Enlarging the Steps under Our Feet

“In my Father’s house there are many mansions,” and each mansion is prepared and made ready by Jesus Christ for us to enter into. In each mansion of understanding He is present establishing us in the truth available to us at this point. Then He knocks at our door again inviting us into the next room He has made ready for us. We forget the former things, make a leap of faith and step across the threshold into a realm of greater glory than the previous one. Each new room is larger and more spacious meaning that the awareness of the Son in us and as us grows. The Father’s overarching desire is to reveal the Son in every man in whom Christ is born. Can you hear His voice speaking over you: “This is my son in whom I am well pleased”?

At each threshold we leave behind another human belief, another doctrine, another pet conviction until one doctrine remains: Jesus Christ is come in bodily form (2 John 7). In each mansion we are ambassadors for Christ inviting others to join us in what we are granted to see. Can you hear Him? “You are accepted! Can you accept yourself?” “You are chosen! Will you also chose yourself?” “There is no evil in you! You have a new heart.” “There is no condemnation for those who are in Jesus Christ! He lives as you.” “You are by the law dead to the law! Christ who is the law has fulfilled the law in you.” “You can do nothing without me. We are one.”

It is God’s kindness that leads to repentance. Repentance means to enter a new mansion of recognition – of acknowledging the truth, that is, what already exists. Basically it is a transformation of our consciousness so that it can receive more light. It doesn’t say that it is God’s kindness that makes us better persons or that somehow transforms us into better Christians (whatever that is). Repentance is an exercise in using our spiritual senses to see beyond appearances to Him who lives as us.

Paul wrote to Timothy: “Think it not strange when all sorts of fiery trials are to test your faith as though some strange thing has happened to you, but rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.” Whether we like it or not these things are also prepared for us once we enter a new mansion and works for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory as we are fixed in faith in this mansion. Yes, our faith is tried, that is, the Son’s faith in us is tried and will prove itself to be the substance of things hoped for. Increasingly we will move effortlessly on the “It is done” level of recognition.

As the steps are enlarged under our feet sin loses its hypnotic spell on us. From seeing it everywhere in our lives it dissolves into nothing. The only “sin” we now know is when we have a healthy taste of hell when we occasionally return to separation in our awareness. We put behind us childish notions about that we somehow can make mistakes, go wrong, etc etc ad infinitum. The Lord directs all our steps. Period! We can never act as independent selves. And in this glorious paradox do we find our freedom to be. None of these things can, however, either be made into a doctrine. Each and every one of us has to know these things personally by the work of our inner Teacher. We have to learn for ourselves that God indeed is our keeper. And each new faith decision we make is personal. Neither Paul, John nor any other person can speak our personal word of faith. Thus Paul for instance writes:”…if you live by the Spirit…..” That “if” is made void by my word of faith: “I live by the Spirit.”

He Loved Him as Himself

After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself. From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family.And Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt (1 Sam 18:1-4 NIV).

The Spirit loves to play with figures and to give them new and astonishing meanings portraying the deep things of God. In this brief passage Saul becomes the Father who won’t let us leave His house. Not in order to inhibit our freedom, but to let us always move in His infinite freedom. His son Jonathan is transmuted into Christ, and David is you and I.

If you ever have wondered about this union with Christ we so often speak about, well, here it is plainly spelled out. Christ has joined Himself to us so that we are one in spirit. He the beautiful source who is all in all in us, and who loves us as Himself! Can you hear what the Spirit says to you? Christ loves you as Himself! As if that wasn’t enough, He has made an eternal covenant with you and me.

To prove his love and how far the covenant reaches Jonathan does some startling things. He endows upon David His robe of righteousness (Isa 61:10). The tunic was made of fine linen and the book of Revelation points out how the redeemed are dressed in fine linen (19:14). The tunic is also a priestly garment symbolizing how we in Christ are elevated to be priests before God. It was further made of ONE piece meaning we are one person with God.

