The Third Place of Knowing God

This staggering post is now published by Amazon in the book Our Path Home.
The original post, audio and PDF to download is available here.

© Daniel Yordy - 2012 - Our Path Home

[I write this as a second to my article, The Second Place of Knowing God. I hope to write in a similar tenor, a kind and gentle invitation. However, I write this time to those who know the Holy Place, who are comfortable with the gifts and ministry of the Holy Spirit, who have eaten of the Bread of Christ, and who have, at least, contemplated the Altar of Incense, the dealings of God by which hearts are made pure for His throne.]
Dear Brother and Sister,
There was a moment in your life when you received the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Maybe you spoke in tongues as well and maybe not. Regardless, the Bible became a new and living book to you; suddenly what were before just “words on the page” leaped into your spirit as the Living Christ Himself. You are comfortable with the power and giftings of the Holy Spirit. You worship God in Spirit and in truth.

I want to talk first about this place inside of God in which you have lived for some time, the Second Place of Knowing God. Of truth, you have lived in a place of knowing God symbolized by a tent inside the dusty courtyard, that is the Tabernacle of Moses in the Wilderness, the house of God. You live in the Holy Place.
God gave Moses that Tabernacle so that we might know with all clarity the God in whom we live.
Many who first enter the Door into the Holy Place gravitate towards the Table of Showbread. I was certainly one of those. The Bible suddenly came alive for us in a way we had never before known. Verses leaped off the page and we saw the Living Lord Jesus Christ in new and incredible ways. Our hearts were so filled with joy as we understood  that Christ Himself was alive inside of us. We read the words, “Christ in you the hope of glory,” and “You are complete in Him,” and our spirit showed us the meaning of those realities far beyond what our minds had ever previously told us.
Many others were drawn to the Lampstand, the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit. I have been enriched fully for many years by the goodness of that Lampstand in the midst of the church. We prayed for healing, and people were healed. We prophesied, and others prophesied over us, and we knew the hand of God guiding our steps. We arose in great citadels of worship in the midst of the congregation. We danced before the Lord in joy.
Then, somewhere along the line, after we had become comfortable with the Living Word and the Power of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we noticed a third piece of furniture in the Holy Place.
That third piece of furniture was the Altar of Incense.
God used different cues for each one of us that drew our attention to this “something more” in God's house. To some it was a word on being conformed to the image of Christ, or Christ being formed in us. To others it was a word of holiness and separation unto the Lord. Some felt a deep inner call to go on to know the Lord in ways we had not known Him before. Some heard a word on union with Christ; others a call to overcome. Whatever the means, God was the one calling to us to know Him in a way that would require a transformation on the inside of us.
We responded to that call and in doing so, found ourselves engaged with that third piece of furniture in the Holy Place, the Altar of Incense.
It's not that we left behind us the Word of truth made alive or the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit, it's just that somehow, we knew those things were given to us for a purpose way beyond enjoying revelation or praying for healing or leading lost souls to Jesus. Those things remain important, but the Altar of Incense caught us at the place of God dealing deeply with our hearts. “Create in me a clean heart, Oh God,” became our cry, echoing David of long ago.
And in the Altar of Incense, God began to take us all apart. We thought we were drawing nearer to Him, instead we found ourselves flat on our face in difficulty, disappointment, and discouragement. Then the scourging hand of God moved, seemingly, against our every way.
But we clung to Him in spite of our confusion, because the call deep inside, beckoning us on to know the Living God, just did not stop.
I want to show you where that call originated, what it is that has been beckoning you forward.
To him who overcomes, I will give to eat of the tree of life in the midst of the Paradise of God. Revelation 2
Life, the full resurrection life of the Lord Jesus, without limitation or end, revealed in all fullness as your only and very life. When Christ who is our life shall appear, than we also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3
Jesus said two things in His last words to the disciples in the upper room, just before Gethsemane, to which I want to draw your attention.
In that day you shall know that I am in the Father and you in Me and I in you.
This is eternal life, to know the Father and to know Jesus Christ whom You have Sent.
These two statements of Jesus are the Tree of Life.
In front of your eyes, however, all you see is a dark veil. You yearn for life, but you can't quite see it. You reach for it, but life seems just beyond your reach. There is a veil that must be parted before you, also, can eat fully and freely of all that life is and means.
Yet we know the Veil was ripped wide open, we know that we may freely enter with boldness into the Holiest of All, why then, this block? What is this barrier that yet remains, keeping the full meaning of life just beyond reach?
Let's go back a bit. In the tabernacle of Moses in the wilderness, God placed three entrance points into three levels of experience with Him, three places of knowing God. First there was the gate into the outer court. Here is where you first entered into knowing God in an initial relationship. The first thing you saw when you entered that gate was the altar of sacrifice where the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, was offered to take away your sins. You entered into the way that leads to life.
Second there was the door into the Holy Place. When you first heard of being baptized in the Holy Spirit, you sought God earnestly. At first, you could not see your way, the path into this deeper place of knowing God was not clear, yet you waited on God in faith. Suddenly, it seemed, the door opened wide and you entered into the joy of the Holy Spirit. New vistas in God opened before you and you have spent many years partaking of the good things of God in the Spirit. You entered into a knowing of the truth.
And third there is the veil into the Holy of Holies. By passing through that veil, you enter into all the fullness of knowing God as He really is. You enter into the fullness of life.
How did you enter the gate into your first experience with Jesus? You believed that the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross was sufficient to wash away your sin and to make you right with God. You entered by faith. At first you thought you had found Jesus. But as time went on you discovered that, no, Jesus Himself had found you wandering and lost and carried you in His arms through the gate into the knowledge of salvation, the first place of knowing God.
How did you enter the door into your second experience with Jesus? You believed that Jesus Himself is the One who immerses us into His Spirit. You trusted Him and you entered the Holy Place by faith. At first you thought you had found the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. But soon you realized that Jesus Himself had found you wandering aimlessly inside the outer court, longing for more, but not daring to trust God, and He had carried you in His arms through the door into the knowledge of truth outpoured, the second place of knowing God.
