The Beatitudes (Part 1)

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?

 

The Dry Spell

So who’s up for that? Dry spell; those words can strike apprehension into the boldest Christian’s heart. Yet God doesn’t let anything happen except for our good–really. I was feeling anxious, and it was that kind of floating anxiety that it’s hard to assign to any specific reason or event. This is what I sensed Him saying to me:

I don’t want you anxious, but trusting in Me. Remember–perfect love casts out ALL fear, and fear is the torment you feel. Never fear, for I AM with you always, even to the end of this world and into the vast lands of eternity. You must never fear. Nothing can befall you except for your good and the good of others. I love you and place your best interests before all concerning you. I won’t bring, nor allow anything in your life that will cause you lasting harm, and I will judge and destroy all who mean you ill–visible and invisible enemies.

I will move you from this place into another, and to another. Spiritually, your journey must not stall. This means discomfort as you learn new ways of being; discomfort, but not harm. I will never leave you nor forsake you, but sometimes you may not see Me. No, I am not hiding, but your blindness is caused by looking in the wrong direction. Keep your eyes on Me. Sometimes this may be difficult, but your perceptual skills are growing day by day.

I asked: “But what about people who have these dry spells, Lord, where they can’t see or sense or hear you at all? Why? What is that?”

I asked this, not thinking of my own past experience. In retrospect, I had a big one, and I didn’t do well. I can’t say I remained faithful, but I resisted letting go of Him all together. I didn’t have much strength, but He never let me fall away entirely.

This is what I heard Him say in my heart:

You went through that already. Remember? It was a long time. You were very lonely. You sought Me, and I came to you, but it took a long time to clear your vision–and it is still being healed. You are quiet now, not so bold, not caught up in all the static. I had to push “Reset,” so to speak. It was the only way to reach you and turn you. You thought you were following Me, but you were following thoughts, ideas, phantasms.

Nothing, however correct technically, can substitute for that sure KNOWLEDGE of Me, for experiencing Me, and being one with Me. Nothing else will do. I will have a relationship, not obedient employees who do not know Me–spouting the company line, loyal, invested in the company, but not friends–not sons and daughters, not intimate soul mates. I do not need employees, as if you do anything for Me that I can’t or don’t do on My own. Even that which you do, you do in My power. Do you think you can help Me? No. I love to see you do things because it is good for you. You’re not affecting the outcome, My dear sweet little one, but is so precious to see you loving one another and becoming what I know you will become–what I created you to be and to become.

This is My will for you–eternal LIFE; and that life is to be found only in relationship with us all (God and His people)–in love. For love is life, and hatred is death. Hate is the cancer that must be healed (by destroying it) or cut out and tossed into the fire. You have elected to destroy the poison by identifying with My Son’s death. Your sin nature is dead and is dying daily.

Others worship their own fallenness. They will not submit to death of the sin nature. These are they who will die eternally. The cancer cannot be allowed to remain. It must be destroyed. It is a horror, an abomination–whoever holds on to it will follow it to destruction. Whoever wills to lose his life as it is will find true life in Me, but whoever clings to his old life will never see true life. His disease prevents him. Do not be like him. Yield a little at a time and do not spare the flesh, for if you pity it, it will be your destruction. Lay this life on the altar and as it burns, your true life will spring forth as a fire, as power, as warmth and comfort–as love.

Love, Cindy

 

Don’t be a Straggler!

9/16/09: This word has some history. I’m reading a book right now that, while I’m sure it has a lot of good stuff in it, is a bit discouraging at the start. The book asserts that no one can do organic church without a trainer and/or personal experience. Since that’s exactly what we’re doing, you may understand that I found this discouraging. There is, so far as I know, no help available for a small group of believers in a small town, so what are we supposed to do?

Anyway, I was trying to meditate on John 4, which is what the church is reading just now, but God knew what I truly needed to hear. As always, eat the grain; throw out the stubble (that part–the stubble–is the bits of me I failed to see and toss out).

