Handling Doubt

I was once introduced to the idea that there is a difference between soul doubt and spirit (heart) doubt. I am well acquainted with soul doubt and how the soul now and then panics. In increasing degree I have been empowered to discern between soul and spirit and am thus enabled more often than before to press through soul variations to the core which is without disturbances. Admittedly, wrestling with soul doubt has more than once cast long shadows of condemnation on my path.

Jesus famous words in Mark 11 concerning the word of faith and prayer have stood before me more than once as something almost outside my reach – not least because of these recurring seasons of doubt. In verse 23 Jesus says something very comforting: “….and does not doubt in his heart….” The heart is the key. In other words those who do not doubt on the spirit level will say to this mountain be thou cast into the sea and it will happen according to their word.

At this junction a most vital issue is brought to light: Does there exist spirit (heart) doubt? We are all familiar with soul doubt and how it plays out, but what about heart doubt? How does it play out?

Before I proceed l have to stress that I have made the Spirit my only teacher in all matters totally relying on Him for enlightenment and for explaining unresolved matters that are still shrouded in dimness. And that was how I approached my problem concerning heart doubt. I asked Him for an explanation.

The answer was most staggering and liberating. “How can there be spirit doubt when your spirit is joined to my Spirit?” “How can such a thing exist when we are one person and Christ is your life?” “The answer to your dilemma is again faith. You simply say that you do not have such a thing as heart doubt. And this is a faith resolve everyone has to make for herself or himself.”

But, what is the point of having soul doubts, we might ask. Our souls are go-betweens between this world and our spirit/Spirit union and can thus we tempted in both directions. I am constantly tempted upwards to see this thing as from God, but I am also tempted downwards seeing myself as if I am doing this thing apart from God. In this tension field of soul emotions and doubt faith is exercised and developed. These soul disturbances are meant to press us into faith. They are our springboard to God’s faith which He has freely given us and which we now can exercise with divine boldness.

Boldness not understood as we are addressing a God apart from us, but a God that speaks out of us in like manner as the voice of God spoke out of the burning bush.

Our Most Valuable Soul......part II

By DeeDee Winter

I awoke this morning thinking of our exchange on the soul. Until the Holy Spirit gets this part of us settled in its rightness, we can never fully “be about our Father’s business”, because every time a negative emotion hits us we will either ask what is wrong with us, taking condemnation, OR confess it as sin. Imagine confessing the LIFE OF CHRIST within ourselves as sin!!!

We were created to bear Him and bring life to our ‘world’. His way of bringing mankind out of slavery to Sin was to die on the Cross, rise again, ascend into heaven and then send us His Holy Spirit. He will be the same dynamic IN US of death and resurrection and in doing so, bring those whom He gives us into light and freedom!

But we MUST first get settled about the purity of our souls…purely expressing Him!

After the Lord said to me “You are not jealous of her, but for her; it is My jealousy in you for her to know Me as you do” I began to search the Scriptures for what there was about our souls, because I knew if God spoke that word to me that it would be backed up by His Scriptures. What I found so far surpassed what I had hoped for! I began with a word search and found Matt 16:26…”What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

I was riveted and began to read back through that passage. The Spirit directed me as far as Matt 16:15. I will loosely paraphrase it all…

Matt 16:15 begins with Jesus asking His disciples “Who do you say that I am?” Peter replies that He is the Christ and Jesus tells him flesh and blood did not tell Peter this, but it was revealed by His Father in heaven and upon this rock (of revelation and faith) He shall build His church. Jesus continues…with these ‘rock principles’ in place He says (19) He will give us the keys to the kingdom…that whatsoever we bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever we loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. This means that we have the power by our word to set folks free!

Jesus then says He must go to the Cross…to which Peter replies that he does not want Him to suffer (23) and Jesus calls him Satan! It is Satan that does not want the Cross…death to resurrection which is the very nature of God (giving Himself for others) and this truth will become part of every believer when we receive Christ Jesus as our Savior…which is receiving His LIFE! This LIFE is not just when we ‘go to heaven’ but also for every day we live on this earth in time and space. It is His nature, and now ours, to bear conflict in our soul and by our word, bring life to/in the object of our conflict…binding and loosing. “Present your bodies a living sacrifice…our reasonable service” as Ro 12:1 says.

Then comes the resounding climax (24 - 26) of this passage! “If any man will come after Me let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.” This denying ourselves is to deny that we have ANY ability in ourselves apart from Him…NO independent self that is able to act on our own…nothing in our branch form apart from The Vine (Christ by the Holy Spirit) who IS our life! It is the clarion call to fully BE Who you are!

“For whosoever shall save his life shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life for My sake shall find it.” I used to think the emphasis of this passage was on lose and life…but no longer.

I see the emphasis to be totally on “his”…again speaking of the illusion of an independent life apart from Christ…an independent ability to sin or do good. Lose THAT illusion!

And now to the verse that wraps up this exchange. “For what is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Losing our soul…and ALL it is meant to be…is to be suspicious of our emotions and trying to get them under ‘control’. When we do not trust them, fear them or hate them we give up the ‘way’ the Holy Spirit is coming through us for those around us. It is Satan’s gospel that tells the Christian that his emotions are wrong and not to be trusted…and anyone telling us that is preaching Satan’s gospel!

It takes a ‘season’ for the Spirit to settle and train us in the right use of ourselves. We have been so used to fearing our anger, jealousy, hate love…yes, even love. Begin to say the truth about yourself…”Lord, here You are”. At first we will have to simply take these truths by faith, but ever so quietly the Holy Spirit will make them ours. Everything about me has been made right and God is living His life as me…for “In Him we live and move and have our being.” When we begin to see these truths about ourselves ALL of Scripture screams them at us. God will gradually expand our understanding to see that what we want is never for ourselves, but always for the other person's highest good.

