Let There Be Light

Paul discloses a profound secret to the saints in Rome when he asserts, “we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” (Rom 5:4-5)


There have been times when I have read this and thought; really? I am the first to admit that I am like an averse little kid when these seasons of suffering occur. I don’t like it the least. An inevitable question is why do I react in this fashion? I believe it is because those sufferings reveal something about my faith, notably the fact that sometimes I resemble that wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. In other words I am not completely convinced that God is in full control and that He is love and love only. Moreover, I am not totally persuaded that everything that befalls me is His perfect plan for me in any circumstance.


I assume this was what Peter had to learn when he was sifted and as a consequence denied Jesus three times. After the revelation where he saw that Jesus was the Messiah he must have thought that now he was the initiated one and hence knew everything. His testimony from that moment onwards must have been that God is love. Peter was convinced that he loved Him back and on account of that not so small fact would never ever deny Him. However, there must have been a slight doubt in his mind regarding those things he took for granted. The only way Peter could become aware of his delusion was through testing.


Now we have come to the core of the matter. Our reason to rejoice is that God’s prime concern is to make us safe in His love. A most fascinating evolvement or perhaps it is more correct to say fascinating unveiling of our new heart takes place when we become settled in His love. Unimpeded by doubts regarding our Father’s character our new heart begins to produce what Paul calls character. This is a recognition of who we really are, that His love is poured into our hearts and that that is the eternal source from which our life flows.


Even though we have received a new heart it seems like it needs reassurance and love in order to blossom and mature. In a matter of speaking it is softened when we understand that God is love and that He is for us. I find that this law is operative in me: The more I recognize God’s love towards me the more loving and understanding I am towards others. This is definitely a fascinating aspect of the new life. It displays my humanity and that I am created for meaningful relations shrouded in love.


Most importantly, though, is the fact that love is the most significant characteristic of the Triune relationship of which we now are invited to be partakers. Hence, we are trained in love. We are not responsible to become more loving. God is the one who through our different experiences in this life see to that our new life is manifested in love. Norman Grubb said, “I am not a maintaining self. I am a maintained self.” God is my keeper and maintainer!


From this perspective we realize that those periods of testing also involve a subversion or erosion of our self-sufficient-self. A process which is absolutely necessary if we are to grasp the enormity of God’s grace and how comprehensive Jesus’ finished work is. After the incident outside the high priest’s courtyard Peter’s self confidence was in disarray. He must have doubted God’s love since He allowed this calamity to come his way. Perhaps worst of all, Peter must have felt his nothingness as a devouring darkness.


Into this vacuum God’s light and love flows unobstructed and fills Peter with a new understanding of who he is in an eternal perspective. It is the kind of emptiness the Genesis account alludes to into which God commanded: Let there be light!

Which is Born of the Spirit is Spirit

One of the most fascinating conversations ever recorded is found in John 3. Jesus is giving Nicodemus a lecture in the principles of the Kingdom. As the rest of the Jews Nicodemus believed that Messiah would establish Israel again as a prominent nation. They thought that God would install Israel at the helm of world affairs. That His Kingdom would be a literal kingdom. To Nicodemus Jesus established that the Kingdom would be an invisible Kingdom inhabited by those who were born again by the Spirit.


Ezekiel prophesized, “I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land.“ The Kingdom of heaven is our own land. We are merely sojourners in this temporal realm. We belong to another dimension – unseen by the natural eye. There we live, move and have our being.


A few sentences later Jesus says a most stunning thing to Nicodemus: “…that which is born of the Spirit is spirit”. When Jesus meets the Samaritan woman He informs her that God is spirit. A spirit is invisible if it hasn’t any means of manifesting itself. The universe is thus a manifestation of God. He who is all in all can be found in everything for those who have eyes to see. In the same manner we express our true self – our spirit - through our body and soul. Those who have eyes to see can the glory we have from our Father. We manifest our spirits in a lesser scale than God, hence He calls us gods.


The Kingdom of God isn’t referring to a future bliss. It is here and now populated by those who are born again by the Spirit. About those who haven’t accepted Christ John writes: “Whoever does not love abides in death” and “…whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.” We pray and hope to see them join our ranks of born again spirits. Paul states clearly that every man is reconciled to God, but evidently not everyone has the life. Man is reconciled to God, but only those who are spirits and born again have life.


Do you believe that you are a lover? John says you are if you have the Son of God. You can’t help yourself; you love people and you love everything God loves. Remember you are a spirit. You are a partaker of God’s life. You are an other-lover no matter how you feel or how you perceive yourself. As spirits we function on a quite different level. We do not live by sight, but by faith. And by faith we call into existence the things that do not exist. Be patient with yourself and do not judge according to appearances. As spiritual persons we make spiritual judgments.


When the full extent of the fact that we are spirits sinks in a most glorious thing happens in our consciousnesses. A wave of relief and freedom wash in over us. We recognize that the abundant life isn’t something into a dim future. It is here and now. We clearly understand that as spirits born by God we are not limited by any law. We are driven by His love which far supersedes any law.

