I have always struggled with the idea of faith…I have thought in
times past that faith was a commodity that I had to have ‘enough’ of in
order to make something happen (like new birth) or in order to ‘get’
something from God (like healing) or in order to hold onto and not lose
something (like salvation). I Faith was something I had to somehow
‘muster up’ and then, if I ever had any, something I had to keep at
constant high levels for fear of losing anything I had somehow gained
‘though faith.’ I was always examining myself to see if I had enough of
this ‘thing’ called faith, and of course I always felt I never had
enough! This made me feel weak, made me sometimes doubt, made me feel
like a sorry Christian, caused me to expect nothing at all from God,
made me feel insecure about my salvation, even.
I am so happy that all I believed about faith turned out to be false!
Really, the way I saw faith, I made it into a work! And we know that
salvation is all God’s work and none of ours, and not only that, His
work is finished, finished from the foundation of the world! God
already did a complete work for us from the start of the whole
creation…and Jesus broke forth into our tangible existence and revealed
it here on earth 2000 years ago…now we are simply waking up to what is
already real and true! Hey, that is wonderful!
Faith turns out to be simply seeing what is already true, seeing
reality! It is like the confidence and trust that comes from seeing
what Christ has already done for us. We don’t work up faith within
ourselves, it’s already there! It’s God’s gift to us and is really HIS
faith in us, bouncing off the walls of our heart and reverberating out
when we hear the good news of our salvation, of what Christ has already
done and completed in and for us!
So faith doesn’t make something happen, it all already happened;
faith doesn’t get God to give us something, for He already gave us
everything; faith doesn’t even have to desperately hold onto what is
given, for it’s ours permanently as a permanent reality!
What is it that Christ has already done, that we already are and
have, that is true permanently for us? What can we say is true for the
whole of us, the entire human family, the whole world, through His
perfect original creation of us and His perfect finished work for us, as
us? All people are already loved and accepted, already made righteous,
already forgiven, already clean, already dead and alive again, already
in heaven reigning, already healed and whole, already overcomers,
already perfect, already innocent, already home, already taken in and
included, already reconciled, already sanctified and set apart/made
holy, already pure and blameless, already good, already having a good
nature, already having Christ in them, already having the Spirit in
them, already having God with them, already taken care of, already safe
and saved, already an heir of eternal life, already in the circle of the
Trinity, already in union with God, already permanently one with God,
already secure, already found, already in the fellowship of the Son with
the Father, already enjoyed and delighted in, already beautiful,
already wonderful, already precious, already redeemed, already strong,
already free from law, sin, condemnation, guilt, shame, punishment and
death, already in grace, already loaded with blessings, already in
resurrection life, already having HIS life, already in peace and harmony
with God, already in right relationship with God, already right with
God!
There is nothing left to do, gain, attain, hold onto, or become! He did
it ALL, He finished His work and we are all home free! I remember when
I was first being introduced to these ideas, first reading a couple of
Andre’s writings, and it was as if God kept whispering to my heart, “I
did it all…I took you ALL THE WAY THERE..into the throne room!” He did
it all, took us all the way home to heaven and plopped us down on Papa’s
lap, and that is where we all are today, whether we know it or not! He
shares the good news with us of what He’s already done, and of His
opinion about us (HIS faith in us!), and that faith of God echoes within
us and rises as our faith in Him! When you see how much someone has
done in love for you, to help and rescue you in the midst of your
trouble and mess, you naturally trust that person, because they have
proved their love for you. God proved His love for us through Jesus,
for while we were yet sinners, in a royal mess, He died for us, He
rescued us, He lifted us out of the mire and put our feet on a solid
rock! When we were trapped in our sins and confusion, He saved us!
When we were dead in our sinful mindset, He raised us up with Christ
into resurrection life, never-can-be-killed life, always-and-forever
life, eternal life, HIS very life!!! Wow! Faith is simply waking up to
that fact, seeing it, relaxing and having new confidence because of it.
Faith doesn’t make it happen – how can dead people have faith or make
things happen?? We were dead, HE made us alive, and it was obviously
without our ‘help’ or ‘our faith’ doing it or making something happen,
wasn’t it? Wow! It really IS all HIS work and it really IS finished!
Faith is just when we see what already happened, see reality. Faith is
like Dorothy waking up in her own bed in Kansas, realizing what she’d
been ‘going through’ in her nightmare was just that, a bad dream and not
the real reality at all. We wake up to God’s reality that has been
true for us since the foundation of the world! We wake up to the dream
He has had of us since before time began, a dream of living in union
with God in perfect intimacy and true innocence, of loving fellowship
and a forever dance with Him, two hearts intertwined forever in complete
oneness! While our dreams are fake nightmare illusions, God’s dreams
come to pass and are the really real, the only true reality! We are in
God’s reality and always have been, and He’s waking up the world to see
it!
So what use is faith? Faith simply lets us enjoy the union we’re in,
for we can look into His eyes without fear or shame, can be naked in His
presence, can feel strong in His stable love, can share our dreams and
feelings with Him without hesitation. Faith is like seeing where you
are for the first time, not vulnerable and alone but safe in a strong
fortress (His presence and love), so you don’t have to be afraid of any
enemy/danger outside anymore! Once we see we are safe in this shelter
of His loving arms, we don’t have to fear, don’t have to worry. And we
don’t have to make any striving or effort to get to that place (His
presence, union with Him), since we’re already there – so faith brings
an end to strivings and strainings, brings rest. Faith – seeing reality
– means we start enjoying reality, enjoying the relationship with God
inside us that has always been and always will be, the deep intimacy
with Him, the transparent sharing and oneness fellowship that we were
made for all along and has been there all along! Faith – seeing reality
– lets us stop straining to ‘become’ and instead finally relax about
ourselves and our status with God, for we already ARE all we were meant
to be, we are truly loved and accepted unconditionally, no matter what,
thus we can more easily accept ourselves and even like ourselves. Faith
lets us rest from our efforts to attain something and enjoy the party
that we are already at! Faith allows us to experience this wonderful
forever life with Him, the life of God flowing through our lives in
wonderful tangible manifestation and experience starting right now on
planet earth!
The life of the ages that was always in us, Christ Himself,
resurrection life, eternal life, wells up in us like a living fountain
of fresh water and pours through us like a waterfall of love and grace
and life, making the desert places green and thriving, refreshing both
us and those around us! We get to enjoy life, enjoy HIM, right here and
now, spirit to Spirit, perfect fellowship and communion, right here
inside our skin and amongst us all, the Spirit flowing amongst us all,
the river of life spreading till it fills the earth and the whole earth
is filled with the knowledge (intimate knowing, communion of hearts!) of
the Lord, like the waters covering the sea! Flow river, flow, fill
this land with the Father’s glory!
Eternity is NOW, is HERE, is upon ALL, is manifesting EVERYWHERE!
This reality is breaking forth and being seen by more and more people,
oh how wonderful…this good news can’t stay secret…it’s bursting at the
seams, popping out all over, exploding out from within us!! He is like a
fountain that can’t be plugged up or held back by any barrier or lies,
confusion, fear, or misunderstanding! He has won over all that, and HIS
victory, HIS reality will be known and enjoyed. For Love wins, Life
wins, Reality wins, the Finished Work wins, the Spirit wins, Jesus wins,
Papa wins, humanity wins!
Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension - Day 24 - New Creation Reality
This morning I have been pondering some great truths..
All were in disobedience, all were recipients of God’s mercy.
All have sinned, all were justified.
All were condemned through one man’s sin, all were made righteous through one Man’s righteous act.
All died in Adam, all were made alive in Christ.
All fell short of God’s glory, all are revealed with Christ in glory!
I love thinking about all humanity already being raised with Christ and even ascended and seated with Christ in heaven..wow, it is mind-boggling! The only difference between a believer in this good news and an unbeliever in it, is that one is seeing reality and the other is not yet seeing it – yet for both, it IS real!
It is a certainty that I am raised and seated with Christ, yet many times I don’t feel like it, talk like it or act like it. And this can bother me, can make me feel I need to ‘do’ or ‘understand’ or ‘believe’ something better to get this new reality to manifest. Yet I keep coming back to a quote I read on facebook recently: “God will manifest your new creation identity without your help.” Wow, that’s grace! He saves us single-handed, as Robert Capon says, and also He manifests it single-handedly! A dead person could not contribute anything, even faith, in order to bring about resurrection..dead people can’t ‘do’ or ‘believe’ anything! God had to do it all for us, and He did, through the Son. He carried us with Him through death and up into life, carried us all the way to the throne room of heaven and plopped us down on Papa’s lap! All of us, all humanity, wow! Our wonderful position in heavenly places in Christ is a product of God's initiative, of Christ's work and faith, not our own..that way it can never be lost or altered!
So not only am I already there without doing one thing of my own initiative to make it happen (He brought it all about without my help!), but also this reality will manifest in my life without my help! God brought to mind the picture of a tree planted by the water, and I thought of how it naturally grows and thrives and bears fruit…the tree doesn’t have to stress and strain and keep doing ‘fruit checks’ – it just sits there! The sunshine and water from the river just go into the tree and life happens! It happens now, and now, and now, always and forever – life is happening right now for all of us, the oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord! HE planted us by the river of life up in heaven (we didn’t even have to ‘plant ourselves’), He planted us there within Jesus Christ, the Tree of Life, Himself. We are not separate from that tree but part of it, branches of the Vine Himself! In fact, we were never separated from Him at all but were always connected!
I love the revelation of union…when I read what Andre Rabe wrote in his book Word Made Flesh about Christ never revealing Himself as a separate entity from us but always ‘as in a mirror,’ I feel it made more sense to me than ever before – Christ only reveals Himself as one with me and in connection with me. He never presents Himself as apart from me but always and ever as a union with me. He shows me that He is in me, not as a separate entity, but as the ‘secret center’ of my life, as the deepest part of me, as ‘the most real fact about me,’ as Brennan Manning used to say! He reveals Himself as me in some crazy way! The definition of me as a human being is actually a union of God and man! I am a relationship, a union relationship of me and God Himself, in this flesh body. I look at Him, look into those eyes of love and find myself – I am the one Jesus loves, that is who I am! (And I am loved, His beloved, without any reference to right or wrong, good or bad – just accepted, embraced, loved, without any condition or stipulation!) I am a love relationship between God and man! I am a union love relationship in a body! I am not and have never been alone because the whole definition of a human is flesh matter and God’s Spirit substance together meshed together to form a human being! I never am alone. I never look out at this world alone. I never live alone! We are together here inside me. The real me, the inner child, is one with Jesus, always walking in the garden with Him, planted by the rivers of heaven with Him, sitting on Papa’s lap with Him. My constant companion, my best friend, the One who carries me through life and thinks my thoughts and feels my feelings, who understands me at the deepest level because He’s right there at the deepest level, one with me always, the One who loves me like noone else – that wonderful Person is the most real fact about me!
My friend Kristian Holmes made a wonderful statement about the new creation reality that we now enjoy, and I wanted to share that thought: "What a joy to now actively participate in reality. All of life takes on a new meaning when we see what He sees. We continue to recognize that old mindsets and ways of seeing ourself have died in His death and everything Jesus experiences is what we are forever alive to." Another friend, Andrea Joss, adds this: "Words cannot tell how wonderful this good good news really is! And what it does to our souls… they are finally allowed to lean back and relax! Oooohhh! Baxter Kruger says that the Christian life consists of nothing else but discovering the reality. Just discovering what there IS already. Discovering what has been DONE. Discovering the truth." What a wonderful journey of discovery this new creation life is, just discovering and enjoying the union life with God that already IS!
