What is the Good News of the Kingdom, and Why are the Sheep Weary and Worn Out?

Earlier this week, as I sat down to spend time with my Best Friend, Jesus, the whisper in my heart said: Read Matthew 9:35-36. Here it is:

Mat 9:35-36 Then Jesus went to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every sickness. When He saw the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were weary and worn out, like sheep without a shepherd.

It was verse 36 that jumped out at me, but I also wondered about my inability to articulate the good news of the Kingdom. I couldn’t explain it to you in a few succinct words. I asked, “Lord, what is the “good news of the Kingdom?” (For those not familiar with “Christianese,” the “Kingdom of God” means being under the rulership of the one true God. The kingdom of this world is at the mercy of the devil.) This is what I got:

This good news is set in motion by the coming, the proclamation of the Kingdom by Jesus. My Son, My messenger to you, proclaimed the gates to now be open that all may come in. All who will, may come. I did not make man to perish, but neither did I refrain from making them though I knew from of old, from before the foundations were laid for the circling of the stars, who would and who would not obey My love.

No, the invitation to come into the light is not to all, but only to those who will. All who will may come. The good news is simply that, if you would like to, you may freely take the water of life and live. It is true that no one can enter My Kingdom without leaving behind his old life. You may not bring the customs and ways of this world’s king into My Kingdom. No one, seeking to cling to the ways and the things of this world can enter my Kingdom. If My Kingdom were just like the kingdom of this age, why not stay where you are? My Kingdom is better because it is different–completely contrary to the kingdom of this world. No one can serve two kings. You must choose one or the other.

So the good news is, there is a way out. We have been promised acceptance into the Kingdom of God as new citizens–if we want it. Yes, there are conditions, but if you want it, here it is. Come and get it. (But you’d better hurry ’cause it’s going fast.)~~~Just my interpretation

I asked, “What is this about being weary and worn out like sheep without a shepherd, Lord?”

Sheep without a shepherd wander from one hill to the next seeking solace, comfort, nourishment. They need to graze in green pastures ‘neith shady trees, but all they find are briers and brambles. There is one Shepherd. Many sheep, but only one Shepherd. My sheep, though, desperate to hear My voice, have wandered off after first one false shepherd and then another. They seek Me, but because they have not learned to hear My voice, they are at the mercy of those who, raising themselves up as shepherds under Me, try to lead them and fail.

None of them is the true shepherd. I alone am the Shepherd of the sheep. Others may try to fill in, but they only confuse and beleaguer the sheep and keep them from hearing My own true voice. My voice calls you to rest in Me. My voice is the voice of peace–not of condemnation, but of resting in Me. You may follow after an endless array of projects and programs–endless good things–but only one thing is truly needed, and Mary chose that good thing. You choose it, too! (Luke 10:38-42 Mary of Bethany sat at Jesus feet instead of working.)

Sit here at My feet and hear My voice, My people. Follow My example. As I live by My Father’s guidance, so follow My lead. I am the Shepherd of the sheep. Many things tug at you, pulling you this way and that. Sheep have limited ability to understand what is happening around them. They wander into all sorts of muck and mire, desert places where no good thing is, dangerous crags and treacherous rubble-strewn slopes. If someone calls, “Come over here,” they follow and are ensnared. I can lead you through the bewildering maze of busyness that is your lives. I know the path through. With man this is not possible, but with Me, all things are possible.

Look to Me. Ask Me whether to go this way or that. In every step I will guide you. Not so that you can gain the greatest earthly advantage (remember–you belong to My Kingdom now) but so that I can show you green pastures where you will find comfort and joy and rest for your souls. Clear blue skies, quietness. Shelter and the fragrance of our love. Sacred, sheltered, quiet ways of beauty and comfort and swelling joy in growing knowledge of Me, oneness with Me.

It is for this that I made you. Come and rejoice with Me, My beloved ones. We will covenant together and become one vast, holy, never-ending one.

God has mingled His Spirit with ours–we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. While we are not God, He has joined Himself to those of us who have believed, trusted, and submitted to Him. We are one with Him.

This spoke to my tendency to just say “Yes!” to anything that looks like a good thing. But I can’t know whether it’s a good thing that He wants me to do unless I ask Him. There are “good deeds” without number in this sad, fallen world, and God has assigned a limited number of them to me. He may have something else for me, or He may even say, “You’re doing enough. Come and rest in Me.” If we would do as Jesus did (only what the Father gave Him to do), we would be less weary and worn out. We would enter into His rest; the good in the good news of the Kingdom.