I AM, and the things I do, I do in My own way. You no longer have that endless expanse of years stretching out before you. Behold; I do a new work and all who see will marvel. Can a nation be born in a day? And yet it (Israel) is. Let this be a sign to you. Can a church spontaneously spring up of its own volition? I say to you that I do not require a human agency to bring this about. No one but I can build My church. I will send to you whom I will send, and you do not need or require a human agency to springboard you into effectiveness. My word to you is this: Send your desires into My harvest and I will fulfill them. No other than I Myself will guide you, yet you will walk in My paths.

The time is short, and human agency (or lack of it) must not stand in the way of those who would work in the harvest. I Myself am sufficient to guide you, and I will guide you in My paths. Only see that you do not neglect to walk in those ways I point out to you. I will be waiting there for you and we will go on together. Always it must be so: I call; you come. So we will make our journey. The closer to Me you are willing to come, the better and faster we will go on. Do not hang back, enthralled by the things of interest along the trail, or you will neglect My company. Do not leave My path; do not lose sight of Me, or you will wander in darkness and never bear fruit to life eternal.

Too much of My church will straggle along, never knowing the richness of My company on the journey because they lag back and do not obey My commands to draw near. Like children, I must gather them again and again and urge them on. Do not remain so, but grow up into My mature sons and daughters to whom I can entrust My work–My important jobs–to whom I can say, “Do this,” and know it will be done. Delayed obedience is like smoke in My eyes–an irritant and a painful nuisance. Just do what I say when I say it–not three weeks later. Then we will be walking side by side, arm in arm, and the way will pass so much more sweetly.

 

Regarding Buttprints in the Sand

I got this from Debs’ blog, Stirred not Shaken. Thanks, Debs!

Buttprints in the Sand

One night I had a wondrous dream,
One set of footprints there was seen,
The footprints of my precious Lord,
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some stranger prints appeared,
And I asked the Lord, “What have we here?”
Those prints are large and round and neat,
“But Lord they are too big for feet.”

“My child,” He said in somber tones,
“For miles I carried you alone.
I challenged you to walk in faith,
But you refused and made me wait.”

“You disobeyed, you would not grow,
The walk of faith, you would not know.
So I got tired, I got fed up,
and there I dropped you on your butt.”

“Because in life, there comes a time,
when one must fight, and one must climb.
When one must rise and take a stand,
or leave their butt prints in the sand.”

How perfect is this? And to top it off, God has been prodding me to get off mine and get moving. He is so patient to keep calling us like so many inattentive children. At some point, though, He does mean for us to grow up. He’s been giving me some things in this vein lately. Here’s one:

9/11/09 The verse: “Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You” came to my mind.

Hide My words in your heart. Tuck them into all the secret places where you secret your great and lovely treasures.

Lord, what treasures could I have but You? What could please me above Your love?

See to it you remember this, My beloved. Kindness does not call rubbish by any other name. Rid yourself of all that weighs you down and holds you back. You need nothing beside Me, and as you go, your needs–all of them–will be met as they come up.

(I got a picture in my mind of a scene from Romancing the Stone in which the heroine is carrying two huge suitcases down a muddy road in Columbia, wearing high-heeled shoes, fuming because the hero does not offer to carry the cases for her. When he does take the suitcases, it is only to throw them off the road, down into the jungle below.)

(I also got a picture of myself wandering through a huge cave with lots of nice tall passages and rooms. In every nook was some kind of an ornament. Some of them were really cheesy and some were beautiful works of art or gemstones, etc. I had a beautiful gem, flashing light, and I couldn’t find a place to put it. I had to throw out one of the horrible, cheesy ornaments to find a spot for it. I couldn’t believe I had ever wanted the thing in the first place. I saw this as a picture of me wandering through my own heart.)