Who are You, O Great Mountain

I ask you my friend to never think disparaging thoughts about yourself and what you consider as failings or warts in your personality while in this temporal realm. I have been in that place where I always fought what I perceived as flaws in my personhood. I have begged God to improve me - to make me more loving, more caring, a better listener, more energetic etc. I have tried with all my might to become a better person. The measuring stick was the law and manmade codes of ethics.


My seemingly flaws seemed as mountains to me which I had to conquer and flatten. Listen what God said to Zerubbabel: “Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain.” How is that possible? There is only one answer: “He shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!” The shout of grace is reverberating through the universe and when your ears hear its call you know the answer. From the top of your consciousness the truth about who you are will reach every corner of your being. Can you hear the shout?


When the truth settles you will see that what you perceived as flaws and shortcomings are plains from God’s point of view. In His time He will make them your biggest assets. Yes, we are indeed fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are His works, and we are a work of His hand. When that spirit of error was kicked out of the temple and God’s Spirit filled it God declared over us: You are perfect! Do you believe it?


In Noah’s days it continued to rain until all the mountains were covered by water. God’s work will always cover our mountains of self effort and our erroneous notions about who we are. The water from above will make everything level. Can you see it?


Well, who are you, O great mountain? You are the lie from the Garden of Eden. You said we had to become like God. We have disclosed your lie. We are like God. How can it be any different when we are created in His likeness? It is a magnificent work of His righteous right hand. My work is to believe that He has done what is impossible for man. So, let’s go to work with a light heart.

The Refreshing Taste of Freedom

The following constitutes a part of Paul’s greeting to the Galatians: “For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.” Paul is referring to the Gospel when he utters those indeed bold words. The gospel he was sharing was not given him by any man; it came as a revelation of Jesus Christ. It should then be clear that the good news that Paul preached was something quite different from what he previously had been taught by the men of the law.


In verse 16 Paul makes a most astounding observation: “God revealed His Son in me”. Some translations have made this into; “….revealed His Son to me”, which is something quite different. The Greek preposition used in this context is “in”. What we can infer from this and what also align with our own experiences as Christ is formed in us is that Paul and we go from outer reality to inner reality and we realize that we are inner people.


The inner life is governed by utterly different principles than the outer life. Contrary to attempting to follow outer ordinances and regulations the inner life endows us with the opportunity to be whole persons and not least true to ourselves and those around us. Following outer principles is a sure path to dishonesty and hypocrisy. We are a sick and tired of being pretenders, and as the outer pressures mount the cry in our hearts is: “I want to be real! There must be someone out there who loves me and accepts me as I am!”


That was Paul’s prime discovery! This was the foundation for his gospel. God is love and He loves you beyond your wildest imaginations. In fact you cannot imagine His love. You can, however, under those limitations we now are subject to to a certain degree experience His love, but more importantly you can by faith be fixed in your consciousness that He is love, and hence in everything you can count on this fact. In weakness, in darkness, in misery, in confusion, in affliction you can count on one thing: God is for you!


As this amazing fact begins to settle in our minds outer circumstances begin to lose their power in how we perceive ourselves and life in general. No matter what happens we are safe in Him. Of course, this unfetters those inner potentials we a period believed were against His will and good pleasure. For some it means that they can play card with their friends, for others they are now free to exercise the music someone told them was from the devil.


You have your history, and I have mine. What we have in common is this: We suddenly blossom in the light and love of our Father and can finally be who we were created to be without any inhibiting outer fences. Our motivation comes from within, from Christ in us and He was as you perhaps remember accused of being a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!

Serving God

The cry in most churches and denominations is that we must serve God. Well, then, how do we serve God? When Jesus came into the world he said: “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body has you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.”


This is plain and straight forward. God is not interested in man’s attempt at pleasing Him by making sacrifices and offerings which often is at the core of the message in regards to serving God. “You have to offer more of your money, time etc.” “You have to make some sacrifices for God, you know.” To be honest with you: God is not interested!


Asking for forgiveness and punishing ourselves mentally when we have failed is nothing else than burnt offerings and sin offerings. God takes no pleasure in our attempts to atone for our misdeeds. Jesus’ sacrifice was once and for all. There is nothing we can add to His finished work. Forget it!


However, what we know is this: God has prepared a body for us through which He who is Spirit manifests Himself. Secondly, we have come to do His will. How? We are conduits through which His life flows. That is serving God. We serve Him with our bodies so He can make Himself known to the world. This is the reason why Jesus said: Those who have seen me have seen the Father. Remember, we have the same oneness with God as Jesus had.


Those who attempt to serve God by their good works are nothing more than servants and their self-perception will be accordingly. However, those who by faith have entered a more elevated level in their consciousnesses do not regard themselves as servants. Jesus calls His brothers and sisters friends, and that is what we are -friends with the creator of the universe. To see this truth and hence enter into it is indeed a wonderful thing.