Love, Cindy

 

Words from Brothers and Sisters across the Blogosphere

I’m sure there are lots of words from our sibs in the Lord out there, but here are a couple I’ve recently come across, and I’d like to share them with you:

Letter from Jesus to his Beloved, Broken hearted Daughters At Unmerited Grace, by Mwenda. This is the first of Mwenda’s writings I’ve seen. I think it’s amazing, and I look forward to reading more.

The Great Assumption at Milt Rodriguez’s Blog, by Milt (who else?). Whether or not you agree with him, this will challenge some of us, bring grace to others, and probably anger a few. Personally, I think he has a point, though I’m not sure I would have said that a couple of years ago.

Stir the Deep with Me at Stirring the Deep, by Rachel. Rachel has gone to a lot of work to put together this great series of videos. She isn’t finished with them yet. I suggest that if the material is new to you, you take notes and spend some time practicing each one before you go on to the next. This practice has absolutely revolutionized my life and my relationship with Jesus. (Is there a difference between my life and my relationship with Jesus? Less and less, all gratitude and glory to Him.)

New Year’s ReVolution at . . . the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ . . . by David D. Flowers. This develops a similar theme to Milt Rodriguez’s post (linked above) only in a somewhat different direction. It’s a reminder that if we have anything–anything at all–as our priority, besides drawing close to Jesus, we are seriously off track.

Condemnation on Birget Whelan, by Birget Whelan. What a ministry to the hurting heart! Not so long ago it was not unusual for me to feel so burdened down and distressed by past sins and my own unworthiness that I must have really irritated God, whose blood I dishonored by my unbelief. It’s not about our unworthiness–it’s about His love.

Not exhaustive (what if it were! It might never end.), and not in any particular order. I hope the Holy Spirit will speak to you through these brothers and sisters as He has to me.

Love, Cindy

UPDATE
I found another one! The Couch of Completion at . . . the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ . . . by David D. Flowers. Not a new post, but a much-needed one.

 

Reflecting Christ Clearly

I sat down to spend some time with God, and I closed my eyes to just relax and kind of clear my mind from all the daily jangle we all collect. As soon as I did this, a picture flashed in my imagination–very clear, like you’d see if you were there in person–of water rippling, reflecting colors, some reds, whites, like boats or something, and light of course–the way water does. That was all. I watched to see if there was more, but there wasn’t.

Without really thinking about it, I opened my bible at random. This is a thing I almost never do. Usually I have somewhere in particular to go, or I have some reference I feel God is speaking to me. This time, it was just random. The thing I read was a passage from 2 Corinthians 6 and 7 about being separated from the world:

(2Co 6:14-7:1) Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship does light have with darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? And what agreement does God’s sanctuary have with idols? For we are the sanctuary of the living God, as God said: I will dwell among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be My people.

Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord; do not touch any unclean thing, and I will welcome you. I will be a Father to you, and you will be sons and daughters to Me, says the Lord Almighty.

Therefore dear friends, since we have such promises, we should wash ourselves clean from every impurity of the flesh and spirit, making our sanctification complete in the fear of God. (Holman)

I asked, “Lord, what do You want to say to me?” This is what I believe I heard from Him. (My explanations of what these words meant to me are in parenthesis.)

Wash yourself. Come clean, Child. Clean, pure water gives the best, lovliest reflections, even as you see through the water right down to the riverbed. Murky water also reflects, but it is not transparent, and the reflection suffers. It will be flat and lifeless, with no light behind it. Murky water reflects only from its surface layer, while pure, clear water reflects all through. The light bounces around within it, enlightening even the deepest parts.

(Believers reflect Christ to the world–our ability to do this accurately suffers if we cling to the things of the world.)

Keep yourselves unsullied with the world. Flow through, but leave the silt behind. Don’t pick up the world’s habits, values, menus.

This sounded okay–only the last bit was odd. “Menus?” I asked . . .

Menus. The world’s nourishments are sickening to the heart of My children. None of their foods are suitable for you, My Children. Let Me be your food and drink. Let Me be all to you. (Obviously, He is talking about spiritual sustenance, not physical food.)