Now think about the difference in your own life before and after the moment you passed through the gate into knowing Jesus as Savior. Here is a person sitting in a room hearing some words spoken about Jesus and salvation. Let's place a dividing line right at the very moment they enter the gate into their own personal knowledge of salvation. Let's look first outwardly, before and after. Same chair, same person, same clothes, life goes on – except that a sense of peace begins to show upon the face. Then lets look inwardly, before and after. Black heart/white heart. Weighted down with sin/rejoicing in all freedom from sin. Without hope, without God/filled with hope, filled with God. A lost sinner/a found child of God. You get the picture.
Here's the point. If not much of this mighty transformation from death into life, from darkness into light is visible outwardly, how do we know anything happened?
In that moment our spirit came alive and we knew God, for the first time, with a new and living spirit. We knew.
That knowledge cannot be argued at anyone. It must be known and experienced personally.
That knowing is what Jesus meant when He said, “Eternal life is to know God.” It is NOT a knowing about. It is to know.
Next, think about the difference in your own life before and after the moment you passed through the door into knowing Jesus as Baptizer in the Holy Spirit. Let's place that same dividing line, before and after. Yes, outwardly the same room, same person, same clothes on either side of the line, yet the joy and light and peace are much more outwardly visible. Immersion into the Spirit shows itself quickly upon the body. But to a cynical observer, no. In the long run, not much difference outwardly.
But inwardly and in ongoing experience, what a difference we knew! And we knew that difference by the same knowing of the Spirit, the same knowing of God by which we knew that our sins were washed away and that God loved us.
The Bible came alive to us and we saw the Lord Jesus all through it in ways that we simply could not see before. The Spirit became known to us, speaking to us, guiding our way, keeping us. We knew the realms of spirit, whereas before we did not know such a thing.
Now, here's the thing to consider. After we knew there was so much more in God than we had known before, we turned to our friends to share with them the good things we had found. How did many of them react? When we told them there existed things inside of knowing God that they had not yet experienced, that they did not know, many became offended and went a separate way. They could not see what they did not see, and they could not know what they did not know. And, somehow, to know God in ways that others do not know Him seems to be highly offensive. How that is, I'm not quite sure; God is so very good.
In other words, it is so important for us to understand – just before we passed through the gate into knowing Jesus as Savior, we were drawn close, yes, but we had zero knowledge of what was waiting for us on the other side of that gate. We were ignorant and we were blind. We did not know and we could not see. Then, just before we passed through the door into knowing Jesus as Baptizer, we were drawn close, yes, but we had zero knowledge of what was waiting for us on the other side of that door inside the Holy Place. We were ignorant and we were blind. We did not know and we could not see.
Let's take this same principle of reality that we find in passing through the gate into the outer court, in passing through the door into the Holy Place, and apply it now to passing through the Veil into the Holy of Holies.
Think this for a moment, “I am drawn to eat of Life, to enter boldly into the Holiest of All and there live in the presence of the Living God. Yet, somehow, there seems to be a veil, a blockage. Life seems to be just beyond my reach. I am drawn to Life, but I cannot see it, I am blind. I am drawn to Life, though I do not know it, I am ignorant.
Here is a secret. Only the blind will walk through that Veil, those who think they can see will never enter in. Only the ignorant will enter the Holiest of All, those who think they know will never live in such a place.
To say, to know, “I am blind and I am ignorant. I do not see and I do not know,” is the first requirement to entering into life.
The blind look to one who can see to guide them, the ignorant look to one who knows to teach them.
And instantly you stop in your tracks. “Wait a minute.” For every good teacher, for every good guide there are ten thousand shysters and mountebanks all jumping up and down shouting, “Pick me, pick me. I'm the one who can see; I'm the one who knows.”
It is right to fear deception; it is wrong to let the fear of deception keep you from entering into Life. Were you not deceived about the things of God before you entered the Gate, and did not entering the Gate into Jesus as Savior open your eyes to see and your heart to know? And was not the same thing true as you entered the Door into Jesus as Baptizer?
So it is true now.
But the last thing in the world I want you to do is to “trust me.” My only interest in the matter is, if you will read on, to take your hand and the hand of the Lord Jesus, your Savior, the One whom you love, and place them together. He is the One who can see; He is the One who knows. Once I have done my bit, pay me no more mind. All I care about is you and Jesus in joy together.
There is one large difference between entering the Gate and the Door versus entering into Jesus as Life through the Veil. When you entered the Gate and the Door, Jesus carried you through, even though you did not know Him and you did not see Him. The Veil is different.
You will pass through the Veil ONLY BECAUSE you see Jesus carrying you through, KNOWING that otherwise, you are blind, and BECAUSE you know that Jesus is your very and only life, KNOWING that otherwise you are ignorant.
Before you did not see or know Jesus carrying you, even though He did. Now, you must trade all other “seeing” and all other “knowing” and SEE and KNOW Jesus carrying you in all ways and through all things. AND to see nothing else and to know nothing else.
What is the Veil?
Flesh.
Take a good, cold, hard look at your flesh. Look down now, spread your palms before you and look at your flesh. Next time you get up in the middle of the night, go straight to the mirror, turn the light on, and get a good, hard look at that fleshy human face looking back at you.
The flesh. You know your flesh. You know its weaknesses, it's stumbling, it's conniving. It trips you up and pulls you down. You know it well, having lived utterly inside it lo these many years.
The flesh. The Veil is that body of flesh in which you live your life. It is the very thing keeping you out of the Presence of God, away from the joy of eating, eating, eating, of the tree of life.
What will you do with your flesh? That is the million dollar question facing every single believer whose heart is drawn to Life in the Presence of God.
You have drawn close to Life, before the Veil, where are you in God's Tabernacle? You are in the Altar of Incense. This Altar, as experienced in our lives, is designed by God to take us all apart. Here is the first part of the Altar of Incense in the New Testament.
“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the Lord loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” Hebrews 12:5-6
Yes. OUCH!!
God has two “servants” in His hand who come to us, there in that very moment when we respond to the call of Life in the Presence of the Holy and find ourselves blocked by the Veil. That very moment when the fire of the Altar of Incense first burns our flesh.
Those two came to Adam, they came to Jesus, they come to us.
The first is the highest pinnacle of God's creation in the heavenly side of the universe, now appearing as a serpent, the most subtle, crafty, and knowing psychologist of all created beings. He knows how to lie and to trick you with the very lies you are most prone to fall for. You know him primarily as “Christian theology.” (And yes, Jesus did say exactly that lies would grow in His church side by side with truth and that He would not pull them out. Christian theology, lies and truth woven in all ways together, both looking the same.)