It is Paul in his letter to the Ephesians who writes that the sword is the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. The tremendous truth is that the word is made flesh in you and me. This word isn’t the dead letter, but a dynamic pulsating creative force which speaks into expression what already exist in God by those words He speaks by us and as us. “And even His sword….” Who in the spiritual realm could have imagined that Christ even would give us His sword? The “Let there be light!” sword! Christ Himself!

The bow is a symbol of victory. “But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Cor 2:14). The belt of truth is the last item David receives. Jesus said about Himself: “I am the way, the truth and the life.” Our position is in Christ which is the guarantee that this scripture is fulfilled in us. Let’s forget appearances – we are walking the way!

Enlarging the Peephole

For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished (Matt 5:18).

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Rom 6:15-16)

I suddenly struck me the other day that Jesus’ statement in Matthew correlates with Romans 6:15-16. Not an iota, not a dot means that even the minutest or  subtlest attempts at self-effort is circumventing what Jesus accomplished at the cross. How often haven’t I tried to convince myself that I shouldn’t feel like this or that, or respond in a certain manner? When I respond to these subtle hints to change or improve myself I am immediately caught out like Paul so vividly describes in Romans 7 when he tried to battle his covetousness. I find, like Paul, that it is impossible to alter myself by self-effort. Those emotions or responses do not abate an  iota when I try to handle them.

So what does it mean then to yield ourselves unto God and our members as instruments of righteousness unto God?

First, since everything is accomplished by Him there is nothing more for me to do as if I am a separated person having my life outside God. Jesus own words ring in my ears: “Of myself I can do nothing.” That nothing is absolute. There are no loopholes, something we all have to personally taste when we fall on our faces because of our failures. Yielding thus means to give up.

Second, this giving up means that I finally realize that all my members are instruments of righteousness unto God. He is the one who directs all my steps. That’s the higher truth that is perpetually contested by appearances, that is, how a thing looks on the outside and perceived by us when we only behold a thing with our natural senses, but as the prophet said: “Look again!” There is much more than meets the eye in His dealings with us and as us.

John Collings and I had a fascinating exchange about stories written utilizing a first person narrator. We are not the authors of our lives, but the script is written on our hearts. The story of our lives is told by us as a first person narrator. However, we know when reading a book that we can be fooled by how the author uses this technic by hiding information from us and only telling the story from one perspective. Little did we know that the narrator was the culprit until the very end. Likewise, our lives have a greater purpose than what we see from our narrow peephole. But, God is not like any other author. He perpetually nudges us upwards to see the plot from His viewpoint and it is then that appearances lose their hypnotic power.

I have been thinking about being immersed in God who is all in all, and the illustration of a fish not able to see the water that surrounds it.  When we are in something we can’t see it.  To see ourselves we must somehow come out of ourselves by looking into a mirror, or trust someone who is outside of us, or greater than us to give a picture of ourselves (John Collings).

To ourselves it seems like we are our own narrators when seeing only with an impaired vision. But, the amazing thing is that we are not the authors of our lives. The author knows all the details and sees the whole picture. We certainly don’t. So He has given us faith which enables us to stretch beyond the limited horizon of our self-hood. Our problems arise when we imagine that our first-person narrator outlook is all there is. But, “Look again!”

Sin shall not have dominion over us, because we are not under law but grace. Grace is truly that “the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death “(Rom 8:2). That same Spirit who entered Jesus’ dead body and made it alive is now dwelling in you and me and spontaneously fulfills every iota of the law in us as us in our daily lives. Like the universe is upheld by physical laws it is also upheld by spiritual laws (the law is spiritual and good) and the Spirit makes sure that we at all times are operating in accordance with these and how this is fulfilled in us cannot be judged by appearances. Before we came to Christ we didn’t conform to these laws and thus were under the dominion of sin.

Everything we are, including emotions and self-reactions, is a part of the greater script which unfolds as we continue to read our lives. If our experiences do not match those of others our words aren’t much worth, John C wrote to me. He continued by pointing out how our weaknesses make us real to people. All of us have problems that shake us to the core, and John concluded by this: “It doesn’t take too much perspective to see how God uses our weakness in a way that we may glory in our humanity. And when we know it has purpose the burden isn’t heavy and is even a pleasure to carry for you.”