Those who know who they are have given up any effort towards serving God with their own means. They just are. Through those God’s life and light flow unimpeded. Since they know this precious fact they are unperturbed by appearances. They live by faith. They have moved into the New Jerusalem where everything is clean and covered with gold. To the pure everything is pure, Paul wrote.

The Lord of Heaven and Earth

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. (Acts 17:24-25)


Those are words Paul said to the men in Athens. Our God doesn’t live in temples made by man. Neither Churches, Cathedrals, monasteries nor convents are His dwelling place. He lives in temples made of flesh, that is, the pinnacle of His creation – men. Only God can make man. That is His sole privilege. It is pure vanity to imagine that man can create a house from brick and wood that contains the Creator of the Universe. He has found a dwelling place in what only He can create.


In the same manner it is pure vanity to imagine that we can serve God. He is the one who has made Himself servant to all mankind and gives us everything. I assume when Paul uses the word “everything” he means what he says – everything, that is, nothing exempted. “God only requires Himself”, Jessie Penn Lewis once wrote. The gifts of the Spirit, the fruit of the Spirit, our worship, our self-for-others-love are all Him manifesting Himself in our form.


In the new dispensation as new creations in Christ He has made us participants in His life. We live His quality of life, we breathe and exhale His life and we are made everything in Him. To live by laws and ordinances are an artificial kind of life. The cry that we must serve God is void and without substance. He, the sustainer of life, doesn’t need anything. Penn Lewis further wrote: “What God wants out of us He will first put in.” What He puts in naturally flows out again – rivers of living waters. This is the higher law of love which comes to expression without boundaries as we cease from our own works and realize that without Christ we can do nothing.

God Judges Upwards

I am afraid I am challenged to give some depth to James 2:19 which says: “You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder!” I am not in a position to provide my readers with a comprehensive exposition, just some preliminary thoughts. The verse has always confounded scholars and many consider it as an obscure verse, and so it has been for me for many years.


The only beacon around which I can navigate in this context is some thoughts which manifested in my tired mind a late evening. I am treating the subject at hand with the uttermost caution and humbleness. I perfectly know that I only see in parts, and that there are others out there who see other parts which might shed more light on this.


First of all we have to acknowledge that many Christians fear God even though John says there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). I find it difficult to say that there are similarities between human faith and how demons believe. However, there is a huge difference between believing that God is one and that we are one with God. The first can instill fear, the latter casts out fear.


The key word I am given in this context is separation. Those who believe in separation, that is, the illusion that God is out there somewhere are those who might shudder. When the devil thought he could become like God, his mindset obviously must have been separation, that he had some sort of life in himself - that God wasn’t all in all – that he could sustain life by his own powers. That God is all in all can’t be grasped intellectually. It is a subject to faith only.


Perfect love is consummated in those who have entered a consciousness of union. Knowing that you are one with God provides the peace that transcends understanding. We do well believing that God is one, James says. If his statement is to make any sense in the greater context of our discussion he must be alluding to our oneness with God. The demons can’t possibly have a consciousness of union. Their only reality is separation by virtue of that this was the mindset that sparkled Satan’s rebellion.


It is the mindset of separation which motivates a Christian lifestyle where the main focus is how to please God. Paul Anderson-Walsh puts it like this: “Have you ever found yourself wondering, “Who is the real me?” Most of us have. Moreover, many Christians have to live with the added guilt which comes from a numbing sense that who we are is not who we should be. Consequently, we live our lives trapped in a cycle of performance, rotating between commitment, failure, condemnation, confession and re-dedication.” A consciousness of union is the only remedy against this cycle of performance.


A last reflection on why both demons and too many Christians shudder. When a person thinks that God judge downwards he will perceive himself to be in a precarious position. One wrong step and judgment is effected from above, that is, punishment. The demons rightly believe that God judges downwards. Their destiny is sealed. However, the gospel judges upwards. Jesus didn’t come to judge the world or to condemn the world, but to save. There exists no reason whatsoever to shudder in unconditional love. The issue is, however, that too many do not hear unconditional love. They hear conditional love which is something different all together, that is, the system of the world.


God judges upwards to bring life. We judge upwards to bring life to those God has given us.