New creation reality is that I am one with Christ, seated in heaven on Papa’s lap with Him, IN love and IN life forever! I may not see or feel it completely here on earth, but no matter – He brought it all to be, and He will manifest it for all to see! I need do nothing. I can rest on Daddy’s lap, or run free in the fields of grace with my Older Brother, or dance with the Holy Spirit..or do nothing at all…I can cry, I can share my feelings, I can be vulnerable, I can even doubt, rant, throw tantrums and lash out in anger and confusion..and it won’t change a thing, I am safe in His arms of love and I cannot offend Him or drive Him to reject me, ever! We are so intimately connected that nothing can tear us apart, not even any dumb thing I do or believe. To tear us apart would be like tearing apart not only my own being, but also HIS! We are one, that’s who we are, HE and I. I can’t be defined without Him, and He has chosen never to be defined without me! WHENEVER He is revealed, I am revealed right there with Him in glory – that is new creation reality, and God brought it about and will fully manifest it without my help! Relief! Joy and peace! Total grace! For us all!
All were in disobedience, all were recipients of God’s mercy.
All have sinned, all were justified.
All were condemned through one man’s sin, all were made righteous through one Man’s righteous act.
All died in Adam, all were made alive in Christ.
All fell short of God’s glory, all are revealed with Christ in glory!
I love thinking about all humanity already being raised with Christ and even ascended and seated with Christ in heaven..wow, it is mind-boggling! The only difference between a believer in this good news and an unbeliever in it, is that one is seeing reality and the other is not yet seeing it – yet for both, it IS real!
It is a certainty that I am raised and seated with Christ, yet many times I don’t feel like it, talk like it or act like it. And this can bother me, can make me feel I need to ‘do’ or ‘understand’ or ‘believe’ something better to get this new reality to manifest. Yet I keep coming back to a quote I read on facebook recently: “God will manifest your new creation identity without your help.” Wow, that’s grace! He saves us single-handed, as Robert Capon says, and also He manifests it single-handedly! A dead person could not contribute anything, even faith, in order to bring about resurrection..dead people can’t ‘do’ or ‘believe’ anything! God had to do it all for us, and He did, through the Son. He carried us with Him through death and up into life, carried us all the way to the throne room of heaven and plopped us down on Papa’s lap! All of us, all humanity, wow! Our wonderful position in heavenly places in Christ is a product of God's initiative, of Christ's work and faith, not our own..that way it can never be lost or altered!
So not only am I already there without doing one thing of my own initiative to make it happen (He brought it all about without my help!), but also this reality will manifest in my life without my help! God brought to mind the picture of a tree planted by the water, and I thought of how it naturally grows and thrives and bears fruit…the tree doesn’t have to stress and strain and keep doing ‘fruit checks’ – it just sits there! The sunshine and water from the river just go into the tree and life happens! It happens now, and now, and now, always and forever – life is happening right now for all of us, the oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord! HE planted us by the river of life up in heaven (we didn’t even have to ‘plant ourselves’), He planted us there within Jesus Christ, the Tree of Life, Himself. We are not separate from that tree but part of it, branches of the Vine Himself! In fact, we were never separated from Him at all but were always connected!
I love the revelation of union…when I read what Andre Rabe wrote in his book Word Made Flesh about Christ never revealing Himself as a separate entity from us but always ‘as in a mirror,’ I feel it made more sense to me than ever before – Christ only reveals Himself as one with me and in connection with me. He never presents Himself as apart from me but always and ever as a union with me. He shows me that He is in me, not as a separate entity, but as the ‘secret center’ of my life, as the deepest part of me, as ‘the most real fact about me,’ as Brennan Manning used to say! He reveals Himself as me in some crazy way! The definition of me as a human being is actually a union of God and man! I am a relationship, a union relationship of me and God Himself, in this flesh body. I look at Him, look into those eyes of love and find myself – I am the one Jesus loves, that is who I am! (And I am loved, His beloved, without any reference to right or wrong, good or bad – just accepted, embraced, loved, without any condition or stipulation!) I am a love relationship between God and man! I am a union love relationship in a body! I am not and have never been alone because the whole definition of a human is flesh matter and God’s Spirit substance together meshed together to form a human being! I never am alone. I never look out at this world alone. I never live alone! We are together here inside me. The real me, the inner child, is one with Jesus, always walking in the garden with Him, planted by the rivers of heaven with Him, sitting on Papa’s lap with Him. My constant companion, my best friend, the One who carries me through life and thinks my thoughts and feels my feelings, who understands me at the deepest level because He’s right there at the deepest level, one with me always, the One who loves me like noone else – that wonderful Person is the most real fact about me!
My friend Kristian Holmes made a wonderful statement about the new creation reality that we now enjoy, and I wanted to share that thought: "What a joy to now actively participate in reality. All of life takes on a new meaning when we see what He sees. We continue to recognize that old mindsets and ways of seeing ourself have died in His death and everything Jesus experiences is what we are forever alive to." Another friend, Andrea Joss, adds this: "Words cannot tell how wonderful this good good news really is! And what it does to our souls… they are finally allowed to lean back and relax! Oooohhh! Baxter Kruger says that the Christian life consists of nothing else but discovering the reality. Just discovering what there IS already. Discovering what has been DONE. Discovering the truth." What a wonderful journey of discovery this new creation life is, just discovering and enjoying the union life with God that already IS!
New creation reality is that I am one with Christ, seated in heaven on Papa’s lap with Him, IN love and IN life forever! I may not see or feel it completely here on earth, but no matter – He brought it all to be, and He will manifest it for all to see! I need do nothing. I can rest on Daddy’s lap, or run free in the fields of grace with my Older Brother, or dance with the Holy Spirit..or do nothing at all…I can cry, I can share my feelings, I can be vulnerable, I can even doubt, rant, throw tantrums and lash out in anger and confusion..and it won’t change a thing, I am safe in His arms of love and I cannot offend Him or drive Him to reject me, ever! We are so intimately connected that nothing can tear us apart, not even any dumb thing I do or believe. To tear us apart would be like tearing apart not only my own being, but also HIS! We are one, that’s who we are, HE and I. I can’t be defined without Him, and He has chosen never to be defined without me! WHENEVER He is revealed, I am revealed right there with Him in glory – that is new creation reality, and God brought it about and will fully manifest it without my help! Relief! Joy and peace! Total grace! For us all!
Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension - Day 23 - Resurrection Life Now!
"We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are
not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things
which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corin. 4:18
I love thinking about eternal reality, what is true in the eternal realm! In the eternal scope of things, we all died and rose with Christ and are in resurrection life right now, even while on this visible earth:
In Adam, all died, because all sinned. Sin entered the world..I think about that – sin entered this realm of matter – I love how it DOESN’T say sin entered humans but that it entered the world! We are born innocent and pure and good, because we are in God’s image, yet we are born into a poisoned environment, and the sin in this world affects us..we hear and succumb to lies about ourselves, lies that we hear through the world, other people, the enemy and the traditions passed down to us from our elders at church and other institutions that run on performance and legalism and conditional acceptance…and we eventually choose sin, we live as so much less than we are, we do very real wrong acts that hurt ourselves and others, we struggle with feelings of unworth and alienation from God, we succumb to self-judgment, feel the need to punish ourselves, can’t handle the shame and pain of who we think we are and all that we’ve done, open ourselves up to evil’s reign, to death. Yet Jesus comes and absorbs all the judgment, shame, pain and guilt we feel; He absorbs it all into Himself, and though He doesn’t need to punish us in order to feel okay with us, He understands that our performance way of thinking makes us feel someone needs to pay for our sins, and so He absorbs those sins and becomes that for us so that we can feel okay with ourselves and feel at ease about approaching God. He takes down sin and guilt and judgment with Him into the grave, and since we are included and connected with Him in all He does, that is also our death to sin and guilt and judgment. They are once and forever separated from us and us from them! Thus He takes away our sin and judgment! We are free!
Yet He does something even more wonderful in the resurrection: In Christ, all are made alive! Christ was raised because of our justification – our righteousness! He vindicates our righteousness through His resurrection! When the sin and lying identity, the fake man that never was the real us, is put down through His death, the innocent original self that we really are is revealed, righteous and pure and good! And since you can’t keep a good man down, Jesus cannot be kept down in the grave, and neither can we! Death has no hold on Him, there is no sin on Him that would lead to death, and no law or performance way of thinking there to demand death anyway, for that whole system has also been set aside and separated from Him and us at His death. So there is nothing to keep Christ – or us – in the grave! So His resurrection is proof of my innocence, proof that my original self God created is and was always good, pure and right in His eyes, fit for relationship with Him, compatible with Him, in His image of love and thus a love being just like Himself! Wow!
How can we be sure that all that He went through includes us, that we also went through all that – how can we be sure that just as He died to sin, so did we, and just as He was raised and now lives to God, is alive to God, so are we? I love how Andre Rabe talks about electron entanglement, how since everything has a common origin or source, everything is still connected and touching! We are all entangled with Him, because He is our source, creator and origin! We flow out from Him like little electrons, always bearing His charge, always attracted back to Him, always oriented toward and with Him, forever intertwined with Him, our destinies connected with His, so whatever He does and whatever happens to Him has an effect on us in an ultimate way! This helps me so much in understanding how what Jesus went through is also what we went through. I love how my connection with Jesus is prior to and thus stronger than my connection with Adam, for Jesus made me and thus for my life, all that He does trumps all the effects of what Adam did! I love being tied like this to Jesus! I love that my connection with Him is waaay stronger than any connection with Adam or with sin/lies! I love how He has carried me everywhere that He Himself has gone – through death and into the grave, and then up from the grave and into resurrection life!
I love what my friend Andrea says, that 'resurrection life now' means just “being the ones we truly are!” Resurrection life isn’t something to try to attain to, something that is so super-spiritual that it feels unreachable except for the ‘really committed’ – it’s what we all are in already, all gathered up in Him!! Wow, it’s not something to reach for (as if there is distance and delay involved) but something to sink into and enjoy, as in enjoying the soft chair you have already been put in or enjoying the party you are already at! I have spent my whole life feeling I need to do or be ‘more’, feeling like I was always ‘not there yet,’ but what a joy to find I am already there, already fine! It reminds me of a quote by Dan Stone in his book, The Rest of the Gospel: “You are all you were ever meant to be: one with the One who is Life!”
What a wonderful life we already have with Him, what wonderful relief and rest to already be in LIFE! We’re in Life and we’re never going out! He takes off every bit of strain, stress and pressure to ‘do’ or ‘attain’ anything..There is not even one thing left to do, even believing doesn’t make anything happen, for it ALL already happened, didn’t it! He has done it ALL, all is safe and all is well, all are home, all are alive in Him! Faith must be simply spiritual sight, then, not making something happen but seeing what’s already happened, seeing this eternal and really real reality that may still be partly invisible yet is truly real!
So what do we see with the eyes of our spirit? What is in this really real yet partly invisible reality? Well, it’s such a wonderful fresh world over here in this eternal realm! Instead of spiraling ever downward into decay from sin and its effects , I am spiraling ever upward into real abundant flourishing from His life and its effects! His life has the final word in my life, not any sin or lies! The fake identity is shown to be nothing and the true identity is free to flourish! I am not judged on performance but instead freely accepted by grace, for law is not holding sway here, grace is! I can fail and still be just as loved, accepted, included, and right with God as ever, for this is a place of secure love given from a Father to His children, not a place of a servant working for a Boss, with his position in jeopardy at any time. This is a place of oneness, not duality or separation. This is a place where we don’t have to think of sin or good and evil but where there is simply the enjoyment of union relationship with Him! This is a place of Love, not Fear. A place of truth, not lies. A place where God has already conquered death and the grave, lies and the curse, so what is there to worry about, for all will come out well! This is the place of freedom, not restriction. This is the place of BEING, not trying to become good or trying to stop becoming bad. This is the place of fullness, not longing. This is the place of rest, not struggle. This is the place of completion, not feelings of inferiority. This is the place of union, not separation. This is the place where Jesus IS, and I AM in Him, tucked forever with Him into the Father’s bosom, saturated with the Holy Spirit, caught up in the fellowship dance of the Trinity! This is the place of Resurrection Life NOW!
