The Secrets of the Kingdom
of Heaven
All scripture are taken from N.I.V., except where noted.
Matthew 13: 10-17, 34-35
10 The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the
people in parables?”
11 He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets
of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. 12 Whoever
has (a understanding heart that is not
calloused) will be given more (understanding),
and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be
taken from him. 13 This is why I speak to them in parables:
“Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or
understand.
14 In them is fulfilled
the prophecy of Isaiah:
‘You will be ever hearing
but never
understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. 15 For
this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and
they have closed their eyes (deliberately
rejected the spirit of truth). Otherwise
they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with
their hearts and turn, and I
would heal them.’
16 But blessed are your
eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. 17 For I tell you the
truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not
see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
34 Jesus spoke all these
things to the crowed in parables; he did not say anything to them without using a
parable; 35 So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophet:
“I will open my mouth in
parables,
I will utter things hidden since the creation of the
world.”
The fruit of the Tree of
the Knowledge of good and evil -- to know that you are good produces pride, to
know that you are evil produces guilt, to eat what is produced is to believe,
to believe what is produced by this tree is to become prideful and guilty,
death.
The fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of the
Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven is Life.
“The
Knowledge of the Secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven” is inspired by the Spirit of
Truth that is uttering things that are hidden and have been for generations.
Feel free to come to know
the secrets of/to the Kingdom of Heaven.
The table is set; feed
your spiritual hunger and thirst. Feed it.
Proverbs 25:2 It is the Glory of God to conceal a
matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings.
A seed, what
does it mean? How does it work? By definition a seed is a fertilized and
ripened plant ovule having an embryo (inner part) that is capable of
germinating (inner beginning) to produce a new plant (or new
life). Seed is also used to mean a beginning or source: origin.
Therefore a seed would be
an inner beginning, an inner source, or an inner origin of life.
So in the beginning God (or the word,
according to Jn.1: 1) created the light or (wisdom according to Proverbs 8:12,
22-36), or if you will, a “Seed”, to begin to or cause to grow a new creation.
Like the invisible force that germinates a seed, the Light (wisdom &
understanding) causes life to grow up and out of the darkness. Our beginning,
our origin as children of God (children of the Word), lies in the Light,
a form of his seed (inner wisdom & understanding), which he said is good
(good to produce growth according to its kind). So he separated Light (wisdom &
understanding) from the empty formless darkness. He called the Light “day”
and the darkness he called “night”.
We read in John 12:35, “Put your trust in
the Light (inner wisdom) while you have it, so that
(It may germinate in you
and) you may become sons of light.”
1Thessalonians 5:4-10 But you Brothers are
not in darkness so that this “day” (“era” of the Lord, “era” of wisdom,
“era” of truth, “era” of light) should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons
of the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night
or the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, (they
are in the empty formless darkness of their minds) but let us be alert and
self-controlled (through the “seed”, light, wisdom, Christ). For those who
sleep, sleep at night, (in their darkness) and those who get drunk, get drunk
at night (in their darkness). But since we belong to the “day” (“era” of
light, “era” of insight, “era” of wisdom, “era” of the Lord,) let us be
self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of
salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to
receive salvation through (the seed, light, wisdom, understanding) our Lord
Jesus Christ. (See 1Cor. 1:30) He died (became the seed) for us so that,
whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with (the light,
the wisdom) Him. (The Seed.)
We use seed even to make bread to eat.
Since we so frequently turn to food and if we should consider its inner
beginning in the seed, does it not have a potential to consistently remind us
of our own inner origin? (Give us this day our daily “seed”). I believe I see a
purpose behind giving us seed bearing plants and fruit with seed in
them (according
to their kinds) for food. The Kingdom of God is like a plant bearing the
seed, or the fruit (spiritual food) with the seed in it, which is for us so we
can grow according
to its kind in the image and likeness of the seed, (the Light,
Wisdom, inner understanding) which is God. The Good News is that this
spiritual food is attainable by all those who believe that the “Light” (the
name of the Seed) makes the difference, in other words, those who believe in
the “Name”. Furthermore, I believe I can see the purpose behind the command not
to eat the
fruit from the tree of “knowledge of good and evil”. One could get drunk on
it. While staggering to and fro with pride and guilt, one forgets their origin
and loses their self in the darkness, which lacks the inner guidance, the “DNA”
of The Seed.
The Son of Man and The Kingdom of God, let’s
consider our perspective of these. What do they mean? If you just blindly
accept them without understanding or knowledge, how will you recognize them if
perhaps you should decide that you need or want to turn and walk with or
in them? To understand this is necessary in order to have true faith. Let’s start with the Kingdom of God.
Romans 14: 17 For the kingdom of God is . . . a matter . . . of righteousness, peace
and joy in the Holy Spirit. 1 Cor.4: 20 For the kingdom of God is . . . a matter . . . of power. (Over evil)
So,
what we are talking about is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit
and power over evil. Actually a divine nature* is the kingdom of
God. The mind is the realm over which God resides, the kingdom in which his
Spirit lives and rules. Our mind’s reconciliation to that government is the
coming (establishment or establishing) of the kingdom of God in your body, his
temple.
Luke 17: 20-21 Once having been asked by
the Pharisee when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom
of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say
‘Here it is’, or ‘There it is’, because the kingdom of God is within you.”
It
is like a “Beautiful city” or a “Strong fortress” in the sense of spiritual
security, but it is not a city in the sense in which the world thinks
of a city.
1 Cor.3: 16 Don’t you know, that you
yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? 1 Cor.6: 19 Do
you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom
you have received from God?
The verse of Luke 18:17 states, ‘I tell you
the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child
will never enter it,’ How does a little child “receive”? Doesn’t it
want, learn, accept from, depend on, and receive from its parents the
spirit of the parents?
We
too must want, seek, and ask for righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy
Spirit (which is the kingdom of God) before we can enter into it. If we don’t
want it, we won’t receive (accept) it or be happy with it. Matt. 7:7-11
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door
will be opened to you.”
The coming of the kingdom of God, and the
coming of the Son of Man by reason its self declares that one does not come
without the other. Matt. 16: 28 “I tell you the truth, some who are standing
here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his
kingdom.” Luke 17:22 states “The time is coming when you will long to see (by
worldly observation) one of the days of the Son of Man, but you will not
see it. Men will tell you, ‘There he is!’ or ‘Here he is!’ Do not go running
off after them.” (He will not be seen by careful worldly observation, because
like the kingdom they both will be within you.) John 14: 18-20 “I will not
leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not
see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also
will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you
are in me, and I am in you. Luke 17: 24 “For the Son of Man in
his day will be like the lightning, which flashes and lights up the “sky” from
one end to the other.” (Or you could say, ‘For the Son of Man in his day will
be like the wisdom which flashes and lights up the mind
from one end to the other.’ Because we will be able see the change even with
our physical eyes shut.) Those who have faith and can accept, receive like a
child, the time, the era, the “day” of the Son of Man in his kingdom, see that
“light” within themselves. They receive (accept) the gift from
God, Christ Jesus who has become for us wisdom from God--
that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption. (*A divine
nature) Quite a gift considering that the nature of darkness we
had been suffering with was marked with fear, shame, guilt, helplessness,
hopelessness, and death.
Believe the good news that the kingdom of
God is at hand (attainable) today. Also believe in the coming of the Son of
Man, who is in you, which is the gift from God, *the divine nature mentioned
above (in your physical body).
The
Lord’s first coming was as a living being. His second coming is a life-giving
spirit, which makes all alive, but each in his own turn as we ask, seek,
and open the door for him, then will be his coming into us. His appearance in
us will put an end to the evil in each one’s life. He will destroy all dominion
of, authority of, and power of evil, even that which the fear of death has over
us. (We will live even though we die.) He must reign until he has destroyed all
our enemies’ even death, which will be the end of all dominion
of, authority of, and power of evil, (darkness, ignorance, ‘ignore’ - ance)
then he will hand the kingdom to God the Father, and will himself also be made
subject to the Father, so that God may be all in all. (Ref. to 1 Cor.15; 20-58)
The coming of the Son of Man is like the
rising “sun” that comes to us from heaven to shine on those living in
darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace,
to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him
without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
(Ref. to Luke 1: 74-79, also see 2Cor. 1:22 He put his Spirit in our hearts as
a deposit guaranteeing what is to come. (More
of the same), also see the “sun of righteousness” in Malachi 4: 2)
2 Cor.5:
14-17, 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died
for all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all that those who live
should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was
raised again.
16 So
from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we
once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if
anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has
come!
Being “raised” or “resurrected” is being
changed from a lower worldly to a higher heavenly state of being. (Which, is in
Christ, and is eternal, past, present, and future.)
Gal.
3: 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves
with Christ.
1 Cor. 15: 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with
the imperishable and the mortal with immortality. 1 Peter 1: 23 For you have
been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through
the living and enduring word of God.
Heb. 3:7 So, as the Holy Spirit says: Today, if you hear his voice,
do not harden your hearts . . .
2 Cor. 6: 1-2 As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to
receive God’s grace in vain. 2 For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard
you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”
I tell you, now is the time of God’s
favor, now is the day of salvation.
Allow the
coming of Christ and receive the Kingdom of God, a divine nature.
Son of Man is a Divine nature in a physical
body, a spiritual being in human form, a child who sees and does what their
Father does. (See John 5: 19-21)
(Consider
“entering in the cloud” in Luke 9:34-35, 26-27, 32,34,35,36, as
transfigurement, “coming in the cloud”,
“coming in the glory”, “coming in a Divine nature”. Also see, “life-giving
spirit” in 1Cor. 15:45-47-49, and 2 Cor. 3:17-18).
