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We’ve all heard statements such as. “So much hinges on what s/he will do with the latest information.” Or, “It all hinges upon whether or not s/he will follow through.”
Big and small doors swing open and close on things that we pay so very little attention to, hinges, but without they’re being aligned and positioned specifically in their designated locations, what normally is an effortless action in opening or closing a door would become most arduous.
I liked this from Oz Chambers this morning: “God's command is - Take now, not presently. It is extraordinary how we debate! We know a thing is right, but we try to find excuses for not doing it at once. To climb to the height God shows can never be done presently, it must be done now. The sacrifice is gone through in will before it is performed actually.”
It was this thought that triggered what I want to try and share here. For a more beautiful and fuller understanding of this story please read the following.
Within these verses one in particular resonates within my spirit; “Then Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you."
Reading this word “worship” this morning fills me with wonder, awe, causing my heart to bow afresh in light of what He is calling me to, to KNOW Him, to be fully identified with Him in the fellowship of His sufferings, to be intimately acquainted entwined, to be conformed/transformed as a result of being married/joined to this Holy God, my Father.
Oh Abba, Papa, Father, my heart cries out to you, your kisses are sweeter than wine, the body without the spirit is dead, Father I am dead without knowing You, you are my Life, even so Papa, COME!
In the story of Abraham and his son Isaac so much hinged upon what Abraham was going to do in light of what Father had spoken to him regarding sacrificing his son.
Like wise in our lives, only because of His grace, let’s make this very clear, it’s grace, that we can avail ourselves of, that becomes those hinges that will either open or close doors in our following Him alone.
I am being constantly reminded by my Father that in the seemingly mundane and meaningless things of every day living He is there, he provides opportunities to worship Him, and He is pointing things out to me to do, picking things up, cleaning this or that, writing this letter, doing the dishes, making my bed, vacuuming, shinning my shoes, taking my dog for his delightful romp, etc, etc. and in simply being obedient in these simple little things, a whole universe of wonder opens before my eyes, discovering a meeting place within these very things with Him.
“Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God,
But only he who sees takes off his shoes;
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries.
(Elizabeth Barrett Browning)
Rich
I haven’t had the time I’ve wanted, putting up my thoughts here on my blogs, because something far more important has taken precedence, a good friend and brother has been with me since Wednesday, he has come all the way here to Ontario from Nova Scotia to try and save his marriage. He has and is seeking counseling from trusted people not far from me.
In the mean time it has been a non stop time of deep and very intimate exchanges of Papa bringing to the surface within us both such wonderful and liberating security and freedom as He continues to root and deeply establish us in and with the assurance of His 100 % grace and Love.
The following quotes are from 3 different days of Oz Chambers, I have them here only because of what has been and is being fleshed out, not only in my brother’s life but mine as well. I trust Papa will encourage and witness to your heart as you read them.
As Father permits, I hope to share more of what is difficult to describe other than what our brother Paul writes about in the Scriptures, of where the Spirit is Lord, and in that atmosphere, we are being changed from glory to glory.
I am in awe and deeply humbled being an eye witness to the miraculous power of Papa’s love doing and accomplishing the impossible.
Rich
It is a question of obedience, and instantly the relationship is perfected. Turn away for one second out of obedience, and darkness and death are at work at once.
All God's revelations are sealed until they are opened to us by obedience. You will never get them open by philosophy or thinking. Immediately you obey, a flash of light comes. Let God's truth work in you by soaking in it, not by worrying into it. The only way you can get to know is to stop trying to find out and by being born again. Obey God in the thing He shows you, and instantly the next thing is opened up. One reads tomes on the work of the Holy Spirit, when one five minutes of drastic obedience would make things as clear as a sunbeam. "I suppose I shall understand these things some day!" You can understand them now. It is not study that does it, but obedience. The tiniest fragment of obedience, and heaven opens and the profoundest truths of God are yours straight away. God will never reveal more truth about Himself until you have obeyed what you know already. Beware of becoming "wise and prudent."
The Atonement of Jesus has to work out in practical, unobtrusive ways in my life. Every time I obey, absolute Deity is on my side, so that the grace of God and natural obedience coincide. Obedience means that I have banked everything on the Atonement, and my obedience is met immediately by the delight of the supernatural grace of God.
