Revelation is not Enough

From 'A Witness and a Testimony'

January - February, 1970 Vol. 48, No. 1



REVELATION IS NOT ENOUGH

[A. W. Tozer]

The following message by the late Dr. A. W. Tozer, to be included in a further volume of addresses by him now in preparation, is, we feel, so much in keeping with the ministry of A Witness and A Testimony, that we borrow it for our readers, assured that they will be very glad to read it. It was recently in The Alliance Witness of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. And while mentioning this, may I say that, in early years of ministry and the Lord's work, I owed very much to the life of Dr. A. B. Simpson, founder of that 'Alliance'. - Editor.

"About the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple, and taught. And the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned? Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself" (John 7:14-17).


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THE key, the crux of this whole issue, is in verse 17. If any man is willing to do God's will, he shall know.

People marvelled at our Lord as He taught. They asked: "How knoweth this man letters having never learned?" 'How does He know learning', in other words, 'never having studied in the regular schools?' In those days they had no schools as we know them; a rabbi taught little groups of students. Our Lord evidently never attended a rabbinical school so they asked: 'How does He get His wonderful doctrine, since He has never been to the schools of the rabbis?'

Now, this question tells us a good deal about these people. It tells us that they held truth to be intellectual merely, capable of being reduced to a code. To know truth it was necessary only to learn the code.

Most of them had no books of their own -- they learned by memorizing. That was their conception of truth. I gather this not only from verse 17 but from the whole Gospel of John. To these people truth was an intellectual thing -- just as we know that two times two is four.

That is truth, but it is an intellectual truth only. They reduced divine truth to that status. They knew the laws: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me.... Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.... Thou shalt not ...". But to them there was no mysterious depth in truth, nothing beneath and nothing beyond the obvious fact. It was exactly here that they parted company with our Saviour, for our Lord Jesus constantly taught the beyond and the beneath.

These people believed that the words of truth were the truth. And here is a basic misunderstanding of Christian theology with a moral and spiritual consequence that is vastly important. They believed that if you had the words of truth, if you could repeat the code of truth, you had the truth. That if you lived by the word of truth you lived in the truth.

The Saviour tried to correct this inadequate view. He showed them the heavenly quality of His message. He said: 'My doctrine is not Mine -- I am [18/19] not a rabbi teaching doctrine that you can memorize and repeat. What I am giving you is not that kind of doctrine at all.'

He had said previously: 'I say nothing for Myself -- what I see the Father do, that I do, and what the Father speaks, that I speak. What I have seen yonder I tell you about. I am a transparent medium through which the truth is being spoken. You believe that the way to truth is to go to a rabbi and learn it. That's not the truth, that approach to truth is inadequate.'

Here, it seems to me, is the weakness in modern Christianity. The battle line, the warfare today, is not necessarily between the fundamentalist and the liberal. There is a difference between them, of course. The fundamentalist says God made the heaven and the earth. The liberal says: 'Well, that's a poetic way of stating it; actually it came up by evolution.' The fundamentalist says Jesus Christ was the very Son of God. The liberal says: 'Well, He certainly was a wonderful man and He is the Master, but I don't quite know about His deity.' So there is a division, but I don't think the warfare is on these matters any more.

The battle has shifted to another more important field. The warfare, the dividing line today, is between evangelical rationalists and evangelical mystics. I will explain what I mean.

There is today an evangelical rationalism which is the same as these Jews had. They said the truth is in the word, and if you want to know truth, go to the rabbi and learn the word. If you get the word, you have got the truth. That is evangelical rationalism and we have that today in fundamental circles. 'If you learn the text you've got the truth.'

This evangelical rationalism will kill the truth just as quickly as liberalism will, though in more subtle way. The liberal stands over there and says: 'I don't believe your inspired Bible; I don't believe your deified Christ. I believe the Bibles in a way; it is the record of the high points of great men and I believe in a certain mystic communion with the universe and it is all very wonderful, but I don't believe as you do.'

You can easily spot this man -- train your glasses on him and there he stands. You can tell he is on the other side, for he wears the uniform of the other side.

But your evangelical rationalist wears our uniform. He comes in wearing our uniform and says what the Pharisees, the worst enemies Jesus had while He was on earth, said: 'Well, truth is truth, and if you believe the truth you've got it.

Such see no beyond and no mystic depth, no mysterious heights, nothing supernatural or divine. They see only: "I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth: and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord." They have the text and the code and the creed, and to them that is the truth. So they pass it on to others. The result is we are dying spiritually.

Now, what about the evangelical mystic? I don't really like the word 'mystic' because you think of a fellow with long hair and a little goatee who acts dreamy and strange. Maybe it is not a good word at all, but I am talking about the spiritual side of things -- that the truth is more than the text. There is something that you've got to get through to. The truth is more than the code. There is a heart beating in the middle of the code and you've got to get there.

Now the question is simply this: Is the body of Christian truth enough? Or does truth have a soul as well as a body? The evangelical rationalist says that all of that talk about the soul of truth is poetic nonsense. The body of truth is all you need; if you believe the body of truth you are on your way to heaven and you can't backslide and everything will be allright and you will get a crown in the last day.

Now otherwise stated: Is revelation enough or must there be illumination? Is this Bible an inspired book? Is it a revealed book? Of course you and I believe that it is a revelation, that God spoke all these words and holy men spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

I believe that this Bible is a living book, that God has given it to us and that we dare not add to it or take away from it. It is revelation. But revelation is not enough. There must be illumination before revelation can get to your soul. It isn't enough that I hold an inspired book in my hands. I must have an inspired heart. There is the difference.

You can memorize all the texts of the Bible -- and I believe in memorizing -- but when you are through you've got nothing but the body. There is the soul of truth as well as the body. There is a divine inward illumination the Holy Ghost must give us or we don't know what truth means.

Conversion is a miraculous act of God by the Holy Ghost; it must be wrought in the spirit. The body of truth is not enough; there must be an inward illumination.

Christ's conflict was with the theological rationalist. It revealed itself in the Sermon on the Mount and the whole Book of John. Just as Colossians argues against Manichaeism and Galatians argues against Jewish legalism, so the Book of John is a long, inspired, passionately outpoured book trying to save us from evangelical rationalism, the doctrine [19/20] that says the text is enough. Textualism is as deadly as liberalism.