Five Loaves and Two Fish

There is a deeper and more profound context to the bread and fish miracle than what meets the eye. We all know the story – how Jesus multiplied five loaves and two fish and hence fed a gathering of five thousand men. In addition there obviously must have been both women and children present. The intriguing thing is that the five loaves and two fish represent our humanity. That is how far our powers stretch – five loaves and two fish are all we have to offer a hungry world. However, in our rebirth we were joined one Spirit with God and in that instant we no longer are five loaves and two fish. We often erroneously think that that is all we have to offer until the revelation comes which opens our minds to a far greater reality. In this union with God it is impossible to discern or make a distinction between man and God. We are so completely meshed together with God that to tell where I begin and God ends is an utter impossibility. From here it becomes very interesting, because in this union we are no longer merely five loaves and two fish. We are multiplied so that our influence is far beyond our human limits – those we operated within before we came to Christ. In this new setting where God has taken us over we are just as astonished as the disciples when we behold what happens around us when we serve what we think is a rather meager portion to the world. It multiplies! The Spirit is all over the place! Almost incredulous we watch how God feeds a huge gathering of people through us. And miracle over miracle; after the feast there are twelve baskets with leftovers which we bring with us home. After we have given out our portion we are better off than what we were before. We have more to give at the next occasion, and we have plenty to satisfy our own needs so that we are always refreshed, quickened and energized in the aftermath of our ministering to the world. It is the oneness with God that Jesus prayed for that makes all this possible! The prayer is answered! We are multiplied! God has made the impossible possible.

The Original Me

I remember in those early days of my Christian walk how preoccupied I was with what Jesus did and my desire to emulate His works. I got all fired up when it came to the healing of the sick. I wanted to see sign and wonders in our midst. I wanted to be as holy and righteous as He was. I wanted to be as good as He was. More than anything I wanted to do what is right, just like I perceived He did.


Now I find to my great amusement that I am more interested in who He was, that is, a perfect example of me. I recognize that He had a different ministry from mine. However, I am filled with the same Spirit as He was. The oneness He spoke about in relation to His Father is an established fact in my life too. I lack nothing compared to Jesus. I am just as righteous and holy. I can say as He did: If you have seen me you have seen my Father. He was a perfect expression of our original design which everyone who has accepted Christ has regained!


Jesus wasn’t an underling. He was so wonderfully full of Himself. There is not even a hint of false humility in how He viewed Himself. I am the way and the truth and the life, He said. What a bold statement! I do only what my Father does, He said at another occasion. No double mindedness in Him. He knew He was a perfect expression or manifestation of God. So am I! He never thought He had two natures that were in opposition to one another. There were no cracks in His understanding of oneness, that some part of Him was not of God – that there was a part of Him that merely was Himself doing all those stupid things we assign to ourselves. No! Everything is God! And this is the mystery: Everything is me as well! Here I am full of myself and at the same time an expression of God! Only God could come up with a scheme like this!


What a fascinating and intriguing Father we have – never afraid to associate Himself with us. What generosity! What humbleness! My father is definitely not ashamed of me! No reason for me to be either. I am, that is, I exist – here I am! I can sense myself with everything I am. I am not afraid of myself. No need to be. I can safely trust all those emotions, desires and thoughts that swell up in me trusting God by faith regarding everything I am, because I am the original me created in His likeness!

Nothingness Supplanted by the Knowledge of God

Scientists have discovered that the universe is expanding. What does the universe supplant when it expands? It supplants nothing. This is nonsense to our minds – it is incomprehensible. Who can imagine nothingness supplanted by something else?

In the same manner our inner universe is ever expanding.  Nothingness is supplanted by an awareness of God who has taken complete possession of us. Fleshy thought patterns inherited from the fall – they are of course nothing – are supplanted by recognition of the indwelling God. We do not understand this either, but we can experience it as we increasingly settle in His rest. This is the mystery revealed: Christ in us. Flesh and blood hasn't revealed this to us - every revelation comes from our Father in heaven. By virtue of that He indwells us heaven is in us. Our spirit is the conduit through which He speak those words almost too grand to utter and which made the religious scold and hate Jesus. In the same manner they will scold and hate us because of our testimony. However, nothingness will ultimately be supplanted by recognition of God as the One who is all in all. As the time draws close towards the consummation of time nothingness will be more and more visible - another paradox - when it is contrasted with the knowledge of God. At last everything which remains is God when the nothingness is done away with.

Sow to the Spirit

Paul wrote to the Galatians: ”For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”


The first man to sow to his own flesh was Adam when he attempted to become like God by eating from the wrong tree. In reality this is the whole enchilada. Anyone who tries to improve himself according to a fixed set of laws, ordinances or whichever system that is based on the tree to knowledge of good and evil is in reality attempting to become like God. The corruption Paul speaks about is the curse that Adam faced after his fatal decision not to believe that he was created in God’s likeness and hence perfect in Him.


God said to Adam: “Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you.” Ever from the beginning God has said that self-improvement is impossible; the ground is cursed. Attempt to please God by your own efforts and all you will bring forth are thorns and thistles. The thorns and thistles will sting you as condemnation and disappointment in yourself. Slowly but surely you are lead to the end of yourself. When the scripture speaks about carnal minded believers it refers to those who haven’t grasped who they are in Christ through faith, and thus struggle in their own powers to become righteous, that is, meet the standards they believe God has set up for them.


Those who sow to the Spirit are those who have embraced the truth and entered His rest where they rest from their own works. They know who they are in Christ and hence by faith daily experience the powers of the age to come, that is, eternal life.

