Indecent Exposure

What are we to understand in this exposure that seems to only be intensifying?
Is God perverse? Is He capricious?

Herein lies the key to God's dealings with us. We must draw back from our tendency to see evil and the devil's purposes advancing against us. The Devil is God's devil; he can only accomplish God's purposes [Gen 50:24]. Seeing God in our circumstances requires an ability to see through our circumstances. We must become fixed in the conviction that all things work together for good for those who love God" [Roms 8:28] and see that the apparently negative "all-things" are the tools of the divine trade useful for conforming us into His image and likeness" [Roms 8:29]

I love how our Father is so good at bringing whomsoever to Himself, although the process and the ongoing being processed will never be at first, something we initially warm up to, until the miracle of His total unconditional love begins to address the lies that seem to bind us!

The following is a glorious living picture shared by my brother Paul, and in it I see an untold, unknown, army of sons and daughters likewise being released into the surpassing greatness of the Father's love.

Rich

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Up until then, I had known at an intellectual level that I was one spirit with Him. I knew that Christ "was my life" but that summer I discovered the life of Christ. I had only understood salvation as my giving my life to Him - I had not realized that salvation was Him giving His life to me. Ironically, I had been developing a reputation for being an accomplished teacher of the Christian identity but, in truth, I was like Apollos who, though full of fervour and passion for God, a sound teacher who could explain freedom from the law and the divine exchange needed the way of God explained to me more accurately. In recent days, He has been gracious enough to send my Aquilla & Pricilla to me in the written form of Norman Grubb & Dan Stone and in the physical form of Dee Dee Winter & Linda Bunting.

That summer as never before the Lord began to apply His cross to me and as He did He began to reveal His life in me [Gal 1:16]. I began to see that I had been set apart from before I was born [for union] but, like Paul, in the absence of enlightenment I was deceived and sought to cultivate a righteousness of my own, a righteousness that I too now considered rubbish [Phil 3]. To my dismay I realized that what others thought was the model Christian life was actually a backslidden compromised existence. Having begun in the Spirit I was now trying to live the Christian life by self-effort.

I had reduced the Christian life to something I did rather than a Person who I now was. My successful church career had validated the deception. From the ashes of Brazil, the Lord was about to bring forth the real self, the unexpected -self the new creation. I was suffering from a condition that I have since diagnosed as false self-syndrome.

Recognition of your inability is the key to experiencing His ability. Man, saved or lost, must become conscious of his total inadequacy. Each one must have his Job moment and recognize his parlous condition.

Perhaps it would be appropriate for us to ask ourselves at this juncture whether we have any of the symptoms of this condition. A few simple diagnostic questions ought to be sufficient:

Do you have a tendency toward self-reliance?
Are you self-consciousness? Are you sin-consciousness?
Are you law-consciousness?
Are you right and wrong consciousness?
Are you good and bad consciousness?
Is your self worth based on what other people think of you?
Is there a cure?

Most of us, without fear of being branded hypochondriacs can recognize some or even all of the above. The question then is, can anything be done about it? Is there a cure? To that we answer emphatically "Yes there is." However, candidly one must also admit that God's prescription can taste rather unpleasant.

We must first see that the root problem is sin and we must see that the root of sin is independence. Much of the trouble with our modern day discipleship is that it is pre-occupied with sin and sinning, whereas discipleship is concerned with the invasion of life, not the intrusion of sin.

Moreover, if, as we suggest, the core problem is the independent self then the remedy is to know the Christ-dependent-self. The remedy gives rise to the core strategy, which is to convince us of our total need of Him. This He does by exposing us to the futility of self. It is imperative then that we fail and fail spectacularly in our attempts to live the Christian life. Failure and disillusionment create in us "a godly grief that leads to repentance that leads to salvation, without regret." [2 Cor 7:10] Once persuaded of our total inadequacy we are ready to be introduced to The Person who is our adequacy and "infinite supply."

May I Have This Dance

The picture I choose for here is of a Aurora Borealis, it succinctly illustrates in my opinion what I see my heavenly Father inviting me into, a dance with Him.

Aurora is a luminous glow of the upper atmosphere which is caused by energetic particles that enter the atmosphere from above.
This definition differentiates aurora from other forms of air glow, and from sky brightness that is due to reflected or scattered sunlight. Air glow features that have "internal" energy sources are more common than aurora, for example lightening and all associated optical emissions like sprites should not be considered aurora.

On Earth, the energetic particles that make aurora come from the geospace environment, the magnetosphere. These energetic particles are mostly electrons, but protons also make aurora. The electrons travel along magnetic field lines. The Earth's magnetic field looks like that of a dipole magnet where the field lines are coming out and going into the Earth near the poles. The auroral electrons are thus guided to the high latitude atmosphere. As they penetrate into the upper atmosphere, the chance of colliding with an atom or molecule increases the deeper they go. Once a collision takes place, the atom or molecule takes some of the energy of the energetic particle and stores it as internal energy while the electron goes on with a reduced speed. The process of storing energy in a molecule or atom is called "exciting" the atom. An excited atom or molecule can return to the non-excited state (ground state) by sending off a photon, i.e. by making light.
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It is a majestic and breath taking dance we're all in, the dance of divine dynamic tensions. For e.g.

There's far more to this life than trusting in Christ. There's also suffering for him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting. You're involved in the same kind of struggle you saw me go through, on which you are now getting an updated report in this letter.

'Trusting', may be nothing more than a moot point without suffering, ergo the dance, (dynamic tension) the struggle. Apart from the Father making known His total loving acceptance of us, there is no way in hell of looking upon, 'suffering being as much a gift as the trusting'.

I remember many years ago when my wife and I were doing a stint with YWAM (Youth With A Mission) a brother that was there for part of our training shared the following.

Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

"Consider it a all joy-a sheer gift"!! Our friend went on to say, either this person was loopy or 'he knew something'!

I really don't know how apart from suffering, the reality of "It is no longer I that lives, but Christ" is going to come forth.
This is clearly seen in my opinion in the life of Paul the one who wrote Galatians 2:20...I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and this life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
In all Paul wrote fourteen letters to the believers, and the last seven were written from prison. It was in this setting of dynamic tension he was seeing the beautiful marriage (harmony) of trusting and suffering.

I want to insert a living moment when that occurred in my life were these seemingly diametrically opposed worlds of trusting and suffering hit me like a bad accident.
From the time the Lord apprehended me in 1972, I instinctively knew His call upon my life, trouble was, my perception was terribly polluted, indeed there was a call upon me, not to do, but to be..be His first and for-most!
This head on collision occurred shortly before the end of May 1991, it was only moments away from being euphemistly, 'let go' from all that I had pursued in obtaining my dream of being in the ministry, aka a pastor.

A very long story abbreviated here, while in prayer with my fellow staff members I saw and heard my elder brother Jesus saying to me, 'I now give you permission to enter into the fellowship of my sufferings'.
Less than a week later, the Axe fell. It was in this horrific but unknown to me at the time, scared trust that began a journey into discovering what it meant to be totally lovingly accepted.

This journey is only being intensified right up to the present moments I live in, and it is and has been the gift of suffering that is making it ever more real, 'It is no longer I that lives, but Christ!
I just turned 58 yesterday, and I can join with my brother Paul and say, 'Because of this man (Jesus) I have suffered the loss of all things, but it was in my loss, I freely gained what I could never obtain had not He called me unto Himself.

