R & R- His Way

R & R. Rest & Receive. That is what Father has called us to. That is what the Father is laying on my heart. Rest and Receive. Just come to Him. Stop striving and receive from Him. Oh why do I need to constantly learn this? Over so many things how quickly I start striving & trying to work things out. Christ doesn't want it to be that way - He wants us to come instead to Him and receive.

He can touch every kind of situation with Christ. Stop striving and just rest & receive from Christ. He is the supply. Hasn't He been my supply ? (Yes, He has) Father is deeply committed to us all. He will use 'all things' to the end that Christ is formed within. It's amazing that God has given us such abundant life (R&R) through Jesus Christ!

What I hear Father saying to me over and over is to simply "come" to Him. He has called me & chosen me, and He is the one who is working within the character of His Son. I cannot produce this, only Christ can. Knock knock on my thick head. : ) why do I always think I can? I can find a million things that beset my day and that need my attention, and even though I know that my heart is set on Him, I find myself still striving. I need to have some R & R, and simply trust He is working in me - what He wants worked out of me.

Come unto me, all [ye] that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matt 11:28

A Short Video

Recipe ?

Question:

If you were going to write or create a recipe for the ingredients of 'a church' or for 'the church' what would you include as the ingredients necessary to do so & why? What would they be? (Or to word it differently, what do you feel would be some of the ingredients present or NOT present in that gathering). Trying to make this simple : 0 )

For myself I think a freedom in sharing and love of the Word,
openness amongst all,
honesty and genuine love & interest in one another,
love, love of Truth,
mutual respect,
mutual sharing,
lots of hope & encouragement for one another,
loving generous leadership,
very giving hearts to all - including those in any need or difficulty,
community in the sense of sharing life and giving life to each other
sensitivity to one another's pain & the need to work through and process that as a personal thing

I think I could go on and on here : ) I guess I have just had lotzz of time to think about it.

I would like to see His love as the main goal, the expression of that & the work of His love constantly and gently moving all in the direction of yielding more to the Father (the Father's will expressed as a group). And that desire ( for His will ) would be expressed in our lives as a result of His love restoring our hearts and gaining a deepening expression. But not something we work to make happen, or 'set out to do'. Instead the exchange taking place because His love has captured us, His love is doing it. Father's love settling within and dispelling our fears.

Vital Process vs Vital Wound ?

Looking back on my journey in retrospect I see the primary objective within religion seemed to be to teach doctrine. To teach 'correct' doctrine. To create and facilitate an ongoing process that would ensure meaningful discipleship growth. The traditional mindset revolves around the belief that this method assures and exists for the purpose of creating disciples. They believe that this steady 'supply' from the 'pulpit' is vital. A sacred necessary means of facilitating onward growth, uninterrupted and constant union between Christ and those receiving said doctrine.

Notice I said 'vital'. The word vital can mean two things: on the one hand it can pertain to life, but on the other hand it can pertain to death. As in vital processes vs. vital wounds. Keeping that in mind, please rest assured that I am not saying that there is no value in doctrine or teaching, of course there is, but it seems to me that there is an error in saying that it is completely vital. (The only guarantee in using this method is that you will primarily create self righteous people who are very religious (and proud) which would therefore be classified not as a vital process but a vital wound. )

The only vital part of our union with Him is Christ Himself - He is the one who is initiating our union with Him, and bringing us into union with the Father. It's Christ in us who is doing all. He is bringing, He is keeping, He is doing all within all. It's grace that brings us, grace that maintains & grace that keeps us in Him. He alone is vital, and the vital part of the Union - only Christ can unite us and produce Himself in us.

I have always felt that religion seemed to downplay the oneness & perfectness of our union with Him (the vital part). If we really believe it is all Him, then He alone is the vital supply. If we are joined to His very life, then He is vital. If he is living and breathing in us, then He is vital. If He is the Truth, then He is vital. I think that Paul understood this because it seems to me he did not spend his time investigating the errors of his previous religious experience(s) ie the vital wound, but rather understood that His purpose now was to manifest and share the life of Christ. (VITAL process) The process is not so much as to unravel the errors of the environment (investigate the vital wound) as it is to investigate Christ, the only vital portion necessary to sustain and maintain life giving environment.

I am, as many of you my friends in blog land are, witnesses to this reality - that Christ, the union with Him that He has created and is living in us and between us - is giving us life and constantly expressing Himself in a way that illuminates our being, showing one another that Christ lives and breathes & shares life with us. Christ in us, He testifies of Himself and declares that He is sufficient in us ! He is keeping us as we forsake the 'vital wound', proof He alone is Vital, sufficient and formed in us.

Formation of Christ Within

Thinking about my journey outside the confines of tradition and religion, I am just beginning to understand now that the deep purpose of God in taking me out of the IC was, simply put, that Christ would "continue" to be formed within.

The part of us that is Christ, His Spirit in us, desires once began, to continue forming Christ within, shaping us into a purer and stronger reflection of Him day by day. I am coming to the conclusion that this process, the ongoing formation of Christ, is what is actually side-tracked and this is accomplished primarily by giving ourselves over to becoming religious minded. This process seems gradual as it works in us, so gradual in fact that we don't really see it working. We are blinded to it because of the fact that so many absorb this thinking. We see it all around us.

