The Good Of The Father (God Of All) # 2164

 

But the Most High is not dwelling in what is made by hands, according as the prophet is saying, "Heaven is My throne, yet the earth is a footstool for My feet.  What kind of house shall be built for Me?"  The Lord is saying, or what is the place of My stopping?"

Acts of the Apostles 7: 48-49, Concordant New Testament Translation

Think about this for a minute, what is it that we give to God?  Christians are fond of proclaiming that they "Give" all sorts of things to God.  We give praise, we give prayers and, most of all, we give Him money.  I recently watched a short flick by Christian influencer Martin Zender, who titled his video as God FORCING His love upon His children.  Now, I grew up in churches where I was taught that I have been created with free will.  Indeed, many believers continue to hold onto this mistaken belief.  It is the basis of our decision to choose or reject Christ Jesus.  We are seemingly free to do just that, or are we?  According to Mr. Zender, we do not give love to God, He freely gives His love to us.  Not only that, but the very nature of God, is love {First Epistle of John 4:8}.  Christians are also fond of referring to their church as "Gods house."  As if He is somehow dwelling within its walls.  Well, Luke writes in the book of Acts that "The Most High is not dwelling in what is made by hands" {Acts of the Apostles 7:48}.  The question which I asked myself while preparing this page was, what do I have to offer God which He does not already have?  This is the question which every believer needs to be asking.  What is it that we offer God?  Is He not the creator of all which we will ever see or experience?  The simple truth is that we DO NOT offer anything unto God, but God delivers unto us through His love and mercy for us.  It is God who gives unto us love, life and all things {Acts of the Apostles 17:28}.  We offer God nothing.  It is the Father Who gives unto us life, health and all.  So, what does this say about the church lie of free will?  Do we, as the Fathers creation, really have free will?  Is it truly our responsibility alone to somehow "Choose" Jesus as our Lord and Savior?  Well, the church would have us believe so. 

One of our core Christian beliefs is that we have been designed and created in the Fathers likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  That He has breathed into His creation the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  What is it that we have which God has not provided us?  Nothing.  I would say, not even that which we cherish as humans, free will.  For to possess free will is to suggest that we somehow operate out of the jurisdiction of the Lord.  This simply is not true.  The author Norman Grubb writes that "There is no independent, self-operating self in the universe, except the One Who calls Himself the I AM {Exodus 3:14}.  Understanding this, we began to see that we ourselves have nothing to offer unto the Father.  For He has given us all we will ever have or know.  Again I ask, what can we ever offer unto God which He doesn't already have?  Do we really offer Him praise?  Do we truly offer Him our hearts?  No, for what God requires, He takes unto Himself.  I dare say that God desired for His children to be reconciled unto Him.  This was accomplished through the sacrifice of Christ Jesus.  We do not choose Christ, He has chosen us.  Through His love for us, He has chosen death {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  Those within the church cannot truthfully say that we are the ones who must choose Christ, for out of His love for us, He has chosen us.  The simple truth is that we have nothing to offer He Who has created all which we will ever see.  Even our life is lived within His love {Johns Account 14:20}.  But, that message doesn't fill too many pews on Sunday mornings.  

The God Who makes the world and all that is in it, He, the Lord inherent of heaven and earth, is not dwelling in temples made by hands, neither is He attended by human hands, as if requiring anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all 

Acts of the Apostles 17: 24-25, Concordant New Testament Translation 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (The Jesus Fraternity) # 2163

 

And He is the head of the body, the ecclesia, Who is sovereign, Firstborn from among the dead, that in all He may becoming first

Paul to the Colossians 1: 18, Concordant New Testament Translation

If you hang around amongst Christian circles often enough you might just hear "The" question thrown in your direction.  What church do you belong to?  I've heard this question often enough in my life until it made me think that I not only needed to attend a church, but I needed to belong to a church.  Doesn't this sort of sound like a Jesus fraternity?  I had this conversation with a friend this week, one who knows all too well the inner workings of fraternities, as he was in one while in college.  Not only was he in said fraternity, but he "Belonged" to that elite group.  Now, this is nothing against fraternities per se, because I'm sure that they have their finer points.  For the purpose of this post, my goal is to illustrate how our belief in Jesus has been hijacked by those within the mainstream church.  I believe that it is no longer acceptable for the church that someone simply believes in Christ Jesus.  No, we not only need to believe, but we need to accept and proclaim Jesus as Lord and devote ourselves to one particular church.  Think I'm off base here?  Consider the requirements which many churches openly speak to, requirements which they fully expect from their members.  Requirements to attend the church, to serve said church AND to be initiated into the church.  Initiated?  Yes, initiated.  Like so many college fraternities out there, far too many churches insist upon a requirement which one must perform in order to be accepted as a member of the church.  I'm talking about the ritual of baptism.  I can recall going through the membership classes of the last church I attended, classes which were required if someone were to be considered a member of the church.  Sounds like a fraternity to me.  Part of joining almost any fraternity is the initiation into said group.  This is where the pledge is judged worthy of joining the fraternity.  Of course, this is just the first step, for even after joining, the new member is saddled with expectations that they serve the fraternity.  My friend offered up more than a few stories of how he was expected to perform.  What church doesn't follow these same practices? 