Continue to seek Me–you must not grow weary in this. I sustain you with Myself, and though you may feel unable to go on, yet a few more steps and you will find you can go a few more. There are times for struggling and pressing through, just as there are seasons of refreshment, and I am with you in all these things. You are more than victorious in My victory. Come.

There’s more, but I’ll get back to you on that in a day or two. For now, abide in Him and in love for one another.

Love, Cindy

 

A Time for Seeking Him

Yesterday as I was praying for our little part of the church (I am so grateful to God for each of them), I got this word from God for us. It’s possible and, I’m afraid, likely, that some of my own thoughts are sprinkled in here, but if you see also a message from Him for yourself, take out that good part and act on it and be blessed.

Follow Me and I will make you fishers of men. Until you follow Me, how can you expect My benefits? I have told you to fast—I have instructed you to turn toward My word and devour it daily. How can you expect My benefits if you do not eat at My table? My way is not a way of wandering aimlessly. My table is ready, but you must pick up your utensils in your own hands and bring the food—every word that comes from My Father—to your mouth, and eat. In order to hear these words, you must turn away from other amusements for a time. My kingdom is primary. Though you cannot see it, you must know that you know that you know it is the real reality. Fighting through the veil of flesh that clouds and obscures your vision is and must be your primary concern.

In this way, you must fight: Put down the microphone. It is I who must be heard, not you. When you pray, wait before Me like a weaned child—no longer clamoring for attention, but content and trusting. Rest in My arms, knowing I will feed and care for your needs. I have not forgotten My plans for you. In this dispensation (time period, kingdom, situation), you will be weary, but in My presence you will find rest for your soul.

My hardest request for you is this—that you satisfy your needs and longings in Me alone and not in your own desires. The heart’s longings are drowned out by the constant clamoring and whining of the flesh; I need, I want, I require, I will, I won’t . . . .

Request rather that I release you from this clamor—this din. Come away with Me, my love. Come away daily and rest in Me. If you have no time but your mealtime, which do you need more? Which do you feed—flesh or spirit? Only when you say with Me: ‘I have food to eat that you don’t know about—My food is to hear and do My father’s words,’ will you find that rest for your souls that you long for.

I know it is hard, but you must make your way through that veil of your flesh into the presence of My Father, if you are to tap into the strength and provision set apart for you. Your flesh is weary—do not pity it. Rather continue to push—push through—you cannot fail, for I give you just enough strength moment by moment, and before you faint, I will part the way.

Like a chick breaking through the shell, you must persist. I will not permit you to stay in the egg though it was warm and dark and comfortable. It can be so no longer, for your time there has ended. And yes, there are many eggs. This one rests inside a larger and a larger. Only in the glorified state will you break out entirely. But for now, concern yourself with this present battle.

The time has come. Turn away from unnecessary and unprofitable pursuits and seek Me alone. For a time, let Me be all that you see. Turn aside from food—seek My words as your necessary sustenance. Turn aside from false knowledge. Seek My pure words as silver streams of light, enlightening the eyes of your spirit.

Help one another to do this. I will bless your efforts to work together. Take time apart to seek Me alone and I will bless your fellowship with many new directions, lanes, paths. This is My direction: take time away. Take time for Me. After this, come together anew and see what I can do with a people fully My own.

May the Grace and Peace of our God, and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Love, Cindy

 

John 1:10-13

Our church is studying the book of John. Here’s what I believe God gave me while meditating on chapter 1:10-13. It ties in with the stuff on verses 5-9, which was my last post, so if you didn’t see it already, it might be good to read over it real quick before you read this one.

John 1:10-13 He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not recognize Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God.

Here’s what I heard God speaking to me regarding this:

(First, I got a picture or impression in my mind of a huge solidity–like a massive rock being set into place with a great and final sound of permanence. Like something big was happening and could neither be stopped nor undone.)