The last few words of these verses “…in exchange for our soul” are vital for us to comprehend. Most of the Christian world wants their souls to be flat-lined with no ups or downs…oh maybe the ups are OK, but God help them if there is anything negative! God MEANS for us to have a fully alive and extremely active soul. It is through the activity of our soul that God calls our attention to a person or situation we “bind and lose” as we saw in v.19. We move into FAITH!

As we stated earlier…God’s nature/being is always to give His life for the other. He did this before the foundation of the world when The Lamb was slain. God chose then to be for more than Himself. He chose to be for us and His creation. He will be nothing less/do nothing less than He did before we existed. He will always lay down His life and take it up again. This is His life and is to be our life in Christ. His final commandment to us was “Love as I have loved you.” (Jn 15:12).

It is imperative that these deep realities are settled in us and about us, in order that we can fully be about our Father’s business…in oneness/union with Christ redeeming those He brings to us.

The Rightness of Our Souls - A Dialog Between DeeDee Winter and Ole Henrik

Ole Henrik: Sometimes I find it hard to trust my soul and my emotions and how both push me in different directions.

DeeDee: Ole, the only thing to do is say, “Here You are, Lord, now what does this mean…what are You up to?” You will ever so gradually sift through to your direction. Actually your soul and your emotions are one and the same…moving together in sync. Your reason will be the thing that pushes you in a different direction saying that this cannot be. These are the two things we have to ‘sort through’ and find the Lord’s purpose and direction. Soul expresses what your spirit/Spirit is doing.

Ole Henrik: Without a soul it would be impossible to express our spirits in their union with the Spirit. Right? Without our souls it would impossible to know when God embraces us in a special way. Right? Our souls are God's means of expressing Himself to the world. Right? And directing our steps....

DeeDee: Right…right…right!

Ole Henrik: Many speak about "letting" Him. "Let God be free in you." What does that mean? Can we somehow bind God? In that case, it is unbelief that somehow causes Him to be "unfree" in us?

DeeDee: When I came out from under the law and living life as though I was separated from God and had to “do” the Christian life to please God, I began to redefine words that seemed like I had to or  could do anything to accomplish living the Christian life. We will redefine “let” as “recognize” or “agree with God” and go joyously with the flow of Christ, our life. In saying we must “let God” we are usually speaking from a point of view that somehow we (our actions and reactions) are more powerful than God (although folks would never admit that, but it is the natural outcome from having a separated mindset) and must ‘let’ or ‘allow’ the Creator of the universe freedom within their great hold on themselves and life. What a joke!!!

But I suppose in some small way that our unbelief and non-cooperation limits (I use that instead of bind) us as we constantly check ourselves against our false image/idea of Jesus and how He was on a daily basis. We have a very ‘sterilized’ idea of Him...blond, white and almost floating around Israel in a calm and  angelic way...disturbed a couple of times in His life, but for the most part calm. At least that is how I once pictured Him...and it was SO far from how I behaved on a daily basis! The joke was on me when I discovered the fully human side of Jesus.

Ole Henrik: I was thinking about bitterness yesterday. The Bible admonishes us to not allow any bitter root to grow in us. Why is that? Could it be that because of bitterness we are less receptive concerning the things God wants to give us?

DeeDee: Isn’t bitterness due to our refusal to find/see God in a person or situation?

Ole Henrik: Never thought about it like that before, but you are right.

DeeDee: Yes, and the longer we refuse the deeper the root grows entangling us in ways we never dreamed. Our only answer is “The cup my Father gives me” and “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning me”.

Ole Henrik: Which means suffering.......and it means to be taken on faith journeys that devastates reason and which are unique for every one of us....

DeeDee: Absolutely! And what does suffering produce but glory. God sees to that! It is His natural outcome from death to resurrection.

Ole Henrik: Do you mind elaborating on this: “entangling us in ways we never dreamed”

DeeDee: What was once a hurtful thing in our lives can turn into a much greater and more far-reaching hurt to us...poisoning our relationship and even other relationships...when we stand our ground and do not try to resolve or accept our hurt as “You meant it for evil, but God meant it for good.” We become entangled in our ‘being right’ or justified...affecting many of our relationships.

Ole Henrik: For many it is difficult to accept the fact that also their souls are now reconciled to God and are perfected in Him and are for His use. Why is that?

DeeDee: The answer is so simple and yet difficult to resolve. It is not our souls that are “reconciled to God” but our spirits are when we receive Christ as our Savior. It takes some unlearning and training by the Holy Spirit to settle us. Our souls only express spirit/Spirit....either the Spirit of Error (before we are born-again) or the Spirit of Truth (after we receive Christ and are joined to HIm spirit to Spirit).

The real issue is simply that we live in the illusion that we have ‘life’ in us apart from God...that we can do good/be better or do bad/sin. Life is Spirit. We know this because what is death, but when our spirit leaves our body. Spirit IS life. What is expressed through/by our soul IS spirit/Spirit. Our soul has NO ability/life in itself apart from our spirit to express one thing!.

Ole Henrik: In what ways do our souls express faith?

DeeDee: In any word or belief that we utter in agreeance with God. This can be with His word through the Bible or by what stirs in us by the Holy Spirit to believe. Because we are accustomed to think that these stirrings are ‘just’ us we miss the glory that they are His life bursting forth from us.

It is imperative that we come to understand the simple basics of our human makeup. Man is tri-part...spirit, soul and body. Our spirit is our “created in the image of God” part of us and it is where we are joined to the Lord...”He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit.” This is pictured in a human marriage when the two become one. Spirit contains mind (We have the mind of Christ) knowing, will, choice. Spirit is ego...I am. Our souls contain reason, emotion, mind (“Be transformed by the renewing of your mind). Our body is our physical make-up.