The second is the highest pinnacle of God's creation on the earth side of the universe, now appearing as a prostitute, yet still lovely beyond all comprehension, the very Bride of Christ. You know her primarily as “preachers of the gospel,” though she also comes through fellow believers who have imbibed the preaching of preachers. (And yes, Jesus did say that you live inside a prostitute and that you must turn your back on her in order to eat of Life.)
Please bear with me; I'm not trying to trick you, but only to show you Jesus, your Savior, the One who is your Life.
You see, passing through the Veil into the Holiest of All does have some differences from entering the Gate into Salvation. When you entered the Gate into Salvation, the first thing you saw was the Altar of Sacrifice, the Lord Jesus, His Blood, His death upon the cross. And by that Sacrifice you were made clean. You were an enemy of God, when Jesus found you, lifted you up and carried you through. He did not care that you were an enemy because He knew that the Altar of Sacrifice would make you His friend.
But the moment you enter the Veil into the Holy Presence of God, you find yourself seated upon the throne of God with all the authority of God Himself moving through you – Life always results in Glory. But that's not what draws us. What we really want is to know God. And that means Heart.
You were an enemy when Jesus carried you through the Gate into Salvation, but not now. No, for you see, if your heart is unclean, if it is divided, you can never enter into the Heart of God. God will not let you; His Heart is just too personal for Him to allow anything but Love to enter into it.
The Veil is flesh; you must overcome the flesh.
And in that moment, Jesus seems to withdraw into the background, and instead of seeing Him, all you can see is the serpent and the harlot. All you can hear are their words.
What is it that the serpent says about the flesh? And remember, he always uses Bible verses to lie. He just gets you not to see Jesus.
“The veil, the thing that you must pass through to enter into life, is the death of the physical body. As long as you are living in this body of flesh upon this earth, you can never know God, you can never see Jesus as He really is (don't even think about being just like Him). No. Your physical body must die first, and then, when you “go to” heaven, then you will know eternal life, then you will live in the Holy Presence of God. But not here and not now. Not on this earth!”
This lie is so woven all through “Christian theology” that it seems that pulling it out MUST pull out the truth as well! We do pull out the lie, all the while keeping the truth. And what is the truth? What God actually says about Christ and about us in the New Testament utterly divorced from what He does not say.
God gave only one definition of “eternal life” in the Bible. We read it above.
This is eternal life, to know the Father and to know Jesus Christ whom You have Sent.
Let's add one word God also says to this word. Today is the Day of Salvation.
Nowhere in the Bible does God ever say that salvation or “eternal life” means “going to” heaven after your physical body dies, after you “lose your flesh.” To know the truth we must stay only with what God actually says. We dare not “know” anything else.
And then, inside the fires of the Incense burning upon the Altar, two other things God does say come creeping into the edges of our hearts.
. . . that the LIFE of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 2 Corinthians 4:11
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give LIFE to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11
And somehow, we don't really know how, what God actually says just does not jive with the arguments of the serpent, no matter how familiar those arguments are to us.
Then we hear the preachers.
It seems that the most powerful preachers on earth are those standing just before the Veil, seeming to beckon us on into Life. We are convinced by their words.
“The veil, the thing that you must pass through to enter into life, is to get your flesh completely under control, to bring it into “submission to Jesus.” You must “die to your self.” You must stop sinning. You have a carnal mind; your heart is deceitful and desperately wicked. The only way to enter through the veil is to hear all that God speaks and to do only what He says and nothing else. You must be completely obedient. Now, you never will, no, but you MUST try your best. Once you have tried your best to do something you can never do, try your best to get sin completely under control, to stop sinning, to do all that God says, then we will fall back on the words of the serpent, knowing that even yet, you will never know Life, you will never live in the Presence of God, until your physical body dies and you have no more flesh.”
And so, all through Christian thinking and talking, passing through the Veil MEANS the death of the physical body, this body of flesh, so that the thing keeping us from eating of life as it really is, the thing keeping us from seeing Jesus as He really is and being just like Him, the thing keeping us from knowing God and living utterly in His Presence, will be gone and then we will see and then we will know.
They are lying.
They are saying what God Himself never ever says, even though they use ideas they find in the Bible from which to speak.
The only way you will pass through that Veil into all the knowing of God, into Life, into the Presence of the Holy, to live there alone, never ever departing, is to close your ears to those lies, to turn your back to them, and to look to Jesus alone.
Here is the center point of the Lie.
Here is the word God does say that takes us through the  Veil, that takes us into LIFE itself in the Presence of a God for us to KNOW. I call it the sixth most important “verse” in the Bible.
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:19-23
Did you catch that? Did you see the center point of the Lie?
We always thought the Veil was supposed to be wide open. We always thought that we were supposed to be free to enter boldly into the very Presence of God and there eat, eat, eat of Life. We always thought that being just like Jesus was our inheritance. What is this thing that still seems to block us?
What is the flesh? For you see, the thing keeping you from seeing and knowing Life in fullness, sealed and forever, (come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ) has never ever been YOUR flesh. Do you see the definition God gives? Through the veil, that is, HIS flesh.
What on earth does that mean?
For you see, when the serpent told you that losing your physical body is the only way you will every know eternal life for real, he was lying about the Veil. It's not your physical body, it is Jesus' flesh.
And when the preacher told you that getting your flesh into total submission to Jesus, to all that God speaks, he was lying about the Veil. It's not your flesh, it's Jesus flesh.
What on earth does that mean?
It is the pattern of the Tabernacle that shows us what God means.
Jesus said, “I am the door.” He was using the door of a sheepfold as a metaphor, but of truth, whatever room in God there might be, the Lord Jesus Christ is the door. (He's also the Room itself, but that's another matter.)
The Gate by which we enter into this knowing of Jesus as Savior, was Jesus Himself. The Door by which we enter into this knowing of Jesus as Truth, was Jesus Himself. This Veil by which we enter into this knowing of Jesus as the fullness of Life, eternal life, is Jesus Himself.
But what does that mean?
This picture of our entering into three “doors” into three places of knowing God, that is, eternal life, goes both ways. For just as we are entering into God, so God is entering into us. For we are His house, His dwelling place.