The One Who Dwells in Me Does His Work

As new creations we can trust all our emotions. We are created in His likeness and thus all of our emotions are made holy and righteous in Him. To classify our emotions in good and bad is one of the enemy’s tricks and a residue from the fleshy mind patterns that were engraved in us when we fed from the tree to knowledge of good and evil. We are made whole and perfect in Christ and since He now lives in us we can accept all our emotions as a manifestation of Him. We do not have to understand all of the emotions that surge to the surface in our soul life. God is mighty to use all of them to His glory or to His purposes. We are never exhorted to question our emotions, but to enter His rest. In His rest there exists merely one reality: Life at its fullest and that includes all our soul reactions. God is our keeper and He has promised that all things work together for good. All things mean all things. No exception! Our spirit center, however, where we are joined one spirit with God is perpetually fixed in Him. The author of the epistle to the Hebrews wrote: “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” The word of God is Christ and by virtue of the fact that He lives in us He helps us to discern between what is our calm and peaceful spirit-center and the emotions which so often confuse and confound us. We are who we are by His grace and that includes our soul. As we mature we cease nagging God about fixing us, because by faith we know that we are forever made perfect in Him. I can’t add one iota to His generous work in me. If He wants to change me that is His privilege. Remember what Jesus said; the Father who dwells in me does his works. He still does His works in you and me. You can behold it with your single-eye of faith. Don’t forget that He has accepted and chosen us and included us in His family. Personally, I don’t doubt His choices!

The Man at the Pool

John chapter five recounts Jesus’ encounter with the man who had suffered with a deep-seated and lingering disorder for thirty-eight years. The man had, according to himself, been unable to step into the water as the first person after the angel had stirred the water. Despite that the man didn’t answer Jesus’ direct question when Jesus asked him if he wanted to become well Jesus healed him from his infirmities.


When Jesus met the healed again man in the temple Jesus uttered a most curious thing: “See, you are well. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” Here Jesus is talking to a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years unable to do much other than lie by the pool. Not many opportunities to sin when you are in such a condition.


Jesus encounter with the man was brief and they didn’t exchange many words. The text doesn’t mention any particular sin the man indulged in. The key to understand Jesus extortion is, however, found in the man’s answer to Jesus’ initial question: “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”


The answer discloses two things. Firstly, he trusted in others. Secondly, he trusted in himself. Never does he reveal any reliance on God. To put it differently: He trusted in the flesh and not in God.


We find the origins to this basic sin in the Garden when man became sin since Adam ate from the tree to knowledge of good and evil. We lost our life when we wanted to be like God by our own means, that is, trusting in the flesh. Every other sin the Bible mentions is a result of this basic error.


Thus Paul exclaims that whatever does not proceed from faith is sin. Not faith in the flesh and our or others abilities, but faith in God’s abilities. It is as simple as this. The Bible says: “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Where there is no condemnation there is no sin on account of that those who are in Christ Jesus trust God and live according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. In Christ they have found their life again and can live as whole persons expressing their uniqueness. To understand oneself as a whole and perfect person in Christ requires the kind of faith which says what is impossible for man is possible for God.

The Totality of God's Grace

We are commissioned to proclaim the totality of God’s grace. Any trace of law, self effort, self reliance or behavior modification is eradicated from our message. We speak Christ and Him crucified, and we encourage everyone with ears to hear to take that leap of faith to where we see God only, that is, our Father manifested in human flesh. Our faith is a divine faith. It is the quality of faith which has its origin in Christ and which Jesus wondered whether He would find when He returned to the earth. Our identity is firmly fixed in the fact that Christ lives in us.


It is only from this vantage point that verses like this makes any sense: “Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Tess 5:16-18).


The beauty and simplicity of our message is completely at odds with the world. We died when we disappeared in Christ at the cross. We are resurrected and ascended with Him and placed in the heavenly realms. As vessels, once dead, on account of the spirit of error who occupied us, we are now made alive by the Spirit of God who has joined Himself one spirit with us. That is our righteousness, our justification, our holiness and our sanctification. More than that: As genuine sons He has granted us to have life in ourselves (John 5:26).


Ezekiel was given to foresee the complete and whole transformation that takes place in those who enter into the cross: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ez 36:26) This is a done deal. His love doesn’t transform us by virtue of that we are already transformed, but it persuades us to increasingly enter this reality of completeness, and when we do fleshy patterns melt away and the new creation in revealed in increasing measure. In other words: God reveals Christ in us (Gal 1:16).


When we through faith have seen the magnitude of the cross its radiance irrevocably fills our entire vision and we can’t refrain from speaking about what we have seen and heard. The totality of God grace has captured and enchanted us, and this is the gospel that we proclaim.

Faith Imitation

The author of the epistle to the Hebrews admonishes his readers to imitate the faith of their leaders, those who spoke to them the word of God (Hebr 13:7). This is the kind of faith which is awoken when a person goes through what many call the dark nights of the soul. Paul elaborates on this in his first chapter in his second letter to the Corinthians when he observes that the perils he and his friends went through was to make them not rely on themselves, but on God who raises the dead. When the illusion about independent self is burned off what remains in a mature faith in God who can do all things in and through us.


