Receiving Like a Child

For many years I found it terribly difficult to receive gifts. There was a perpetual sense of unworthiness and even a nagging feeling that I had to do something to earn them which made this basic task very difficult. This was not a problem when I was a child. However, as my self-consciousness grew and as life’s many disappointments and blows came in rapid succession my innocence and natural ability to spontaneously receive crumbled.

Paul said in Romans 5:17 “…much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” And Jesus told us that we had to turn and become like small children to enter the kingdom of God. This explains quite succinctly why my first season as a believer was such a “disaster”.

From we were infants our parents gave us everything pertaining to life. Utterly helpless we were completely dependent on our parent’s care and gifts. We were experts on receiving. The idea that we had to merit their care didn’t exist. Moreover, we often demanded their attention and care without giving that issue a second thought. Naturally we moved in a realm of receiving and taking, because their possessions were evidently also ours.

There are some possessions which God owns that He has a strong desire to give His children. Those are: Abundance of grace, the gift of righteousness and the kingdom. He says that when we receive those gifts we will reign in life. Jesus told us that if we don’t have the mindset of a child we will reject the gifts on account of our inclination to think in terms of rewards. However, the law guarantees us that if we attempt to earn His gifts we are doomed to fail.

It wasn’t that God loved me less when I in my self-righteous fervor tried to deserve His gifts and favor. The simple and sad fact was that I was unable to recognize and accept His love, because I firmly believed I had to earn His approval and gifts. Of course that marked my life. If you believe you are serving a demanding and angry God, you become angry and demanding. That is definitely not reigning in life.

Man’s most important and basic faculty is to receive. Unable to receive we are distorted versions of our original design, and a distorted version will ultimately flounder. Jesus met and cared for a special group of people who found it very easy to receive His love and acceptance. They were the outcasts of society; prostitutes, leprous, tax collectors and their likes. So I guess those of us who think we are something in our own eyes are those who find it most difficult to receive His unconditional love.

I have learned the hard way to receive from my Father. His love had to break me first before I could turn and become like a little child. I am immensely grateful that His grace and love found the task of leading this man to repentance worth the effort. Well, He had made up His mind before the foundation of the earth when He proclaimed: “I will!” And His determined “I will” is like an unquenchable flood so my ability to receive is continually improving.

The Greatest Miracle

There is a great and magnificent miracle that many find difficult to believe is possible. It is not healing. Even pagans believe that their witchdoctor through some magical rite can heal them. It is not life after death. Even New Age adherents believe there is an afterlife. I don’t think I am wrong if I assert that the miracle most people find almost impossible to believe in is that someone can love them unconditionally.

Turning to Jesus

Often we find that people associate particular emotions or resolve into the term repentance. Brokenness, remorse, guilt, shame, rededication and self-introspection are often demanded if a person’s repentance is to be assessed as genuine. However, if this is the model we apply we inevitably are confronted with a couple of episodes recorded in the scriptures which challenge our understanding.

Eros love demands that a person does something to earn its approval and forgiveness. However, God operates on a completely different level through His unconditional Agape love. Thus He is eagerly waiting for the prodigal son to return, even running to meet and embrace Him. This son erroneously thought that his Father had nothing more than Eros to offer him, so before he went home he had planned what he would tell his Father when he returned including all the necessary phrases and resolves. But, the Father wouldn’t listen to any of it on account of His agape love.

This parable tells us that repentance is simply turning to Jesus. If we put anything else into this expression we demonstrate our predilection towards a legalistic system of reward and punishment. We are also confronted with the thief on the cross who simply turned to Jesus and was saved. He had nothing to show for himself except faith in God’s grace.

Often God’s grace and generosity is too much for the human mind to grasp. We don’t like that God makes it so easy for persons to be reconciled to Him. We prefer to think that they must put in an effort to better themselves first or that they display all the emotions we associate with repentance so that they can deserve His kindness.

We are designed to be spirit people. When Eve and Adam fell the only thing we had left was our flesh. We knew somehow that something was missing. Man began thus searching for the meaning of life outside his original design. As a flesh person man exalted wisdom, intellect, progress and even sex as the meaning of their existence. They missed the goal, which is sin.

The meaning of life is simply to walk in a relationship with the Creator. Anything less than that is missing the target. Repentance is thus to turn from our futile and void pursuit of what seems to the flesh as the ultimate meaning of life and turn to God. The thief on the cross did exactly that, turned to Jesus and was saved. Moreover, we are continually saved by His ascended life, and we continue our process of repentance after we are saved by dismissing our misguided ideas concerning God’s agape love and replace them with the stupendous truth.

And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise. (Luke 23:42-43)

We are the objects of Agape

The Greek word for love is Eros. It has the same meaning as the English word love. It denotes the kind of love that responds to beauty and harmony. Eros loves those who deserve its affection. It strives towards the highest and best, and everything which doesn’t match its standards fall short of its devotion. This love is repulsed by what it find ugly and of less quality.

Eros is driven by this desire to fulfill its own cravings and to own the objects of its love. It enjoys the hunt and finds it thrilling to conquer, and it reduces what it desires to mere objects or things to possess. To contrast and compare and come out at the top makes Eros the kind of love that the Pharisees displayed when they were basking in the affirmation from their peers.

Eros thinks that if religious duties are well performed it will earn God’s favor. Its worth is based on its accomplishments and it cannot fathom that God will stretch out His hand to tax-collectors, prostitutes, thieves and homosexuals. Eros likes to boast of its beauty and that it is blessed because of its good deeds. This kind of love is on shaky ground, because whenever it witnesses God’s kindness towards those it consider unworthy its system of values is challenged and its response is often religious anger.

Agape is a Greek word that seldom was used in the days the New Testament was written. It was a word with a rather general meaning, but it was this word the Holy Spirit exclusively used in the New Testament and gave it His own meaning and definition. Agape arises spontaneously from the heart of God, and it loves both the ugly and the unworthy. Agape shows no partiality. It loves unconditionally both the prodigal son and the self-righteous son.

Agape seeks out that what is in disharmony with God. It even embraces its enemies, those who would like to see it dead. This is the kind of love who loves the spiritual unattractive. It isn’t awakened by religious deeds or good works. Because God is love agape originates in who He is, not in us being lovable. So His love seeks us out with compassion and with no strings attached. Its highest desire is to see the objects of its love liberated and set in freedom. It asks of nothing in return and it finds its fulfillment in those who humbly receives it with gratitude because they have nothing to offer.