Ole Henrik: Seems to me that all this adds up to that we are safe in our new marriage/union. I have one last question. I notice how my soul also is impacted by outer stimuli. I get nervous, sometimes I have slight anxiety attacks, I get fearful etc and all these reactions or responses are triggered by what I encounter in the outside world. Any thoughts?

DeeDee: If our bottom line is that our soul has no ability in us but to express Spirit/spirit then we must say that the anxiety is Spirit being expressed....but for a much different purpose than I have ever realised in the past. These ‘attacks’ are simply there to produce faith.

It is our spirit that is impacted, but we are so used to knowing ourselves only on a feeling level...soul or body feelings...that we misinterpret our souls. We immediately think there is something wrong coming against me from an outer source....when in truth it is Spirit/Christ/God expressing Himself for an upward purpose when I move into faith about what I am feeling.

I learned this some years ago when jealousy rose in me like a flash toward a long-time and much beloved friend of mine. I had known my union with Christ and freedom from the law for several years, but I did not yet have any understanding of the all-encompassing rightness of my feelings and reactions. All I knew was to say, “I am not jealous of her, I am Christ in my form.”

The words that came back to me forever changed my life. I heard as clearly as I have ever heard anything...”You are not jealous OF her, but jealous FOR her. It is My jealousy in you FOR her to know Me as you do.” All I could do was humbly say with the Lord that she would know Christ as her life also.

My mind reeled as I began to realise the totalness of what I had just ‘heard’. ALL of my feelings were made right by His life within me...His Spirit joined to my spirit and being expressed through my soul. I looked at Scripture and realised the hard things to understand that God says about Himself. Three emotions that I had always thought that God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) could never express, He says about HImself....hate, jealousy and anger! If they are right in Him then they must be right in the born-again person...because Christ IS our life!

Each of us have a part of our personality/soul that we have feared and fought all of our life because we have seen it as some thing WRONG (with a capital W) about us, when in fact it is the MAJOR thing right about us. It is THE vehicle for the cross of Christ to operate in us...Him laying down His life BY/IN US and taking it up again for those whom WE are given.

Jesus tells us of this work of the cross in Matt. 16:24-26. "Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever will save his life shall lose it: and whoever will lose his life for My sake shall find it. For what has a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"

This passage comes after Peter has declared Jesus The Christ and Jesus says that flesh and blood did not reveal this. Jesus declares  this response is the rock/FAITH (the Person of Christ Himself)  on which He will build His church.  He then gives us the keys to bind or loose by OUR word...which comes out of the desires, pressures and agonies of OUR SOUL.

The next happening in this most interesting exchange is that Jesus tells them he must suffer, die and be raised. Peter rebukes this and Jesus calls him Satan...by not wanting God's way of the cross.  Jesus then tells us that our way to FOLLOW (to come or go after; to move behind in the same direction) Him is through the cross.

What does "take up OUR cross...lose OUR life...forfeit OUR soul " mean? The real key here is OUR; not cross, nor life, nor soul.

It is the very nature of God to lay down His life for His creation. That is Who love is...a Life laid down. That is what HE WILL BE in and AS US...the cross of Christ constantly operative. To lose OUR life is to lose any consciousness we have of a SEPARATE or INDEPENDENT life that we THINK we have. In reality there is NOTHING in us apart from Christ...our spirit joined to His Spirit expressed through OUR body and SOUL. There it is...OUR soul. What possible way do we have of expressing Him if we want our soul flat-lined, inoperative, placid...thereby giving it up!!!! To lose the FULL expression of our soul is to lose the only way His Life and cross can bring about life for others. This is truly finding OUR life...right and hidden in Christ Jesus.

THIS is what we have to give to the Body of Christ...THE FULL, TOTAL, RIGHTNESS AND RIGHT USE OF OUR HUMANITY...ALL about US made right in the death, burial and resurrection of our beloved God and Lord, Jesus Christ...who has come again a second time  by His Holy Spirit to live IN and AS His most beloved creation...US!!! Christ FULLY alive and expressed in every aspect and nuance of our souls. "So Christ was was once offered to bear the sins of many: and unto them that look for Him shall He appear a second time WITHOUT SIN unto salvation"...Heb. 9:28  I believe this second appearance is when we KNOW no sin/wrongness/separation in whatever way the Spirit comes through us.

Only the FINAL battle...our personal Armageddon...of losing OUR life will bring us to complete rest...me loving my God-created-in-His-own-image-and-called-very-good-ME...
my depression, fear, jealousy, anger... I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me...in my soul and body.  Our souls are our glory...revealing our Treasure in earthen vessels...Christ in us.

Seeing Through - A Dialog Between Nancy Gilmore and Ole Henrik

Ole Henrik: The Holy Spirit made Himself known to me in a "new" way yesterday. He is my best friend and I ask Him about all things. I further tell Him I trust Him as me in all I do. What is so great about Him is that He is the Spirit of truth. He will never lie to me.

Nancy: Yes, that's right! He will NEVER lie to us! This is the strength of HIS faith abiding in us which we use as though it is ours. That's why we can believe on Him, and REST in his goodness.

Ole Henrik: Sometimes I find it hard to trust other persons.

Nancy: Our trust has to be in ONLY Christ. And that has in it the LONG-sufferings of Christ in which He shares some personal sufferings of His with us. Meaning; that's a lot of conditioning for us! Sometimes years of being rejected for God's purposes. I know I've told you this before and I don't mean it as 'a law' and yet I see it is a principle of faith for third-level living (which includes the body). Our body belongs to the Lord, and the first-fruits go to the Altar with the rest feeding the sheep. Meaning it's our freedom from the kind of suffering that we have to have 'something' in this world that makes us happy. The first-fruits going to the altar produces freedom, and true contentment! Like Paul says, I've learned to be content in whatsoever state I'm in.