Driving with Dad

Do you remember when you were a kid and your dad put you on his lap and allowed you to the steer the car? It felt like you were driving it, and it was both an exciting and exhilarating sensation. Even though you had your hands on the wheel in reality it was your dad who drove and steered the car. His hands were also on the wheel and he controlled the accelerator and what else needed to drive safely. It was impossible for you to drive off the road or take a wrong turn. Whenever you made a wrong move it was immediately caught up and corrected by his far stronger arms. If you tried to steer to the left in a right turn the car would nevertheless steer to the right because he was in command. He never chided you for your lack of driving skills, did he? You were in a totally safe environment with one who could drive, and who knew every twist and turn on the road, but it felt like you were driving the vehicle. No images can accurately describe or give justice to our union with God, but this image, when it came to me last evening, spoke volumes to me.

By God’s Grace I Am What I Am

Paul boldly said, “By God’s grace I am what I am.” Those are strong words, and they are Paul’s testimony concerning His complete self-acceptance. Reading the NT I find a Paul who often is stretched to the limits, who boldly speaks his words of faith, who stubbornly argues vehemently with Barnabas, who rejects the young Marcus, who confronts Peter, who more than once expressed that he was worried about this or that. We further find that Paul was well acquainted with his weaknesses and infirmities, and his thorn in the flesh is renowned.  Paul was by no means a super human. But he was the one who articulated Gal 2:20, who wrote the letter to the Romans and who had found Christ as His life in all things.

He might as well have said, “By God’s grace I have all these weaknesses, these inclinations, these irrational thoughts, these powerful emotions, these strong passions, these worries, but, nevertheless, Christ lives as me.” In other words; “God has meant me to be all these things and they cannot be judged from the human sense level. They are all a part of His greater purposes, and, not least, they are the necessary negative background for His light to manifest.”

It was Paul who wrote that “the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him who subjected it upon hope.” It was this vanity that rose in Eve when she saw the fruit from the forbidden tree was good for food, and pleasant to the eyes. It was because of vanity she became an easy prey for Satan’s designs. It was vanity that said: “God must be lying. This cannot be perfection. Look at me and all these weak spots I have. If I was perfect and created in God’s likeness I should have been like this or that, but I am not.” But the word states, “Let God be true, and every man a liar.”

This vanity that we died from at the cross somehow still comes against us compelling us to strive for some sort of perfection or towards a rather blurry ideal of how we should be if we are true Christians. But, if God has meant us to be who we are and has accepted us and even declared His perfection over us then of necessity hopefully one day our eyes will be opened to the fact that His word is true and we can accept ourselves and make Paul’s words our own: “By God’s grace I am what I am .”

To be human isn’t an exercise in pretending, but it is a display of real lives lived boldly under God’s grace trusting that our self-reactions and lives at all times express Christ’s other love and we can by no means judge this in accordance with appearances. One of the allegories Paul used in his letter to the Romans to describe our humanity was likening us to slaves and a slave does what his owner tells him to do. That’s perhaps the most potent illustration Paul comes up with in regards to trusting God as us in all things. We do what He tells us. Period! In practical terms; we spontaneously express the divinity that owns us, and as new creations born again by the Spirit we express Christ.

We immediately become stuck in a wilderness of thorns if appearances is our starting point from where we judge ourselves. The truth is our vantage point and thus it is written; “For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth” (2 Cor 13:8). The only process we can talk about as new creations is the Spirit aligning our minds to the truth. Slowly but surely erroneous beliefs, negative believing and the likes have to be subjected to the truth; every knee (wrong belief) shall bow and confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (the truth). And the truth speaks against vanity and decrees that by God’s grace I am what I am. “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in faith” (2 Cor 13:5).