Agape stirs the depths of the hearts of those who recognize it and welcome it. This is the kind of love that turns hearts of stone into hearts of flesh. Agape can never be deserved so those who trust in its Source are standing on firm ground. Agape is scandalous in its affections and thus rejected by the religious minded who thinks in terms of Eros. There are a couple of other properties which we can attribute to Agape that are almost outrageous; it never feels ashamed over its recipients and it never turns its head in disgust when they fail miserably.

You and I are the objects of Agape!

When He Lingers

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. (John 11:5-6)

This is really an oddity. I thought that if you loved someone you would hurry to their rescue. But, no! Not Jesus. He follows a different timetable. I for sure would have preferred that He swiftly came to my salvage when I was in trouble. I don’t know how you are wired, but if I learn that someone is in dire need I do not postpone my involvement or aid for two days because I love that person.

Anyway, there are some great lessons in those two brief sentences. If Jesus doesn’t come to your rescue immediately it doesn’t mean that He has abandoned you or that He doesn’t love you. On the contrary, if He lingers it is because He loves you dearly and because He has a miracle up His sleeve.

Your deliverance will come in His perfect timing and when it comes it is going to render you in utter awe. In the meantime He asks you to trust Him and make your bed, that is, make yourself comfortable in your transient “hell”. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the death many turned to Jesus and believed in Him. So, your troubles aren’t perhaps so often about you, but as a beloved child of the Most High you are His conduit for bringing life and repentance, that is, a change of mind regarding God to many.

I ask you to never assume that Jesus doesn’t love you when you face your dreaded darkest hours, because He does. In fact, He goes through those seasons as you. He intimately knows your thoughts. He cries with you, and your heart’s sorrows break His heart. If you listen carefully you will hear Him in your heart saying: “I have gone through this before. I know how it is and I know how to deal with it. If you put your trust in me you will see that I carry you through everything. And it is my responsibility to glorify you and myself through it all. So, rest in me.”

"He loves you not only because you are here, but also you are here because He loved you into existence" (Malcolm Smith)

He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!] (Hebr 13:5 Amplified)

Evolvement

In his first epistle John introduces something not found elsewhere in the Bible. He suggests that the Christian walk can be divided into three separate periods, where each period has some common characteristics. I have been pondering this lately and what I am now to pen down is not an exhaustive exposition on the subject, merely some initial thoughts.

The little child knows his sins are forgiven. He is not yet, however, secured in God’s grace and has a limited understanding of the mystery of the gospel, that is, Christ’s abiding presence in him. The child is an easy prey for condemnation, and is apt to judge himself and others based on behavior. He prefers fixed boundaries and finds security in a predictable religion.

The child usually wants to have its will and God have mercy on those who is so audacious that they shake their outlook and their predictable world. Children prefer predictability and strict boundaries. They prefer to divide things in good and evil.

The young man has overcome the evil one. He has disclosed the devil’s devices and is secure in his identity. He is strong because he has discovered the surpassing power of the One who abides in him. The adolescent is well settled in God’s grace and he is beginning to make righteous judgments in accordance with the light he has been given.

Otherwise the young men are like most other adolescents. They almost invariably know better than those who are older and more mature than them. Full of plans and energy they embark on any project they think will glorify God.

The father, who knows Him who has been from the beginning, has delved into this mystery we call love. He knows God is limitless and unsearchable. He has found that God operates outside any preconceived boxes. Daily his mind is stretched, because the Spirit is leading him further and further from the trodden paths. The father is completely secure in God’s love. The fact that he is loved is a fixed inner knowledge. He is not dependent on feelings, sensations or experiences to feel loved even though he appreciates those moments of intimacy.

What does it mean that the father knows Him who has been from the beginning? God is love and thus love is the origin of everything. It is a love that far surpasses any human understanding, so the father has undressed himself of those inhibiting thought patterns which attempt to understand God intellectually. God is Spirit and can hence only be recognized in a realm where words cannot by any means make justice to God’s person or ways. The father has abandoned any earthly ways, and his soul is utterly captivated by the beauty of the Eternal one.

For the father any illusion about separation has been dissolved and he is well established in his union with God. His will is fused with God’s will and he confidently obeys his heart knowing he can do nothing of himself and is thus secure in his own I. Paradoxes do not scare him. On the contrary he is intrigued by the freedom those almost preposterous inconsistent ideas offer.

Others envy him his freedom to express himself without any inhibitions. In the same manner as God the father is preoccupied with one thing only and that is life and life in abundance.

I AM

Repentance is simply acknowledging that ”I can’t” and say to God “you can”. There is no condemnation for those who can’t. Those who still attempt to live the Christian life are, however, in a precarious position and are an easy prey to condemnation and the activities of the flesh. The flesh says: “I can”. That is idolatry.

Faith, however, says: “I am willing to let You”. It opens up to His ability and His resources. The Christian life isn’t a self-improvement program. It is supernatural and divine. This involves a process where the regenerated man increasingly recognizes and embraces Christ’s activity in him.

Repentance is to recognize that God’s Kingdom is within. Repentance leads to faith, and faith investigates its inheritance. It is not an inheritance hidden in a dim future, but it is here and now. What is this inheritance? Isn’t it a fearfully and wonderfully made me who is dressed in Christ? So I joyfully investigate the new creation.

When I let go and let Him I walk in the Spirit free and bold knowing I am a son of the Most High. Paradoxally, I have now found myself and I fill the whole picture with everything I am.

The “I can” identity’s “I” and “my” are filthy rags!
The “I can’t” identity’s “I” and “my” are glorious!

Bread and Water

After the Spirit revealed the revolutionary news to me that Christ is in me I find it immensely difficult to say that I am dry. It is an impossibility since the Everlasting water springs up inside me and lives inside me and its fresh wells soak my entire being. I find it corresponding difficult to assert that I am spiritual hungry now when the Heavenly Bread continually feeds me with its abundance inside of me.

He has been there my entire Christian walk, but it wasn’t until I recognized the facts and faith became substance that I wholly could rely on Him as my sustainer. What an amazing difference this constitutes. Of course I have my bad days when my soul is in uproar, when self pity finds a crack or tiredness overwhelms me. However, those emotions do not any longer define my being in a negative way. And perhaps most importantly: I never give them the opportunity to condemn me, because the truth has become a tangible reality to me. I have come to love my emotions knowing that I am perfectly capable of expressing Him and myself through them. Emotions are an asset. They color my life.