There might be more than a few people who will get bent out of shape by this comparison of the church to a common fraternity, but the similarities are simply too hard to ignore.  They demand that those who choose to worship in "Their" church adhere must prove themselves worthy of the congregation they seek to join.  Still think I'm wrong?  Why is it that so many churches continue to offer up membership classes, as if the requirement is to somehow "Join" the church?  Why is so much importance placed upon serving said church?  When someone askes me what church I belong to, I smile and tell them the church of Jesus.  I am a member of that church which Jesus is actively building among us.  The church where Christ Jesus is the head of the body {Paul to the Colossians 1:18}.  In His church, there are no requirements to prove you belong.  In the church Jesus is building, all are welcome.  I commented to a good friend of mine this week that I see similarities in my group of gym friends to that church which Jesus is building.  We gather and we talk about Jesus.  We are contractors, doctors and industrial workers.  At first glance, you might not see this group as a church.  We don't have all the traditional trappings one might expect to see in any run of the mill church.  There's no worship music, no offering and, above all, no new membership classes people need to attend in order to become a member.  THIS is the church Jesus is building.  Jesus isn't looking for someone to prove that they belong here.  In the Lords eyes, this is His assembly, His ecclesia.  My invitation is the same which Jesus gave to those who sought to know about Him, come and see.  

Now Jesus, being turned and gazing a them following, is saying to them, "What are you seeking?"  Yet they said to Him, "Rabbi (Which, being construed, is termed "Teacher"), "where are thou remaining?"  He is saying to them, "Come and see."  They came, then, and perceived where He is remaining, and they remain with Him that day, it was about the tenth hour. 

Johns Account 1: 38-39, Concordant New Testament Translation 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (For Heavens Sake) # 2162

 

And in My Fathers house are many abodes; yet if not I would have told you, for I am going to make ready a place for you.  And if I should be going and making ready a place for you, I am coming again and I will be taking you along to Myself, that where I am, you also may be

Johns Account 14: 2-3, Concordant New Testament Translation 

Depending on what your own view of Jesus is, you might have a differing view on heaven as well.  There are some who see it as a future reward, while I tend to look at it as my present reality.  Like I said, this knowing depends on your own personal knowing of Jesus.  Do you see Him as a distant savior, or as the very reason for your life?  Those within the church will tell us that sin has distanced us from God.  That we have been separated from the Father by our own sins.  While it is true that all have sinned and wanted for the glory of the Lord {Paul to the Romans 3:23}.  Many misread or simply ignore the passage which follows Paul's warning we find in Romans.  That verse which proclaims that we have been justified "Gratuitously in His grace, through the deliverance which is in Christ Jesus" {Paul to the Romans 3:24}.  Yes, we've sinned, but Jesus has given Himself for the death of that sin {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  Not only that, we  ourselves have also died to sin with Jesus {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}.  Here is where the present reality of the kingdom of Heaven comes into play.  Jesus has spoken that "I am going to make ready a place for you" {Johns Account 14:2}.  If you believe that Jesus is not simply a far off observer, but the purpose of your life, then you will hold a different view of heaven than those in the church who claim to be the experts on preaching about it.  Jesus has spoken that our life is now lived in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  So, if we live in union with the Father, are we not in heaven now?  Isn't God dwelling in heaven?  If you adhere to the teachings of the mainstream church, you might just consider this line of thinking as blasphemous.  Yet I do not speak to this truth of my own accord, but of that which has been recorded in the scriptures.  