The moment we entered into the Gate, entering into the wonderful knowledge of Jesus as Savior, at that same moment, God entered into our spirits and we were born again. Suddenly, our spirits were alive unto God and for the first time in our lives, we could worship God in spirit.
The moment we entered the Door into the Holy Place, entering into the wonderful knowledge of Jesus as Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, at that same moment, God flowed out from our spirits into our mind, into our will, and into our emotions. Oh, how we laughed in joy. We could see Christ all through the Bible in ways we had not known before because God now filled our minds; we have the mind of Christ! And we could now see the power of the Holy Spirit in gifts and ministries moving through us because our faith, found in our will, was now filled with God. For the first time in our lives, we could worship God in truth.
When we entered into the Salvation of Jesus, Salvation entered our spirits. When we entered into the Truth of the Holy Spirit, Truth entered our souls. What's left?
Life – the Flesh.
There you have it. The Veil.  . . . that the LIFE of Jesus also may be UNVEILED in our mortal flesh.
Let's come at it from one more direction before we bust that Veil wide open as the wide-open Door it always was.
When you entered the Gate, you saw the Altar of Sacrifice. There you saw, before your eyes, a terrible, terrible transaction. Here it is:
For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21
There you saw the awful truth, that upon the cross Jesus became all your sin as the sin offering to God. And there you saw the wondrous joy, that in the same moment, you became the righteousness of God in Him. We will never come to an end of discovering the glory and wonder found inside that awesome transaction. He became your sin; you became His righteousness!
Something very similar happened the moment you entered the Door into the Holy Place.
Let's state what God actually says.
You have the mind of Christ – God has given us a mind that we might know Him – the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts – the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace – for God is working in us the doing and the willing of His will – we live by the faith OF the Son of God who loves us and who gave Himself for us – you are NOT in the flesh, but in the Spirit.
Before we entered the Holy Place, we did not know what these things meant. Now, in the Holy Place the Spirit opens our eyes and we are able to see that they are TRUE!
What, then, about the Veil? How is this the same thing entering into Life? When we entered the Gate, Jesus became our sin and we became His righteousness. When we entered into the Door, we knew that Jesus is our mind, Jesus wills in us in faith the will of God, and God fills our hearts to overflowing with His love.
What then the Veil? It's not our flesh, it is Jesus' flesh.
For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as the Lord does the church. For we are members of His body, of His flesh and of His bones. “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This is a great mystery, but I speak concerning Christ and the church. Ephesians 5:29-32
Here is the secret of the Veil. Jesus becomes my flesh.
My flesh IS Jesus' flesh. My flesh IS the flesh of God.
Can this be true?
Let me say this. You will NEVER enter through that Veil, not in a million years, and not after you die and find yourself in heaven only, until you ALLOW Jesus to become your flesh.
You have no right to put Jesus' flesh under your feet. Flesh subduing flesh? Self putting self to death? What a lie!
No all we can do is say, “Yes Lord,” and allow Jesus Himself to be our very flesh.
Look again at your body, get up in the middle of the night again and look at that fleshy face in the mirror. You are looking at Jesus. You are seeing His flesh.
Jesus became your sin  as He carried you into Salvation.
Jesus must become you in order to carry you into Life.
Jesus carried you into Salvation BEFORE you knew that He had become your sin.
The Veil is different.
You must KNOW that Jesus is your only life, that you have no other life, that your flesh IS His flesh, the very flesh of God, before He will ever carry you into the heart of God.
There is only one flesh that will enter in. Jesus' flesh. Until you eat of His flesh, making it your flesh, you will never enter into life – as Jesus said.
But the very moment you allow Jesus to become you in all ways, to become your flesh, flesh of His flesh, then He will carry you into God. – When you allow Jesus to be your stumblings, your failings, your weakness, yes, your sin, and especially, your very flesh.
When you can look at your own face in the mirror and KNOW that you are looking at the face of God, then you will see the Veil ripped wide open as it always was and you will enter into the third place of knowing God, the Holy of Holies.
That is a transaction that takes place entirely between you and Jesus. I have no part in it. I cannot carry you through. Jesus is the Way, He is the Truth, and He alone is our Life. We have no other life.
Why is it so very important to be ignorant and blind, that is, to see Jesus only, before He can carry us through the Veil? Simply this. If you think you can see, you will not see Jesus in that face in the mirror. If you think that you know, you will believe that God is not telling us the truth.
We walk by faith and not by sight. Jesus lives in our  hearts by faith. He is the only thing we see.
 This third place of knowing God is the Holiest Place in the universe. No one can see what is found in this place, not as it really is, except they pass through the veil of Jesus' flesh. Except they eat of His flesh, allowing Jesus to be their flesh, allowing Jesus to become them, carrying them all the way through. Then, having entered in, we now, for the first time, see all things as they really are.
And then, upon entering through that Veil into the Holiest Place in God, our eyes open and we SEE, our hearts open and we KNOW. And what is it that we see and know?
There in the very center of God Himself, in the Holiest Place in the universe, God's heart, is a Heart of flesh –  hearts of flesh, our very heart, the Mercy Seat, the Throne of Grace.
 God manifest in the flesh.
This is eternal life. This is the purpose and determination of God.
And then something else opens to us as we sit down, here, upon the throne of God, the Mercy Seat, the Holiest Place in God, our own heart. Suddenly we realize that we are no longer, “going into God.” No, we are fully and only in Him right now.
 In that day you shall KNOW that I am in the Father and you IN Me and I IN you.
Today we know, today we see that every thing that we are right now in this world is IN Jesus and Jesus fills full every particle that we are.
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 1John 4:17
Now that we are found only in God, God is now going out from us.
Rivers of living water flow out of our belly into all the earth, healing and setting free.
As we drink of LIFE, the rivers flow. And that woman just beyond the veil, the one who lied to us – it is for her that we won the fruit of Life, and our joy catches her in its flow, the spotless Bride of Christ.
But the flow of that river, pouring out of the throne of God, our heart, does not stop with the Bride of Christ. No, it flows out into all creation setting both heaven and earth free into glorious liberty.
For this third place of knowing God is knowing Him in fullness and God is revealed to all through us.
And we will never come to an end, through all the ages yet to come, of discovering the incredible extent of joy and wonder inside this third place of knowing God as the One who fills us full with ALL of His fullness and the One who flows out from us in RIVERS of living water.
God manifest in the flesh.
God comes in Person to be Himself our insides and our outsides. God in Person revealed in human flesh and flowing out of our bellies across the earth as rivers of living water.