If my soul emotions happen to bother me a quick glance at Him inside of me is all that is necessary for my soul to calm down and find rest. You see, I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God really put an effort into the making of me, and when He was finished He smiled exclaiming: “It is very good.” Recognizing His presence within me has also released this unspeakable joy which earlier just was a remote idea of something unattainable in this life. So from having a Christ out there, the illusion, to have a Christ in here makes all the difference in the universe.

The One Jesus Loves

One of His disciples, whom Jesus loved [whom He esteemed and delighted in], was reclining [next to Him] on Jesus’ bosom. (John 13:23 Amplified)

This is perhaps one of the most beautiful pictures portrayed in the New Testament of intimacy between Savior and disciple. John writes of himself that he was loved by Jesus. Not that the others were less loved, but John had understood that he was accepted and loved by his master. Can you imagine yourself resting your head on God’s bosom?

Do you have this inner knowing that you are esteemed by God, and that He delights in you? Do you yearn to rest your head on His shoulder or bosom (which also means heart)? Can you picture yourself being embraced by the tender love of the One who has created everything?

Doesn’t this image make you feel special? Doesn’t it make you bold in His presence? John could be bold with Jesus because He knew he was loved. No need to pretend when you are together with a person that loves you unconditionally!

Did you know that John is derived from Hebrew and means God is gracious?

Eternal Love

God’s humbleness came into display when His son was born in a stable and laid in a manger in a country occupied by alien forces. That same humbleness is manifested every day in people who have given their lives to Him and who He isn’t ashamed of calling His offspring. They are sojourners on this planet which one day will be dissolved in the same manner as the consciousnesses of those who love Him are shaken until their minds can contain Him.

The mysteries of God are only conceivable to those who have given up everything with a desire to be filled by Him. In this state they discover themselves as true beings liberated from any inhibiting outer limitations. In their uniqueness there is a diversity and freshness that is captivating. In every man He makes Himself known in a distinctive way.

Our Father’s main objective is to see us soar like eagles liberated from the gravity of appearances to be to free to walk boldly in faith trusting ourselves as perfect manifestations of His humble divinity. His desires are like a consuming fire and everything He has resolved according to His own free counsel will see its completion despite any evidence of the contrary.

The same consuming fire has He endowed on every son. This eternal flame scorches off self effort and any constraining illusion of independent self until the creation sighs of relief witnessing another safe son step forward confidently emanating the kind of love that words into being the Eternal Love’s desires.

Theology or Love?

We often might get the impression that our authenticity as Christians is evaluated by others on the background of our theology. However, Jesus never said that should be our measuring stick. In fact that is a miserable way of assessing a person’s standings with Christ. The Pharisees utilized this method in their encounters with Jesus, but every time they came out as fools. Jesus said that a good tree would be known by its fruit. There is, however, only one good tree in the universe. When Paul lists the fruit of the Spirit those qualities he mentions are a perfect description of the inherent traits of God. How come those qualities will be manifested in our lives as a witness of our authenticity? Since it is only one who is good, according to Jesus, those qualities are manifested in mortal flesh because Christ is in the believer. His life is bound to seep out of His friends. Paul plainly stated that no one has a perfect theology. Every one of us sees in parts. Love, however, is perfected in us and it wells forth with an unswerving fortitude.

Sinless Perfection

If we are to call ourselves true fundamentalists we are forced to take into consideration and ultimately have an unwavering faith in the Biblical principle of sinless perfection. The opposite, sinful imperfection, might seem from an earthly perspective to be closer to the truth, and is thus the prevailing idea in most churches. When Jesus said: “Be you perfect as your Father is perfect” he was not kidding around. That was not a call to fervent self effort, but a statement of a soon to be actual reality for whosoever entered His kingdom through faith. It was a call not to live by sight, but to live by faith. John had the nerve to say that as He is, not was, so are we in this word. Every quality we attach to the ascended Christ is also true about us, John asserts. Life at its fullest is found in this almost absurd notion that there is nothing wrong with me, but that I am perfected through a once and for all sacrifice.

Faithful in All His House

Paul likens our relationship to God with a marriage. We died from our former husband, the law. Then we were resurrected to be with our true husband. The fact that our earthly marriages are a type of our heavenly union is the obvious reason why God doesn’t like infidelity particularly well. One of the things the new gentile churches thus were to abstain from was sexual immorality. God is a jealous spouse because He loves us so compassionately.

In 1 Cor 7 Paul literally says that the spouses own each other. They have authority over each other’s bodies. Have you considered the implications of this? It means that we as His spouses have access to and authority over everything He owns. We can relate this to what Jesus said about us being given the keys to the kingdom of Heaven, that we are commissioned to bind and loose. We perhaps see this more clearly when we remember that we are in God, and that He is in us. He owns us and we own Him. Moses knew this secret, because Hebrews 3:2 says that Moses was faithful in all His house.

How much more do we not have access to all His house under the new covenant?

There is a small detail, however, before we can take the necessary leap of faith and operate on this level effortlessly. The Holy Spirit must first have established us in a position where we never accept condemnation. As soon as we begin to assert our rights the Devil will come against us with all sorts of temptations and accusations.

But, we stand fast without the slightest condemnation, and we know the difference between a temptation and a sin. Jesus was tempted as we are. He is well acquainted with the Devil’s strategies, and since Christ is in us the enemy has nothing in us. We do not fall back on self effort, which is infidelity, but stand fast in Him.

As long as we are sojourners on this earth which is under the dominion of the evil one it is his right to come against us and test us. However, God uses those encounters to further His will in us and to exercise our faith. We come out even stronger, more confident and as more than conquerors when we have defeated our adversary by the blood of the lamb and our confession.

It has become more and more clear to me that if we are to be faithful in all His house we have to be safe sons. We are created as persons. Persons can choose, but they become slaves of what they have chosen. I opted to marry, and became a slave of marriage. We choose to have children, so we are slaves of our children. I became a teacher, and that choice governs my life.

