There is no independent, self-operating self in the universe, except the One who calls Himself the I AM {Exodus 3:14} and says, "I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside Me {Isaiah 45:5}.
No Independent Self ~ Norman Grubb
Once again this morning I opened my email to the latest Wayne Jacobsen "The God Journey" podcast only to be treated to another dose of seeing myself as separated from the Father. This morning, Wayne and his sidekick tackle the question of negative emotions and how it is that they affect us. What peaked my interest was when he mentioned the "unhealthy" side of our brains which supposedly produce these emotions. Sorry, but I'm not buying into that nonsense. I have spent a good deal of time in my writing relating my beliefs in the truth of Jesus and the indwelling Christ. Of how the apostle Paul spoke to this truth in Galatians {Paul To The Galatians 2:20}. Yes, I live in Christ. The idea that the Lord who created me in His very image would create something unhealthy in me is not something I care to entertain {Genesis 1:27}. Of course, this speaks directly to the mantra of the mainstream church that we are indeed separate from God. Again, this is the lie spoken to Adam and Eve in the garden {Exodus 3:5-6}. Satan assures Eve that when she eats of the tree which the Lord commended her not to that she would not die, but that her eyes would be opened and that she would "Be like God" {Genesis 3:5}. How much more could the first creation be like God? Created in his image AND receiving from Him the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}. Indeed, the Father has been with us from the beginning. To suggest otherwise is simply ignoring the scriptures. We know that all things were created through Christ {Johns Account 1:3}. Yes, this includes us. For Jesus has been from the beginning {Johns Account 1:1}. There has never been a time where the Father has not been an intimate part of us. So, how is it, then, that we could have a unhealthy part of this creation in which God resides? Well, I see Wayne Jacobsen's theory here as simply his way of describing something negative within us. Whether bad thoughts or bad emotions, there must be a cause, right? We blame our bad thoughts on the existence of sin. Now, we blame our bad emotions on something in us that is unhealthy. No, what is unhealthy is the wrong perception that we are separated from God.
With Christ have I been crucified, yet I am living; no longer I, but living in me is Christ. Now that which i am now living in the flesh, I am living in faith that is of the Son of God, Who loves me, and gives Himself up for me.
Paul To The Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament
It seems that everything which we see as negative about ourselves we feel that we need to attach a cause to. We cannot grasp the concept that a holy God could be right smack in the middle of His creation that has so many negative issues to overcome. So, we attach blame where we see fit. In sickness, death and tragedy we assume that the One who lovingly created us in His image is now bestowing His anger upon us for some reason. When those critical of Christianity accuse us of following a vengeful God they're not too far off the mark. For this is the lie which we have made Him out to be. All because we cannot see God in our sickness, tragedy and bad emotions. I admit that I have made this mistake myself in the past. Instead of seeing the Lord in me I adhered to the teachings of Christianity which spoke a different message. Of course, this has never taken away from the truth of Gods union with His children {Johns Account 14:20}. But that wouldn't sell too many tickets in the mainstream church where a holy God is never associated with anything unhealthy.
~Scott~
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