The Coming
of the “Sun” of Man
John 12: 31 Now
is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of
this world will be driven out.” (Judgment means, the ability to make a
decision or opinion by discerning and evaluating. By judgment it has
been determined that the prince (evil) of this world is not the source of
life. Now is the time for us to decide against this
controlling factor of the world. Now is the time for the “Sun”
of Man, through who we become for God, sons out of mankind.) 32 “But I,
when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.” One
perspective of being lifted up is to hold up, or present in honor, as a light,
which is to glorify it in our minds. (Verse 23 “The hour has come for the
Son of Man to be glorified.”) When others see it they are drawn to
it. (As in 1 John 4:19 ‘We love because he first loved us.’) One who glorifies
love by first loving has an eternally glorious life, and anyone who holds up
that way of living, as the only source of life, has it and will keep it for
eternal life, for they are glorifying the Father that creates life. That
eternally glorious love is God. (1 John 4:16 God is love.) 34 The crowd
spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Christ will remain forever, so
how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
(The crowd was evidently thinking that to ‘ lift up’ is to crucify, but in
the sense of following good judgments, of following good examples in which
Jesus was speaking is revealed in verse 35) 35 Then Jesus told them, “You are going to
have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light,
before darkness overtakes you. The man who walks in the dark does not know
where he is going. 36 Put your trust in the light while you have it, so that
you may become sons of light, (sons of glory).” When he had
finished speaking Jesus left and hid himself from them. (As if to give it
time to sink in, but) 37 Even after Jesus had done these miraculous signs
in their presence, they still would not believe in him, (As, the “Sun
of Righteousness” which Malachi 4: 2 calls him) They still would
not lift him up in honor and walk by his light. 38 This was to fulfill the
word of Isaiah the prophet: “Lord who has believed, our message and to whom has
the arm (glory) of the Lord been revealed?”
(Since God is Love, the arm of Love, the glory of God is the power and
authority of Love. To attain to Love one must have power and authority. The
“arm, glory, righteousness” of Love brings us to Love. The way (name) of
Christ brings us to embody Love and from within us Love projects
it’s glory, which is the arm of the Lord extended once again, [e.g.Gal.1: 15-16 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called
me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach
him among the Gentiles,] the crowd failed to see this, and) 39 For
this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
{Isaiah 6: 9 The Lord
said, “Go and tell this people: “ ‘Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be
ever seeing, but never perceiving’ 10 Make (determine) the heart of this people calloused; make (determine) their ears dull and close their eyes. Otherwise they might see with
their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and turn and be
healed.” 11 Then I said, “For how long, O Lord?” And he answered: “Until
the cities lie ruined and without inhabitant, until the houses
are left deserted and the fields ruined and
ravaged, 12 until the Lord has sent everyone far away and
the land is utterly forsaken. 13 And though a tenth remains in the land, it
will again be laid waste. But as the terebinth and oak leave stumps when they
are cut down, so the holy seed will be the stump in the
land.” [Until there is nothing left for them to rely on except
the stump, the seed.] Isaiah 11: 1 A shoot will come up from
the stump of Jesse; from his roots (the stumps roots)
a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will
rest on him (the branch) --- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge
and of the fear of the Lord --- 3 and he will delight in the fear
of the Lord. [We will never understand or perceive until we the
shoots; the branches abide in the roots of the stump, or the seed.]
See, ‘you are the branches’ in John 15: 5, and ‘if the root is
holy, then so are the branches’ in Romans 11: 16.} John 12: 42 Yet at the same time
many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they
would not confess their faith for fear that they would be put out of the
synagogue; 43 for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.
(Though he had
hid himself from them [verse 36] the Father gave him more words for them to
hear.) 44 Then Jesus cried out,
“When a man believes in me, he does not
believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. 45 When he looks at me, he sees
the one who sent me. 46 I have come into the world as a light, (the
SUN of Righteousness, the Glory of God) so that no one who believes in me
should stay in darkness. 47 “As for the person who hears my words but
does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world,
but to save it. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not
accept my words; that very word, which I spoke, will condemn him at the last
day. 49 For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me
commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 I know that his command leads to
eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.” Since
they had no regard for the deeds of the Lord, no respect for the work of his
hands, see Isaiah 5: 12-15.
A few more of the abundant explanations of the "Sun" of Man are
as follows:
Matthew 13:
10-17, 11 He replied, “The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of
heaven has been given to you, but not to them, 12 Whoever has will be
given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even
what he has will be taken from him.”
John 14: 15-24,
15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever --- 17 the Spirit
of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows
him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you.
18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before
long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me.
Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that
I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever
has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me
will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to
him.” 22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do
you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23 Jesus replied,
“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we
will come to him and make our home with him. 24 He who does not love me
will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to
the Father who sent me. Here is what some fail to perceive or understand,
that the Spirit of truth, the counselor is Christ Jesus in his risen form
(the life-giving spirit), they are one and the same. Some may go as far
as to claim they have the Holy Spirit, but fail to recognize it as the
coming of the “Sun” of Man, the Sun of Righteousness, the Arm of God,
or the Glory of Love.
Luke 19: 42-44
Jesus said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would
bring you peace --- but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come
when your enemies, (Satanic evils) will build an embankment against you
and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the
ground, you and your children within your walls. They will not leave one stone
upon another, because you did not recognize the time of
God’s coming to you.”(*See 1John4: 2-4)
2 Cor.13: 5 Examine yourselves to see
whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that
Christ Jesus is in you --- unless, of course, you fail the test?
Hebrews 9:
26-28, 26 - - - But now he has appeared once (the first time) for
all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of
himself. 27 Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face
judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many
people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to
bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
1 Peter 1: 1-25,
9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation
of your souls.
1 John 3: 24
Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is
how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit (of Love, of
truth) he gave us. *1 John 4: 2-4 This is how you can
recognize the Spirit of God; Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not
acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of antichrist, which you
have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 4 You, dear
children, are from God and have overcome them (your enemies, Satan and his
demons, those who don’t acknowledge the spirit of Christ), because
the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (This
is not, as some claim, referring to acknowledgment of the fact when Jesus came
(the first time) to bare the sins of many, but refers to the acknowledgment of
the fact that he has come the second time as a life giving spirit to
bring salvation, in you, in me, in our flesh protecting us from evil.
1 John 5:20 We
know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding,
so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true --- even
in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
1 John 5: 13 I
write these things to you who believe in the name (Way) of the Son of God so
that you may know that you have eternal life.
John 4: 23-24
Yet a time is coming and has now come (as in
from now on) when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit
and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is
spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.
Here are three separate recordings of
Jesus testifying to what we
have written here;
Matthew 16: 28 “I
tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death
before they see the Son (S-u-n) of Man coming in his kingdom.”
Mark 9: 1 And he
said to them, “I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will
not taste death before they see the kingdom of God come with power.”
Luke 9: 27 “I
tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death
before they see the kingdom of God.” Three of which who were
standing there, Peter, James, and John saw the kingdom of God and the Son of
Man come with power in his kingdom. Peter testified to this in 2 Peter 1:
16-18. Jesus received, honor, glory, and power when God the Father said, “This
is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Now
when we come to believe this to be true about Jesus and understand what it
would mean for God to say that to us,
we begin to have hope, faith in the way of life Jesus led, (in other
words, faith in his name) as a means of salvation from our sins, This also
is for us, honor, glory, power, and adoption as children of God the Father.
Our eyes and ears could not be opened
without power, like a shock to restart the fibrillating heart; the observance
of true love in action is what it took to get the same spirit going in our own
being. Jesus knew this for he said in John 16: 7 “But I tell you the truth: It
is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not
come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.
Jesus knew as
long as we were focused on the physical we could not see the spiritual cure.
John 16: 16 “In
a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will
see me.” At his physical death we grieved as a woman giving birth but when we
see him again as the counselor resurrected in us we rejoice as
when a child is born into the world. Then we are alive (reborn to eternal
life), then we are redeemed, set free from the empty way of life
handed down to us from our predecessors, then our salvation is realized, then
the Messiah is revealed in that we understand what saves us, we are resurrected
by that Spirit of truth sent from the Father which changed us into His
child, a child of light, a Son of mankind created in true righteousness
and holiness, the image and likeness of God, consequently, the establishment,
the coming of the Son of man in his glory and in the glory of
the Father and of the holy angels. John 14:6-31, 2 Cor. 1:21-22, 3:3, 17-18,
5:5, 14-21, Gal. 4:6, Eph. 1:13-14, Phil.2:13.
The Resurrection Body
Of a
necessity, one should ask, “What is the difference between the “dead” and those
who have fallen “asleep” in Christ?” For now, if you will, the “dead” are those
still in their sins and those who are “asleep” in Christ are past the “sting
of death”.
1 Cor.15: 35 But someone may ask, “How are the dead
raised? With what kind of body will they come?” Common sense tells us if we
want to grow, perhaps wheat or something else, we will need to first plant the
seed before we can expect the growth. What we put in the ground is not what
rises up out of it. 15: 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and
to each kind of seed he gives its own body. According to its kind of
splendor. It is the same way with the resurrection of the dead. When the
perishable is buried, it is raised imperishable, dishonor is raised in glory,
weakness is raised in power, natural is raised spiritual, a living being is
raised a life-giving spirit. 15: 47, The first man was of the dust of the
earth, the second man from heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are
of the earth; and as is the man from heaven, so also are those who are of
heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall
we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.15: 51, Listen, I tell you a
mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed --- 52
in a flash (when the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts),
in the twinkling of an eye (when the sun of righteousness will rise with
healing in its wings), at the last trumpet (when the call for us to get
ready for battle is clear). For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be
raised imperishable, and we will be changed (transformed by the renewing of
our minds). 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable,
and the mortal with immortality (in order to overcome the power death has
over us). 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and
the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true;
“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” 55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where O death is your sting?” 56 (Death is guilt, the power of death is
fear) The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But
thanks be to God! He gives us the victory (the resurrecting power over
fear, sin, guilt, and the law) through our Lord Jesus Christ (the
governing Grace of God in us). 58 Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm.
Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord,
because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (It brings about
new growth, The Resurrection Body.)
Related verses to
the Resurrection Body;
Romans 6:
1-14 - - - 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in
order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the
Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him
like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his
resurrection. 6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so
that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer
be slaves to sin - - - 7 because anyone who has died has been freed from
sin. (freed from the sting of death) 8 Now if we died with
Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 For we know that since Christ
was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over
him. 10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives,
he lives to God. 11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive
to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal
body so that you obey its evil desires. 13 Do not offer the parts of your body
to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those
who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your
body to him as instruments of righteousness.14 For sin shall not be your
master, because you are not under law, but under grace. Romans13: 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with
the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the
sinful nature.
