Shenanigans

Galatians 2:4 (AMP) … false brethren who had been secretly smuggled in [to the Christian brotherhood]; they had slipped in to spy on our liberty and the freedom which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might again bring us into bondage [under the Law of Moses]. (Bringing us under the life-sucking influence of that rooted in an exterior and measured performance based approach to life and living it)!

Isn’t it always the same old thing, no need of trying anything new to mislead the child of God, except for the old deceitful trickery wrapped up in a new format?

Performance based anything just doesn’t cut it when and where Love comes into play. I realize there are those who do not like the term (prefix) “unconditional” attached to the word love, but if all any of us has ever known is a love based solely upon predetermined expectations and conditions, please, don’t ever call it “love!”
Without the incursion of the furious love of God’s evaluation of our total bankruptcy, we will continue to live under the intoxicating influence of a performance based love, all the time being convinced we are loving others unconditionally.

I find it so fascinating that those who would swear (they have been raised with pure true love), what I’m trying to differentiate from, conditional love verse unconditional love, in most cases are those who are steeped in self-righteousness. Not seeing their constant state of brokenness, ergo the desperate need for a living grace.

I love what Brennan Manning has to say from his book, The Ragamuffin Gospel dealing with is matter, “Jesus, who forgave the sins of the paralytic (thereby claiming divine power), proclaims that He has invited sinners and not the self-righteous to His table. The Greek verb used here, kalein, has the sense of inviting an honored guest to dinner. In effect, Jesus says the kingdom is not a subdivision for the self-righteous nor for those who feel they posses the state of secret salvation. The kingdom is not an exclusive, well trimmed suburb with snobbish rules who can live there. No, it is for a larger, homelier, less self-conscious caste of people who understand they are sinners because they have experienced the yaw and pitch of moral struggle.”

“The deeper we grow in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the poorer we become-the more we realize that everything in life is a gift. The tenor of our lives becomes one of humble and joyful thanksgiving. Awareness of our poverty and ineptitude causes us to rejoice in the gift of being called out of darkness into wondrous light and translated into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son.”

“Getting honest with ourselves does not make us unacceptable to God. It does not distance us from God, but draws us to Him-as nothing else can-and opens us anew to the flow of grace. While Jesus calls each of us to a more perfect life, we cannot achieve it on our own. To be alive is to be broken; to be broken is to stand in need of grace. It is only through grace that any of us could dare to hope that we could become ‘as’ Christ.”

Rich

Seeing Him

The picture I’ve chosen here spoke so loudly of this One who seems to be so silent, at least to the natural senses.
Many different times I have pondered on these Scriptures; “He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. By faith he left Egypt, not being afraid of the anger of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible.”
Of course this is speaking of Moses, and yes this is a pre-Christ in you picture, and yet this man was able to endure, to persevere, being steadfast all coming out of this invisible One. Wow!

Another passage of Scripture Father spoke through long before I even began to see Him in me as me was this; “I will lead the blind by a way they do not know, In paths they do not know I will guide them I will make darkness into light before them And rugged places into plains These are the things I will do, And I will not leave them undone."

Once again Papa is making it known to me that if there is anything but Him as my focal point of reference, I will be walking in my own light, and ever so subtly being drawn into having twisted within me a form of godliness, but having NO power.
It is the easiest thing in the world to do being a follower of Christ to settle for anything less than Knowing Him and all that that encompasses.
Like Moses I choose to go outside the camp in order to know Him as my ALL!

Going back to the picture I choose for this entry was this quote from Mark Twain attached to the picture; “Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
In my deafness and blindness I am trusting in the visible audible One, although invisible and seemingly mute to the naturally minded man, I am experiencing His kindness.

What joy fills my heart realizing that this loving caring Father is making the impossible possible, slowly but truly transforming me into one who is child like, one who is able to see and hear and enter into all that is barred from those ruled by their wits. And yet I hear the laughter the sounds of freedom filling my inner senses knowing so many more of my siblings are discovering the portal of His grace!

Therefore, continue to grow in the grace and true knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rich

The Self, Master of Disguise

Blindness:

(Jeremiah 17:9)The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?

In my opinion there is a most subtle possibility in our being further lead astray, and not because our father is impotent in this regard but, not having eyes to see (revelation) of the reality of there being within us all a component added to us in the fall, called the ‘flesh.’
This all ties in with the language of the ‘good heart, bad heart’ speak that has to be looked at in light of the Truth.