It was said of Jesus - "He shall not fail nor be discouraged," because He never worked from His own individual standpoint but always from the standpoint of His Father, and we have to learn to do the same. Spiritual truth is learned by atmosphere, not by intellectual reasoning. God's Spirit alters the atmosphere of our way of looking at things, and things begin to be possible which never were possible before. Getting into the stride of God means nothing less than union with Himself. It takes a long time to get there, but keep at it. Don't give in because the pain is bad just now, get on with it, and before long you will find you have a new vision and a new purpose.
I was awakened way to early this morning by my woofing, barking dog, I tried to get back to sleep, but it just wasn’t going to happen.
But more than this disturbance, there was something far more disturbing, Papa speaking to my heart. He is so good at disturbing the comfortable, and comforting the disturbed!
I guess I’m going to discover afresh what I might be thinking with regards to Him disturbing me, what I truly believe by living and thinking out loud here one more time.
For whatever reason over the past couple of days I have been thinking of Naaman the leper in the Bible and how his story is what Father is speaking through to me as far as loosing my religion. Let’s take a look shall we?
During the course of his ministry Jesus returned to Nazareth. The people were amazed at how different Joseph’s and Mary’s son had become. They expected him to do miracles as he did in Capernaum, but because familiarity breeds indifference, if not contempt, Jesus told them that God’s special people don’t always receive the blessing: “But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elias, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, when great famine was throughout all the land; but unto none of them was Elias sent, save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Eliseus the prophet; and none of them was cleansed, saving Naaman the Syrian” (Luke 4:25-27).
The whole story of Naaman in 2Kings 5 intrigues me. What launched this man on his journey of wholeness was the Father working through a young captured Israelite girl that was a maid to Naaman’s wife. This maid says to her mistress, “If only my lord would betake himself to the prophet in Samaria! He would have cured him soon enough of his leprosy.”
Long story short, Naaman has permission from his master to go and seek out the prophet regarding his leprosy and possibly being healed. There are a great number of hindrances and obstacles that would try to discourage us from stepping out of our comfort zones simply being obedient, and this man was no exception.
Naaman was no different than any of us with his preconceived expectations of how this was all going to unfold.
The prophet doesn’t even appear to this powerful and influential man seeking him, but in fact simply sends his servant out to speak to him. Naaman is instructed to dip himself seven times in the Jordan River, please read 2Kings 5:9-13. This important man is so infuriated with this blatant display of disrespect, he is ready to forget the whole thing and turn around and go home, until, once again a servant says to him. “Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean?"
In the process of choosing to be obedient dipping himself seven times in the dirty river, Naaman first lost his anger, then his pride, then his leprosy.
What is it going to take in our discovering all that Father has for you and me apart from simply being obedient to whatever he is saying to us? Remember the foolishness of God is greater than all of man’s wisdom. He continues in this hour to offend our minds in order to reveal our hearts. Not to shame us or condemn us, but to make known to us we do NOT have to remain in our present state whatever that might be, there is a way of escape, and it’s called Grace!
I’m going to close by once again quoting Darin Hufford here, “What are you willing to give up, if it meant by giving it up you would open a part of your heart to know the truth about God? What separates those you get it and then continue to get it and grow in it and continue to get more and more and more of the real heart of God, what separates those people from other people has to do with blockades that we have in our minds that restrict us from hearing or from seeing and actually getting the message.
I’m beginning to see things in peoples lives that don’t get it, and you can see immediately why they don’t get it, like its immediately you can see they don’t get it because they refuse to let go of this that and the other and because of that they will be blinded and until they are willing to give that up.”
Rich
In the following article I read this morning, I was amazed how the sincerity of a person can appear to be so grace-filled, but in my opinion, without direct revelation from the Father of our spirit, just another form of what we know only too well: performance based approval!
I do not disagree with pretty much anything Hanna (the author) has to say, except for this one stinking fly in the ointment: without a deliberate knowing of the Father’s love, although our actions may be most sincere - with regards to her use of the word ‘must’, isn’t it us trying to get what is already ours, only we are totally blind to it?
Let’s look into this for a moment okay? In the story of the ‘Prodigal Son’, there is a point where knowledge without direct revelation (because of right relationship) is totally not there.
All this time the father’s older son was out in the field. When the day's work was done he came in. As he approached the house, he heard the music and dancing. Calling over one of the houseboys, he asked what was going on. He told him, 'Your brother came home. Your father has ordered a feast—barbecued beef!—because he has him home safe and sound.'
"The older brother stalked off in an angry sulk and refused to join in. His father came out and tried to talk to him, but he wouldn't listen. The son said, 'Look how many years I've stayed here serving you, never giving you one moment of grief, but have you ever thrown a party for me and my friends? Then this son of yours who has thrown away your money on whores shows up and you go all out with a feast!'
"His father said, 'Son, you don't understand. You're with me all the time, and everything that is mine is yours—but this is a wonderful time, and we had to celebrate. This brother of yours was dead, and he's alive! He was lost, and he's found!'"
It’s interesting how one can be ‘doing all the right things’ and yet working out of fear (submitting to some outward law) rather than simply responding, or being obedient to the Life of God within us.
Never before has there been such a plethora of ways and means to obtain a desired status with God without having to depend upon Him alone for this reality to actually unfold within the core of our being. Heck, I’ve read the newest, hottest books by the latest gurus; I am an avid listener to the most cutting edge pod casters; I even attend the most avant-garde conferences available and somehow there still seems to be this irksome emptiness gnawing its way through my religious performance and into my consciousness. Oh my!
Has anything really changed regarding our Father desiring obedience rather than resorting to sacrifice?
Interestingly it is clearly evident that God’s only begotten son, Jesus, although God in the flesh has this said about him… ‘Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him’.
I love how so many within the body of Christ are learning (experientially) along with our elder brother Jesus Christ, the firstborn of many sons, that His love alone frees us to only do/say that which flows out of an abiding relationship with our Father as His child.
Less and less is there the need to try and impress myself or others with outer appearances and behavior that will merit me a recognized status.
Just as the summer rains and sunshine are the daily staples required to expedite the miracle of that which is hidden beneath the surface of the earth to spring forth into a sensual ecstasy, we too need a catalyst (the source of love) to make that love known to us so that we don’t feel the compulsion to ‘must’ or ‘should’.
Rich
Yesterday while in Chapters book store I happened to notice a new book by Anne Rice called, Christ The Lord: The Road to Cana, this is a sequel to her first one, Christ The Lord: Out of Egypt. See here.Also this put up by a fellow (Anne Rice and Jesus): blogger.
You can listen/watch here on YouTube for more.
To me its always exhilarating to see as it were, someone coming through the back door undetected, unannounced (much like when God (Jesus) showed up as a man) by the guardians of the sacred and holy collective body of ‘biblical writings’. I see Anne Rice to be one of these under the radar, invading delights, perhaps pointing us to a God and Father beyond what our fears have shaped within us.
I haven’t read her newest book, but I fully intend to.
Anne Rice is known for writing horror novels, mystical in content and nature.
Within Christendom I see it to be so immersed in fear rather than Love, and not a performance based acceptance love, but more in line with trying to appease a very angry and neurotic God, never knowing for sure if he even likes you let alone, God forbid, Loves you! This isn’t an indictment on my part of trying to expose what I perceive to be the nakedness within much of Christendom, but merely some measure of objectivity.
It is truly a wonder what the power of True love can undo as well as do in a person’s life, and this evolving discovery in my own life of not only who God is, whom I belong to (my true Father) but, also who I am as His son attests to this ever increasing reality.
In the book of Hebrews it talks of Jesus by the grace of God tasting death for everyone, it goes on to further elaborate on what I want to lay down here; For it was an act worthy [of God] and fitting [to the divine nature] that He, for Whose sake and by Whom all things have their existence, in bringing many sons into glory, should make the Pioneer of their salvation perfect [should bring to maturity the human experience necessary to be perfectly equipped for His office as High Priest] through suffering.
It’s been said that as a child of God we are having as spiritual beings a, ‘human experience’, I like that, and so much so that it was as a man that the eternal God with no beginning nor end came to BE with us, to be fully subjected to the death, fear and separation that became the bummer of a birth mark we were all born with.
Jesus although perfectly God and always with God the Father (in the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God) laying aside as it were His glorious attire for a season, entered (stepped) into space, time and history as a flesh and blood man, to be fully perfected, through our sufferings and clothed himself in/with humility, our humanity.
I have no problems with viewing this Christ child being anything less than God and Lord at his birth, complete God and man. The rub for me is and has continued to chaff me with what many have dismissed as the strong possibilities of Jesus, not having to be processed through his own sufferings to become fully what was meant to become our initial birthright, and as it says, ‘He learned obedience through his sufferings, as a man’.
To my way of thinking, it’s a lack of genuine security, the security of knowing His, the Father’s love that keeps many as lemmings, willing to go to their death in believing and defending these shadow belief’s.
Additional thoughts are coming.
Rich
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