2
Corinthians3: 18 And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory,
are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes
from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 5: 14-17 For Christ’s love compels us,
because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. 15 And
he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but
for him who died for them and was raised again. 16 So from now on we regard
no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this
way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a
new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Galatians2:
20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in
me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me.
3: 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ.
Ephesians2:
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the
heavenly realms in Christ Jesus. 4: 22-24 You were taught, with regard to your
former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its
deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24
and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true
righteousness and holiness. 5: 8 For you were once darkness, but now you
are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light 9 (for the fruit of the
light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what
pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness,
but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to mention what the
disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes
visible, 14 for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is
said:
“Wake
up, O sleeper,
rise
from the dead,
And
Christ will shine on you.”
15Be very careful, then, how you live - - - not as
unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days
are evil.
James2: 26 As the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without deeds is dead.
But about the resurrection of the dead ----
Matt. 22: 31 But
about the resurrection of the dead ----- He is not the God of the dead but of
the living.
The “resurrected” are the “changed”,
see 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52. We are not the same as when we were “dead”. God was
not our god then, we did not acknowledge him as God then, but when we
acknowledged him as our God we were changed to the “living”. He is the God of
the living. What is “the dead”? The “dead” are those without the Spirit of God
in them. Can we be dead and alive at the same time? No. Dead is dead, alive is
alive whether walking or not. What hope does the carnally minded have in being
raised up / in being justified / in being glorified / in being accepted by God,
none unless it first be changed to a spiritual mind. (See John 4: 23-24) The
carnal mind doesn’t think in spiritual terms, nor can it. The carnal mind is
temporal, but the spiritual mind is eternal. The carnal mind thinks in temporal
terms, such as are limited by time, and when those times near expiration, the
carnal mind loses hope. As in this example, when the importance of good times
nears its end or stops, the carnal mind begins to fear that ending. It
represents death to the carnal mind. If we stop thinking that way, we cease to
have a carnal mind. Fear, by the way, is what holds us in slavery to
carnal thinking. In Heb.2: 15 we read, ‘--- and free those who all their
lives were held in slavery by their fear of death’. As
someone once said, ‘We have nothing to fear except fear its self’. The
carnal mind doesn’t have the animating spirit to carry on in the face of death.
Only the spiritual mind has that hope. The Spirit represents life and peace and
therefore takes away the fear.
Romans 8: 1
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2
because through Christ Jesus the law (the way) of the Spirit of life set me free from the
law (the way) of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it
was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the
likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.
(He did this to
show to us that in our body we have an alternative choice to the control of the
way of sin and death. And so his son proved it to us, by taking on a body just
like ours, in order that we might see in him how to live according to the way
of the Spirit of life.)
And so he condemned
sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might
be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but
according to the Spirit.
5 Those who live according to the sinful
nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in
accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The
mind of the sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life
and peace; (See 1Cor. 15:22) 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It
does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the
sinful nature cannot please God.
9 You, however, are controlled not by the
sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if
anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But
if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive
because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the
dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life
to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
(We are resurrected, changed from
the dead through his Spirit.)
12Therefore, brothers, we have an
obligation ---- but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13
For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the
Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because
those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not
receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received
the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” (We
feel from God the relationship of an offspring, and toward God the relationship
of a Father, if we have that spirit in us.) 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s
children.
John 4: 23-24 Yet a time is coming
and has now come (now and
from now on) when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind
of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must
worship in spirit and in truth.”
John 5: 21 For just as the Father raises
(changes, 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52) the dead and gives them life, even so the
Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
A time is coming and has now come (now and
from now on) when the resurrected from the dead are those who worship in spirit
and truth.
John 5: 24-29 “I tell
you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal
life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.
25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come (now and from now on) when the “dead” will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear
will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son
to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he
is the (physical) Son of Man. (Son of God in human form.)
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time
is coming when all who are in their “graves”
will hear his voice 29 and (become
aware) come out ---- those who
have done good will rise
(awaken, continue) to live, and those who have done evil will rise
(awaken, continue) to be condemned.
Daniel 12: 2 Multitudes who sleep in the dust
of the earth (our mortal
bodies, see Gen. 3: 19, ‘dust you are’) will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame
and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness
of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for
ever and ever.
Rise,
awake, change, resurrect are synonymous with each other.
1Cor. 15: 17 And if
Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your
sins.
The resurrection of Christ is
synonymous with the change in us. The change in us is synonymous with our
resurrection. If Christ has not been raised we are still in our sins. If we are
still in our sins then we have not been changed, we have not been awakened to
the truth, we have not risen above our sins (the sting of death), and Christ
(the word) has not risen in our hearts. Those who think like Adam die like
Adam, but those who think like Christ will be made alive like Christ.
1Cor. 15: 22 For as in Adam all die, so in
Christ all will be made alive. (See Rom. 8:6)
34 Come back to your senses as you ought,
and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God ---- I say this to
your shame.
“The dead” are those without the Spirit of
God living in them. The “dead” are the lost. If the lost are converted they are
resurrected from the “dead”.
References to Matthew 22: 23-33;
In these
verses the Sadducees who say, ‘There is no resurrection’, were only correct in
the sense of their wrong perception of our state of being at the resurrection.
They related to the resurrection as a time after physical death of resuming a
physical state of being in which they would engage in physical activities such
as marriage, and being given in marriage.
Jesus replied, “You are in error because you
do not know the scriptures or the power of God. At the resurrection people will
neither marry nor be given in marriage: they will be like angels
in heaven.” According to Matthew 13:39 and Matt. 9:38-10:23, angels are
harvesters (13:39), workers (9:38), preachers (10:7). Hebrews 1: 14, Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve
those who will inherit salvation? They are spiritual workers who preach,
teach, and enhance this message of salvation; ‘Repent, for the
kingdom of Heaven is at hand.’ At our resurrection we will be part of God’s
Spirit of Truth, which is eternal that spreads the “Good News”. Being children,
of the resurrection we are all alive to the Spirit of Truth. The angels and the
children speak to the living as in Hebrews 12: 22-25 But you
have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God.
You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful
assembly, 23 to the church of the firstborn, whose names are
written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the
spirits of righteous men made perfect, 24 to Jesus the mediator of a
new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better
word than the blood of Abel. 25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks.
If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much
less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us
from heaven? (Which is within you, as was the God of
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the bush, Moses, and . . . Many more who speak to us
even though they are dead, but together with us are made perfect, as is stated
in Hebrews 11: 1- 40.) He is the God who makes us alive whether we are
“awake or asleep”. We, like angels, become a part of the enhancement
[glorification] of God’s spiritual body of Love. And that would be the
resurrecting power of God that the Sadducees did not know.
Jesus
continued, “But about the resurrection of the dead --- have you not read
what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God
of Jacob’? He is not the God of the dead but the living.” Exodus 3: 2- There the
angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a
bush. (In reading the word about the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses
it becomes apparent that their God was with them
wherever they went.) Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did
not burn up. 3 Moses thought, “I will go over and see the strange site
--- why the bush does not burn up.” (This key point is crucial even
for us today as it was for Moses to grasp, ‘Why the bush does not burn up?’ For
one, without the desire to “Look” or to seek to know, we would not receive an
answer for its eternal existence. It follows; also, that we would
not have a relationship with that Eternal Life, it would not be within us.
The Bush represents the relationship of man and his God and it shows the
results of that combination as, “ not being burned up” or “I AM”, which
is Eternal Life.)
4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look,
God called to him from within the bush (See Deut. 4: 9), “Moses! Moses!” and
Moses said, “Here I am”. 5 “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your
sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
(In grasping the aspect of having a relationship with
God from within I can see why holy ground would be considered, where
you stand, furthermore, that it is, a “ place”. It was
revealed to Jacob by his God in a dream (or from within), that in
this place, is the stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to
heaven, and the angels of God are ascending and descending on it.
And that above it stands the Lord, and he says: “I am
the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac . . . .I am with
you and will watch over you wherever you go, and . . . When Jacob awoke from
his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I
was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place!
This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of
heaven.” Although Jacob said this he may or may not have perceived it in the
sense of Hebrews 3: 6, 1Peter 2: 5, 1Cor. 3: 16, 6: 19, or 2Cor. 6: 16, until
his struggle with God where he said ‘I saw God face to face, and yet my
life was spared.’ [As in not burned up.] Moses was having the same
experience.) In Exodus 3: 6 Then he (God) said, “I am . . . the God
of Jacob.” At this Moses hid his face because he was afraid to look at God.
12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign
to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of
Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.” (As this pertains to us, when
we have been brought out of slavery to sin, our sign that it is God
who is with us and has sent us is that we worship God on the holy
ground, Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God that is
within us. Also refer to Isa.8: 18, 7: 14, Heb.12: 22-24, Rev.21: 1-7.)
Like Jacob in
Gen.32: 29, Moses also inquired of what God’s name is. In Exodus 3:14 God said
to Moses, (NIV.)“I am who I am”, or “I will be what
I will be.” (KJV.) “I am that I am.” This is what you are to say
to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 15 God also said to Moses, “Say
to the Israelites, ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers --- the God
of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob --- has sent me to you.’ This
is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to
generation. (The relationship Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had with God made
them who they were and Him their God. It gave them their sense of being.
Likewise the relationship I have with God makes me who I am, that
I AM in each of us is what and whom we remember from generation
to generation as, “The Lord” who is Eternal Life, the “I AM” indicative
of being. [Also known as Messiah, or Christ, the anointed with whom we
are anointed to indicate our sanctification.] )
A similar
example of the same perspective that the Sadducees tried to present in Matt.22:
24-28 was Martha’s thinking before Jesus corrected her in John 11: 24-27.
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last
day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.
He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and
whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe
this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ
(the anointed by which we are anointed with life), the Son of God, who
was to come into the world.”
Galatians 2: 20, I have been crucified with Christ, and I
no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the
body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. This
self-sacrificial Love is the image, and likeness of the eternal living
spiritual body God has for us. If we believe in it we will live spiritually
speaking even though we die physically speaking, and whoever lives physically
speaking and believes in it will never die spiritually speaking. This is the
Way, the Truth, and the Life from the Living God. The day it comes to you, you
will have peace. John 14: 20, “On that day you will realize that I am in my
Farther, and you are in me, and I am in you. - - -. Matt.22: 33,
When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching. Amazing as
it is, the Spirit of God reveals what God has prepared for those who love Him,
even the deep things of God, so that we may understand what God has freely
given us. And this would be what the Sadducees did not know the scriptures said
about the
resurrection of the dead.
