Some of the responses I've had over the last months when I talk about the folly of believing the extraordinary hype and misconceptions concerning the cult of environmentalism and outright lie of global warming, shows that many who read Acts 29 Review have bought into the brainwashing, and don't mind drinking the koolaide without checking it out to see if there's any poison in it.
The scriptures teach us we are not to follow every wind of doctrine, and the Lord Jesus has provided us with the means to resist false and spurious doctrine which leads us into all directions but the right one.
But let me say this before anything else; even if everything about global warming, climate change and environmentalism were true, I would still say what I've been saying, and it changes nothing.
Now the things being foisted upon us aren't true, but it's the underlying purpose of God that's at stake, and nothing in this life or world was meant to distract us from that, no matter how
it's presented to us.
So let's again look at the eternal purpose of God in Jesus Christ, which trumps everything else, and really, shows us there is nothing else.
The end of the eternal purpose of God, and that which has dwelt in Him and has been part of Him from before creation, is that He will fill everything with Himself, that He may be all in all. That's it! End of plan! No confusion! Nothing else! Period! Got it?
Everything in this - our selves, the world, and our spiritual enemy, works toward moving us away from God's eternal purpose, and is done quite creatively.
Remember the extraordinary response of Jesus Christ to the situation with Martha and Mary, where Martha complained that Mary wasn't helping her serve everyone?
Jesus first of all identified the source of Martha's complaint: she was always worried about so many things. Then He corrected her by saying Mary was doing the only thing that was really necessary for a human being, and He wasn't going to take that away from her.
What was it? She was simply humbling herself at the feet of Jesus listening to and fellowshipping with Him and the others at their home.
To be filled with Jesus Christ to the point of Him being all in all is to humbly and quietly walk with and before Him while He permeates and imparts Himself to us within; on a moment by moment and daily basis. It's nothing less and nothing more than that. That's why we were created, and that's why Jesus Christ created us. That's our purpose with nothing else added to it.
What all these other things do is take our attention off of what is really important so that we can get caught up with and think we're doing something important because we're busy blabbing about it or somehow taking part in it in a way that makes us thing we're saving the planet or some other delusion of grandeur.
The cost is fellowship with and centering our lives on Jesus Christ. I believe one of the major reasons we cooperate with this, aside from allowing ourselves to be led astray, is because true fellowship with Jesus Christ is a death blow to our self, and we don't like to walk in the light as He is in the light, as it eventually exposes who we are, and we don't like that.
So it's easier to follow a bunch of causes which do nothing to build the person of Jesus Christ within us, but actually becomes an enemy of God because it takes us away from what He has always only cared about: being with us in a loving and intimate way, in order that we are changed into His image.
Causes, possibly more than anything else in our generation, draw and entice us away from the Lord's purpose to chase after endless rainbows and salvation projects which we feel are more important than Christ.
Part of the reason for this is enshrinement of politics as the agent of change rather than Jesus Christ in His people. So you go chasing after confisgated money called taxes to get your share so you can chase the latest activist fads.
Much of this is generated by fear and torment that the world is going to end, and people embrace it as if it's a statement of fact and faith, and don't bother to check assertions out to see if they're even true.
This is why there are tools used by evil people to attempt to pressure the masses into allowing legislation to be enacted, which of course must be done today if we're going to have a world tomorrow. That's an old but effective tactic used to tap into the innate fears so many people have and to make them believe the government can be our savior.
Only Jesus Christ is our Savior, and there is nothing else that can be allowed to replace Him in our lives in that capacity. Government for a long time has been attempting to push Jesus Christ and Christianty out of the equation in order to position itself as god to the people. The fact that many of you reading this aren't even aware of that and have embraced that uncritically shows how far down the rabbit hole you've traveled.
Again, as I've mentioned several times recently, winds of doctrine doesn't only refer to doctrine about Jesus Christ, but it refers to teachings and assertions made from generation to generation which attempt to sway the masses to believe a lie in order to gain more power and control, effectively placing Jesus Christ as some type of usurper or fraud who needs to take His place as one of the many gods out there, and quit attempting to assert His rights as the only God of this universe, although He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
I will never stop calling for people to abandon the misguided and baseless assertions connected to environmental and other causes like that, which in many cases are based upon outright lies and manufactured data, and at best need time to work out as we gain wisdom.
But people who even name Christ have bought into this or have become pragmatic in order to gather those who insist upon this being part of the Church, when Paul told Timothy that a good soldier of Jesus Christ isn't to get caught up in the affairs of this world.
So now what are you going to do about that wisdom of the Holy Spirit spoken through Paul to Timothy, and by extention - to us
Showing posts with label Intimacy with Christ. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Intimacy with Christ. Show all posts
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Friday, July 31, 2009
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.
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.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Many true believers in Christ wonder what it means when we read in the scriptures about Christ being the bridegroom and the people of God His bride.
It seems to me that we have to look at it very similar to a man and woman getting married. I don't think we have to be confused about this: it's a love relationship, one where vital union between Christ and His people takes place.
Of course this must become a practical reality, not simply a doctrine or theory. It's a reality for those who believe this and respond to the inner draw of the Spirit of God deep within a believers' soul.
Christ dwells within us by the Spirit. That in and of itself is being the Bridegroom, although His dwelling entails everything pertaining to His life. It begins with the love relationship between God and His people. Everything else springs forth out of that.
What this tells us is we need to quiet ourselves before the Lord in our lives, and allow Him to relate to us as the Bridegroom deep within. It's a wooing, not simply a loud, pushy demonstration that anybody can latch on to in and of themselves. It's real, it's personal, and it's initiated by Christ Himself, for those willing to listen and hear.