To be safe sons of God means that we have tasted darkness and we have tasted light. We know the difference between sin and righteousness. We have experienced the wretchedness of self effort, and found the surpassing excellence of rest. Project man was finished at the cross, and out of it a multitude of safe sons emerge, because they are knowers. Their experiences are the foundation for their choices, and they never again have any desire to return to the former things. They can compare and contrast, and the glory of the new marriage far supersedes the things that one day will dissolve. So they reign with Him safe in His love and secure in His keeping powers. Yes, it is all of grace! Yes, we are slaves of righteousness.

No Wants

There was a time in my Christian walk when I wanted so many things. I wanted to become a better father, better husband, more loving, more caring, less judgmental and so on. Norman Grubb calls those wants rubbish, and I agree wholeheartedly.

Those wants expressed my erroneous belief that I had to improve myself using my own willpower. I have reached the conclusion that’s not the case, since I am either indwelt by sin or Christ. Since I have been given life through my faith in Jesus I am indwelt by the latter. I thus do not have an independent operating self which is designed to reflect myself, which is the illusion our soul enemy wants to perpetuate. Every one of my wants became veils which impeded me from recognizing my new union with Christ and my perfection in Him, and that I reflect Him in my human form as the perfect version of myself. This of course is the mystery of the gospel.

I also believe that God used my wants so that that illusion concerning an own independent self that had the power to improve itself could be completely shattered when I came to the end of myself. Our wants of improvement also become our idols. We fix our gaze on our goals, and are distracted from our center, which is Christ and Christ alone.

It is quite clear to me that if God accepted me into His family of sons with everything I am, I can accept myself. If I am good enough for God, I am good enough for myself. He is my keeper, it is His life that is manifested in my mortal flesh. I say as Jesus: “I can do nothing of myself.” So, if God wants to better me He has to do it. I just relax with no condemnation seeing Him accomplish His works in me.

Who am I to judge myself? Christ is the judge and his verdict is: “Innocent.” And if I am Christ in my form I am promoted to make righteous judgments as well, and my verdict of my existence is: “Holy, righteous, perfected son.” I have literally kicked my former consciousness of sin on the ash heap. It was a burdensome nuisance which smothered my precious liberty in Him.

I also remember that I wanted to be used by Him, to yield to His will etc. Well, the truth is: I am all those things. How, you may ask. Through faith! I have practiced (He has practiced as me) to recognize Christ in me until it has become a fixed inner spirit knowledge. Our faith develops by hearing the word. That’s what I have been doing the last year; immersed myself (He has immersed Himself) in teachings which edifies and encourages me to take those leaps of faith which enabled me to acknowledge everything He attained at the cross on my behalf.

Ever since I accepted Christ I have been all those things He says I am, but it has taken 17 years for Him to lead me to the understanding I now have. Every step has been carefully planned by my loving Father. I can see that in retrospect.

Rest Through Faith

For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. 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. (Heb 4:8-12)

We enter God’s rest by faith. That is the only work which is not self effort, because we have the faith of God. We thus declare to ourselves: “I have entered His rest.” The striving part comes as a result of our circumstances and soul emotions contesting our confession. So we stand firm in our belief disregarding any outer storms which attempt to make us sway in our inner conviction. This striving will ultimately transform our faith into substance.

The giants the Israelites feared when they stood on the brink of entering their promised land of rest is a type of our soul emotions and our fear of our flesh. We erroneously think that we have to fight those feelings, attractions and desires which raise their head in order to deter us from entering our promised land which is Him in us as us. At the cross He won that crucial battle and cleansed us completely from indwelling sin. There is nothing wrong with our flesh. He is our keeper! Our flesh is His means of manifesting Himself in this temporal realm, that is, “those who have seen me have seen the Father”.

The word of God, Christ, who is joined one spirit to us pierces to the division of soul and spirit so that we are empowered to discern between what are soul emotions and what is our inner spirit knowing. This knowledge and enablement to discern is powerful in rejecting everything which rises against the knowledge of God, who is our rest. Jesus provided this land of rest through the cross. We already have it, and we recognize and possess our heritage through faith, and we boldly enter His rest knowing this is His good will for us.

Stand Up And Walk

I don’t think Peter knew how profound his words were when he healed the crippled beggar by exclaiming: “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” Recently filled by the Spirit he and the other disciples with boldness expressed the new power which had found a dwelling place in their cleansed temples.

At that time Peter couldn’t have apprehended the full scope of the words he uttered. It wasn’t until later that he received the revelation that the gospel was for the Gentiles as well. It was Paul who was elected to receive the full revelation of the union life, which would propel Paul to take the leap of faith where he completely indentified himself with our Father and perceived that he was an expression of Christ in his form. This is what Norman Grubb calls the total truth of our being, recognizing the Other as the source of our workings and doings.

It was most likely Paul who passed on his revelation to Peter. We find that Peter in one of his letters alludes to this when he mentions that some of the things Paul writes in his letters are difficult for many to comprehend. Despite Peter’s ignorance about the union life in the beginning of his ministry the Spirit spoke those faith words of healing through him for a special purpose. Unfortunately, many have interpreted his utterance as a magic formula on how to minister healing to people. However, that was not the Spirit’s intention.

Those words plainly symbolize that when we recognize Christ within we understand that we operate in His resurrection power as His representatives on this planet. This identification from the Spirit’s standpoint is so inclusive that He beholds us as perfect expressions of the divine life, and thus ambassadors for Christ who boldly can speak words of faith with the authority of the Father spontaneously when it swells up in us. As Paul and Peter we also can enter this fixed inner spirit reality of who we really are when that illusion of self improvement is shattered. However, as was the case for Peter we don’t need to have a full understanding of this to be used mightily by God to further His kingdom.

Let us now take this a step further. We know by experience and many witnesses that God still heals, and that is wonderful. There is, however, an issue that is far more important than physical healing. There are plenty of Christians who still are crippled by condemnation and self introspection. They are rendered lame and cannot walk in the freedom Christ purchased for everyone of us who believe in His name. We are thus commissioned, as Peter so vividly demonstrated, to talk our word of faith to those who are crippled by law and self effort to walk in Him!

That is the real healing that will last throughout eternity!

Where His Glory Dwells

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jer 31:33)

I remember those days very vividly when I still thought that the law was something which I had to observe by self effort. The law was something outside me which I as a good Christian had to fulfill. What an anguish my soul went through when I repeatedly failed. I still carried around this illusion that God and I were separate beings; He there and I here. I firmly believed that He would give me power to overcome my apparent shortcomings. I must admit I was a bit confused when that power never materialized.