Within each of us is an independent-self, and for those wanting a typical picture of what this looks like go no further than the story in Luke 15, the generous father and his two sons.
One display of this insidious transformation that operates through the independent self is ‘self-righteousness’, outwardly appearing to be holy. The other son is where most of us find ourselves in blatant rebellion and defiance.
One has to remember that the spirit motivating each of these expressions is from the same source, the knowledge of good and evil. The independent self being deceived into believing it is doing its own thing, and that lie works very well.

Why is the world largely blind to spiritual reality? What forces are at work to create such deep ignorance as we see in this area? The principal reason for the confusion in the world regarding our spiritual situation is found in “self-deception.” While the lies of Satan contribute to this ignorance these lies are not the primary cause of humanity’s blindness. It is also not primarily the failure of human institutions such as the institutional church to teach the whole truth that is at fault here. The institutional church’s mistaken teaching and Satan’s lying have not, in themselves, condemned the world to darkness. Both Satan’s activities and the organizational church’s ineptness compound the situation but the root cause of the matter lies elsewhere.

Part two is coming soon.

Rich

Failing the Vision Test

I want to point anyone interested in reading something I read over at Ruth's blog, "Come Away My Beloved" it is just too good to pass up!

Rich

Shut Up

A memory was brought to mind this morning. Thinking back on it, it seems so very long ago, and yet it is as current as today, the healing touch of the Father’s hands pressing upon eyes that are barely able to see.
Oh the wonder of this one, this King, Lord, and yet He alone has birthed by His spirit a cry from within the depths of my being, Abba-Papa!

The memory was maybe twenty five years ago, I was sitting in the Devonshire Mall in Windsor Ontario, I had done some shopping or had seen a movie, that is still a bit foggy right now, but anyway there I was sitting waiting for my precious wife to show up at the place we’d designated to meet.
While sitting there (trying to be patient) somehow over the mall din this faint but persistent noise attached itself to my hearing. Tap, tap, tap, tap, what the heck was this? I soon discovered it was the sound of a blind man walking around through the maze of this congested mall and the cane he was using was doing the tap dance sound effects I was hearing.
I didn’t give it a whole lot of thought at that moment until several minutes later, here comes that same knowable sound of, tap, tap, tap. What the????
Sure enough it’s the blind man once again, only this time it was different, suddenly I am aware of my Father asking me a question about this enigma. “Son, who is blinder than a blind man?” to which I stood mute within my heart, thinking, you got me on this one, Papa. He then spoke these words/thoughts into my heart, “Only a man who has eyes to see and yet cannot see is one who is blinder than a blind man.”

Who you calling blind - me? Yup! I was there with my pants down around my ankles on this one, but the funny thing about it all was that I was not being condemned, but enlightened and awakened to a much greater reality of knowing Him then I presently thought I had.
My Papa has been and is continually working on my blindness to this day, and my hope is He will never stop. Oh how I long to see with ever greater clarity!

So why have I entitled this blog piece, “Shut Up?” Well this talking of blindness also triggered thoughts about the blind man called Bartimaeus.

"Then they came to Jericho And as He was leaving Jericho with His disciples and a large crowd, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the road. When he heard that it was Jesus the Nazarene, he began to cry out and say, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" Many were sternly telling him to be quiet, but he kept crying out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" And Jesus stopped and said, "Call him here." So they called the blind man, saying to him, "Take courage, and stand up! He is calling for you." Throwing aside his cloak, he jumped up and came to Jesus. And answering him, Jesus said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" And the blind man said to Him, "[Rabboni, I want to regain my sight!" And Jesus said to him, "Go; your faith has made you well." Immediately he regained his sight and began following Him on the road."

Funny how so many voices, at least in my life, have been telling me to shut up over the years, just as in blind Bart’s life, only to discover that although blind at the time, there was awakened within him a consciousness, a knowing, that Light was about to put out the fear of darkness that kept him and me crippled.
One of the greatest helps to me in seeing things in sharper focus is what I call, ‘thinking out loud.’ It is in putting thoughts, ideas, ponderings out in the visible, audible realm where I can hear myself think, and more often than not without any fanfare there comes such breath-taking epiphanies.

Religion is a static, fossilized, imprisonment, it allows no movement outside the lines/box, and when someone as in my case, me, begins to dare to think out loud, attracts the attention of those bound up in fear and lash out with all kinds of unfounded accusations.
What are you saying, Bro, are you trying to add or take away from the Holy Scriptures etc., etc? To my surprise I hear myself responding, “Nope, I’m merely asking more questions and wanting to see how He is fitting all things together.’

Bottom line, I refuse to ever shut up. Somehow this God and Father that has called me to Himself seems to delight in my stubborn persistence of wanting to know Him more than merely blending in with the darkness.

Rich