The End of the legacy, evangelical, Charismatic, Institutional bubbles

 

Jesus The Word, The Bread,The Manna John 6

This is a pretty leftbrain rendering of some rightbrain insight from John Curtis and some Facebook stuff Id written,
It's's four years old and Id forgotten the last sentence completely which I still think is hilarious and true!!!!

I write daily on Facebook so there's tons of material over the past two years that has only been available to my friend's list, and I'm not adding to my friend list that much because the reality is  the friend list is already pretty unmanageable, let alone if I used up all my Facebook allowance.
So this leaves the conundrum , do I open a public page for anybody to view?  Or do I try to repost  here or create a fresh platform?   Really like John Edwards it's probably best to be out there with real people.  The real burden I have to share, like Jesus , almost requires some background. Jesus came to a nation that had 2000 years background.  But with the Canaanite woman, she had such extraordinary faith she kind of broke all the rules like Rahab , Ruth and Abigail in the Old Testament.

I genuinely am open to sharing with anybody, but what happens is unless people are really hungry for more than their immediate needs being met they havent got a clue what I am on about. The converse truth is, according to Maslow's heirarchy of needs, if you havent got a roof over your head nor food in your belly, what use is spiritual stuff when you are freezing and about to die from malnutrition?

Jesus- The Word, the Bread, The Manna

John Curtis on

John 6:27-51
The Bread of Life

6 After this, Jesus crossed over the Sea of Galilee, also known as the Sea of Tiberias. 2-5 And a huge crowd, many of them pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem for the annual Passover celebration, were following him wherever he went, to watch him heal the sick. So when Jesus went up into the hills and sat down with his disciples around him, he soon saw a great multitude of people climbing the hill, looking for him.

Turning to Philip he asked, “Philip, where can we buy bread to feed all these people?” 6 (He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.)

7 Philip replied, “It would take a fortune[a] to begin to do it!”

8-9 Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up. “There’s a youngster here with five barley loaves and a couple of fish! But what good is that with all this mob?”

10 “Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus ordered. And all of them—the approximate count of the men only was five thousand—sat down on the grassy slopes.11 Then Jesus took the loaves and gave thanks to God and passed them out to the people. Afterwards he did the same with the fish. And everyone ate until full!

12 “Now gather the scraps,” Jesus told his disciples, “so that nothing is wasted.”13 And twelve baskets were filled with the leftovers!

14 When the people realized what a great miracle had happened, they exclaimed, “Surely, he is the Prophet we have been expecting!”

15 Jesus saw that they were ready to take him by force and make him their king, so he went higher into the mountains alone.

16 That evening his disciples went down to the shore to wait for him. 17 But as darkness fell and Jesus still hadn’t come back, they got into the boat and headed out across the lake toward Capernaum. 18-19 But soon a gale swept down upon them as they rowed, and the sea grew very rough. They were three or four miles out when suddenly they saw Jesus walking toward the boat! They were terrified, 20 but he called out to them and told them not to be afraid.21 Then they were willing to let him in, and immediately the boat was where they were going![b]

22-23 The next morning, back across the lake, crowds began gathering on the shore waiting to see Jesus.[c] For they knew that he and his disciples had come over together and that the disciples had gone off in their boat, leaving him behind. Several small boats from Tiberias were nearby, 24 so when the people saw that Jesus wasn’t there, nor his disciples, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him.

25 When they arrived and found him, they said, “Sir, how did you get here?”26 Jesus replied, “The truth of the matter is that you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you believe in me. 27 But you shouldn’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. No, spend your energy seeking the eternal life that I, the Messiah,[d] can give you. For God the Father has sent me for this very purpose.”

28 They replied, “What should we do to satisfy God?”

29 Jesus told them, “This is the will of God, that you believe in the one he has sent.”

30-31 They replied, “You must show us more miracles if you want us to believe you are the Messiah. Give us free bread every day, like our fathers had while they journeyed through the wilderness! As the Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven.’”

32 Jesus said, “Moses didn’t give it to them. My Father did.[e] And now he offers you true Bread from heaven. 33 The true Bread is a Person—the one sent by God from heaven, and he gives life to the world.”

34 “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day of our lives!”

35 Jesus replied, “I am the Bread of Life. No one coming to me will ever be hungry again. Those believing in me will never thirst. 36 But the trouble is, as I have told you before, you haven’t believed even though you have seen me.37 But some will come to me—those the Father has given me—and I will never, never reject them. 38 For I have come here from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to have my own way. 39 And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them to eternal life at the Last Day. 40 For it is my Father’s will that everyone who sees his Son and believes on him should have eternal life—that I should raise him at the Last Day.”

41 Then the Jews began to murmur against him because he claimed to be the Bread from heaven.

42 “What?” they exclaimed. “Why, he is merely Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know. What is this he is saying, that he came down from heaven?”

43 But Jesus replied, “Don’t murmur among yourselves about my saying that.44 For no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him to me, and at the Last Day I will cause all such to rise again from the dead. 45 As it is written in the Scriptures, ‘They shall all be taught of God.’ Those the Father speaks to, who learn the truth from him, will be attracted to me. 46 (Not that anyone actually sees the Father, for only I have seen him.)

47 “How earnestly I tell you this—anyone who believes in me already has eternal life! 48-51 Yes, I am the Bread of Life! When your fathers in the wilderness ate bread from the skies, they all died. But the Bread from heaven gives eternal life to everyone who eats it. I am that Living Bread that came down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread shall live forever; this Bread is my flesh given to redeem humanity.”

52 Then the Jews began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.

53 So Jesus said it again, “With all the earnestness I possess I tell you this: Unless you eat the flesh of the Messiah* and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him at the Last Day. 55 For my flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink. 56 Everyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood is in me, and I in him. 57 I live by the power of the living Father who sent me, and in the same way those who partake of me shall live because of me! 58 I am the true Bread from heaven; and anyone who eats this Bread shall live forever, and not die as your fathers did—though they ate bread from heaven.” 59 (He preached this sermon in the synagogue in Capernaum.)

60 Even his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. Who can tell what he means?”

61 Jesus knew within himself that his disciples were complaining and said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see me, the Messiah,[f] return to heaven again? 63 Only the Holy Spirit gives eternal life.[g]Those born only once, with physical birth,* will never receive this gift. But now I have told you how to get this true spiritual life. 64 But some of you don’t believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning who didn’t believe and knew the one who would betray him.)

65 And he remarked, “That is what I meant when I said that no one can come to me unless the Father attracts him to me.”

66 At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.

67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you going too?”

68 Simon Peter replied, “Master, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life, 69 and we believe them and know you are the holy Son of God.”

70 Then Jesus said, “I chose the twelve of you, and one is a devil.” 71 He was speaking of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, one of the Twelve, who would betray him.