I have, however, come to realize that Christ lives inside me as me, which of course is a huge mystery; that we who are two are one spirit joined together. He will not give me power to overcome anything, since He is power. It isn’t something He has so that He can dispense it to needy Christians. He is power, and it is only through realizing our union that I become power as He is power. It was only by me failing miserably that He could reveal to me that this is the new reality. That illusion of separation really had my mind in a tight grip, so I had to come to the end of myself before I ceased making so much noise.

Lately I have been fascinated by Paul’s statement in Romans 8:4; “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” A verse which corresponds wonderfully with Jeremiah 31:33. In the new covenant the law isn’t longer something out there which I have to adhere to. It is something which is fulfilled in me, because it is God who works in me, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Notice that Paul says “might be fulfilled in us” in the verse quoted from the Romans. Now it becomes very interesting, because that little preposition “in” denotes in Greek to be in from a position of rest! Hence, all my struggling to perform impeded His ability to fulfill the law in me and through me as me! There was no room for Him to spontaneously express Himself through my mortal flesh when my life was governed by rigid rules.

Paul had quite a struggle with the Galatians. After they had come to Christ some wolves had infiltrated their church and promoted the law as a necessary ingredient in the new life. Frustrated Paul exclaimed: “My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!” (Gal 4:19). Here Paul is saying the same thing as He did to the Romans, but in different words due to a different context. Trying to live the Christian life impedes Christ being formed in us!

To a rather huge group of well meaning Christians that must come as a big shock. We have heard more often than what we wish to count that we have to become more like Christ. That was the original sin from Eden; trying to become more like God. The law is a perfect and holy expression of God’s character. Attempting to live in accordance to the law is thus repeating the original lie. Hence Paul writes to the Galatians: “For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse.”

What does it mean that Christ is formed in us? I have come to understand that this is finding our lives again in Him to be perfect expressions of Him in our uniqueness. I am liberated to fully be myself with everything that entails. That is both a profound and magnificent gift. In this lies the realization that I am fearfully and wonderfully made to be an expression of the divine life as me. Only the Spirit can settle us in this truth through faith.

Our old master, Satan, is expelled from the temple. Thus I now say as the psalmist: “O LORD, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells” (26:8). That place is me.

The Journey

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. (1 John 4:18)

There was a time in my life when the fear of death cast dark shadows over my existence. The sting of death was an almost daily nuisance and it rendered my soul to shrink in fear whenever it found an opportunity to bite. This sensation of helplessness aroused a spiritual hunger which at first led this stranger to the spiritual realm to explore Eastern philosophies for an answer. Karma and reincarnation seemed as plausible explanations to the big questions which death aroused. Even though the puzzle seemingly had found its consummation, fear reigned in the mind of the newly converted New Age adherent.

It wasn’t that the new philosophies encouraged towards much self-effort and an idea of bettering oneself that perpetuated this crippling feeling. I was ready to do anything necessary to qualify for a better existence in my next life. Fear plainly was a faithful companion during those years, and it caused soul pain and palpitations. I thought those manifestations would be history as soon as I had entered a more profound understanding of the spiritual realities I explored. Fear most likely was caused by imbalances in my yin and yangs. It would thus be a splendid idea to balance the Chakras. Unfortunately I didn’t have the crystals which would accelerate the process.

It is now God finds it opportune to interfere and begin convincing me about His existence, and He adds that there merely is one way to eternal life, and that is His son Jesus Christ. Since He is very persistent and persuasive I discovered that everything I believed in was wool. It could to a certain degree keep me warm, but it was without any substance. Fear now lost some of its grip. It wasn’t longer bothering me in a palpable physical way. However, I was afraid that if I didn’t do the right things and pleased my new master He would abandon me in disgust and anger. Hence, this rather ambitious and strong-willed son did His very best to live the new life in accordance to the guidelines He found in the scriptures and what other told him was necessary.

When I came to the end of myself I did so with a bang that most likely reverberated through the universe for several minutes. To walk in a depressive darkness is very instructive. It kind of prepares you for God’s grace. So when the revelation came that I was dead to the law and that His blessings were chasing me new hope and life were infused into this poor soul. There was a new lightness to my steps. The sun was shining again and life seemed promising. However, God was still up there and I was stuck here. I still wasn’t persuaded that my salvation was eternally secured, so there were still moments when fear found a crack in the defense and bit. I still wasn’t perfected in love.

God, however, had another surprise up His sleeve. He plainly told me that when I was born again I entered a union with Him; an indissoluble unity which would last forever. Christ thus lived my life as me and I was a perfect expression of Him. In other words, the mystery revealed. We might be tempted to think that Ole Henrik now was completely free and fearless. Dear reader, please do not hasten to immature conclusions, because Ole Henrik is a complicated guy. A new issue materialized: Can I completely trust my soul reactions even though I am in this union? Am I love as He is love? It was time for the Spirit to teach me about how appearances and erroneous mindsets regarding Jesus still kept me in bondage.

To see love perfected in a person denotes that a person’s faith reaches beyond the fact that God is love, that He is all in all and that everything works out for good for those who love Him and begins to trust himself. God is my keeper. He ingeniously utilizes my soul reactions to reach others through me. I am not always conscious of how His is doing that. I am merely myself with everything that entails. I do not longer judge my emotions or doings as good or evil. I have discovered that I am. I know that my Father cherishes challenges, and I somehow know that I have been an enjoyable challenge to Him. I can vividly imagine how He is smiling His best smile to me as I am settled in this magnificent truth. He probably says something along these lines: “Well, Ole Henrik, so here we are. It has been quite a journey, but now you have finally found your life again. We are companions, you know! I am in you and you in Me. But, the best is yet to come.”

Illusions vs Faith

I woke up this morning with a verse on my tongue accompanied with a sight which didn’t last more than a fraction of a second. The verse I had in my mouth is where Paul admonishes the Romans not to be conformed to the patterns of this world. The image I saw was our globe covered with a mesh. In my mind it resembled a mesh of illusions enveloping our planet, and thus that was the way I understood it.

When Adam fell his worldview changed instantaneously. To his great distress he now discovered that he and Eve were naked. When sin moved in and took over the command center, his spirit, his faith faculties abruptly dissolved, and all he had left were his third dimension senses. Faith is fixed on our Father. Settled in faith we do not take into account our own appearances, because it is in Him we live and have our being. Faith denotes that we are off a self-focus and onto a Christ focus.