Now revelation, I repeat, can't save. Revelation is the ground upon which we stand. Revelation tells us what to believe. It is the Book of God and I stand for it with all my heart; but there must be, before I can be saved, illumination, penitence, renewal, inward deliverance.

I have no doubt that many people are eased into the kingdom. They are jockeyed into believing in the text, and they do; but they have never been illuminated by the Holy Ghost. They have never been renewed in their hearts. They never get into the kingdom at all.

Now, there is a secret in divine truth altogether hidden from the unprepared soul. This is where we stand in the terrible day in which we live. Christianity is not something you just reach up and grab. There must be a preparation of the mind, a preparation of the life and a preparation of the inner man before we can savingly believe in Jesus Christ.

Somebody asks: Is it possible to hear the truth and not understand the truth? Listen to Isaiah: "Hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not" (6:9). It is possible to see yet not perceive.

Paul says (1 Corinthians 2:4-5): "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."

Now the theological rationalists say that your faith should stand not in the wisdom of man but in the Word of God. Paul didn't say that at all. He said your faith should stand in the power of God. That's quite a different thing.

Verses 9 through 14 say: "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.... But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

Paul, the man of God, is saying: I came preaching and I preached with power that would illuminate and get to the conscience and to the spirit and change the inner man in order that your faith might stand in the power of God.

My brethren, your faith can stand in the text and you can be as dead as the proverbial doornail, but when the power of God moves in on the text and sets the sacrifice on fire, then you have Christianity. We call that revival, but it's not revival at all. It is simply New Testament Christianity. It's what it ought to have been in the first place, but was not.

Now look at Matthew 11: "Jesus answered and said, I thank thee O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father: for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father, neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him."

So there we have the doctrine taught plainly that there is not only a body of truth which we must hold at our peril; there is also a soul in that body which we must get through to, and if we don't get through to the soul of truth we have only a dead body on our hands.

A church can go on holding the creed. and the truth for years and generations and grow old and die, and new people come up and receive that same code and they grow old and die.

Then some revivalist comes in and gets everybody stirred and prayer moves God down on the scene and revival comes to that church. People who thought they were saved get saved. People who have only believed in a code now believe in Christ.

A man will go along in a church and believe texts and quote them and memorize them and teach them and maybe become a deacon and all the rest. Then one day, under the fiery preaching of some visitor or maybe the pastor, he suddenly feels himself terribly in need of God and he forgets all his past history and goes to his knees and like David begins to pour out his soul in confession. Then he leaps to his feet and testifies: 'I've been a deacon in this church twenty-six years and never was born again until tonight.'

What happened? That man had been trusting the dead body of truth until some inspired preacher let him know that truth has a soul. Or maybe God taught him in secret that truth had a soul as well as a body and he dared to get through and pursue by penitence and obedience until God honoured his faith and flashed the light on. And like lightning out of heaven it touched his spirit and all the texts he had memorized became alive.

Thank God, he did memorize the texts and all the truth he knew suddenly now bloomed in the light. That is why I believe we ought to memorize. [20/21] That is why we ought to get to know the Word, why we ought to fill our minds with the songs and the great hymns of the church. They won't mean anything to us until the Holy Ghost comes. But when He comes He will have fuel to use. Fire without fuel won't burn but fuel without fire is dead. And the Holy Ghost will not come on a church where there is no Biblical fuel. There must be Bible teaching. We must have the body of truth.

Jesus said if any man is willing to do God's will, he shall know -- he shall know the doctrine, he shall know the teaching. Now, this body of truth can be grasped by the average, normal intellect. You can grasp truth, but only the enlightened soul will ever know the truth and only the prepared heart will ever be enlightened.

And just what is the preparation needed? Jesus said: 'If any man is willing to do My will the light will flash in on him. If any man will obey Me, God will enlighten his soul immediately.'

We make Jesus Christ a convenience. We make Him a lifeboat to get us to shore, a guide to find us when we are lost. We reduce Him simply to Big Friend to help us when we are in trouble.

That is not Christianity. Jesus Christ is Lord. But when a man is willing to do His will, he is repenting and the truth flashes in.

No man can know the Son except the Father tell him. No man can know the Father except the Son reveal Him. I can know about God, that's the body of truth. But I can't know God, the soul of truth, unless I am ready to be obedient.

Before the Word of God can mean anything inside of me there must be obedience to the Word. Truth will not give itself to a rebel. Truth will not impart life to a man who will not obey the light! "If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." If you are disobeying Jesus Christ you can't expect to be enlightened.

But there is illumination. I know what Charles Wesley meant when he wrote: "His spirit answers to the blood, And tells me I am born of God!" Nobody had to come and tell me what he meant. 'He that is willing to do My will,' said Jesus, 'shall have a revelation to his own heart. He shall have an inward illumination that tells him he is a child of God.'

If a sinner goes to the altar and a worker with a marked New Testament argues him into the kingdom, the devil will meet him two blocks down the street and argue him out of it again. But if he has an inward illumination and he has that witness within because the Spirit answers to the blood, you can't argue with that man. He will say: 'But I know.' A man like that is not bigoted or arrogant, he is just sure.

Now that's revival, but yet it is not revival either; it is normal Christianity. It's the way we should be. "If any man will do his will, he shall know."

But you say you're going to take a Bible course. If you are holding out on God, refusing to follow Jesus, you can take a course and learn all about synthesis and analysis and all the rest. But you might just as well read Pogo; all the courses in the world won't illuminate you inside. You can fill your head full of knowledge, but the day that you decide you are going to obey God it will get down into your heart. You shall know. Only the servants of truth can ever know truth. Only those who obey can ever have the inward change.

You can stand on the outside and can know all about it. I once read a book about the inner spiritual life by a man who was not a Christian at all. He had an amazing penetration. He was a sharp intellectual, a keen Englishman. He stood outside and examined spiritual people from the outside but nothing ever reached him.