Ole Henrik: You have never explained to me before what it means to go to the altar with the first-fruits. Think I got it now.

Nancy: I think the easy way in seeing first-fruits going to the Altar is in KNOWING "the intercession with God IS GAINED (in God) and we have His guarantee (in some way) it IS GAINED!  But nothing ever becomes of it in this world, and others see it as failed.

Ole Henrik: Is this a law that nothing ever becomes of it in this world?

Nancy: I think so! It’s failed as far as the world’s concerned. But eternity will prove it was gained.  You see we would be insufferably proud if the first fruits didn’t go to the altar. . . the result is meekness.

Ole Henrik: Is this related to the word of faith?

Nancy: Yes I think so! We announce our word of faith to whomsoever and they see it failed. But we know differently.

Ole Henrik: But, some words of faith actually see realization, don’t they?

Nancy: Absolutely! All the time! For we really know from the Spirit what to say, and then hell or high water cannot hold us back.

Ole Henrik: I don't understand this: “Let us not judge by the appearance of things. God plays tricks and we've got to learn God's Tricks to flow in life.”

Nancy: All it means is God has something in mind that nobody 'sees' until it's safe to reveal what God is doing and that may take even years. But when we have eyes to see God ONLY we see it now.  God is always in what is happening! Everything! No matter what!  Anything that "appears" to be something God is not in - is judging from the appearance of things. God IS IN ALL things for our good, and the good of others, and His glory in us! He IS glorified in us in all things. Does this help?

Ole Henrik: Yes, this helps! Admittedly, I am not at that spot yet where I see Him in all things. Appearances are still throwing me around like a doll in a storm.

Nancy: You know I think Norman is the one who originally said that about God being a trickster, but I've said it for so long (because I see it) that I didn't even think about it when I signed my name to it. Norman would then say; then it's yours!

Ole Henrik: What is yours, Nancy?

Nancy: The statement itself that Norman said, now is mine to say because I see it.

I'll give you an example that I think will help you "see through". . . (at least I hope so!).  When I was 6 years old and alone with my Great granddad, he DIED! No one thought at the time that was a good thing for a 6 year old to witness!  However, "I see" it clearly as God’s divine love and preparation in opening a door for me that He had planned and knew exactly how to fulfill it - ONLY with Himself!  Using this as an opening for eyes in me to see what is vital in this life of no separation! Even in death is what God used to bring me with others to Himself.

If everyone could SEE this massacre that took place last Friday with these children being slaughter by a mad man is ONLY God's preparation of "His own body in action and filled with believers by these children who witnessed such a devastating experience. Even though at this time these children are traumatized by it!  You watch, God knows how to make HIS REAL LIFE in them the ONLY vital thing these children will bring out of this massacre, and it is God walking as children becoming vital in his plan for future generations to come.  Tough stuff filled with love.

Not an Iota

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new.” “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Not one thing of what constitutes our unique being is exempted from being reconciled to God whether it is our spirits, souls, bodies or for that matter our thinking or reason. All is made new and is for His use and purposes to save many alive.

It truly is a scary thing to fall in the hands of the living God. This is far from a sentimental journey. There are dangers everywhere, the challenges are many, the sorrows plentiful and after a while we are so beaten up that we give up everything and make the leap of faith and give God right that He has indeed shut the door of the ark behind us, filled the living temple with Himself and reconciled every iota of our being to Himself so that everything we are now is obedient to the Law of the Spirit of Life. The obedient of faith enter His rest.

Baptized in Nothingness

It is one of God’s responsibilities to baptize us in our own nothingness and help us find there that we will nothing apart from Him. Submerged into this void where nothing is or can be have given up all things we find that God wants on our behalf, and if He didn’t He would fail Himself. If I don’t want anything then God wants it for me. When I give up any desire it is again rekindled by Him as a gift of grace.

Since God wants for me I know I have received anything I want, because everything He wants for Himself He wants for me. In the instant we give up everything - everything is returned to us. But, again, this is not a commandment we can fulfill on our own accord. We are taken to that place of utter abandonment and we can either embrace it or dismiss it – in freedom the choice remains ours.

In the darkness has He hidden the gifts of light. The one who searches will not be disappointed, because there is no disappointment in God. Stumbling around in the darkness our outstretched hands will soon find His. Since His hands are eagerly awaiting our touch it is He who finds us, and He will reveal Himself as the only gift out of which every gift flows. The one who desire Him only will be fed with manna that never decays – his soul will always be content in the presence of the Lord.

Slaves of Freedom

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness (Rom 6:20). We were once outside the domain of righteousness, as it were. We were free from obeying its will. Our wills were united with sin and we willed what sin willed.

Now, however, in Christ, we are slaves of righteousness, and are free in regard to sin. We are free from obeying its demands – its power over us is made void and nothing. Our wills are united with God’s will. He fulfills His righteousness in us in the same manner as sin once fulfilled its unrighteousness in us.

The first slavery led to death and bondage. The second and last slavery leads to eternal life and freedom. The last slavery cannot be compared to the first. The first was without glory. The second comes with an eternal weight of glory.

Being one will with God is the same thing as being slaves of freedom.

A Dialog between Donald Konick and Me

Donald: Pi is a constant in math, so math could not exist without it.  God is a constant, so Life cannot exist without Him. Pi goes on forever! God also is forever! It is very interesting that the first number of Pi is 3...Father, Son, & Holy Ghost... all the numbers after the decimal are all the people who believe in Him... which is more than the stars of heaven or the sand of the sea.

Ole Henrik: Another thing with pi: Since it has an infinite number of decimals we can never know the exact circumference of a circle. The circle is unbroken, but we never know its exact "length" - what a paradox.....

Donald: Just had a few thoughts on the 1 John 5:14 "And this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us:" A carnal Christian does not know his son-ship. He may make many prayers but he is still a little child! When a parent listens to their child some of the requests are not granted.