Our Savior warned about the danger of laboring only for temporary, physical sustenance and neglecting that which is spiritual and everlasting (v.27). The Jews to whom Jesus was speaking knew about the bread from heaven (manna), which God miraculously had provided to meet the physical needs of their forefathers in the wilderness. Yet here in there midst stood Jesus Christ, the true Bread of Heaven, teaching them eternal truths; nevertheless, most of them could only respond with insulting questions. They refused to believe in Christ and thus enjoy the spiritual Bread that satisfies completely and eternally. This Bread of Life was, and still is, a gift. While mankind must labor for that which is temporary, eternal life is free. What a contrast!
The Lord Jesus Christ's message was not complicated: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on Me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life (vv.47-48). The gospel of Christ is simple yet powerful; it will save anyone and everyone who believes (Rom.1:16). The Word of God explicitly states that satanically inspired opposition to the gospel will always exist. Nevertheless, we do not need to soften God's message, sugar coat it, or embellish it in attempt to lessen its offense. Paul did not try to alter the gospel in order to appease the Jews or the Greeks (1 Cor.1:18-25). Jesus Christ, the Bread from Heaven, can be, wants to be, and will be the Savior and satisfaction of all who come to Him (v.37). We have wonderfully good news to proclaim! If the Bread of Life has satisfied your soul, then share Him with others. Together with the psalmist, let the redeemed of the Lord say so (Psa.107:2).


Chris Welch on
We believe then we speak..........

In Genesis 1 God never said "Hmmm...all this Tohu Bohu (chaos) I'll just see how it works out. All things work together for good....."
Some things you have to address....but it will become obvious as an inner explosive build up.
So God spoke.....and it was!!!!!
Secular people are lazy bastards. They want to flit through life "seeing how it will all pan out."
God has presented Man with the fantastic shared responsiblity and privilege of speaking the New Creation into being. God could have done it all Himself....and in one sense He did....but Romans 10 is about our shared responsibility.....
All the equipment is there....all the tools are there....but man's glory is to TRIGGER IT. Somebody has to pull the trigger. And the earth is given to man to do it. Not to angels , fallen angels, or even God Himself.....
You believe in your heart....
You confess with your mouth
And you pass inwardly from Death to Life and in experience!!!!
You believe in your heart
you confess with your mouth
and you receive the full baptism in the Spirit which launches you into things no humans can ordinarily do
You believe in your heart
you confess with your mouth
Galatians 2.20
and YOUR OUTSIDE WALK starts to magically line up with your innards....unlike the rest of the current church and Jews in general
Acknowledge Him in all your ways and HE WILL MAKE STRAIGHT YOUR PATHS.....
everything is believing and speaking.....that's just how it is.
Leave the secular to make a ballsup of their Globalist world
we are welcoming King Jesus.

and....

For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.Rev19.10

This is as near as you will get to a mathematical equation in the Spirit. it works in both directions.
It kind of links the three forms of Word in the Mercy Seat In the Holiest Place.
The Testaments
The Manna ....the fresh "what's that?" of God
The Almond stick of declaration authority and Command
are all the testimony of Jesus in the form of the spirit of prophecy.
Perhaps you can think of LOGOS as a slowmotion prophecy.
All of history is the Story of God Incarnating Himself.
God is Spirit and His idea, His conception is to make Himself manifest in flesh and later....glorified flesh....
We saw the film trailer when Jesus was Transfigured.
You, Jesus and me are the main film!!!!! He the Head we the Body.
Sure there are discrepancies in the Bible....some are quite legitimate...just viewing the same things from different angles.
Some are weird translation issues, but mostly we can go back to early records.
Corinthians clarifies that unless we have the Spirit's revelation we cannot understand the things of God anyway.
Bible believers don't mess around with the Word too much...not because they are all Southern USA hicks that don't know better...
But because anybody who has lived with the Word of God has experienced it proving itself over and over.
Secondly, anybody that has moved in prophecy and absolutely knows that never came by somebody's mind....because of the way the Word ties in with other scriptures and also by the Presence of God's glory often tangibly felt after delivery.....
The Bible is Holy Spirit inspired words and accounts describing Holy Spirit invasions of history. In order for characters to make an appearance they had to be the equivalent of what 1 John 2 calls Father Level people. Spirit people grown up. And if they weren't, like the gospels, then they are accounts of people growing up.
For that reason when the Bible is read, when the stories and teachings , prophecy , poetry and wisdom are read, they have Divine power. They are written through and in the spirit of prophecy. The Testimony of Jesus.....even before His earthly appearance. If you read the Bible to sick people, the power of the word alone quickens faith for healing, for deliverance, for restoration , for prosperity. The Word truly is (Hebrews 4) Living and active. None of this works as a leftbrain tool. It works because the Word comes from Spirit and communicates straight through to spirit. Ps 42 Deep calls unto deep.
I don't denigrate it as a leftbrain book. The details are accurate.
But the power isn't in our leftbrains which is why nothing ever happens in the West. The leftbrain is not a POWER TOOL when it comes to the miraculous....it just isn't geared to be, it is useful in other areas. Jesus didn't explain to the dead body of Lazarus....for these reasons body you must wake up now. Point one. Point Two Point Three.
Jesus groaned deep within then focussed His faith on the tomb and let forth with "Lazarus....Come forth."
This is the testimony, the spirit of prophecy that the Word builds within us. Seminaries use the Bible in a completely wrong and ungainly fashion. It is for bringing forth Word out of the stomachs
of new ministries. The way seminaries use the Bible is more akin to paper hankies for blowing out your leftbrain bogies onto.

Jesus instructions to His disciples in 2015

When you go into a first or secondlevel church honour the infrastructure that is there and be of the attitude to honour all men, but don't have anything to do with the infrastructure nor beliefs of those ministering, for that is the very reason the churches are undeveloped and shortcircuit God's glory.

 As when I was in my first physical body, go into these churches as often as the Holy Spirit leads ,preach,then leave almost immediately. Have nothing to do with programmes, cobbled together schemes, man made outreach programmes, any such. As the Spirit leads exercise your freedom in Me to set anybody free from distress, possession or sickness and if the Spirit lead you that way do so in great anger at any religious bondage or evil binding the church. Address tithing. Address submission to man. Address anything that is locking my free working across My Body....then scarper before they do any harm to you, and continue ministering in parks, towncentres, clearings, out of town, wherever people wish to gather and hear the Word of Life.

The struggle I had was with the firstlevellers. They knew God. They knew faith. They knew My Word and My Law, but like today they do not know Me in my essence and My ways they also know not. Today you have four types of people. People who don't know God at all. People who go to a church where the gospel is not preached. Churches where the gospel of forgiveness is preached but have no more knowledge than the Jews. And secondlevel churches where they know some of My Spirit but do not yet know how to walk in continuous revival.

These last are the most dangerous, for professing to be wise at all levels they are still children and they manifest all the bad fruit I warned you about and that subsequently Paul put in his letters.