As believers, we need to ask the Lord to draw us witin to Him where He dwells within our spirit, and calls us from our souls to look to Him within. That's what Christianity really is: the Spirit of Christ within us, sharing all of Himself and changing us into His image as we allow the practical work of the cross to eliminate our selfishness. That happens in our lifetime on the earth until we leave it.
This is why He said when He speaks to us, it doesn't do much good for those who are always thinking about problems, situations, concerns, loving this world, themselves, among a plethora of other things described by Jesus as that which keeps Him from being centered on in our lives.
Christ as our Bridegroom is within all who believe. The question becomes then who is willing to hear the voice of the Bridegroom within, and share in a fantastic fellowship and intimacy. Not too many are willing to travel this road, as it's a costly pearl where you sell everything to attain it.
Not too many of those naming Christ are willing to pay that price to obtain the pearl of our Groom who is Christ.
The price is the loss of our self in order that He can build Himself within us, and that building comes as He takes up residence as the groom. From that union with His people who He is will gradually be built and the Bride of Christ revealed in the created world, to be seen by all.
Jesus will have a people like this before He returns for them, and the Spirit within us is calling from deep within to share in that with Him; to share His life.
We can't do this at all, it must be Him initiating it, and us responding. Even then we must ask Him to enable and empower us to pursue His wooing, as without Him we can do nothing.
The key to participating in this intimate fellowship with the Lord is ignoring all the outward things that always grab out attention and distract, and quiet our souls and restfully allow Him to share Himself with us.
That's the starting and ending point on our journey to know this great God of ours, who created us for this very reason.
It seems to me that we have to look at it very similar to a man and woman getting married. I don't think we have to be confused about this: it's a love relationship, one where vital union between Christ and His people takes place.
Of course this must become a practical reality, not simply a doctrine or theory. It's a reality for those who believe this and respond to the inner draw of the Spirit of God deep within a believers' soul.
Christ dwells within us by the Spirit. That in and of itself is being the Bridegroom, although His dwelling entails everything pertaining to His life. It begins with the love relationship between God and His people. Everything else springs forth out of that.
What this tells us is we need to quiet ourselves before the Lord in our lives, and allow Him to relate to us as the Bridegroom deep within. It's a wooing, not simply a loud, pushy demonstration that anybody can latch on to in and of themselves. It's real, it's personal, and it's initiated by Christ Himself, for those willing to listen and hear.
As believers, we need to ask the Lord to draw us witin to Him where He dwells within our spirit, and calls us from our souls to look to Him within. That's what Christianity really is: the Spirit of Christ within us, sharing all of Himself and changing us into His image as we allow the practical work of the cross to eliminate our selfishness. That happens in our lifetime on the earth until we leave it.
This is why He said when He speaks to us, it doesn't do much good for those who are always thinking about problems, situations, concerns, loving this world, themselves, among a plethora of other things described by Jesus as that which keeps Him from being centered on in our lives.
Christ as our Bridegroom is within all who believe. The question becomes then who is willing to hear the voice of the Bridegroom within, and share in a fantastic fellowship and intimacy. Not too many are willing to travel this road, as it's a costly pearl where you sell everything to attain it.
Not too many of those naming Christ are willing to pay that price to obtain the pearl of our Groom who is Christ.
The price is the loss of our self in order that He can build Himself within us, and that building comes as He takes up residence as the groom. From that union with His people who He is will gradually be built and the Bride of Christ revealed in the created world, to be seen by all.
Jesus will have a people like this before He returns for them, and the Spirit within us is calling from deep within to share in that with Him; to share His life.
We can't do this at all, it must be Him initiating it, and us responding. Even then we must ask Him to enable and empower us to pursue His wooing, as without Him we can do nothing.
The key to participating in this intimate fellowship with the Lord is ignoring all the outward things that always grab out attention and distract, and quiet our souls and restfully allow Him to share Himself with us.
That's the starting and ending point on our journey to know this great God of ours, who created us for this very reason.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
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.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Have you ever wondered what it was that Adam and Eve saw when they went to the center of the Garden of Eden and the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil stood side by side? The contrast is extraordinary.
Remember one thing concerning Adam and Eve at this portion of their lives: they saw things as they were, so when they viewed these two trees that didn't have an origin on Earth, they saw them in a unique way, and how they saw them, especially with Eve, was a huge factor in the fateful decision to eat of the wrong tree.
It's tempting to really get into the depths of what really happened at that time, but the simplicity of it is enough, because in the end, that was one of the key elements of what was going on.
Paul mentions that in the time of the temptation of Eve, she was deceived concerning maintaining the simplicity of devotion to Christ. That was the major issue concerning the two trees. One offered simplicity, devotion and dependence on the life of Christ, and fellowship with Him, while the other offered independence from God, and a different type of knowledge, wisdom and food.
This is the center of the powerful story of Martha and Mary, where Martha attempted to influence Jesus to get Mary away from being centered on Him, where Jesus responded it was really the only thing that mattered, and He wasn't going to take that away from her.
Satan offered Eve the opportunity to be like God, without the help and dependence upon God; without the need to internalize and fellowship with Him within, which is part of what it meant to eat the fruit of the tree. To eat it meant to internalize the relationship we were offered with Christ.
The other major element was that the Tree of Life, or Christ, wasn't an attractive tree, whereas the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was, as represented by Satan, who was a beautiful being at one time.
While spiritually Christ as the Tree of Life was attractive from the point of view of God, to natural man he wasn't, as the cross was at the center of the Tree, and built into it. This is something many Christians to this day resist. It's one of the major reasons much of the inner fellowship with Christ isn't pursued, because it means dying to self, and the application of the work of the cross within. Not many are willing to go that route anymore.