Jesus knew who He was, so when raising Lazarus, He said "Father I thank you that you hearest me." & the Father said "I always hear you." to which Jesus said "Yes, I know that you always hear me, but I said this so that they would know." When the Father said "I always hear you" that was NOT written in the scriptures, so the only way to know it is to read between the lines. Jesus would not have said "Yes, I know you always hear me..." unless the Father had said that to Him.

So when you know your son-ship ye shall ask what ye will & it shall be done unto you... which translates to what John said "If ye ask anything according to His will He heareth us." It's the same thing. The key is you have to know UNION! When you know that you are a son of God then whatever you ask will be granted.

Ole Henrik: I have now and then been thinking along the same lines you so cleverly present here. What I face as a huge challenge is whether I am now a father or not. I presume this is a matter of faith as well, speaking out that I am a father who God always hears in the face of contradictory emotions and circumstances.

I believe there is a secret in this "according to His will". It seems to me that we come to a point after much suffering where we give up the idea of a will apart from His and subject "our" will under His will (another paradox).

Donald: I've been thinking... Light does not stay still... Light moves... Look at the universe... it is moving outward... when Christ comes into us... we move on! This is very weird for me... because when I sit still... I'm still moving!

Ole Henrik: Wow!!! Yes!!! That light-Jesus analogy spoke volumes to me! The study of the properties of light will provide us with spiritual insight.....wow....how cool is that....even when we sit still we are moving....ever expanding. The universe is in one sense a shadow of our consciousnesses - ever expanding in Christ!

Donald: I know from experience that people who really don't know will throw cold water on anything they don't get. If you read 1 Corinthians 13:7 it says that charity believes all things.

Along time ago when I was first a Christian I read that whole chapter at the end it says that charity is the greatest of all it says "there remains these three, Faith, Hope, & Charity... the greatest of these is Charity. So I prayed to Papa for the Greatest, & He gave it to me. Jesus Christ is Charity! That's what I share with you, because Charity never fails!

Ole Henrik: The thoughts of the righteous are right (Proverbs 12:5). Takes quite a leap of faith to pass that edge, eh?

Donald: You're right but that is only because like Norman used to say we still seem to have some of the old grave clothes on, or like I say; we've spent so much time in the tree of the knowledge of good & evil & it's God who has to show us we're not that person now & will never be that person ever again. Isn't that a super thing to know?

Ole Henrik: Do you think it is possible to stand in faith for something based on false hopes? Does there exist such a thing as false hopes?

Donald: False hopes are from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil. Norman used to say you only know things by their opposites ... hot, cold ... soft, harsh... truth, lie...So a lie is false truth & comes from the tree of the knowledge of good & evil, anything from that tree is satan. We don't have those hopes (false) because of Jesus Christ, Because He has literally taken us over... & He says "There is nothing you can do against the Truth, only for the Truth."

So if for a while a Christian is caught up in some lie Jesus will untangle it, He will also use that tiny mess to bring more glory to Himself for untangling the lie. Because, it has been fixed in eternity "That Love NEVER FAILS!" Jesus Christ is Love... So He WILL NOT... CAN NOT... EVER FAIL! Won't happen... EVER!

This thought just occurred to me; atheist have lots of false hope, the greatest being that there is no God. In spite of what they say as the scripture says at the end of the world "Every knee will bow & confess that Jesus Christ is LORD." That includes them also, whether they like it or not.

Dead People Are Free

The freedom Jesus promised those who would receive His divine life can be nothing less but the freedom found in God. If a person is to be truly free he has to be free from everything to such an extent that he is accountable to no one or nothing. He is not bound to any doctrine, article or law save the law of liberty. In freedom there is no fear, obligations, commandments or coercion.

Freedom must start in desire. It is desire that is the driving force that puts a person in motion. Every desire is unique because God is unique in every person in whom Christ dwells. It says that God grants the desires of your heart - not the desires that others might have for you. He only rewards what He has deposited in every unique person because freedom is individualized and it has to be this way or else there would be no corporate freedom.

The feet must have their individual freedom or else a person would not be able to walk. The eyes have to function independently from the ears, or else there would be no clear vision or hearing. It is each body part’s freedom that ensures that the whole body works in harmony and according to its design without any conflicts of desire or expression.

The arms do not expect the hips to function differently from their unique construction or that they are to take over for the arms. Each body part has its burden, but at the same time they carry the other parts of the body exactly because they are free. And freedom equals loneliness. Force the kidneys to be the liver, and not only would the kidneys be unhappy because they desire to be kidneys, but the whole body would suffer tremendously.

Freedom must spring from the heart of God or else it is not freedom. God is not deterred or petrified by freedom, because there is always a cross in true freedom. The knees are worn out and spent so that the rest of the body can be mobile. It says that God will fill up every valley and close every gap, that is, fill every need, but most of us are surprised that He does in, as and by us. Freedom finds its ultimate expression in that He was rejected, despised and a man of sorrows dying and rising for those who hated Him, and every day this is reenacted in us because we are free.

Freedom is to step out of ourselves and assume our position in the heavenlies beholding He living our lives for the benefit of others. Freedom is to accept ourselves and our unique desires and makeup because it is He living. Freedom is to be dead and raised to newness of life. It is to assume no responsibility because dead people are free from any responsibility. And all this would be impossible without the Spirit.

The Math of Faith

Always when we are confronted with a complex math problem we will wrestle with doubt as to whether we can actually solve it. We will feel insecure how to approach it and the path towards the solution, which we know exist, is far from obvious. This is the agony of faith or laboring faith, if you like. It in many ways resembles or feels like laboring up a steep hill. There is nothing wrong with having a laboring faith and we do not take any condemnation for it.