On the day the Lord made the covenant with Abraham, our father of faith, a deep sleep fell on Abraham. Dreadful and great darkness fell upon him. Before Abraham could enter a perfect rest from all his works he first had to go through his own dark nights of the soul experience there in the desert. While Abraham was fast asleep resting from his works God made the covenant with Jesus Christ, who represented Abraham and his seed. In making the covenant with God Abraham learned not to rely on himself, but on God who is mighty to accomplish everything He has promised Abraham and his descendants of faith. In the midst of our travails God reminds us about His promises and encourages and comforts us, like He did to Abraham. We are not responsible or accountable to observe the covenant terms. The covenant was cut between God and Jesus, and Jesus has met all the requisites.

The Camel and the Eye of the Needle

I was reminiscing about my life the other day. What stood out at this particular occasion was all the pain I have had to endure and have gone through. It struck me that I have been slowly and deliberately crushed. Somehow I was reminded of Job’s fortune. How he as a perfectly righteous man saw the greater picture through what he suffered.


I was like a camel which couldn’t go through the eye of the needle. I believed I was rich. I was too full of myself to pass through. God’s intention was obviously to squeeze me through that tiny gap. In order to accomplish His goal this camel had to be diminished until there was nothing left. Then I quite easily passed through the eye of the needle.


It is in God we live, move and have our being so in reality I was on the inside with everything I am from the outset. However, my consciousness was on the outside gauging and assessing everything from that viewpoint. I saw God and life as a set of properties. God was full of love, mercy and unfortunately angry if I messed up. Life was defined by other properties, for instance sin, obedience, disobedience and how to become holy. That was all I could see from the outside. Those lists of properties are of course almost inexhaustible if we prefer to walk down that road.


On the inside, however, I am not anymore so preoccupied with properties. I am in the middle of a river which simply runs. I am a part of the working God, as Fynn in his book “Mister God, This is Anna” so wonderfully expresses. As a part of the functioning God I am in the midst of the whirlwind we call life. God doesn’t gauge and assess life. He just lives it. That’s all.

A Sea of Glass Mixed with Fire

When the book of Revelation speaks about a sea of glass mixed with fire (15:2) it is alluding to the new creation in Christ who is joined one spirit with God. The sea of glass is our inner spirit tranquility which is mixed with pure love. We are both calmness and a burning flame. Only in the kingdom of God can contrasts like this coexist and make sense.


Our God, who is all in all, has established His kingdom in people like you and me. The One who is in complete control has endowed us with a faith faculty which when practiced see through to the core of all things where it finds the eternal One. The core is infinite and unchangeable. In the midst of our travails and our fluctuating emotions our spirit center is thus like a sea of glass.


God is a consuming fire. His love burns like an eternal flame. To John it was shown like a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In us life blossoms by virtue of the river which every moment refreshes us, and what we have we pass on because God cannot deny Himself. Our righteousness is clear as crystal. It can never be questioned because a gift from God will always prevail and speak truth.


The kingdom of God established in man connotes a new order of things and thus the following passage has come into effect: “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”


We speak a word of faith and calls things that are not as though they were which means that the eternal truths do already exist even though we do not see them with our natural eyes. We call on them and in God’s time they will be manifested to His glory. We are transformed. We are who we are. We are living temples. We are everything in Him. We are eternally changed. When the truth dawns upon us we cease striving to become something we already are, and in the core of all things we recognize that there is no more death or mourning or crying or pain since we are complete in Him.

Freedom in Love - Slaves of Love

To freedom Christ has liberated us. It is the freedom to follow the flow of love which originates in God’s heart. Jesus said from the outset: “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.” He was not coerced or manipulated or pushed to sacrifice Himself for the sake of mankind. Love compelled Him, and love makes it a delight to follow the laws of God. Love rises up within as a joyful and pulling desire and it is a delight to follow its drifts.


Love is a law in itself. It is not constrained by human edifices, whether it is manmade traditions, structures or how we perceive church should be. The flow of love will even decide how we spend our money, or to who or which organizations we donate them. Whenever it is a joy to give we know it is love that is moving us to bless someone or something with our means.


It is love that compels us to do the things we do. We are slaves of its desires which well up in us. We are not slaves in that old sense of the word. The level we now operate from is light years apart from when we were slaves of the old master whose lies and tricks and manipulations made us do the things we did not want to do, or the things that never brought us any gratification. When the joy of love moves us we maneuver in quite a different realm.


The old master used outer realities to coerce us or lure us to do his will – the lusts of the eyes. That was before we received our new heart where God’s law dwells. Now we are moved by the inner realities of the Spirit, and when we know that we have gotten a new heart we trust those joyful inclinations that now govern our lives.