Known by God
There is
something about “knowing” that we are “only human” that inhibits us from doing
all that can be done, such as perfection. Since we know that God alone is
perfect, it could be that our “subconscious” cannot deal with that kind of
responsibility or the burden of thinking it, let alone achieve it, so it always
stops us short of completion. There is also something about knowing God that
enables us to do more than what we would do on our own. Realizing that the good
in us is God in us doing his work frees our “self-consciousness” from feeling
responsible for the perfect acts and therefore, removes the inhibitions to
perform them. So, it is necessary to acknowledge the ability, the motivation,
the willingness, and the accomplishments, as the Spirit of God himself living
in us doing his work, in order for our subconscious mind, or soul, to be in
agreement with their performance. We know that it is true that no one is
perfect except God alone, neither can anyone be perfect alone except God,
so naturally if he is in us motivating, strengthening, guiding, and controlling
us, our soul can do no less. (1Peter1: 15-16 But just as he who called you
is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am
holy.”) We are like a “tool” that God uses to perform his will perfectly.
Since God is Love, Love in us performs Love’s will perfectly. Anything less, in
us, is why we do less. The “tool” is not perfect to do the job by itself, but
the Spirit of Love (hand of God) that controls the tool is, and causes the tool
to do what He wants it to do. (2 Timothy 2:21 If a man cleanses himself from
the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy,
useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.) Therefore we
worship the Spirit of Love, which is the living God himself, in us who gives us
power to become Gods offspring.
A sister said she was proud of what the Father has
accomplished in my willing heart. I say that even that willingness was a
product of the Spirit of God, Christ himself working in me. The same Spirit
which has brought us from “past” to “present,” and will take us from “present”
to “future.” It is responsible for bringing us all, believers or not,
from point to point of progression in our lives. Some just don’t
acknowledge him because they don’t know him. (John1: 5 states, ‘The
light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.’ Again in John1:10,
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world
did not recognize him.)
Those who don’t know the Spirit of God (as I too in times
past) have trouble thinking that their accomplishments are not a result of their own efforts. I now believe, even the
reason atoms, molecules, and cells cohesively
form our body and everything else in creation is because of that Spirit, that
“willingness” to work together, to fellowship with each other in Life. The same
Spirit moves our body to take a breath, to move a muscle, to prosper, and to do
the right thing. Without it nothing would come together, materialize or exist.
We would be dead, “dust of the earth”, even “darkness”. Even Jesus, when he
gave his spirit back to God, his body breathed its last. (See Luke23: 46)
The Spirit also compels me to write, John7: 38-39
“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water
will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who
believed in him were later to receive.
We are created, animated, motivated, inspired, taught,
and led because of that Spirits presence. That liveliness, that quickening is
evidence of the Spirit’s presence. John8: 29 “The one who sent me is with
me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”
To stress the point, “I do” because of Him.
Again in John10: 37-38 Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. 38
But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe (what I do) the
miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and
I in the Father.”
The acts of moving, breathing, thinking, and feeling are
the living God himself who is the quickening part of our existence, our
Creator. Awareness and understanding of this profound mystery makes sense of
the longings of my soul and promotes faith in the living God and hope for life.
The Spirit that is in us is the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ, and our
Salvation. If we suppress, reject, or fail to nurture or acknowledge this part
of our existence we become nothingness, darkness. Plainly speaking we die,
spiritually and physically. For what soul can exist who hates (to move, think,
breath, love, and live) the Living God.
2Cor.13: 5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are
in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you -
- - unless, of course, you fail the test?
1John3: 24 Those who obey his commands live in him,
and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the
Spirit he gave us.
1John4: 13 We know that we live in him and he in us,
because he has given us of his Spirit.
1Cor.8: 3 But the man who loves God is known by God.
Gal.4: 9 But now that you know God - - - or rather are
known by God - - -
1John2: 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father;
whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 4:15If anyone acknowledges
that Jesus is the Son of God; God lives in him and he in God.
I
thought “Known by God” meant that God knows us, but the Spirit revealed to me
that it meant we are known by our image, our actions, and our fruit. We are known by the way we live. A tree
is known by its fruit. (See Matt.7: 15-23) It is not that God knows or understands
us, which is a given, but rather that we are recognized by the
God, by the Spirit, who is in us. God acknowledges us as his children if we
have and acknowledge his Spirit in us.
If we are known by the Spirit of God in us, we are
known by the Spirit of God “above us”.
If we know God, God knows us. We are known
by God, if we are - - - Known by God.
God in us is
perceived as God by God in those who perceive Him.
Motives of the Heart
1John 1: 8
If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not
in us.
This verse is used by so many as a “reason” to claim,
(“It is not possible for anyone to be righteous,” “We are only human,” “Everyone
sins at least once a day,” or “No one is perfect.”)
All of these
are generalizing, minimizing, or justifying statements, which are used as
excuses for sins. These statements are subtle tricks of an unholy spirit to use
words to conceal the motives of the heart. The intention is to suggest that the
users of them are “normal” as they are with their customary sins. Essentially,
they are claiming to be without sin and need not repent.
The truth is if we take that stand we deceive ourselves
and the truth is not in us. Therefore we reinforce the sin in our lives.
To admit that is
possible to live without sin, (which is also the meaning of ‘Believing in
the name, reputation, of Jesus Christ’) leads to taking ownership of ones
actions, which equates to confessing our sins. 1John 1: 9 If we confess our
sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from
all unrighteousness. If we take ownership, confess, our sins we have one of
two choices we must make, escape again into self-deception or
repent.
What is truly
normal? 1John 1:5-7 This is the message we have heard from him and declare
to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have
fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the
truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us
from all sin. What is meant by the word, blood? It is a symbolic reference
to the Love/lifestyle of Jesus. An anointing of that Love purifies us from all
sin. Love does not sin. Sin does not Love.
John 15: 17
“This is my command: Love one another.”
1Cor.9: 25
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get
a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
26 Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a
man beating air. 27 No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I
have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. Some
will not admit that we can be sinless (perfect), because they then would have
to undergo strict training to bring their body and mind under complete control.
As is, they fight the wind aimlessly. But those who will accept it can move on toward
righteousness and everlasting life. Those who desire to be free, (from low
self-esteem, personally felt guilt, and the fear that perpetuates sin, so as to
rise from the dead and hold their heads up) are made to carry an even heavier
burden when they are told by those who profess to know the way, the truth, that
it is a goal no one can truly reach. God, who places His Love, his Spirit in
our hearts to testify to the fact that we can be as His Son, sinless, has
lifted that burden from our backs. Glory Hallelujah. The Kingdom of Heaven
certainly is at hand. That is - - - The Good News.
The Missing Link
Genesis 1:
2, . . . darkness was over the surface
of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, “Let there be light,”
. . .
I know it is a
common belief that we humans are not perfect. There is something missing in our
nature. We are incomplete. There is also something imperfect within our
incomplete nature that deceives us into thinking this condition is an
unchangeable “fact of life.” It prevents us from being complete. It keeps the
“water” muddy, too “dark” to see past the “surface” into the “deep.” This
darkness prevents us from seeing what we are missing in our hearts. 2 Cor.4:
4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they
cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, (So they cannot understand
the truth about the Love of Christ) who is the image of God.
Fortunate for us, the Spirit of God who was hovering over the water considered
its polluted condition and decided to clear it up for us. 2 Cor.4: 6 For
God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in
our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Christ. For those who wonder how he made his light shine in our
hearts, read (1 John4: 19 We love because he first loved us.)
His love for us softens our hearts and stirs into them the same purifying love
that shines out of the darkness and reflects Love back toward Him and
our brothers. In this way we are made perfect in Love. God made it
happen, first by thinking of us (Psalms 8: 4 what is man that you are
mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him?), then by creating
light for us to see past the surface of the “deep” so that we
could be made in his image, in his likeness (perfect in love).
We don’t have
what it takes to see the right way for any situation, until we receive the
Spirit of Love. Then, and only then, are we made complete. Only then are we
able to reject the worldly nature for the sake of the heavenly nature. The
Spirit of Love adds honor and glory into the human equation. The sum is peace,
strength, happiness, and relief, an uplifted life. We are not Love, but it is
an element which when added to us makes us supernatural by virtue of that
superior nature of Love. Love empowers us to see past our physically minded
nature, into more noble causes. When we have the Spirit of Love in us, we
reject our selfish motives. Even in work or sports or whatever we do, without
Love we don’t put out 100%. Our output is imperfect, incomplete. Love is not a
nature we are born with. That’s why we must seek it, call on it, dwell on it,
(pray to it) and worship it. Love in us is our only hope. Love is our
salvation. It is the reason we can resist laziness, lying, stealing, killing,
hating, unforgiving or any other form of the imperfect nature. Figuratively
speaking, Love is the reason we can walk on water or walk through fire. In any
given moment of time, our spiritual success is due to a connection of our
nature to the Spirit of Love. Without it we are nothing more than imperfect, incomplete, physically minded
beings compelled to be negatively charged (spiritually speaking) which results
in the deterioration of mind, body, and soul. The Holy Spirit of Love is the
missing link.
References
to 1John 4: 7-21
Jeremiah
31: 31-33 “The time is coming,” (
and has now come, according to John
4: 23, and 2 Cor. 6: 2) declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like
the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead
them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to
them. 33 this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that
time,” declares the Lord. “
I will put my law in their minds and write it on
their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”
In keeping with the New Covenant, The Ark is the
“chest” of our own sacred body, if the ways (commandments) of
God are kept in it, written in permanence on our hearts and in our minds
(as if engraved on
“tablets of stone”).
1 Corinthians
3: 16-17 Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s
Spirit lives in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him:
for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.
Revelation 11:
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen
the ark of his covenant.
Revelation 21:
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of
God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people,
and God himself will be with them and be their God.
John 14: 17,
20 - - - 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it
neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you
and will be in you.
20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father,
and you are in me, and I am in you.