In accordance with the nature of math different paths will have to be explored in order to find the one that leads to the answer. These paths might be Hagar, Saul or even Judas, and they will contribute nothing towards a solution. But, there is wisdom to be extracted from each of them.

While wrestling with the problem still laboring uphill in faith you will pass a certain point of elevation and in the instant you are there you suddenly know that the answer is within your reach. It is like you are standing in front of a wide open expanse, and a profound peace settles in. This is the laboring faith becoming the rest of faith. There is still terrain to traverse, but now the steps are light while the final calculations are made with confidence, peace and a quiet joy.

In a true faith adventure the settling in doesn’t come from the persons involved. Nor does it come from circumstances. It comes from He who is the Substance.

In any commission humbleness is a deed. Don’t think too highly about yourself when there is no reason to. If you are wrestling with doubt; admit it. If you are stuck; admit it. If you don’t radiate the level of faith you thought you had; admit it. Call for assistance from the Teacher who gives liberally without upbraiding anyone. Stubbornly wrestling with the problem without calling for assistance will only leave you mulling over it without making any progress.

The mystery of faith (and of math) will remain unknown to a person if he does not have the will to enter therein. He enters by his own free will and by that is joined to the Spirit of faith. To stand on the outside is safe, but the glory belongs to the one who is inside the adventure.

The desire that drove a person to commit himself to a given task might grow cold halfway through. He might either give up his desire or have it renewed. If he give up he will be praised for his heroic effort and applauded for that he tried, but he will soon be forgotten. No one will charge him for having given up. No one will condemn him for it, but only those who persist to the end will be remembered in the spirit of Abraham.

Of course there will be pain and suffering along the road. It will sometimes hurt so much that we are tempted like Jonah to run away and build our own shield to cast a protective shadow over our heads. However, the shield will soon wither and the sun will find us again and burn our heads until we give in and move on.

A Norwegian poet wrote: Without uphills it is impossible to climb higher.

A Seamless Robe

The Old Testament temple with its three different parts is an image of man. It consisted of an outer court, the holy place and the holy of holies. These represent our body (flesh), soul and spirit, respectively. The Bible teaches that man is three-part. However, the three parts always operating as a whole. Man is further created in the likeness of God who also is three-part, but the three Persons function as an undivided unity in intent, will and expression.

Until the veil that divided the holy place from the holy of holies was rent in two our identity was basically a soul identity. Such an identity is never fixed, but is fluctuating and under the influence of varying conditions. Most of us long believed our soul was our true self until we by the Spirit’s enlightenment discovered that our center, our spirit, was fixed in God who is changeless and immutable.

“For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebr 4:12).

It is not for us to chop up ourselves, but in order to exchange our soul identity with a spirit identity where the self is truly located in a union with the true Self, the word of God teaches us the difference between soul and spirit.

The wisdom that Solomon asked for came to expression when he threatened to split the baby in two with the sword. The one who loved the baby and who was its true mother wanted it to remain whole. The other woman involved in the dispute wanted it split in two. Wisdom hence is to perceive spirit, soul and body as a seamless whole. Jesus’ robe was one seamless piece - an image of how He functioned as a whole person.

In the context of our personhood Jesus gave us a very telling picture of man being as a lamp.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 5:14-16).

The lamp or vessel was made from clay. Man is likewise made from the dust of the earth, and God is the potter molding the clay as He pleases. For the lamp to function and give off light it had within the wick, which is a fibrous fabric. This is an image of the soul and its inner weaving or mesh of feelings, reason, emotions, likes, dislikes etc.

The lamp is filled with air until the air is replaced with olive oil. John wrote: “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12). It is the Holy Spirit who fills the vessel and gives it life. The oil was to flow through the fibers of the wick and its different components to its outer point of ignition - ignited by the love of God - giving off the light of Christ to the world we live in.

The lamp analogy accurately shows how the entire man is involved in expressing the indwelling Christ. Not least our souls are now rightly used by the Spirit to out-picture or manifest the life of Christ which otherwise would have been hidden. To put the lamp on a stand means that we are now free to embrace our souls as a merit and not a liability. To know this effectively dispels any notions regarding that we have to change in order to fit into some kind of pattern or mold. We are free to be ourselves. Don’t hide your precious self and expression “under a basket”, Jesus is in effect saying.

That Jesus has filled the entire temple is vividly pictured in the Old Testament. It was the priests who brought the Ark of the Covenant, which is a type of Christ, into the temple. The Ark was made from wood and overlaid with pure gold. The wood represents the humanity of Jesus, whereas the gold represents his deity. The gates to the Outer Court were to be opened so that the priests could carry the Ark through the Outer Court to the Holy Place. Then the doors to the Holy Place were opened to bring the Ark through the Holy Place to be placed behind the Veil in the Holy of Holies typifying that we are one spirit with Him by the Holy Spirit.

It is also noteworthy that the distinction between the soul and the spirit is spiritually discerned like Hebrews 4:12 states, and Paul said the same thing: "But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14).

Prayer - An Agreement Between Bride and Bridegroom

It was vital for Jesus to reestablish prayer in the realm of faith. He had made it absolutely clear that vain repetition of words would avail nothing. Prayer had to be brought out of the realm of self-effort to the realm of the Spirit. Thus He said to the astonished disciples: “Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”

The use of the word “whatever” means that prayer is no longer to be judged according to the tree of knowledge to good and evil, including its subtle branch: “Is my prayer for others?” It is God who is at work in you to both will and do in accordance with His good pleasure, Paul bluntly wrote. Understood in this context of freedom prayer was to be reinstated as a spontaneous outflow of the Spirit in the believer - whether in intelligible words or not.

And finally, believe that you have received it is another way of saying that the thing is done by God, and that there is nothing you can do to aid Him in the outworking of the manifestation - simply because He is the One who is God. Vain repetition of words or any effort towards assisting God would add nothing to the already finished result. Only believe!