Fan into Flame the Gift of God

The most potent and convincing “outer” proof or testimony besides the Spirit’s inner testimony and our faith that God actually guides and directs our steps in whatever commission we are called to carry out is suffering. Paul wrote to Timothy about the suffering he was called to endure as if that is the most natural thing in the world. To partake in Christ’s suffering is the safe-guard, as it were, that we truly are moved by the Spirit of God in our unique faith battles. Paul likens Timothy with a soldier who is indwelled by a Spirit of power, love and right mind and not a Spirit of timidity and fear. Qualities any devoted soldier desires to possess. What else can we then do than to say that by the Spirit those qualities are ours despite whatever contradictory and conflicting emotions we are facing?

The soul is the express image of our spirits like Jesus was the express image of the Father. That we are whole persons operating completely in sync in all areas must of necessity mean that our souls are expressions of God since it is with His Spirit we now as new creations are yoked. Our great challenge is, however, that our souls are conditioned to respond to what they are fed by the five senses and the five natural senses can only relate to appearances. The renewing of the mind in this context means that we are by the Spirit trained to operate by the senses of our spirit which always yield correct and reliable understanding and knowing to us and the primary and most imminent of the spirit’s senses is faith and faith finds its validity by suffering.

All this points to the fact that our five natural senses can be fooled and lied to by how a thing looks outwardly and if the impressions the senses relate to our minds are faulty and erroneous it will affect our faith and our outlook and what we reproduce. Thus we maintain that we are indwelled by a Spirit of love, power and a right mind no matter outer circumstances. And the law of faith says that it will be unto us according to our faith. The spoken word cannot miscarriage. Paradoxically we live by the faith of the Son and simultaneously the scriptures speak about faith as something we possess. Both are of course true, and we are all given a measure of faith and more is meted out to us according to the faith with which we mete out.

Jesus said that of Himself He could do nothing, and that is the liberating truth that we all somehow have to face before we can find our rest in God. Christ desires to prove that He is our life in all areas, so walled city after walled city of self-effort have to crumble and be laid in ruins before the Christ consciousness can come to maturity in us. The more subtle the area of which we believe we reign the more fierce the battle to lay it open and bare as a falsehood or deception. And when the vessel analogy finally becomes more than a theory or concept to us we in truth recognize that the power that governs our lives is not of ourselves. The inner teacher’s end objective of taking us from glory to glory is to make us safe sons trusting what is expressed by us in all things, and that we at all times recognize the Source that is willing and doing in us.

After having written the above inspired by Paul’s second letter to Timothy I posed the following question to John Collings: “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands”. (2 Tim 1:6). Have you any idea what Paul means by this? How do we fan into the flame the gift of God?

This is John’s reply:

This was not an answer that was written in the margin of my bible or was it anything that I had already considered.  I woke at 5 this morning and have considered your question for several house having read 1^st and 2^nd Timothy to put the question in context.  It seems important to me not only for your question, but also an answer that I need as well.

Faith was the obvious easy answer as it was also given by Timothy’s mother and grandmother and drew me immediately to Ephesians 2:8 that faith is the gift of God, that is for us all.  With context and trying to understand Paul’s heart.  This “Gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” appears to be something more.  Paul goes on to describe in detail in this letter the way others have turned on him.  I think the gift is not the gift of faith that God has given all, but it is to Timothy the gift of the mystery of the Gospel that Timothy received from Paul, the same mystery that has been revealed to you and to me, but is not clear to all.

The fanning into flame appears to be an admonition to not get caught up in the wisdom of this world as were the other distracters of Paul (1 Tim 3:10), but to continue in all confidence living an undistracted life. Paul tells Timothy that he is at the end of his life and that he has placed are embers of truth that are not alive in others and that Timothy should stay away from arguments and even common sense wisdom that only distract even seem to quench what we have been given.  We don’t need to be dragged into their questions that go no where and the Father hasn’t given to them to know the answers.

It also has become clear to me that these embers are fanned through our single eyed vision and the bull dogged fervency that we refuse to be drawn into the common things that others around us count as important.  I mean stuff (possessions, wealth, insurance, retirement, health) as well as easy answers from those in all areas of authority.  As all is from God then all of our answers are also from Him, all of our provision is from Him, all of our direction is from Him.