I love thinking about eternal reality, what is true in the eternal realm! In the eternal scope of things, we all died and rose with Christ and are in resurrection life right now, even while on this visible earth:
In Adam, all died, because all sinned. Sin entered the world..I think about that – sin entered this realm of matter – I love how it DOESN’T say sin entered humans but that it entered the world! We are born innocent and pure and good, because we are in God’s image, yet we are born into a poisoned environment, and the sin in this world affects us..we hear and succumb to lies about ourselves, lies that we hear through the world, other people, the enemy and the traditions passed down to us from our elders at church and other institutions that run on performance and legalism and conditional acceptance…and we eventually choose sin, we live as so much less than we are, we do very real wrong acts that hurt ourselves and others, we struggle with feelings of unworth and alienation from God, we succumb to self-judgment, feel the need to punish ourselves, can’t handle the shame and pain of who we think we are and all that we’ve done, open ourselves up to evil’s reign, to death. Yet Jesus comes and absorbs all the judgment, shame, pain and guilt we feel; He absorbs it all into Himself, and though He doesn’t need to punish us in order to feel okay with us, He understands that our performance way of thinking makes us feel someone needs to pay for our sins, and so He absorbs those sins and becomes that for us so that we can feel okay with ourselves and feel at ease about approaching God. He takes down sin and guilt and judgment with Him into the grave, and since we are included and connected with Him in all He does, that is also our death to sin and guilt and judgment. They are once and forever separated from us and us from them! Thus He takes away our sin and judgment! We are free!
Yet He does something even more wonderful in the resurrection: In Christ, all are made alive! Christ was raised because of our justification – our righteousness! He vindicates our righteousness through His resurrection! When the sin and lying identity, the fake man that never was the real us, is put down through His death, the innocent original self that we really are is revealed, righteous and pure and good! And since you can’t keep a good man down, Jesus cannot be kept down in the grave, and neither can we! Death has no hold on Him, there is no sin on Him that would lead to death, and no law or performance way of thinking there to demand death anyway, for that whole system has also been set aside and separated from Him and us at His death. So there is nothing to keep Christ – or us – in the grave! So His resurrection is proof of my innocence, proof that my original self God created is and was always good, pure and right in His eyes, fit for relationship with Him, compatible with Him, in His image of love and thus a love being just like Himself! Wow!
How can we be sure that all that He went through includes us, that we also went through all that – how can we be sure that just as He died to sin, so did we, and just as He was raised and now lives to God, is alive to God, so are we? I love how Andre Rabe talks about electron entanglement, how since everything has a common origin or source, everything is still connected and touching! We are all entangled with Him, because He is our source, creator and origin! We flow out from Him like little electrons, always bearing His charge, always attracted back to Him, always oriented toward and with Him, forever intertwined with Him, our destinies connected with His, so whatever He does and whatever happens to Him has an effect on us in an ultimate way! This helps me so much in understanding how what Jesus went through is also what we went through. I love how my connection with Jesus is prior to and thus stronger than my connection with Adam, for Jesus made me and thus for my life, all that He does trumps all the effects of what Adam did! I love being tied like this to Jesus! I love that my connection with Him is waaay stronger than any connection with Adam or with sin/lies! I love how He has carried me everywhere that He Himself has gone – through death and into the grave, and then up from the grave and into resurrection life!
I love what my friend Andrea says, that 'resurrection life now' means just “being the ones we truly are!” Resurrection life isn’t something to try to attain to, something that is so super-spiritual that it feels unreachable except for the ‘really committed’ – it’s what we all are in already, all gathered up in Him!! Wow, it’s not something to reach for (as if there is distance and delay involved) but something to sink into and enjoy, as in enjoying the soft chair you have already been put in or enjoying the party you are already at! I have spent my whole life feeling I need to do or be ‘more’, feeling like I was always ‘not there yet,’ but what a joy to find I am already there, already fine! It reminds me of a quote by Dan Stone in his book, The Rest of the Gospel: “You are all you were ever meant to be: one with the One who is Life!”
What a wonderful life we already have with Him, what wonderful relief and rest to already be in LIFE! We’re in Life and we’re never going out! He takes off every bit of strain, stress and pressure to ‘do’ or ‘attain’ anything..There is not even one thing left to do, even believing doesn’t make anything happen, for it ALL already happened, didn’t it! He has done it ALL, all is safe and all is well, all are home, all are alive in Him! Faith must be simply spiritual sight, then, not making something happen but seeing what’s already happened, seeing this eternal and really real reality that may still be partly invisible yet is truly real!
So what do we see with the eyes of our spirit? What is in this really real yet partly invisible reality? Well, it’s such a wonderful fresh world over here in this eternal realm! Instead of spiraling ever downward into decay from sin and its effects , I am spiraling ever upward into real abundant flourishing from His life and its effects! His life has the final word in my life, not any sin or lies! The fake identity is shown to be nothing and the true identity is free to flourish! I am not judged on performance but instead freely accepted by grace, for law is not holding sway here, grace is! I can fail and still be just as loved, accepted, included, and right with God as ever, for this is a place of secure love given from a Father to His children, not a place of a servant working for a Boss, with his position in jeopardy at any time. This is a place of oneness, not duality or separation. This is a place where we don’t have to think of sin or good and evil but where there is simply the enjoyment of union relationship with Him! This is a place of Love, not Fear. A place of truth, not lies. A place where God has already conquered death and the grave, lies and the curse, so what is there to worry about, for all will come out well! This is the place of freedom, not restriction. This is the place of BEING, not trying to become good or trying to stop becoming bad. This is the place of fullness, not longing. This is the place of rest, not struggle. This is the place of completion, not feelings of inferiority. This is the place of union, not separation. This is the place where Jesus IS, and I AM in Him, tucked forever with Him into the Father’s bosom, saturated with the Holy Spirit, caught up in the fellowship dance of the Trinity! This is the place of Resurrection Life NOW!
Forgiveness is Release!
- I love the idea of being released and freed! I read somewhere that when Paul talks about forgiveness he is talking about release from something, deliverance from something that is binding the person who has sinned..so it wasn’t that God was offended and had to somehow calm Himself down and say ‘ok, I forgive you,’ but that He is our good Daddy who steps into the mess we’ve made and says, “Don’t worry, I can fix everything good as new, I still love you, I’m right here,” He is so understanding and doesn’t just fix up whatever mess came from our wrong acts, but He understands why we acted that way in the first place, and He heals that wounded spot in us, shows us the truth of His unconditional love which dispels the lies that have entangled us and made us act crazily….and that frees us from our guilt and shame, frees us to relax in His presence, frees us to live not by law (trying to do right and then feeling self-righteous, or trying and failing and trying to hide behind masks and feeling ashamed) but to live by grace, just being ourselves and enjoying life in the light of His acceptance and unconditional love!
I love that definition of forgiveness as release, (so similar to the idea of redemption as claiming and freeing what is one’s own, and the idea of salvation as deliverance, wow!) and I think that with that release from all the lies and sin that was holding our true self down, we are now freed to be that real self, the real self emerges at resurrection and live free and happy and secure! And it isn’t just the real self but the real self is actually me in union with Christ, right! He has tied me to Him and takes me with Him wherever He goes, down into the grave to release me from the sin that was attached to me, and also up into new life to finally get to be my true self, the inner child being lifted up into real life with Him! And tied thus to Him, we can never again be fatally wounded by sin, bound by death, or fatally held captive by lies! Sure we may sin or get confused, but the lie doesn’t have a death grip on us anymore, death is conquered by the power of an indestructible life!
Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension - Day 22 - Resurrection!
- Behold, I make all things new! Revelation 21:5This is the picture I am seeing in my mind of the experience of resurrection: It is like I am wandering lost in a dark wood. There is no sound and no light to guide me. It is frightening and lonely. It is cold and damp and the close air heavily presses down, the scrubby branches claw and scratch. You feel trapped, as if in a prison. The place seems endless, it seems there’s no way out of such a place.
Yet suddenly there are shafts of light! And suddenly you find yourself walking in those rays of pearly light, suddenly you hear birds singing, their clear notes ringing out like bells! Suddenly fresh air brushes your face, spring flowers caress you bare feet, branches filled with alpine fragrance bend their arms around you like an embrace. The smell of dew and wet earth and new leaves fills the air. And you feel alive again, happy again, light and carefree again! You feel hope rise within you again! You find yourself walking in sunshine, on an easy and beautiful path, under the sheltering trees – you find yourself not in a prison but a sanctuary! And you know not how it happened, but it did!
That is what I feel has been happening to me throughout these posts! I feel God has been healing so many wounded places and getting rid of so many lies that I’ve believed…and it hasn’t been so much that I’ve been ‘working’ on my issues or on these areas, it is more that just hearing Him whisper those words of grace and love, and seeing who Jesus us and who I am, just HEARING THE GOSPEL in all its true glory, well it has just been healing me up without my even knowing how!
I came into this course with lots of confusion, struggle, depression, fear, etc. I was coming from a low place and wanting to recover. I had heard of grace years before but had been so beaten down by life I had forgotten it and really didn’t understand truth anymore, my eyes had gotten so dim and my heart so weighed down! And there was so much false teaching in me from years of religion. And yet, through this course, it was like windows started opening in my mind and light flooded in again. Little by little, truths were remembered and new truths embraced! He has been pouring His love and grace all over and healing me up…and just a few days ago, I realized I was happy! I realized I was so much more at peace, that I felt hopeful that things would get better, that I felt good about life again! And even good about myself a little bit! And that I was seeing God as so much nicer and kinder than before – when I thought of Him, I didn’t seem to picture a dark shroud over His face anymore but instead He seemed always smiling, open and friendly! Approachable! Not a scary judge anymore but a doting Father and a loyal Friend! I don’t even know how it happened, but I feel I am experiencing resurrection, the manifestation of what was ALREADY true for me but that I wasn’t really enjoying fully!
Jesus raised me up with Him..He made death work backward into life, His own divine and eternal Life..instead of everything spiraling downward, now, in connection with Him as we all are (since He is our creator and origin), we are spiraling ever upward in Him! Not only are we restored to life but we are in HIS life, where we can never be ‘lost’ or ‘fall’ again! All things are working back toward Him from whom they came! It’s already true in the eternal and it WILL manifest completely in the visible and tangible! And God will be all in all! In the meantime, I can wake up every morning in newness of life, I can be happy again, I can know that things are getting better, I can know that eternity is HERE and NOW for me, and that it is already true what Jesus said, “I make ALL THINGS NEW!”
As I was writing this post, I was sitting in my living room on this bleak and rainy morning here in the southern USA, where we are getting gray skies and sheets of rain ..and suddenly I heard a bird sing! The song was so loud and clear, just like the little guy was sitting right beside me there in my living room! He sang out a couple of times, and it was so beautiful! What a reminder of the springtime of resurrection, in the midst of the damp and gray! When life seems to be ending and hopeless, He is still saying, “I make all things new!” It is already true, already real, and it is certain and guaranteed to manifest in the natural, tied as we are to the One who has already taken us through into resurrection life with Him, indestructible life, eternal life, abundant life, forevermore! We really do live in the already of His life, don’t we? His life was always inside us, in our spirit, and now it breaks forth into our soul and body! The Spirit has been there all along, and now we are waking up to His presence! We are IN LIFE, and we are never going out!