2 Corinthians
6: 14-16 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness
and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness?
15What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in
common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God
and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has
said: “I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and
they will be my people.”
Believers are
the temples of righteousness.
Believers are
the temples of light.
Believers are
the temples of Christ (a personification of godliness in us).
Believers are
the temples of the living God (who quickens).
Unbelievers are
the temples of wickedness.
Unbelievers are
the temples of darkness.
Unbelievers are
the temples of Belial (a personification of wickedness and ungodliness
in us).
Unbelievers are
the temples of an un-living god (which does not quicken).
One has nothing in common with the other. We cannot be
both. Consider the way you think and act, do they make you the temple
of the living God --- or a temple of an idol?
1 Corinthians
10: 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you
cannot have a part in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons. The
Ark of the covenant of God has no place for a covenant with evil in
it.
I Know, that I Know, that I Know
I’ve heard
some people say, “I know, that I know, that I know.” It may be that they said
that when they were at a loss for words to explain what they know. Maybe they
thought their examples for what, how, and why they know are too numerous to
mention. Maybe they didn’t really know. In any case, that phrase alone does not
witness to me what, how, or why anyone could know anything. Thanks to the Lord,
I then noticed the following scriptures which told me what, how, and why we all
can know.
1 John 2: 3-6 We
know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4
The man who says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and
the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God’s
love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know
we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
1 John 2: 20
But you have an anointing (of love) from the Holy One, and all of you
know the truth (that this anointing of love is real, not counterfeit).
1 John 2: 27 As for you, the anointing (of
love) you received from him remains in you, and you do not need
anyone to teach you. But as his anointing (of love) teaches you
about all things and as that anointing (of love) is real, not
counterfeit --- just as it has taught you, remain in him.
1 John 2: 29
If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right
(loves) is born of him.
1 John 4: 7-8
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.
Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows
God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love (Love
is God).
1 John 3: 10
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the
devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God;
nor is anyone who does not love his brother. [Love is right, right is
love, and to sin is to hate your brother. If we sin we suppress the truth by
our wickedness (Rom. 1: 18). To suppress the truth by our wickedness is a murderous
act (1John 3:15). The plain truth is God is love --- love is God. He has made
that eternal power and divine nature of love clearly seen from the beginning
even by what has been made, so that man may know him. Therefore, we are
without excuse.]
1 John 3: 14 We know that we have
passed from death to life, because we love our brothers.
1 John 3: 16 This
is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we
ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
1 John 3: 18-19
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and
in truth. 19 This then is how we know that we belong to the
truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever (even
if) our hearts (our feelings and thoughts) condemn (find fault
with) us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. If
we love with actions and in truth it does not matter what the “accuser”
may say about us because God is greater than he is, so we can put our hearts at
rest in God’s presence.
1 John 3: 24
Those who obey his commands (to love with actions and in truth) live in
him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it
by the Spirit he gave us.
1 John 4: 7
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who
loves has been born of God and knows God.
1 John 4: 13 We
know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his
Spirit.
1 John 5: 2 This
is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and
carrying out his commands.
1 John 5: 13 I
write these things to you who believe in the name (Spirit) of the Son (of
the word) of God (of Love) so that you may know that you have
eternal life.
1 John 5: 18 We know that anyone born
of God does not continue to sin; the one who was born of God keeps him safe and
the evil one cannot harm him. 19 We know that we are children of God,
and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We know
also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so
that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true --- even in
his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
This divine
nature of Love in us is how we are known and it testifies that
we know, that we know, that we know.
In the
first place, with love, (the Father in us).
In the
second place, with the word,
(Jesus Christ in us).
In the
third place, with actions and in truth, (the Holy Spirit in us).
As I read 2
Peter 2: 4 K.J.V. I noticed the phrase, “chains of darkness” (N.I.V.
reads “gloomy dungeons”). These “chains of darkness” keep us
bound up, shackled to “darkness”, blind to the truth. I wondered
and then realized what these “chains” were, that kept us in darkness.
The “chains” that kept us in an unseeing state, separated from God (Love),
which is the “Hell” that is felt as unceasing torment.
N.I.V. Romans
1: 24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their
hearts to sexual impurity . . .
Romans 1:
26 . . . God gave them over to shameful lusts.
Romans 1:
28 . . ., he gave them over to a depraved mind . .
.
K.J.V. 2
Peter 2: 4 For God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to
“hell”, and delivered them into chains of darkness.
(Delivered them, gave them over, in the sense of the freedom to
choose, you get what you ask for.)
These “chains
of darkness”, these “gloomy dungeons” chosen by our own futile thinking and
darkened hearts are sexual impurity, shameful lusts, depraved
minds, and corrupt desires of the sinful nature. They keep us bound
in darkness, blind, they prevent us from escaping hell, the state of being
separated from God.
Jude verse
6 and 7 . . . these he kept in darkness, bound with everlasting
chains kept for judgment on the Great day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and
Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves to sexual
immorality, and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer
the punishment of eternal fire.
Separation
from God never ceases to cause us pain, and to eternally torment us. As long as
there is a “chain”, of our own choosing, enslaving us it will continually
punish us.
2 Peter 2:
9-10 - - - if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from
trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing
their punishment. 10 This is especially true of those who follow the
corrupt desires of the sinful nature and despise authority (even
“self-control” over their sinful nature) Despising self-control is to
despise the in-living Spirit of God, Love, that has the authority and
power to lead us to freedom from the blindness, slavery, and destruction caused
by evil desires.
2 Peter 2:
17 . . . Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
Jude verse
13 . . . for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever (continuing
punishment).
2
Peter 2: 19 . . . while they themselves are slaves to depravity --- for
a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
2
Corinthians 4: 4 The god of this age (the devil) has blinded the
minds of unbelievers, so they cannot see the light of the gospel or the
glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Shameful
lusts, depraved minds, and corrupt desires of the sinful nature are the
blackness of darkness, the chains of darkness that continually punish us. These
chains never cease to make us feel misery and torment in that they separate us
from God (Love). They are forever witnessing against us and proving our
unrighteousness. They are “marks” revealing our dark name. Their purpose
is to destroy ungodly people and keep them in judgment/guilty. The only
salvation from these chains is belief (faith) in the divine nature of the
Spirit of Love (God), which is the same kind of name the Lord Jesus Christ had.
It makes us all blood relatives with the same life-giving family name.
Repent, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand, near enough to grasp, as
in a matter of choice.
2 Peter 1:
3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness,
through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory
and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very
great and precious promises, so that through them (his own
glory and goodness) you may participate in the divine nature
and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil
desires.
Luke 1: 68
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel, because he has come and has redeemed
his people. - - - 77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the
forgiveness of their sins. 78 because of the tender mercy of our God, by which
the rising sun will come to us from heaven 79 to shine on those living in
darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace.”
1
Corinthians 6: 9-11 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the
kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters
nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor
the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom
of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were
sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and
by the Spirit of our God.
The “name” means, the way, of the Spirit of Love that
you believed into. Into, means the old nature is changed into and
replaced by the new nature, the new name.
2 Corinthians
4: 6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his
light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face of Christ.
2 Peter 1: 19
And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to
pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the
day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
Colossians 1:
13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and
brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we
have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Praise God for,
Freedom from the chains of darkness.
The Beast and its Mark
This calls for
wisdom. Insight is required to calculate, conclude, and perceive the beast
and
the sum of what it is all about, in other words, its reputation or name. (
To
get it’s “number”, so to speak.)
James 1: 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God,
who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it
will be given to him.
Wisdom and insight are required for one to be able to
perceive the point between the lines of the sensationalism used to inspire your
concern. Wisdom is needed to protect one from being hypnotically fixed on the
surface of the written word. So, as God said, ‘Let there be light.’
When
considering the beast and its mark keep in mind the single purpose of the beast
is to war against you, over power you, and project its image into you, to get
you to worship, accept it rather than God. Therefore it is very important for
us to understand what we are dealing with. It needs to sway, move, or
destabilize us in order to enter, control, and destroy the part of us that’s
inspired by God. The beast is stealthy like a leopard, destructive
like the feet of a bear, and ravenous like the mouth of a lion and it
comes at you relentlessly from two directions.
First out of
the “sea” (every tribe, people, language and nation, multitudes --- all
whose names have not been written in the book of life) with which the beast
inspires you like an infant that is tossed back and forth by the waves (peer
pressures), and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the
cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming, by the ways of this
world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit (the beast)
who is now at work in those who are disobediently gratifying the cravings of the
beast (our sinful nature) and following its desires and
thoughts. (See Eph.
2: 2-3, 4:14) Jude, verse 13, They are wild waves of the sea,
foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been
reserved forever.
Next the beast
comes at you out of the “earth” (the “ground floor”, so to speak), out
of our earthly nature. Where, for one, the beast tempts us to think our worship
is self-imposed, performed by our own power, to be egotistical. The false
humility of this form of worship has an appearance of wisdom, but it lacks any
value in restraining the beast (self-indulgence).
The mark of
the beast on our words/thoughts or deeds (forehead or hands) is
apparent as: (See 1
Sam.15:23,Col. 3: 5-9, 1 Thess. 4: 3-7, 1Tim. 1: 9-10) sexual
immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry, and
anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language from you lips, lying to each
other, taking advantage of each other, lack of self-control, lawbreakers and
rebels, ungodliness and sinfulness, unholy and irreligiousness, killers of
their fathers or mothers, murderers, adulterers and perverts, slave traders,
perjurers --- and whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms
to the glorious gospel of the blessed God. Because of these, the wrath of God
is coming. We must rid ourselves of these marks. These marks are the name,
reputation, of the beast. Since the number six (6) represents evil and
imperfection and three numbers together represent infinity, then when
calculating a number for the name of a sinful nature we have the number (666)
which represents infinitude for evil and imperfection. The self-indulgent
sinful nature (the beast) causes us to have its
identifying marks and makes us unable to even buy or sell or anything else
without exhibiting them in what we say, think, or do. Genesis 6: 5 The Lord saw
how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that
every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time (infinitely).