This is My time; not like the previous time when I came and no one received Me. I was announced, but only My Father’s angels, and a few shepherds they managed to round up, greeted My coming, plus some foreigners (the magi). To My own people I was virtually unheralded. Anna and Simeon alone were looking for Me with understanding. (Luke 2:25-38)

Today, that which is called the church is largely making the opposite of this mistake. When I came as a human child, growing naturally, and implementing the secret kingdom without strength of arms in men’s hearts and souls, they looked for a conqueror in the flesh.

Behold–now I come as the conquering warrior and they are looking for a gradually growing kingdom of peace–a kingdom they must bring in by natural means. No more will I tread only the unseen kingdom of the hearts of men. Yes, the heart is where it begins, but the second stage looms, and that is the birth–the thing out in the open and clear to all. This time there will be no mistake. No one will say, “Was He really the one?,” for all will see–no one can deny–that I AM and that the kingdoms of the earth have now come into My hand.

The church as a whole are so invested in the world today that they don’t want Me to come suddenly. They want Me to come gradually. The Jews wanted Me to come suddenly, but I came with a secret kingdom that has grown gradually. Now the time has matured and The Day is near. Surely I come suddenly, and My hosts with Me. Watch. Be prepared. The time draws near.

 

John 1:5-9

Our church is studying the gospel of John, and we’ve just begun. I figured we’d go on until we finished chapter one, but I was WRONG! Everyone else said that if we did that, we’d be in John forever. Well, I suppose they’re right. All the same, I’m going to post the rest of the stuff I got on chapter one here. So there! The passage I was meditating on was John 1:5-9. Here it is:

Joh 1:5-9 That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it. There was a man named John who was sent from God. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but he came to testify about the light. The true light, who gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

And this is what I believe God said to me about this. Obviously, it’s not an exposition of the passage–at least not primarily. It’s like He used it as a conversation starter to say what He wanted to say. God can be like that . . . .

John went to prepare the people’s hearts, to raise anticipation, expectation–to create an air of expectancy. There were already many circumstances arranged for the coming of My Son into the world, but John was key–he was dispatched to walk onto the stage first–to give the introduction. My Son was expected, but He was not as expected. Some saw Him through their own filters and imputed to Him the revolutionary qualities they looked for–revolution, yes–this He brought–but in My way, the revolution begins unseen. A child grows in the womb and is born only after all his systems are completed and functioning. So has My revolution, started in My Son, grown for 2000 years since–the unseen (by those who are dying) revolution of the heart. When it has reached its proper maturity, only then will it come into the world fully formed.

The outward shell that is (the outward appearance of the church) will pass away, and the real child that shall be produced from its death shall be called the bride of Christ. My Son will come then for His spotless, unblemished, yearning, eager, excited, loving, faithful, true bride. This will be My crowning glory–the glory I sought in creating the world. The creation has yet to reach its final stage, which is perfection.

There is yet much to be done, yet the next and final stage draws near–the Sabbath rest, during which the land will produce one last crop on its own–that which springs up of its own accord–some good and some bad. Then shall the heaven and earth you now know pass away and all things be made new.

I think that last crop He mentions must be those who are born during the millennial reign, following the return of Jesus to the earth. I didn’t actually ask Him. The meditation on the next portion of John (1:10-13) is similar to this. I’ll post it soon.

Love, Cindy

 

Please Pray for Rifqa

Yes, this does happen right here in the supposedly immune USA. Rifqa was sent back to Ohio by a Florida judge today. Pray she will not be forced to return to her family, that God will fill her with His peace, and that He will be glorified through this situation.

It is not only Rifqa’s life that is in danger. Since her situation has become so well-known, she may be spared dying because of her family’s fear of prosecution–maybe–but she will certainly be beaten, tortured and abused if the account she gives here is accurate (and I believe her). Pray for this little sister.

Update: Fox News has just posted a story stating that Rifqa will now be allowed to remain in Florida in foster care pending a hearing on September 3rd. Praise God, and please continue to pray for her.