True Reality..........

Thinking, thinking, thoughts, thoughts. It seems as though I am forever in contemplation of some such thing or another. Today, my mind is swirling about some things after having a conversation with a lovely old friend. I think perhaps the spirit within me is trying to bust out again in words.  Words that bring life. 

My friend's sister is suffering from severe pain due to a rare form of lymes disease. Her body is starting to turn on her. It's scary for all involved. She has three small children to boot. She can't sleep well due to the pain she endures, she cannot do simple daily tasks. My heart goes out to her, I simply can't imagine, nor would I want to. I encouraged my friend as best I knew how, by pointing her to Christ and what he accomplished for us all, namely her sister in this time. She felt refreshed, thankfully, and I pray they all rest in Him during this difficult season. 

After this conversation I began to think and ponder yet again what our TRUE reality is. It's like this, do we believe God's truth is ultimate truth? Or do we let what we see and feel in the here and now to dictate truth to us? What if we could live so focused, so in tune, so fixed on the finality of what the cross accomplished that we were never phased by our flesh and by earthly problems? I mean really - what if? Can you imagine how that would dampen the enemies plans? Can you imagine how we would rise above every occasion and live as though we really are seated in heavenly places? 

Then I thought of the verse that goes something like this, "God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble, we shall not fear for the earth may give way and the mountains crumble into the sea."  So I thought about that verse and thought about how it would be to live as though we are so fixed in Him, so trusting in Him that even when the mountains fall around us, we will not falter in our belief, we will "Be still and know that He is God." 

So I thought of this dear woman as she must feel like her world is crashing around her and that at times must be ALL she can see ( much like my own situations this past week) and I realized how much we all need one another to walk alongside us and remind each other that we are in His safe and capable hands and to speak the truth that sets us free. We are indeed already provided for, already healed, already safe, already righteous, already alive in Him. We are so firmly fixed in the love of God, the vast wide all encompassing love and divine care and protection of our God. We truly can say, I shall not be moved. 

We, so need our brothers and sisters, to hold up our arms, much like Aaron and Hur did for Moses. I am so thankful for you all and for those who would point me to my true reality in Him. I want to be so fixed in that reality, so focused on the REAL TRUTH, that these earthly distractions fade into the distance and vanish from my mind. 

Now I must go and speak life and truth to my son, who is hating the pain he is still enduring. The remnants of the flu are attacking the muscles in his legs. I just heard him moan, "I hate this!"  

We just all need to be comforted time and time again - and HE is our comforter and will never leave us or give up on us, and constantly looks out for us. I just have to let that be my reality constantly!!! I am WHOLE in Him - I have no want or need. He is my all in all. 

Peace to all who may stop by today........................

Personified Principles.......