The Mystery of God
Revelation 10:
6-7 - - - “There will be no more delay! 7 But in the days when
the seventh angel (messenger) is about to sound his trumpet (make his
announcement), the mystery of God will be accomplished, just
as he announced to his servants the prophets.” Colossians 1: 26-29 --- the
mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now
disclosed to the saints. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the
Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you,
the hope of glory. 28 We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with
all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29 To
this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so
powerfully works in me. 2: 2-3 My purpose is that they (you)
may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they (you) may
have the full riches of complete understanding, in Christ, 3 in whom are hidden
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
The Word becoming
you is becoming of you. You eat it (hear it), you digest it (believe
it with your heart), and it becomes you. You are what you “digest” (what
you believe), in other words you live according to what you believe into
or you turn into what you believe in. He (the word) is what
you are in Christ, ‘I AM that I AM’, says the one who is I AM, who was I AM,
and who will always be I AM, from the beginning to the end. Furthermore, that I
AM is called, “Lord”. 2 Corinthians 5: 16-17 So from now on we regard
no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in
this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
Ephesians 1: 13 And you also were included in Christ when
you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having
believed (the word), you were marked in him with a seal,
the promised Holy Spirit, --- (The activated Word in you). This is what the seventh angel’s trumpet (message)
meant.
Revelation 11:
15 The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven,
which said:
“The kingdom
of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will
reign for ever and ever.”
“I am”, that
is who God is. “Am” is indicative of being. Genesis 2: 7 --- the Lord
God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils
the breath of life, and the man became a living being. The
“Being” or “I am” conclusion is the Spirit of God, which makes even dust,
become something more than it really was. Take away the Spirit and all you have
is “dust” (worthlessness).
One example is 1Corinthians 15: 9-10 For I am the
least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because
I persecuted the church of God. 10 But by the grace of God I am
what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked
harder than all of them --- yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
Grace was the divine influence on Paul’s heart and it was reflected in his
life. Grace, Love, the Spirit of God made Paul who he was. The same with the
case of Moses who said in Exodus 3: 11-12 “Who am I that I should go - - -?” To
which God said, “I will be with you.” The Spirit with Moses made him who he
was, gave him his being, as in “I am who I am”. That I AM is to be remembered
by the name, Lord. (Ex.3: 14-15)
Now I am
reminded of 1John 4: 12-18 in which is written, God is in us, His Spirit is in
us, Love is in us, and makes us like him in this world. That I Am is the Lord,
our Father as he was with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, (Isa. 41:4). That I Am,
the Lord, the Spirit of goodness is why I am what I am and not the dust that I
was.
I am, I am
I am that I am
I am who I am
I will be who I
will be
I am the Lord, he
is I am
If he is not I am,
then I am not
If I am not, then
what am I?
We witness that I
am, I am and I (Isa.43:12)
I am is Love
I love I am if
Love is in me
If Love is in me
then I am is in me
If I am is in me
and I am in I am
Then we are proof
that I am, I am and I
By the Grace of
God I am what I am
We do many things
in the attempt to be somebody, but only the Spirit of God can create a living
being who is at peace with himself and can truly say, “I AM who I AM” and not
just a puppet, who has no being, and is being controlled by something or
someone else.
Genesis 1: 27
So God created
man in his own image,
In
the image of God he created him;
Male and female
he created them.
Revelation
1: 7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn
because of him. So shall it be! Amen. (And so it is. By the way,
of
the earth represents those who are of or dwell in worldly, physical realms,
but not those who dwell on / in heavenly, spiritual realms. Reference, N.I.V.
Eph. 2: 6-7, Rev. 12: 12)
Jeremiah 4: 13-14 Look! He advances like the clouds,
his chariots come like a whirlwind, his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe to
us! We are ruined! 14 O Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be
saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?
In our hopes
of being accepted the threat of our wicked thoughts being exposed is like a
dark cloud hanging over our heads that reveals that we are ruined,
guilty. Can you hear the trumpet warning to repent? If not there are trumpets
you will hear according to Jeremiah and Revelation.
Jeremiah 4:19-21 Oh, my anguish, my anguish! I writhe
in pain. Oh, the agony of my heart! My heart pounds within me, I cannot
keep silent. For I have heard the sound of the trumpet; I have heard the
battle cry. 20 Disaster follows disaster; the whole land lies in ruins.
In an instant my tents are destroyed, my shelter in a moment. 21 How long
must I see the battle standard and hear the sound of the trumpet?
The answer to this question is in Revelation chapters 8-11. Rev 8:2 And I
saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven
trumpets. - - - -
One would
do well to pay attention to these trumpets (warnings).
Ezekiel 30:
2-3 “Son of man, prophesy and say: ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“‘Wail and say, “Alas for that day!” 3 For the day is near, the day of the Lord
is near --- a day of clouds a time of doom for the nations.’
Joel 2: 1-2
Blow the trumpet in Zion; sound the alarm on my holy hill. Let all who live in
the land tremble, for the day of the Lord is coming. It is close at hand --- a
day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness.
Joel 2:
12-14 “Even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart,
with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your
garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. 14
Who knows? He may turn and have pity and leave behind a blessing --- grain
offerings and drink offerings for the Lord your God.
Joel 3:
14-16 Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For
the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. (How
close that is, time to make up our minds!) 15 The sun and moon will be
darkened, and the stars no longer shine. (They will not shine [inspire, Gen. 1:16-18] for us, even at
their brightest, if we decide to take a stand that is plagued
with the clouds of darkness, gloom, and doom.) 16 The Lord will roar
from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the sky will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of
Israel. (The Lord will show that nothing in all of creation, earth or
sky, will have a reliable foundation to stand on, where salvation is
concerned. [Hebrews 12: 26-27 At that time his voice shook the earth, but
now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the
heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken
--- that is, created things --- so that what cannot be shaken may remain.]
)
Zephaniah 1:
14-17 “The great day of the Lord is near --- near and coming quickly. Listen!
The cry on the day of the Lord will be bitter, the shouting of the warrior
there. 15 That day will be a day of wrath, a day of distress and anguish,
a day of trouble and ruin, a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and blackness, 16 a day of trumpet and
battle cry against the fortified cities and against the corner towers. 17 I
will bring distress on the people and they will walk like blind men,
because they have sinned against the Lord.
Jude 14-15
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men: “See, the Lord is
coming with thousands upon thousands of his Holy ones 15 to judge
everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they
have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have
spoken against him.”
As a result of
sin these are just some of the dark clouds that will plague ones
existence; fear of death, judgments, and conviction, guilt, distress,
anguish, trouble, rejection, loneliness, discontentment, bitterness, loveless
ness, shame, loss and ruin, hopelessness, and dejectedness. Even being
around a Godly person is enough to cause you to feel judgment (enough to put
you in a dark cloud, so to speak) and to become defensive, as the secrets
of your heart are laid bare, simply by your comparison of yourself to them. How
much more will you feel this way on the day of the coming of the
Lord? Essentially, if you have seen the “clouds” which have been coming
for generations, then you know the day of the Lord has been right at your “door”,
in the valley of decision.” Even the generation of his time on
earth did not pass before this happened to them, nor will ours,
and as he told them, Matthew 23: 38-39, “Look, your house in left to you desolate.
For I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed
is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” They did not see their wrong
decision as an abomination that causes desolation, nor did they realize
it as the coming of the Man of lawlessness (or in other words, as
themselves becoming a being of lawlessness, sinfulness,), so their
“house” will experience dark clouds, desolation until they
realize they have believed into the Man of sinfulness, the man doomed to
destruction, until he is taken out of the way, in other words, until
they repent. Then they will be changed by the coming, the
presence of the Lord Jesus Christ which reveals the lawless one and overthrows the
lawless one with the breath of his mouth (the Spirit of the word) and destroys
the lawless one by the splendor of his coming (“the coming”
is not a verb, but a noun, as in the advent, acceptance,
or arrival of the truth, or as when it comes, becomes in us. To
consider it as a verb [something not here but on its way] would cause a
strong delusion that prevents the experiencing of the “noun”, his presence in
us.)
‘Take Heart your Sins are Forgiven’
We can and should
forgive those who commit sin even though their sins don’t seem to be against us
personally. (Actually all sins are against God as well as a child of God. To
sin is to be in direct opposition, hatred, of their way of being. Sinners don’t accept or respect that presence in themselves or others.)
Unforgiveness keeps sin alive in our image
of others. It perpetuates the thought that they are still guilty in our minds
and theirs, and projects guilt into them. Since, sin is the sting of death,
guilt is that spiritual death.
Unforgiveness makes us murderous haters of
the Spirit of God, anti-spiritual. None-the-less, sinners who believe and
repent are forgiven and saved by God. God’s grace is sufficient to provide life
to the repentant soul, even though being in a world of unforgiving disobedient
people is a grievous “cross” for the repentant one and the Holy Spirit. Even in
the obedient repentant soul, his forgiveness of the hatred expressed against
him stirs life in some and he is himself given eternal life. Forgiveness
removes the “Thorn in our flesh”. Forgiveness is the anointing that keeps us
going. To be forgiving is necessary for all our sakes in order for each to be transformed.
2
Cor. 3:17-18 Now the Lord is the Spirit,
and where the Spirit of the Lord is,
there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory,
are being transformed into
his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (We are being
transformed into spiritual beings, while in a physical body.) … for Jesus’ sake,
so that his life maybe revealed in our mortal body. (His life was
spiritual while he was in a physical body even as it/he is now.)
2Cor.
5:16-17, 21 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view.
Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new
creation; the old has gone, the new has
come! …, so that in him we might
become the righteousness of God.
Gal.
1:15-16 But when God, … ,was pleased to reveal
his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, …
Gal.
2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in
the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for
me.
Gal.
4:19 My dear children, for whom I am again in pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.
Eph.
3:16-20 … and to know this love that surpasses knowledge --- that you may be filled to the measure of all the
fullness of God.
Eph. 4:13 … become mature to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Eph.
4:22-24 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off
your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made
new in the attitude of your minds; and to
put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Eph. 5:31-32 … and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery --- but I
am talking about Christ (The Spirit) and (you) the church. (See Col.
1:26-27)
Col.
1:22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body (the new self Eph.
4:24, the church, his body, Eph. 5:23,) through death (your death to the
earthly nature, Eph. 4:22-24, Gal. 2:20, Col. 2:9-13, 3:3-10, Rom. 8:10-17) to
present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation ---.