As my Spirit leads you, continue My work of lampooning Cain religion. Now more than at any time your role is to lay the axe to the root. Take people back to the essential errors of Genesis 3. Teach and show what building on the Rock is. Teach and show what living this is like as a community. Above all at every opportunity attack the favorite charismatic phrase “we are only human”, By it they justify sin and twist the Bible to mean anything they want it to mean. Picking verses to taste, at the last they revert to psychology and the teaching of the Greeks, who were oftentimes the Tribe of Dan, the snake in the way.

Challenge schisms. Have no time for those practicing schisms rather than holding to the One Truth of the Life of God .
Challenge those who are still living in the futility of their minds divorced from the Life of God. Teach people to connect with the Life of God and to live out from that Life. Have nothing to do with controllers and compellers through fear, apart from the fear ,respect and holy relationship with their God, which is clean and without heaviness.

Teach warfare in the Spirit, teach overcoming, and address any denial of My commission to bring to the obedience of faith all nations, by relegating everything to after I come back.

 Confirm the reminders through my servant Ern Baxter that the Father said to Me “Sit at My Right hand until I have made your enemies your footstool.” “ And the Gates of hell shall not prevail against my Church, my Congregation.” Any sloping of the shoulders that denies these words and looks to My return as a way of escape is not from Me and denies the power invested in my Body as it is connected to the Head.

The manifold wisdom of God is made known now to principalities and powers through the Church. Preach Unity and the discerning of the Body. Accept nothing less. Challenge leaders in every city to accept nothing less.

 Teach growth as laid down in the 1 John 2 summary, in the Spirit principles of Corinthians and as described corporately in Ephesians.
Above all move out of My Presence, and prefer one another, honoring one another for I have made all to build up all.

Challenge all forms of pyramid thinking. Challenge all wrong forms of leadership teaching. Let leaders lead by example as I led the disciples. DO NOT LORD IT OVER ONE ANOTHER as the Gentiles approach leadership. Function always in relation to the Head and present Me as the Head overall, and with whom each interacts. Where I am lifted up and where My Presence is there will be Unity.

Real pastors teach people to connect with Me. As soon as they can see people are secure in knowing Me and know also how to move in My presence, then they are to make themselves available to others with their gifting. The current overstretched usage of the word pastor is just a cover for Gentile structures in My Church and you are to challenge these wherever you encounter them.

All Ministry is raised to bring others forth in the One Life of God, manifest by good fruit and the diminishing and removal of all bad fruit patterns. All ministers are mature, having trained their senses according to righteousness, which is nothing less than the Life of God coming in the flesh. Any other gospel is not from Me.

Where two or three gather in My Name there I AM in your midst. And then this same sensitivity is exported to the whole of your lives. Ephesians 6 Warfare can only be a reality as believers learn to speak their own Words of faith in their local churches, their families and their work.
Your authority comes out of how much you KNOW Christ in you as you in every situation in your life.
And this is the Work.....that you believe in Me. How believe? In John 6 . As the Bread of Heaven sent as a Man. Outwardly no different yet conceived directly of God. Now you too receive this very Life into yourselves though you too look outwardly no different. This is the Believing upon the same Bread. This is the work of God.

Jesus Ministry "seemed"to totally fail - A Brief History of 3rd level Church

From Facebook - Mystery Revealed
• Colin Lagerwall
  Jesus said on the night before He died....All of you will desert Me........His ministry seemed to totally fail.....no suave looks..... no building or feeding schemes left......He even had no clothes left to preserve some form of image.........
  Yet in giving up every part of His image of natural birth and means, He successfully redeemed the Image and likeness of God in us .....
  Mission Impossible Complete !
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• You, Oghenakheranimoh Seann Enigimi-Julius and 4 others like this.

• • Colin Lagerwall The thing with image....when we know the image and likeness of God in us, any 'image' outside of this fades in comparison....so if I have much or little, fast cars or a bicycle, a suit or just shorts and sandals (shorts and sandals please :), my 'image' is not affected because His glory in me (who I am) is the real deal...II can enjoy the others, but they are not my image, just something I can enjoy if I want to..
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    Chris Welch As He is so are we in the world. If Jesus' ministry fell apart like this (but Hey,the Holy Spirit put it together again) then we shouldn't be surprised if our "ministry" looks at times no different.Ed Miller said,"Beware the church that looks great.There is probably nothing happening."
    2 hours ago · LikeUnlike · 1Annalize Mouton likes this.
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    Chris Welch Folks,the "third level message" at first appearances to outsiders appears like DOOM. "Best stay clear". Think about it, the first ever appearance of the third level message on earth was in John 6. Everything had been trundling along quite happily in Jesus ministry, give or take Nazareth.He'd been functioning pretty Benny Hinn like, gathering crowds and closer disciples, on the shores of Galilee, with strong accompanying miracles. Then in John 6 He introduces the third level message for the first time..."Ummmm....you all know that you do have to eat my flesh, and drink my blood , right?" You couldn't see anything for clouds of dust. After a while the air cleared and there were just 12, just 12 left.Not even enough for a sattellite TV show!
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    Chris Welch The next big presentation, kind of shoe horned in before Jesus had to leave was in John's chapters 13 through 17 in the Upper Room. Within 12 hours His whole ministry had blown apart, and He was being carted off to a false trial and death. So how is the third level message looking so far? have we got tons of advertisers queuing up for placing ads in the intermission? Nope. Just clouds of dust. We move to England. 1980. Ed Miller. Conference of Two related UK churches: Emsworth and Brentwood. Ed starts to lay out the 3rd level (he didn't use that phrase,neither did Jesus.Jesus was far more insensitive.His term sounded like cannibalism.) In the middle of the conference a demon spirit gets one of our "members" to confess to something "on behalf of our pastor" who had made the innocent remark that Dr Michael Reid used to be a policeman, so he was perhaps a bit more Law based in his approach to things. Well in the mouth of the woman it didnt sound like this, it sounded like Jack The Ripper's fourth murder. The two churches blasted apart, and Ed nolonger visited either much after this.Are you getting the picture?
    13 minutes ago · LikeUnlike
  • 
    Chris Welch ‎1980 Part Two. Norman Grubb goes to Romford. he starts sharing the third level. Maurice Smith and a load of others pick it up. Maurice is led to do something a bit radical, which nobody else believes is God. Next thing, he is ostracised from what were then some of the most cutting edge churches in Britain. Is anyone catching this?
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    Chris Welch ‎1980 Part Three. Sam Fife and the multitude of brethren that ministered alongside him, that both Daniel Yordy and I know, held conferences in a "3rd level" community in Colden Common near Southampton. Great conference.I received so much in my spirit.Some of the London people I have told you about, namely John Noble, were there. But totally unimpressed. As if to confirm "their Holy Spirit discernment", within a very short while, days or weeks, the whole community "blew skyhigh" with incredibly bitter fall-out, since all had contributed much financially, but only a few received any money from the proceeds. This just confirmed everything to Tony Morton's Southampton "Apostolic pyramid", that the third level was in fact total baloney.And they bought the community house for their own network school. What I would say to everyone reading scripture, and everyone honestly pursuing Jesus....
  • "Look beneath the foliage." 
  • "Look after the dustcloud has cleared, for the 12 left." 
  • "Understand that the 3rd level message is both the message of the Cross at our core, and ACTUALLY the Cross as the message is then worked out. " In other words it sets in process spiritual definition that just won't look nice and happy clappy....but the end result is fresh spiritual cycles of reproduced Jesus Christs going around bringing in fresh harvests.