You can read your Bible -- read any version you want -- and if you are honest you will admit that it is either obedience or inward blindness. You can repeat the Book of Romans word for word and still be blind inwardly. You can quote the whole Book of Psalms and still be blind inwardly. You can know the doctrine of justification by faith and take your stand with Luther and the Reformation, and be blind inwardly. For it is not the body of truth that enlightens; it is the Spirit of truth that enlightens.

If you are willing to obey the Lord Jesus He will illuminate your spirit, inwardly enlighten you, and the truth you have known will now be known spiritually and power will begin to flow up and out and you will find yourself changed, marvellously changed. In that great day of Christ's coming all that will matter is whether or not I have been inwardly illuminated. Inwardly regenerated. Inwardly purified.

Do I know Jesus?

Battle for Fellowship with Christ

Don't underestimate the battle we must go through on a daily basis to ensure our fellowship with Jesus Christ.

Because Jesus stated there is nothing that matters more than that, and even said to Martha when confronting Jesus about Mary not helping her, that Mary chose the one thing only matters, and He wasn't going to take that away from her.

But the battle we face every day is in not only continuing to believe what Jesus said, but to continue living it in the midst of endless pressures, interruptions and needs.

Jesus also said in Matthew 6:25: "Take no thought for your life." If we are to take no thought for our lives, how much thought for our lives does that leave us? That's right - zero.

Let's not get flaky with what Jesus said, He didn't mean we don't focus on what we need to do in the moment, he's talking, again, how people worry and so choke off the value and fruit of what fellowship with Jesus Christ brings about in us; assuming we maintain our focus on Him and not on the outward circumstances around us.

Usually distractions come from pressures from needs; things like paying bills, money, food, clothing, and a host of other things that fight to be kept in our thoughts and vision.

Deceitfulness of riches, cares of this world; Jesus says to be anxious for nothing. I believe Him, and so should all of us. The reason is there will always be some type of need or circumstance we're worried about at any one time if we allow ourselves to look at it.

That's why Jesus said "Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." In other words, there's enough to take care of in the day you face, don't add to it by looking ahead to the future which is in God's hands.

Think of all these things like a dessert always trying to slowly expand and claim fertile land, making land basically useless for anything.

This is what happens when we take thought of the future which isn't even here yet, and takes us away from the simplicity of devotion to Christ, which was what the original temptation was all about.

Jesus said that worry changes nothing, and so when we look toward the future in the sense of things that will, could, or might happen, there is absolutely nothing we can do to change it. And if we attempt to, usually we'll make matters worse, and still be taken off of our fellowship with Christ.

One temptation to watch in all of this, especially when we attempt to apply reasoning, common sense and logic to this, is to start to think Jesus can't relate to us in this way. The truth is we're taught that Jesus was tempted in every way as we are, and yet He said He only did what He saw the Father doing or would only speak what the Father was speaking. That means He refused to allow what was unknown ahead distract Him from that which only mattered.

Even more, He knew He had come into the world to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins in order to bring us back into relationship with the Godhead, yet He didn't sit there dwelling on that inevitable reality until the time when He needed to, and the Father told Him to.

Don't let the desert of worries and concerns move you off of the very purpose Jesus created us: to be in constant fellowship with Him through faith in Him. Anything else truly doesn't matter.

Christians: Another Hoax Exposed

Organic Food Not Healthier

Why bring this up on Acts 29 Review? Because so many of you have been duped for years about so many things that you have accepted them as fact, when indeed, in most cases there's no prove, just the thought that it sound cool or sounds right, so by faith you simply accept it.

More importantly, you start to pursue these things as a cause, and in doing so get way off track of what the eternal purpose of God is in Jesus Christ, or even know that there is such a thing.

I'll get more into that in the near future, but for now, all that environmental, global warming, climate change stuff?, don't worry or fret about it. Most of it is unproven nonsense based on people with agendas you probably wouldn't believe, but who infiltrated the educational systems of the world a long time ago and have brainwashed you at a time when you trusted them as reliable and honest.

Even with near total control of education and the media, many of these false and unproven theories still aren't believed by many people, and they're being stripped of their credibility as people break through the media blackouts and honest people talk about the reality of what's really happening.

While I've known of many studies about organic food not really being any more beneficial than other food for years, it's good to hear this group of studies being reported on as a solid confirmation of that fact.

Here's how an article reported it:

"Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007.

"Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority."

Now you know why organic food has been touted as better than other food; $48 billion reasons why. This information was culled from a reveiw of 162 scientific papers over the last 50 years.

For us Christians, we must learn to not be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine. This isn't just talking about theology or things about Christ, but things like we're talking about here, where you can believe in simple stuff like this when there is nothing but a false faith being used to be convinced of it.

The point is to stay in fellowship with Christ, don't get involved and caught up with the affairs of this world, and enjoy life and all that Christ has in it - for and with us.

Ignore the Global Warming Hoax and Know Christ

I don't like to get too far off of the focus of this blog and website, which is to encourage everyone to make one thing their sole aim in life, and that is to know Jesus Christ, who is willing and able to help and empower you on that endeavor.

But one of the many hoaxes connected to a series of hoaxes continues to disrupt and distract Christians from that endeavor, so I thought I'd include an article from another writer here to deal with one of the environmental hoaxes: global warming.

Like I said, the point is to understand the reasoning behind global warming fiction, and then discard it as a distraction to knowing and learning Christ, and get back on that path, which is the purpose for our creation and existencel

Here's the article in its entirety:


It's Not Just That Global Warming Is Fake. What Matters Is Why This Fakery Is Being Promoted.

Global warming is based 100% on junk science. The most vocal promoters are not interested in the details of physical science. They are interested in two things: political control over the general public and the establishment of international socialism.

Junk Science vs. Real Science

For a detailed, footnoted, 12-page article, written by three scientists, two with Ph.D's from CalTech, click here.

This paper was sent to tens of thousands of natural scientists in the United States.
Over 31,000 scientists have put their reputations on the line and signed a politically incorrect petition opposing the 1997 Kyoto agreement or protocol. Here is a photocopy of a signed petition.

Here is a letter from a former president of the National Academy of Sciences. He asks recipients of the petition to sign it.

