After writing the contemplation “Living as Heirs of God” yesterday, I had a further revelation of righteousness without the law—which is the core of the Gospel. When Adam entertained the first thought of being separated from his Father, he began to make laws for himself that he believed would help him regain his Father’s love and acceptance. He developed a conscience which constantly accused him for his inability to keeps those laws. He became afraid of His father, fearing His wrath and judgment.
Living as Heirs of God
Romans 8:16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: 17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;
If we are ever to lay claim to and enjoy our inheritance as children of God, an inheritance which includes everything that God has (“all that I have is thine”—Luke 15:31; 1Corinthians 3:22–”Everything belongs to you”), we must know without a doubt that we are not flesh and blood (see Born of Spirit)—for “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1Corinthians 15:50).
The Man Born Blind
In John 9 is the record of the healing of the man born blind, one of the many healings brought into manifestation by Jesus on the Sabbath. I say “brought into manifestation” rather than “performed by” since Jesus didn’t actually “heal” the man’s eyes. Jesus’ consciousness of the man’s true spiritual identity that cannot experience blindness and the man being “touched” by that consciousness is what caused the man to see.
The Sign of Jonah: Jesus’ Use of Scripture
We read in the book of Jonah that “the word of the Lord came unto Jonah . . . saying, . . . ‘go to Nineveh’. . . . But Jonah rose up to flee . . . from the presence of the Lord, and . . . found a ship going to Tarshish” (Jonah 1:1-3).
Continue reading “The Sign of Jonah: Jesus’ Use of Scripture”
Born of Spirit
The Bible speaks repeatedly of two realms—the realm of Spirit and the realm of flesh.
Understanding Scripture
When the lawyer came to Jesus asking what he must do to inherit eternal life, Jesus responded, “What is written in the law? how readest thou?” We have to ask ourselves the same question, “How are we going to read what is written in Scripture?”
A Perfect Heart
I awakened early this morning with 2Chronicles 16:9 running through my head:
For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him.
Out of Darkness into the Light
After writing the contemplation Mercy upon All, I continued to read and meditate upon the book of Jeremiah. I quickly saw that that what I had written there was confirmed over and over again—that this book is not merely a historical record of how and why the children of Israel were driven by God from the “Promised Land” to go into Babylonian captivity at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. It is rather the story of the prodigal son all over again, the story of man departing from his origin in God (symbolized here by the “Promised Land”) and the repeated assurance that he will return. It is a parable of everyone’s journey out of darkness into light (which I believe God has revealed the entire Bible to be).
Mercy upon All
Since I heard the word from the Lord that I should arrange my life so that I will be free to read, meditate and write (see Following Christ and Minimalism), I’ve had difficulty finding peace doing all the other “good” things which present themselves to me as a means of escaping the awesome responsibility I feel when writing what I believe are revelations from God. But last night before I could fall asleep, I once again committed myself to continue doing that which I feel called to do, relegating everything else in my life to a place of secondary importance.
How We Experience God
Whatever we conceive God to be in our consciousness is the way we experience God—because our experience is objectified consciousness—individual and collective.