Water is cleaned by taking it, as vapor, up into the sky. Thus I remove all impurities regularly. Likewise you must be cleansed by daily drawing you up to Me. Impurities are also left behind in the clouds as the water vapor freezes and other vapors, more volatile, waft away. I purify you, My Bride, but you dissolve all that you take in. Keep yourselves, therefore, only unto Me. (The bride is a frequent New Testament metaphor for the church.)

I asked, “Are You saying, ‘No movies, music, etc. not dedicated to You?’”

No, it’s not that simple. You don’t keep yourself pure by obeying rules. You need to understand how very “other” you are with reference to the world. You must resist the tendency and temptation to take in the world’s values, desires, even its “common sense,” for I have My own uncommon sense, and what seems foolish to the world may be wisdom to Me. I will show you as you walk along, if you remember to walk along side by side with Me. Hand in hand, I will show you one thing and then another.

You can only just barely imagine what I have in store for you, for I am the most surprising, surpassing, unpredictable guide you could possibly have. Don’t try to equate or compare Me with the world and anything of the world. I’m not even on the radar. You are in a whole other, bigger, vaster, more-alive-than-you-could-possibly-imagine world when you walk with Me.

I have freed you from this world. You are dead to it. You no longer belong in it, but only walk here as a subversive element from Me. (That is, subversive against spiritual wickedness.) You are in it, but not of it. Don’t try to fit in. You are Mine. You’re supposed to stick out. Keep the mud out of the water. Mud never becomes water. Water does not redeem mud, nor make it better by mixing with it. The water is fouled–nothing more.

Come out of the present age, Daughter. Do not soil yourself with it. You must shine with the purity of who you are in Me. Otherwise how will anyone notice you are different? The garment soiled by the flesh is not suitable for My bride.

Kind of along the same lines as my earlier post, Render Unto Caesar. God seems to stay on a subject with me once He introduces it. I had a dream a few nights ago involving a river that also develops this subject. I’ll post it–or some of it–soon.

Love, Cindy

 

What is Organic Church?

Frank Viola posted an excellent blog today addressing this question, and you should read it–with all of its accompanying links. However, I’d like to summarize just a bit here, since it’s a long blog, and it may take you a day or two to find a quiet hour to study it. I’d like to note, though, that Franks’ entire article is well worth reading, especially if you haven’t read his books. You’ll get a lot of good information from it.

In our western SD community, the term Organic Church tends to pull up images of “all my friends and my old lady sitting, passing the pipe around” (John Denver; paraphrased slightly). Very funny, not true. We don’t pass the pipe around at all–we’ve never passed a pipe around, nor even discussed the possibility. But we do sit around in front of the fire sometimes, if it’s cold. And we do share our portions of Jesus Christ with one another.

In the “house church movement,” the name Organic Church has been used to refer to any non-traditional gathering of God’s people, whether it fits the original intent of the term or not. Here’s a quote from T. Austin Sparks that more accurately defines the meaning of the term Organic Church:

God’s way and law of fullness is that of organic life. In the Divine order, life produces its own organism, whether it be a vegetable, animal, human or spiritual. This means that everything comes from the inside. Function, order and fruit issue from this law of life within. It was solely on this principle that what we have in the New Testament came into being. Organized Christianity has entirely reversed this order.

And here it is in Frank Viola’s words:

By “organic church,” I mean a non-traditional church that is born out of spiritual life instead of constructed by human institutions and held together by religious programs. Organic church life is a grass roots experience that is marked by face-to-face community, every-member functioning, open-participatory meetings (opposed to pastor-to-pew services), non-hierarchical leadership, and the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ as the functional Leader and Head of the gathering.

Put another way, organic church life is the “experience” of the Body of Christ. In its purest form, it’s the fellowship of the Triune God brought to earth and experienced by human beings. . . . Organic church is not a theater with a script. It’s a lifestyle-a spontaneous journey with the Lord Jesus and His disciples in close-knit community.

House churches are not all alike. I believe that God does work through all kinds of churches, whether they meet in a “church” building, a living room, a coffee shop, or the break room of a business. That said, simply meeting outside a traditional church setting does not mean that a church is accurately described as “organic.” I really do encourage you to read Frank’s whole article, as he describes this a lot more thoroughly than I have here.