For some, it might be difficult to understand how heaven could resemble such a reckless, sinful place as the world in which we live.  Yet even the apostle Paul reminds us that "Our realm is inherent in the heavens, out of which we are awaiting a savior also, Jesus Christ" {Paul to the Philippians 3:20}.  Are we still awaiting a savior?  The way I understand it, that savior, Christ Jesus, has already arrived.  Paul's words are but another example of the truth we find that our home is now in heaven with the Father.  The world around us may not look much like the gold lined streets of the Fathers kingdom, but rest assured heaven is real and it is now!  Like I said, your own view of heaven will depend on your view of Christ Jesus.  I see my life as being lived within the love of the Father.  My home is not of this world, but in the Fathers kingdom.  THIS is my home.  However, if you are of the mindset that you live a life separated from God, then you might have difficulty in understanding your place in the Fathers heaven.  For you, sin is still the obstacle needed to be overcome in order to "Punch your ticket" into heaven.  As if our place in heaven is something we must achieve ourselves.  Jesus has spoken that He has gone to make a place for us, "That where I am, you also may be."  If I live a life within the love of the Father, then I believe that heaven is a current reality for me.  I AM where the Lord Jesus is.  My home is in heaven, not within this world.  

For our realm is inherent in the heavens, out of which we are awaiting a savior also, the Lord Jesus Christ 

Paul to the Philippians 3: 20, Concordant New Testament Translation

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Not Who We Were Expecting) # 2161

 

Who, being inherently in the form of God, deems it not pillaging to be equal with God, nevertheless empties Himself, taking the form of a slave, coming to be in the likeness of humanity

Paul to the Philippians 2: 6-7, Concordant New Testament Translation

Here's a question for all of you out there who claim to know Jesus.  Would you know Jesus if you saw Him?  What would He look like?  Would He resemble those illustrations we've all seen in the children's bibles and paintings?  That traditional image of Jesus we've all been accustomed to seeing?  Indeed, there have been many illustrations and paintings done over that past few hundred years that depict the image of Jesus which the church wants us to see.  But what is the true image of Him?  For myself, I did not realize the true image of Christ until I had been out of the church for more than a few years.  Up until then, my image of Jesus was exactly what I saw in the bible illustrations and paintings of Him.  An unkempt, bearded man, sometimes sporting a halo over His head, sometimes not.  In 2008, Christian author Wayne Jacobsen penned a book titled "So you don't want to go to church anymore."  In it, the main character has encounters with an individual which he suspects resembles (In characteristics) the apostle John.  So, along those lines, would you recognize Jesus if you were to encounter Him on the street?  What would you be expecting He would look like?  Well, you might be surprised to learn that you may have already encountered Him more times than you can count.  You might be even more surprised to know that you are more than able to enjoy that personal relationship with Christ Jesus, but you simply have not realized the truth of who you are in Him.  That's right, you and Jesus linked together in an unshakable bond.  The apostle Paul speaks to this union in Galatians.  Paul proclaims that "Yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ" {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}.  Paul understood that his life as he once knew it, was no more.  Having been crucified with Christ, what was once his life as he knew it, was now Jesus in Him.  Or, for lack of a better definition, He in Christ.  

In the book of John, Jesus has proclaimed that we now live in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  So, I ask you again, would you know Jesus if you were to encounter Him?  I would suggest that the Jesus you've been looking for looks nothing like you expected.  One of the most difficult truths which I have struggled to unpack is the truth that I live as Jesus.  Follow me here, we know that Paul has spoken to the truth that we no longer live, but Jesus lives within us.  We know that Jesus Himself has proclaimed that we now live within the love of the Father.  So, knowing this truth, what does Jesus look like?  Well, how about this, try taking a look in the mirror.  What you see is who you really are, a reflection of Christ in Whom you now live.  The sad part of this is that the mainstream church has tried to deflect this truth for over 1500 years.  This is why it has been so difficult for me to address that it is not I who live, but that I live within the Father.  Trust me, 1500 years of church teachings are difficult to overcome.  But this in no way diminishes the fact that we now live within God.  Through Jesus, we have been reconciled once again unto Him {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:18-20}.  The church will tell us that sin has separated us from God, but this is but one lie spoken by those within the Christian religion.  For Jesus Himself, and we as well, have died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  Those within the church will wring their hands upon hearing this.  They will say, "What about our daily sin?"  Fortunately, Paul gives us his response to this in his evangel.  As he proclaims, "We, who died to sin, how shall we still be living in it?" {Paul to the Romans 6:2}.  Indeed, the Jesus you have been looking for is most likely not the savior you were expecting to see.  Not only do you look like Him, you ARE Him.  

Yet all is of God, Who conciliates us to Himself through Christ, and is giving us the dispensation of the conciliation, how that God was in Christ, conciliating the world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them, and placing us in the word of the conciliation.  

Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5: 18-19, Concordant New Testament Translation 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (The Carnal Mind) # 2160

 What, then, shall we declare?  That we may be persisting in sis that grace should be increasing?  May it no be coming to that!  We, who died to sin, how shall we still be living in it? 