Bowls of Mixed Wine and The Now God by Rich Novek

Bowls of "MIXED" Wine
Friday, 30 July 2010 at 22:51Facebook
“Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample BOWLS OF MIXED WINE.” (Proverbs 23:29-30)

Traditional church teaching has in the past led me to believe this passage is only about one thing, the effects of earthly drunkenness. And I am not here to dispute that fact. In fact I have experienced this firsthand, and countless times, and in more than one season in my life, and I am here to tell anybody who has any doubts, the above laundry list of “symptoms” is exactly what you get when you experience earthly intoxication.

So with that being said, the purpose of this blog is to move out of elementary school INTO the DEEPEST RECESSES of God’s HEART and MIND! Over the years, God has opened my eyes to the parallels involved in our Life in Him. Meaning, if there is something happening in this kingdom of appearances, than there is a parrallel happening in the Kingdom of His Dear Son!

Is it possible that in this stage of maturity the focus in this passage goes beyond just looking at the effects of earthly drunkenness? Hopefully at this level we are no longer focusing on Christian behavior, but have in fact moved beyond that. We have, haven’t we? Is it possible this passage is not only about the effects of drunkenness, but also about something we have never considered? What if the whole focus in this passage is really about the sampling of “Bowls of “MIXED” Wine?”

Who has woe, who has sorrow, who has strife? This to me sounds like a lot of believers who, not knowing or understanding their ordained place of REST, (Hebrews 3:7-4:11) are still TRYING to…“DO”……“FOR”….God! Sincere brothers and sisters "IN" Christ who still see their life as being their own, and their purpose as working FOR God! Jesus said “I only do what I see my Father doing!” (John 5:19) Who was the ONE doing, more importantly WHO IS the ONE doing "IN" CHRIST? My Bible says He (The Spirit) is the ONE who is at work, both WILLING and DOING of His GOOD pleasure! (Philippians 2:13)

The lie of all lies is that we live a separated existence apart from God! It is the ORIGINAL LIE found in Genesis! Look it up! The serpent said……… “IF you DO, you WILL become…………like God!” Instead of becoming God, what humanity got was the ability, like God to SEE both good and evil! We got a departure from the PURE UNADULTERATED WINE, which is “SEEING GOD ONLY” in exchange for a "settling for" of the hellish BOWLS OF MIXED WINE! The same Mixed Bowls which also cause us to experience the above laundry list of symptoms! And we get this because we still believe and cling to the ORIGINAL LIE! And not only have we believed it, but we have also adopted it, and in adopting it we have made a graven image out of it! And today in most churches we serve and worship it, this philosophy of a life apart from Him, and we still call IT God!

Is it any wonder why the prophet proclaimed “they have forsaken the fountain of LIVING WATER, and made for themselves cisterns that hold no water!

Has a nation ever changed its gods?
(Yet they are not gods at all.)
But my people have exchanged their Glory
for worthless idols.

Be appalled at this, O heavens,
and shudder with great horror,”
declares the LORD.

”My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATER,
and have dug (by their own strength, in their “doing” FOR GOD) THEIR OWN CISTERNS,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water. (Jeremiah 2:11-13)

They may not hold the FOUNTAIN OF LIVING WATER, which by the way is the same as the LIVING WATER which flows into us and through us by His grace. But they do hold something. In fact they hold the BOWLS OF “MIXED” WINE! They hold to a false belief that we are here to work FOR God! They hold to a conditional performance based religion that is as far removed from who God TRULY IS…….. as East is from West!

Come on church, it is time to stop TRYING to be good (why callest me thou good?) and stop trying to be godly, and stop trying to be “LIKE” CHRIST!" There is ONLY ONE who can be LIKE CHRIST, just as there is only ONE who can live the Christian Life, and that is Christ Himself!

I am here by His doing (as are you) to proclaim ONLY ONE message, GOD ONLY, GOD NOW! I am here (rather Christ “IN” Me is here) to open the eyes of the blind, and lead them to the God who loves with no strings attached! I am here to proclaim THE ETERNAL SABBATH DAY OF REST FOR THE PEOPLE OF GOD………. what Paul describes as "the mystery kept hidden from ages and past generations" (Col 1:26), and Moses called "the manna that neither we or our fathers (in the faith) have known" (Deut 8:16)………….which is CHRIST “IN” YOU!

“IN” HIM…… there is No MIXTURE OF ANY KIND, there is no separation, deviation, division, denomination, or condemnation! He is our ONLY HOPE OF GLORY! GOD ONLY

The Now God
6th August 2010 at 18:13 Facebook
“Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” (James 1:2, New Living Translation)

We have had some pretty intense stuff going on lately, so my wife Linda and I set aside some one-on-one time with the Lord the other day. I started out simply praising and thanking Him, and then I said “Lord, I know we don’t serve a “God up there” I also know there is no “God of the past!” And I will never find Him when I turn to either the right or to the left! “I THANK YOU... THE “NOW” GOD... IS THE ONLY GOD WE SERVE!”

Then right after that, my wife Linda started praying, and as she was looking up towards the ceiling, she said, “LOOKING UP” is looking for a God who lives in the FUTURE.” What came out of my mouth next took me by surprise! “Then “LOOKING DOWN” must be looking for a God who lives in the PAST, and in order for us to SEE what’s BEHIND us we have to first TURN, EITHER TO THE RIGHT OR THE LEFT!”

Whether you TURN TO THE RIGHT OR TO THE LEFT, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, "This (He) is the way; walk “IN” it (Him)." (Isaiah 30:21)

But Jesus told him, "Anyone who puts a hand to the plow and then LOOKS BACK is NOT FIT for the Kingdom of God." (Luke 9:62 New Living Translation) The whole problem with this; every act of taking that backward glance begins with either a turning to the right or to the left!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from (the Spirit) above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither SHADOW OF TURNING. (James 1:17)

“Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the TOP and on BOTH SIDES of the doorframe. Not one of you shall go out the door of his house until morning. When the LORD goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, HE WILL SEE THE BLOOD ON THE TOP AND SIDES of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and He will not permit the destroyer to enter your house(s) and strike you down.” (Exodus 12:23-24)

If you can grasp what this is about you will see proof positive that OUR God does not operate anywhere else…. but in the HERE and “NOW!”

He is in this present moment, and has forever been “The “NOW” God! His name is I AM, it’s not I WAS, or I WILL BE! (Exodus 3:14) He is called THE EVER PRESENT HELP in time of trouble! (Psalm 46:1) He is the ETERNAL GOD! (Deuteronomy 33:27) He is Not the God who lives in the illusionary boundaries of TIME! There is NO TIME IN HIM! (II Peter 3:8)

As Linda and I were praying, God said to Linda, our looking up is a symbolism of looking for the “God up there”, for the God who is separated from us who lives in the FUTURE!