With this in mind then what I have written is truth for me and clearly no more than a possible clue for you to accept or to reject.  That is our strength, my friend, as we each follow the inner leading of the Spirit and usually find that we often continue to walk the same direction.  I am pleased that we know the same path.  He is the Way, He is our Path.  In Him there is no deviation from it because it is Him.

Two Defeats Before Victory

Judges 20 contains a peculiar story. I don’t want to give the impression that I have the answers to all the ins and outs of this passage. I will merely pass on those things I saw while reading. Judges 19 is the context and gives the background for why eleven tribes of Israel are warring the Benjamin tribe.

What stood out to me as I read chapter 20 was how the Israelites inquired God three times about how to defeat the Benjamins. Even though they followed the Lord’s instructions the two first attacks on the enemy were a total failure and the Israelites wept before the Lord because of it. Okay, so we believe we have heard the Lord speak to us about something and we follow up on His word only to see defeat in the visible. Not few questions are formed in our minds when the situation turns to the worse.

The story indeed became a reminder about the different faith battles in which we all stand. Often we give up because we don’t see anything happen, but for the Israelites the situation was even more desperate because they saw defeat. It wasn’t a standstill. It was two steps back. No wonder they wept before the Lord. However, they saw the breakthrough on their third attempt to defeat their foes.

The third attempt most likely represents the third day – the resurrection. They saw death twice (two days) before their fight was crowned with glory. What was conveyed to me as I read was: Never give up, never say that the Lord hasn’t spoken, hold on, keep on believing.

There is more here, because we often say that appearances are against us. But the thing is that those defeats or whatever we face that are manifested as appearances that seemingly seem to contradict our word or action are a part of the manifestation. In a sense they prepare the ground for what is coming. Hold on! Hold on! And not least these obstacles are meant to test the faith of the Son and by that take us to new levels of faith and patience by recognizing Christ as our life in all things.

The staggering truth is that God meant for the Israelites to be defeated in the two first skirmishes.  They went out obediently following God’s instructions and then they faced two severe setbacks. Haven’t we done the same thing? We have said our word of faith and taken our faith action and then everything literally goes to hell. Inexorably we ask ourselves the inevitable question: Was I somehow mistaken? It Is James who says we are to count it all joy when we face a various trials. That doesn’t necessarily mean that our emotions will be joyous. But, to know that our setbacks or defeats are meant and are a part of a greater manifestation we can find comfort for our souls.

Confused and shaken by two defeats the Israelites ask God on the third day: “Shall we go out once more to battle against our brothers, the people of Benjamin, or shall we cease?” How often haven’t I asked the Lord the same question in my own confusion and sense of defeat: “Perhaps I should give up, God. This seems like a lost case. Perhaps this merely is something from my imagination.” God’s answer is the same today as it was then: “Go up, for tomorrow I will give them into your hand.”

Moving into a New Mansion

When God called Abram to Canaan He commanded Abram to leave behind his country, people and relatives. Come empty handed when you enter the kingdom of God and don’t bring with you your human beliefs and convictions. As we all so well know we bring with us our Lots into our new life. It seems inevitable. However, there comes a day when the Lord separates us from this consciousness (the old man) that we have brought with us into our personal Canaan just like Abraham’s and Lot’s ways parted. There will be strife between the two consciousnesses (the herdsmen) until they are separated by the Spirit. The Bible relates that Lot and his family settled in Sodom and Gomorrah.

It was God who destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah. It wasn’t a work of man. What He actually destroyed was a state of consciousness, that is, the two-power, good and evil and sin-conscious consciousness. The righteous, that is, Lot and his family are by the Spirit shown a better land (consciousness), that is, the land of faith where Abraham dwells. However, for reasons that we know little about not everyone takes it or takes the leap as represented by Lot’s wife. The rigidity of living by the letter is cleverly visualized by the Spirit in how she turned into a pillar of salt. Sodom and Gomorrah is further the city or land or consciousness of appearances where we believe and live by what we see with our five natural senses

The world is violently and aggressively pressing in on us from many sides wanting to enter our house (consciousness) to make it pregnant with its ideas and beliefs. It is the Spirit who locks the door so that no one can enter, and it is He who protects our minds from being defiled by the world. Next He woos us to leave this house because it will be destroyed. He has a far grander and glorious mansion in mind for us.