- As I ponder resurrection more, and I am thinking about how it is really the birth and flowering forth of the true, original, conceived/created by God self that always was, that was always tucked away in God’s heart and mind, kept safe in Christ from before the world began, always deep inside me in my spirit, my true spirit identity that was always one with Him, never separated, never confused or believing lies, always pure and innocent, the ‘inner child’ now coming forth! Freed and liberated from the flesh veil (lie of the false identity) that was keeping that little one held down and hidden behind a swirl of confusion and lies (the bondage of the foreign tyrant sin, belief in separation and inferiority)…
It is just so exciting to think of His life in us! I don’t understand it fully. There is much to learn and explore. Vast regions of grace and love and life are within Him, just waiting to be enjoyed, yay! Thank You Jesus! I come alive again in You, and this time it’s for keeps, isn’t it – thanks to Your indestructible, eternal life coursing through every part of me!
On the Shores
On the Shores
Jonathan and Melissa Helser
On the shores of my soul I give you permission
To wash my tears away
And take all my disappointment
And fill me with joy once again
I’m gonna sing out loud
And let my voice be heard
It’s a song of victory
And it’s ringing in the earth
On the top of my cage I am sitting
Above the shame so lonely
Your kindness it has lifted me
To see the way that you see
I'm gonna sing out loud
And let my voice be heard
It's a song of victory
And it's ringing in the earth!
Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension - Day 21 - God Loves Happy Endings!
All the ends of the world
Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
Ps. 22:27
O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.
Ps. 65:2
[This post includes thoughts that came to me on the implications of Christ's work to wipe out sin and judgment, and how perhaps it includes all to such a degree that all will be restored to Him..I hope that nothing I have written is offensive. I just wanted to write out my thoughts, I hope noone is offended, I would never want to offend and am still trying to formulate my own beliefs about the scope of His work..I am just honestly sharing what I believe He has led me to see!]
Thinking of the good news about death and judgment led me to another wonderful thought about the future for us all. I love how Andre Rabe points out the verse that ‘it is appointed to man once to die, and then the judgment’ and how Jesus did that for us. I had never seen it that way, had always had a fear of judgment after death, even as a Christian. But since Jesus really went through that for me, as me, as the head of the human race, then He died (so all died) and after that He was judged innocent, proved by the fact that He rose from the dead (so all are judged innocent, and all rose with Him)! Hey, I’m getting excited! I don’t want to be off-topic, but does this mean there really is NO judgment after death for anyone at all? I mean, if Christ really already stood there for us, as us, in the after death judgment, then just like there is no sin left on us, no law left to judge us, then it makes sense there would be no judgment at all for us…right?
I am imagining what that would be like, to just know that everyone will go straight to the arms of God when they pass away! No ‘eternal conscious torment’ or ‘punishment/destruction from the presence of the Lord’ – just embrace, total acceptance, all tears wiped away, all flesh patterns and lies stripped away at the moment of death (for how could they carry over anyway, clinging as they do to the body and brain systems, and when we die it is spirit that goes to God, and later the body is resurrected incorruptible, glorified, and pure, right!!)..For it truly states that where there is forgiveness (and we know He forgave the whole world, reconciled the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them), there is no more offering/payment/debt/punishment for sin! He promised He will remember our sins no more, they don’t exist in His mind, so how could we be judged or held liable for them, how could we be rebuked, chastised or punished or have to pay for them in any way? The chastisement that brought us peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we all have been healed of the wounds of sin! Maybe we won’t all understand that here on earth, but maybe at death it all automatically ‘comes online’ as the last of the lies holding onto our flesh drop away! I know God desires a personal response from us, but I am now believing that at death we go from any lingering darkness straight into the light of His presence, and we know that lies can’t dwell in that light, fear is driven away by His presence of love, and with fear goes torment/fear of punishment! I think of the verse in Psalms that says all the families of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and that “unto You all flesh will come.” It makes sense that if not here on earth, at death all will see clearly and know as we are known, and thus all come straight into His arms! Its almost like I can barely hope it’s true, it just seems so beautiful and too good to be true, yet it truly honors Christ’s death as effective for all, truly lifts up His work as completely victorious over the mistake of Adam or the ruinous works of the enemy!
Jesus turned around and reversed death and judgment for us! And He brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, bringing to manifestation the grace He’d given to us before the world even began! It really seems to me now that there is no judgment, punishment, etc. after death for all humanity – wow! That there is only life and light and love to come! That sin and death have truly lost and love and life have truly won! That is such a beautiful thought and a blessed hope and expectation in my mind. I hope I haven’t said anything offensive to anyone, but could His love really be that big and that wide? Wow, since it is truly Infinite love, how could it NOT be!
I believe God will accomplish this restoration of all hearts to Him without violating anyone's free will. I truly believe all will gladly choose to enjoy the party that we’ve been brought into! With all the lies stripped away, with everything about God revealed in all His loving and attractive glory as the One who truly satisfies our deepest desire (to be loved unconditionally), with all hindrances and barriers in our thinking removed, seeing Him face to face in PURE LOVE, everyone being the little children of God made in His image and thus naturally trusting God, looking toward God, and longing to be loved by Him, be in love relationship with Him, to just with our Papa, I believe we will all gladly choose Him..His love melting the hardest heart and revealing the desire we’ve had all along to just be with Him, embraced by Him and safe in His arms, and we’ll gladly sink into those arms that are holding us and just rest! (I think of how a hurting child will look for his mother or father and how the little one's face will light up when he sees him/her, how he runs to the parent and naturally reaches for his mother/father to hold him, naturally wants to be in that loving embrace, wants that love and special attention! How much moreso with us and our heavenly Papa!) That is my hope! I wonder who could resist such love, and also that if we truly are in His image and thus with a good nature deep down at the core, that once all flesh is removed, and that good little inner child is able to do as he/she pleases without restraint, that that little one will naturally choose to nestle with bliss into Papa’s arms! In an even deeper way, I don't believe there will even be any thought to 'choosing' to enjoy Him or not - I believe our spirits will be so caught up in the enjoyment that there will be no thought of any other course! This is my humble thought and what I feel God has brought me to see, and oh what peace it brings to my heart to know that He will have all safely home with Him, enjoying His love forever!
He is pure love, He is a good Daddy, and He wouldn't have it any other way. He wouldn't be satisfied or happy with any one of His children not enjoying His embrace..He wouldn't be satisfied or happy till every last one was accounted for and guaranteed to enjoy His lap forever with joy and happiness, enjoying that union relationship that Papa envisioned for each of us from before the foundation of the world! His dream will come true! He couldn't be happy any other way! The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world, and He did it, He saved us all - it is finished! Hallelujah! My Papa loves happy endings, and through Jesus He has ensured a happy ending for all, hasn't He!
Shall remember and turn to the Lord,
And all the families of the nations
Shall worship before You.
Ps. 22:27
O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.
Ps. 65:2
[This post includes thoughts that came to me on the implications of Christ's work to wipe out sin and judgment, and how perhaps it includes all to such a degree that all will be restored to Him..I hope that nothing I have written is offensive. I just wanted to write out my thoughts, I hope noone is offended, I would never want to offend and am still trying to formulate my own beliefs about the scope of His work..I am just honestly sharing what I believe He has led me to see!]
Thinking of the good news about death and judgment led me to another wonderful thought about the future for us all. I love how Andre Rabe points out the verse that ‘it is appointed to man once to die, and then the judgment’ and how Jesus did that for us. I had never seen it that way, had always had a fear of judgment after death, even as a Christian. But since Jesus really went through that for me, as me, as the head of the human race, then He died (so all died) and after that He was judged innocent, proved by the fact that He rose from the dead (so all are judged innocent, and all rose with Him)! Hey, I’m getting excited! I don’t want to be off-topic, but does this mean there really is NO judgment after death for anyone at all? I mean, if Christ really already stood there for us, as us, in the after death judgment, then just like there is no sin left on us, no law left to judge us, then it makes sense there would be no judgment at all for us…right?
I am imagining what that would be like, to just know that everyone will go straight to the arms of God when they pass away! No ‘eternal conscious torment’ or ‘punishment/destruction from the presence of the Lord’ – just embrace, total acceptance, all tears wiped away, all flesh patterns and lies stripped away at the moment of death (for how could they carry over anyway, clinging as they do to the body and brain systems, and when we die it is spirit that goes to God, and later the body is resurrected incorruptible, glorified, and pure, right!!)..For it truly states that where there is forgiveness (and we know He forgave the whole world, reconciled the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them), there is no more offering/payment/debt/punishment for sin! He promised He will remember our sins no more, they don’t exist in His mind, so how could we be judged or held liable for them, how could we be rebuked, chastised or punished or have to pay for them in any way? The chastisement that brought us peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we all have been healed of the wounds of sin! Maybe we won’t all understand that here on earth, but maybe at death it all automatically ‘comes online’ as the last of the lies holding onto our flesh drop away! I know God desires a personal response from us, but I am now believing that at death we go from any lingering darkness straight into the light of His presence, and we know that lies can’t dwell in that light, fear is driven away by His presence of love, and with fear goes torment/fear of punishment! I think of the verse in Psalms that says all the families of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and that “unto You all flesh will come.” It makes sense that if not here on earth, at death all will see clearly and know as we are known, and thus all come straight into His arms! Its almost like I can barely hope it’s true, it just seems so beautiful and too good to be true, yet it truly honors Christ’s death as effective for all, truly lifts up His work as completely victorious over the mistake of Adam or the ruinous works of the enemy!
Jesus turned around and reversed death and judgment for us! And He brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, bringing to manifestation the grace He’d given to us before the world even began! It really seems to me now that there is no judgment, punishment, etc. after death for all humanity – wow! That there is only life and light and love to come! That sin and death have truly lost and love and life have truly won! That is such a beautiful thought and a blessed hope and expectation in my mind. I hope I haven’t said anything offensive to anyone, but could His love really be that big and that wide? Wow, since it is truly Infinite love, how could it NOT be!
I believe God will accomplish this restoration of all hearts to Him without violating anyone's free will. I truly believe all will gladly choose to enjoy the party that we’ve been brought into! With all the lies stripped away, with everything about God revealed in all His loving and attractive glory as the One who truly satisfies our deepest desire (to be loved unconditionally), with all hindrances and barriers in our thinking removed, seeing Him face to face in PURE LOVE, everyone being the little children of God made in His image and thus naturally trusting God, looking toward God, and longing to be loved by Him, be in love relationship with Him, to just with our Papa, I believe we will all gladly choose Him..His love melting the hardest heart and revealing the desire we’ve had all along to just be with Him, embraced by Him and safe in His arms, and we’ll gladly sink into those arms that are holding us and just rest! (I think of how a hurting child will look for his mother or father and how the little one's face will light up when he sees him/her, how he runs to the parent and naturally reaches for his mother/father to hold him, naturally wants to be in that loving embrace, wants that love and special attention! How much moreso with us and our heavenly Papa!) That is my hope! I wonder who could resist such love, and also that if we truly are in His image and thus with a good nature deep down at the core, that once all flesh is removed, and that good little inner child is able to do as he/she pleases without restraint, that that little one will naturally choose to nestle with bliss into Papa’s arms! In an even deeper way, I don't believe there will even be any thought to 'choosing' to enjoy Him or not - I believe our spirits will be so caught up in the enjoyment that there will be no thought of any other course! This is my humble thought and what I feel God has brought me to see, and oh what peace it brings to my heart to know that He will have all safely home with Him, enjoying His love forever!
He is pure love, He is a good Daddy, and He wouldn't have it any other way. He wouldn't be satisfied or happy with any one of His children not enjoying His embrace..He wouldn't be satisfied or happy till every last one was accounted for and guaranteed to enjoy His lap forever with joy and happiness, enjoying that union relationship that Papa envisioned for each of us from before the foundation of the world! His dream will come true! He couldn't be happy any other way! The Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world, and He did it, He saved us all - it is finished! Hallelujah! My Papa loves happy endings, and through Jesus He has ensured a happy ending for all, hasn't He!
What Were We Created For?
What were we made for?