You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is these that bear witness of Me, and you are unwilling to come to Me, that you may have life. John 5:39, 40   A couple of years ago I completed the syllabus for a Christian growth seminar which I entitled "The Designer's Blueprint For Happiness." Based on the eight qualities of life listed in II Peter 1:5-7, I had developed a practical systematic theology using a multitude of Scriptural insights. The mimeographed materials that were to be given to students consisted of over three hundred pages of principles, illustrations and readings.   Only recently I saw that to try to see Scriptural principles without seeing Him who is The Principle is to try to see truths without seeing Him who is Truth. To try to see life without seeing Him who is life is like trying to see love without seeing Him who is love. The entire emphasis and approach of my syllabus had to be scrapped.   There is a wonderful emphasis today on the principles of Scripture. Those who are called to this emphasis (as I was for many years) are heeding the admonition to "Teach and preach these principles" (I Tim. 6:2). When properly seen as witnesses to Him who is The Principle of life, principles are great. But these principles must not degenerate into a new law. Man has al ways gravitated toward the law, because there is always that lingering hope that in our "separated selves" there dwells some good thing (even though Romans 7:18 says unequivocally, "For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh"). The songwriter brother of the evangelist John Wesley was Charles Wesley. He bordered on union life truth when he capitalized the word "Principle" in his song, "I want a Principle with in." But "want" is a word of separation and unbelief, instead of a word of faith. Another song needs to be written with a title that is a positive acknowledgement: "I have a Principle within."   Unless we come to Christ when we come to the Scriptures (or to a Bible study, a church service, a "Jesus" rally, a Seminar on principles, or any other meeting or fellowship), we will not receive life. We might receive mental comprehension, have our ears tickled, or experience a subjective "high," but we will not receive life which manifests itself in love to others.   "Let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day - things which are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ" (Col. 2:16, 17). As mature, free spirits, we have a single eye on Him who is The Principle, and we do not have to look to human advice or even Scriptural principles for our decisions. Though some sincere people are involved in the current "shepherding" emphasis in some Charismatic circles, the failure of the leaders to adequately help the "sheep" see their full competency in Christ will retard their growth and reinforce feelings of guilt, inadequacy and incompetence. It would not be inaccurate to say that the shepherding emphasis is turning many legitimate groups into "cults."   Many of us have been challenged for years to study the Scripture because of the admonition of II Timothy 2:15: "Study to show yourself approved unto God." We interpreted this to mean that the more we studied the Scriptures, the more approved we would be of God. Once again we erroneously assumed that performance based on principles would gain God's approval. But the primary purpose of the Bible is not to underscore our need. It is to reveal the fact that Infinite Supply is available within each individual, that we might live as the approved person that we already are in Christ.   What is your reaction when people interrupt your Bible study or devotional times? Would your spiritual temperature drop substantially if you couldn't have those times for a couple of weeks? As important as the Scriptures are, they are still just a witness to He who is inner Truth. We must have an inner consciousness of union and oneness with God when we come to the Bible, or we will not experience His life, which is love.   When we are exposed to someone who really "knows the Word," most of us tend to be very impressed. We wrongly assume that there is a correlation between how much one knowsabout Scripture and how one's life reflects Christ. If only we knew more, we too would act more "Christ-like." If only we read our Bible more, memorized more verses, and meditated more on the Word, we too would have more faith, more power, and more love. But all head knowledge, even knowledge of Scriptural prin ciples, is merely wisdom of this world, which Paul classified as "foolishness before God" (I Cor. 3:19).   Since I am a lawyer, it is not surprising that for years I catalogued the commandments of the principles of Scripture, just as lawyers catalogue the legal rulings of the various courts of law. Only a proverbial Philadelphia lawyer can understand some of the fine-line distinctions which courts have drawn to justify their decisions. And only a Philadelphia-type theologian can distinguish all of the principles of the Bible and apply them in a proper context. Consider the following opposites:   Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee. Mark 5:19. (Share your testimony with others.)  And he charged them that they should tell no man. Mark 7.36. (Do not share your testimony with others.)   Carry no purse, no bag, no shoes. Luke 10:4. (Take no provisions.) But now, let him. who has a purse take it along. Luke 22:35. (Take provisions when you go out.)   Undoubtedly, some readers will have no trouble reconciling such principles based on historical context, or on another translation of the Greek, or on dispensationalism, or on Old Testament prophecy, or on something. But most reasonable men would have difficulty.   In any event, we must learn that none of the above principles nor any others, are meant to be absolutes that are to apply to every comparable situation. The fact is that it is just as impossible to delineate the principles. Have you ever noticed how often godly men with different persuasions and contrary advice come up with a reasonable Scriptural basis to justify their approach to the same problem? Who and what are we going to listen to? Any attempt to make decisions based solely on the outer application of supposedly objective principles of Scripture is foolishness.   Man's desire to classify truth and automatically apply principles to life's questions is just another manifestation of his love for creeds and mental beliefs. I'm surprised that some enterprising Christian has not devised an IBM computer program which would "Scripturally determine the will of God" as to any question fed into the computer. With the advent of computerized dating and mating, why not a computerized will of God?   I am convinced that God purposely introduced the contrast of seemingly conflicting principles in the Bible so that in his frustration man would turn to the inner Source for his answers. Inner knowing, not head knowledge, is the proper basis for making a decision. Both wisdom and understanding are given to man by intuition and revelation. "If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men generously" (Jas. 1:5). The wisdom comes in an attitude of Christ-consciousness. With such an awareness we have confidence that our decisions are His decisions.   God's advice is, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psa. 46:10). Man has changed it to, "Become something on earth by knowing more principles about God who is in heaven." Instead of just "being" (experiencing unified existence), we stress "becoming" (attainment). Instead of inner knowing with the heart, we stress outer knowing with the mind. Since our premises are based on a separated outlook (we are earthbound and God is in heaven), our final conclusion is also separated. Instead of coming to the truth that "I am an expression of the unified God right now," we conclude that he wants us to be quiet and worship Him as an external God; with the hope that someday (presumably after the rapture) things will be different.   John 5:39, 40 could well be paraphrased, "You search the Scriptures for principles, as if in the principles you have life. Though the principles do bear witness of me, you must see through the principles to Me if you really want life." It is the awareness of our union with Christ and His expressions here on earth that brings life, not the mental absorption of principles. Face the truth that even Scriptural principles are foolishness un less we see through to The Principle within. - By Bill Volkman

Fixin' my eyes...........

Life has been all consuming of late. My mind is bogged down with worries and concerns. I am wearing the weight of the world on my shoulders. Weary, oh so weary. I wrestle with big decisions and battered emotions. I long to rest in His peace and freedom. But my circumstances try to veer me down the path of unrest, unease. I become anxious and I 'let' my heart get troubled. Dang it. I know better than that. I know that my peace and my rest is only found in Him, and I am in Him, and He is in me. Only He can carry the load I so often try to shoulder. Only He is sufficient enough for me, and only He can carry me through life's storms. I must look straight into His eyes, or else I will falter and the waves of life will crash over me and consume me. 

His eyes. So full of compassion. So full of endless love, able to consume in one glance. Why would I ever want to look away? His eyes are the safest place in the world. They are my refuge and my solace. 

For too long now,  I have shifted my gaze and let the waves and the storm distract me. And to be honest, it's exhausting. Jesus told me, that his yoke is easy, his burden is light. He told me to rest in Him. He told me, His grace is sufficient for me, and His power is made perfect through my weakness. Am I trying to be strong? Am I trying to carry my own burdens, when he asked me to cast them upon him? 

Why do I find myself wrestling with all of this over and over? Why do I let the enemy deceive me time and time again? And why do I think some how I can do anything apart from him? 

Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. He had to be still and listen to His voice. He was fixed on His Father's eyes. He was committed, full of trust, loyal, obedient, faithful. He wants to be all of that for me, and in me. He can do it. I cannot. 

Today, I finally remembered my gaze has not been fixed. My only hope, my only source and strength is in MY JESUS. Today, I choose to let go, releasing all my cares to Him. Not letting my circumstances dictate reality, but letting JESUS be my reality. He is my all in all. He is the TRUTH. I want truth to dictate my reality. Jesus, I surrender and I choose to look to you today. I know you will keep me, and I know by looking to you I can walk through these troubled waters. 

A confession.....

I must make a confession. I don't get grace! I just don't get it. My natural bent is toward, what is my part, what do I have to do? How then must I live? Ugh! I have found of late that I am battling with confusion and I don't like it. I want to live in pure grace, but I confess I don't even know what that really looks like! I have too many arguments swirling around in my head and too many old voices shouting at me.
This morning I was reminded of several truths, and have decided to camp around them for awhile, and not try to learn anything new. One of my favorite verses is Galatians 2:20; "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me."
I have an indwelling Christ, alive in me!! Wow, that's comforting! I also love Colossians 1:27; ".......Christ in you, the hope of glory" - this is my only hope of experiencing the glory God has for my life!!
Christ lives in me, He manifests His life through me and accomplishes His purposes through me! I am just the vessel He chooses to use. God chooses to use me to display His glory!!
I think I am just used to living externally, rather than internally. I am used to doing and not being. I just want to learn to live from the truth of Christ lives in me! CHRIST LIVES IN ME!! That is amazing! I can't live the Christian life myself. That's because Christ wants to live it through me!! He has given me His robes of righteousness and I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus! (2 Cor. 5:21) This is amazing......but I still ask, How do I live the life, the Christian life? I still ask that question!
I can't live it, I simply can't!! Here is the other thing I ask and want to know, how do I grow in Christ? What do I do? I don't understand how to differentiate between the fact that I am 100% perfect forever in the unseen realm, I am seated in heavenly places and I am complete and whole, in spirit, soul and body in that realm. However, in this seen earthly realm my condition does not match up to my position. I have needs and my state is not in alignment with my status. So how do I understand or carry on living and understanding the distinction between the unseen realm where I am already perfect and this realm where I am obviously not perfect. I don't want to try to become something I already am, but I also don't want to remain as I am as seen on the earth. Does that make sense?
This is my dilemma of late, and I dont' like it. It's wearing on me. I just want to rest in Him and live by faith in the eternal realm. I want to live seeing what God is doing, like Jesus did. Jesus lived on the earth, but didn't live out of this realm, He lived out of the heavenly realm.
I dont' want to focus on my performance or my part. I know God accepts me fully because I am in Christ. So what's my problem? I need to constantly renew my mind, get reprogrammed in a sense. I see so many other Christians trying to figure out this Christian life, trying to be more disciplined. I see this happening, and think I need to do it too. I guess I am still trying to conform, still trying to somehow fit in by man's terms. I think I am still trying to get rid of my old man that was already crucified with Christ and somehow hoping by my cooperation I can get the new to come into actuality more quickly. I mean do I even need to wrestle with my flesh! If I am dead to sin and alive to Christ, what is this war I am waging in my mind all about?
Well, this is where I currently live. This is my true heart folks! I will leave off with some more Scriptures and pray that by my next post I am recharged in HIM!!


Colossians 2:10; Colossians 1:22;1 Corinthians 2:10, 12, 14; Colossians 3:12;Romans 6:6-7; Ezekiel 36:26-27; Ephesians 4:24

Much grace and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ to all who read here today!!!