people’s pain and suffering — instead, it helps them forget why they are suffering and gets them to look forward to an imaginary future when the pain will cease.

Even worse, this "drug" is administered by the same oppressors who are responsible for the pain and suffering in the first place. Religion is an _expression of more fundamental unhappiness and symptom of more fundamental and oppressive economic realities. Hopefully, humans will create a society in which the economic conditions causing so much pain and suffering would be eradicated and, therefore, the need for soothing drugs like religion will cease. Of course, for Marx such a turn of events isn’t to be "hoped for" because human history was leading inevitably towards it.

So, in spite of his obvious dislike of and anger towards religion, Marx did not make religion the primary enemy of workers and communists, regardless of what might have been done by 20th century communists. Had Marx regarded religion as a more serious enemy, he would have devoted more time to it in his writings. Instead, he focused on economic and political structures that in his mind served to oppress people.

For this reason, some Marxists could be sympathetic to religion. Karl Kautsky, in his Foundations of Christianity, wrote that early Christianity was, in some respects, a proletarian revolution against privileged Roman oppressors. In Latin America, some Catholic theologians have used Marxist categories to frame their critique of economic injustice, resulting in "liberation theology."

Marx’s relationship with and ideas about religion are more complex than most realize. Marx’s analysis of religion has flaws, but despite them his perspective is worth taking seriously. Specifically, he argues that religion is not so much an independent "thing" in society but, rather, a reflection or creation of other, more fundamental "things" like economic relationships. That’s not the only way of looking at religion, but it can provide some interesting illumination on the social roles that religion plays.

Crash

HOW DID WE GET HERE?
From~Faithfully Dangerous

http://nthegarden.blogspot.com/

Jesus demonstrated the life for his followers so clearly and in turn we make it fuzzy. We then proceed in setting down hard lines and boundaries Jesus never spoke of or demonstrated.

What I want to share here isn't an episode from the X-Files with Fox Mulder saying, 'The Truth is out there.' The Truth, Christ in us, is a very real and fixed reality..not..from a distance God is watching over us, crap!

The miracle of the rebirthing (it wasn't the result of the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but by the word-sperma of God) became a reality when we cried out to Him....BAMMMMMM!

He clearly says, no one comes to the Father except through the Son, and no one comes to the Son except through His Spirit.
The point being, there was a heart-grace collision that resulted in Life as a result of yielding to His Spirit.

When and where did things get fuzzy, hard lines and boundaries get established, when we no longer stayed in step with His spirit. If it was the Holy Spirit working in conjunction with the Father and Son in the rebirthing, it only stands to reason that apart from the Holy Spirit there is NO way to know this (His) Life that has invaded me!!!
Apart from becoming like unto a child as Jesus stressed, the best we can become (although saved) is in having a form of godliness, but lacking any power (display of Life).

Rich



A quote from Richard Foster..

" All who seek God have a perennial tendency to idolize the means through which he is made known to us. Perhaps it was by means of an altar call that God wonderfully broke into our lives. Perhaps it was in reciting of a particular liturgy, or the singing of a special hymn, or the reading of a specific book, or the unmediated quiet of our home, or while we were in a particular posture. We then take that living experience and calcify it and idolize it as the way to meet God. Without realizing it, we soon turn a vibrant, life-giving reality into a new legalism, which breathes death."

Taken from.. http://thegodjourney.com/forums/index.php?action=recent