"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here LOOKING INTO THE SKY? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in THE SAME WAY you have seen him go into heaven." (Acts 1:11)

How have we interpreted this passage in modern times? This SAME JESUS will come back again in the SAME WAY! This Jesus, who only does what He sees His Father doing, will ALWAYS manifest himself in the exact SAME WAY! Since He is the SAME Yesterday, Today, and Forever, and the Author and Finisher of our faith, HE will ALWAYS show up THE SAME WAY, loving us without condition, and without guilt or condemnation! He will ALWAYS welcome us with open arms as His beloved! So let’s move onto maturity and SEE HIM AS HE IS! He will ALWAYS be the SAME, with NO variableness or shadow of turning! He will ALWAYS be blazing Glory, casting no shadow! And because He ALWAYS SEES ONLY THE FATHER IN ALL THINGS, He will NEVER have a reason to turn to right or to the left!

People say a lot of things about Peter, but at least Peter got out of the boat! He fixed His gaze on Christ, and for a moment he experienced “AS HE IS SO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD!” (I John 4:17) But then Peter began to FEEL the wind stirring up the lapping waves, and he TURNED to the right, and then he TURNED to the left, and He started sinking! And then Jesus looked at him with total disgust and let him drown, right? No, Jesus saved him, as HE will ALWAYS save those who call on HIM! There is no shadow of turning “IN” HIM! (Mathew 14:28-31)

The lamb was cut and the blood was poured into a basin at the foot of the doorway. The hyssop was taken from the basin on the threshold (looking down) of the doorway, dipped in the lambs blood and applied to the top of the doorway (looking up) and then both sides (the turning to the right and the left!) of the doorway!

This Passover is not only about the blood that protects from the death angel, as we have been taught, but is also a pointing to of the POWER OF THE BLOOD OF CHRIST (His one time sacrifice for all mankind) which makes this “FIXED” life not only possible, but “NOW” fully expected! This is where we see ONLY GOD, ONLY NOW! The blood has washed away the past and the future, and any inclination we might have for looking to the right or the left! There is no past or future “IN” Him! And if there is no past or future “IN” Him, then why would there be any need for us to turn? Christ is OUR ALL! He is our past, present, and future!

We “NOW” enter in through the entry way by THE NEW AND LIVING WAY! (Hebrews 10:20) The same way that we once believed to be a set of rules, or a philosophy, or traditions of men! The way that had us bound in chains to a past that doesn’t even exist “IN” Him, has “NOW” become the ONLY NEW AND LIVING WAY! And the NEW AND LIVING WAY ONLY EXISTS IN THE “Now” of the NEW AND LIVING "TODAY!" (Hebrews 4:7)

Christ has become our food and drink, the DAILY Manna which we have not known, nor have our fathers! (Deuteronomy 8:3) He is the “Mystery” hidden from ages and past generations. (Colossians 1:26) The lamb’s blood which at one time only covered, is ”NOW” THE BLOOD that thoroughly cleanses! Cleanses from ALL SIN! And by SIN, I don’t mean the individual acts we commit by certain so called UN-Christian behaviors we may exhibit. Behaviors we focus on that cause us to be obsessed with trying to change our UN-Christian Behavior into Christian behavior! So we can TRY to become Christ Like! There is ONLY ONE WHO IS CHRIST LIKE, that is CHRIST Himself! God is not a behaviorist, He is in fact a Love-ist! And we no longer pray to a separated God “up there” or “down the road!” But for some reason, many in the modern day church can’t seem to move past the false belief of a God that exists separate from them! The God “up there”, “down the road”, or the one they have to keep looking to their right or their left to try and find!

The ONLY TRUE SIN FOR THE BELIEVER IS IN SEEING MORE THAN GOD! It’s what James called being double minded, Paul called a wicked unbelieving heart, and Jesus himself called evil!

“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is NOT UP IN heaven, so that you have to ask, "Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" NOR IS IT BEYOND the sea, so that you have to ask, "Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?" NO! THE (LIVING) WORD IS VERY NEAR YOU, IT IS “IN” (present tense) YOUR MOUTH AND “IN” (present tense) YOUR HEART SO YOU MAY OBEY IT (HIM)! (Deuteronomy 30:11-14)

I love the quote from Renee Zellweger in the movie, “New in Town!” This lady is driving her to her new house from the airport. Renee is some top executive of a company in Miami, now all of the sudden she is transferred to a small town in Minnesota in the dead of winter! They are in the car when the lady asks, “have you found Jesus?” Her answer and it is classic, “I didn’t know He was missing!”

But it seems He is missing in most places! Ichabod, the Glory has departed is becoming more and more the norm today! (I Samuel 4:21) And God is missing for sure if you still believe for one second the prevailing lie that says we are separated from Him! He is living “IN” us willing and doing of His good pleasure! (Phil 2:13) It pleased the Father to reveal his Son “IN” me. (Galatians 1:16) “IN” Him we live and move and have our being! (Acts 17:28) The separated god IS the god of this world! He is not …… The God who was nailed to the cross………The ONLY TRUE GOD who is also The “NOW” God!

“What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written; "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in ALL these things we are more than conquerors THROUGH Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the FUTURE (because there is no future in Him), nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able TO SEPARATE US from the love of God that is “IN” Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:31-38)

God saw us, struggling with a divided heart, the same heart today many see as normal Christianity! When the blood was applied to the doorway of our life, God did so to show us the key to victorious living “IN” Him. He purposely placed the blood at the places in our lives we are prone to have our focus. He did this to show us His unconditional love towards us, “IN” us, and through us.

“The Blood Cross”, dipping the blood in the basin at the bottom (our past) of the doorway, reaching up and applying it to the top (our future), and then reaching to the right and to the left and
applying it to that part of us which causes us to keep turning to take that backward glance! The same backward glance that stopped Lot’s wife “dead” in her tracks! Looking backwards always produces some kind of “Spiritual Paralysis!”

When we physically go through those motions, just as I stated, we literally draw out a cross, our personal entry way to Him, which allows us to see ourselves “IN” Him! Do you see it?

“Now”, let’s take the hyssop branch from where we are standing and reach down into the basin, where HIS BLOOD has already been applied to our PAST! Next, let’s dip the hyssop in the blood and reach up, “NOW” applying the blood to our FUTURE! Finally, let’s take the hyssop and reach to the right and the left, applying the blood there, the place where we are in danger of turning to the right or the left. “NOW” there is no longer a need to look to the right or the left, because “IN” HIM there can be no backward glance. All of that stuff in our past, “what was or what might have been!” You know, all of the shoulda’s, woulda’s, and coulda’s of our life! Now all of it permanently washed away by His precious Blood!