Our natural human faculties cannot disclose this world’s appearances as falsehood. We are not talking about everything God created in the material realm, because He plainly declared it as good. The mesh or pattern alludes to a religious system which is present within every human who haven’t accepted Christ, and thus is manifested in everything the unregenerate man does.

The unregenerate man follows the cravings of his flesh, that is, his regular human faculties which every man is endowed with. Paul thus says that our sight, hearing or emotions do not convey to man the complete image of this universe. If we only rely on those senses we are conformed to this world.

When Jesus found His abode in us He endowed us with powerful faith faculties which are meant to see their perfections through practice. This is the means by which we expose any religious system which is raising itself against the fixed knowledge of God.

This fourth dimension faculty empowers us to not walk by sight but by faith. It is this faculty that assures us that we are in a union with Christ. It liberates from trying to live the Christian life. It persuades every one of us that Christ is now at our control center. If He is the great I am, then we are reflections of His being who spontaneously express Him.

By faith we say goodbye to self effort and any external law which are merely images of the basic elements. Children need an outer framework for their lives. Adults don’t. Since Christ is in every believer He spontaneously and effortlessly fulfils every command in the new creation. If we effortlessly expressed sin when the devil was our master, we now effortlessly express righteousness because of the new indweller.

So we simply are as He is.

Our body is a wondrous thing. If we want to make it stronger and fitter we have to exercise. That involves resistance and pain. I personally know a lot of people who do not like that particular scheme very well, but it is the only way to develop our muscles, whether it is heart, lungs or biceps.

When it comes to our faith it needs practice as well. However, now we have a personal trainer who sets up our training program. It involves some suffering and tribulations so we can come to the realization that He is not out there, but inside with all His resources. We will go astray now and then so that we by faith can acknowledge that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Everything is seasoned with some self-effort until we realize He is our life.

Faith is simply how we respond to our training. To be conformed to the patterns of this world is thus to say to our Personal Trainer: “I give up – I prefer appearances to faith. I don’t think you are love, so I want to do this my own way.”

The world says: “Who do you think you are?” Faith says: “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) That’s the pinnacle of our confession! Now we have entered a faith level which is in accordance to Paul’s encouragement: “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” (1 Cor 11:1)

To Deserve or Not to Deserve

When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, “This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.” So Jesus went with them. (Luk 7:4-6)

I picked up my Bible yesterday determined to read Luke. I read with an expectancy of receiving something from the Spirit, something fresh and edifying. So here I am reading about the centurion whose favorite servant has become severely ill. After He had healed the servant Jesus exclaimed over the centurion that he had great faith, most likely because his focus was Jesus and Jesus alone.

However, what suddenly stuck me as odd while reading this passage again was that Jesus didn’t rebuke the elders who with great earnestness asserted that the servant deserved to be healed because he had been an important contributor to the Jewish society.

This is good news, I thought, because how often haven’t we heard that we are of no value, that we deserve nothing and that the only thing we really deserve is death due to our evil nature which God in His grace found necessary to redeem. We often think of ourselves as someone who really does not deserve anything.

Then the following thought manifested: “Why did God save you, Ole Henrik?” The answer was evident: “Because you are of much worth to Him and because He thinks you deserve to live.” That was indeed a very encouraging and edifying string of thoughts, I reasoned. Can you prove this by the scriptures, you might ask. A reasonable question, because I have asked it myself.

Right now I can’t. However, I rest in that the Spirit is my teacher and when one of those flashes of revelation manifests I somehow know that I know it is Him. What the question really boils down to is whether I am of great value or not. I assume the cross answers that question.

I asked my dear friend Fred Pruitt to review my article before I posted it. This is his comment:

“You are of more value than many sparrows!” That’s why I don’t like the definition of grace as simply unmerited favor. We are eternally PRECIOUS to God, and worth so much He bruised His Only Begotten Son that He might steal us back from the one who stole us. We are the “joy set before Him.” We are not and never are “deparaved worms” but precious precious precious jewels of love who He created to live in intimate oneness to reveal Himself but also forever US!

Into His Likeness

For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Rom 8:29)

What does it mean to be conformed into the likeness of Jesus Christ? We can immediately dismiss any notion that it has something to with physical likeness.

Before we continue our investigation let us notice that those God foreknew are predestined to be conformed to His likeness. This is a promise, something which inadvertently will come through because it is a work of the Spirit. We make it much easier for ourselves if we immediately yield to His mighty work in us, and not harden our hearts like the Israelites in the wilderness. We are of course in this context talking about faith and not self-effort.

Faith encourages, no more than that, it compels us to live from a position of rest which denotes a being characterized by spontaneity. This is the Spirit perfectly leading us in our daily lives to be ourselves, our true image of Him where we do right because it is His life which is manifested through mortal flesh.

In my dealings with people I have never met anyone who has identical behavior, thought patterns or reactions. People have equally different gifts. They have different personalities and they can differ quite a lot on particular issues. I assume that is the intention with Christ’s body where every member has different functions. Despite our differences Jesus specifically prayed that we all should be one as He and His Father are one. I thus infer that being conformed to the likeness of Him has nothing to do with that we all are to act identical.

We can of course be tempted to judge this matter in behavior terms only. In order words to be transformed into His likeness means unisonely that all Christians are to be recognized by their good deeds and good works. There is a morsel of truth in this assumption, I believe. However, I do not think this either is the answer to our question plainly because Jesus quite firmly dismissed the idea that He was good. “Only One is good”, He answered his opponents. When the devil attempted to tempt Him to do something to prove that He was God’s son He adamantly refused to be defined by what He did. His identity was based on being.

Jesus ministry was categorized by many and stunning miracles. So far I have not come across anyone with this capacity to work miracles. There have been and are persons, though, who have had and have an extraordinary anointing on this field, but none of those can claim that everyone who came to them were healed from their ailments. So, this is it not either.

Jesus’ redemptive work was the trademark of His ministry. It thus makes sense to me that when we are searching for an answer to our question this might be an important key when it comes to recognizing what it means to be conformed to His likeness in this temporal realm. There is only one Savior, only one who deliberately died on a cross to save the world. However, if we are to carry our crosses it must mean that we somehow are co-saviours operating in the Spirit to those who are granted us. This of course includes to a certain degree, as most of us have experienced, both tribulations and suffering.