The angel that appeared to Lot entreated him to go to the mountains, that is, to an elevated consciousness. But, Lot settled for a city (Zoar) which name means small. The Spirit caused so much turmoil in Lot that he more or less was forced to scale the mountains. Zoar is nothing else but our own separated consciousness, and alone with a God apart from us we perceive ourselves as small, insignificant and powerless. The Christ consciousness is freely given us and the desire to scale the mountain and possess it is an inner drive engineered by the Spirit awaiting our faith response and recognition.

The abundance we find in the consciousness (land) of Abraham is the domain of the spirit/Spirit. It is the land of spirits made perfect and where we know it is so. It is the land in which we recognize that everything is done, and by our words call the things that are not as if they were. It is the land where we learn how God fulfill His promises and our personal Isaac is conceived, and we learn that God is our life, our patience, our faith and the doer as us.

To a God who is too pure to behold iniquity the Sodom and Gomorrah consciousness must by a mighty sweep of the Spirit be extinguished as if it never existed. “Behold, the former things are gone!” Enter the new land and possess it and watch how the Lord fights for you.

The Father’s overarching desire to be the Son manifested in flesh means that He also beholds the world through our eyes. He therefore continually tempts us upwards to see as He sees. When Jesus says that we are to worship in truth and spirit it is because the Father beholds His creation in truth and spirit only, and thus He sees only one power, only one tree and sin is as far from His consciousness as east is away from west.

Walk on Waters III

The mystery of walking on waters belongs more to the realm of faith than the realm of experiences. If Christ walks on water then we sure do it as well. When the Spirit reminds us of our position; that we are in Him we see with our inner eyes that we are in fact walking on waters with Him or perhaps more accurately: He walks on waters as us. So where does this sensation or feeling of sinking come from? I see only one answer: consciousness. Seeing separation will inevitably make us sink into a quagmire of doubt and negative thinking. The Spirit continually tempts us upwards to align our consciousness with the Lord’s. In other words we walk on waters by the faith of the Son. This feeling of sinking is only that; a feeling – an imagination. It is nothing more than sense knowledge. The faith of the Son is always operative in us whether we recognize it or not. Paul clearly states that we live by the faith of the Son of God.

Walk on Waters II

I was sitting in the boat when Jesus called out: «Come to me!» Walking on water has been an overarching desire in me ever since I began following Him. There He was summoning me and calling me to do the works He did, yeah, even greater works according to Him. I recognized that desire to join Him as being planted in my heart by the Spirit. Of course I want to see people healed, to call into manifestation by my word those things that already exist in the invisible. Call me by whatever name you wish whether it is crazy, stupid or naïve for believing Jesus, but I jumped out of the boat and actually walked on waters. How can I with words describe the exhilaration that flooded my being when I joined Him in His supernatural works. I spoke word after word anticipating them to be His words that would bring into expression the things He desired and which were desires I firmly believed He had planted in my heart.

However, I am no better than Peter. I soon got transfixed by appearances. I felt the howling wind, became soaked by the hard rain and I had only eyes for the high waves. Paralyzed by everything that came against me through my five natural senses I began to sink. And I sank rapidly. Now I know how Peter felt when water seemed to be the only reality in his existence. To fight against it was hopeless. Didn’t he also face confusion and self-flagellation as he sank? And the inevitable question: Where is God? Was I totally mistaken? Was every word I had uttered void and empty somehow originating in my own over-active imagination? Was I living in a fantasy? Had God lied to me asserting that I could do the works of Jesus?

Then a firm hand seizes my hand and pulls me out of the water. With mirth in His eyes Jesus safely places me in the boat. Then He speaks a word and the storm dies out. And it dawns upon me that the storm was only appearances and that it is possible to walk on waters when I learn to see through these outer disturbances to what is real. I can’t help myself, but say to Him: “I want to do it again!”