Process Spirituality: Being Versus Doing- By: Kenneth Boa

Justin Patton on Facebook kindly passed this on.
My whole blog is about the secret behind this entire article. In a way, this article is skirting around the issue from the outside, rather than picking it up by the teeth and getting involved with the meat. But MANY MANY of the issues listed here will be confronted on a daily basis as soon as you take this on board:
Namely, there actually is no "independent" you trying to get on well with God...be it by being contemplative, or by too much busyness. The only reason for slowing down is to catch hold of this awkward fact, that we really don't want to know. No I mean, REALLY don't want to know. It is at our core. And we love being gods. And we don't want any blog disturbing that notion thanks!

Genesis 3 was an exercise in lying from the start of the devil's speech to the end.But by far the biggest was that we could somehow "do" something to make us like gods and from there we would rule our own lives. We would work out how to live. Underneath that hand motion that Adam made was a "spirit" swap. He was powered by God's life, and now...in that little independent action that Adam made, and was told specifically not to make, he now became empowered, driven,powered by a false spirit masquerading through his soul and body as him.But it was the spirit of death, that when it had come to fruition brought the condition of death into the whole of mankind.

When we asked Jesus into our heart. That's where He came in. To the core of our being. Our spirit became born again. The previous spirit of error was completely ousted. We are not some of one spirit and some of God's Spirit. That is spiritual schizophrenia. But in practice, every time the devil can get us to forget who we now are, we slip back into independent thinking, and by default fall back into our previous way of operating temporarily. I say temporarily, because WE ARE NOT HAPPY THERE. With Christ at our centre now, how are we going to be happy remaining in sin, though temporarily enticed? So the battle begins. To us it looks like a battle with specific behaviours. From a Spirit point of view, it is a battle with one FALSE BEHAVIOUR.
Wrong believing. Did God say?
Yes He did say. He said you died with Christ. It is now nolonger you who live but Christ in you.In your soul with its quirky originality, and in your body, fat,thin or middling.
St Paul said mature people are those that are trained in exercising discernment as to their senses, according to righteousness.

The below article is the sort of thing we encounter as we discover this life of God has a different way of operating. It's not the same type of life with a different label on it. It is totally different.

When we buy a new car, we have to spend a time getting used to its feel. After a while it becomes second nature to us (Hmmmmm....where did that phrase 2nd nature come from?Interesting)..
The scriptures say we put on Christ. Now if we just had that scripture we could be forgiven for behaving as an "independant being" putting on an external Christ. But sorry...you can't get away with that....I just spotted you.....
No, putting on Christ is something like the external bits....aligning them to our new internal reality. But it's a belief - powered thing....not a rule book. How do I know that? Well not only because this stuff works..But that's no good for you. You need a scripture.John 6:28-29
Jesus said...in reply to What must I be doing to do the works of God?
This is the work of God, that ye may believe in him whom He did send.'

What is this believing? This ordinary looking man in front of them, was actually God the Father in His form. That He was in God and that God was in Him. The first of a new line - in the likeness of the first line of Adam- yet born of God, direct!!! And this is what we believe about ourselves. Not in the unique manifestation that was the 2nd Person of the Trinity begotten as a man. But yes, our lives are now hidden/wrapped up(think drizzled chocolate in layers in a Viennetta) in Christ in God, Col3:3and the lives we live in the flesh, we live BY THE FAITH OF CHRIST Gal 2:20. And this fact leads to.............


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Being Versus Doing by Kenneth Boa
This is taken from this very useful site
Perhaps the greatest threat to applying these truths about process spirituality is the busyness that stems from the way we define ourselves in terms of achievements and accomplishments. We live in a future-oriented culture that relates time largely to efficiency and productivity. We are more inclined than ever to use time to accomplish results than to enhance relationships.

The Problem of BusynessThe civil religion of America worships the god of progress and inspires us to compete, achieve, and win for the sake of competing, achieving, and winning. Life for many people in
the business world has been colorfully described as a matter of “blowing & going, plotting & planning, ducking & diving, running & gunning, slamming & jamming, moving & shaking, shucking & jiving.”

Longshoreman philosopher Eric Hoffer wrote, “We are warned not to waste time, but we are brought up to waste our lives.” This is evident in the tragedy of many people who in the first half of their lives spend their health looking for wealth, and in the last half spend their wealth looking for health.

My associate Len Sykes relates the problem of busyness to five areas:

In our home. We miss out on relational opportunities when we are dominated by excessive activities. Consider taking an inventory of activities like television, children’s lessons and sports, meetings, time on the computer, etc., and see how some of these can and should be pared down. Deuteronomy 6:5-9 exhorts parents to know and love God and to teach their children about Him “when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” God intended the home to be a sanctuary for spiritual and personal development in a relational setting of love and acceptance. This requires an ongoing process involving both formal and spontaneous times together.

In our work. The mistake of looking to work rather than God for security and significance coupled with the pressured quest for more of this world’s goods—these are forces that drive us to the idolatry of materialism and busyness. If we don’t have enough time to cultivate a quality relationship with God, our spouse, and our children, we are working too long and too hard. As Gordon Dahl put it, “Most middle-class Americans tend to worship their work, to work at their play, and to play at their worship.”

In our recreation. Hard-charging approaches to recreation and vacations can devitalize us and keep us from enjoying personal and relational renewal. The Sabbath principle of restoration through “being-time” provides a balanced rhythm of work and rest.

In our church work/ministry. This can become another arena of busyness and frustration, especially when we take on activities and responsibilities in order to please people and meet their expectations. Not every need and request is a calling from God.


In our walk with God. Excessive activity draws us away from the time it takes to cultivate intimacy with God. We are often inclined to define our relationship with God in terms of doing things for Him rather than spending time with Him.