To be a servant or employee in God's business?
To further God's vast purpose of world domination?
To be a pawn on the chessboard in a cosmic match between God and Satan?
To give God a good return for His money, or else be discarded as useless?
NO!
We were made to be loved!
We were made to be the cherished children in Papa's family!
We were made for hugs and kisses!
We were made for long walks in the garden with God!
We were made for love songs, smiles and laughter!
We were made for friendship, companionship, and mutual sharing!
We were made for intimacy with our God!
Intimacy
Jonathan David Helser
These hands you made to hold yours, my love
These feet you shaped to walk with you in our garden
These eyes you placed to gaze upon your face
These lips you formed to kiss my beloved
I was made, I was made for intimacy
These ears you made to hear your rhythm of love
This voice you placed to sing songs of grace
This hair you wove, you numbered every strand
This gaze you love, it captures you with a glance
I was made, I was made for intimacy
Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension - Day 20 - Freed from Death, Freed from Judgment
- Death and Judgment, sounds so ominous and terrible! And yet – since the gospel means ‘good news’ and there is only good news and no bad news in the gospel, then thinking on Death and Judgment and Christ’s finished work is only going to bring GOOD news! I want to take some words that have seemed like such bad news, carried such negative imagery, and see those concepts in light of the good news of grace:
Death – He identified with me even in my death state and even went down to death, letting people kill Him. He took into Himself and absorbed into Himself my ‘death state’ and then He rose again, taking me with Him! I am forever freed from the eternal hold of death, death can’t have me, for He did not allow His holy one to see corruption and didn’t leave His soul in the grave, so the same will be true for me, tied as I am to Him! It’s already true in the eternal realm and my body WILL catch up with this reality, wow!
Judgment – There is a legal verdict of ‘guilty’ that comes upon a lawbreaker. We had put ourselves under law (God never wanted that for us, never put us under it, His language is and has always been grace and not law!!) and so incurred judgment and had a legitimate debt we owed to God. (I love how He let all sin be against Him so He would be in the position of being able to let the debt go, and that is just what He did. It helps me understand the verse saying ‘He shut up all in disobedience so He could have mercy upon all.”…I also love how Andre pointed out that He judged sin in the flesh – He wasn’t judging me myself, my true self; instead He was judging sin that had taken hold of me in my body, judged the fake identity – flesh – that wasn’t the real me at all! It is almost like I felt guilty, I felt deserving of punishment, I felt I needed to die, I was judging myself as evil, but God wasn’t judging me or wanting to punish me! He was seeing the root problem behind my actions – the sin and lies that had ‘infected’ me like a virus! What a relief to find out He is a non-judgmental, non-punishing/punitive God! I am just finding out such wonderful things, and that helps me understand judgment in a better way, a way that brings such relief..but getting back to how Jesus dealt with judgment…I am always too long-winded, lol…) Jesus came and took all that judgment onto Himself when He identified with us in that low place of guilt and judgment and shame! He absorbed all that into Himself, and it is gone! God cancelled the debt against me – that’s forgiveness, wow, it means we don’t have to ‘pay’ for a wrong done, we’re released from owing anything or having to ‘make up’ for our wrong, that’s all cancelled!
Sin – Not only did He absorb my guilt, judgment, feelings of alienation and shame, He also absorbed all the sin/unbelief that caused it, and He eliminated it, wiped it out, expiated it. And with the sin actually taken away and wiped out, absorbed and blotted out by Christ in His body, then my sins and iniquities are not only remembered by God NO MORE, they actually ARE NO MORE! I love how Andre Rabe says if it doesn’t exist in the mind of God, it doesn’t exist at all!
Law – Jesus took away the document stating my guilt – the law – and nailed it to the cross. So I’m not under law anymore, I’m freed from it by going through death with Him! And that pretty much takes care of judgment and punishment all around, for if there is no sin to be judged and no law to do the judging, then I am home free and won’t ever be punished or held liable for any of my wrongs, unbelief, etc.! Where there is no law, there is no transgression..I am not even a transgressor at all anymore! Not a lawbreaker! For you can’t break a law if there is no law there to break! Wow, this good news just keeps getting ‘gooder and gooder’ – smile!
Punishment - I want to say that just using that word ‘punishment’ is so uncomfortable now..I feel it isn’t the most accurate word to use…yet I was raised on such talk, and it is tough to get free of the penal substitutionary ideas I have heard all my life and ‘assumed’ were correct! The more I learn about non-violent atonement, Christus Victor and the healing model of the work of Christ, the more relieved I feel that God never wanted to or needed to ‘punish’ us, Christ, or anybody! Since the debt was owed to Him, He could choose whatever means He wanted to deal with it, and He chose to let it go, to forgive! When you forgive, you don’t demand a punishment/payment first in order to forgive, for that isn’t forgiveness at all but retribution, isn’t it? Forgiveness is when you let the debt go and don’t make the other party pay..they are off the hook, free and clear. It helps people be friends again..it is restorative! So I wanted to say I don’t like using that word ‘punishment’ and I don’t see our dear Papa as a punishing God anymore..love does no harm, and THAT is actually fulfilling the law – to love, to do no harm! How amazing is that! I always thought the law demanded my punishment! But Jesus fulfilled the law not by punishing me or being punished for me so much as by forgiving me even when I/we killed Him, by not retaliating! His love for me/us was the ultimate fulfillment of the law, wasn’t it, the ultimate obedience of loving God and others! He truly fulfilled the law in a way I hadn’t thought of before..oh, how wonderful He is..
My friend Andrea made a statement in response to this post that I want to include here: "So beautiful how you say, “It is almost like I felt guilty, I felt deserving of punishment, I felt I needed to die, I was judging myself as evil, but God wasn’t judging me or wanting to punish me!” Yeah…So our judgment and our punishment were self-imposed, could that be? We hid (in Adam), we ran, we covered up, we accused… wasn’t all that kind of a self-jugdment? Whereas God looked for us, sought our fellowship, called us, clothed us… but we would not be able to bear His glory, His love, His fellowship. Because we had decided to do it our own way, to judge things through our own eyes. We had fallen into perceiving everything “after the flesh”.
Now, could it be that is was our own sinful perception that was nailed to the cross? Wasn’t Jesus – having been made sin (2 Cor 5:21) – nailed to the cross? Could it be that it was our self-imposed VERDICT, judgment and punishment that hung nailed up there? The handwriting with our names on it? The handwriting written in our own names… ?!"
- Andrea's comments blew me away, for she wrote so clearly about self-judgment and how that maybe was what was nailed to the cross, wow! That He never was judging/condemning us as guilty or bad, but we were judging ourselves! I want to really ponder that! That whole perception of ourselves being nailed to the cross, the handwriting we wrote against ourselves, wow! He was never against us! It is so freeing to see just how good He is, better and more loving than I ever imagined. I still have lots of questions about the law and why it was given, etc. But it is slowly coming together in my mind that HE was never about law and judgment, WE were because we were living in that way of thinking (good and evil, trying to become better and stop doing bad, demands and restrictions, rewards and punishments, performance based acceptance, judgment)..but HE was always about grace, acceptance, love and union relationship without regard to good or bad, performance, earning, etc.!
Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension - Day 19 - Pictures of Redemption
[For] You know that in the past you were living in a ·worthless [meaningless; futile; vain; way, a way passed down from ·the people who lived before you [your ancestors]. But you were saved [ransomed; redeemed] from that useless life. You were ·bought [ransomed; redeemed; like a slave whose freedom was purchased by a payment - not a payment to the devil or to God, but simply what it cost Jesus to enact His rescue plan, what He was willing to do to get us free], not with something that ·ruins [perishes; spoils] like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, who was like ·a pure and perfect lamb [a lamb without defect or blemish.
1 Peter 1:18-9 Expanded Bible
I find it hard to wrap my mind around the meaning of the word “redemption” – when I think of the way the word is used in this world, I think of someone who has ruined others’ opinions of him by doing some wrong act, and how that person may try to ‘redeem’ himself in the others’ eyes by acting in a good way..almost as if he is trying to show he is not all bad, that there is still good in him. I think of the word redeem and how it is made up of a prefix and root – ‘re-deem’ – and I know that to deem something would be to value it, to judge it worth something, so to re-deem must be similar to showing something as valuable again. Perhaps this thing's value has been forgotten, and now it is revealed and seen again, thus it is re-deemed as valuable. I don’t know if my thinking is correct, but it helps me to think that even though we did some very wrong acts when we lost sight of who we truly we (and whose we were!), that there was still inherent value in us, that we were not ‘all bad’ even in the midst of our worst actions, thoughts and words. Jesus redeemed me – maybe that partly means that He still saw value in me when I had lost sight of it, still saw the good nature deep within me (the image of God Himself, His own DNA in my framework!)..He saw me as someone worth rescuing from the lie-trap I had gotten into. He saw me as valuable, worth saving, worth having..He saw me as worth His own precious blood, He deemed me valuable and caused me to be re-deemed – re-valued in this life and world. So I can value myself again, I don’t have to be floundering in shame or guilt! There is something beautiful in me, always has been, always will be – it is the good inner core person that God made me to be from eternity past, the inner child, in union with God in essence, purpose, desire and nature! I am worth having around! I am actually good, a ‘good egg!’ I am even worth dying for, for that is what He was willing to do to ‘redeem’ me…
I am reminded of the verse in the Message Bible in Is 43:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That’s how much you mean to me!
That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you.
So don’t be afraid, I’m with you…”
He sees me as so valuable He would trade creation itself to get me back to enjoying the fellowship with Him that is my birthright as His child! The fact that He would give up His own life, shed His own precious blood (for that was what it cost Him), to free me from the trap of lies and bondage of sin gives me value and shows my worth to Him – thank You, Jesus! Redemption includes that very act, doesn’t it, that act of Jesus freeing us from bondage to lies, the enemy, sin, etc. He freed us from it all, hallelujah! Slowly I learn what redemption is, and how big and beautiful this word truly is for us!
The picture came to my mind of a little girl who was lured away from her family and taken captive by an evil man, enslaved by him and told over and over that she was an unwanted nothing with no home or family…so after a while she begins to believe and live out of this lie, an empty life of drudgery and hopelessness and shame. But then one day a regal man comes to the evil person’s residence..and the evil slave-owner shrivels in fear and hides from the man’s presence! He is truly royal and great in bearing, yet there is an amazing gentleness about him! He has been on a great journey, perilous and costly to himself, yet he will not stop till he succeeds in his quest..He looks around and suddenly a flash of recognition comes to his face! He points to the young girl in her tattered slave clothes, and with great authority in his voice, says, “This one is not an orphaned slave, she is my Father, the King’s, own child!” The girl looks up into the man’s gentle face and sees that she closely resembles him, with the same mannerisms and features, the same smile and tilt of the head, even! Could it really be true? Her heart leaps at the thought…The kind young man takes her in his arms and carries her safely home and runs up to the throne and puts her right on her royal Father’s lap – and the Father hugs her tightly to Himself as all her fears and anguish from all the lonely years just melts away…and they lived happily ever after! This is redemption to me! Someone comes into my enslaved existence and declares that I belong to and with Him, for He has a prior claim on my life that is before the slave-owner’s claim! He comes and claims me for His own, claims me as His valuable dear one who is related to Him and of the same source, the Father Himself – oh, how much value I am shown to have!! And He frees me from the grip of the slave-owner! And we live happily ever after with the Father!