So when Satan started getting Eve's eyes fixated on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the idea was to get her to completely forget about the Tree of Life, which he succeeded at doing. History has unveiled the results of that mistake.
When Adam and Eve viewed the two trees, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was far more attractive and conducive to humanity than the counterintuitive Tree of Life. Even in their sinless state, immediately before partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the desire for an easier way to live was pursued by the old man; the first Adam.
What's interesting, taking into account that Eve was deceived but Adam wasn't, is that even though Adam wasn't deceived, he preferred to internalize a life form contrary to who God was. It looked wiser and easier, but in the end it was devastating and resulted in life being even harder.
To this day the major job our spiritual enemy continues to do is keep our eyes off of the simplicity of devotion to Christ, and eat of a tree that complicates and distracts us from that simple fellowship with Him, which is how Jesus describes of eternal life is, which was embedded in Him, the Tree of Life.
We must battle to eat of the Tree of Life once again, and remind one another to do it often. More on this in the next post.
Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
a
Remember one thing concerning Adam and Eve at this portion of their lives: they saw things as they were, so when they viewed these two trees that didn't have an origin on Earth, they saw them in a unique way, and how they saw them, especially with Eve, was a huge factor in the fateful decision to eat of the wrong tree.
It's tempting to really get into the depths of what really happened at that time, but the simplicity of it is enough, because in the end, that was one of the key elements of what was going on.
Paul mentions that in the time of the temptation of Eve, she was deceived concerning maintaining the simplicity of devotion to Christ. That was the major issue concerning the two trees. One offered simplicity, devotion and dependence on the life of Christ, and fellowship with Him, while the other offered independence from God, and a different type of knowledge, wisdom and food.
This is the center of the powerful story of Martha and Mary, where Martha attempted to influence Jesus to get Mary away from being centered on Him, where Jesus responded it was really the only thing that mattered, and He wasn't going to take that away from her.
Satan offered Eve the opportunity to be like God, without the help and dependence upon God; without the need to internalize and fellowship with Him within, which is part of what it meant to eat the fruit of the tree. To eat it meant to internalize the relationship we were offered with Christ.
The other major element was that the Tree of Life, or Christ, wasn't an attractive tree, whereas the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was, as represented by Satan, who was a beautiful being at one time.
While spiritually Christ as the Tree of Life was attractive from the point of view of God, to natural man he wasn't, as the cross was at the center of the Tree, and built into it. This is something many Christians to this day resist. It's one of the major reasons much of the inner fellowship with Christ isn't pursued, because it means dying to self, and the application of the work of the cross within. Not many are willing to go that route anymore.
So when Satan started getting Eve's eyes fixated on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the idea was to get her to completely forget about the Tree of Life, which he succeeded at doing. History has unveiled the results of that mistake.
When Adam and Eve viewed the two trees, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was far more attractive and conducive to humanity than the counterintuitive Tree of Life. Even in their sinless state, immediately before partaking of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, the desire for an easier way to live was pursued by the old man; the first Adam.
What's interesting, taking into account that Eve was deceived but Adam wasn't, is that even though Adam wasn't deceived, he preferred to internalize a life form contrary to who God was. It looked wiser and easier, but in the end it was devastating and resulted in life being even harder.
To this day the major job our spiritual enemy continues to do is keep our eyes off of the simplicity of devotion to Christ, and eat of a tree that complicates and distracts us from that simple fellowship with Him, which is how Jesus describes of eternal life is, which was embedded in Him, the Tree of Life.
We must battle to eat of the Tree of Life once again, and remind one another to do it often. More on this in the next post.
Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6
a
Thursday, May 15, 2008
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
a
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
a
Thursday, May 1, 2008
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
a
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
a
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
by Bill Heroman
A teenager went to his dad one day and said, “Dad, can you show me how to drive The Car?”
Caught off guard by this, the dad felt a bit embarrassed to realize they’d never had this conversation. But he sat up straight, turned to the boy and said, “Son, I’d be delighted to tell you all about The Car. What would you most like to know?”
The boy said, “Well, mostly, I'd really like to learn how to drive The Car.”
“Of course, of course. Son, I’m so glad that you’ve come to this day. I can tell you all about driving The Car. I learned when I was your age from our old Youth Mechanic, and now it’s really an honor to get to teach you.”
The boy began to feel hope and excitement, thinking, This is it, I’ll be driving soon!
The dad stood up, went to the coffee table, and picked up his leather-bound, monogrammed Driver’s Manual with the gold-foil pages. “It’s Sunday anyway, son. Let’s go to the Garage!”
The boy started to protest, “But I don’t want to go to the garage, dad. I want to drive The Car.”
The dad grinned, “The best way to learn about The Car is to be in the Garage, son!” He grew more comfortable as he remembered this simple fact. He liked feeling like he was able to give his son some right answers.
Grudgingly, the boy agreed. “But dad, after the garage, do you promise you will show me how to drive The Car?”
The dad looked blank again. “Oh, sure, son. Of course. Now let’s go hear the Mechanic!”
They left the house together, the son full of hope, the dad with his Manual.
Then they walked all fifteen blocks to the Garage, through empty streets!
In the empty parking lot, they said hello to friends who were also walking to the Garage, holding their Manuals. One man called out, “Looks like Junior’s ready to grow up and find The Car! Good for you, Junior! Glad you’re finally smart enough to bring yourself in for service! Now, don’t forget to make your dad get you a Manual, and make sure you read it every day!”
But Junior felt confused. He whispered to his dad, “What does coming in for service and reading the manual have to do with actually driving…”
“Shush! We’re walking into the Garage!” his dad said.
Silently, they found their seats while the Garage Band was starting up. For a while, everyone sang some great songs about how much they all liked to drive. Then it was time for the Mechanic to speak. It was a warm, encouraging message, about how some people’s cars are different colors and that no color car was better than another. “The important thing,” the Mechanic said, “Is that you’re all trying as hard as you can to be courteous drivers!”