Here are just a few suggestions that will enhance the daily process of living before the Lord:

Like Jesus, you must develop a clear sense of your mission so that you can invest your time with God’s calling in mind. You should also develop an understanding of your limits so that you will budget time with the Father for restoring your inner resources. There are many good things you could do, but the good can become the enemy of the best.
Free yourself from bondage to the opinions, agendas, and expectations of others. Learn to say no to invitations and requests that may flatter you but could drain your time and energy.
Seek a balance between rest and work, recharging and discharging, depth and breadth, inward and outward, reflection and practice, thinking and application, contentment and accomplishment.
Ask yourself how much is enough. Unbridled wants kill contentment and drive us to greater busyness.
Resist the temptation to allow work to invade rest.
Look for ways to reduce your commitments so that you will not do a shoddy job on numerous tasks instead of an excellent job on a few. There is a tension between the desires to please God and to pursue success, and we will be tempted to resolve this tension by putting a spiritual veneer over the quest for success. It is better to pursue excellence in what we do for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31) rather than success to receive honor from people.
Realize that rest requires faith, because it seems non-productive from the world’s point of view. Since you cannot measure the “product” of time spent in developing your relationships with God and people, it takes a risk to invest a significant amount of time in these ways.
Budget time in advance for the important things that could get swept away in the daily grind. If you do not learn to make the urgent things flow around the important, the important will be overwhelmed by the urgent.
Be aware of the human tendency to avoid an honest examination of ourselves in the presence of God. Many people seek diversions, distractions, and busyness to elude this encounter.
Try to live from moment to moment and hold a looser grip on your long-term plans. “Our great business in life is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand” (Thomas Carlyle).
Be aware of the distinction between chronos (chronological, everyday events) and kairos (special opportunities and occurrences). Seek to be available to make the most of the opportunities or kairos moments God providentially gives you (Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5), since the most significant thing you do in the course of a day may not be in your daily calendar. Be ready “in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2) to redeem the special moments God sends your way. Seek to manage time loosely enough to enhance relationships rather than tightly to accomplish results.
“Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt any situation you believe to be the will of God” (Jim Elliott).
Causes Versus Christ
All of us have a built-in hunger for security, significance, and satisfaction, but our world teaches us to pursue these things in the wrong places. It should come as no surprise, then, that the dreams and goals promoted by the culture have also infected our whole approach to the spiritual life. There are Christian books, seminars, and churches that have baptized the media agenda of self-orientation, success, and ambition with a spiritual veneer. Many believers are encouraged to set their heart on goals that actually distance them from Christ. By contrast, Scripture teaches that our meaning is not found in a quest for self, but in a calling to know God.

Intimacy Versus Activity
Any dead fish can float downstream—to swim against the current of our times, we must be spiritually alive. As the New Testament portrays it, real life in Christ is countercultural. The world defines who we are by what we do, but the Word centers on who we are in Christ and tells us to express that new identity in what we do. Being and doing are clearly interrelated, but the biblical order is critical: what we do should flow out of who we are, not the other way around. Otherwise, our worth and identity are determined by achievements and accomplishments, and when we stop performing, we cease to be valuable. When people answer the question “Who are you?” by what they do, the world has a way of responding, “So what have you done lately?”

In Christ we have a secure and stable basis for worth and dignity, because these are founded on what God Himself has done for us and in us. Having been re-created and incorporated into the glorified life of the ascended Christ, God has penetrated to the very roots of our being and given us a new nature. Thus, being should have priority over doing, but it should also be expressed in doing. This balanced interplay would be lost if we disconnected the two. My friend Skip Kazmarek warns against this disjunction and illustrates this concern with a cartoon that shows a man laying on a couch, with a “Gangster Psychologist” (according to the diploma on the wall) sitting next to him. The psychologist says, “Well, just because you rob, murder, and rape doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.” We are not disjointed, disconnected, severed entities. Mind, body, and spirit exist in an integrated whole. How we act affects how we think, and how we think affects our relationship with God. There is a very dangerous construct that we sometimes serve up in which we can think of ourselves as “being” one way, while we continue to “do” exactly the opposite.

Thus, external action should be derived from internal reality, and this requires a rhythm of solitude and engagement, restoration and application, intimacy with Christ and activity in the world. The life of Jesus illustrates this pattern of seeking significant amount of time to be alone with the Father (Luke 5:16; Mark 1:35; 6:31) so that He would have the inner power and poise to deal with the outward pressures imposed upon Him by His friends and enemies. People who work and minister without adequate restoration through prayer and meditation do not have the interior resources to manifest the fruit of the Spirit in a stress-filled world. It is during the quiet times of the devotional life that we gain the perspective and power we need to live with character and composure in the context of daily demands. “In repentance and rest you will be saved, in quietness and trust is your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).

BeingDoing

Intimacy with ChristActivity in the World

SolitudeEngagement

AbidingServing

InteriorExterior

Relational callingDominion calling

CallingCharacter

InvisibleVisible

Real LifeReflected Life

Restoration of Spiritual EnergyApplication of Spiritual Energy

Perspective Practice

RestWork



In this chart, the real life of the red should energize the reflected life of the black. The problem is that people typically approach the spiritual life in terms of the black, supposing that their actions and service will lead to intimacy in their relationship with God. While the greatest commandment exhorts us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30), we tend to reverse the order, thinking we can go from the outside-in rather than the inside-out. Instead of ministry flowing out of our relationship with God, many people suppose, in effect, that ministry will determine their relationship with God.

The perennial problems of perfectionism and legalism stem from this vision of the spiritual life as a series of duties and tasks to be accomplished. Legalism is a spiritual disease that has afflicted the church since its inception. I cannot recall having met a legalistic Christian who is characterized by deep joy. This is because legalists attempt to achieve, through their own efforts, an externally imposed standard of performance in the hope that this will somehow earn them merit in the sight of God and others. This produces insecurity, frustration, denial, and failure for several reasons:

The Scriptures tell us that there is nothing we can do to earn favor before God, since all of our own efforts fall short of His character and righteousness (Romans 3:23; Titus 3:5-7).

Just as none of our actions will make God love us more, it is equally true that there is nothing we can think, say, or do that will make God love us less than He does (Romans 5:6-10).

Spiritual growth is accomplished by Christ’s life in us, not by our own attempts to create life. Our responsibility is to walk in the power of the Spirit and not in dependence on the flesh (Galatians 2:20; 5:16-25).

The focus of the Christian life should not be deeds and actions, but a relationship; it is not centered on a product, but on a Person. It is a matter of abiding in Christ Jesus (John 15:1-10) rather than fulfilling a set of religious formulae.

The New Testament teaches that allegiance to Christ has displaced devotion to a code (Romans 7:3-4), but there is a human tendency to avoid God through religious substitutes. Many miss the point that while intimacy with Christ leads to holiness, attempts to be holy do not necessarily lead to intimacy. Sanctification is not generated by moral behavior but by the grace of a relationship with Christ. If we miss this, we will be driven to causes rather than called to Christ, and activity will take precedence over intimacy. People who are driven eventually burn out. “If I am devoted to the cause of humanity only, I will soon be exhausted and come to the place where my love will falter; but if I love Jesus Christ personally and passionately, I can serve humanity though men treat me as a door-mat.” (Oswald Chambers).