Rich

Suffering.. by Gene Edwards

When suffering comes your way, there is something you will certainly do: You will ask the Lord, ''Why has this happened?'' And there is something else almost as certain.
You will receive no answer.

If the ''why'' could be removed, dear brother, dear sister, most of the transforming power of the cross would disappear. The ''why'' factor of the cross is perhaps its sharpest, most effective, most deadly aspect. Remove the ''why'' factor of the cross and there really isn't much suffering involved in it. But of this you can be sure: You are fellowshipping in the sufferings of Christ!

If you would complain, remember that long before creation, something awful, even horrible had happened to the Godhead. Before He created eternity, before he created angels, or the heavens, or earth, or anything. . . He had already suffered more than any of us will ever suffer. He knew based on His own personal experience of it before creation! The Godhead accepted the fact that there would be the certainty of suffering in our universe. . . for Himself and for the most precious thing in the universe to Him. . . His wife. He knew, yet He was not turned back by that experiential knowledge. He calculated the enormity of that suffering, beheld the end result, and decided that it was all worth it! If any man questions that decision, that man should pause and remember just what experience of suffering Jesus Christ had in His life upon which He based His decision.

I was slain Before the foundation Of the world.

Taken from The Inward Journey by Gene Edwards

A Word Famine

I want to delve a bit deeper into what it might look like, living loved instead of being ruled by fear.

There is a driven and relentless searching within us to try and find something or someone that will quell the intense hunger we have.
But as he has pointed out, living is only found in relationship with Himself, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word spoken in the setting of this common-union'.

I was reminded again when reading the following scriptures where our true strength comes from.

"I'll send a famine through the whole country. It won't be food or water that's lacking, but my Word.People will drift from one end of the country to the other, roam to the north, wander to the east.They'll go anywhere, listen to anyone, hoping to hear God's Word—but they won't hear it."

The bible speaks about 'the mystery of Godliness', the Word becoming flesh, and in so doing was fully identified with man as a man.
In that miracle we now are being fully identified with God. Lets look for a moment at a scene where Jesus was deliberately led into the wilderness by the Spirit Of God, and after forty days of going without food, it says He hungered.
It goes on to say, the tempter (Satan) came to him saying, 'If you are the Son of God, use you divine power to turn these stones into bread.'

Many see this being a moot point, meaning Jesus could not actually have been tempted..well he was, and it was as the Son of Man (the last Adam) that he over came.

What I think I am seeing here is this, it was as a man, (the Son of man) that Jesus was tempted to draw upon his divine powers, but instead it was as a man he drew His strength, his sustenance from the word that his Father spoke into his heart...man shall not live by bread alone..

In the ongoing transformation unfolding in the lives of the saints, our same adversary comes to us and in the heated and trying moments, whispers his lies to us, and if we are not living in the security of His loving acceptance of us, the result will be for us to lean upon our humanity.

Maybe its meant to be a famine no matter how idyllic it appears. Maybe its only in hearing the spirit of truth whispering into our hearts, It is no longer I that lives but Christ, and in hearing that, we are enabled to over come the father of lies.

Who do you say that I AM?

Rich

Our Birthright

I like these quotes from Jim Palmer.

http://www.divinenobodies.com/blog/

Relevant Magazine did a write up on his new, soon to be released book Wide Open Spaces

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god_article.php?id=7440

"Too often we become dependent on other people—a favorite leader, teacher, speaker, author—for determining Truth. Rather, it’s helpful to see those roles are really “sheepdog” roles. The sheepdog role is to get sheep (people) to the Shepherd (God). That’s it. Then your knowing and interacting with the presence of God within you takes over.

There is a sizable gap between the number of knowledgeable Christians and the number of Christians who express the reality of God. Why is that? Really, why is that? I wonder if it’s because we too often take someone else’s word for it, rather than experiencing for ourselves God’s Spirit confirming Truth within us. Maybe that’s the difference between knowledge and knowing. We acquire knowledge by absorbing teachings others show us, but knowing occurs when the life of God within you reveals a truth and your spirit says, “I know that I know.”

In light of what I posted yesterday regarding hearing, not just listening, but hearing, I see this to be a beautiful expansion on that thought.

I believe it's our Birth Right, to be totally loved and accepted unconditionally, and in that perfect atmosphere of love, we are able to truly live. Living as a result of hearing the loving voice of our Father. Freed to live because we're able to grow up in His love for us.
Maybe He knew what He was talking about when he said, 'Call NO man your father.'

A friend and I were discussing what Jim said here along with many other things he has written, and I thought what my friend Dave said was spot on..

He's asking questions like many of us...I said yes! I see love freeing us/him to not be afraid of being wrong in attempting to flesh out things!!

Rich

Do You Hear What I Hear

I'm home today from work, it being a holiday for us government workers, yesterday being Remembrance Day in Canada.
I went out earlier this morning to obtain what I like to call a, 'real cup of java', yes I like my joe way to much, and I can make it at home, but somehow getting a real Timmy's (for those not understanding this encrypted word) from Tim Horton's coffee shop.
The term 'double double' is now a legitimate word found in the Websters dictionary...what would you like in that coffee, a double double please~ha!

My wife had used the car last and she had listened to the latest pod cast from Wayne and Brad on the God Journey. I turned the radio on and it, the cd started from the beginning, now I want to say that I have heard (along with the other intros) this intro many many times, but this morning Father captured my attention big time in hearing Him through what Wayne said..this is what I heard, and it is still resonating within me. Actually it was the first thing said by Wayne in the intro.........

"This journey is about listening to Father"!!

Without 'hearing'~(man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word proceeding from His mouth.) is it not merely going through the motions, maybe even looking right on the outside according to some religious standard, or as Paul says, having at best a form of Godliness, but void of any real power.

When they asked Jesus what were the greatest commandments, (meaning, they knew what Moses had said) Jesus replied first and foremost (And this is missed almost every time) HEAR OH ISRAEL, and then He said what they were, but it means nothing without hearing..faith comes by hearing, and hearing from the WORD Himself.

In my opinion, this whole deal of hearing, is a most vivid expression of intimacy, as it were, Him the lover of my soul, making love to my heart.
I cannot fathom the Father of my spirit interacting, speaking into the core of my being, without it being full of copious amounts of His total loving acceptance of me~His son.

Here is what I am pondering on in light of 'hearing' today...When He answered the question as to what was the greatest of the commandments, I see this happening.
First I want to inject this thought, Jesus said, 'He who has ears to hear, hear what the Spirit is saying'.
In not hearing and in not knowing (understanding) that what He speaks is inseparable from His total loving acceptance of us, all we hear is something we think is to be done.

Maybe in hearing, we are experiencing so much more than simply hearing sounds/words being spoken, but in fact being washed, bathed, showered in this undeniable total loving acceptance of His embrace, and maybe out of that overflow, we discover the supernatural natural ability to not only love Him above everything, with all of our soul (mind-will-emotions) body and spirit, but also our neighbor as ourself.

Is this a work, YES, a working of His grace, doing what we were created to do, knowing his present total loving acceptance of us, it frees us to live and love others, because we're LOVED!