Who would have known that a man hanging on a cross would alter the whole course of the Universe? That a rather insignificant incident in a tucked away place would have such immense consequences? It is almost ludicrous to consider. Well, if God could use such an odd method to save the world, it wouldn’t be surprising if He would use rather insignificant and unusual means to make us co-saviours of our universe, would it? He is God, He can use anything to His glory. Perhaps we have some rather unrealistic and erroneous ideas on how we are to impact our surroundings?

Jesus was the firstborn of many sons. Sons denotes plurality and diversity. I attended a concert the other day, where the main attraction in one of his songs sang a duet with a female vocalist. Their voices were in perfect harmony and they perfectly complemented each other. However, the audience didn’t have any problems distinguishing the two voices. Together they spellbound the audience. Separately those two had great voices, but put together they reached levels of beauty they couldn’t have attained on their own. If he had sung duets with others the effect would have been the same, but with a different ring. In addition his voice was so strong that he would have lifted anybody to new levels of harmony and euphony. The universe is reverberating with duets of different rings where one of the singers always is the same.

He is eternal life, love, power and all the other wonderful things we associate with Him. When John in his first epistle asserts that as He is so are we in this world that plainly denotes that we also are those things which He is. This absolutely implies being conformed into His likeness. John also tells us that “in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God.” The word “with” denotes in Greek a position which best can be described as being “face to face.” Into His likeness thus means that we are face to face with God. We are hence talking about the restoration of the intimacy of the Garden.

Kokichi Kurosaki puts it like this: “God created man in His likeness, a spiritual being capable of responding to His love and having koinonia with Him.”

David and Saul

An interesting episode in the scripture with great significance for us is that David was elected king while Saul still was the anointed king of Israel. During a period of several years they were both kings over the Promised Land. Saul was big, handsome and strong. He exuded all the qualities a genuine king was supposed to have.

Saul’s reign was apparent to all of his people. David, however, was more or less unknown and invisible to most. He only gathered a handful of men who were loyal to him and who recognized him as the true king over the nation. When we now are to investigate which significance this has for our lives we will consider Saul as a type of our fleshy inclinations whilst David represents the union life.

From the moment we are born again we are kings and royal priest in the kingdom of God. In the beginning of our walk we are like Saul. We are the perfect image of self effort and fleshy patterns which we hope will make us presentable to God. Our good deeds are handsome in our eyes. We cherish our strengths and we ask God to bless our works.

Simultaneously there is a David within waiting for Saul to die, so that the one who is a man after God’s heart can step forward to occupy the throne. The man who lives after the flesh will finally come to the end of himself. His efforts have been utterly rejected by God. All he has left is his faith, and the faith person who has been there all the time, but has been more or less invisible because he has been repressed by the flesh, steps forth.

Saul, the religious archetype, trusted his own strength. David, on the other hand, put his trust in God alone. But even in our “Saul” period David is given the opportunity from time to time to take precedence, notably when Saul is facing a challenge to big for him. So David pokes his head forth and through faith kills the Goliaths which threatens to overthrow Saul. However, Saul isn’t convinced that this weakling which he to a certain degree despises will secure his reign. He thus continues his life ignoring the power of the faith seed which is disseminated and which at last will conquer and overshadow the flesh.

Norman Grubb denotes this revelation when we discover that we are in a union with Christ the second crisis. We go from this false idea of separation, that is, God here and me there to a secure position of knowing that we know that we are joined one spirit with Him. This insight or revelation turns everything we formerly believed more or less upside down. The scriptures are opened to us in new ways. We begin to see and understand things which have been hidden from us because of our Saul life.

The good news is that there exist a David in every believer who is groaning in anticipation to be liberated and step up as a secure and safe son of His father. He has been a secure and beloved son from the beginning, but He hasn’t recognized it before now. Glorious and joyful is every son who knows who he is in Christ.

To be in the flesh denotes the erroneous idea that we live apart from Christ. This understanding leads to self-effort and a thinking which is sin conscious in its outlook. It is also apt to downgrade our soul and our soul reactions. We can also attribute to the flesh the idea that some soul reactions are more noble than others, which means a division in good and evil. Our soul is “fearfully and wonderfully made.” In Christ it again has found its perfection, its original design.

Fleshy thinking patterns will obstruct the believer from accepting himself as God has accepted him and impede the believer’s ability to recognize who he is in Christ. We now clearly recognize that the flesh represents a false idea of separation. This unsound idea of independence leads to “shoulds” and “ought tos”. The flesh thus perpetuates condemnation and suffocates faith.

Saul, “who was little in his own eyes”, is a typical representative of those fleshy thinking patterns which results in a desire to prove oneself, whilst David, “a man after God’s heart, represents faith and its restful position in Christ.

Agag the Amalekite

Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” Agag came to him confidently, thinking, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”But Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so will your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel put Agag to death before the LORD at Gilgal. (1 Sam 15:32-33)

Saul had failed in his mission commissioned to him by God. So Samuel, here a type of Christ, was the one who had to a put an end to self effort, religiosity and apparently good works represented by Agag. Agag’s sword, that is, his self righteousness hadn’t produced any children which is a type of the fruit of life.

The power of sin which had birthed Agag would not find its gratification in front of a righteous God. The religious system which had birthed Agag would never birth anything of eternal value. From the day Eve and Adam fell sin was doomed to be crushed by the true woman of faith.

The carnal minded Christian will always step in front of God’s throne with a confident smile whenever he has accomplished something in his own powers. The problem, however, is, when he is not rooted in Christ’s finished work he will inevitably lose his confidence and hide from God when he according to his carnal judgments flounders.

He thinks that his good deeds and his efforts to do his best cannot see death. But they have to if Christ is to be formed in man. That it is the only way for all of us. The Amalekites were the descendants of Esau, the carnal minded son of Isaac who gave up his firstborn rights for a meal. They represent everything born of sin, the childless woman. The deeds of sin will not inherit the Kingdom.

We, however, who believe in Christ are not of sin. We are of the Spirit. Let us therefore explore our inheritance in Him and edify and encourage each other so that we can grow into the full stature of Christ. That plainly denotes consciousnesses which have embraced everything His finished work entails.

Jesus was once accused of being good. He immediately dismissed the notion, and exclaimed; “There is only one who is good!” He wasn’t interested in being defined by what he did. His main concern was being and not doing. Being establishes us in the truth of everything we are in Christ. Doing is a veil which blinds people to who they are. God is the great “I AM”, and that is our position as well. We do not have to do actions to prove something we already are. Our works flow as a torrent from the innermost parts of our being. From a position of being our actions are right, not good or bad as defined by the tree of good and evil.