Back in the 1970's, the bugaboo was the coming ice age, as this Time Magazine article promoted. Not to be outdone, Newsweek got on board. The article warned: "Climatologists are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change, or even to allay its effects." Want more examples? Click here.

It, too, was based on junk science. It, too, had the same solution: government control over the economy. The goal never changes: government management over the economy. The justification has changed. If the voters won't accept control over their lives on the basis of one brand of junk science, maybe they will accept another. As they used to say in the Nixon Administration: "Let's run this up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes."

Socialism's Last Stand

The global warming movement is not about global warming. It is about the creation of an international political control arrangement by which bureaucrats who favor socialism can gain control over the international economy.

This strategy was stated boldly by economist Robert Heilbroner in 1990. Heilbroner, the multi-millionaire socialist and author of the best-selling history of economic thought, The Worldly Philosophers, wrote the manifesto for these bureaucrats. He did this in an article, "Reflections: After Communism," published by The New Yorker (Sept. 10, 1990).

In this article, he made an astounding admission. He said that Ludwig von Mises had been right in 1920 in his article, "Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth." Mises argued that without private ownership, central planners could not know what any resource is worth to consumers. With no capital market, the planners would be flying blind.

Heilbroner said that for 70 years, academic economists had either ignored this article or dismissed it without answering it. Then Heilbroner wrote these words: "Mises was right."

Heilbroner was one of these people. There is no reference to Mises in The Worldly Philosophers.

This admission was the preliminary section of Heilbroner's manifesto. He was cutting off all hope by socialists that there is a theoretically plausible response to Mises. The free market economy will always outproduce a socialist economy. Get used to it, he said.

Then, in the second section, he called on his socialist peers to get behind the ecology movement. Here, he said, is the best political means for promoting central planning, despite its inefficiency. In the name of ecology, he said, socialists can get a hearing from politicians and voters.

The article is not online. An abstract is. Here is the concluding thought of the abstract.

The direction in which things are headed is some version of capitalism, whatever its title. In Eastern Europe, the new system is referred to as Not Socialism. Socialism may not continue as an important force now that Communism is finished. But another way of looking at socialism is as the society that must emerge if humanity is to cope with the ecological burden that economic growth is placing on the environment. From this perspective, the long vista after Communism leads through capitalism into a still unexplored world that roust [must?] be safely attained and settled before it can be named.

Heilbroner did not care that a worldwide government-run economic planning system would not be called called socialism. He just wanted to see the system set up.

Heilbroner's peers got the message. That was what Kyoto was all about.

Conclusion

If you like poverty, inefficiency, and bureaucratic controls over the economy, and therefore control over your choices, the "climate change" movement is ideal.

If you want to subsidize China and India, neither of which will enforce the rules laid down by unelected international bureaucrats, this movement is for you.

If you want to pay more for less energy, there is no better way than to pass the cap and tax bill which the House has passed. It will be sent to the U.S. Senate next week.
The rest of us should oppose it.

----- end article -----

Again, the point of including this on Acts 29 Review, is to understand the forces behind the global warming, climate change hoax, and not allow it to upset and distract you from the only important thing in life - knowing and fellowshipping with Jesus Christ.

The Earth Isn't Our Mother - New Jerusalem Is

New Jerusalem

For many Christians buying into the myriad causes and schemes to save "mother earth" through environmental activism, it's past time to throw that mostly nonsense away and find you who your real mother is. It isn't earth, it's New Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven.

Environmental activism is one of the biggest swindles since Darwinism, and far too many Christians are entering into it in belief they're saving mother earth, which as I said for Christians, isn't our mother.

As a matter of fact, if Christians were to do a little research and studying past the hype and tenets behind much of environmentalism, they'd find out a lot of it is not only based and sourced in paganism, but a lot of it is based on lies and innuendo, rather than facts and reality.

Global warming is one of those, as the earth has been cooling for over a decade, thousands of scientists say the computer models it's based on are faulty, and many of the areas it's being measured in are close to local areas like plants that are warmer than the real air around it.

I could go on with this, but I don't want to get off the real purpose for writing this article, and that is to remind believers in Christ that New Jerusalem is our mother and not the earth.

We are born again from above by the Spirit, and when that truly happens in someone, we are no longer part of this world, in the sense that we don't live by its premises and ways of life, which are always against the image and reality of Christ Himself.

Jesus said of His disciples near the end of His time on earth that just like He wasn't of this world, neither were they, and by extension, neither should we be.

Paul said again in one of His letters to Timothy that a good soldier of Christ doesn't get involved with the affairs of this world.

The New King James Version says, "No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier."

In Colossians 3:1-3 Paul said, "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

How much plainer can it be than that? Paul says "if." If you've been raised with Christ (which you have been if you're really a believer in Christ), then you are to seek those things which are above, not things on this earth. Any questions? There shouldn't be.

This is part of what Jesus meant when the disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, and part of Jesus' response was for the Father's kingdom to come and His will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.

When we see New Jerusalem -our true mother - coming out of heaven, that's part of what that is referring to; not some silly idea of a physical entity dropping out of outer space, like some people have implied.

What is New Jerusalem? It is God in His people. That's our mother: Christ in us. (But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all Gal 4:26.)

When we read about New Jerusalem and listen to the language describing it, we can get so caught up into its grandeur, that we miss the simple and easy understanding of what's inside of it.

So what is inside New Jerusalem that makes it our mother? There's a throne, a street, a river and a tree, and an exit out where all the evil lies. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. 15 But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie."

We must understand that when Jesus came to earth, He was New Jerusalem come down out of heaven, it was just that He was all of it in Himself, which wasn't His purpose, as He was meant to inhabit and fill a people with and unto Himself, which results in the fulfillment of His eternal purpose, which is to be all in all.

This is why when John is taken to the city he first sees the patriarchs and the twelve apostles before entering the city. That's significant. Not because man is first, but because the new man holds that which John was about to be revealed: Christ Himself in His people; the very purpose for creation.

There are a lot of things mentioned about the outer part of the bride of the Lamb, but it's because of what's inside that makes the outer what it is.