The BLOOD that forever washes away the worries of tomorrow, the guilt of yesterday, and the FEAR which causes us to turn and take that deadly backward glance!

The “NOW” God…… IS THE ONLY TRUE GOD!

So God set another time for entering HIS REST, and that time is TODAY. God announced this through David much later in the words already quoted:

"Today (“Now”) when you hear His voice, don't harden your hearts." (Hebrews 4:7, New Living Translation)

Warning: For Mature Audiences by Rich Novak (The original on seeing Only God)

FacebookSunday, 25 April 2010 at 06:18
“All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. Only let us live up to what we have already attained.” (Phil 3:15-16 NIV)

As far as I am concerned, this is one of the most powerful passages of scripture in the New Testament! Yet, I have never heard so much as one teaching on it. For the past several years I have meditated and pondered on this passage of scripture and its meaning! I believe the Holy Spirit has opened my eyes to the meaning and would like to share the tremendous impact it has had on me, and what I believe God is saying.

First of all, God is speaking through Paul to people who have reached a level of awareness that goes far beyond the status quo of what we consider maturity in modern Christendom. All of us who are MATURE or some versions even use the word PERFECT! Well, we need to be real here and not religious, and recognize that NOT all of us ARE MATURE! In fact, there are many who, though desiring the “meat”, are not able to digest what God is saying. (I Cor 3:2) This is also one of the reasons why I believe there has been so little said about this particular passage in the third chapter of Philippians!

Maturity is defined by God as seeing past division and separation, including the elementary teachings of the church that Paul talks about in Hebrews, and SEEING ONLY GOD in ALL THINGS!

Seeing Only God in ALL things………… is the mature VIEW Paul is talking about! After all, what is there but God? What “some point” in our lives is not God? So in this place of seeing God in ALL as the ALL, who also fills everything in every way, we also see why this teaching is not for everyone! Let me correct myself, it IS for everyone, just not everyone AT THE SAME TIME (point). The Spirit is the ONE who will WORK to illuminate it in us, through the MIND of CHRIST!

For, "Who can know the LORD's thoughts? Who knows enough to teach him?" But we understand these things, for we have the MIND OF CHRIST! (I Cor 2:16 New Living Translation)

“And if on some point you THINK differently.” If we are Seeing Only God, and we recognize He is All there is in every form and expression, than why would we be believe we are doing the THINKING? If you and I have The Mind of Christ, it’s only ONE MIND, HIS! And the only thought He is thinking is the ETERNAL THOUGHT of His Father!

Jesus let’s us know what that ETERNAL THOUGHT is in John 17. “That they may be ONE, even as you and I are ONE!” The ONLY thought the Father has ever had is in reconciling ALL things, including every thought, word, moment person, place, and thing, every past, present, and future to HIMSELF! We have NOW moved into maturity and beyond thinking about what we “need”, to THE ONLY UNIVERSAL NEED THERE IS……..The RECONCILIATION OF ALL THINGS IN HIM!

When Jesus was being baptized, John protested, Jesus said to him this MUST be this way in order to fulfill ALL RIGHTEOUSNESS! He than demonstrated the ministry of reconciliation by having John baptize HIM! When He came up out of the water, the Spirit landed on Him in the form of a dove, symbolizing the SPIRIT (The Worker), who would from that point work in HIM ALL things after the counsel of HIS OWN WILL! (Eph 1:11 NAS)

The first time Jesus spoke publicly:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed.”

And the SAME Spirit of The Lord is upon US to agree with him that ALL things have been reconciled to God through CHRIST! The ONLY GOOD NEWS is found in SEEING ONLY GOD! The only way the blind can be healed is by SEEING ONLY GOD! The Only way the captive can be set free is by SEEING ONLY GOD! The only way oppression can be gone forever is by SEEING ONLY GOD! SEEING GOD IN EVERY MANIFEST FORM OR EXPRESSION KNOWN TO MAN!

And God is living through US, His BODY, reconciling ALL things to HIMSELF by first allowing us to see “by appearances” all division and separation in every form and expression. In HIS REST, the Spirit is sent out by our Spoken Word to will and to work according to HIS GOOD PLEASURE! We Rest, He Works……….all things after the counsel of His Eternal Will, and ONLY in the Eternal Now! And He does it through those of us who are mature and SEE ONLY HIM in ALL THINGS!

The ONLY MINISTRY, CALLING, MOVEMENT, or LIFE is the ministry of reconciling all things, no matter what or who they are to HIM! Where I used to see fear as something separate from Him, I NOW see fear as HIM......... coming to me for the expressed purpose of my calling it God! Fear, which was seen as separate is now reconciled to God by the Spirit who works in me to will and to DO according to His good pleasure! I used to worry, but NOW worry is the invitation to see it as just another expression of HIM! And instead of seeing fear and worry as separate from Him, I agree with HIM that ALL things, including fear, worry, etc., are reconciled to God, and in doing so remove the dividing wall of hostility! I also "disarm" the power I have given fear, worry, or anything else that has caused me to see these things as separate from Him! I NOW, in HIS REST, SEE everything that crosses my path and beyond, as ONLY God! And the things that I don’t see, He promises to reveal to me as I “ONLY live (in the Eternal Day) up to what I have already attained!” I NOW walk this daily walk in FREEDOM in the ETERNAL TODAY, allowing HIM to reconcile ALL of my life, and what I previously saw as separation and division in myself and others, to HIMSELF! I NOW SEE ONLY HIM IN ALL THINGS!

“And if on some point you think differently” Look at the above passage, notice the two words, VIEW and CLEAR? We see ALL THINGS AS HE DOES and SEE them in PERFECTION…………..but, if at some point we don’t see as He sees, it simply means we are seeing more than HIM! And in seeing more than Him we become “the house divided”, by falsely believing my trial, tribulation, relationship, financial concerns, etc., are somehow SEPARATE from Him! It’s also at that exact “POINT” HE PROMISES TO REMOVE THE “DIM GLASS”, which is a perfect symbolism of our seeing more than Him, so we can SEE ONLY The Perfection in the mirror that He SEES IN US and AS US! And Now we walk in the same POWER because AS HE IS, so ARE WE IN THIS WORLD! (I John 4:17) Sinless, perfect, and the exact representation of HIM in OUR FORM!