Frank Viola works with a number of brothers and sisters in planting and helping organic churches around the world. Two of his brothers, Milt Rodriguez and Gary Welter, have agreed to come here to Rapid City, SD to help us. To start out, they’ll be doing a conference for us on the last weekend of February. I know, I know–that does sound a little institutionalized, but I can explain . . . really! This event has a number of purposes: to draw people together in our area so we can get to know one another and perhaps learn of others nearby who also want to meet in an organic way; to give us all some new insights into the ways God (the Father, Son, Spirit) IS community, and how He wants us to be community not only with one another, but also with Him; and to pave the way for possible future help from these brothers, who are a treasure trove of practical experience in living organic church.

If you live in the “five state region,” (you know who you are ), or even if you don’t but would like to learn more about how to learn to meet and live life together in an organic way, you’re welcome to join us, whether for the conference or for one of our regular/irregular meetings. We’d love to have you come and to have the opportunity to get to know you.

Love Always, Cindy

 

Organic Church Conference in Rapid City, SD

My highly gifted daughter, Cheri, made this poster for our upcoming Organic Church Conference. I’ll say more about this later, but I wanted to get the news out. To learn more and/or to register, you can click this link.

 

Render unto Caesar

A few days ago, as I was praying, I asked the Lord if He had a scripture for me to look at, and I sensed Him saying Matthew 22:21, so I started there, but I’ve given you a larger chunk of the story below:

Mat 22:15 Then the Pharisees met together to plot how to trap Jesus into saying something for which He could be arrested.
Mat 22:16 They sent some of their disciples, along with the supporters of Herod, to meet with Him. “Teacher,” they said, “we know how honest You are. You teach the way of God truthfully. You are impartial and don’t play favorites.
Mat 22:17 Now tell us what You think about this: Is it right to pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
Mat 22:18 But Jesus knew their evil motives. “You hypocrites!” He said. “Why are you trying to trap Me?
Mat 22:19 Here, show Me the coin used for the tax.” When they handed Him a Roman coin,
Mat 22:20 He asked, “Whose picture and title are stamped on it?”
Mat 22:21 “Caesar’s,” they replied. “Well, then,” He said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.”

When I read this, I said, “Lord, I’ve always been taught that this is an admonition to be a good citizen and pay your taxes. Is that all it is? Is that what it is at all?”

(To clarify in case you weren’t aware, two metaphors for the true church used in the New Testament and here are the army of God and the bride of Christ.) This is what I believe I heard from Him:

No, Dear. This is not about Caesar as the government, but Caesar represents the present age. Don’t hold on to the things–none of the things–of this world. They are dung–offal. They are a stench in My nostrils. I am offended by these things when you offer them to Me. Do not give Me the things of this world–the works that you dream up.

I am pleased when you offer up yourselves as a living sacrifice to do the works I give you to do, as I give them. A soldier who goes off on his own and does what he thinks best is not honoring his commander. A soldier pleasing to Me hears My voice because he is always listening. Obeying Me is not difficult. I give a little nudge here and a tug there, and if you follow My lead, things slot into place. It may not look that way at the time, but trust Me–that I see all, and I know what–precisely what–is needed at every moment.

You do not have to figure this out. Just follow Me one step at a time. I am leading this dance. Why do you think you have to help Me? Coming up with programs, stuff to do? Soon I am squeezed out altogether and you are working too hard and accomplishing nothing but to hinder My work. You cannot stop Me–I don’t need you in order to do all My will–but would you not prefer to dance with Me, My bride?

I don’t want the kind of service the world desires–constant busyness, endless running around, weariness and striving. Winning acclaim from men means nothing to Me. I AM, and there is nothing you can do to add to or detract from that. My Word is pure and noble and cannot be in any way other than He is. My Word is He who holds Heaven and earth, and binds them together lest they fly apart into nothing. My Word is He who holds you in His hands and builds you into One.

Yield to Him that which is His–that is, your whole selves. Don’t seek for a suitable gift, for there is none. Give Him rather that which is His–give Him yourselves wholly. Do what He commands and nothing else. Do not look for results or dream up schemes “sure” to “work.” What does that mean? Work? My little children, you do not know what is working and what is not. Trust Me and do the little things I give you to do. When you have learned to do this, I will give you a greater task. Only remember that your primary task is to learn how to give yourselves in trust and simpleness of heart.

This is Mine–that you place yourselves unquestioningly in My hands. This is what I desire in My bride–that she trust Me wholly. Don’t worry about pleasing Me. Your complete surrender to Me is more–far more–pleasing to Me than bushels and bushels of dead works. Don’t bring Me great baskets of dead decaying dried-out leaves. Instead bring Me that which is MINE–bring Me yourselves alone.