Col.
1:26-27 --- the mystery that has
been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.
To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ (The Spirit)
in you, the hope of glory.
Col. 1:28-29 We
proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may
present everyone perfect in Christ ,To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
Col.
2:9-13 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you
have been given fullness (of the Deity) in Christ, who is the head over ever
power and authority. In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of
the sinful nature, not with a
circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, (who being in very nature God, according to Phil. 2:6.
Your nature was/is replaced by a godly
nature.), having been
buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in
the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins
and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ
(Righteousness). He forgave us all our
sins. (Oh, the transforming effect of forgiveness!) Col. 3:1-14 Since, then,
you have been raised with (Righteousness
and Holiness 1Cor. 1:30) Christ,
set your hearts (at the right hand
of God) on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set
your minds on things above, not on
earthly things. For you died,
and your life is now hidden with Christ in God (When you are looked upon,
Christ is seen.). When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also
will appear with him in glory. (When Righteousness/Christ, appears in you,
you will shine gloriously with it/him. See Phil. 2:13,15, Eph. 5:14, Dan. 12:3.
Think of ‘glory’ as a condition or a state of being, rather than a location.)
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to
your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed,
which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to
walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. But now you must rid yourselves
of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language
from your lips. Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old
self with its practices and have put on the
new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its
Creator. Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised,
barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but
Christ is all, and is in all.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and
dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness
and patience. Bear with each other and forgive
whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord
forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Having read all these scriptures one should not think that they are
being blasphemous to presume that they can forgive sins. Rather they should
know, that they are being reverent and obedient, for the fact is, God commands
us to forgive. The authority to do so is proven by the forgiveness felt by the
repentant souls we forgive, which is a
miracle. ‘Believe
the miracles, even if you do not believe me.’ (the Christ/the Spirit/the new
self/a child of God)
Speaking of authority and power, read the following verses;
Luke 10:19 I have given you authority to trample on (so called)“snakes and
scorpions” and to overcome all the power
of the enemy; nothing will harm you.
Hebrews
2:14-15 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their
humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death --- that is, the devil
--- and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear
of death. (Power of the enemy)
2
Cor. 10:3-5 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world
does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the
contrary, they have divine power to
demolish strongholds (cravings, evil desires, and bad habits). We
demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the
knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to
Christ.
See
John 5:18, (where even the Jews thought a child of God to be equal to God) and
even Jesus who in John 10:25-28 used the reference of Palms 82:1-7 ‘You are
gods’, with the same regard. Also, Jesus said, (In John 5:20-30.) … ‘To your
amazement’, the Father will show us even greater things (such as the
power to rise from the dead) than these (the healings he was
performing on the Sabbath). For just as the Father raises the dead and
gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,
that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor
the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him. I tell you the truth; whoever
hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be
condemned; He has crossed over from
death to life.
I tell you the truth;
a time is coming and has now come (from now on) when the dead
will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father
has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. And he
has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man (because he
is a child of the living God in human form). Do not be amazed at this, for a time is
coming when all who are in their “graves” will hear his voice and come out --- those
who have done good will rise (continue) to live, and those who have done
evil will rise (continue) to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I
judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please
myself but him who sent me.
Jesus sends us as the Father sent him,
with the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. (See Matt. 9:6-8, 16:19, 18:15-20, John
20:21-23). Now those of whom I am referring to as having the authority to
forgive sins are those who have received the revealing Holy Spirit as noted in Matt.
16:17 and John 20:22.
If you don’t hold to the truth you are a
murderer. If you don’t have the truth you are dead, as implied by John 8:44,
47, and also Acts 20:16-27, Rom.1:18. To suppress the truth would be loveless
thinking and acting, like Cain who murdered his brother because his own actions
were evil and his brothers were righteous. (1John 3:11-16)
Hopefully you can see “Son of Man”, as the
humble reference of a child of the living God about himself. While the actual
revelation of the concept of ourselves as a child of the living God comes not
from man but from our Father in heaven. E.g. 2 Peter 1:11, 16-18-21, (Paraphrased)
One’s calling and election is made sure by a
rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,
which says, ‘This is my Son, whom I
love, with him I am well pleased. By this, the word of the prophets is made
more certain, and you would do well to pay attention to them until the day dawns and the morning star rises in
your heart. Above all you must understand that divine inspiration comes from God through the Holy Spirit.
To know, identify, and acknowledge that
child of the living God as Christ, (of which we have become in Christ
1 Cor.6:15, Col.1:21-22, 26-29, 2:2, 9-13) is the “Rock” on which we are able
to stand and is revealed to us by our Father in Heaven. If you know that your
righteousness and holiness is Christ, if you really know them as him, then he
is really now alive in you. (1John 3:7 Dear children do not let anyone lead you
astray. He who does right is righteous, just as he is righteous.) If we believe
that our righteousness and holiness is Jesus Christ in us, (which it is) then that Spirit in us, is acknowledging
and identifying that Jesus Christ has
come in our flesh. Therefore that Spirit in us is from God. (Refer to 1John
3:26-4:2)
Incarnate as a transitive verb means,
1a. To give bodily, esp. human, form
to. b. To personify. 2. To realize in action or fact:
Actualize.
Phil. 2:5, 6 Your attitude should be the
same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature (or in the form of)
God, ---
Col. 2:9-13 For in Christ all the fullness
of the Deity lives in bodily form, and you have been given fullness (of the
Deity) in Christ who is the head over every power and authority. In him you
were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a
circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,
having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith
in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your
sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with
Christ.
If Christ is God incarnate and if we obey
his teaching, then we are Christ incarnate, hence, ‘You are gods’.
John 14:20 On that day you will realize
that I am in the Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.
John 14:23 Jesus replied, “If anyone loves
me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him
and make our home with him (in him). (Even so, we, like Christ take
the very nature of a servant.
Need we now ask, ‘Who is the Christ?’
or ‘What is his name?’ He is what he is.
He, Righteousness is recognized in the one who does what the Father
does. (John 10:37-38) The work being
done by an obedient
forgiving child of
the living God is God himself, in
appearance as a man, doing the forgiving, (Phil.2:8, 13) ‘I am who I am.’
Being “equal” as charged by the Jews of John 5:18, is a term, not quite
sufficient to describe our “Being”, because Christ is all and is in all. [Col
3:1-11, Also see, Gal.3:26-29, 4:6, 9, 19, 29 You are all sons of
God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ
have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor
free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ---
Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts,
the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” --- But now that you know God – or rather are known by God (known by the
presence of God in you) --- My dear children, for whom I am again in the
pains of childbirth until Christ is
formed in you, --- At that time the
son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by the power of the
Spirit. It is the same now. (It is the same when we resist the
Holy Spirit; our old self persecutes the new self.).].
Christ is not the effect of our efforts but is
the result of faith in the Spirit of righteousness. He, Righteousness comes by
faith through the Spirit; (Gal. 5:5, But by faith we eagerly await through
the Spirit the righteousness for which
we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has
any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.)
Righteousness, holiness equals Christ Jesus. (See 1Cor. 1:30). Your
righteousness which comes from God is Christ Jesus. The you as identified by
the sinful nature have died. (Col.3:3, Gal. 2:20). Christ as identified by
the Spirit of righteousness (Rom.1:4), (Your hope for glory, Col. 1:27), now
appears instead. (Col. 3:3). The glory
that now shines, (Col.3:4, Phil.2:13-15-as
you hold out the word of truth, Eph.5:8-9, 14, Dan. 12:3) from within is
righteousness, which is to say, Christ, meaning savior. This “glory” is a
condition, a state of being, not a location, as one would understand, being
spiritually minded instead of physically minded.
Spiritually minded verses physically minded, is this not that with which
Jacob wrestled; as well as the Jews Moses was concerned about, and Manoah,
Samson’s father. All of which ask of the Lord, ‘What is your name?’ The Lord responded
in two of the three cases, as I think anyone would who is spiritually minded, with
‘Why do you ask my name?’ They didn’t understand, I am, I am. Moses understood
but asks what he should tell the Jews if they ask, ‘What is his name?’ “I am” is therefore “Gloriously Wonderful”. To
the question, ‘What is Christ?’ I would answer, “The personification of the
righteousness and holiness of ones being,
(“The Lord, I am”).” Believing in that
being of righteousness and holiness is faith. Accepting and acknowledging
it is a confession that that being/spirit of righteousness in you is salvation
for you. His reputation, “the deliverer”, is his name, The Messiah, Christ, The Spirit. The Christ of Nazareth is
Jesus, the first of many brothers who have the same reputation/name/spirit.
(See Rom. 8:29-30). There is no other “reputation/name/spirit” under heaven
given to men by which we must be saved. (See Acts 4:12). The desire of the
entity that now exist in you is to please the one (“I am”) who sends you. (See
John 5:19-21, 14:10-12, 17:1-26).
To be unforgiving will not permit you to see past the sin. You will not
be able to see righteousness. You will not be able to see what God wants you to
see, his son, in anyone you look at or even in yourself.
This
key will open heaven for you. ‘Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.’
Look,
I see heaven (on earth) open and the (children of God in human form) “Son of
Man” (a divine nature in a physical body)” standing at the right hand of
God, at his disposal ready and able to do his will.
Pursue spirituality until it is tangible.
The reality of spirituality is tangible. (Eph.5:31, 32 … a profound mystery,
Col.1:26, 27 … Christ in you, in 1John 1:1-3
they heard, saw, and touched (felt) the word of life.)
Tangible means – 1a. Discernible by the touch (felt) or
capable of being touched (or felt, without feeling there would be no
discernment, no realization) b. Capable of being treated as fact: Real. 2.
Capable of being understood or realized.
The Day of Creation
By
God’s word, ‘Let there be’ or
if you will, at the word ‘Go’ the heavens existed and the earth was formed out
of water and by water, a process that takes time. Some say in one day, but what
is a day? A length of time, but how much time, some say 24 hours, but with the
Lord a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like a day. So a
day is an era of time. It takes time
for earth to form out of water, and in time, water will (deluge and destroy)
reshape even rocks. The earth was formed
out of water and by water but that process (time) was created by God’s word. (Ref. to 2 Pet. Ch. 3)
Some
also, look at the Lords coming in their “heavenly” but earthly point of view.