Joshua and JoashThe lives of Joshua and Joash poignantly illustrate the contrast between being called and being driven. Four scenes from the life of Joshua capture the heart of this faithful man. In the first scene, Joshua is present with Moses at the tent of meeting. When Moses entered this tent, the pillar of cloud would descend and stand at the entrance to the tent, and the Lord would speak with Moses (Exodus 33:7-10). The key to the life of Joshua is revealed in Exodus 33:11: “Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, just as a man speaks to his friend. When Moses returned to the camp, his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, would not depart from the tent.” Joshua remained in the tent of meeting because he had a passion to know and be with God. This personal knowledge of God served him well in the second scene when he and Caleb were two of the twelve spies who were sent from Kadesh to view the land of Canaan (Numbers 13-14). Although all twelve spies saw the same things, ten of them interpreted what they saw from a human perspective and were overwhelmed by the size and number of the people. Only Joshua and Caleb saw the opposition through a divine perspective, and they encouraged the people to trust in the Lord: “Only do not rebel against the Lord; and do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey. Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them” (Numbers 14:9). Tragically, the people believed the fearful conclusions of the majority of the spies, and the Israelites were consigned to wander in the wilderness, literally killing time for 38 years until the generation of the exodus perished in the wilderness.

In the third scene, the Lord prepares Joshua to lead the generation of the conquest into the land of Canaan. In Joshua 1:1-9, the Lord encourages him to be a courageous and obedient man of the Word who meditates on it day and night. Because he knew and loved God and renewed his mind with the book of God’s law, Joshua finished well. In the fourth scene, Joshua is nearing the end of his earthly sojourn when he gathers and exhorts the people of Israel to serve the Lord only and to put away all forms of idolatry. He concludes his exhortation with this famous stance: “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). As Bob Warren puts it, “Because [Joshua] spent more time being a friend to God than a friend to others he avoided the pitfall of becoming enslaved to unproductive activity. But because he understood the necessity of intimacy over activity, his activity was energized beyond anything he could have imagined.”

By contrast, King Joash (2 Chronicles 22:10-24:27) was a man who appeared to start well but finished poorly. He was the only one of the royal offspring of the house of Judah who escaped Athaliah’s murderous plot to take the throne for herself. After Joash was protected and raised in the temple by Jehoiada the priest, Athaliah was put to death and the seven-year-old Joash became Judah’s king. “Joash did what was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of Jehoiada the priest” (24:2), and he championed the project of restoring the temple in Jerusalem. But when Jehoiada died, Joash listened to foolish counsel, abandoned the house of the Lord, and gave himself over to idolatry. He even murdered Jehoiada’s son when he rebuked him for forsaking the Lord.

Joash was involved with “religious” activities (the temple restoration project), but he never developed a relationship with the God of Jehoiada. He was driven by causes, but avoided the more fundamental calling to know the Lord. Because the “godly activity” of his younger years was never energized by intimacy with the Lord, he failed miserably in the end.

It is easy to become more concerned with good causes than with knowing Christ. As Oswald Chambers notes, “Beware of anything that competes with loyalty to Jesus Christ. . . . The greatest competitor of devotion to Jesus is service for Him. . . . We count as service what we do in the way of Christian work; Jesus Christ calls service what we are to Him, not what we do for Him. . . . The one aim of the call of God is the satisfaction of God, not a call to do something for Him.” Our primary purpose is not to do something for Christ, but to know Him; our activities and abilities are useless for the kingdom unless He energizes them, and this will not happen if they take precedence over intimacy with Him. We become weary and exhausted when we attempt more public ministry than we can cover in private growth.

Even worthy causes—raising godly children, building a company for Christ, knowing the Scriptures, leading people to the Lord, discipleship ministry—will not sustain us if we are not cultivating a personal relationship with Jesus. Many believers fall into the trap of striving for goals that are inferior to their purpose of knowing and enjoying God. When this happens, we attempt to do God’s work in our own power and get on the treadmill of outward activities without an interior life.

It is crucial for us to form the habit of holy leisure, of quiet places and times alone with the Lord, so that we will restore our passion and intimacy with Christ. In this way, service will flow out of our life with Him and our activities and abilities will be animated by dependence upon His indwelling power. This restoration and renewal is especially important after periods of intense activity. When we seek and treasure God’s intentions and calling, our personal knowledge of Him (knowing) shapes our character (being) and conduct (doing). Although we are more inclined to follow Jesus into service than into solitude, it is really the time we spend in “secluded places” with Him (Mark 1:35; 6:31) that will energize our outward service.

Practicing His Presence
Our times of solitude with Jesus should not be limited to secluded places—we can choose to enjoy solitude with Him even in the midst of the outward activities of everyday living. Private prayer consists of mental prayer (meditation and contemplation; discussed in devotional spirituality), colloquy (conversational prayer with God; discussed in disciplined spirituality), and the prayer of recollection (practicing the presence of God). This recollection of God can be habitual or actual. Habitual recollection is analogous to a man’s or a woman’s love for a spouse or children, and does not require an ongoing consciousness. Just as we can form a habitual identity as being a husband, a wife, or a parent, so we can ask for the grace to form a habitual state of mind as a follower of Jesus Christ. Actual recollection involves the developing habit of turning to God at regular times throughout the course of the day. This is more along the lines of what Brother Lawrence, Frank Laubach, and Thomas Kelly pursued in their quest for a more conscious awareness of God in the routines of everyday life.

Note the process imagery in Scripture that stresses an ongoing awareness of the presence of Christ: abide in Jesus and let His words abide in you (John 15:4-7); set your mind on the things of the Spirit (Romans 8:5-6); walk by the Spirit (Galatians 5:16, 25); keep seeking the things above where Christ is (Colossians 3:1-2); rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18); run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2). The spiritual life is not a measurable product, but a dynamic process.

Here are some suggestions for practicing the presence of Jesus:

Send up “flash prayers” at various times during the day. These are very brief prayers or mental notes that acknowledge God’s presence or lift up others. They can be offered when waking, sitting down for a meal, walking, driving, waiting, listening, and so forth.
Try using the same short prayer throughout the course of a day, such as the Jesus Prayer (“Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”) or another brief prayer (e.g., “I love You, Lord”; “I thank You in all things”; “By Your grace, Lord”; “Thank You, Jesus”).
Pray and work (ora et labora). Do your work with a listening ear that is cocked to the voice of God. When you combine prayer and action, even trivial tasks can be spiritualized through a divine orientation. Invite the Lord to animate your work so that the ordinary is translated into the eternal.
Play to an Audience of One; live coram deo (before the heart of God). Seek obscurity and anonymity rather than public accolades so that you will desire to please God rather than impress people.
Ask Jesus to energize your activities and cultivate an attitude of dependence on Him, even in areas where you have knowledge and skill.
Monitor your temptations as they arise (the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life) and turn these moments into opportunities to turn your eyes to Jesus. We do not overcome sin by trying to avoid it, but by focusing on Jesus.
Experiment with prayer. For instance, try praying for strangers you see while you are walking or waiting or driving. Ask the Lord to direct your prayers and listen for His promptings and impressions. Reach beyond your own concerns and become a channel of God’s grace and mercy to others.
Develop an eye that looks for God’s beauty and handiwork in nature when you are walking and driving: plants, flowers, birds, trees, the wind, clouds, the color of the sky, and so forth. Learn to savor the wonders of the created order, since they point beyond themselves to the presence and awesome mind of the Creator.
Turn the other pleasures of this life (times with close friends, enjoyment of great music and food, etc.) into sources of adoration for the One who made these things possible. Cultivate a sense of gratitude for the goodness of life and the tender mercies of God that are often overlooked.
Ask for the grace to see every person you meet and every circumstance you face today as a gift of God. Whether these experiences are bitter or sweet, acknowledge them as coming from His hand for a purpose. Look for the sacred in all things, and notice the unlovely and those who are usually overlooked. Remember that the EGRs (extra grace required) in our lives are there for a purpose.
Since we tend to live ahead of ourselves by dwelling in the future, try occasional time-stopping exercises by standing in and relishing the present moment. Realize that Jesus is with you and in you at this very moment and thank Him for never leaving or forsaking you even in the smallest of things (Deuteronomy 31:6; Hebrews 13:5).
Intimacy and activity, solitude and engagement, interior and exterior, calling and character, rest and work—both sides of each of these spectra are important. A balanced life of being and doing will nourish both restoration and application. End of article.
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Tweaks to this article
By the time we are rearranging the furniture of our insides with the above practices......it is almost too late. This is why the first commandment was given