“But nobody drove here this morning,” thought Junior. Still, everyone else was nodding and calling out “That’s right!” so he figured he’d leave it alone. But it didn’t help him feel any less confused.
Just then, Junior looked behind him and saw, way in the back row, a man pulling something shiny out of his pocket. But no one else seemed to see it. It was on a string, and the man swung it around his hand until it made a clinking noise against his watch. But no one else seemed to hear it. (The Mechanic was now talking about minimum legal liability in the state of Texas.)
The man with the shiny thing turned to go, just as the service was ending. Junior had a strange feeling as if he wanted to follow.
Just then his dad said, “Wasn’t that great?”
Junior just looked at his dad, more confused than ever. “Dad”, he said, “Doesn’t anyone here ever actually drive The Car?”
“What are you talking about? We just DID!” Exclaimed the dad,” but inside, he was thinking, Maybe he missed it. Well, it takes time before people can see the truth about The Car. I remember it sure took me a while. Man, was I confused for a while, too!
Then Junior’s dad said, “Hey. Come with me to Car School. There’s a guest speaker today who’s going to be talking about two-way left-turn channelization lanes, which are everywhere, when you start to notice them! Or maybe you’d want to go in room 425, where they’ve been doing a series on the great Automakers of History, who pioneered what we believe about The Car. Does that sound good?”
Junior wasn’t sure. “I really just want to know one thing, dad.”
“Okay. What is that?”
Junior felt unimportant as well as mute, but repeated himself. “I’d like to learn how to drive The Car!”
His dad looked at him like he’d just asked for the moon or a pink pterodactyl. After a moment, he said, “Wait here, son. Let me go talk to the Mechanic.”
As his dad made his way through the greeting line, Junior wandered over to a bulletin board and began reading it, to pass the time. There was one article about giving money to build a new, larger Garage with more seating. There were notices of the Car School classes being offered, and a news clipping about last summer when the Mechanic went on a Mission to Africa to share the good news about The Car with people there, “to rescue them from life in the slow lane”!
An old lady saw Junior and walked up to him. “Isn’t it wonderful?” she said, “You know those people had never even heard about The Car over there. I think it’s so exciting!”
Junior was too single minded to be bothered by anything. He decided to ask her what he really wanted to know.
“Excuse me, ma’am. Did you drive here this morning?”
The old lady looked surprised and a bit offended. Then she smiled and laughed at him in a condescending way and said, “Of course I did, young man. I drive all the time. You do know The Car is inside your heart, don’t you?” Then she looked around. “Oh, excuse me, I see my good friend. Goodbye.”
Junior was stunned. And still confused. But he was starting to suspect that nobody in this place was going to be able to help him actually learn to drive The Car.
Just then Junior’s dad found him again. “Junior, good news. I talked to the Mechanic about what you said. It’s kind of advanced, and I wasn’t sure you were ready for this yet, but the Mechanic said you can come to a special class he’s teaching today about Driving The Car.”
Finally, the words he’d been longing to hear! Someone was going to talk about How to actually Drive The Car! Junior was surprised at that moment to feel his own hope and excitement mixed with a guarded sense of skepticism. Maybe the Mechanic was saving the “good stuff” for the inner circle – which would explain why he didn’t talk about it during his lecture – but he couldn’t escape the feeling there was something a little too slick about the Mechanic. Like maybe no one really understood how The Car even worked, and he was just coming up with fancy ways to tell them why it was really alright.
Junior pushed these skeptical thoughts aside, feeling guilty for doubting his dad and the important Mechanic. He reached again for the hope deep inside him, and he clung to it.
In Car School, everyone sat in rows of chairs while the Mechanic began to lecture again. He started talking about all the great daredevils of history who made it their ambition and goal to really, truly Drive The Car! He talked about how hard they had to work for it, and how much they had to want it, and how they spent their lives to uncover the secret of Driving The Car… the secret, he said, that they had now left for the rest of us to learn from.
Again, Junior dared to hope. His mouth went a little dry.
Just then, a glint of something caught Junior’s eye. He saw the man with the shiny thing again. The man was holding the shiny thing in his fingers, fiddling with it like a pencil, though it was smaller than a pencil. As it moved, it sent small flashes of light across the room… but no one else seemed to notice.
“Do you want to drive The Car?” The Mechanic had moved from the podium and was looking into the rows of chairs, right at Junior.
Junior couldn’t answer. He nodded, aware that part of him was afraid to find out what the Mechanic was about to tell them. Junior was afraid to find out one more thing that just wouldn’t seem right, or sound like it worked.
The Mechanic’s voice was building with passion and excitement. “The main thing you all need to know today, if you want to truly Drive The Car, is you need to understand that The Car is inside you! And The Car has also been placed inside the most precious gift ever given to human beings who want to Drive! That’s right! The Car Itself, has placed Itself, inside the Manual!!!”
Junior blinked, and looked around. Everyone else seemed excited. He looked for the man with the shiny thing and saw him, holding a fist tightly closed in his lap. Looking calm. Oddly, showing no expression whatsoever.
The Mechanic kept on. “That’s right, I’m telling you – The Car is IN The Manual! So you might say that Reading The Manual is a lot like Driving the Car!”
The Right-On’s and Oh Yeah’s from the audience were getting louder. Again Junior glanced at the other man in the room who wasn’t responding at all.
The Mechanic went on. “As a matter of fact, I have it by Divine Revelation that I can tell you this Great Mystery, that all the Mystic Car Drivers of history have used to learn how to Drive The Car in their own private lives… and here is the Great Secret!”