It is Mine to give life as it is yours to receive. Take then, that which I give to you with meekness and gentleness of heart. Let Me be to you all that you need. The task of the bride is to receive, to be cared for, to yield worship and honor and love–to make glad the heart of the One who lays down His life for her. You, My bride, are to be a helper suitable to Me. Rejoice in being present with Me. Let us rejoice in one another’s love. I created you to love you. That is your purpose.

This isn’t a New Year’s post. God gave it to me just before Christmas. But it’s something to think about as we’re putting together all our resolutions to stop doing “that” and start doing “this.” What’s really needed is to sit at the feet of Jesus and follow His lead one step at a time.

Grace and Peace and Blessings to You!

Love, Cindy

 

The Beatitudes (Part 2)

If you haven’t read part 1, you probably should do that first. It’s here, and in addition to meditating on the first several beatitudes, it explains what I’m doing, which is essentially trying to hear from God as to what He’d like to say to me about this passage.

Matthew 5:8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, because they will see God.

Pureness is a state of being pared down to the essentials. Pure silver is argentum and nothing else. The pure heart has love and nothing besides. Hatred pollutes the heart. No one who pollutes his heart can see Me. The pollution prevents him. Sin blinds his eyes and cripples his spiritual senses. This is why man, in his fallen state, cannot experience Me.

I see all men in their eternal state. This is the true state–the lasting state. Some are destined for glory; others for shrinking away into that non-place of agony and the absence of all things good. For their rejection of light, darkness is left to them; for their displeasure with purity and goodness, only evil remains–and evil is nothing without goodness to besmirch.

The pure in heart has all things, and I AM all things. My heart is purity, goodness, strength, joy, and I place a new heart within you–a pure heart that is heart of My own heart–a pure heart that calls out to and has its being in Me. That is why the pure in heart see Me because I dwell within them and all around them. My purity is Love, and I AM Love. The pure in heart see and know Me in love.

Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God.”

I am the One with whom peace must be made. You make your peace with Me when you answer My call–when you die to the old kingdom–the kingdom of this world. You make peace in only one way, and that is by submitting to death–death to sin, death to self, death to your own ways, your own paths, your own life.

If you will surrender, then you will have peace–and only then. My Son, My only begotten Son, the first among many brethren, is your trailblazer, the pathmaker who cut through the wilderness to open your path to peace. Through His death, you also died, and through His life, you also live. My daughters and sons; you who have made peace with Me have made peace with life, goodness, love, purity–you have come out of all that is not and into all that is. You have become My offspring if you live by the life of My Son.

Matthew 5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs.”

My Kingdom, My Prince, My Way, is anathema to the prince of this world. He is the one from whom all persecution comes. My Word, alive in you, will always draw his hatred, anger, fear. He will hate you with a pure and deadly hatred, and he will persecute you body and soul. It is by his hand, however, that you learn My pure strength as I keep and deliver you. He would destroy you if he could, but he can only burn out that which can be consumed–wood, hay, stubble. Nothing of Me, nothing of true life, no good thing in you can be destroyed if you cling to Me. Temporal things only can he take.

Your trust must be in Me, your heart set upon Me, all your treasure invested in Me. These things he cannot take from you. Everything else is dross–fodder for the fire. Taking these things out of your life leaves more space for the genuine treasure. My love will sustain you and My kingdom will be your delight forever more. He can only torment you a little while, to your profit, but I will delight you forever as we feast on one another’s love.

This runs along the lines of “perfect love casts out all fear,” something else God’s been talking to me about. Trusting Him is easy as long as life hums along nicely (as it sometimes does–for a little while), but we truly learn obedience by the things we suffer–that is, we learn obedience in situations where obedience is hard, not easy. And we learn trust in situations where things seem to be going badly, not well. Without these unpleasant circumstances, how could we become mature sons and daughters worthy of God? He knows what we need. May we always trust Him.