Rich

I Think So, But I'm Not Sure

Is the impossible, possible, because I think its so, or because Father God says its so!

If Jesus is in fact the same yesterday, today and forever, and changes not, why is there such an anemic and pathetic portrayal of Christ coming forth from my life?
Is it because of not knowing the lover of my soul, the Father of my spirit, (who loves unconditionally) maybe seeing myself as an abandoned orphan having to fend and provide for myself?

Jesus said he had a meat, a sustenance his followers new nothing of, also he said, my meat is to do that which I see and hear of the father.

The staggering thought that is freshly upon my heart today is in knowing that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that the Father speaks.

I believe with all of my heart, we were and are created to be loved unconditionally, and in that flow of His wooing and loving heart toward us, there is opening up within us a capacity to see what previously appeared to be hidden.

I love how His spirit is not pointing at a doctrine or teaching, but opening the blinded eyes to see Him, Christ in you the hope of glory, and not because of a talented selected few.

Rich

What A Shame

The only shame about 'shame', is, not knowing Father God's unconditional love!


The above thought was birthed in the moment,t as two brothers on the same journey were thinking and coloring outside whatever lines that have been established, or mandated as to what true intercourse is really all about.

Father is removing the blinders, as he so wonderfully spoke to those of yesteryear, and as well as in this exact moment of living...John 9:39-41 (The Message)

Jesus then said, "I came into the world to bring everything into the clear light of day, making all the distinctions clear, so that those who have never seen will see, and those who have made a great pretense of seeing will be exposed as blind." Some Pharisees overheard him and said, "Does that mean you're calling us blind?" Jesus said, "If you were really blind, you would be blameless, but since you claim to see everything so well, you're accountable for every fault and failure."

Again, dealing with the shame factor in all lives, including the Christan, in NOT knowing (experiencing) the only true and lasting unconditional love and acceptance of Father God and because there are NO vacuums, this will manifest itself...Ephesians 4:17-19 (Amplified Bible)

So this I say and solemnly testify in [the name of] the Lord [as in His presence], that you must no longer live as the heathen (the Gentiles) do in their perverseness [in the folly, vanity, and emptiness of their souls and the futility] of their minds. Their moral understanding is darkened and their reasoning is beclouded. [They are] alienated (estranged, self-banished) from the life of God [with no share in it; this is] because of the ignorance (the want of knowledge and perception, the willful blindness) that is deep-seated in them, due to their hardness of heart [to the insensitiveness of their moral nature]. In their spiritual apathy they have become callous and past feeling and reckless and have abandoned themselves [a prey] to unbridled sensuality, eager and greedy to indulge in every form of impurity [that their depraved desires may suggest and demand].

Because of the urgency of the moment we now live in, I hear and see Father God offering, extending His Life/Love to whosoever wills, and I see this particularly been addressed to 'Christians' first and for most.

As a brother shared, how can the world not help but see this God of the Christan's as being someone far removed from where the average person lives, in their steaming pile of shit-less existence, with all of their pain and misery?
Maybe as we the 'Christan's' are being awakened as it were from our dumb-downed opiated slumber, (very much resembling a corpse) and truly begin to see Him, maybe that which will be manifested through us will be what it means to be defined not by some cheap label, i.e. 'Christian' vs Muslim, vs Hindu, vs Buddhist, but BEING living expressions of Him who IS LOVE!!

Ephesians 5:13-15 (The Message)

Don't waste your time on useless work, mere busywork, the barren pursuits of darkness. Expose these things for the sham they are. It's a scandal when people waste their lives on things they must do in the darkness where no one will see. Rip the cover off those frauds and see how attractive they look in the light of Christ. Wake up from your sleep, Climb out of your coffins; Christ will show you the light!So watch your step. Use your head. Make the most of every chance you get.

These are desperate times and I want to end this part of what I am beginning to see, with two quotes from my dear friend and brother Brad....

"Do other religions provide valid avenues to God and His salvation? No. None do, not even the Christian religion. Only Jesus can serve as the mediator to God." Karl Barth.

From a Buddhist: "neither logic nor metaphysics is to be relied upon for insight….the truest of books can be at best but a ‘finger pointing at the moon.’ If we fix our gaze on the finger, we miss the heavenly glory".

Rich

The Treasures Of Darkness

I'll lead you to buried treasures, secret caches of valuables—
I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden wealth of secret places.

From over on Jim Palmer's blog..

The Great Church Debate

people are different. for some, what interests them about my journey is the evolution of my understanding and experience of "church," which i devote a chapter to in Wide Open Spaces. many years ago i started as a staffer at Willow Creek Community Church. (by the way, do we really need to relish in Willow Creek’s recent admission that their approach to church ministry has been flawed? does it make people feel better who have fashioned an identity around doing church in some more enlightened or progressive way? personally, in terms of where i was at during that season, Willow Creek was exactly what i needed, and i could list off several ways i benefited on my journey by being there. okay, enough of that)

http://www.divinenobodies.com/blog/


I love what my brother Jim Palmer is seeing and sharing on his blog.
In my opinion, these things which are becoming so visible and tangible to him, I would call, 'The treasures of darkness'.I would go as far as saying, this reality he is experiencing along with so many others throughout the earth is but the result of a prolonged season of time in deep darkness.

These dynamic tensions are all part of the Father God making known His Way!
Isn't it interesting that the one called Saul of Tarsus, was apprehended by God, and in so doing, was struck blind, but while blinded, he saw for the first time in his life!

In this ongoing unveiling taking place in so many lives, one thing is beginning to take shape with such sharp distinction.

When man fell, suddenly that which we call real, (real-estate) that which can be seen, was suddenly more real than the unseen. Funny how our brother Paul addresses that line of thinking.Simply put he says, that which is seen, is passing away, but that which is unseen, that is real, and lasts forever It is seeing this unseen reality that is setting so many free from the prison of illusions.

One of the beautiful fruits I see as a result of coming out of these deep and exceedingly dark times in our journey with the Father, is a genuine humility, as it were, being clothed in humility.

Rich

God, What Stinks?

I love how Jesus never pointed out how bad the religious dudes were, but he DID SAY, its the leaven of these guys, watch out for that, cause it Stinks!

This is wonderful from the Message Bible... 'Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse.'

And this from the Amplified..... For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is qualified (fit and sufficient) for these things? [Who is able for such a ministry? We?]

I was thinking how they add a component (a chemical-mercaptan) to natural gas that gives a distinct, odor, aka, a stink.
I'm greatful He is awakening who so ever will, from the stench of death. Thing is, until He came to be here to be with us, we could not smell-detect anything wrong with this whole sin/death thing.

I may not have this right in my illustration yet, but what I think I'm seeing is this..when the Word became 'flesh', it was as if the Father injected this additive in and through Jesus the Word ( as it were kind of a spiritual mercaptan) becoming flesh, it was and is being used to bring us to an initial place of sobriety?
Those that are His say, "What a lovely aroma," Where those that don't know Him say, "What the hell is that smell?"

Without that additive put into natural gas, being exposed to it can cause us to die from the fumes, not to mention the explosive and destructive power of it as well.

Thank you Father that you are and will continue to awaken those that are asleep.