I can imagine the voice of Jesus saying what I feel is the message of redemption to the trapped young girl, to me: “You’re not forgotten, you’re wanted. You’re not neglected, you’re cared for. You’re not forsaken, you’re embraced. You’re not lost, I’ve found you. You’re not hopeless, I’ve taken up your cause. You’re not alone, I’m with you. You’re not broken, you’re whole. You’re not sinful, you’re good. You’re not wretched, you’re lovable. You’re not vulnerable, you’re safe. You’re not spinning out of control, everything is all right now. You’re not estranged, you’re part of the family. You’re not a nobody, you’re my somebody! You’re not trash, you’re a treasure. You’re not ruined, you’re restored. You’re not bound, I’ve freed you! You’re not an enemy, you’re my friend. You’re not distant from me, I’ve got you in my arms. You’re not cast away, you belong with me! You’re not a misfit, you fit in with me. You’re not unnoticed, you’ve got my full attention. You’re not an orphan slave, you’re a royal daughter! You’re not unimportant, I’d give my life for you! You are delivered, you are safe, you are worthy, you are REDEEMED!
As the old song says, “Redeemed how I love to proclaim it, His child and forever I am!”
1 Peter 1:18-9 Expanded Bible
I find it hard to wrap my mind around the meaning of the word “redemption” – when I think of the way the word is used in this world, I think of someone who has ruined others’ opinions of him by doing some wrong act, and how that person may try to ‘redeem’ himself in the others’ eyes by acting in a good way..almost as if he is trying to show he is not all bad, that there is still good in him. I think of the word redeem and how it is made up of a prefix and root – ‘re-deem’ – and I know that to deem something would be to value it, to judge it worth something, so to re-deem must be similar to showing something as valuable again. Perhaps this thing's value has been forgotten, and now it is revealed and seen again, thus it is re-deemed as valuable. I don’t know if my thinking is correct, but it helps me to think that even though we did some very wrong acts when we lost sight of who we truly we (and whose we were!), that there was still inherent value in us, that we were not ‘all bad’ even in the midst of our worst actions, thoughts and words. Jesus redeemed me – maybe that partly means that He still saw value in me when I had lost sight of it, still saw the good nature deep within me (the image of God Himself, His own DNA in my framework!)..He saw me as someone worth rescuing from the lie-trap I had gotten into. He saw me as valuable, worth saving, worth having..He saw me as worth His own precious blood, He deemed me valuable and caused me to be re-deemed – re-valued in this life and world. So I can value myself again, I don’t have to be floundering in shame or guilt! There is something beautiful in me, always has been, always will be – it is the good inner core person that God made me to be from eternity past, the inner child, in union with God in essence, purpose, desire and nature! I am worth having around! I am actually good, a ‘good egg!’ I am even worth dying for, for that is what He was willing to do to ‘redeem’ me…
I am reminded of the verse in the Message Bible in Is 43:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That’s how much you mean to me!
That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
trade the creation just for you.
So don’t be afraid, I’m with you…”
He sees me as so valuable He would trade creation itself to get me back to enjoying the fellowship with Him that is my birthright as His child! The fact that He would give up His own life, shed His own precious blood (for that was what it cost Him), to free me from the trap of lies and bondage of sin gives me value and shows my worth to Him – thank You, Jesus! Redemption includes that very act, doesn’t it, that act of Jesus freeing us from bondage to lies, the enemy, sin, etc. He freed us from it all, hallelujah! Slowly I learn what redemption is, and how big and beautiful this word truly is for us!
The picture came to my mind of a little girl who was lured away from her family and taken captive by an evil man, enslaved by him and told over and over that she was an unwanted nothing with no home or family…so after a while she begins to believe and live out of this lie, an empty life of drudgery and hopelessness and shame. But then one day a regal man comes to the evil person’s residence..and the evil slave-owner shrivels in fear and hides from the man’s presence! He is truly royal and great in bearing, yet there is an amazing gentleness about him! He has been on a great journey, perilous and costly to himself, yet he will not stop till he succeeds in his quest..He looks around and suddenly a flash of recognition comes to his face! He points to the young girl in her tattered slave clothes, and with great authority in his voice, says, “This one is not an orphaned slave, she is my Father, the King’s, own child!” The girl looks up into the man’s gentle face and sees that she closely resembles him, with the same mannerisms and features, the same smile and tilt of the head, even! Could it really be true? Her heart leaps at the thought…The kind young man takes her in his arms and carries her safely home and runs up to the throne and puts her right on her royal Father’s lap – and the Father hugs her tightly to Himself as all her fears and anguish from all the lonely years just melts away…and they lived happily ever after! This is redemption to me! Someone comes into my enslaved existence and declares that I belong to and with Him, for He has a prior claim on my life that is before the slave-owner’s claim! He comes and claims me for His own, claims me as His valuable dear one who is related to Him and of the same source, the Father Himself – oh, how much value I am shown to have!! And He frees me from the grip of the slave-owner! And we live happily ever after with the Father!
I can imagine the voice of Jesus saying what I feel is the message of redemption to the trapped young girl, to me: “You’re not forgotten, you’re wanted. You’re not neglected, you’re cared for. You’re not forsaken, you’re embraced. You’re not lost, I’ve found you. You’re not hopeless, I’ve taken up your cause. You’re not alone, I’m with you. You’re not broken, you’re whole. You’re not sinful, you’re good. You’re not wretched, you’re lovable. You’re not vulnerable, you’re safe. You’re not spinning out of control, everything is all right now. You’re not estranged, you’re part of the family. You’re not a nobody, you’re my somebody! You’re not trash, you’re a treasure. You’re not ruined, you’re restored. You’re not bound, I’ve freed you! You’re not an enemy, you’re my friend. You’re not distant from me, I’ve got you in my arms. You’re not cast away, you belong with me! You’re not a misfit, you fit in with me. You’re not unnoticed, you’ve got my full attention. You’re not an orphan slave, you’re a royal daughter! You’re not unimportant, I’d give my life for you! You are delivered, you are safe, you are worthy, you are REDEEMED!
As the old song says, “Redeemed how I love to proclaim it, His child and forever I am!”
"Happy" by Pharrell Williams
Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to the Ascension - Day 18 - Word Became Flesh
The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 NKJ
14 The Word became ·a human [flesh] and ·lived [made his home; pitched his tabernacle; God’s glorious presence dwelt in Israel’s tabernacle in the wilderness] among us. We saw his ·glory [majesty]—the glory that belongs to the ·only Son [one and only; only begotten] ·of [who came from] the Father—and he was full of ·grace and truth [God’s gracious love and faithfulness. John 1:14 Expanded Bible
The Word became flesh! Jesus entered into my experience as a human being, with all its ups and downs, all its inconsistencies and confusion, all its struggles and suffering! He entered into my hell, came and joined me in my suffering – the suffering caused by others’ sin against me and the suffering from my own sin that I perpetrated. He understood me, He loved me, He took my side and was in solidarity with me there in the midst of my hurt and pain…He took my side as a victim of sin and lies and the enemy’s ploys, and He even took my side as a perpetrator of wrong actions toward others. He cared about me and understood me, had nothing but non-judgmental love for me there in my pain, frailty, weakness and humanity! I am not alone, He is beside me! I am not forgotten, He remembers me! I am not rejected, He accepts me! I am not judged, I am understood!
He judged and condemned sin in the flesh – He judged sin, not me! He came saying that there was something foreign that had caused havoc in my life, but that thing was not me and not part of my design or true make-up. Oh, what a relief to know that sin isn’t the deepest truth about me! He showed me what human life really is like, showed me what God really did when He made a human, showed me – in Himself – a mirror of my own self! And so in Him I find out that I am not a sinner with a sinful nature, that is not my identity, but that I am God’s child, special, valuable, truly priceless, and I am made in His image and therefore good and loving at the core. I may be sitting in a hell-hole, even one of my own creation, but He is there with me reminding me that I am truly royalty, truly beautiful, truly good deep down inside, truly God’s dear child. I may feel unlovable and unloved, rejected and alone, but He is there with me reminding me I am unconditionally loved, radically accepted, and will never be alone! He is there pointing to the fact that I belong. I belong to God. I am part of His family. I come from Him. I am made of Him. I am therefore good and beautiful and connected with Him always. I find my true self looking in Jesus’ eyes and seeing myself there. He displays for me who I truly am, what humanity really is – the expression of God Himself!
Then there is the cross and resurrection! There He delivers the death blow to sin, eradicating it and taking it away from me. He takes away that which was always foreign to me so that the real, true, authentic me can be revealed and expressed fully in my life! He frees me from the foreign oppressor of lies and legalistic/performance oriented ideas. He frees me to be my true self, my real self. And the resurrection vindicates that true self, that innocent self! He rises from the dead, proving my innocence! It is amazing! I always thought I was a shameful, dirty, rotten-at-the-core, worthless person. Yet through the cross He shows me I am loved just as I am in the mess of my life, I am worth dying for, and He shows me that sin isn’t the deepest part about me, but is actually not me at all. And the resurrection goes and proves that even more, for it vindicates me as innocent! I am revealed to be an innocent little child, pure and sweet, loving and good just like my Papa! Thank You, Jesus, for becoming flesh and taking on my condition, getting rid of the sin/lie was binding me and hurting me. And thank you for showing me, through Your incarnation, who I truly am – not a bad, rejected, rotten person but a good, innocent, loving child, God’s child, God’s beloved child!
14 The Word became ·a human [flesh] and ·lived [made his home; pitched his tabernacle; God’s glorious presence dwelt in Israel’s tabernacle in the wilderness] among us. We saw his ·glory [majesty]—the glory that belongs to the ·only Son [one and only; only begotten] ·of [who came from] the Father—and he was full of ·grace and truth [God’s gracious love and faithfulness. John 1:14 Expanded Bible
The Word became flesh! Jesus entered into my experience as a human being, with all its ups and downs, all its inconsistencies and confusion, all its struggles and suffering! He entered into my hell, came and joined me in my suffering – the suffering caused by others’ sin against me and the suffering from my own sin that I perpetrated. He understood me, He loved me, He took my side and was in solidarity with me there in the midst of my hurt and pain…He took my side as a victim of sin and lies and the enemy’s ploys, and He even took my side as a perpetrator of wrong actions toward others. He cared about me and understood me, had nothing but non-judgmental love for me there in my pain, frailty, weakness and humanity! I am not alone, He is beside me! I am not forgotten, He remembers me! I am not rejected, He accepts me! I am not judged, I am understood!
He judged and condemned sin in the flesh – He judged sin, not me! He came saying that there was something foreign that had caused havoc in my life, but that thing was not me and not part of my design or true make-up. Oh, what a relief to know that sin isn’t the deepest truth about me! He showed me what human life really is like, showed me what God really did when He made a human, showed me – in Himself – a mirror of my own self! And so in Him I find out that I am not a sinner with a sinful nature, that is not my identity, but that I am God’s child, special, valuable, truly priceless, and I am made in His image and therefore good and loving at the core. I may be sitting in a hell-hole, even one of my own creation, but He is there with me reminding me that I am truly royalty, truly beautiful, truly good deep down inside, truly God’s dear child. I may feel unlovable and unloved, rejected and alone, but He is there with me reminding me I am unconditionally loved, radically accepted, and will never be alone! He is there pointing to the fact that I belong. I belong to God. I am part of His family. I come from Him. I am made of Him. I am therefore good and beautiful and connected with Him always. I find my true self looking in Jesus’ eyes and seeing myself there. He displays for me who I truly am, what humanity really is – the expression of God Himself!
Then there is the cross and resurrection! There He delivers the death blow to sin, eradicating it and taking it away from me. He takes away that which was always foreign to me so that the real, true, authentic me can be revealed and expressed fully in my life! He frees me from the foreign oppressor of lies and legalistic/performance oriented ideas. He frees me to be my true self, my real self. And the resurrection vindicates that true self, that innocent self! He rises from the dead, proving my innocence! It is amazing! I always thought I was a shameful, dirty, rotten-at-the-core, worthless person. Yet through the cross He shows me I am loved just as I am in the mess of my life, I am worth dying for, and He shows me that sin isn’t the deepest part about me, but is actually not me at all. And the resurrection goes and proves that even more, for it vindicates me as innocent! I am revealed to be an innocent little child, pure and sweet, loving and good just like my Papa! Thank You, Jesus, for becoming flesh and taking on my condition, getting rid of the sin/lie was binding me and hurting me. And thank you for showing me, through Your incarnation, who I truly am – not a bad, rejected, rotten person but a good, innocent, loving child, God’s child, God’s beloved child!