Love, Cindy

 

The Beatitudes (Part 1)

**UPDATE: Part 2 posted here**

Some of the ladies in our church are doing a little informal study on Matthew, and we’ve just gotten through Matthew 5. This passage, known as The Sermon on the Mount, is a masterpiece of discourse, given by Jesus. I think Christians often ignore it (I have), because it’s so hard to imagine ever living up to it. I’ve been unsatisfied by some of our lack of conclusions, as I’m sure the others have as well, so I decided to ask Jesus about it. (What a novel idea!) This is what I believe I heard from Him, in my heart. It’s not a commentary–just some things He said to me, and there’s a lot more than this in the text, certainly, but this is what He said to me:

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, because the kingdom of heaven is theirs”
(me) “The poor in spirit . . .What does that mean, Lord?”

(Him) “You are all poor in spirit if you do not have Me. You are now blessed–extremely, abundantly blessed, for I pour out My Spirit upon you (all). I bless you. Receive, then, the blessing. Hold on to it with all your strength, for it is the gates of life. The kingdom of heaven is yours. Enter in and receive your abundant supply of welcome, love, fellowship, and joy in unity, not only with Us, but with one another. No longer will you be alone. No longer empty. Be filled–take your fill of love.”

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
I was wondering–who do you mean, those who mourn?

“You mourn–all of you (all humans was the connotation). You mourn deeply your loss, and it is great–so great and so complete that you don’t even remember what it was that you had with us before the world began. But you were made of stuff that wants to find its way home, and We–I–am home. No one can know or find this way home who does not perceive his loss. If you hide yourself away in a shell, how will you understand the greatness of your loss? No, only those who expose themselves to the sorrow, who mourn the great, gaping wound and separation, can join the ranks of the comforted, of those to be healed and rejoined in the One.”

To insert a word of clarification, I felt He was talking about that sense of emptiness we’ve all felt from time to time, when we allow ourselves to become quiet. The emptiness that only He can fill. When we truly join ourselves to Him, He fills that void which has swallowed up everything else we have ever thrown into it. Only He is sufficient.

“Blessed are the gentle, because they will inherit the earth.” (You’ve likely heard “meek” rather than gentle. I was reading the Holman.) As I meditated on this, I thought of our gentle brothers and sisters who live under the oppression of cruel persecutors.

“Do not look only at what violent men can do to the flesh, for the more violence they do, the more they yield themselves to hatred, the more they blind and betray their own hearts. You cannot take poison into your heart and not be defiled. You cannot hurt and defile and assault without causing great damage to your own soul. My people do not love violence.

“Gentleness cares, caresses, and heals that which is precious and dear. No more do I turn from the kindling of unrighteousness (from beginning to purge it with fire). Gentleness heals, even if it must, for a time, cause hurt. The healers, the lovers, the restorers of dwelling places–those who repair breaches and rejoin ancient enemies, those who heal relationships, these must inherit the earth. I will allow no others to rule it.”

(Note: While we are to love our enemies as well as our friends, this was not what came into my mind here. Relationships can only be truly healed when we join one another in Him.)

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be filled.”

“Those who long for–who feel the need for righteousness–need hunger no longer. I will take away the impurity of the impure–I will wash them with water and with blood and they will be filled and clothed in My righteousness. Moreover, I will, in the time decreed, cleanse the whole earth of impurity so that only the righteous dwell there. No more place will be found for unrighteousness, and it will be no more. I will take it; I will gather it; from the highest heaven to the depths of the abyss, and I will cast it away into a place that is not a place. It will be removed, and trouble the righteous no longer.

“But you, be filled from the vessel of My righteousness now and forever more. Vessels (containers) of My glorious Son–yield to His righteousness–hold nothing back–and be made pure.”

“Blessed are the merciful, because they will be shown mercy.”

“The judgmental have no capacity to receive mercy. Walking with harsh and rigid rules is akin to stone, cold and dead. It cannot be changed or shaped except by harsh means–the chisel, the hammer, the saw. Living stone is what? The giving clay–the malleable clay that willingly submits to shaping and molding. Mercy bends. Mercy gives way and accommodates others’ weaknesses. The merciful, who always offer mercy, can imagine being offered mercy. The harsh who offer only the letter of the law, will be judged according to their own standards. The merciful keep the law better than the harsh. If only the harsh knew it. The harsh do not understand My law.”

At this point, I regrettably had to go to work. Hopefully, He’ll tell me more later. The hard stuff is closer to the end of the chapter. Anyway, please feel free to add your own insights and discuss what you think of this–whether God gives you a check in your heart or a confirmation.