1. Love God
2. with all your heart
3. then your soul
4. then your mind
5. then your strength

So realigning lines two ,three, and four is pointless if line one isn't in operation. Line one isn't loving God alongside all the other things we love, spouse,family,possessions , activities.
Love God is a whole different quality of love. It's not even a human first love as say for a spouse.
Often the old style of church leader will be jumping up and down in his/her pulpit trying to get people to love God first. But it is a received love. It is a fire love. It is a holy love. It jumps off every page of Mother Basilea Schlink's book "Those who love Him"
We have inside us a fire -love/ God containing box. No human even fits there. If we allow a human or humans to occupy a position of love...it isn't there... it's in our affections, in our emotions. The phrase "godly affections" of the former divines is not just a nice phrase. It's a drive that comes from a totally unique place.
Get that right, and a lot else falls into place.
I mean think of Cain and Abel. If Cain was reading the above article, working through it step by step....d'you think things would have been that different?
Somewhere in the depths of Abel was a love working that motivated his
choice of job
choice of activity for every single day of his life
he chose to be a shepherd, and then from that
he chose his best and fattest sheep that he had individually reared and cared for and sacrificed those. Cane's offering was detached. Was a bit on the side. Was like a "religious activity". It did not represent the central core of his life.
So, if God hasn't been my first love does that mean that I've permanently blown things....I might as well give up? No , "first love" is a timeless place in the heart of God.
It is NEVER too late to step into it. It is a place outside of all previous choices. The fact that you are even reading this means this is for you to know.
It's like all the best fairy tales you ever knew....but hey hey....it's for real. You CAN pinch yourself and you won't wake up.
This "first love" relationship , this fire-love thing between you and God, this consuming fire that sorts you out from the inside out,
is the place where like Rahab, you suddenly see God step into your "prostitute" life with a purpose and a plan, steps of obedience you risk your life for....
then you turn round and see God has only written your name into the central plan of Christ's lineage in the earth! And what about your former life? Haha...it's all gone up in smoke....and never referred to again. As though you never spent each of your days in this role.