Junior was totally bracing himself.
“The secret,” said the Mechanic, “To Driving the Car.” (Then he paused for dramatic effect.) “Is to Read the Manual! That’s Right! Reading the Manual is the secret to Driving The Car!!!”
Junior was stunned. A part of him was not really shocked, but a part of him was crushed. He noticed one man in the room actually crying. Everyone else seemed to be very emotional about this – except for the man at the end of the row, by the door. Junior noticed he had just slipped out.
Everyone was standing up now, thanking and congratulating the Mechanic on a great lesson with such a positive, helpful, encouraging message in it. Junior’s dad looked at him and asked, “Well?”
Junior just said, “I’ve gotta go to the bathroom dad.”
“Are you alright, son? I know it’s a lot to take in. Would you like to go read my manual outside by yourself?”
“No, dad. I just need some air.” Then he left. Quickly.
The dad watched his boy leave, while a friend came and put his hand on his shoulder. “I guess it doesn’t happen all at once for some people, does it?” Junior’s dad said.
Outside in the fresh air, Junior’s eyes were adjusting to the light as he looked out toward the empty parking lot. Then he saw it again! The glint! The man with the shiny thing was walking alone through the lot.
Junior started running after the man – for no real reason other than one last, wild hope.
He caught up. “Excuse me,” said Junior, panting. And the man turned around.
“I wanted to ask you – I mean, I was wondering – that is…” and the whole thing burst out of him. “I came here because I asked my dad to show me how to drive The Car this morning and all he’s done is talk about his Manual and listen to this Mechanic and I saw you holding something I’ve never seen before and you just look different so I had to come out here and just ask…”
“Ask me what?” said the man.
Junior looked around himself. There was no one and nothing around them for a hundred of yards. He built up his courage again.
“Um… do you know how to drive The Car?”
The man smiled at Junior with his whole wrinkled face, with eyes that shone like they'd been patiently waiting for someone to ask that question for too many years.
“Why yes, I do.” Then he paused. “Is that all you wanted to ask me?”
Junior thought a moment and said, “No. I mean… can you – will you – show me how to drive The Car too?” And hope began to pound in his chest once again.
The man pulled the shiny thing out of his pocket again. It glinted in the light, and it lit up Junior’s eyes in return. The man said, “Would you like one of these?” And he reached in his pocket again, and pulled out another shiny thing! Junior reached for the small object, took it in his hand, and just as he was about to ask what do I do with it he saw… something!
All of a sudden, where it hadn’t been before, something large and beautiful just appeared right next to where they both were standing.
“What is THAT???!!!” shouted Junior.
“Oh, so you see it now? That’s fantastic!” The man was laughing out loud and shouting with joy! (The people back near the garage didn’t seem to notice – but suddenly, Junior had forgotten to notice them, too.)
Junior was practically crying. I’ve never actually seen… it’s so beautiful… is it really true that we can… oh, I just almost can’t even believe that we could…”
“Would you like to go for a ride?”
Junior’s jaw dropped. He managed to say, “YES!”
So the man said, “Hop in!”
And Junior said, “Hop? How? Where? You mean we can go IN The Car?”
The man smiled again, crying a little himself now.
“Here. Look.”
“I’ll show you.”
The man put the shiny thing into the side of the large thing. He worked it, and something opened. He removed it, closed the thing, and let Junior try.
It took Junior a few tries to feel like a natural. Just turning the shiny thing, and opening the other thing. "That's called a 'handle'," the man told him.
The man was patient. He didn't fuss. He didn't use a lot of words. Junior was exploring The Car. And the rest of the world just faded away.
The rest of the day was like that. Actually, the rest of Junior's life.
Junior never did manage to explain to his dad why he wasn't interested in the Garage anymore. He did read the manual every once in a while, but it was totally different. They couldn't talk about it. After a while, his dad stopped asking.
But Junior continued to go spend time with the man and his new group of friends. They did a lot of driving together. Somehow, oddly, no one ever noticed them.
Over time, the friends learned all sorts of things together about How to Drive The Car. Wonderful Things. Amazing Things. Things I could tell you about, if there were only words for such things, in our language. Or if it were possible to actually communicate about them in a book. But I can tell you this much:
They explored The Car. They practiced Driving. And they Knew. Over time, more and more, they found they deeply Knew.
How.
To.
Drive.
The Car!
*---------------------------------------*
So that's my story! May you all have eyes to see and a heart to find some people who not only say that they Know, but who can actually Show. How. To Know.
Not ideas, or books, or feelings, or thinkings, or fancy explanations of things that just don't ever seem to work out.
But actually, simply, purely...
Jesus Christ.
===============================================
Bill adds:
I live in this neighborhood with 17 others. We meet on the street, in our yards, in our homes. We remind each other that Jesus Christ IS our daily life... TOGETHER!
Bill has two good blogs you can read here:
The Jesus Story
and
Hero Bill
A teenager went to his dad one day and said, “Dad, can you show me how to drive The Car?”
Caught off guard by this, the dad felt a bit embarrassed to realize they’d never had this conversation. But he sat up straight, turned to the boy and said, “Son, I’d be delighted to tell you all about The Car. What would you most like to know?”
The boy said, “Well, mostly, I'd really like to learn how to drive The Car.”
“Of course, of course. Son, I’m so glad that you’ve come to this day. I can tell you all about driving The Car. I learned when I was your age from our old Youth Mechanic, and now it’s really an honor to get to teach you.”
The boy began to feel hope and excitement, thinking, This is it, I’ll be driving soon!
The dad stood up, went to the coffee table, and picked up his leather-bound, monogrammed Driver’s Manual with the gold-foil pages. “It’s Sunday anyway, son. Let’s go to the Garage!”