So what does it mean to have New Jerusalem as our mother? It means the spirit of God has now come down from heaven and inhabits His people. He's brought His throne, a river, a tree, fruit, light, a lamb, God and a street of gold with Him. Those things are what make up what births us in Christ. That's what begins to work in us when we are born from above, or born again.

Another significant factor in John seeing this is there is a oneness there between Christ and the people He's indwelling. She has been "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband."

What is New Jerusalem adorned with? The very nature of Christ which we partake in. When the description of the outward things of the bride are revealed, it's saying what is being seen without is the result of that which has been birthed within. This is something that has come down out of heaven from the only and one true God and planted within His people. That's what's supposed to happen when a person is born again. The very life or sperma of God is planted within him as a seed, and it grows throughout his lifetime as an open heart before God is retained.

The two now have become one, as the inner and outer are without contradiction, like the life of the Father and Jesus when He lived on the earth as the son of man living only by the life of the Father in Him.

This is what we are called to in this world, as New Jerusalem, our mother who is free, comes down out of heaven to dwell within His people. New Jerusalem is Christ in us.

We need to quit focusing on a false mother and live by our mother who is free, coming down now from heaven.

New Jerusalem

Christ In Us | A Walk of Faith

Christ In Us

When we talk of knowing and loving the Lord in a real way, we must understand that we're talking about a walk of faith; of knowing He dwells in our spirit within us, and there we meet and fellowship with Christ.

We must learn to be comfortable with living and moving within an unseen realm within us, without getting weird about it, as some people do.

To walk in invisible realms of our spirit, it must and can only be done by faith.

Why? Because Christ hasn't granted us the ability to use our natural eyes or senses to fellowship and dwell in that realm. It's an invisible realm and invisible God, but the results definitely end up being seen, as they manifest in our outer lives.

How does one practically do this then? Again, by faith.

By faith we know Jesus Christ dwells within true children of God. So when we focus on Him within our spirit, we believe that we're there with Him.

Next, whether we feel it or not, we believe our hearts or turned toward Him and fellowshipping with Him.

There's really not much more to entering into this extraordinary walk with the Lord than this. It's all by faith, motivated by His love; for faith works by love, as the scriptures teach us.

In that believe and position, we simply wait before Him in His presence together, and in peace enjoy being with Him. Again, it doesn't matter how you feel, you're there with Him, and in peace in His presence.

There is a lot of fruit which can come forth from this practice and reality, and those that will bear that fruit can only do it by faith in what Christ has said, and that He indwells the children of God.

Christ In Us

God's Eternal Purpose: Jesus Christ

The Father's focus from before time, during time, and after time, is Jesus Christ. He has been the purpose of the Father all along.

What does this mean? The Father has poured everything He is into Christ. All that the Father ever had to say has been said in Christ. All He's ever wanted to do has already been done in Christ.

So what does that have to do with the people of God? To be a believer is to have Christ within us. So everything Christ is from the Father, is now living within us.

That's what it means when we are told He is working toward being all in all. He's accomplished that with the cooperation of Jesus Christ, now He's working on extending that into His people.

We've heard that Jesus is the pattern Son, and He is all that, but it's not referring to some outward systematic pattern, but an organic pattern coming forth from who the Father is in Christ.

Let's look for a moment at what it means for God to be all in all as the end passion of the Father's eternal purpose.

We know that God is everywhere, as He fills the created universe and heaven as well. But that's a very general presence, and doesn't have much meaning to His purpose. That's just part of the fact that nothing can contain God ... or so it seems.

But, when God indwells His people, His filling isn't like the way His general presence in the created realms is. His presence there is full of purpose, and that is that everything will gravitate toward and change into the image of His son, whom He's already accomplished His filling in.

What we're talking about here is transformation; a process throughout our lifetimes on the earth where He brings us through many crosses, pressures and situations where He is able to weaken our self-life in order that His life can be worked into us in a way that changes us into His image.

He wants to more than weaken our self life, He wants to obliterate it. But because it'a a process, that takes time. For Christ to be Lord, it means we are to set aside our wishes and desires and let Him fill us with His.

We can do nothing pleasing unto God if we're not doing things from Him. To do things from Him, we must be willing to lose our self-centeredness and become Christ-centered.

We can't be concerned with whether others are doing this, we must be accountable to Christ; it's our responsibility in that.

So the eternal purpose of God is completely worked within Christ, coming from the life of the Father Himself. Now Christ, through the Holy Spirit is doing the same thing, filling us with His life in order to have us be bearers of His image. This is why we're supposed to be lights to this world, as we are to live from the one true light: Jesus Christ.

This can only happen in those who are willing to come to Christ and say there are no holds barred (We give Him permission to do what is needed to be done to accomplish His purpose). In reality, if we have the right start to our lives in Christ, this is in essence what we're saying to Him.

The problem is once He starts working in our lives, we draw back and look more toward outward things because the inner way of Christ isn't an easy one, as our terrible selfishness and self-life comes forth when He works in us, and many fall by the wayside because of what they see.

Consequently they misinterpret what it is Christ is trying to do. They think He's beating them over the head with a big stick, rather than Christ drawing them more toward the center of His light where everything is exposed.

Understand that. God isn't trying to embarrass, humiliate or mock you, He's simply taking His rightful place on the throne of your spirit and soul, and to do that He must eliminate within you that which stands in His way. It's just that at times it's not a pretty process, and you can come to the place where you want to quit. Don't! You're getting close to what He's working on in your life when those times come, so don't give up when you reach the depths of despair. He's got you right where He wants you!

Just surrender to Him over and over again and trust His love for you. You won't make it if you don't. Everything comes from the hand of God, as He allows it all, being completely in control. Just ask the simple question of what He is doing in your life, not so you can understand in the early stages, but so you can cooperate with Him and not fight against the grace of God working in you. Understanding comes later when the process is over, so you can help others that will go through similar things.

Anyhow, that's a small sketch of what it is God had in His heart from before time and creation. He is one who wants to fill all things with Himself, so who He is is seen throughout all the created realms throughout eternity. That's what we're called to. That is to be our purpose as well.

Let me give you one more illustration to help you see this.

What if 10,000 years from now we were still here in the universe, and man started colonizing the planets?