Love, Cindy

 

The Lord our God is One Lord

What subject in Christianity has caused as much confusion or inspired as many metaphors as the Trinity? Our Tri (three) une (one) God is someone so outside, so completely other, that we can barely begin to conceive of what sort of person He is.

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD (Deuteronomy 6:4)

How do we reconcile this statement with the triune God? Part of the problem lies in our own experience of the world–in the filters we’ve grown up with and through which we always read God’s word. I’ll talk about that in a later post, but there’s also the problem that our language is inadequate to translate the Hebrew. Let’s try this again, this time with some clarification on key words:

The LORD (Jehovah or YHWH–the personal name of God) our God (Eloheem–god–plural) is one (united) LORD (YHWH)

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1) Here, too, the word for God is Eloheem–the plural form. Some say the plural is used to indicate God’s greatness. Why, then, does Moses quote God later in this story: “And God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness . . . .’”? (Genesis 1:26)

God is one, and yet He is three: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God, in other words, is a corporate being. God is community. God is: the Father, out of whom continually issues the Son (who continually pours Himself back into the Father), and the Holy Spirit, who is the loving commerce between the Father and the Son, so real that this commerce is a person in His own right–the Spirit of God.

So when God created man in His own image, how did He do that? God created Adam, in whom all people were contained. Eve was taken out of Adam, and the entire human race issued from this first couple. God created a corporate man–Adam, who had within him the seed of all men. Man, too, was community. God created Adam in His own image, and God is community.

Like you, I’ve heard this explained differently, but the explanation never seemed quite right. It goes something like this: God is three persons in one, therefore man must be a three-part being–body, soul, and spirit. The sticking point for me was that the two “threes” don’t correspond. You could make a case for the Spirit being analogous to man’s spirit, and the Son (who later took on a human body) being analogous to the human body of Adam. That leaves God the Father to be the “soul,” or as we commonly define that term, the mind, will, and emotions. But Jesus told us that the Father is spirit, and must be worshiped in spirit and in truth. If God the Father is analogous to man’s spirit, then the Holy Spirit has to be analogous to man’s soul, and that doesn’t work at all.

When I heard (this weekend at the organic church conference my husband and I attended) that “Let us create man in our image” referred to God’s creating man as a corporate being, it clicked into place in my heart like a stone hewn to fill one and only one place in a skillfully engineered building. It felt like a vastly significant stone; an essential stone. It is not good for man to be alone. God created man to be a community–and not just any community, but the kind of community that God Himself is. A community so tight that it can only be described as one person–YHWH.

We mucked it up by choosing to eat from the tree of knowledge rather than the tree of life. Bad, bad move. This was Satan’s counterfeit tree, allowed by God to give us a choice–so that we could truly love–so that we could either choose Him . . . or not. YHWH wanted us to live by His Son’s life, just as the Son lives by the Father’s life (which He continuously gives back) through the channel of the Holy Spirit. God wanted (and wants) to extend that life and that pure, absolute community, to man. We were meant be one with God and with one another, just as God is one. We aren’t to be divine, however He intended for us to be united to one another and to Him by the holy bond of love.

But no, we ate from the tree of knowledge–we wanted it all–to be like God for ourselves, individually. This is truly Satan’s counterfeit–the rugged individualist who needs no one, who is sufficient unto himself–the rock, the island. Ever since we gave up paradise for individual “freedom,” we’ve been trying to get back to the Garden, but we’ve been trying to get there by our own life. We can’t do it–not without removing the poison of individualism. God made us each unique, but He also made us to be one as He is one. He made us to spread His image and His kingdom over all the earth. He made us to love and be loved by Him and by our brothers and sisters. This is the real circle of life.

His love, Cindy

 

Did the Father Forsake Jesus on the Cross?

I’m borrowing an idea that Debs uses often in her blog, Stirred Not Shaken, and posting a question here this time. When Jesus said on the cross:

(Mat 27:46) “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” which means “My God, My God, why have You abandoned Me?”,

are we to assume that the Father had indeed forsaken Him? In my previous post, I recorded a conversation having to do with dry spells. As in all other things, Jesus was tempted by this, just as we are. Jesus on the cross, in agony of body, in agony of soul, in agony of spirit, sensing perhaps for the first time ever a disconnect from God the Father, is the ultimate example of an excruciating dry spell.

So, was He truly forsaken, or was He, as we so often find ourselves, simply unable to sense the uninterrupted presence of His Father? What do you think, and why?