The boy started to protest, “But I don’t want to go to the garage, dad. I want to drive The Car.”
The dad grinned, “The best way to learn about The Car is to be in the Garage, son!” He grew more comfortable as he remembered this simple fact. He liked feeling like he was able to give his son some right answers.
Grudgingly, the boy agreed. “But dad, after the garage, do you promise you will show me how to drive The Car?”
The dad looked blank again. “Oh, sure, son. Of course. Now let’s go hear the Mechanic!”
They left the house together, the son full of hope, the dad with his Manual.
Then they walked all fifteen blocks to the Garage, through empty streets!
In the empty parking lot, they said hello to friends who were also walking to the Garage, holding their Manuals. One man called out, “Looks like Junior’s ready to grow up and find The Car! Good for you, Junior! Glad you’re finally smart enough to bring yourself in for service! Now, don’t forget to make your dad get you a Manual, and make sure you read it every day!”
But Junior felt confused. He whispered to his dad, “What does coming in for service and reading the manual have to do with actually driving…”
“Shush! We’re walking into the Garage!” his dad said.
Silently, they found their seats while the Garage Band was starting up. For a while, everyone sang some great songs about how much they all liked to drive. Then it was time for the Mechanic to speak. It was a warm, encouraging message, about how some people’s cars are different colors and that no color car was better than another. “The important thing,” the Mechanic said, “Is that you’re all trying as hard as you can to be courteous drivers!”
“But nobody drove here this morning,” thought Junior. Still, everyone else was nodding and calling out “That’s right!” so he figured he’d leave it alone. But it didn’t help him feel any less confused.
Just then, Junior looked behind him and saw, way in the back row, a man pulling something shiny out of his pocket. But no one else seemed to see it. It was on a string, and the man swung it around his hand until it made a clinking noise against his watch. But no one else seemed to hear it. (The Mechanic was now talking about minimum legal liability in the state of Texas.)
The man with the shiny thing turned to go, just as the service was ending. Junior had a strange feeling as if he wanted to follow.
Just then his dad said, “Wasn’t that great?”
Junior just looked at his dad, more confused than ever. “Dad”, he said, “Doesn’t anyone here ever actually drive The Car?”
“What are you talking about? We just DID!” Exclaimed the dad,” but inside, he was thinking, Maybe he missed it. Well, it takes time before people can see the truth about The Car. I remember it sure took me a while. Man, was I confused for a while, too!
Then Junior’s dad said, “Hey. Come with me to Car School. There’s a guest speaker today who’s going to be talking about two-way left-turn channelization lanes, which are everywhere, when you start to notice them! Or maybe you’d want to go in room 425, where they’ve been doing a series on the great Automakers of History, who pioneered what we believe about The Car. Does that sound good?”
Junior wasn’t sure. “I really just want to know one thing, dad.”
“Okay. What is that?”
Junior felt unimportant as well as mute, but repeated himself. “I’d like to learn how to drive The Car!”
His dad looked at him like he’d just asked for the moon or a pink pterodactyl. After a moment, he said, “Wait here, son. Let me go talk to the Mechanic.”
As his dad made his way through the greeting line, Junior wandered over to a bulletin board and began reading it, to pass the time. There was one article about giving money to build a new, larger Garage with more seating. There were notices of the Car School classes being offered, and a news clipping about last summer when the Mechanic went on a Mission to Africa to share the good news about The Car with people there, “to rescue them from life in the slow lane”!
An old lady saw Junior and walked up to him. “Isn’t it wonderful?” she said, “You know those people had never even heard about The Car over there. I think it’s so exciting!”
Junior was too single minded to be bothered by anything. He decided to ask her what he really wanted to know.
“Excuse me, ma’am. Did you drive here this morning?”
The old lady looked surprised and a bit offended. Then she smiled and laughed at him in a condescending way and said, “Of course I did, young man. I drive all the time. You do know The Car is inside your heart, don’t you?” Then she looked around. “Oh, excuse me, I see my good friend. Goodbye.”
Junior was stunned. And still confused. But he was starting to suspect that nobody in this place was going to be able to help him actually learn to drive The Car.
Just then Junior’s dad found him again. “Junior, good news. I talked to the Mechanic about what you said. It’s kind of advanced, and I wasn’t sure you were ready for this yet, but the Mechanic said you can come to a special class he’s teaching today about Driving The Car.”
Finally, the words he’d been longing to hear! Someone was going to talk about How to actually Drive The Car! Junior was surprised at that moment to feel his own hope and excitement mixed with a guarded sense of skepticism. Maybe the Mechanic was saving the “good stuff” for the inner circle – which would explain why he didn’t talk about it during his lecture – but he couldn’t escape the feeling there was something a little too slick about the Mechanic. Like maybe no one really understood how The Car even worked, and he was just coming up with fancy ways to tell them why it was really alright.
Junior pushed these skeptical thoughts aside, feeling guilty for doubting his dad and the important Mechanic. He reached again for the hope deep inside him, and he clung to it.
In Car School, everyone sat in rows of chairs while the Mechanic began to lecture again. He started talking about all the great daredevils of history who made it their ambition and goal to really, truly Drive The Car! He talked about how hard they had to work for it, and how much they had to want it, and how they spent their lives to uncover the secret of Driving The Car… the secret, he said, that they had now left for the rest of us to learn from.
Again, Junior dared to hope. His mouth went a little dry.
Just then, a glint of something caught Junior’s eye. He saw the man with the shiny thing again. The man was holding the shiny thing in his fingers, fiddling with it like a pencil, though it was smaller than a pencil. As it moved, it sent small flashes of light across the room… but no one else seemed to notice.
“Do you want to drive The Car?” The Mechanic had moved from the podium and was looking into the rows of chairs, right at Junior.
