I am in the kingdom of Heaven right now. It is at hand
and is within. It’s not something I attain to by studying, thinking or working. It is righteousness, peace and joy, each of which is a free gift, not to be earned. It is my Father’s good pleasure
to give it to me Luke 12:32.
Yet I do not experience it until I recognize and accept this as truth—as my reality. So long as I continue to look at the pictures of evil and believe them to be real, that will be my experience. I must look beyond the veil
as Jesus did. When He lifted up his eyes
to heaven and gave thanks to His Father John 11:41, He wasn’t looking into the sky but rather turning His attention away from the appearances (Lazarus being dead four days and stinking
) to look upon the reality of Being—that Spirit (the substance of every man) can never die. In so doing, He called forth that which IS into manifestation.
That which IS and that which APPEARS to be are not one and the same. The appearance world is what Scripture refers to as the veil
of human, carnal thinking which obscures the perfect creation which God said was very good
and still is. That veil is done away in Christ
2Corinthians 3:14. When I, like Paul, know that it is no longer I (my humanity) who lives but that it is Christ living as me, when the government of my life is upon the shoulder of that Christ, I realize that the Christ (my true identity) cannot manifest as the evil pictures of the appearance world. Those pictures are merely manifestations brought forth from my believing the lies of the carnal mind which Jesus called the devil
and the father of lies
that never abode in the truth.
These lies are universally accepted as truth and they appear
to be truth—so we have blindly accepted them.
But Jesus said that when we know the truth, it sets us free. These universally accepted truths
about God, man and the universe have resulted in nothing but anxiety, fear, depression, sickness, aging and death. Didn’t Paul say that would be the case? To be carnally minded is death.
But good news! To be spiritually minded is life and peace
Romans 8:6. This spiritual
mind Paul termed the mind of Christ
which we all have, but don’t always exercise. We are much more likely to operate out of the carnal
mind which cannot know truth.
This physical
realm that we observe with our senses is not evil or good. It is merely Spirit taking upon itself form and becoming visible. What form
it takes is entirely dependent upon the thinking
behind it. Because He was spiritually
minded, Jesus continually manifested what appeared to be healing, the very best wine, an abundance of food, and a body that was not subject to the limitations of physical laws. Although He became sin
(descended into carnal thinking that thought itself to be separated from the Father and subject to physical death) for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him
2Corinthians 5:21, He knew that He was laying his body down and could take it up again as He wished John 2:19. And this He did, appearing as several different physical forms after His resurrection from the dead.
But, unlike Jesus, we (who are made in the image and likeness of God and given dominion over all creation) have engaged in carnal thinking (that never abode in the truth) and have therefore manifested every imaginable appearance of evil in this perfect creation. However, the creation of God is still perfect, though invisible to the human senses, and the appearances of evil are just that—appearances that have nothing to sustain them except our carnal thinking. Take that away and the appearances are dissolved
as happened in the case of the raising of Lazarus.
Paul admonishes us to
2Corinthians 4:18 … look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.
and also to think on
Philippians 4:8 … whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
because
Proverbs 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.
That’s right—what we become aware of (whether spiritual or carnal), look on and think on is what we are going to experience. As I become increasingly aware of (conscious of) the truth that I am a spiritual being, begotten of God and one Spirit with my Father, living now in the kingdom of heaven, always looking beyond the appearance realm at the things which are not seen,
I will begin to experience more and more of the righteousness, peace and joy that comprises that kingdom. Knowing this truth will set me free from the evil appearances of this world.
I will be abiding in the secret place of the most High
where the evil manifestations of the carnal mind have no effect upon me Psalms 91.
Now of course there is no condemnation for looking at and reacting to the appearance world. Indeed, this is all we have ever known. Even our religious teaching has almost totally ignored what Jesus taught and demonstrated and plainly said (that we could do the same things He did). The reasonings of the carnal mind, even the religious mind, has explained
it all away, leaving us nothing but beautiful words with no power behind them to bring them into manifestation. So we have all become victims of this wisdom of man
which is but foolishness
to God 1Corinthians 3:19. We think of those things which were natural
to Jesus and His disciples as being supernatural
and miraculous
and to be experienced by only a select few.
But the truth is now being revealed to us. Jesus showed us what it looks like to live in this world knowing that we are one with our Father within; and we need only to allow Him to manifest His kingdom on this earth—the life more abundant
promised to anyone who can become as a little child and dare to believe the truth that sets us free from all the evil
appearances that we have heretofore manifested as a result of believing the lies coming from the carnal mind.