Let's say 100 people are sent as the seed of a new planet to colonize, but none of them are believers. Would the presence of God be on that planet? Would it be part of the eternal purpose of God?

No. The eternal purpose of God through His presence can only happen when a people internalize Him in an intimate fellowship that results in them being changed into His image through a lifetime of transformation.

So while the general presence of God is already everywhere in the created physical universe, the kingdom and will of God isn't, which is what it is He is working toward in a people.

If the kingdom and will of God isn't in a people, then it isn't part of wherever man is, not matter how many bodies are present in a specific place.

That kingom and will of God are only present where His image bearers are. Where they are, there He is. If they aren't, His presence as dictated by His eternal purpose doesn't exist.

Meditate on that as it applies to His people and His church. Think of it in terms of "Christ in you, the hope of glory." He's talking very specific, not general as mentioned above.

What if Adam and Eve Hadn't Eaten of Wrong Tree? Part 3

When we talk of Christ in you, it of course goes beyond personally alone (although it definitely includes it) to experiencing Him corporately in His people.

There is no other place to start in reference to the purpose of God than to have a fellowship with the Godhead within a people together. Of course it has to be in each person, but from there it is meant to be shared and expressed among a people together. That's how Christ is to be seen on this earth: through a visible people with His life in them.

This obviously goes beyond just some type of general presence that feels good, just like any person we get close to will end up changing and challenging our lives just by spending time with them. It's the same with Christ in His people.

Through the ages we always get people talking of the desire to see things restored in the church, but if Christ within isn't the place we start, there's no hope that it can end up in the right place.

Christ in us is the hope of glory, and that glory can never be expressed and lived unless we give Him permission to live His live there, and we do so as a people.

Having said this, the element missing in most of this is the willingness to endure the cross over our lifetimes in order to make room for Christ. The work of the cross weakens and devastates our old man in order that Christ can be seen.

I know that our old man has been buried with Christ, but he does like to try to act like he's alive. The work of the cross ensures that we keep him dead and buried.

There is really no other place to start than this. If this isn't done, it really doesn't matter what follows, it will be off center very quickly, and will not survive long; at least as a testimony to who the Lord really is.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
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What if Adam and Eve Hadn't Eaten of Wrong Tree? Part 2

This post we'll go a little deeper into understanding what it was that has so moved God's heart throughout eternity.

When God created, it came from something within Him that couldn't be denied: His love. There was no way that there could ever not be a creation, because the love of God demanded He share it beyond the Godhead. That is the impetus behind the creation.

So when Adam and Eve arrived on the scene, even though they literally saw and interacted with God, they never received the most important thing they could have: the life of Christ within. Most believers don't understand that it was the motivating purpose behind everything God meant for mankind, and specifically for those who believe in Him.

What's amazing about the time of the disciples when walking with Jesus on earth, was even after all that time, and even when He was resurrected and appeared and talked to them for a period of time, they still didn't have what Christ was fully after.

What was it? The spirit of God living within them. That's why Jesus told them to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Spirit to come into them.

See, just like Adam and Eve, it wasn't enough to walk with God where you would even see Him with your physical eyes. That's never enough, and as Jesus pointed out, neither was it for those who physically saw Him on earth.

That's the importance of John, who beyond all others, saw that there was a life in Jesus that defied anything on earth (Paul saw this clearly too, but I'm referring to original disciples). It's why when you read his account of Jesus, it's goes beyond the simply earthly Jesus to the intimate union between the Father and Son, with the life of the Father living in Jesus.

John saw that life and expressed it so uniquely in the gospel he wrote.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
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What if Adam and Eve Hadn't Eaten of Wrong Tree? Part 1

A lot of people ask the rhetorical question of what would have happened if Adam and Eve hadn't eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Most the time they're thinking of some type of environmental "eden," which is the wrong place to focus, and largely irrelevant.

What's more important is what was to happen when they ate of the tree of life, which was Jesus.

The Lord is actually very clear on what was supposed to happen. When they ate of the tree of life, they would have reproduced as commanded by the Lord, and from there spread across the earth, filling it with the glory and presence of God in them.

When their children started arriving, they probably would have been born righteous, in the same way we're born into sin today: we're the wrong "mankind" at birth in the eyes of God. Those children would have been born as the "new" man, just as true believers are today.

We have to understand that eating of the tree of Life was simply another way of saying Christ was to be in us; we were to internalize Him in an intimate fellowship.

So when Jesus came to earth and said they must eat His flesh and drink His blood, in reality He was offering Himself as the tree of Life again. Again, He was widely rejected by Israel, and even His closest followers, other than the 12 apostles.

Everything in what is called Christianity today depends upon the practical and very real outworking of that fellowship Christ has offered us.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4
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What is Christ Looking For?

Another way of looking at the question posed in the title of this post is, "What do we have to give Christ that He wants?"

Do you know?

If we even have an inkling of a desire to please Christ within us, we know that there isn't much we have that interests Him. While He loves us because He is love, that isn't a reflection upon us as being attractive objects of love for Him, rather it's a reflection of His nature - which is love itself.

We know that God created with the ultimate intent of filling all things with Himself; specifically mankind.

So we know that Christ created man for Himself in order that man would be filled with His person. Overall that's the culmination of the creation of mankind, but there's an obvious path we must travel to get there.

We must understand that eternal things are always; they are there or happening at once without the effect of space or time upon them. But when those eternal things are created or brought into the physical realm, they are progressively unveiled and made.

It would take a lot of impartation to reveal much of the practicals and revelation of what was just said. But there is a simple but powerful thing to learn in the light of all of this, and it relates to where it all begins, and in reality, how we travel this fantastic path initiated by Christ Himself.

When considering all of this, there is something Christ looks for above all other things in us. Without it there really isn't any hope that His purpose will ever have a chance of being fulfilled in us to His satisfaction.

Is there anything we have to give to Christ? Is there anything we have to offer that He doesn't already have? Is there anything we can do that will add to who He is?

The obvious answer to these questions is "no"!

So when we clear all the mist away and get get down to the very basics of and foundation of Christ in relationship to His people, there is only one thing we have to offer Him that He has an interest in: our hearts!