His Love Cannot Fail - His Love Has Won!
Our Papa's love is a love that leaves no child behind, leaves no child out in the cold, leaves no child to fend for himself, leaves no child unloved or uncared for - His is a love that has every one of us, His children, wrapped securely in His arms, tenderly caressed, cherished and adored, safe and sound for all eternity!
I
am so thankful we are all wrapped up in a love that cannot fail, a love
that brings all the lost and hurting children home, that reveals
that we have always been home in His heart and always will be! No
matter what story plays out in our lives here on this planet, the bigger
story of His love will always be true and will trump every lesser story
of sin, shame, fear, confusion and doubt! What
a relief to be safe in the arms of the One who IS reality itself, Love
Himself, Life Himself! We can't escape Him, hallelujah! In Him we live
and move and have our being! We are in Love and we are never going to
be out of that Love that holds the universe, holds our existence, holds
our end from the beginning, holds our hearts!!
"All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you." Ps. 22:27
For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you!" Col. 1:19-21a
As the Waters Cover the Sea
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.
Hab. 2:14
Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension - Day 17 - It's Personal: God's Love Embraces Each Individual
That I could personally be the focus of God’s love, and that He
desires the same kind of intimate relationship with me that He has with
His Son Jesus – this baffles me and overwhelms my mind! I really can’t
take it in or grasp it. This is something I have struggled with all my
life – to believe God loves me and is personally intimately with me,
that He is not scary/fearful or distant from me.
Jesus came to show us God's tender heart for us so that we wouldn't be afraid. He came so we would be at ease with Him, comfortable enough to call Him 'Daddy.' His love pushes out fear. This is my hope, because I have a lot of fear buildup from the past, from lies and hurts. I have always struggled with being so afraid of God. My image of Him has been so warped by religion, lies and my own thoughts and feelings. It has been so hard to see Him as loving and safe. Many times when I tried to picture or think of God, I would get an image in my mind of a face darkened or hidden, of someone withdrawing from me or aloof from me, and I would feel this person to be distant, disappointed, a little cold, even demanding. I would say God loved me and I would sometimes feel such love and grace, would sometimes feel that He was smiling and kind, yet at other times have the fearful and dark image come to mind. So I have lived in fear of God, struggling with being able to approach Him without hesitation, struggling with feeling comfortable and safe in His presence.
One night I asked God to give me a dream of heaven. That night I did dream of heaven, dreamed I was standing with Jesus behind my own little house – a sort of English cottage, complete with a little hedged in garden. We were planning the garden together, and He was telling me I could have anything I wanted in this garden. It was so happy and peaceful with Him right there beside me in this beautiful place. And the main feeling I remember having was one of complete safety – that there was nothing to fear, nothing could get to me or harm me! It is interesting to me that the main thing I felt in heaven was safety and freedom from fear!
Perfect Love casts out fear. I feel that is what He is doing in my life right now. Through this class and other readings and such, He is healing my image of Him. More and more I am able to picture Him as loving, inviting, smiling and brightly shining. I am able to picture Him in a way that is open, friendly, kind and – especially – safe!
God has brought us into the fellowship of Christ – the fellowship He has with the Son. He wants me to experience the same intimacy and belonging and security that Jesus Himself experiences in the presence of His Papa. He tells me that this same relationship of love and safety is also mine! Jesus is never afraid of His Father. He never feels a barrier between them. He never feels His Father is angry with Him or disappointed with Him. He never feels His Father is pulling away from Him or hiding His face from Him. There is never anything amiss in that relationship! There is never anything to fear in that relationship! Nothing can go wrong in or spoil that relationship! Nothing can get in between that love flow or stop it. In His relationship with the Father, there is complete safety and security – Jesus knows He is always loved, always delighted in, always approved of, always treated the best way possible, always SAFE! And that is the relationship I am a part of through Christ!
I really want to know and enjoy such a relationship with God as Jesus has, and God shows me I already have it, it is already mine! The old fears tug at me, yet the new freedom of love woos me forward into joy and happy fellowship with my Papa! Even though I have a lot of unlearning and healing that is needed to really see and experience this relationship of safety and love with my Papa, I am more hopeful now than I have been in a long while! He is convincing me steadily and surely that I have nothing to fear with Him, that He really does love and hold me, that I really have a perfect and intimate loving union with Him, that I really am safe in His arms! As Jesus is to the Father, so am I – valued, held, loved, enjoyed, SAFE! Oh, Lord, make me to see and experience this reality that is truly my reality!
Jesus came to show us God's tender heart for us so that we wouldn't be afraid. He came so we would be at ease with Him, comfortable enough to call Him 'Daddy.' His love pushes out fear. This is my hope, because I have a lot of fear buildup from the past, from lies and hurts. I have always struggled with being so afraid of God. My image of Him has been so warped by religion, lies and my own thoughts and feelings. It has been so hard to see Him as loving and safe. Many times when I tried to picture or think of God, I would get an image in my mind of a face darkened or hidden, of someone withdrawing from me or aloof from me, and I would feel this person to be distant, disappointed, a little cold, even demanding. I would say God loved me and I would sometimes feel such love and grace, would sometimes feel that He was smiling and kind, yet at other times have the fearful and dark image come to mind. So I have lived in fear of God, struggling with being able to approach Him without hesitation, struggling with feeling comfortable and safe in His presence.
One night I asked God to give me a dream of heaven. That night I did dream of heaven, dreamed I was standing with Jesus behind my own little house – a sort of English cottage, complete with a little hedged in garden. We were planning the garden together, and He was telling me I could have anything I wanted in this garden. It was so happy and peaceful with Him right there beside me in this beautiful place. And the main feeling I remember having was one of complete safety – that there was nothing to fear, nothing could get to me or harm me! It is interesting to me that the main thing I felt in heaven was safety and freedom from fear!
Perfect Love casts out fear. I feel that is what He is doing in my life right now. Through this class and other readings and such, He is healing my image of Him. More and more I am able to picture Him as loving, inviting, smiling and brightly shining. I am able to picture Him in a way that is open, friendly, kind and – especially – safe!
God has brought us into the fellowship of Christ – the fellowship He has with the Son. He wants me to experience the same intimacy and belonging and security that Jesus Himself experiences in the presence of His Papa. He tells me that this same relationship of love and safety is also mine! Jesus is never afraid of His Father. He never feels a barrier between them. He never feels His Father is angry with Him or disappointed with Him. He never feels His Father is pulling away from Him or hiding His face from Him. There is never anything amiss in that relationship! There is never anything to fear in that relationship! Nothing can go wrong in or spoil that relationship! Nothing can get in between that love flow or stop it. In His relationship with the Father, there is complete safety and security – Jesus knows He is always loved, always delighted in, always approved of, always treated the best way possible, always SAFE! And that is the relationship I am a part of through Christ!
I really want to know and enjoy such a relationship with God as Jesus has, and God shows me I already have it, it is already mine! The old fears tug at me, yet the new freedom of love woos me forward into joy and happy fellowship with my Papa! Even though I have a lot of unlearning and healing that is needed to really see and experience this relationship of safety and love with my Papa, I am more hopeful now than I have been in a long while! He is convincing me steadily and surely that I have nothing to fear with Him, that He really does love and hold me, that I really have a perfect and intimate loving union with Him, that I really am safe in His arms! As Jesus is to the Father, so am I – valued, held, loved, enjoyed, SAFE! Oh, Lord, make me to see and experience this reality that is truly my reality!
His Resurrection Was Our Resurrection!
Happy Resurrection Day! Here is another wonderful post from facebook, by Christian Erickson, on the resurrection and what it means for all of us:
When He became man, He became all men.
When He died, we died.
When He rose, all humanity rose with Him in newness of life.
Jesus didn't just die and resurrect to show off. He died and was resurrected to rebirth humanity in His life! We had become so corrupted with sin and death that humanity was heading towards what the early church called "nonbeing." When we say that Christ saved the world, we really mean it. It was the belief of the early Christians that if Christ hadn't of come, humanity would have eventually destroyed itself and would have become nothing.
But Jesus came! And He rose!
At His resurrection, according to Athanasius:
“All people were clothed with incorruption in the promise of the resurrection. For the solidarity of humanity is such that, by virtue of the Word’s indwelling in a single human body, the corruption which goes with death has lost its power over all.”
You see, when we celebrate resurrection Sunday, we aren't just celebrating Jesus' resurrection, we are celebrating ours too! We are celebrating the birth of a whole new creation!
The old creation was ruled by sin because of the fall of Adam. But Jesus came as the last Adam (1 Cor. 15:45), the last of the Adamic race, mystically crucified humanity with Him on the cross, forever ending the old creation defined by Adams fall and by death (2 Cor. 5:14). Then when Jesus was resurrected, a whole new creation was birthed, a whole new race of people began (Hosea 6:2). We are in a whole new world!
Death no longer has the final say on humanity because Christ defeated and destroyed it through His resurrection life!
Today isn't just Jesus' resurrection. Let's not forget why He did it. Today is humanities birthday! All humanity was born again through His resurrection!
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." - 1 Peter 1:3
"All that is in The Messiah [all humanity] is therefore The New Creation; the old order has passed away to such." - 2 Corinthians 5:17
"We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." - Romans 6:9-11
"Just as by a man death came, in this way also by a man the dead come to life. For just as by Adam all people die, in this way also by The Messiah they all live." - 1 Corinthians 5:21-22
Happy birthday humanity! He is risen!!!"
Christian Erickson
What the Cross Proves to Us
I would like to share a post I read on facebook by Christian Erickson..it's such a wonderful and meaningful description of what God did in Christ on the cross, and of what God proved to us through that cross! Thank You Father for Your amazing love!
"Today we celebrate that almost two thousand years ago, God Himself proved that He would rather be killed than kill.
He would rather be put on a cross and murdered by His own creation than hold our sins against us. We killed God! And yet, in the greatest display of divine love the world has ever seen, God looked down on His creation stuck in darkness and spoke forgiveness to us through the blood flowing from His broken body.
When humanity committed the worst sin possible (the killing of our creator), God looked down and forgave us. How much more does He forgive us of everything else?
The cross proves that God is dying for us to know that we are accepted. The cross proves that God bleeds forgiveness and love. The cross proves that He never is going to turn His back on us no matter how much we turn our back on Him.
Truly, God was in Christ reconciling the whole cosmos to Himself, not counting our sins against us."
Christian Erickson
"Today we celebrate that almost two thousand years ago, God Himself proved that He would rather be killed than kill.
He would rather be put on a cross and murdered by His own creation than hold our sins against us. We killed God! And yet, in the greatest display of divine love the world has ever seen, God looked down on His creation stuck in darkness and spoke forgiveness to us through the blood flowing from His broken body.
When humanity committed the worst sin possible (the killing of our creator), God looked down and forgave us. How much more does He forgive us of everything else?
The cross proves that God is dying for us to know that we are accepted. The cross proves that God bleeds forgiveness and love. The cross proves that He never is going to turn His back on us no matter how much we turn our back on Him.
Truly, God was in Christ reconciling the whole cosmos to Himself, not counting our sins against us."
Christian Erickson
Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension - Day 16 - It's Universal: God's Love Includes All People
Though what happened to Adam had a negative effect on all
humanity, what happened with Christ has a much greater positive effect
on all humanity!
Adam believed a lie and became subject to sin, fear and death.
Christ believed the truth for us and freed us who had all our lives been subject to bondage through fear of death!