One last thing: When Jesus educates the disciples on marriage and divorce in Mark 10 He says that the two, husband and wife, are one flesh. This is a shadow of our true and only marriage with Christ. Since husband and wife are one flesh, Christ and those who are joined to Him are one spirit/Spirit. Thus, if properly understood, Jesus’ words on prayer in Mark 11:24 make full circle back to Him, meaning that prayer is an agreement between bride and bridegroom.

The Talents

The parable of the talents in a way takes up the thread from the parable of the prodigal son where the Father says to the son: “All mine is yours.” The parable of the prodigal son illustrates how the returned son is awakened to faith and takes possession of his possessions and leaves any religious baggage at the threshold, whereas the second son remains on the outside, and even receives a reprimand from his father concerning his unbelief. The invitation is extended to both sons to enter all the Father is, but only one of them accepted the gift.

God is not an austere master. Whenever He invites us to come up higher the faith to do so is provided, but we are responsible to receive and take advantage of God’s own faith which He confers lavishly upon us. This is also true about every faith commission into which He takes us. The faith to accomplish the task is provided, and we learn to invest this faith so that what in the beginning seemed like little and wavering faith is added upon so that it becomes perfect faith; five talents become ten talents.

There is also boldness involved in using the talents that graciously are endowed upon us. The one who buried his talent stepped back in fear and his talent was taken away from him. What we learn is that God, the creator of the universe, rewards boldness. We do not, however, find this boldness as something inherent human, but we partake from the Son’s boldness. We are seated with Him in heavenly places, and since we now are accepted into the triune fellowship the boldness of Jesus is ours.

What we easily overlook when we read these parables is that we are all those persons in the parables. It is by the Lord’s doing that we are transformed into being the daring one with five talents - by Christ in us. All these transformations transpire in our consciousnesses as we are taken from glory to glory in faith, increasingly recognizing Christ as our life. These things are, however, not automatic. We are definitely involved in these transformations by our leaps of faith.

In the parable of the talents we learn that there are many who are against the king, and at the end of the parable the following decree is issued: “Slay all those who are against me.” Who are those who are against the reign of the Lord if it is not all those faulty beliefs that we somehow are something more than empty vessels?

Our point of departure is usually that we think that we somehow have faith apart from the One who is one person with us. In any faith adventure one of God’s objectives is to strip us of any ideas that we have faith apart from Him – that we can do it apart from Him. Frustrations, circumstances etc will slay us until what is left is the Lord as us. This sure is a refining process that presses us into He who is our life – not as a separate person inside of us, but as one person with us.

Faith is both natural and unnatural depending on our angle of perception. It is definitely unnatural to walk on water, and investing our talents is indeed walking on water. But, in God that veil that separates the natural and the unnatural is rent in two. Faith asks us to step into the unknown, that is, stepping behind the veil, because it is now possible to do so. Faith is our response to revelation, and it is faith because the object of our faith is a Person who is faithful and who cannot lie. Faith is further aligning ourselves with the “it is done” consciousness of the Father.

Boldness is commitment since faith also requires that we speak our words of faith in accordance with the pattern that is shown us by revelation. We believe, hence we speak. Our faith commitment is easily discerned by what we speak.

Easy, Right

After having posted yesterday’s entry “Crossing the Red Sea” I asked John Collings to read it and share his immediate thoughts on what I had written. This is his reply which blessed me tremendously:

Our point of perception certainly matters in this grasping of the faith that isn’t our own and that starting point matters until He carries us beyond our perception and without “Revelation it will Remain so.” Ultimately, our faith, our desires and even our actions are not our own.  They are His and purposed through us.  From where I sit, it isn’t a matter of me asking what I will, because it is His will in me; so how can it go wrong.  It only goes wrong or does not manifest, if it is me apart from Him which is only an illusion.

The difference between Mary, Zacharias, Jesus and me is our perception of the truth.  God takes care of any misconceptions from his vessels by giving us the perfect way to understand; through pondering, through becoming mute, through a time in our own personal dessert of revelation.  Still what we see until we see with His eyes is our limited grasp of what He is up to around and through us.  We see through the glass darkly, he certainly sees clearly.  It is His plan and His doing.  Of course His Desire will come to pass.  So when we understand who we truly are, then how can our desires help but work out.  They are His planted in us for the purpose of bearing His fruit.

Easy, Right.

Crossing the Red Sea

Jesus boldly and without any reservations said: “Whatsoever you pray for in your prayers, believe you have received it and it is yours.” This promise has flabbergasted me more than once. How could He say such a thing? He is in fact issuing a blank check to those who would follow Him.

As of now this is my best explanation: He knew that we one day would leave the wilderness and begin to flow in the consciousness of the I AM and thus take in faith that it is me speaking, but at the same time it is Him. And when we know it is Him as us all judgment is removed from the request and it will thus flow effortlessly into manifestation by Him who has spoken by us and done it in the same now.

Yesterday I was marveling at how spirit is too deep for us and without revelation it will remain so. While pondering these things I was reminded about myself praying in tongues. It comes out in a language I do not comprehend with reason. And if the words are not interpreted they will remain beyond my reach. This became an image to me on how spirit it too deep for our intellect or reason to grasp.

The language of spirit is faith exactly because faith goes against every conclusion the intellect makes based on appearances. Faith operates with facts that are hidden in the invisible - spirit facts. Faith speaks spirit knowledge – what is known on the spirit level where we are joined one spirit with God. But, even though spirit knows, emotions will waver to and fro until a settling or knowing comes from He who runs the show.

We know, thus we speak, and faith is knowing without knowing since faith cannot be verified by reason or appearances. Faith skips reason, and that is what makes faith both so simple and so difficult. Difficult because we state or confess something that is contrary to what we always have relied on when we are to make judgments; the natural and how it presents itself to our natural senses.