Junior couldn’t answer. He nodded, aware that part of him was afraid to find out what the Mechanic was about to tell them. Junior was afraid to find out one more thing that just wouldn’t seem right, or sound like it worked.
The Mechanic’s voice was building with passion and excitement. “The main thing you all need to know today, if you want to truly Drive The Car, is you need to understand that The Car is inside you! And The Car has also been placed inside the most precious gift ever given to human beings who want to Drive! That’s right! The Car Itself, has placed Itself, inside the Manual!!!”
Junior blinked, and looked around. Everyone else seemed excited. He looked for the man with the shiny thing and saw him, holding a fist tightly closed in his lap. Looking calm. Oddly, showing no expression whatsoever.
The Mechanic kept on. “That’s right, I’m telling you – The Car is IN The Manual! So you might say that Reading The Manual is a lot like Driving the Car!”
The Right-On’s and Oh Yeah’s from the audience were getting louder. Again Junior glanced at the other man in the room who wasn’t responding at all.
The Mechanic went on. “As a matter of fact, I have it by Divine Revelation that I can tell you this Great Mystery, that all the Mystic Car Drivers of history have used to learn how to Drive The Car in their own private lives… and here is the Great Secret!”
Junior was totally bracing himself.
“The secret,” said the Mechanic, “To Driving the Car.” (Then he paused for dramatic effect.) “Is to Read the Manual! That’s Right! Reading the Manual is the secret to Driving The Car!!!”
Junior was stunned. A part of him was not really shocked, but a part of him was crushed. He noticed one man in the room actually crying. Everyone else seemed to be very emotional about this – except for the man at the end of the row, by the door. Junior noticed he had just slipped out.
Everyone was standing up now, thanking and congratulating the Mechanic on a great lesson with such a positive, helpful, encouraging message in it. Junior’s dad looked at him and asked, “Well?”
Junior just said, “I’ve gotta go to the bathroom dad.”
“Are you alright, son? I know it’s a lot to take in. Would you like to go read my manual outside by yourself?”
“No, dad. I just need some air.” Then he left. Quickly.
The dad watched his boy leave, while a friend came and put his hand on his shoulder. “I guess it doesn’t happen all at once for some people, does it?” Junior’s dad said.
Outside in the fresh air, Junior’s eyes were adjusting to the light as he looked out toward the empty parking lot. Then he saw it again! The glint! The man with the shiny thing was walking alone through the lot.
Junior started running after the man – for no real reason other than one last, wild hope.
He caught up. “Excuse me,” said Junior, panting. And the man turned around.
“I wanted to ask you – I mean, I was wondering – that is…” and the whole thing burst out of him. “I came here because I asked my dad to show me how to drive The Car this morning and all he’s done is talk about his Manual and listen to this Mechanic and I saw you holding something I’ve never seen before and you just look different so I had to come out here and just ask…”
“Ask me what?” said the man.
Junior looked around himself. There was no one and nothing around them for a hundred of yards. He built up his courage again.
“Um… do you know how to drive The Car?”
The man smiled at Junior with his whole wrinkled face, with eyes that shone like they'd been patiently waiting for someone to ask that question for too many years.
“Why yes, I do.” Then he paused. “Is that all you wanted to ask me?”
Junior thought a moment and said, “No. I mean… can you – will you – show me how to drive The Car too?” And hope began to pound in his chest once again.
The man pulled the shiny thing out of his pocket again. It glinted in the light, and it lit up Junior’s eyes in return. The man said, “Would you like one of these?” And he reached in his pocket again, and pulled out another shiny thing! Junior reached for the small object, took it in his hand, and just as he was about to ask what do I do with it he saw… something!
All of a sudden, where it hadn’t been before, something large and beautiful just appeared right next to where they both were standing.
“What is THAT???!!!” shouted Junior.
“Oh, so you see it now? That’s fantastic!” The man was laughing out loud and shouting with joy! (The people back near the garage didn’t seem to notice – but suddenly, Junior had forgotten to notice them, too.)
Junior was practically crying. I’ve never actually seen… it’s so beautiful… is it really true that we can… oh, I just almost can’t even believe that we could…”
“Would you like to go for a ride?”
Junior’s jaw dropped. He managed to say, “YES!”
So the man said, “Hop in!”
And Junior said, “Hop? How? Where? You mean we can go IN The Car?”
The man smiled again, crying a little himself now.
“Here. Look.”
“I’ll show you.”
The man put the shiny thing into the side of the large thing. He worked it, and something opened. He removed it, closed the thing, and let Junior try.
It took Junior a few tries to feel like a natural. Just turning the shiny thing, and opening the other thing. "That's called a 'handle'," the man told him.
The man was patient. He didn't fuss. He didn't use a lot of words. Junior was exploring The Car. And the rest of the world just faded away.
The rest of the day was like that. Actually, the rest of Junior's life.
Junior never did manage to explain to his dad why he wasn't interested in the Garage anymore. He did read the manual every once in a while, but it was totally different. They couldn't talk about it. After a while, his dad stopped asking.
But Junior continued to go spend time with the man and his new group of friends. They did a lot of driving together. Somehow, oddly, no one ever noticed them.
Over time, the friends learned all sorts of things together about How to Drive The Car. Wonderful Things. Amazing Things. Things I could tell you about, if there were only words for such things, in our language. Or if it were possible to actually communicate about them in a book. But I can tell you this much:
They explored The Car. They practiced Driving. And they Knew. Over time, more and more, they found they deeply Knew.
How.
To.
Drive.
The Car!
*---------------------------------------*
So that's my story! May you all have eyes to see and a heart to find some people who not only say that they Know, but who can actually Show. How. To Know.