They scoff (disbelieve) and follow their own evil desires. They say, “Where is
this ‘coming’ he promised, nothing has changed yet, everything goes on as it
has since the creation. Why should we think the time is now?” They deliberately
forget about time and times past, so they cannot see what time it is. They
deliberately forget that by God’s word
the formulations of times are created, and by that same word of God,
the present heavens and earth are reserved (the place) for “fire”, being kept
(used) for a “day” (time, era) of judgment and destruction of ungodly men
(Judgment “Day”). This process may seem slow or obscure to some and they may be
tempted to disbelieve. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise (to come),
as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to
perish, but everyone to come to repentance. None-the-less, the process, the
coming, (the time) is now though some would be surprised to find it out, as if
it slipped in like a thief. Luke 10:11, Yet
be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near. The day, the era of the Lord
has come. 2 Cor. 6:2 Now is the day of
salvation. 1Jn. 5:20, We know also that the Son of God has come and has given
us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is
true – even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. He
is our salvation from the fire of judgment and destruction. If anyone persists
in his deliberate earthly ignorance (igore-ance), they will find their (“heavens”,
escapes), melt away and their earthly life will be laid bare (revealed).
Since
everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be?
You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the era, a “day”
of God, a time of righteousness, which are the new heaven and the new earth.
Read, “The Coming of the Clouds”, for more.
2
Peter 3:7 By the same word (of God) the present heavens and earth are reserved
(the place) for fire (the trial, a source of vexation or distress
that test patience or endurance.), being kept (used) for the day (an era, a time)
of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
Paraphrase;
By the word of God the present heavens
and earth are the place for the trial, judgment, and destruction of ungodly men
(the proving ground of vindication or condemnation). (Also see 2Cor.
4:16-18) It is the place where mortals should clothe themselves with
immortality, spiritually speaking. These present heavens and earth are where spiritual people make judgments
about all things (they consider, test
the spirits in the flesh to
see if they are from God before they become subject to, or motivated by them.)
This is how you can recognize the Spirit
of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh is from God, (Reference to 1Cor. 2:15, 1John 4:1-2). (Jesus
Christ like God is a spirit, which comes in your flesh.) Also see John
6:63, 14:19-20.
Spiritual people make
judgments about all things, which is to say they consider the source of what
they are thinking about.
Ø
John 8:47 He who
belongs to God hears what God
says. The reason you do not hear is
that you do not belong to God.
Ø
Romans 8:5 Those
who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that
nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their
minds set on what the Spirit desires.
Ø
1 Cor. 2:10 but
God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The
Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
Ø
1Cor. 9:24-27 . .
. No, I beat my body and make it my slave (mind over body) so that after I have preached to
others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.
Ø
1 Cor. 10:12, -
16 So, if you think you are standing firm, be
careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has seized you except what is
common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what
you can bear. But when you are tempted, he
will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. Therefore,
my dear friends, flee from idolatry. I speak to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. Is not
the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood
(life/ Spirit/ existence) of Christ?
And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body (giving/ love/ action) of Christ?
Ø
1 Cor. 11:27 – 32
Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy
manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before
he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks
without recognizing (actualizing) the body of the Lord eats
and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick,
and a number of you have fallen asleep. But
if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. When we are
judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned
with the world.
Ø
2 Cor. 10:3 – 5
For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The
weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have
divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every
pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it
obedient to Christ.
Today
and each day, all day long is the Day of Judgment. Today is the day to be
awake, alert, and aware, Judgment Day.
Acknowledgment is recognition of
another’s existence. An effect of acknowledgment
is awareness of that existence, like a well-known fragrance when it enters your
room; you recognize it and you know it is there. Acknowledgment of the spirit of Christ enables you to be aware of
its presence wherever you are. Lack of acknowledgment
assumes you are alone (loneliness),
and that you are your only source for solutions, (egoism).To recognize the presence of his spirit in yourself as Christ
himself is to come together with him and consequently to be known by him.
Gal. 4:9 But now that
you know God --- or rather are known by God ---.
1 Cor. 8:2-3 The man
who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the man who loves (knows) God is known
by God. 8:6 … for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all
things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom all things came and through
whom we live.
We were, we are,
we will be.
John 17:19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
We learn from our predecessors and become an extension of
them. Others still will learn from what we are,
so as far as our love for them goes is as far as we go to offer good examples.
Who we are is known by the
spirit in us, our actions. In determining who
we are the spirit is all that counts, the flesh counts for nothing.
The following are excerpts from
previous pages;
Ø 1
John 3: 24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And
this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit (of
Love) he gave us. *1 John 4: 2-4 This is how you can
recognize the Spirit of God; Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ
has come in the flesh is from God, 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This
is the spirit of antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is
already in the world. 4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome
them (your enemies, Satan and his demons, those who don’t acknowledge the spirit of Christ), because
the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. (This
is not, as some claim, referring to acknowledgment
of the fact when Jesus came (the first time) to bare the sins of many, but
refers to the acknowledgment of the
fact that he has come the second time as a life giving spirit to bring
salvation, in you, in me, in our flesh protecting us from evil.
Ø The “resurrected” are the “changed”,
see 1 Cor. 15: 51, 52.
Ø We are not the same as when we were “dead”.
God was not our god then, we did not acknowledge
him as God then, but when we acknowledged
him as our God we were changed to the “living”. He is the God of the living.
What is “the dead”? The “dead” are those without the Spirit of God in them. Can
we be dead and alive at the same time? No. Dead is dead, alive is alive whether
walking or not. What hope does the carnally minded have in being raised up / in
being justified / in being glorified / in being accepted by God, none unless it
first be changed to a spiritual mind. (See John 4: 23-24) The carnal mind
doesn’t think in spiritual terms, nor can it. The carnal mind is temporal, but
the spiritual mind is eternal.
Ø There is something about “knowing” that we are
“only human” that inhibits us from doing all that can be done, such as
perfection. Since we know that God alone is perfect, it could be that our
“subconscious” cannot deal with that kind of responsibility or the burden of
thinking it, let alone achieve it, so it always stops us short of completion.
There is also something about knowing God that enables us to do more than what
we would do on our own. Realizing that the good in us is God in us doing his
work frees our “self-consciousness” from feeling responsible for the perfect
acts and therefore, removes the inhibitions to perform them. So, it is
necessary to acknowledge the
ability, the motivation, the willingness, and the accomplishments, as the
Spirit of God himself living in us doing his work, in order for our
subconscious mind, or soul, to be in agreement with their performance. We know
that it is true that no one is perfect except God alone, neither can anyone be
perfect alone except God, so naturally if he is in us motivating,
strengthening, guiding, and controlling us, our soul can do no less. (1Peter
1:15-16 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; 16 for
it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”) We are like a “tool” that God
uses to perform his will perfectly. Since God is Love, Love in us performs
Love’s will perfectly. Anything less, in us, is why we do less. The “tool” is
not perfect to do the job by itself, but the Spirit of Love (hand of God) that
controls the tool is, and causes the tool to do what He wants it to do. (2
Timothy 2:21 If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an
instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and
prepared to do any good work.) Therefore we worship the Spirit of Love,
which is the living God himself, in us who gives us power to become Gods
offspring.
Ø
A sister said she was proud of what the Father
has accomplished in my willing heart. I say that even that willingness was a
product of the Spirit of God, Christ himself working in me. The same Spirit
which has brought us from “past” to “present,” and will take us from “present”
to “future.” It is responsible for bringing us all, believers or not,
from point to point of progression in our lives. Some just don’t acknowledge him because they don’t know
him. (John1: 5 states, ‘The light shines in the darkness, but the
darkness has not understood it.’
Again in John1:10, He was in
the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not
recognize him.)
Ø
Those who don’t know the Spirit of God (as I too
in times past) have trouble thinking that their accomplishments are not a result of their own
efforts. I now believe, even the reason atoms, molecules, and cells cohesively form our body and
everything else in creation is because of that Spirit, that “willingness” to
work together, to fellowship with each other in Life. The same Spirit moves our
body to take a breath, to move a muscle, to prosper, and to do the right thing.
Without it nothing would come together, materialize or exist. We would be dead,
“dust of the earth”, even “darkness”. Even Jesus, when he gave his spirit back
to God, his body breathed its last. (See Luke23:
46)
Ø
The Spirit also compels me to write, John7:
38-39 “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living
water will flow from within him.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom
those who believed in him were later to receive.
Ø
We are created, animated, motivated, inspired,
taught, and led because of that Spirits presence. That liveliness, that
quickening is evidence of the Spirit’s presence. John8: 29 “The one who sent
me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases
him.”
Ø
To stress the point, “I do”
because of Him. Again in John10: 37-38 Do not believe me unless I do what my
Father does. 38 But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe
(what I do) the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father
is in me, and I in the Father.”
Ø
The acts of moving, breathing, thinking, and
feeling are the living God himself who is the quickening part of our existence,
our Creator. Awareness and understanding of this profound mystery makes sense
of the longings of my soul and promotes faith in the living God and hope for
life. The Spirit that is in us is the Savior, the Messiah, the Christ, and our
Salvation. If we suppress, reject, or fail to nurture or acknowledge this part of our existence we become nothingness,
darkness. Plainly speaking we die, spiritually and physically. For what soul
can exist who hates (to move, think, breath, love, and live) the Living God.
Ø 2Cor.13:
5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do
you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - - - unless, of course, you fail
the test?
Ø 1John3:
24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them, and this is how we
know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Ø 1John4:
13 We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his
Spirit.
Ø 1Cor.8:
3 But the man who loves God is known by God.
Ø Gal.4:
9 But now that you know God - - - or rather are known by God - - -
Ø 1John2:
23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. 4:15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of
God; God lives in him and he in God.
I thought “Known by God” meant that God knows
us, but the Spirit revealed to me that it meant we are known by our image, our
actions, our fruit. We are known by the way we live. A tree is known by its
fruit. (See
Matt.7: 15-23)
It is not that God knows or understands us, which is a given, but rather that
we are recognized by the God, by the Spirit, who is in us. God acknowledges us as his children if we
have and acknowledge his Spirit in
us.
