Birth Pangs

It stands to reason that any level of understanding of a realm so completely different (foreign) from our own requires a total rethinking of our view of reality. Further, a plane of existence that is so different from our own experience is completely beyond our full understanding. We can only have the level of understanding of this realm we have been called into that the Father chooses to reveal to us. “No one can receive anything except he receives it from heaven”. Please read some earlier thoughts that have flowed into these from here.

As I ponder on what I have said here, what comes like a piercing arrow to my thoughts is much akin to the total all consuming display of wonder and delight on the face of Lucy who in one moment before standing in one realm and then in the next step blown away as she stepped into the realm of Narnia.

“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

This past Saturday I was invited to attend in a (gathering) conversation with Wayne, that being with Wayne Jacobson. This gathering was being held at the Fletcher residence, parents of Janna, and Paul LaFrance, just east of Toronto Ontario. What a day it was for us all, I traveled there with a good friend and brother, Ron just for the Saturday, as we could not make it for their first get together Friday evening.

I am still basking, soaking in so much that was graciously poured out in our mutually time of listening and interacting. As a side note I was reacquainted with a brother and his wife from our former city we use to live in, it had been 18 long years since our last time together, what sheer delight to see and hear his heart song and deep love affair with Jesus!

What I believe I am being exposed to over and over from different angels, different siblings in Christ is a distinct and more in focus understanding of the blue prints for the church, Christ said he is building. Without a plan, blue print, the Lord building the house, the labourers are building in vain.
As there were succinct and exacting definitions, descriptions, within the blue prints handed to Moses from God regarding the building of the tabernacle (tent of meeting) and all that pertained to the worship of God which needs to be seen here and now but a mere shadow of something so much more permanent and eternal!
I’m talking about the blue prints given to our brother Paul when he was caught up in the unfolding revelation of the ascended and glorified Christ.
Let me tell you right up front, these heavenly designs were not about forming or establishing the home church movement, or the organic or missional movement or anything to do with man’s poor limited rendition of trying to bag and tag what Christ alone is doing!

Like our brother Paul, I see there being so many other siblings living but for one purpose, to see His Church coming into plain view, and Wayne being but one of the many.
There is so much exploding within my heart about all of this, but I will try to wrap it up shortly here.

Within our flesh there is madness, a perverted sickness that lust’s after a “methodology” that can be implemented to bring forth that which only comes into being as a result of the Spirit of truth breaking the encrypted code of Christ in us the hope of glory! Ergo the need of the re-birthing, but that in and of itself apart from the continued work of His spirit can soon become something detached from Him.
What has and is being offered to us is NOT a method, but a message, one God the Holy Spirit is in charge of in deciphering, this has nothing to do with loading us down with more academic ego bloating, but is in fact a transmission, a transmitting of revelation knowledge of who is in us as us! This knowing is not available to the wise or prudent scholars with a parade of letters before or after their names, but is only available to those who are secure in the utter weakness ergo, “thank you father that you have hidden this message from the wise guys and made it known unto the children.”

It was during the Saturday gathering that I freshly observed some observations I hope to share in additional thoughts in another blog entry, dealing with some observations that dawned on me, simply watching and observing the looks on many different faces as they were listening, hearing, maybe some for the first time, the message of pure 100% unconditional love and grace.

Rich

Who Am I?

I really don’t know you. Who did you say you were?

What does it mean to be a new creation-creature?

Most of us seem to be pretty much in touch with reality. We know that real-estate is real (or is it?). Definitely there are different aspects or dimensions of what is real, but reality has to be much more than just what exists at the moment. I’m alluding to something that exists forever!

In being reborn, an invasion of unmatched magnitude took place within us. Scripture (2Corinthians 5:17) points to this hidden reality that has within it components for now as well for all eternity. Without the aid of our loving Father, bringing us to see and partake of this reality, we will continue doing and working with the same old point of reference - our natural understanding. Whatever unique set of events triggered this invasion and became a personal experience within a person, it stands to reason that reason in and of itself will not suffice to move us beyond what we have been persuaded to think we actually know.

There have always been those who are being awakened to a living reality that transcends mere physical or intellectual dimensions. These ‘feelings’ that subtly interfere with our limited perspectives are most unsettling to say the least. How can a general sense of God’s peace in our lives coexist with this sense of uncertainty? Is there something wrong with us, or could it be our Father awakening us to a deeper perceptive of our true identity?

My friend Bill Landon said: “I must confess that when I first heard Warren Litzman say, “There was never a you-you, I neither understood nor accepted the truth of this statement. What on earth can you mean when you say that the person I saw myself to be never really existed?”

This is the reality of our identity as God’s birthed children through Christ.

The disturbing and yet gloriously good news is that the Father is gently and firmly pulling back the curtain that has veiled our minds since our natural birth into the physical world and exposing us to the truth that our previous identity was a lie! Is it any wonder that this new awareness, albeit real, is the source of our feelings of distress and insecurity?

Here is something to ponder in terms of the replacement of our fundamental nature: “Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer.”

These feelings of insecurity are actually caused by the one who has kept this false identity intact. It is not an evidence of weak faith. "It is not failed faith or any other defect on our part that either causes or is causing this trauma. The uncertainty or uneasiness this revelation brings is due to the enormity of the revelation. It is a wonderful testimony to what God is doing in us that the father can bring us to the place of receiving this truth without it destroying us."


More thoughts to follow.

Don’t you just love colouring? I read the following someplace: "Christianity is not about learning to live within the lines; Christianity is about the joy of colouring."

Rich