God said: “Every place on which the sole of your foot treads shall be yours.” A desire wells up and we follow its delightful promptings. Wherever it leads us is the place which the sole of our foot treads. Since we are driven by the power of love we are not stopped by setbacks or obstacles. Love compels us to never give up; it spurs us on until the reward is ours.


When we were kids we had the time of our lives in the kindergarten. Now, however, those childish games hold no appeal to us. We by and by enroll to higher education and are fascinated and intrigued by what our inner teacher teaches us, and we are attracted to those who have joined the same course as us. Love matures us, it brings us to the outermost expanses of the kingdom and it has given us back our true humanity.


Love has its own agenda. It defies man’s expectations and it blows wherever it wants. At one point we are engrossed in one particular thing. At the next spell something else consumes us. To the world we might be perceived as unpredictable, or even as wine drinkers and gluttons. Love, abundance of life and freedom are inseparable. They dance hand in hand in an eternal display of joy. We cannot help ourselves: we are captivated and enchanted by the rhythm.

We Give What We Have

Peter said to the crippled man at the temple gate: What I have I give to you. It is the same Peter who denied Christ at three occasions not very long before, who then obviously hadn’t any inner resources to draw from. Now he stands in front of the crippled man with boldness and confidence uttering words that would have been unheard of before the cross. Peter’s transformation is stunning.


What was it Peter gave to the crippled man? To put it bluntly: Peter gave the man God. The Old Testament temple is a type or shadow telling of the human temples to come - temples not made from stone. When Salomon consecrated the temple God took possession of it and swallowed it up in Himself. Every nook and cranny was filled up with His presence. In like manner our human temples are consecrated by Jesus. We irrevocably are filled up with God whether we know it or not.


From Pentecost onwards this has become a common experience for mankind. Everywhere people are accepting Christ and are filled up with God, in fact to the degree that is runs over. Peter in this sense is in no way unique. Wherever we go we give what we have, that is, God. We make deposits of Him everywhere, and whenever we make a deposit someone is affected. Our deposits are like those ointment cloths Peter left behind and which brought healing to many.


Sometimes we witness God in action through us, and crippled are empowered to walk in broad daylight. At other times there are no explicit proofs of the effect of our deposits. What perhaps most of us struggle with is this feeling that God hasn’t taken possession of us and that we thus have nothing to offer. But, we are faith people and our inner witness, the Spirit, corroborates with our faith so that our boldness and confidence is always on the increase.


Peter gave what he had by faith and so do we. We assume by faith that wherever we are we deposit God spontaneously because He has swallowed us up. When or how what He has disseminated through us will blossom isn’t our business. All we do is trusting that we manifest Him wherever we go and leave the rest to Him. What we have is the infinite God who has created the heavens and the earth, and through the union with Him that is what we give, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

And There Was Evening And There Was Morning

And the word went forth like this: And there was evening, and there was morning. God doesn’t work during the darkness of the night. He is the Father of lights and His works are undertaken in light. You cannot find this light outside yourself. Outside you is the impenetrable darkness of reason and appearances. The darkness will not provide you with the answers you seek. Nothing is created in the darkness. The light and the wonders of your existence dwell in the center of your being. From here His light permeates your entire being and you walk in the light as He is light. There in the center everything He has freely given you is waiting for the appointed time to be unfolded in light. Each manifestation of Him a natural consequence of what took place the day before. The six days are for Him to do His work. You are created for the Sabbath where you rest from your works in Christ. The light is holy and righteous. Thus you are holy and righteous since the light now originates in and emanates from you. It is not your works that define your status. You are indentified by which Spirit who is in you. If you are in Christ then the Spirit of light, God’s Spirit, the Spirit of truth has transformed you into light and truth. As light and truth you have emerged as a true son and you trust and assert your I. Without your I you are merely an indistinct shadow in the void. Your I is what gives you form and your distinct expression as light.

In the Cool of the Day

God walked among Eve and Adam in the midst of the garden in the cool of the day. His presence wasn’t unassuming, but it wasn’t threatening or obtrusive in any way. It was more like a pleasant breeze that cools you down after a warm and strenuous day. Eve and Adam didn’t know what shame was, so despite their nakedness they were attracted to this amiable and loving presence with whom they could share they hearts.


The Fall changed everything. It wasn’t God that changed. It was man. Man’s nakedness suddenly became a distress and an annoyance in his own eyes. He was so bothered by the fact that he hadn’t anything to offer God that that crippling sensation of shame completely prostrated him. Even worse, he felt so devastatingly unclean compared to the radiant holiness of God. Shame efficiently put up a barrier where before there had been a silent torrent of love flowing between the two lovers. Shame made man hide from God, and wherever there is shame man hides from the only source which can remove shame.


Ever since that day there has been a burning desire in God’s heart to see the intimacy of the Garden restored. In Christ the objective was achieved. In Christ there is no shame. As we move further and further into this mystery of Him being in us and we in Him we find our nakedness again. Nakedness in Him connotes that our original potential is restored to express Him as sons and daughters, as His beloved heirs in a world that is craving for redemption.