Pual to the Romans 6: 1-2, Concordant New Testament Translation

I recently saw a video posted by disgraced Christian pastor Mark Driscol in which he made the statement that sexual sin has been the cause of many families to cease to exist.  Now, I can't dispute his claim, as my own family was broken up over the misguided thoughts of my father.  Meanwhile, my own thoughts once migrated to the desires of the flesh as well.  Like father like son?  Growing up, my main goal was that I did not become the man that my own father had been.  I'm thankful to say that it never happened.  While I might have dabbled in the misguided thoughts of the flesh which he did, my thoughts would eventually be guided by the Father and not the flesh.  Many Christians might have described my fathers life as one prone to sin, and they might not be too far off the mark.  What is obvious is that his thoughts were focused on the flesh and not on the man he truly was in the Father.  This is where I and my father differ.  While I may have gone through a time when my thoughts were focused on the pleasures of this life, I eventually realized that this is not the man that I am.  This knowledge of the flesh came knocking at my door once again recently as I have been aware of the thoughts and actions of an acquaintance of mine.  I look at him and I see that which I once partook in.  I see in him the thoughts of the flesh.  This is the carnal mind.  The mind directed more towards thoughts of what this world has to offer than what the Lord has already given unto us.  The scripture tells us that to be carnal minded is death, but to dwell in the spirit is "Life and peace" {Paul to the Romans 8:6}.  Again, I would say that when are thoughts are on the pleasures of this world, that they are misguided.  THIS is not who we are.  Indeed, when it is revealed unto us who we truly are in the Lord, our thoughts and mind will follow.  My own father never realized that which was revealed to him.  

I don't think that I would be too far off base to say that my acquaintance is suffering from a mental disorder.  His mind is set on that which is not beneficial to him.  This was my own mindset for some time.  Of course, along with these thoughts came those of guilt and shame over what I was doing.  Yes, I knew that what I was doing went against those plans which the Lord had for me, but I also had been taught that God was on a different plane that I was.  I hadn't yet realized that my life...is His life.  Jesus has spoken to the union which we have within the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  There is truth in the passage that we will know the truth and that it shall make you free {Johns Account 8:32}.  That truth is knowing who we are in the Father.  If Christ Jesus has set us free, then we shall indeed be free {Johns Account 8:36}.  It is Christ Who has freed us from that bondage, that we would no longer be "Slaving for sin" {Paul to the Romans 6:6}.  Those within the church will describe the person entrenched in thoughts of the flesh as someone engaging in sin.  Yet the apostle Paul had a different understanding.  He understood that one who has died to sin cannot be living in it any longer {Paul to the Romans 6:1-2}.  The truth is that we have died to sin together with Christ {Paul to the Galatians 2:20, Paul to the Romans 6:8}.  This is the truth which sets us free.  Free from the guilt and shame of a mind focused on the carnal world.  Free from that which once held us in bondage.  Our issue, as with my own father, is that we do not yet realize that Christ has freed us.  

Now if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall be living together with Him also 

Paul to the Romans 6: 8, Concordant New Testament Translation 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Truth That Sets You Free) # 2159

 If ever, then, the Son should be making you free, you will be really free 

Johns Account 8: 36, Concordant New Testament Translation 

I had a conversation the other day about those doubts fears which I used to carry with me for so many years.  Fears of not being accepted by others.  Fears of not being accepted by God.  In a sense, I wasn't free at all.  Sure, I knew Jesus in the sense that I had read and heard of Him, but I didn't truly know Him, and this is why I was not free.  Jesus has spoken in the book of John that "If the Son should be making you free, then you shall really be free" {Johns Account 8:36}.  So, you could make the case that without knowing Christ Jesus, we are not really free at all.  We might think that we are, but only through knowing the truth which we have in Christ can we really be free.  Those within the church will talk about being free in Jesus, but they rarely preach the truth which truly makes us free.  Growing up in the Christian religion, it was my understanding that freedom in Christ meant following the rules set forth by the church.  That was the depth of my understanding of Jesus.  What I knew about Jesus came from what the church taught me.  What the church taught me was that Jesus and I were separated.  The best that I could ever hope was to "Be like" Jesus.  My friends, THAT is not true freedom in Christ.  What it is is submission to the narrative preached by the church for over 1500 years.  The narrative that man is inherently sinful, and that is what separates him from God.  The root of this lies with the Roman emperor Constantine, who in 325 AD convened the First Council of  Nicaea.  This gathering of bishops was convened in order to attain consensus in what the church taught.  That is, to affirm the narrative which they would preach to the masses.  That narrative still exists today, and it has kept many from realizing the truth we find in Christ Jesus and knowing true freedom in Him.  