Rich

The Word Being Fleshed Out

I cam across this artist this morning, and his simple but delightful artistic wonder captured my heart.
If you look closely, you'll see he is using as a back ground/canvas, bible scriptures.
I couldn't help but see in this one expression of his work, the living truth of not only the Word (Christ Jesus) becoming flesh, but how He is being fleshed out in others. (The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us)


Rich

The C & S Chain Gang

A friend use to use that expression all the time, 'The C & S gang, meaning the curcumstances and situations our Father was and is using to drive us to Himself.

I enjoyed what my brother Kent shared on his blog, and I want to share some different thoughts, not better ones.
Thoughts that are much more applicable to me, as well as maybe to many others. Maybe it has much more to do with, freedom in, vs freedom from circumstances (expectations) and situations?

I would love to imagine that the old Negro song, ‘Nobody knows what troubles I’ve seen, nobody knows but Jesus’, was in fact how some within a race of people discovered freedom (in the midst of racial injustice/hardships beyond my imagination) in discovering Him right there in there plight, with no hope other than the Living One in them!

The following is from a friends blog, 'Faithfully Dangerous'

http://nthegarden.blogspot.com/

The Tyranny Of Expectations'

I have never lived more free from the tyranny caused by the life of expectations I had lived. I've never lived more free to be able to see the hope that is waiting to be found living a life of expectancy. To begin the day with the excitement of a child, "Father, what are we doing today?" As I write that I'm left shaking my head still in stunned disbelief. Father had been here all along loving me and those around me. I just couldn't see it through the fog caused by all my expectations. That leads me to believe that freedom is closer than we all might think?
It's already right there inside us.
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Indeed, except this is how I see it unfolding in my life-walk.
It is the very tyranny of life's expectations that Father is using to make Himself known to me. By removing those expectations, its but a shell game, or better yet, shadow boxing.
There is NO freedom from these expectations apart from His grace drawing me to Himself in the very midst/thick of this mind bending crap. It is Him using these dynamic (divine) tensions, a medium at His disposal, to make it even more real in knowing Who's I am!

Sort of like what David said, 'The Lord is my Shepherd, what more do I want.' Learning and experiencing that reality is not, nor will it ever be because He removes that craving-lusting-longing within my flesh for those whacked expectations I seem to perpetually have. It seems to me, freedom in these tensions are spelled out by some in their removal..hmmmm? Is it apart from my circumstances or situations I am learning and growing in the continued grace and true knowledge of Him that is always available.

I wonder if Paul saw it this way, not only him but countless thousands down through time, meaning, if true freedom say for Paul was only defined in being on the other side of the prison bars, beatings, betrayals, then that looks pretty shabby at best to me.
I think he implied something like this...Its the one who is His slave, that is truly FREE!

If peace and joy for example are simply the results of having no antagonistic, annoying, shit kicking disturbances etc., then why is He necessary?
I think too many hear about what the Lord has done in someone’s life, and how they are living in such freedom, and yet seeing in their lives, they are still so full of relentless expectations or whatever and think, wow maybe one day I will be free from all of this stuff.
When in fact maybe its this very stuff that we're trying to escape that God is using to bring us to Himself.

I think as long as we are in these fleshly clay tents, the issue of having expectations will be there, and the freedom we seek is in my opinion not the result of Father putting me in some kind of opiated space, I dub as 'freedom'. But in the moment/s of assault, battering upon my mind, I turn to Him.
Its the very assaults battering us that He is using to reveal what true liberty and freedom is.
Maybe its a revelation of Him in us now, today, and not in having everything outside of me being real comfy-cozy?

Rich

Eye Has Not Seen

I love how my Father is able to use any and everything at His disposal to make known that which appears to be hidden from my sight. I am seeing more and more how Father has hidden things for us, not from us!

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, ‘Jim’s Blog’, and this was used to spark something wonderful from deep within….

“why can’t we approach more of life and all people as students or learners?
also, a friend of mine asked the question: can we choose contentment? if the answer is ‘yes,’ isn’t it insanity that we don’t.”

http://www.divinenobodies.com/blog/?p=294#comments

Is the residual effect of the Matrix still trying to shape, define me/my view of reality? Meaning, if I am in fact a whole new creation at the core of my being, maybe that living reality (the Way, Truth and Life) wants to be expressed in and through me.

In my situations and circumstances of life with its un-nerving, frustrating, perplexing, unsettling feelings happening most days, (didn’t he say, sufficient unto the day is the trouble you’ll face) there is in me a reality that is not trying to disprove what I'm feeling, but wants to truly define who I truly am?

For e.g., everything around me is screaming, if only I had this, or was over there, I would be able to find the ability to BE content!
The lies that seem to bind us, as if seeing and coming to know Him is outside of the very circumstances and situations Father has allowed in my life.

What if I were to right now in that which is pounding mercilessly upon my soul, simply speak out, Lord Jesus, You ARE my contentment!! Is that me choosing to be content, or am I learning to be, simply by experiencing and operating out of the grace available to me to have my mind renewed?( I’m really wondering more and more about the whole thing of, ‘faith without works is dead’ thing.)
Am I trying to make something magically happen, poof, zap, shazam, I'm all better because of what I DID?
Or, am I drawing upon an yet mostly untried, inexperienced, untapped source of power/reality wanting to make Himself known to me, not based upon circumstances or situations, and especially not based upon my efforts to make anything happen.

I’m not coming to any hard, fast conclusions about anything here in my musings, but I sense His spirit probing and prodding me, the real I from deep within and saying things like….

'I ask—ask the God of our Master, Jesus Christ, the God of glory—to make you intelligent and discerning in knowing him personally, your eyes focused and clear, so that you can see exactly what it is he is calling you to do, grasp the immensity of this glorious way of life he has for his followers, oh, the utter extravagance of his work in us who trust him—endless energy, boundless strength!'

I remember hearing or maybe it was even me that said this once, (the adage goes, ‘You can’t teach old dogs new tricks’,) well, I’m not a dog, and the present, working reality of the cross, is no magic trick!

Rich

Christianity: A Better Morality?

I like how Father has expressed these thoughts through one of His sons, Oswald Chambers..

http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/my_utmost/utm.cgi

'Justification By Faith'.
"For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." Romans 5:10

Just one quote from this part of the above entry that Oz wrote, I am so in agreement with.

"I am not saved by believing; I realize I am saved by believing. It is not repentance that saves me, repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus. The danger is to put the emphasis on the effect instead of on the cause. It is my obedience that puts me right with God, my consecration. Never! I am put right with God because prior to all, Christ died."

I am simply pondering on some stuff, pertaining to the whole issue of 'living outside the religious box,' rendition of Christianity.

In my opinion, there is no freedom apart from knowing that which we were created for, to BE loved unconditionally, we are prone to fix solid, none fluid, inflexible meanings to words that might be partially true, but fall short in not allowing God to further illuminate and expand our understanding in the needed ongoing renewing our minds.
My ponderings have caused me to wonder as Oz said in the above piece, has there been a dangerous emphasis on the effect, instead of on the cause?

What's essential is that we are constantly aware of the fact - the truth - that without the spirit of Christ indwelling us, we are destitute, worse than dung, irreparable, with no hope. That will keep us from boasting in our accomplishments and spiritual progress ("Look what I have done! I used to be a s.o.b., but look how I've changed!") and instead, giving the glory to the Lord who alone deserves it.

If we are not constantly being reminded of it 'being finished', from before the foundations of the world, God the Father having perfected his plan for us,we'll begin to fall for a dangerous but subtle illusion - and put the emphasis on the effects rather than on what He accomplished from before the foundations of the world.

Maybe because we have attached such firm, solid understandings to grace/freedom etc, we have inadvertently shifted not only our focus, but those seeing us emphasize the effects of His grace and freedom, rather than simply presenting Him?
Is it any wonder in this shifting the focus from Him, the source/cause of all the effects, 'Christianity,' has become nothing more than another religious self-morality? *

* 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].

I especially like these further quotes from Oz Chambers that I feel tie in so wonderfully here:

"It is a snare to imagine that God wants to make us perfect specimens of what He can do; God's purpose is to make us one with Himself. The emphasis of holiness movements is apt to be that God is producing specimens of holiness to put in His museum. If you go off on this idea of personal holiness, the dead-set of your life will not be for God, but for what you call the manifestation of God in your life."

"Christian perfection is not, and never can be, human perfection. Christian perfection is the perfection of a relationship to God which shows itself amid the irrelevancies of human life. When you obey the call of Jesus Christ, the first thing that strikes you is the irrelevancy of the things you have to do, and the next thing that strikes you is the fact that other people seem to be living perfectly consistent lives. Such lives are apt to leave you with the idea that God is unnecessary, by human effort and devotion we can reach the standard God wants. In a fallen world this can never be done. I am called to live in perfect relation to God so that my life produces a longing after God in other lives, not admiration for myself. Thoughts about myself hinder my usefulness to God. God is not after perfecting me to be a specimen in His show-room; He is getting me to the place where He can use me. Let Him do what He likes."

"The missionary is one in whom the Holy Ghost has wrought this realization - "Ye are not your own." To say, "I am not my own" is to have reached a great point in spiritual nobility. The true nature of the life in the actual whirl is the deliberate giving up of myself to another in sovereign preference, and that other is Jesus Christ. The Holy Spirit expounds the nature of Jesus to me in order to make me one with my Lord, not that I might go off as a showroom exhibit. Our Lord never sent any of the disciples out on the ground of what He had done for them. It was not until after the Resurrection, when the disciples had perceived by the power of the Holy Spirit Whom He was, that Jesus said "Go."

"The viewpoint of a worker for God must not be as near the highest as he can get, it must be the highest. Be careful to maintain strenuously God's point of view, it has to be done every day, bit by bit; don't think on the finite. No outside power can touch the viewpoint.

The viewpoint to maintain is that we are here for one purpose only, viz., to be captives in the train of Christ's triumphs. We are not in God's showroom, we are here to exhibit one thing - the absolute captivity of our lives to Jesus Christ."

Somehow I felt this to especially tie in with the last quote from the Oz man;

For he who has once entered [God's] rest also has ceased from [the weariness and pain] of human labors, just as God rested from those labors peculiarly His own.
Let us therefore be zealous and exert ourselves and strive diligently to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], that no one may fall or perish by the same kind of unbelief and disobedience [into which those in the wilderness fell]. Hebrews 4:10-11

Rich

Seeing God

Matthew 5:8 "You're blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.

This verse of scripture from the Message Bible speaks to me deeply regarding the thoughts I've been pondering today.If my point of reference is not a growing and expanding experiential knowledge of the unconditional love of the Father, then because of the knowledge of good and evil resident within me (as well as in all flesh) my perception of reality (that which is determined to be the truth) will be horribly distorted, no matter how much I say I know about God!

I am being brought back as it were to square one, a deep awareness of although I say I know so much about God, I am truly wondering how much of that knowledge is mixed, contaminated, corrupted with seeing Him through the reality that has been generated simply through the knowledge of good and evil.
Based upon our perceived soulish knowledge it seems one can determine the difference between that which is good vs evil. Maybe it was never the Father's intention for me to evaluate this.As Matthew 5:8 implies, maybe its the unconditional love of God (the Father) that is able to transform my inner world within my soul, (mind-will, and emotions) 'get my inside world-mind and heart-put/set right', and out of that true reality, I am able to see Him in my outside world.

Is it possible there has been generated a world of theology that has attempted to clearly define the difference between that which is of God and that which isn't, that which is good vs that which is evil?Maybe it has nothing to do with having the 'right theology' per se, meaning, it can be perfect theology, but in not knowing, experiencing the Father's unconditional love we have simply attempted to establish something that spells security for us.But maybe any substitute, theology or whatever, will never be able to produce the security we crave and grasp for, and grasp I/we, will do!

I am beginning to wonder that at the core of our unrenewed being, because of not knowing and growing in the (unconditional) love of the Father, that there is today such a bastardized rendition of that which we call, 'Christianity?'
Meaning, if our perceived reality that is simply coming out of our innate ability to reason out of the knowledge of good and evil, won't this try and dictate and over rule what in fact is all being used of the Father in our further needed training, and discipline. The proof of His love for us is His loving correction, and how that is administered to our individual lives can be thwarted in the name of, we think we know best.

These thoughts as I said in the beginning, are being fleshed out, they are far from being clear, no matter how I've tried to make them clear. I continue to look to Father in a fresh knowing, that I know too much based upon that which is generated through a unrenewed soul, aka, the knowledge of good and evil. I hope to pursue additional thoughts in light of His pure love shaping and bringing into greater clarity, that which is truly Real.

Rich

Hope

I'm home today, I had the day off, but not a day of frolicking, no a very painful day (add that to the accumulation of other disturbing issues).
At 7:45 AM I had to be at the hospital to be briefed and prepped for a prostate biopsy, I get the results soon I hope.

I was just using the bathroom, (a most painful experience) and while sitting there, like a pungent stabbing I sensed Papa speaking His loving heart to me, (He so knows all of my fears and doubts I am struggling with) "I am awakening in you a new and living reality of who I Am, and all that you are going through is all part of that reality."

Amazing this unfolding reality of knowing (experiencing) the reality of His endless unconditional love, and how it so freely disarms the lies I have and do believe.

As I previously posted on my blog about the whole issue of 'experiences', maybe this is all part of what it means to move past the outer shadows and entering into this reality of, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth (heart) of the Father!

Rich

Some precious thoughts that I find comforting in the midst of the storm tossings I am in the throes of.
-----------------------------------

"If you do not cut the moorings, God will have to break them by a storm and send you out. Launch all on God, go out on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and you will get your eyes open. If you believe in Jesus, you are not to spend all your time in the smooth waters just inside the harbour bar, full of delight, but always moored; you have to get out through the harbour bar into the great deeps of God and begin to know for yourself, begin to have spiritual discernment."

Yet, in mainstream Christianity, many have earnestly attempted to reduce the irrefutable mystery of the life of faith into a safe, predictable, logical, formulaic framework. I believe these attempts overlook the fact that "Too much of our time is spent trying to chart God on a grid, and too little is spent allowing our hearts to feel awe. By reducing Christian spirituality to formula, we deprive our hearts of wonder."

Is it possible that the people would be more attracted to Jesus if those who claim His name became known for what they had discovered diving beneath the present surface of it all, and shared these new discoveries with others? Do you believe that there is any merit to the statement that, "Our modern preoccupation with producing and consuming leads us to live on the surface level of reality and to seek our satisfaction in the finite. But the sacred is known in the depths of reality, not in the manipulation and consumption of the surface."

"Hungering and thirsting for more, disturbs complacency, induces a blessed state of disquiet, and propels our unending exploration into the mystery of God in Jesus Christ."

"When we become aware that we do not have to escape our pains, but that we can mobilize them into a common search for life, those very pains are transformed from expressions of despair into signs of hope."

Look At Me

Apart from a couple of times, the Apostle Paul spoke very little of his blinding encounter with the Lord, but I do see him wanting to share the One who made it all possible.
Its very interesting, down through the centuries, God touches a person, and seemingly over night, a whole movement or eventually a denomination is birthed out of one persons experience.
Maybe as my friend says in this quote from his testimony, "I did not do this so you would have yet another experience… but to show you that I live in you and I am as close as your breath."

I really wonder no mater how real or powerful the experiences are that the Lord permits us to have, was it done so that we could look good, important, having some kind of newly discovered super status?

Let me share an experience I had recently, it is fall here in our neck of the woods, and winter is soon going to pay its long visit to us. We still have the old wooden/glass windows and I had to put on the storm windows in preparation for the colder weather coming.
Here's the deal, before putting the storm windows on, I had to clean not only those windows, but also the outside windows the storms were going on, why, so I could continue to see as clearly as possible through out the winter months. Funny thing, I rarely ever notice the storm windows at all, but I am still able to see clearly through them, the portal to the outside world.

This may not be the best analogy, but somehow I see Jesus being lost in the shuffle of the new experiences we have, being much more focused on it/them, then in Him, the one who simply brought to birth through much anguish, His divine order.

Its interesting how Paul said, when he came to the church, he preached Christ and Him crucified and nothing else! Maybe the experiences He allows us to have is to point out our great need to receive in a deeper ever expanding true knowing of what it means to be loved unconditionally.

Its funny but sad, how its possible to exchange continuing to grow in the grace and knowledge of His love, for ever deeper experiences. So many look upon those gifted ones, anointed ones and become so despondent, thinking, 'If only I too could have that happen to me,' while forgetting His words of truth, "And I will make you witnesses of Me!"

Rich

This is a small portion of my friends testimony.

Permit me now to share my personal experience in such a realization by revelation of Christ in me. I had a most wonderful and remarkable preparatory experience one day in 1975, which was from my Father, to once and for all time deliver me from seeking Him in outward experiences.

At this point in my Christian life I had been saved about 7 years and was a founding teaching elder in a church we and three other couple had founded. Yet, I still had a burning desire to know Him in a deeper way, at any cost.

One weekend I had been reading a little booklet someone had given me six years earlier, but I had not yet read it. It was called "A Simple Way to Touch the Lord". The premise was that if I wanted to touch the Lord in reality I could just call or breathe out His name – "Lord Jesus." The writer cited the many scripture references of the people of God who "called upon the name of the Lord." He said by example, if one wanted to have the presence of their mate elsewhere in the house, they could call, as I do my wife - "Linda". Well, this sounded too simple.

Nevertheless, it was the Monday following that weekend in which I had read the little booklet and I was driving on an overnight business trip from my home in Foxboro, Massachusetts to Connecticut. I recall that it was early morning with the sun rising as I drove past two lakes on either side of US Route 6 in Rhode Island, when I said to myself – "Well I’ve read this booklet long enough – let’s try it."
So then, alone but feeling conspicuous, I simply called upon His name – and breathed out the words from deep within "Lord Jesus."
I immediately sensed an almost liquid presence of the Lord welling up within me. The tears flowed as I pulled my car over to the side of the road. I recall then saying to myself in my head "I can’t wait to get back tomorrow night to tell my fellow elders of this new "experience" – BUT as I was speaking, I heard what seemed to be the audible voice of God speaking to me saying, "I did not do this so you would have yet another experience… but to show you that I live in you and I am as close as your breath."

No More Guess Work

If a picture is worth a thousand words, rather than me trying to sound cute, (although I would love to use this graphic picture to spout off some thoughts) I will leave it as it is, to stand or fall.

Provoking others unto love and good works, yeah, maybe that's a wonderful part of learning to live loved.



Please feel free to share your thoughts.

Rich

A special thanks to my dear friend and brother Dave for this delightful image.

New Clothes, 'Seam'ingly

Some thoughts my wife and I were musing over, in our weekend/day getaway: Most folks are fairly familiar with the children's story, "The Emperor's New Clothes" by Hans Christian Andersen, and if not, here is but a brief snippet from that delightful story:

"Here it is your Highness, the result of our labour," the scoundrels said. "We have worked night and day but, at last, the most beautiful fabric in the world is ready for you. Look at the colors and feel how fine it is." Of course the Emperor did not see any colors and could not feel any cloth between his fingers. He panicked and felt like fainting. But luckily the throne was right behind him and he sat down. But when he realized that no one could know that he did not see the fabric, he felt better. Nobody could find out he was stupid and incompetent. And the Emperor didn't know that everybody else around him thought and did the very same thing."

For those in Christendom who are finding life/love apart from the machinery of the institution, the out-of-the-boxers, the free-rangers, the out-side-the-camp-campers, or whatever other name you might use, maybe there has never been more of a magical and mystical weaving of this new heavenly clothing made out of grace about which so many seem to be pontificating.

Here's what's been gnawing its way into the core of my being: maybe, unlike never before, there is a seemingly endless ability to pontificate on what grace is. By that I mean, so many being able to know about grace, but very few knowing what grace is, about!
Consequently, have we (like the emperor) covered ourselves with this "beautiful fabric" that has, in essence, no substance?

Rich

The Roaring Lamb

My last blog entry was a teaser, wanting to see if I would get any bites/nibbles, and sure enough I did.
The following is a bit more insight to Father's unfailing hurting love for me, and us.

Maybe the extrication taking place in our lives, although meant to be liberating and freeing, will not come to pass without great anguish and suffering.
Think about it, even after becoming a 'Christian', our point of reference almost without any exceptions, is all based upon the outer man, aka, the natural man/woman.

If we were created by God who wants to become a Father to us, making known experientially His unconditional love and acceptance of us, how can we ever establish a secure identity based upon anything that revolves around performance based measuring up?

I want so badly to get a copy of a book, (its title alone grips me) called, 'Jesus Mean and Wild: The Unexpected Love of an Untameable God', by Mark Galli.

Here is an excerpt: "This is what Jesus saw in the Pharisee’s of His day. They had God in a box of rituals, laws and explanations. There was no more to be unearthed, revealed, or discovered. Spiritual fulfillment that led to no questions, no new mystery and no new promise. Jesus rejects all this not just because of the hypocrisy or because of the lack of love, but because you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven."

I'm being stirred afresh in the midst of my Father's relentless bent on forming His Son in me, to look with a new sobriety at that which is more costly than fine gold, a grace and love I barely even know. But this gracious and loving Father is NOT sparing me from any pain in being able to truly know Him, and his heart.

I like this opening greeting from the author, 'God has a most painful plan for your life'!
How many have ever looked upon the Father's invitation into His family and purpose for our lives, prefaced with, 'I have a painful plan for your life'?

This is sweet, and bitter: "One characteristic of the postmodern Christian landscape is to neatly, almost hermetically, divide Bible according to how God interacts with the world. In the Old Testament they exclusively depict a God of wrath, judgment and vengeance in contrast to a New Testament portrait of a saccharin-sweet Jesus who never says an unkind word, never does an unkind thing and is never anything but "nice." The one thing all Christians seem to agree on is that Jesus was a pretty sweet guy who was meek as a lamb and harmless as a dove. However, the New Testament paints a picture far more complex than the current crop of Christians are inclined to accept. It is much easier to reduce Aslan to a tame lion and minimize the inconvenient passages that speak of a Jesus who was anything but nice."

I find the following quote from Jim Palmer, the brother and author of Divine Nobodies, and soon to be released, Wide Open Spaces says what I feel is so very much coming to birth in my own life, and it too is the direct result of the spiritual chemotherapy being lovingly applied to my soul!

"Then it all catastrophically caved in, and the inner suffering of that season of my life was like spiritual chemotherapy, killing off virtually all my religious pretense. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it through that dark period, and part of me didn’t want to try. Dying seemed like a better option. Divine Nobodies essentially tells that part of my story, and the unlikely people God sent my way to process it. Another reason I am labeled "radical" is because so many religious people live in pretense and denial, and when you shed it and begin speaking honestly about your journey with God it shocks people. We’re all thinking it, but like we don’t actually say it.

The spiritual chemo during that period killed off the religious Jim, and gave me a new beginning place with God. At the end of my pretense were a slew of questions that pressed hard into matters that previously were not open for discussion. Each chapter of Wide Open Spaces delves into one of those questions. In seminary I constructed an air-tight Christian theology on paper, and had since grown accustomed to doing Christianity from my head or intellect. But the answers I was now seeking were not the sort that could be satisfied by another set of new and improved truth propositions. I was hungry to know God beyond paper and propositions, and experience him along the everyday paths of life and living. The answers I was seeking required living life with a new attentiveness to God, and an openness to new possibilities."

Rich

Aslan is not a tame lion

Has Jesus become for us a celestial Mr. Rogers??

Rich

the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts

It is only as you grow in coming to know HIM and His love, and the facts of your unshakable relationship with Him, that you will be freed – to stand on solid rock.
John 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Prior to being saved or apprehended by the Father, and even for quite some time after wards, all we have known in terms of our personal identity was solely connected to the outer man, our gender, our ethnicity, our financial standing, our intelligence, our health etc, etc..., and we weighed things by what we saw or experienced.

All of this had/has nothing to do with who we in fact instantly became in being rebirthed by the sperma-word of the Father – Christ.

To live in accord with the new truth, of love, life and liberty there must be a transition – and that transition comes about by God’s work, through the situations and circumstances of life that He orders for our eternal good.
Philip. 2:13 For it is God which works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Philip. 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

All of what or how we would have defined who we were, was in fact tied inseparably to what we erroneously call “human nature;” but actually, there is no such thing as human nature – it is only the fallen, lien, “sin nature” we gained by Adam, and by which we lived before coming to receive the Lord.

The truth is spoken from the Father by his Spirit through our brother Paul, “If any man be IN Christ, they are a new creation!” I see this being the living picture/reality of who we in fact now ARE; aka, our identity, rooted and found solely in Him.

So much fear is still lodged within the believer’s soul as the Father starts to work. I believe that work starts from the moment we were apprehended of the Father. That glorious work began its loving, but violent assault upon the father of lies in our flesh. The works of the evil one still try to keep his grip/hold on the believer’s life through fear. At that very moment of being apprehended of the Father, I believe the walls of what and how we previously defined who we were, started coming down.

Our freedom from fear is ours as we start to learn the truth, the truth that we can let go and be safe in the Lord.
I love this story about “letting go.”

It’s about the capturing of monkeys. It goes something like this, the ones sent to capture the monkeys use a hollowed out casing and through a hole in the top of it, small enough for the monkey to place his hand through, they insert a special treat that monkeys love. Here's the kicker, the monkey inserts his hand trying to retrieve his luscious treat, the thing is, with the treat in his closed hand, it is now to big to withdraw from the hole in the casing. Just let go of the tasty treat, and your hand is not only freed, but you are free to go and live another day. The monkey is tenaciously stubborn, not willing to let go of his treat, is now easily captured by the hunters.

I liken this story to the reality of learning and becoming intimately acquainted with the unconditional love of the Father, as a matter of fact and truth. As this Love (God) does its procreative and liberating work from deep within, the fears are slowly displaced, and we start becoming intuitively aware of a divine security and enabling, called trust; we learn to yield, let go to abide in union with Him. This is the miraculous result of coming to know and taste the Father's Love. As we let go to trust God we become free. So long as we still grasp at securing ourselves we are still bound to a hopeless state. We must come to know the truth of Him and His love.

As you know, His work of liberating us is a time of great confusion and pain, in the thick of it. We may think “this can't be God,” may resort to unworkable methods like “rebuking the devil and his minions,” but in that we would remain bound.

Rather, be filled with the security of the Father's unconditional love... (The Lord is my shepherd, what more do I want or need). Don’t gravitate like the Jews in the wilderness, lusting again for Egypt (fear) bondage, aka, the fear of loss of control.

We must come to see His unconditional love and His sufficiency, as we begin to view all things from His eternal perspective – He sees you as a person already “complete in Christ.” Only the love of the Father can free us from within, free us from clutching and clinging to what we perceive as some tasty treat, like the monkey; then learning to live loved in the constancy and security of His love, regardless of the outer appearance of our situations.

Rich

Not Them, Just Us

I found this quote from Jim Palmer's book, 'Divine Nobodies' most interesting..

'Maybe "us and them" is an illusionary tactic of the real enemy, and there is no "them" but just "us.

Does criticizing and blaming others serve to cover my own tracks of insult and injury in the world? Have I confused a war of words with rolling up my sleeves and actually doing something about all the issues and problems I claim to care about? Maybe demonizing people out there distracts me from the demons of pride and selfishness within myself.
In the fourth chapter of his New Testament letter, James asks, "What causes fights and quarrels among you?" Answer: "They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves."

I'm wondering if set free from that struggle deep within for worth, purpose, significance, meaning, and love, I could see people more through God's eyes. Jesus said that God "sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind, to set the burdened and battered free."

Maybe there's just one classification of people on planet Earth: imprisoned, empty, unfulfilled, broken people in need of life only Christ can give.

Without a doubt, one of the very best books I've read in years, I can hardly wait until his next book comes out soon...Wide Open Spaces

Rich

The Living Loved Battle

This doesn't have to make any sense to anyone else, including me. I'm not saying this is the only way of viewing what I'm wanting to share here, different is, and can be good, not necessarily better.

When I think of the love of God my Father, I can't think of that without it encompassing His transforming, liberating grace as well.

I wrote a piece a while back, thoughts, on the inconvenient truth of grace. I am seeing not a decreasing, but rather an increasing awareness of this becoming an ever more alarming, but freeing proposition.
Unless I'm really in a fog, it is my understanding, although belonging to Him, there is still within the bent and twisted avenues of my unconverted soul a inclination, a disposition towards my wanting from the moment I awake, to want to follow the interests of me, myself, and I.

Is it that incongruous to think that His love and grace is, an inconvenient truth? Doesn't it talk about this most clearly in one of the communications Paul shared with the church?