The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, Paul said. The spirit is always willing to express the deeper truths of God whereas the flesh is mesmerized by what it perceives in the natural, and thus we are confronted with these tension fields that are created by this tug-of-war between sense-knowledge and spirit-knowledge.

These inner confrontations might lead to progressively new leaps of faith. It struck me the other day that these leaps of faith find their equivalent in the crossing of the Red Sea. Will the walls of appearances come crushing over us while we walk on the dry faith ground? Safe through on the other side every belief, idea or notion that oppose faith, that is, the truth, will be drowned in the water that closes the gap behind us, and will be remembered no more. “The former things are passed away.” Walking below the sea level, below the sea of appearances, that is, walking on the sea bed illustrates how faith is walking in accordance with the spirit level that is hidden under the water of appearances.

The sea bed is rock solid substance, and it is not affected by the changing conditions on the surface. I like to think that faith is its own proof. Faith is substance – faith is facts – God is – faith is now – it is done.

It is written that Mary pondered these things in her heart, that is, in her spirit and that saved her from much agony, as far as I can see. The other extreme is visualized by Zacharias, John the Baptist's father, who didn't believe the answer when it was presented to him by an angel even though he and his wife had prayed for a son for many years. It doesn't say so in the scriptures, but he must have pondered these things in his intellect.  His unbelief didn't reverse the promise, because Elizabeth’s faith became the channel through which the promise manifested.

Zacharias temporarily losing his voice is merely another way of saying: “Be quiet and know that I am God; I have a way of which ye do not know.”

The reason why I dare to call faith a channel through which the manifestation flows is because I one night got an inner image of faith as exactly that. Without faith it is impossible to please God, we learn. Faith is the channel through which that which is done is manifested either in our consciousnesses or in the natural whether it is salvation, our union stand, a physical healing or the birth of a child. Jesus said: “According to your faith be it unto you.” Faith is the channel through which we receive and it is by faith we speak things into existence.

The new idea is conceived in the womb of God and when the time is ripe the desire will press upon us for expression and the birth channel is our faith. If the new idea is weighted in our intellect we will conceive it as impossible, but faith is consciousness and not thoughts and hence circumvents the intellect. Faith is the Christ consciousness that dawns upon us. We receive it and begin to use it. That Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith is another way of saying this.

Friction

This life isn’t really about me anymore. I am God’s and He walks as me in this life as He pleases to reach those He has placed around me. Before I can fully see this it is vital that I know under all circumstances and in any situation that I am the son in whom He is well pleased. I do not understand all the paths He takes me along. What I notice, however, is how He by my soul reenacts His own death, resurrection and ascension so that others may have life.

Around every corner in this walk I face a temptation. The temptation to believe that there is something wrong with me, that I have fallen, that I ought not think, feel or react like I do. The law always tries to make me go back to self-effort. Its subtleness can only be exposed by the practice of our senses, and it lurks around every corner trying to catch us in its net. Trying to be good is so alluring, but there is only One who is good.

Jesus was a man of sorrows, it says in the prophet. And that is a sure thing in this new life; to walk in faith believing at all times that Christ is living my life in every current moment and that I am righteous no matter outer appearances can only be established in me through various sufferings. Jesus learned the obedience of faith by what He suffered and I am by no means exempted from that.

To pick up my cross and deny myself is simply to acknowledge that I am a temple for the living immutable God, and that He works in me and as me in often mysterious ways. Jesus said: “I of myself can do nothing” and by that giving a most potent example of what it means to deny ourselves. Losing our lives is giving up any idea about self-improvement. How can a dead person go about making his appearance look more endearing?

To accept ourselves with all our weaknesses and oddities is in our inner seeing often like a huge mountain we have to ascend. But, Jesus said we could speak to mountains like that and they would be thrown into the sea. The friction created in our souls when we move into the reality of perfection against all outer apparent evidences to the contrary often causes us great pains, but the heat generated will be an outgoing flame that will be life for others.

When self-loathing, condemnation and confusion knock on the door, Jesus is even more eagerly knocking on the door to our consciousnesses. The first three insist that we are to suppress and oppose ourselves and they more than suggest that we are independent selves operating and managing ourselves apart from God. Jesus, however, leads us to the still waters of self-acceptance rekindling our faith to the fact that He is living our lives in perfection.

What Is Love?

What is love? Can it be defined within the sphere of emotions, or is love something that rests on a more secure foundation than good feelings? And what does it mean that God is love? Do I have love or am I love? Can I muster up love when circumstances demand love, or is love beyond self-effort?  Can I for instance recognize love by faith?

The answer to almost all of our questions is found in God’s declaration: “I will!”, or hearing Him say “Let us make man in our image.” That is love. It is the Fire-Self becoming light when it “chose” to become for others. This means that love is something far greater than emotions, but it doesn’t exclude emotions like the parable of the prodigal son demonstrates.

If love is an is-thing than I do not have love, but I am love because God is joined one Spirit with me, and, not least, because it is He who works in me to will and do after His good pleasure. It is He who says as me: I will! Since I cannot judge love based on emotions, love must be recognized in faith as seeing God in everything working forth His eternal purposes in all things. In the instant I say that I also understand that love is beyond appearances. Love simply defies judgment on human terms.

I hear all those calls to love almost everywhere I turn, but I have become deaf to those calls. I have learned the hard way that I cannot muster up a grain of love by self effort. This thing most of us call love, is human “love”, and it tastes like honey in our mouth, but it will turn sour in our stomachs.

However, Divine love wells up from our innermost being as a refreshing river that manifests its purposes of love spontaneously as us in everything. Love is thus resting in faith that we can do nothing of ourselves, and that it is He who does the works, and not to mention; I do only what I see my Father is doing.