“And ALL of this is a gift from God, who brought us (and everything that could ever concern us, past, present, and future……every “point”) back TO HIMSELF through Christ. And God has given us this task: OF RECONCILING (not only people but everything we see as separate) ALL PEOPLE TO HIM.” (II Cor 5:18 New Living Translation)

All of US who are MATURE should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently (seeing separation) that too He will make CLEAR, ONLY let us (who are mature, SEEING ONLY HIM IN ALL THINGS) live up to what we have already attained (by Entering into His REST in the ETERNAL TODAY of WHO WE ARE IN HIM!)

The way I See It......(so far) - Rich Novak

Facebook Monday at 17:13
Norman Grubb's explanation of the Father, Son, and Spirit in his book "Yes I am" is awesome! He describes the Father as The Eternal Thought, The Son, The Eternal Word, (or you could say The Eternal "Spoken" Word), and The Spirit as The Eternal Action (Worker or Doer is what I call Him), or The One who adds substance to the Word! The One who Paul describes as both willing and DOING of His Good pleasure IN US! "For it is God (The Spirit) WHO IS AT WORK IN YOU, both to WILL and to WORK for His good pleasure." (Phil 2:13)

The way I see it, we were specifically designed for God's REST (in the Father)! And in that place of REST, where we have ceased from our own works.... WE SPEAK THE WORD (of the SON) by faith! And in doing so...... the Spirit (IN US, and WHO is joined TO US) then goes to WORK, bringing the "SUBSTANCE" to OUR SPOKEN WORD! Because, "AS HE IS SO ARE WE IN THIS WORLD!" (I John 4:17)

Anything else is Christian dysfunction, and so we have no other choice than to come back under condemnation (the law of sin and death), which is another way of saying we become "slaves" to seeing separation and division. And under that condemning law, we receive the "punishment" of seeing more than God! That is, until we once again see ONLY HIM in that person, place, thing, situation, feeling, or circumstance! Until we agree with our adversary (who becomes God by our seeing more than Him!) quickly! What Norman calls QUICK SINNING, QUICK CLEANSING! Guilt always demands punishment, and we will punish ourselves if need be....... in seeing separation and division......... in seeing more than God!


"And now we are consciously in our "father" stage, where we have, like Paul, "won Christ", and thus the highest privilege of being leveled with Him as co-saviours."

1 Corinthians 9:22......... To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. "Co-commissioned, co-laborers, co-sufferers, co-diers, co-risers in co-resurrection which with us brings "many sons to glory". (Norman Grubb)


And then there is this little gem tucked away in Philippians chapter 3 that has brought much freedom to my contolling thoughts and ways! I call it a "hinge to freedom", everything swings on it, because it's purpose is to takes us from death to LIFE! From slavery to FREEDOM!

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if ON SOME POINT YOU THINK DIFFERENTLY (the hinge), THAT TOO GOD WILL MAKE CLEAR TO YOU . Only let us live up to what we have already attained. (Phil 3:15-16) I don't know about you but this little passage brings so much freedom to my soul! It all starts with HIM, and it ALL ends with HIM!

God is saying it is The Spirit's job (or WORK) to save and keep us, and it's also the Spirit who brings the next thing! We just stay yielded! This is so awesome, and what amazes me, in 30 years I have never heard so much as one teaching on Philippians 3:15-16! More than likely because of the first 6 words...... "All of us who are mature." God's definition of maturity is much different than that of organized religion. God's definition of Maturity: SEEING ONLY HIM IN ALL THINGS!
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It's taken a few days to really work with the phrase seeing ONLY GOD.
It's something I do ...or aim to do ...instinctively.
That seems presumptious...but think about it. Hundreds of thousands, millions even have been baptised in the Spirit and have been learning over decades to approach God in Spirit and in Truth. I know there are many negatives, but the raw truth is that is what multitudes have been learning and are poised to export onto the streets and towns in the form of
learning the same walk now outside meetings. That's how the third level works. Praise God,it's not done quite like the charismatics think...ie pray for 5 hours, then walk around locked into praise mp3s fed through earphones, lest the evil demonic world grab you and seduce you away.
Thankfully it's easier than that, entering into what Norman calls the Freefall of faith, where we believe on the inside of us what the scriptures say about us...that it is Him as me.

Having got this off my chest, there is nevertheless a series of similar "arcs" of seeing God only going on. This is my comment on Facebook to what Rich wrote.
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I really appreciate these sessions.Rich obviously gave me a prescreening of this, because we were chatting the other day. But do you notice how because we all see things a bit differently (and here I don't mean wrong and right,I mean God may have spoken to us similar things or similar angles from life experience or different verses) we kind of fire off each other! Now the effect on me as I reread these ideas this morning was this. And I think this is a cracker! Because of the wheels within wheels thing which I mention in Inrtroduction to the third level....this means that God is not only getting our "seeing right" in an arc which involves our lifetime, but the same but tighter circle is going on in every Spirit-filled meeting, in every genuine encounter individually with God or be it in every genuine praise encounter. Now only God can do this say with a meeting. Take a disparate group of individuals of all ages,coming fresh out of a weekful of activities and in the course of one meeting, and with His Presence falling, catch everyone up in One Flow,to one particular end for that one meeting with Him. And I just love that He does this for someone who is one day old just as one 60 years in the faith. How can He do that. Somehow we just get "caught up" in that realm which is the Eternal Now, which is always vibrant,active,doing something,to a purpose, all in an atmosphere of faith, of saying the Word actually in the throne room....which ofcourse must come to pass, cos it's Him. In one session , 29 years ago for example after the serial killer Yorkshire Ripper had scoffed at the police with tape messages of his exploits for two years or more, we were led to declare him caught. Within hours it was so!Totally amazing. But
ofcourse, we never know what God will catch us up in Himself to do. Now every meeting should be like this....and will be, as we learn that our daily walk does not have to be different either. At the moment in the charismatic level, as I was,I'd be leading in a meeting, prophesying, singing a new song, whatever....go out of the meeting and not knowing about the "independent self" switch, click right over into extremes I don't want to mention. I was desperate. But as soon as we "get" this He as us thing, we see Him in everything...or start to....and if we don't as Rich just wrote we have this confidence that God Himself will make it clear to us...not some rulebook. In practice though....get a Body of people walking as Him...we'll soon gently get nudging one another for things we're not seeing straight. I experienced the very first shoots of this (kind of a firstfruits move) from 1978-1984 living in Spirit filled community. A hothouse if there ever was one...except without the fine 3rd level scalpels we tended to bludgeon each other to death with the gift of suspicion.