No matter what He does in us or strength He adds to us, there is nothing in that which is really satisfying to Him. In the end and at the bottom (or really top) of all things as it relates to the heart of Christ, is that we are willing to have Him open up our hearts to fellowship openly with Him first, and then out from there with one another.

When we look at New Jerusalem coming down from heaven, we see only a few things within her. We have light, a throne, a tree, a river, and a golden street or path. That's it. That's what Christ's bride is filled with.

The path? That path travels through the hearts of God's people. It's the very center of all that is contained within the bride of Christ. Christ is of course that path or street, and that path is meant to be the heartbeat of the people of God.

If Christ doesn't have our hearts, there is nothing else He's really interested in. Without our hearts nothing else matters.

But if He has our hearts, than we are on a journey, a journey within that includes His throne, the tree of life, the river of the Spirit and the life of Christ lighting it all up.

In the end, we can offer up nothing to Christ but our hearts. Everything else of fellowship flows from that.

Having said all this, we really don't have the will or power to do this without Him. Ask Him to help and empower you to offer up your heart to Him. He is more than willing and able to do it. It's the starting place and foundation of everything else in connection to our relationship with Christ.

The Church as the Tale of Christ - Part 3

In reference to this unfolding story of God through Christ's body on this earth, we see that the reason God has a purpose of filling everyone with Himself is that He may show the mystery of who He is through a created people.

He not only wants the world to see this mystery that is hidden in Christ within us, but He also wants to unfold it to the invisible rulers and authorities as well: both good and evil.

As the people of God, we then are accountable to be still and know God, in order that we can tap into the already written story and then progressively grow in it, and then reveal it to the watching visible and invisible worlds.

This is of course done both individually and corporately, as we talked about recently. Yet, the individual participation is for the purpose of contributing to the corporate church so we can partake of that part of the story that's in one another. That's the reason we meet and get together, to show forth Christ in an ongoing and growing way.

Each of us are to contribute in order that the corporate body can increasingly show forth who God is in Christ in an ever-enlarging way.

That's why while we are one, we are at the same time a part of the whole. We need one another in order to fully reveal who Christ is, and for God to attain His purpose in us of being all in all.

Paul wrote that the church was a letter that existed to be read by all men. That's another way of saying we are a story, narrative or tale that God is writing by His very life within our spirits. Together we are to show forth the increase of that story from generation to generation until all of who He is is revealed in us.

Part One; Part Two; Part 3
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Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life - 4

Now we have God no longer on the scene in Eden, at least not in the way He was at times directly communicating with Adam.

At that time, the serpent starts to communicate with Eve concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Notice how there isn't anything mentioned about the Tree of Life again.

The entire purpose of the conversation was for Satan to get the attention of Eve solely on the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, in order that she wouldn't think of the Tree of Life.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11:3, that he was jealous over them with a godly jealousy, and promised them to one husband: Christ. He wanted to present them as a pure virgin to Christ, but now he was afraid that in the similar way Eve was deceived by the cunning of Satan, their minds would also be led astray from the sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

We get a glimpse into the tree of the knowledge of good and evil here, where it was the opposite of the Tree of Life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil gets you away from simplicity and sincerity, and into mixture, as far as in relationship with Christ. It makes things complicated and heady. If your life is complicated, you may want to take a look at which tree you're eating from as well.

Jesus said this in a different way when Martha protested her sister not helping her because she sat at the feet of Jesus listening to Him teach. Jesus' response was that there was nothing else that really mattered, and He wouldn't take that away from Mary.

A people centered around Christ is all that matters. That's the battle that was going on from the first interaction between man and Satan, and it's still the same battle raging today. Satan is still tempting us to look to the tree of the knowledge of good and evil at the expense of Christ Himself.

Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6

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Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life - 2

Adam and Eve
One important thing to consider when looking at the beginning of things, as far as creation goes, was the pinnacle of creation: man. So when we look at Adam and Eve at the beginning, we see the representatives of all of mankind.

What's important to know about them, before sin, is while they were made in the image of God, their makeup wasn't in the proper order yet. One thing had to be done before that would be accomplished.

Before we get into that, let's look at Adam and Eve first. At this point of their existence, they're unique to human history, there never will be two human beings like them again; but neither was there ever meant to be.

Adam and Eve were sinless, but incomplete. They were innocent, but not harmless. They had a future, but that future hadn't yet been decided yet. In other words, even though they were sinless, they hadn't taken action yet that would perpetuate that sinlessness and enter into intimate fellowship with God.

They had fellowship with Him, but it wasn't anywhere near to the closeness they could have; it was only an outward fellowship, even though they saw Him with their natural eyes and talked with Him.

Another thing to consider is they not only saw God, but they saw the heavenly realms themselves, as Eden was a place where Heaven and Earth met. They saw the angelic hosts, as well as everything that heaven was.

The problem for Adam and Eve was they hadn't internalized God yet, their spirits hadn't been made alive, and so at this point their soul was predominant, even though there was no sin in the world or in them. God had meant that our spirits would be the predominant feature of our makeup, with our souls submitted and listening to Christ within, while our bodies then responded to the practical outworking of that fellowship.

At this time Adam and Eve were sinless, but the proper order within man hadn't been established. Until that happened, they wouldn't be able to successfully respond to the things God had required or expected of them.

Why did God create mankind this way? Why didn't He create them with His life in them from the beginning? The answer is that the life they were to internalize wasn't created life, so creation was separate from it, and man had to willingly partake of that life and internalize it.

That life was eternal and had existed forever; with no beginning or end. It couldn't be part of creation because it was uncreated, had always been, and was eternal. That life was God Himself.

So while man was created originally in the image of God, the order of God could only happen when man participated in the inner life of God by internalizing that life. To do that, Adam and Eve had to eat of the tree of life. They never took that step. They chose another life instead.

Next post we'll get more into what it was they chose and why.

Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
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Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life - 1

Over the next several posts we'll take a look at Jesus Christ as the Tree of Life. Having insight into, and embracing Christ as the Tree of Life is extremely valuable; especially in this age of instant communication, where not only the volume of news and communication can overwhelm people, but the nature and content of that communication as well.