Not ideas, or books, or feelings, or thinkings, or fancy explanations of things that just don't ever seem to work out.
But actually, simply, purely...
Jesus Christ.
===============================================
Bill adds:
I live in this neighborhood with 17 others. We meet on the street, in our yards, in our homes. We remind each other that Jesus Christ IS our daily life... TOGETHER!
Bill has two good blogs you can read here:
The Jesus Story
and
Hero Bill
This is a hard topic to talk about because the great majority of Christians aren’t aware of the depths that one can enter into in relationship to the presence of God. So if you aren’t aware of it individually, it is even harder to talk about the corporate nature of it. Yet we’ll give it a try.
First of all, when I talk about corporate I am not referring to sitting in those buildings people go to once a week. That is about as far away from corporate as you can get.
No, I am talking about being one together in the pursuit of the presence of God in our lives on a continual basis, while living in close proximity to one another to facilitate it.
Of course the first step is to desire and pursue a deep, intimate relationship with Christ individually, as it is impossible to enter in corporately without the hunger and desire individually first. Again, one cannot exist without the other!
Yet the purpose of entering into the presence of God individually is never an end in and of itself; being together in it - that’s the end that God has in mind.
This reminds me of a movie I saw one time where the main character was seeking spiritual enlightenment. He eventually goes by himself up onto a mountaintop and reads spiritual books and contemplates. One day he gets some insight and starts to laugh to himself. He then takes the book he is reading and starts tearing the pages out and putting them in a fire.
When he comes down from the mountain and talks to his mentor, the mentor asks him what he learned when he was up there. His response was that it was easy to be a holy man on a mountain.
In other words, seeking God by yourself only, is nothing in comparison to doing it individually, and than together with others. That is the part that is harder than the other and more in tune with God’s ultimate purpose.
Seeking God by yourself is not enough. We must first seek Him and then together seek and enter into His presence.
This is what truly being the church is all about. Together we pursue his awesome presence and daily dwell in Him and He in us. That’s what God’s desire was from before the foundation of the world. What we must be careful of, as I have mentioned in another article, is to not make this our great disconnect!
God’s heart and purpose has always been to have a corporate counterpart; a many-membered body, a woman.
In other words, this is something to be lived out in reality in our lives. It is not something that you read about and intellectually agree with and then go about doing things the same way as always. This is what it means to be a Christian. That’s why the believers at Antioch were originally mocked, because they so much pursued Him in this way that they were deridingly called “Christians,” which means that they were Christ centered.
Like I said, this is what it really means to take the word Christian upon yourself individually and corporately. It means that our lives are lived in His presence moment by moment; continuously on. That’s the great corporate endeavor we are called to participate in. That’s the heart cry of God.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
In the area of communion with Christ and close experiential union in our relationship with Him, there arises an important issue that must be addressed that affects all of us that know Christ. I call it the “great disconnect.”
What do I mean by that?
For example, let’s look at the testimony of Jesus concerning the religious leaders when He was upon the earth. He exhorts the crowd that unless their righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees, they wouldn’t enter the kingdom of God. This is a disconnect. The Pharisees intellectually knew the right things to say - Jesus Himself tells the crowds to do what they say but not to do what they do – yet He rips into their hypocrisy.
In the area of union with Christ and knowing God, we have developed this same unfortunate lifestyle. We read about it, yet we never enter into it. I don’t care how much you may know what the scriptures teach, you must then do what it says. In the case of entering into an in-depth, continuous fellowship with Christ, we are exhorted to do it but don’t enter into it. This is a disconnect.
The great majority of us don’t even comprehend that there is this fantastic desire by God to be in continual communion with us.
In truth, He is of course always with us. Yet we don’t participate in this constant reality. Rather we are content to take an occasional moment to say a little prayer or spend a little time with Him. This is far from what He truly desires for us.
When Jesus was on the earth, He revealed to us that He never did anything without the Father’s okay; neither did He speak anything unless the Father spoke it. This necessitated a continual union and awareness of the Father to be able to know what His will was at any given moment. This was given to us as an example of how we are to live.
Remember the scripture that speaks to us of praying without ceasing? This involves the same concept in reference to God’s expectations of us. This prayer is obviously speaking of moment by moment awareness of the presence of God with us. How else can we follow the example that Jesus set before us to live in?
In another place Jesus tells us about what eternal life really is. He reveals that eternal life is knowing the Father and His son Jesus Christ. That was the entire purpose of Jesus coming to earth that we may once again enter into this fellowship with Him unhindered and through the veil that He opened up for us again into the presence of the Father.
That’s why at His death the veil rent in two. Access to the Father through Christ was now available to all those who believed on Jesus. We have no need of intermediaries, for all of us are to know Him from the least to the greatest.
The problem is that all of this sounds good except very few enter into this on a continuous basis. This is the greatest disconnect of all. One of Paul’s great prayers was that he might know Him. This was an experiential cry, not a desire to have some intellectual understanding of Christ. Again, even the Pharisees had that. That’s why we are even told that even the demons believe. That doesn’t do them any good.
We must hunger to cross the threshold into this fantastic purpose and offer of God to enter into this extraordinary union with Him.
It’s unfortunate that history has labeled this purpose and desire as “mysticism.” It attempts to make those who pursue this as weird or strange and not right in some way. The truth is that this is the hunger of God’s heart from before time to have a people to be in union and intimacy with. To say that this is to be replaced by some type of special person hearing or relating to God on your behalf has been devastating to the church for centuries.
This is the age of the reality that is in Christ. We no longer relate to types or symbols or any intermediary between God and man except for Jesus Christ. He is no respecter of persons and He will gladly encircle you with His presence and union if you simply ask Him.
To not do this is the greatest disconnect of all.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
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
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
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