Galatians 5:16-18 (The Message)
16-18 My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?

Learning to live loved, is only possible in the context of the struggle that goes on continually from within, the outer pressures are simply being used of the father, no matter their complexities, to present us an opportunity to allow, know, what it means to choose Life, in the face of the inconvenience to my self.

This as well from the Message, Romans~1-2

With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

A new law, a new and living dynamic, (the Law of the Spirit of Life) the love of the Father, moment by moment freeing us in this battle where the gravitational pull of sin and death beckons us to live.
I love the thought our brother Peter shares with the church, so very much alive today, in this moment as it was over two thousand years ago, 'Continue to grow in the grace and true knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.'

For me, I cling to the One who is that Living Hope, the one who said, 'I have come to seek and save that which is lost.'
We are all lost, and it is Him seeking us, drawing us in ways that stagger our independent and arrogant ways, whereby in having our eyes opened to the reality of His unconditional love, there is no fleshly boasting permitted.
If I have lost something from birth, how would I ever know I was missing something? Maybe this loving Father has much more (up his sleeve) in his heart and affections towards me than simply saving my lost/dead spirit, but calling forth those lost portions of my soul that were meant to be vibrantly animated with His loving embrace.

Rich

When Love Came To Town

I have been pondering on what Jesus said with regard to saving or loosing our lives,

"Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?"

In my opinion, there is no lasting and fulfilling way to deny ourselves, pick up our cross and follow Him apart from one most essential thing, Knowing the present and unconditional love of God the Father, other wise, it might look good, being-living sacrificially, but maybe inwardly bemoaning the fact of having to give up something.

If we were created, all of man kind, to be loved unconditionally, to try and function apart from this reality explains the insanity of what man is doing to his fellow man.It says that in fear there is torment, but perfect love (unconditional love) drives, or casts out fear. The plague of fear and shame that is in the very DNA of mankind is an unavoidable prison house, and no one escapes its clutches unless Love comes to town!

A Marxist leader once said. 'that religion is the opiate of the masses,' and religion goes far beyond what most of us think we know it to be. In my opinion, everything outside of Christ Jesus, not knowing this unconditional love of God the Father is pure, 'religion.'So in other words there is an absolute need to find whatever it takes to anesthetize the insanity of these relentless and tormenting fears within us. This anesthetic comes in many forms, bottom line, it never frees us, but in fact only securely keeps us enslaved.

For every situation you'll ever encounter will offer you two options in prayer: "Father, save me" or "Father, glorify your name." One will only compound the frustration and emptiness, and the other to discovering what it means, when Love comes to town.

Freedom, the way of escape, is only found in the true knowledge of the Father's unconditional love, this true knowledge is a weapon that defies all logic, it is the key that frees us from our self-interests, our self-preservation, and finding a way of facing and dealing with whatever life throws at us.

I like what Wayne Jacobsen says in his book, He loves Me, "It's not the words we use that matters here, but the cry of our heart. Choose to save yourself and you will find yourself resisting God when you don't even mean to. You'll end up praying against the very things God is using to transform you. You'll miss his attempts to help because they won't look like the thing you want."

This insatiable craving for security and completeness is only found in the arms of this loving Father...let His love draw you unto Himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2M54u5aIGU

U 2 Lyrics....."When Love Comes To Town" (Live From the Kingdom mix)

Don't you know love is the greatest thing that the world has ever known
Love is what everybody loves
We all need just a little love But I did what I did when love came to town
I was a sailor, I was lost at sea
I was under the waves before love rescued me
I was a fighter, I could turn on a thread
But I stand accused of the things I've said

When love comes to town I'm gonna jump that train
When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that flame
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down
But I did what I did before love came to town

I used to make love under a red sunset
I was making promises I was soon to forget
She was pale as the lace of her wedding gown
But I left her standing before love came to town
I ran into a juke joint when I heard a guitar scream
The notes were turning blue, I was dazing in a dream
As the music played I saw my life turn around
That was the day before love came to town

When love comes to town I'm gonna jump that train
When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that flame
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down
But I did what I did before love came to town
When love comes to town I'm gonna jump that train
When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that flame
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down
But I did what I did before love came to town

I did what I did
I did what I did

I was there when they crucified my Lord
I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword
I threw the dice when the pierced his side
But I've seen love conquer the great divide

When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that train
When love comes to town I'm gonna catch that flame
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down
But I did what I did before love came to town

Thank you Madonna I'm calling you to fire it up
And telling everybody everywhere that love is in town
And it's gonna stay around
And you can always, love can always be found
You got to have it
Don't you need it
Everybody need it, everybody
Everybody need it, everybody
I don't care how much money you got
I don't care how many mansions you live in on the hill
You need love
Gotta gotta gotta get it
Gotta gotta gotta get it
We need love
We need love
We need peace
We need joy
We need hope
We need salvation Hallelujah, hallelujah
And we got to catch the glory of our own tree
Do the best you can, God understands
He holds the world in the palm of his hands
And I want you to know that
No more fighting in the gangs
No more killing in the streets
No more fighting each other
No more hunger
No more homeless
No more helpless
It ain't the glory
The spirit isn't selfish

Rich

The Unforced Rhythms Of Grace

Are the unforced rhythms of grace, the ever expanding knowing of God's unconditional love, producing in me a security that is not intimidated, not easily disturbed?

In how the Father 'seems' to be moving in such unconventional ways, ways that seem so foreign, obscure or abstract at best, or as it is put so beautifully in the book, The Shack, when one of the main characters asks, 'Are you saying God that all roads lead to you...and God (Papa) explains most clearly, as in offending the mind, to reveal the heart, His heart..I will go down any road to meet up with whomsoever.'

It talks about Jesus being a rock of offense, a stone of stumbling, and in another place where He himself says, blessed are you if you are not offended in me.

The man (Paul) who wrote the letter to the Romans in the New Testament, talks about it this way..'The next question is, "Are they (the Jews) down for the count? Are they out of this for good?" And the answer is a clear-cut No. Ironically when they walked out, they left the door open and the outsiders walked in. But the next thing you know, the Jews were starting to wonder if perhaps they had walked out on a good thing. Now, if their leaving triggered this worldwide coming of non-Jewish outsiders to God's kingdom, just imagine the effect of their coming back! What a homecoming!

I want to be someone who rejoices in seeing one who has been blind and bound and held prisoner to shames mocking torment, released from this prison house, not by weapons of warfare, but through something far more powerful, the unconditional love of the Father's embrace.Even in Jesus' day, the self-righteous religious leaders were miffed, at what seemed to be blasphemous, exuberant, and highly emotionally charged voices exalting this one coming in the name of the Lord God.

I liked what Jesus says to such ridged and fearful thinkers..'Some Pharisees from the crowd told him, "Teacher, get your disciples under control!" But he said, "If they kept quiet, the stones would do it for them, shouting praise."

He is the way, truth and life, as long as things are unfolding His way, lives coming into a living sobriety, even though I think it violates the 'prescribed' order of it happening, am I able to rejoice and celebrate with Him?
What a friend my elder brother Jesus is, his winning love removing the torment of fear from deep within, making me to BE as he is, willing and able to welcome all of the prodigals He is bringing home to live in His house forever.

Rich