Through Adam came sin and fear and death.
Through Jesus came grace and truth, and He brought life and immortality to light through the good news of grace (God’s attitude of peace and goodwill toward man).
Adam’s heart was darkened when he believed lies, and these lies trapped and bound him.
Jesus came announcing freedom to the captives and sight to the blind (both spiritually and physically).
Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and became bound in a system of performance and works, thinking he needed to do good to earn God’s favor and that anything less would bring God’s vengeance and curse.
Jesus was and is the tree of life, and He freed us from the law system, showing us God’s way has always been unconditional love and freely given grace (acceptance), and that nothing we do or don’t do could ever change His heart toward us!
Adam’s sin made him feel alienated in his mind from God, and he couldn’t see who God really was – it was like a veil was over his mind, a veil of religious thinking, and he couldn’t see the glory of God within him, couldn’t know who God really was.
Jesus’ righteous act freed our minds, for He redeemed us – He came and claimed what was His own, what He had prior claim to, us! He showed us the glory of God in His own face, that whoever had seen Him had seen the Father – He revealed God as Father!
Adam’s sin deadened or dulled him in some ways from sensing the Spirit’s work in his life, even though the Spirit was always present.
Jesus activated the Spirit’s presence in us in a new way, sending the Spirit into our hearts to assure us of God’s love for us, to echo within us that we truly are God’s children, and heirs!
Adam was of the earth, earthly, and the lies of the enemy made him feel that was all he was at all, someone from below.
Christ was of heaven, heavenly, and He showed us the truth that we are made of God-substance, a part of us is eternal – that we are also from above!
Through one man’s disobedience, sin entered the world, and death through sin.
Through one man’s obedience, there came justification (proving our innocence and likeness to God) and life!
In Adam, all died.
In Christ, all are made alive – we have been raised with Christ and seated in heavenly places with Him!
Because of Adam’s believing a lie, sin ruled in many ways.
Now because of Christ’s believing the truth, grace rules and has the final say!
Because of Adam’s sin, death reigned.
Christ came saying ‘Your God reigns!’ And He has the keys of death and the grave! We reign in eternal life with Him! Life wins, Life reigns!
Because of Adam, everyone forgot their origin in God and their family name.
Because of Christ, all the families of the earth will remember! The sleepers will awaken to God’s glory shining on them! And everyone will turn to the Lord and worship (from Ps. 22).
Because of Adam, everyone feels left out.
Christ shows us noone is left out, all are reconciled! Christ shows us in His forgiving attitude that God is not counting our sins against us, that God’s favor and goodwill is toward all mankind, all are revealed to be included – in!
Because of Adam, all have made themselves into sons of disobedience, though they are truly still God’s own created children.
Because of Christ, God has brought back and redeemed (rescued us from vain thinking) what is His own – His children!
Because of Adam, all were dead in sins (unresponsive to relationship with God). We were made for relationship with Him and we were hurting because we were missing out on enjoying that relationship our hearts longed for, being bound by lies about God and thus afraid to interact with Him, thinking He was mean or distant or demanding.
Yet Christ brought life to the dead and restored the fellowship we were missing, opening our eyes to the fact that God was never against us, He was always right there with us, open and friendly and ready to interact with us. He showed us that God was not scary or distant but safe and embracing us, and we were able to relax and enjoy real intimacy with our Papa!
Adam’s sin affected humanity, because all were from Adam, and we were all ‘lost.’
But Christ’s work affected humanity more, because before we were from Adam, we were formed and found in Christ, chosen in Him and dearly loved as God’s own children, before the world began! We were all found before we were ever lost! God’s prior reference and claim upon us was safely preserved in Christ and we are found in Him, no matter what happened here on this earthly timeline!
Though sin is shown to be great, God’s grace is always shown to be greater still!
Oh, the depth of the riches of God’s foreknowledge and plan!
It saves us all, includes us all, rescues and forgives and frees us all!
As my old pastor used to say, “All means all, and that’s all all means!”
God has consigned all under ‘disobedience’ that He might have mercy on ALL!
ALL humanity was included in His life, death, resurrection and ascension!
Though all creation was subject to futility, corruption and frustration, ALL creation will be freed into life and expansiveness and joy!
Though all became disjointed because of Adam, because of Christ ALL things will be summed up in Him, restored and set right through Christ – there will be the ‘restoration of ALL things’ (Acts 3).
And God will be ALL, and IN ALL!
Hallelujah!
Adam believed a lie and became subject to sin, fear and death.
Christ believed the truth for us and freed us who had all our lives been subject to bondage through fear of death!
Through Adam came sin and fear and death.
Through Jesus came grace and truth, and He brought life and immortality to light through the good news of grace (God’s attitude of peace and goodwill toward man).
Adam’s heart was darkened when he believed lies, and these lies trapped and bound him.
Jesus came announcing freedom to the captives and sight to the blind (both spiritually and physically).
Adam ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and became bound in a system of performance and works, thinking he needed to do good to earn God’s favor and that anything less would bring God’s vengeance and curse.
Jesus was and is the tree of life, and He freed us from the law system, showing us God’s way has always been unconditional love and freely given grace (acceptance), and that nothing we do or don’t do could ever change His heart toward us!
Adam’s sin made him feel alienated in his mind from God, and he couldn’t see who God really was – it was like a veil was over his mind, a veil of religious thinking, and he couldn’t see the glory of God within him, couldn’t know who God really was.
Jesus’ righteous act freed our minds, for He redeemed us – He came and claimed what was His own, what He had prior claim to, us! He showed us the glory of God in His own face, that whoever had seen Him had seen the Father – He revealed God as Father!
Adam’s sin deadened or dulled him in some ways from sensing the Spirit’s work in his life, even though the Spirit was always present.
Jesus activated the Spirit’s presence in us in a new way, sending the Spirit into our hearts to assure us of God’s love for us, to echo within us that we truly are God’s children, and heirs!
Adam was of the earth, earthly, and the lies of the enemy made him feel that was all he was at all, someone from below.
Christ was of heaven, heavenly, and He showed us the truth that we are made of God-substance, a part of us is eternal – that we are also from above!
Through one man’s disobedience, sin entered the world, and death through sin.
Through one man’s obedience, there came justification (proving our innocence and likeness to God) and life!
In Adam, all died.
In Christ, all are made alive – we have been raised with Christ and seated in heavenly places with Him!
Because of Adam’s believing a lie, sin ruled in many ways.
Now because of Christ’s believing the truth, grace rules and has the final say!
Because of Adam’s sin, death reigned.
Christ came saying ‘Your God reigns!’ And He has the keys of death and the grave! We reign in eternal life with Him! Life wins, Life reigns!
Because of Adam, everyone forgot their origin in God and their family name.
Because of Christ, all the families of the earth will remember! The sleepers will awaken to God’s glory shining on them! And everyone will turn to the Lord and worship (from Ps. 22).
Because of Adam, everyone feels left out.
Christ shows us noone is left out, all are reconciled! Christ shows us in His forgiving attitude that God is not counting our sins against us, that God’s favor and goodwill is toward all mankind, all are revealed to be included – in!
Because of Adam, all have made themselves into sons of disobedience, though they are truly still God’s own created children.
Because of Christ, God has brought back and redeemed (rescued us from vain thinking) what is His own – His children!
Because of Adam, all were dead in sins (unresponsive to relationship with God). We were made for relationship with Him and we were hurting because we were missing out on enjoying that relationship our hearts longed for, being bound by lies about God and thus afraid to interact with Him, thinking He was mean or distant or demanding.
Yet Christ brought life to the dead and restored the fellowship we were missing, opening our eyes to the fact that God was never against us, He was always right there with us, open and friendly and ready to interact with us. He showed us that God was not scary or distant but safe and embracing us, and we were able to relax and enjoy real intimacy with our Papa!
Adam’s sin affected humanity, because all were from Adam, and we were all ‘lost.’
But Christ’s work affected humanity more, because before we were from Adam, we were formed and found in Christ, chosen in Him and dearly loved as God’s own children, before the world began! We were all found before we were ever lost! God’s prior reference and claim upon us was safely preserved in Christ and we are found in Him, no matter what happened here on this earthly timeline!
Though sin is shown to be great, God’s grace is always shown to be greater still!
Oh, the depth of the riches of God’s foreknowledge and plan!
It saves us all, includes us all, rescues and forgives and frees us all!
As my old pastor used to say, “All means all, and that’s all all means!”
God has consigned all under ‘disobedience’ that He might have mercy on ALL!
ALL humanity was included in His life, death, resurrection and ascension!
Though all creation was subject to futility, corruption and frustration, ALL creation will be freed into life and expansiveness and joy!
Though all became disjointed because of Adam, because of Christ ALL things will be summed up in Him, restored and set right through Christ – there will be the ‘restoration of ALL things’ (Acts 3).
And God will be ALL, and IN ALL!
Hallelujah!
Fields of Grace
We are His dear little children, walking with our Papa in fields of grace!
"Praise be to God for giving us through Christ every possible spiritual benefit as citizens of Heaven! For consider what he has done—before the foundation of the world he chose us to become, in Christ, his holy and blameless children living within his constant care." Eph. 1:3-4 PHP
"We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand - out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise." Rom. 5:2 MSG
"He stood me up on a wide-open field; I stood there saved - surprised to be loved!" Ps. 18:19 MSG
"Because you’ve always stood up for me, I’m free to run and play." Ps. 63:7 MSG
Innocent Little Children
We are such sweet little innocent children, living constantly in our Papa's tender care! He sings over us constantly, is so delighted in us, we can do no wrong in His eyes! He is so proud of us, and it shows in His beaming face, His smile that's always upon us, the way He brags on us to the whole creation! And we've always been this way to Him, always been His little innocent ones...We called ourselves ugly and unworthy, but our Papa never did! We called ourselves rejected and shameful, but our Papa never did! We called ourselves evil and sinful but our Papa never did!
To Him, we have always been His good little innocent children, His beauties, His cherished ones, the apple of His eye, His pride and joy!
We mess up but He says, "They don't know what they are doing, they are infected with a lie that distorts their perception!" This infection with a lie, this wrong belief, doesn't bring forth His wrath but instead brings forth His compassion!
The things we do wrong are cries for help from a trapped soul! He sees us as wounded little ones needing love, not as rebels or sinners needing condemnation and punishment! Oh what a relief that He always sees me as His little innocent beauty, His cherished little baby who can do no wrong in His eyes! He knows our heart is good, He made us that way, we have His very nature, which is so pure and sweet and good - it's pure love!!
He knows we mean well, we just get confused when we think He doesn't love us..He knows we've been lied to, deceived, tricked, trapped in a false perception , thinking He's against us..He knows we've pulled back from Him in fear and thus aren't experiencing the love that we were meant to enjoy, and He knows without that love we feel empty and in pain and seek wrong ways to deal with that pain and to try to feel okay with ourselves.
He doesn't ever yell, rant or rave at us. He doesn't ever harm or hurt us, doesn't ever lash out at us or punish us. His way is healing and restoration, not punishment and furor! He doesn't want to pull us down, shame us, or wound our hearts. He mends our broken hearts and massages them with the love we need so desperately. He knows we need love, not judgment!
We need His love like we need air!! His soothing presence is pure LOVE and makes the hurt go away, fills the deep need for acceptance and belonging, frees us to look into His face and realize we are safe in His arms and special to Him, makes us see we are His little innocent ones and have been all along! And we blossom and bloom in the atmosphere of His grace and delight over us, as we hear the song He has always sung over us with joy, the love song of the ages, "I've always loved you and always will! You are My beloved child, My innocent one in My image and likeness, in whom I am well-pleased!"
Papa understands! He says everything is okay, I love you, you are mine, you are wanted, I am for you and never against you, never left you, am always here for you..Daddy's got you, you are safe, you are loved, you are home!
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