Except You Eat My Flesh From: Daniel Yordy

You will find that below is part three of a series "Coming Out of Darkness" first appearing here at www.dyordy.com by Daniel Yordy himself. I make no apologies for reproducing this one today as various prophetic occurrences happened in today's meeting in Havant which followed right through from a play Jonathan and Emma did with the kids right through to celebrating Communion together. The constant theme was expressed in the play...moving from stars and spots culture and here you needed to see the play, to a relationship with the Father based on His valuation of us and not our own. See stars and spots as a culture based on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and leaving that all behind to relate with the King of life himself.
But the other aspect of coming out of stars and spots culture is the whole idea of separation whereas Christianity is about fusion. And uncomfortably close fusion at that! And this has always been the plan right through from Jesus's sermon about Eating His Body and drinking His Blood onwards through the centuries since. This morning a Word was brought about God removing the scaffolding.....as though everything in the Temple building process up to this present day has been at one stage of removal....but now was the time for a more direct form of building...His own glory and Life poured into the walls themselves....layer upon layer.
I love the totally chaotic sense of God's order appearing before our eyes, unmanaged,in all corners of the earth, here a voice, there a voice....not a human HQ in sight.
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Daniel Yordy:For some weeks I have been pondering this truth scattered throughout the New Testament, that we are His flesh. A couple of weeks ago, Fred Pruitt sent out an email in which he said the same thing, that he had been pondering for several weeks the meaning of eating His flesh. In other words, this is something the Spirit of God is focusing us on right now as His sons. (I will include some things that Fred shares in my next letter.)
A truth like this, we receive bits and pieces of understanding from the Spirit of God. It is so profound, and our understanding is so limited, yet what is revealed is the very salvation of God.
I am writing this letter for those who are on this journey with me, a journey of knowing Jesus, the Christ, in all of His revelation in us, through us, as us, in this hour of His glory. More than once, people have written to me and said, "Wow, this letter is different than previous ones, it's really life to me." So I compare what I said in that letter and what I said in previous letters and see the same thing. What happened was that before, the reader, though previously interested and drawn to what I shared, was now hearing it, for the first time, through the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
And so I am sharing, particularly in this letter, with those who know that they have the mind of Christ and who hear all things by the revelation of the Holy Spirit.
It is in John 6, just after the feeding of the 5000, that Jesus says these words, "He that eats My flesh and drinks My blood shall have the life of the age to come."
Every single person who heard Him say that turned their backs and fled in horror except the twelve who were, nevertheless, shattered and confused.
We need to understand the extent of the blasphemy and the horror that Jesus chose to speak to the ears of those who heard Him.
Israel, in that day, survived, barely, in a sea of Greek culture. The party of the Sadducees, who had the greater power and wealth, had embraced much of Greek culture, while still remaining Jews. But the memory of the Law of Moses and the Prophets would have long since been swept from the earth in face of the overwhelming onslaught of all things Greek if it were not for a small group of devoted, gallant men who had committed their lives to keeping at least a small group of people in Israel connected to Moses and the Prophets, and separated from Greek culture, philosophy, and paganism.
These men were the Pharisees. Certainly, they get a bum rap, but without them, there would have been no people left for Jesus to minister to.
But the Old Testament did not, nor was it intended to, restore man back to the relationship with God that Adam enjoyed - infused utterly with God, no separation of self. And so the Jewish mind had elevated God as "untouchable" and way beyond the commonality of man. To equate God with the dregs of degraded humanity dragging upon the earth was, to their thinking, the most horrible evil that a person could conceive. Thus the idea of "blasphemy" was a huge deal in the minds of all Jews of that day.
Inside of the Greek culture that pressed at all times against all things Jewish, there was a particular religious cult called the cult of Dionysus. In this cult, a person, usually a child, was presented on the stage as the god, Dionysus. Then, at a certain point in the ritual, the worshipers would tear the child to pieces and eat his flesh and drink his blood. They did this because it was Dionysus who said, "Except you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you."
The Romans were a hard, cruel, and wicked people. They had learned, early on, that tolerating a certain "freedom of religion" was necessary to keep captive peoples quiet, and so they did. But to the Roman sensibility, the cult of Dionysus was so excessive and awful that it was completely banned from the Italian peninsula.
Every Jewish man, woman, and child was fully aware of the gross paganism and filthy ritual of the cultures and peoples that swirled around and through their midst at all times. They were a captive people, living in a land claimed and possessed by others. They were fully aware of the cult of Dionysus and the gallant role of the Pharisees in keeping such evil away from their lives.
Moses, on the other hand, had commanded the people of Israel not to eat the blood with the flesh of an animal, because the blood was the life of the flesh. The Pharisees had expanded greatly on the rituals and rules of Moses, and so great effort was present in every one's mind, to separate the blood so as not to eat any bit of it and thus defile themselves in disobedience to Moses.
Because we have heard these words of Jesus all of our lives, they seem weird to us, but no more. We have no ability to comprehend the awfulness of these words to the minds of those who heard them. For Jesus to quote this most horrible of pagan deities in the most excessive pagan ritual that even the Romans could not stomach was beyond all human reason. And to the Jewish ear it was BLASPHEMY in every possible way and to all extent. It was not possible for Jesus to have dreamed up any more "wicked" and "evil" thing to say to the mind of those who heard Him speak.
Jesus was not speaking in John chapter 6 to the Pharisees, He was speaking to the Jews who had followed Him, who had eaten the bread He had broken and multiplied, who had brought their sick to Him to be healed, who had hung on His every word.
We know that God needed the Pharisees to kill Jesus. Part of Jesus' mission was to provoke the Pharisees, to push their sensibility to the point where they would deliver Him up to be crucified. But when Jesus stood before the Sanhedrin, He limited His blasphemy to an oblique reference that He was One with the Father. That was enough for them to turn Him over to the Romans in a judicial way, which is what God intended. But if Jesus had made this statement in John 6 when He stood before the Sanhedrin, they would have stoned Him to death right there.
Jesus is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. He couches the greatest truth of the gospel inside the greatest blasphemy uttered in the pages of Scripture.
"Except you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you have no life in you."
Even to our ears, these words are awful, and we have none of the religious bent of the Jewish mind of that day.
In order to follow Jesus in this present unveiling, we must be willing to embrace that which, to the natural mind and to the religious mind, is utter horror and blasphemy.
To know Him, as He reveals Himself in us, is to be what the world and what Christianity will call a horror and a blasphemy.
And we ourselves, just like the twelve (or shall I say, the eleven, because it is here that Jesus says that one of them is a devil), have only one answer to give in our own confusion at the incredible insanity of what God speaks to us in the New Covenant.
"Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of age-abiding life."
And so we begin this journey.
1 Timothy 3:16 "And without controversy, great is the mystery - the secret - of godliness: God manifest in the flesh . . ."
There is a set of verses that I have known of all my life. If you said a few of the words from it and asked me where it was, I would have told you instantly, without thought, Ephesians 5.
Yet I have never known these words, nor ever considered what they say.
Ephesians 5:28-32 "So husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his wife loves himself. 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."
Did you catch that? I never have, nor have I ever heard any minister or teacher of the word catch it either.
Every human being loves and feeds his flesh. This is a given. That is why those sad Christians who see themselves as separate from God, with the obligation to hear what He says and do it, and who with all zeal put their "flesh" under foot, as they see it, are such an example to us of not the Lord Jesus. I have known people like that, who actually took seriously the injunction to get their flesh under foot. They are my brothers and I love them, but there is no light of Christ in their eyes. The very act of willfully and fervently "subduing the flesh" makes the flesh the greatest thing in their lives.
Every man, woman, and child loves and feeds their flesh. This is a given.
The question is to whom does the flesh belong?
Because, you see, Paul, here, in verse 30, says the most extraordinary and unbelievable thing in all Scripture.
He says that the reason that God loves me, the reason God cherishes and nourishes me is because I am God's flesh.
Is this not what God is speaking in verse 30?
I am God's flesh.
My flesh is His flesh.
My flesh is the flesh of God.
That sounds like blasphemy, doesn't it? It certainly does to me.
But I have put these bounds upon myself at this point in my life. All that God speaks in the New Covenant, I will believe. And if God does not speak it in the New Covenant, I refuse to consider it.
Christ is God manifest in the flesh. Jesus is the eternal entrance into all that Christ is.
Now, Paul here says that I am a "member" of His flesh. That is the same thing as saying "I am His flesh." The reason Paul uses the word "member" is that just as I am His flesh, so you are His flesh. There are always those who will take a word like this and use it to puff themselves up above others; that's why Paul says it this way.
This letter I am writing is supposed to be the third part of "Coming out of Darkness." It is supposed to be a reference to Revelation 3 where Jesus says, "I counsel you to buy of me white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed." And it is.
But this word is so much more than one part of three. Yet it also has it's place there. To see as Jesus sees, we must accept our own blindness. To enjoy all the riches of heaven, we must accept our own poverty. And to be clothed with His flesh, we must accept our own flesh. For our flesh is His flesh.
The princess must kiss the frog.
You could spend some time thinking about that statement. Ask God to show you what it means.
And so, over the last several weeks, I have been pondering this thing that Jesus says. Faith makes everything God speaks personal to one's self. If it is not personal to me, it is not faith.
I have always carried great and overwhelming shame in my heart. Almost all people who, in their Christian zeal, have attempted to "fix my problem," to persuade me that I had better "get myself straightened out before God," have done nothing more than increase that debilitating and overwhelming sense of shame.
How many times has this thought cast its dark pallor over my soul, "I am so ashamed of myself." I could never count them all.
How many times has God revealed Himself to me? So many times over the years! Yet was it two or three days later that shame re-asserted its dominion over my heart and the glory was hidden from my eyes once again? Never more than three.
And so in recent weeks, as the reality of life in this world hits me with all of its viciousness, and once again shame mounts its familiar assault, both from within and without, I cast all to the wind. I have nothing else to lose.
I speak in my heart and with my voice, with tears streaming down my face.
"Jesus, this shame is Your shame. This flesh is Your flesh. This weakness is Your weakness. This inability is Your inability. This darkness is Your darkness. This sin is Your sin. You have become me. I am Your flesh. I am the cup and the dregs which You have drunk."
And I am clothed with an intimacy and a closeness to Him that I have never before known.
Yes, to the mind that is separate from God this is folly: to the religious mind, it is blasphemy, and to the natural mind, it is stupidity.
But to me, at this moment, as this present age of folly is crashing into ruin, as the heavens are turning, as my own days are caught in great stress and difficulty, it is LIFE.
It is Jesus.