When the relationship is restored God walks in the midst of our lives like a cool breeze which gingerly caress our cheeks with affection and love. As the Spirit removes those last residues of shame in our outlook and the last clouds, which have obstructed our vision, evaporate we see that we are perpetually intertwined with Him and that we are the Garden which now blossoms with a lush exuberance that is spectacular in its radiance and beauty.

My First Book

I am very proud to announce that my first book now is published. It consists of my best blog articles so far. You can order the book by following this link: http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/lonekheir

Artwork by Jessica Robertson. Introductions by DeeDee Winter, Steve McVey, John Lynch and Fred Pruitt.

We Are the Light of the World

There is an eternal outflow of light from God. It expels darkness wherever its rays penetrate. Every man who is joined one Spirit with the Father through the redemption in Jesus Christ is also an eternal outflow of light. In our ignorance we thought that we had to become light, to let our light shine brighter and more radiantly through a change of behavior. In Christ we are the light of the world and we are placed on a hill so that our light is seen by all who have eyes to see.


The question about sin always raises its ugly head in this context. Won’t sin extinguish our light? That is a question children in Christ ask, and the answer we give them is no! An adult in Christ has no consciousness of sin because he not only believe, but knows, that a once and for all sacrifice for sin has made the sin issue void and of no interest. His only concern is life in its many facets. Thus, he like Jesus exerts his right to forgive anyone his sin. Our mission is reconciliation and not sin. The light in us compels us to implore people on Christ’s behalf to be reconciled with God.


But, don’t we have flaws and shortcomings that obstruct the light? No! Those are the cracks in the jar which the light finds its way through. If God has declared us perfect in His Son, then we are perfect. As adults we have advanced past that level where we were preoccupied with our flaws. We have put that change me, do me better attitude behind us. It isn’t about us anymore, but Christ and those He loves. The light in us finds those He has given us. They are caught in our spotlight, and the darkness in and around them is expelled by the heavenly rays. We see this happen by our inner eye, that is, faith!

No Wrath

Before we have been led by the Spirit backwards to the void we still have residues of separation in our mindsets and this illusion generates another illusion regarding God’s wrath. We repeatedly find this theme in the old testament when an unredeemed people fears God’s wrath at every corner. From Adam’s fall and onward separation from God was how the chosen people viewed their existence, and as a consequence they dreaded God and His wrath.


When we as mature people recognize our nothingness we find that our lives have been hidden in Christ all along, and there in the void we find our lives again in Him as an everlasting outflow of light. More than that, we discover that the idea about God’s wrath was another of those tricks of the enemy, but which the Spirit has used with great efficiency so that we can come to end of ourselves. The Spirit has led us backward to our origin where we find no wrath. When the illusion about separation evaporates the illusion about God’s wrath is made void and nothing.


We have come to the point which the scriptures call before the foundation of the earth. At this point the lamb was slain and God wrath evaporated. To us this point in time is now. Every now is thus before the foundation of the earth. In the temporal realm the cross is the focal point which stretches both backward and forward in time. Before the foundation of the earth can’t be expressed with words or understood in terms of time. It is in the same manner as He is, the great I AM, and we are in the eternal. Eternally bound to Him in love and a part of Him we find that our wrath was an illusion as well. The eternal outpouring of light and love is the sole and only reality. Finally we know what Jesus meant when He spoke about a peace that transcends understanding.

In the Beginning

In front of Pilate Jesus said that His kingdom wasn’t of this world. This is a kingdom which government is found inside humans created in the likeness of God. In order to understand this kingdom we have to return to the beginning where everything was void and silent. The Spirit is hovering over this nothingness which we all have to return to or be led back to before His creative forces can be unleashed in us.


Our return to the beginning is marked by frustrations, sufferings and failures. That is the only way our self activity and noise can be extinguished. We all initially thought that Christianity was all about moving fast towards some goal God had set up for us. The faster we got there the better Christians we were, and the more God would be pleased with us. We thought it was about becoming something or someone. That is was about doing the right things, having the right motivation, the right attitude. We thought we should imitate Jesus. We spoke a lot about love, but couldn’t quite find it within ourselves.


However, Christianity is about moving slowly to the beginning where we ultimately recognize our nothingness and become still. In the stillness God is moving, and we in this stillness recognize His mighty power within which created the heavens and earth. It dawns upon us that there is no separation between us and Him. He is in us presenting Himself to the world through each unique seed.


We all have the capacity for thinking, and we have a consciousness. To us it seems like our mental activity takes place somewhere on the inside of our bodies. However, we cannot pinpoint its exact location. It seems, though, as it is confined inside our flesh. But, what if we didn’t have any flesh? Where would our thinking and consciousness be then? It would just float unimpeded in the void. This is the place where we are linked to God, who is all in all, and who in His great wisdom decided to contain His all-ness or omnipresence in humans like you and me. When we return to the beginning, to the void, to our nothingness we find God and His kingdom within and all is well.