Absolute Destruction Before Resurrection

But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction. (1 Sam 15:9)

God had commissioned Saul to go and strike Amalek and everything they had. Saul was ordered to kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey. Nothing was to be spared. God demanded absolute destruction.

God rejected Saul when Saul disobediently spared all that was good. There is a part of us which cherishes our good works, our good sides and our fortitudes. At the same time that part also has the wits to despise its bad or evil sides. The carnal minded believer is thus willing to see his bad sides eradicated, but he wrongly assumes that God will spare his good sides. He erroneously thinks that those parts are too manicured to see destruction.

However, when we accepted Christ we died. Both our good and our bad sides were crucified so that He could become our life. Astonishingly, there are still residues of our old thought patterns claiming to be heard in the midst of our new life. In the beginning there is an unwillingness in us to subject everything to His rule, so we thus perpetuate those fleshy thinking patterns which asserts that our imagined strengths are a precious fragrance to Him.

Our Father, however, rejects our fattened calves. He objective is solely to see Christ formed in us, and that implies a complete destruction of all we envisage we have. He makes it plain that we have nothing of value until we surrender everything. When we acknowledge that Christ is our life and that we have entered a perpetual union with Him we find ourselves again.

To our surprise we find that we are as He is. We even find that He doesn’t differentiate between what we considered as bad or good sides. His main concern is life, and life is a wonderful mixture of negatives and positives. Everything works together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.

When Samuel discovered Saul’s unwillingness to destroy everything he called Saul a man who was little in his own eyes. That is God’s verdict over any man who believes his self effort counts to anything. A man who is little in his own eyes thinks he has something to prove. He believes that he is something by his own powers.

Self effort is the opposite of faith and thus sin in the eyes of God, because self effort asserts that I can become more like God if I work hard to improve myself. Faith says; I am a new creation, Christ is my life and through faith I acknowledge that everything God says about me is true. I am what I am by God’s grace. I am perfectly myself. Then I have accepted myself and I am big in my own eyes. Why? The answer is that Christ is love, power and eternal life. He is in me living as me, thus I am what He is. Those qualities isn't something He has. He is all those things. I do not either have those qualities. I am those qualities. I do not have to strive to become something I already am by the grace of God, and which I have received through Christ's finished work.

Self-effort origins from the misapprehension that we are separate from God. However, we are in a union with Him who chose us. When self-effort is replaced by faith we see that we are in an eternal union and by faith do we understand that we are right with Him and that our soul and body are perfect manifestations of Spirit. The end of self-effort, that is, the erroneous idea that God is outside us (which He also is) is the opportunity for faith to take precedence. It is thus clear that when we live by faith we perceive that everything about is perfect. When we live from a understanding of separation we see sin as our dominant reality.

This is part one in a series of three parts.

The Tower of Babel

One of the greatest, most scandalous and dangerous lies which is preached in the church is that we must become more like Jesus. That was the lie which ruined Eve and Adam’s relationship with God. All because Eve believed the lie that she needed to become more like God. Notice that after the fall it wasn’t God who withdrew from those two. It was Eve and Adam who hid themselves from God. Shame had entered paradise. This rather persistent feeling renders us with a feeling of nakedness, of not belonging and it alienates us from recognizing our Heavenly Father’s love.

Shame is the means by which the prince of the power of the air controls and conditions his doomed kingdom. It is this feeling of disgrace that shame promotes which inhibits every man from being a true image of the Godhead. Shame cripples, ruins and it causes man to hide from God. Jesus never exhorted anyone to be like Him, because that would be to contradict and thwart His royal mission.

He came to expose the lie, atone for its consequences and provide liberty for the captives. The fall had rendered man spiritually blind. Man firmly believed that He had to improve himself so he began comparing himself with the creation. He found that he was superior to everything else in it, except his fellow man. The next step was thus to compare and contrast himself with his peers so that he could be the foremost among them.

Man began erecting his own righteousness, the tower of Babel. It was a bold and ambitious project which only outcome would be to entrench man in his delusion and reinforce the hold of the lie. So, God did what He does in every person’s life. He destroyed the tower and scattered man’s righteousness to the extent that it was completely leveled. This is the story of every man.

Shame’s twin brother condemnation has caused too many believers to bow their head with a urgent sense of falling short, simply because someone has passed on an idea of a standard which resembles the tower of Babel, that is, the original lie presented in different words. We are rendered feeling useless, of no value and a hindrance to God, because of our imagined shortcomings. We don’t feel loving, we don’t feel spiritual, and compared to others we seemingly do not have the brilliant gifts which they are endowed with.

Accepting ourselves is vital if we are to recognize ourselves as perfect images of Christ in our form. It was God who chose us. It was solely His initiative to gather us as a family of many sons. He chose us exactly as we are with every human facet we have. If He has accepted us we can accept ourselves. Not doing so is in fact an insult against His sober judgment.

Chasing our own righteousness is the basic sin which prevents us from becoming what we were created to be; ourselves. As a substitute we become a distorted version of ourselves. When we aren’t ourselves we are nothing. There is only one truth and only one righteousness which restore our true being; His.

Before the fall Eve and Adam perfectly expressed themselves. The day they ate of the fruit they became expressions of sin, and God plainly told them that their lives from now on would be a perpetual struggle to be something they never could be in their own powers. Originally they were furnished with faith faculties to be faith people. A life outside God was destined to be a life of appearances.

Only spirit people can discern spiritually and make righteous judgments. Thus the new creation is a partaker of divine nature. Such a person doesn’t judge in accordance with outward realities. He sees behind outer success, prestige, influence and affluence. That person clearly sees the emptiness in the hearts of those who are wise in this world. As a result a faith person does not pursue those things. He isn’t easily deceived by worldly things. What motivates him is the love of God which is outpoured into His heart. His passion is Christ, and nothing this world has to offer holds any appeal to him.

Faith involves the competence of seeing beyond appearances and accepting God’s truth about us as the final truth. If He says we are love, because He is love, that is a fact despite our circumstances or what we imagine we behold with our earthly eyes. The day we acknowledge that we in Christ are everything we are meant to be in this temporal realm we are set completely free to express ourselves without shame or any other crippling emotion.