Often we will navigate out of the confines of our religion & denomination in search of Christ elsewhere in others. Religion gradually is evident in our endeavours, behaviours, thinking, etc. so that before long, we have embraced the idea of being 'religious & self righteous' over being formed into Christ, into His likeness deep within. The purpose of religion therefore IMHO is to fatally interrupt and halt the formation process of Christ in us.

He has chosen us as vessels that will truly contain and engage in this ongoing process with Him. He accomplishes this in us as we offer ourselves to Him, yield and receive grace within us for the purpose ONLY, to form Christ and manifest Him.

Buildings, attendance, programs, theology degrees, seminars, ministry positions, leadership endeavours, all this cannot produce Christ. Only Christ can form Christ within.

In fact as many of us have learned in hindsight, they can rail road this process by keeping us very preoccupied and busy; and contrary to Christ. We are alive through Christ, nothing else. Years of relying on teaching, preaching, praise group meetings, group study, educational methods and practises that would thereby assure or guarantee of spiritual growth have only left us bewildered and disappointed.

Perhaps it is true to say in hindsight that spiritual growth does occur within these contexts. BUT the question to be asked is what kind of spiritual growth ? Religious spiritual growth, or the formation of Christ within ? Is Christ being formed?

Christ In His Body

Since I left the institutional church scene back in 2002, I have been on quite a journey. I remember those early months, right after leaving, how exciting it was, sitting every morning, long into the hours of late - morning, on my porch drinking 'x' numbers of coffee, and talking to Jesus. The difficult part was over, I had chosen to leave despite the warnings of this one and that one. With that behind me, I was now free to totally love Jesus the way that I knew I wanted to. It was so exciting to venture out of the institutional mindset and behaviours, and begin to discover the freedom and joy of Christ alone! Oh the security and peace. Thinking back, it was such a wonderful season in my life, of enjoying deepening intimacy and union with Him. Trust in Him was continually growing, and I was really being freed up from religious thinking, much of which had primarily stopped my growth in Him by squelching my desire & devotion for Him only.

What I have also found as I have progressed is a deepening desire to know and appreciate the lovely body of Christ ! I want so much to love Him and love His people the way He does; I want that always to be growing in me! I believe I see the beauty of His reflection in others in ways I never would have, had I stayed in that mindset ! He is so beautiful in His people! I value & appreciate His presence in others. In the institution, beauty is often valued instead concerning the system, how well it is working and performing etc.

I have been so delighted to find members of the body of Christ all over the place. It's like a treasure hunt, and as you persevere, you soon, with delight, find the beauty of that treasure suddenly here and there. You can't help but be in total absolute awe of the beauty of Christ in others when that happens Often unexpectedly! Lovely, He is. Lovely especially in others who have courageously ventured out of the safety, comfort and confines of religion, and without restraint and unreservedly, knowing they have begun to open up their heart and just completely give themselves to Christ. That is the beauty, really. The beauty is in the act within the heart, of just yielding & giving oneself so completely to Christ, on such a deep level, one that goes beyond religion, to just surrendering all to Him, this is truly breath-taking.

So when we as brothers and sisters in Christ find each other out there - somewhere on this journey, a journey of the heart - and suddenly behold that beauty of Christ, deep within and beating in another's heart, we can't help but be deeply moved and grateful at that discovery. Our Spirit's groan and leap within in such true joy. We see with humility and tears that being a part of His Body is a deep privilege, to share within the context of another's love and devotion to Christ.

The Established Heart

(Th purpose and work of Grace is to establish our heart )

"He Establishes Our Heart"

By Arthur J Licursi

1 Thes. 3:13 To the end he may stablish (Greek, sterizo, turned resolutely) your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

The most changeable thing about us is our heart - which is principally our soul, with our mind saying "I think...thus and such, our emotions saying "I feel..." and our will, saying "I want...". It’s all about us. According to our natural birth our heart is changeable but always bent toward our self. Instead of having an established heart, all we Christians begin with having a changeable, a movable heart; moved by self-interested thoughts, emotions, and desires.

We need our heart to become solidly established, one that is always bent toward God, not a heart that is changeable and fleeting.

Our heart may be changeable not only in relation to other people, but even in our relationship with the Lord. Yet, God is the faithful and unchanging One; He never changes. His love and grace are always bent toward us. We are the ones who are changeable; we are changeable in our heart. For this reason, Paul was concerned that the hearts of the new believers at Thessalonica would be set, built up, and established by the Lord.

Although we need our heart to be established, we are not able to do this ourselves. Only the Lord can establish our heart. Therefore, we need Him to cause our heart to be solidly established and built up. We receive the mercy and grace from the Lord as He orders the happenings, circumstances and situations of our lives, so that we may be brought to yield to Him… to give Him the permission to establish our heart. Most of us have prayed at one time or another, “Lord, I want to give you my life; make me a holy person.” Upon hearing such a prayer He is working on our behalf to fulfill that God-given desire. Recognizing our free will; He awaited our permission before He works within us to bend our will and do the establishing. When our heart has been established, resolutely turned to Him, it is then changed; it is bent toward being blameless before God.

As always, even this “establishing” is the work of God's grace in our lives. Philip. 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 1 Thes. 5:24 Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it. And of this we may be confident. Philip. 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: