Category Archives: Christian

July 6, 2012 · 12:19 pm

Pictures of Truth

For us that have committed to our spiritual journey of understanding, we are learning to share what we have come to know as spiritual truth. If truth sets the innocent free then we have become advocates and disciples of that truth, and therefore in some ways we can be also called freedom fighters. This post is again encouraging us to use the tool of demonstrative evidence so we can present simulations and models that are useful in helping people apprehend the spiritual truth in operation in the Kingdom of God.

 Hosea 4:6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me;

 Jesus was a master during the time he walked in the flesh, at the use of a word picture. It is impossible to physically hand someone a piece of spiritual evidence. This is true because spiritual evidence has no physical substance. However since we know that this physical world is formed by spiritual things, then any object in the material world is a symbol or a piece of evidence for spiritual things.

 As ambassadors and priests of God’s Kingdom we have been given authority to reveal the present reality of His Kingdom to those unable at this moment to spiritually comprehend it. That is why we are called children of light. Like Christ we must become skilled at giving our friends in the material world who are presently asleep a word picture or demonstrative evidence. Any object that is comfortable and frequently used by the individual or the group we are talking too can be used in this manner.

 John 15:7  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

 Revelation 22:2 In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

 For example the scriptures above are using word pictures to reveal the operation of spiritual truth in our Father’s Kingdom.  We also, for example, can use a piece of fruit and its connection to the vine just like the Master Himself did to convey spiritual truth. Jesus in John 15:7 reveals spiritual operations as we should understand them for today. However a clearer revelation which is also in operation is revealed in the final book of the bible in Revelation 22:2. Unfortunately most Christian religions interpret and teach that this truth will only be available sometime in the future.

Spiritual truth is eternal, but its effects can be subject to time by our finite thinking. Therefore the operations of spiritual truth is not subject to the moment it first dawns in our conscious. Yet its application to our personal lives may be limited in its effectives by our thinking. However the reign of God’s Kingdom is and always will be forever in operation.

For example, the spiritual truth behind the operation of forgiveness did not become available the moment I accepted it or gave it to someone. For God so loves the world, and that is why He is sending us into it today. The Master says as much “as the Father sent me, I also send you.” So when did this thought enter into the Heart of God our Father? Was it the moment Adam sinned, or was it when He decided to create Adam, or was it when our Father created the heavens and earth?

 Back to our example, one piece of fruit while sitting with friends at lunch, in a stocking at Christmas, in a fundraiser box you bought from a member of the local high school band can open the door to heaven. That same piece of fruit you encounter with your child while walking through the grocery store can set your child on the path. How about the fruit you and your spouse share with friends in the form of wine when you are out on the town.

 Fruit is just one object in this material world we are all comfortable with and have common experiences with. There are many objects in this material world that are not limited by social, cultural, gender, political, racial, religious or economic boundaries that can be used a word pictures.

 We have available to us many objects and symbols at our disposal with which to reveal the spiritual Kingdom of God. We all have different personalities and experiences and yet we all share common experiences with objects in this material world. Through Christ, God has placed us in a world where we are surrounded by relative darkness. As we understand our Father’s heart and become skilled with truth, people around us become transformed and begin their  personal journey.

 Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.

 Luke 6:35 But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil.

 As sent ones we must learn to go with the heart of the one who is sending us. The heart of our Father is that all of mankind be saved into His spiritual Kingdom out from the darkness of the material world. We live in this world but once our spiritual senses are awakened we begin our personal transformation by learning the operations and benefits of our citizenship in the Kingdom of God. We also begin to view the objects and events of this material world with a different point of view. As our relationship to heaven changes so also is our relationship to the people of earth.

 My friends be encouraged and strengthen by the image of Christ. Like Jesus must keep as a motto “Not my will but His will be done” and rely on the Spirit of God inside of us. By doing this we will not resist our transformation into the image of our Father’s Master image.  Jesus Christ is described in scripture (Hebrews chapter 1) as being the brightness of our Father’s glory and the express image of His person.

 So let us remain on our spiritual journey to becoming more conscious that we are truly sons and daughters of our Father in heaven and that we can become like our Brother Jesus, who carried the fullness of our Father’s Spirit within Him. We like Him are the Kingdom at hand.

1 Corinthians 2:12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

 Matthew 10:7-8 And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ 8 Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.

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June 27, 2012 · 2:38 pm

In Light of New Evidence

As we continue our discussion concerning demonstrative evidence I want to use one of my favorite metaphors which is light. There are many references to light in scripture so I feel that I am on solid ground using this as a metaphor. Demonstrative evidence can be simulations, and models that are useful for assisting a finder of fact in establishing context among the facts.

From a material point of view quantum science has revealed the dual nature of a photon and how it relates to our material world as ether a particle or a wave.  Scripture reveals to us that men and women also have a dual nature and can relate physically to this material world as a child of Adam and can relate spiritually to the Kingdom of God as child of God.

 Ephesians 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light…

 Matthew 5:14-16 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

 Light gives us 3 important material benefits. It provides illumination, warmth, and energy, but as a spiritual metaphor we are trying to understand the characteristics of revelation, relationship and spiritual power. As children of a Kingdom that is invisible to the material world, we carry within us the key that presents evidence of our Father’s Kingdom to people who cannot yet see it.