In order to realize the freedom which we have in Christ, one must know who we are in Him.  Jesus has spoken to this truth, that we do not live our lives separated from God, but within His love {Johns Account 14:20}.  When I swallowed the church kool aid, I had no idea of that freedom which I already had in Christ.  The truth that I was already saved through Him, and just didn't realize it at the time.  This is the predicament which too many believers find themselves in today.  Free in Christ Jesus, yet unaware of who they are in Him.  All they know is what the church feeds them.  I've mentioned to a good friend of mine a few times the fact that the struggle we face is fighting 1500 years of church teaching.  The truth found in Christ is not found in a Sunday sermon, but by the revelation of the Father.  For all of the years I spent warming a pew each Sunday, I didn't realize who I was in Christ until I made the decision to leave the brick and mortar church.  Once free of the false teachings and theology, I was free to discover who I was IN Christ Jesus.  The words of the apostle Paul were beneficial in that Paul speaks in his evangel that "Living in me is Christ" {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}.  Jesus in me?  You mean, I'm not a sinner like the church told me for so many years?  Again, Paul helped me to understand the truth found in Christ.  That Christ Jesus died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  That the sacrifice of Jesus is real and final.  Sin is no longer an issue for us, for through Christ we have been freed from it.  Paul affirms this when he speaks that "We, who died to sin, how shall we still be living in it" {Paul to the Romans 6:2}?  THIS is the truth we have in Christ Jesus.  This is the freedom we have in Him.  

In that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you

Johns Account 14: 20, Concordant New Testament Translation

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (What You Never Knew About Jesus) # 2158

 

For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified 

Paul to the Corinthians (1) 15: 22, Concordant New Testament Translation

The prevailing wisdom among Christians is that Jesus died on the cross that our sins would be forgiven AND that those who believe in Him shall be saved.  Yet somehow, those within the mainstream church have succeeded in hijacking this truth for a counterfeit message spoken from the pulpits for thousands of years.  The message that our salvation is somehow a transaction which must take place.  That in order to be saved one must accept Christ Jesus.  Growing up in the church, I often struggled with if I was indeed saved or not.  Was I behaving well enough?  Was my belief in Jesus sincere enough for Him to allow me to be saved?  This is what the false message spoken by the church has given us.  But what if I was to tell you that your salvation is less about what we do, and all about that which Jesus has already done?  Would you be interested?  Most Christians will hold the line that salvation rests with our decision to accept Christ Jesus into their lives {Paul to the Romans 10:9}.  Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved {Acts of the Apostles 16:31}.  This act of acceptance has become the transaction by which our salvation is purchased.  But how is it that we can conduct a transaction with that which has already been freely given unto us {Paul to the Ephesians 2:8-9}?  As the apostle Paul has spoken in his evangel, salvation is the free gift of the Lord unto us.  Paul knew that were salvation simply a transaction, that those who have been able to achieve it would boast of their own status of being saved.  This is something which I have witnessed first-hand within the church.  This is not how salvation was meant to be.  Yet too many believers are not aware that they have already been saved.  That Jesus has already provided for our eternity within the Fathers presence.  Again, Paul speaks to this relatively unknown truth in his evangel.  The truth which speaks to "As in Adam, all are dying, yet, in Christ, shall all be vivified" {Paul to the Corinthians (1) 15:22}.  

What Paul is speaking to is that salvation is less about a transaction and all about the person of Christ Jesus.  Now, I have written about the concept known as universal salvation before, but never with the understanding that our salvation rests not with our acceptance of Jesus, but in the truth that Jesus Himself IS our salvation {Paul to the Romans 5:19}.  Indeed, through the obedience of Christ Jesus shall many be considered saved.  The simple truth is that you have already been saved, you simply are not aware of it.  You're not aware of the truth that salvation has never been about what we do, but all about what Christ has done for us.  Too many Christians have had this truth hidden by the false narrative preached from the pulpits of the church.  Therefore, it does not surprise me in the least that very few have the understanding that their salvation lies within Christ.  My own realization of salvation has only recently been revealed unto me by the Father.  Like most, I've struggled with thoughts of if my salvation was indeed secure.  The truth is, when we see our life for what it really is, this truth becomes more and more apparent.  Jesus has spoken that our life is lived within the love of the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  This is our union life with Him.  This is also our salvation given to us through the obedience of Christ Jesus, that our life AND our salvation now reside with Him {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:15}.  We no longer live to ourselves, as those within the church are so fond of saying, but to Christ.  THIS is the Jesus you never knew. 

And He died for the sake of all that those who are living should by no means be still living to themselves, but to the One dying and being roused for their sakes 

Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5: 15, Concordant New Testament translation 

~Scott~