The reason the Tree of Life was in the center of the garden of Eden was because He was meant to be the center of all life. While that has been true in eternity, it is true as well in the created world we live on.

Just about everything that surrounds us can move us off the important reason and purpose for our existence: intimate fellowship with the Godhead. Christ represents that as the Tree of Life.

Only internalizing the fruit of that Tree could give us the life we were created to live. Adam and Eve failed to do it, and chose a different course, a course most continue to follow to this day, even though they take the name of Christ upon them.

I believe that there is no hope for someone refusing to internalize Christ as their life. When I say no hope, I mean by that not being able to consciously live by another life within us. We'll be tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine blowing around out there. Our lives will be a continuous exercise in futility and frustration as we can't figure out why when we're believers in Christ, we seem to never have the peace, rest and satisfaction that should come with that.

We'll consume the knowledge of good and evil that will always produce death rather than life. It's an endless circle when that route is taken, and you can't get off it unless you choose the Tree of Life over that.

We're not simply talking about someone getting saved; that's simply the doorway into what we were meant to be and focus on: the eternal purpose. It gets us right with God so we can get back to what our true calling really is.

Jesus Christ is the Tree of Life, and unless we pursue internalizing Him and fellowshipping with Him inside of us, we'll be on a journey of never being fulfilled, as the purpose we were created for isn't understood or embraced.

When I mention pursuing internalizing Him above, I mean by that allowing Him to change us within, and into His image; not just positionally, but in practice. To do that we must fellowship and be with Him at all times.

So in these next several posts we'll talk about Adam and Eve at the beginning, what happened in the Garden, and what it is they saw when tempted.

Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
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The Purpose of the Cross of Christ

In talking about the purpose of the cross I want to begin by mentioning that it is the end result that we are talking about here, not the way that the cross works.  
Once we see the end result, than we will know the way that we will have to go to get there.  

The end result of the cross isn’t hard to see. We are told very specifically what it is.  There are two aspects I want to reveal here, one is that we are no longer to live for ourselves but for Him. This is a process that works within us over a lifetime. There are no shortcuts or easy way to get there. Still this is one of the things that Christ showed us that we must do.

Just as He lived for the Father, so are we to live for the Lord also. We are to live for Him and Him alone.  

We must remember how we are told that all things are from Christ, for Christ, in Christ, through Christ, and go back to Him.

The second part of the purpose of the cross goes even one step further. Not only do we live solitarily for Him here, but now it is no longer we who live but Christ that lives in us. What a purpose to look for ... or rather die for! 

Most of us don’t even seem aware or believe that such a thing can happen. And yet Paul tells us that he reached this pinnacle. This wasn’t just for Paul; it was for those who would follow after him.  

This is why Paul tells us that Christ chose to reveal Himself in him, so that we may know what Christ expects to do within us.  

While these two concepts are very simple to understand, very, very few ever even take this as a way of life to pursue. The reason most don’t is because to go after this means that you must go through tremendous workings of the cross that most simply aren’t willing to commit and yield to.  

Yet I hope that you will respond to the Lord in this. Both individually and corporately, we must submit ourselves under the mighty hand of God. Mankind awaits a people that will deny themselves and not only live for Christ, but come to the place where it is no longer even them who are living but rather Christ that is living in and through them.  

Lose your life in this and the Lord promises us that we will find it. We must be willing to take the risk and to step through.  

Do you want to experience this life? Then you must be willing to die to everything. What are you waiting for? Christ is at the door knocking!

Hunger for Jesus

Two of the prerequisites for knowing God are: a burning, passionate hunger to fellowship with and know Him, and secondly, a realization of how impoverished we are without Him. If we don’t have these two realities working within us, all of the rest that we will talk about will be irrelevant.  We can never know Christ in any depth without these attitudes within. We must ask Him to create that in us.
 
Now one of the things we know about God is that He is everywhere. That means, of course, that no matter where we are He is there.

But union with Christ is talking about something more than that. It is talking of an inner fellowship with Him that is as close as possible to be in.

It is now our privilege, with His help, to steadily, continually, fellowship with Him daily.  

The very purpose of God is that He has a passion to share the fellowship of the Godhead that existed before time with mankind that He created.

To be hungry for God and know that without Him we have nothing, is an understanding of the statement by Jesus that without Him we can do nothing.  

This implies that there is to be a moment by moment union with Him that testifies to the above expectation. In other words there is no way we could walk, breath, work, play, or eat without His presence. Yet we continually live life as if we can do these things without Him. The truth is that we can’t.  

The point is that we must learn and practice the “art” of continual fellowship with God through Jesus Christ. This has always been His passionate purpose throughout the ages.  

If we believe in Jesus Christ then He is within us in a way that is closer than we can possibly imagine. It is His desire that we search out this closeness with Him and come into experiential union with Him.  

We don’t want to succumb to the temptation to make this some type of doctrine that is to be debated over. We have had enough of that throughout the ages. We are to be consumed with this Christ that woos us and calls us to be in close union with Him. He will be satisfied with nothing less.  

Are you up for the call? Then don’t disconnect from the reality that God has called us to. Don’t just read about it in the scriptures, rather respond and enter into this magnificent life that awaits anyone that is willing to pursue it. Jesus is calling and waiting for you.

Gary

Sit Back and Relax - Eternity Within

Eternity Within

A letter I wrote:

When you wrote to me talking about discouragement, I wanted to relate something to you that has truly set me free in this area, and prevented me from entering into a lot of soulish, self-originating directions.

In the book of Ecclesiastes, we read about where God has set eternity within us. It is after that where we read about there being a time for everything. Of course Christ is our eternity, and when He reveals Himself and works Himself within us in that way, it takes away much of the discouragement that can come upon us. After all, discouragement is usually simply getting tired of a situation that were in or
waiting for something that we want to happen.
 
The scriptures and history is strewn about with those who are children of God who make terrible mistakes by not viewing things from the Lords' timelessness. Is He in a hurry? Does He get terribly troubled by the situations of life? No! 

Ask Him to reveal and to work into you His way of life in this matter, after a season of time you'll be surprised at how things that have troubled you, no longer come to mind.