 Because light is active it falls into the category of demonstrative evidence. The reason the light is active is because it is the Person or Spirit of God. Our material bodies are vessels that contain this Presence of God. Our transformative journey is all about learning to allow the will of this Presence to live through our body instead of the personal sovereign will of our soul. At our awakening we invite God to live within us and on our transformation journey we are learning to let Him live through us.

 2 Corinthians 4:3-6 But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, 4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. 6 For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

This blog is all about encouraging each other to show forth and present the spiritual substance which proves the Kingdom’s existence. But in order to do that we must be aware of the Presence within. If we can be continuously aware then as we are around other people they can begin to draw on that which is within us.  Making a presentation to people who are not ready to receive can cause frustration to us and to our intended recipients (jury of our peers).

 Our goal is to simply live and walk in the reality of the spiritual realm by remaining more mindful of that realm than of this material realm. As we set our affection on the Presence of our Father, our minds are transformed and we prove the existence of the Kingdom. Scripture exhorts us set our minds on the things in the spiritual realm above so that the glory of that realm may appear down here on earth.

 Light is a perfect metaphor because it flows and permeates over the material substance of earth removing darkness. Likewise revelation and spiritual understanding have a similar effect on our minds and all who come in contact with the presence within us. As the light from earth’s sun brings warmth to the objects and inhabitants of earth as we revolve around it, so too is fear, doubt and insecurity removed as our relationship moves from servant, to child and then friend of God. The energy necessary to sustain life on this planet is produced by nothing less than the sun. Plants, volcanos, rain, oxygen an even the ice at polar caps are all products of the sun’s light.

 As we become more transformed we gain greater awareness of Kingdom Presence and we come into greater unity with the plan, will and purposes of our heavenly Father. Children of Light are ambassadors of the Kingdom of God and through them the energy and power of God’s Presence becomes evident to those ready to see and experience it truth. Again I encourage us to embrace the light and love of God’s spirit which cannot be separated from you and me because it is within us.

 Deuteronomy 31:6  Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

 Psalm 139:8 If I ascend into heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.

 Colossians 1:27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

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May 30, 2012 · 4:14 am

Evidence that Surpasses Understanding

At the evidence locker we are encouraging each other to gather and present spiritual evidence of the Kingdom of God. Evidence can be anything that helps establish the fact of the Kingdom. The key is that the spiritual kingdom is within us and therefore our evidence will most likely come from within us.

I am often reminded of a testimony by author C.S. Lewis who tells of a story about his brother who took a cigar can and built a little garden in it. He said when he looked at it was like a magical little world, totally different from the one he lived in. He would sneak and open the lid and peer into this world of wonder. Mr. Lewis recalls how the memory of the garden in the can inspired him and as an author and he tries to describe the feelings of people who have a life changed by spiritual experience but have no material evidence.  In the Chronicles of Narnia the main characters enter the kingdom of Narnia but when they return to the material world they are forever changed because of that experience.

Philippians 4:7 and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard you hearts and mind through Christ Jesus.

We also, who have seen into the Kingdom of God (KoG) have this quiet assurance and confidence of life in this spiritual world. Once you have experienced the kingdom and the presence of God within your being, you begin to live in a peace that does not have its source in this material world. It is this experience that marks the difference between the spiritual realm and the material realm. The feelings that accompany these experiences can be evidence and we must learn to present this evidence of the reality of Gods spiritual Kingdom.

 A lot of believers in Christ read scripture and it is nothing more than a recorded testimony of someone else’s experience. This is quite alright for new believers but this should not be the status of mature. Until the spiritual kingdom becomes real and personal to us the words of Christ remain as hearsay testimony which is inadmissible as evidence. In order for evidence to become real it must be experience by one’s spirit, soul and physical body.

 John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 John 16:33 This things I have spoken to you that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.

  Like the garden in the tin can in order for that reality to remain we must continually peer in to the spiritual realm to keep the experience fresh and forefront in our minds and heart. If we forget allowing the memories of spiritual experience to fade, we drift back into the material world losing sight of spiritual truth. Even though our understanding may fail to grasp spiritual truth, nevertheless that truth will yet remain.

 Living spiritually is a choice we must consciously make every minute of our life. The material things of this world in and of themselves do not speak of the spiritual realm. If fact, spiritual things are considered foolish by the material world and this is the reason for a spiritual transformation.

 Once you have become spiritually awaken everything in the material realm can reveal truths of processes that are unseen by the natural eye. This awakening comes with a peace that is grounded in the Christ who first awakened us to these truths. After our awakening Christ’s mission then becomes our mission, and the awakening of others to the spiritual truth we now experience become top priority in our lives.

 1 Corinthians 1:25-26 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.

 Many believers in Christ proclaim spiritual reality, yet they never truly experience it. Their proclamations are simply statements of their faith. Their faith is reasonable and scripturally based.  They hold beliefs that they are new spiritual creatures and one day they will enter into a place of spiritual eternity in the presence of God. And that is all good.

 But if they could truly experience today the reality of God’s Kingdom they too could embrace the spiritual Kingdom of God. As ambassadors we enter and exit the spiritual realm proclaiming freedom to captives of the material realm. We proclaim that this is now the acceptable year of the Lord and we help reconcile people of the material realm with their spiritual Father the living God. So we are one with God, sent to aid in the same mission as Christ.

 Luke 4:18-19 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; 19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” 

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