The Good Of The Father (The Pride Of Man) # 2054

 

There is no independent, self-operating self in the universe, except for 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 

I have been watching with some interest lately a few videos from podcaster and former Fox News celebrity Jedediah Bila.  Her shtick is to encourage men in dating and relationships by instilling in them some form of confidence.  Now, she has definitely turned me on to a few certain behaviors which are displayed by women which I have noticed in play in the gym environment which I often frequent.  But I take issue with her attempts to encourage men to somehow be more confident in their lives.  This might be a popular topic these days as so many men have been beaten down supposedly by the introduction into society of feminism and women's rights.  While I do agree that feminism has caused havoc on the traditional gender roles which many of us grew up with, at the same time I question this entire idea of self confidence.  Tell me, what is it that you have confidence in?  Who is it that you have confidence in?  Because, if you tell me that you have confidence in yourself as a man, you're missing the mark entirely.  When i speak to this idea to others, I often get more than a few blank stares.  I get it.  We've been conditioned to see ourselves as the masters of our own life.  Therefore, we're told that we need to realize that we're in charge of what we do.  To have confidence as a man is to display the knowledge that we're in command of our situation.  But could it be that the very reason that so many people struggle with so called self confidence is because that confidence has been misplaced?  Let me explain, who is it that ultimately controls your life?  Do you live day by day living in the belief that you're in charge of your own destiny?  If you do, prepare for some truth to be presented to you.  Is your life your own?  I would answer no to that question.  However, many within the mainstream church would most likely say that God comes in second fiddle when it comes to how we live our lives.  Yet Jesus has proclaimed that we now live our life in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  This confidence which we all too often place in ourselves should, instead, be placed in the true source of our life, Christ Jesus {Johns Account 1:1-3}.  

Do you believe that you came into being through your own efforts?  That you somehow were there when the decision was made between two people which would ultimately lead to your conception?  The truth is, it is the Father Who has formed and created us in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  So, what good is it, therefore, to have confidence is something which you had no hand in creating?  What good it, oh man, to have confidence in something that is not even yours {Paul to the Corinthians 6:19-20}?  Can you now see that this confidence you seek has been misplaced?  That your life has never been your own to live?  The apostle Paul speaks to this truth in a foundational passage of the truth of Christ Jesus in us {Paul to the Galatians 2:20}.  Paul understood that he, as an individual, was dead.  That all that now remains is Christ Jesus in us.  I would venture to say that Paul did not struggle with the same self confidence issues which so many do, because he ultimately knew where his life was.  His life was not his own, but was lived in union with Christ Jesus.  Indeed, this is exactly how our own confidence has been misplaced by so many people who have zero idea where their life really is.  It is why I can confidently say that I rarely struggle with my own self confidence, because I know in my heart that my life is in the Father.  

Or are you not aware that your body is a temple of the holy spirit in you, which you have from God, and you are not your own?  For you are bought with a price.  By all means glorify God in your body

Paul to the Corinthians (1) 6: 19-20, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Not Allowed) # 2053

 For everything that is in the world, the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the ostentation of living, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world is passing by, and its desire, yet he who is doing the will of God is remaining for the eon 

First Epistle of John 2: 16-17, Concordant New Testament 

A good friend commented to me the other day, in response to my previous post, that "God is not passive."  I have to admit, he was correct in his statement.  For too many believers have taken to using the phrase that God "Allows" things to happen.  That the Father allows circumstances to come to pass in our lives.  Does this sound like a God Who is working for the fulfilling of His will in us?  I'm thinking not.  Yet for the longest time I followed the mainstream church theology which proclaims that we've been separated from God by our sin.  This, of course, is the false teaching of the church.  So it is that I trust in the truth that the Father has never been passive, but active in whatever He does.  God is not sitting in heaven waiting for something to happen, He is actively involved in whatever we do.  To better understand this truth, we need to also understand that our life is not our own as some would say.  Jesus proclaims this truth in His words that we live in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  We might see ourselves as pretty active, but I would suggest that no one is as active as the Father.  Think of all those prayers that are lifted up to Him each and every day.  Can a passive God remain passive in the face of all that is going on?  But I think that it goes deeper than that.  The prophet Jeremiah has proclaimed the word of the Lord and that "I know the plans that I have for you" {Jeremiah 29:11}.  We're told that it is the desire of the Father to bring about His will.  He has created the earth and all which we will ever experience in it {Genesis 1:1}.  Upon the completion of His creation, we're told that God rested from the work He had done {Genesis 2:1-2}.  it is not a passive God Who has created all which we see, and He continues to be active even as our life is within him {Johns Account 17:21}.  

To fully understand the Father, we must understand that He is actively involved in all which we do.  The apostle Paul speaks to the truth that in Christ Jesus all is created {Paul to the Colossians 1:16}.  I'm not entirely certain why I continued to believe that we live within a passive God even though it has been revealed to me that my life is in Him.  I guess those old mainstream church teachings die hard.  Despite the fact that I knew that the Father was active in His creation, it was a habit for me to refer to His presence in my life as being passive at times.  That was in error.  To know God is to know that He is always bringing about His will not only in His children, but in the world around us as well.  To say that God simply "Allows" things to happen is ignoring the truth that it is through the efforts of the Father by which all has been created {Johns Account 1:1-3}.  Was Jesus passive in His time here on earth?  Absolutely not!  Jesus was not only active in His ministry, but those He chose for His disciples were active in their learning from Him as well.  How much effort was it for Jesus as He "Prayed more earnestly, and His sweat became as if clots of blood descending on the earth" Lukes Account 22:44}.  Jesus was not passive in these moments.  He was active in the fulfilling of His Fathers will here on earth.  God did not "Allow" Jesus to do what He did, but was active in all which His Son accomplished.  Jesus has proclaimed that "The Son can not be doing anything of Himself if it is not what He should be observing the Father doing" {Johns Account 5:19}.  We can assume that Jesus has observed the active works of the Father first hand.  God never allows anything, but is active in all He does. 

For in Him is all created, that in the heavens and that on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or sovereignties, or authorities, all is created through Him and for Him

Paul to the Colossians 1: 16, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father(Seeing God Through Our Pain) # 2052

 

In which you are exulting, briefly as present, if it must be, being sorrowed by various trials, that the testing of your faith, much more precious than gold which is perishing, yet, being tested by fire, may be found for applause and glory and honor at the unveiling of Jesus Christ 

Peter to the Dispersion (1) 6-7, Concordant New Testament 

Have you ever felt as if God was distant from you?  I have.  Before my mother passed away I made it my practice to lift her up in prayers that the Lord would relieve her pain and heal her from her suffering.  Then came the night that I was informed that my mother had passed away.  As I made the final arrangements after her passing I became aware of something I had never experienced up until that point.  I was angry with God.  Yes, I was angry with Him because I had been taught that if I were to pray for something that God would honor my prayer {Lukes Account 11:9-10, First Epistle of John 5:15}.  This has been the teaching of the church over thousands of years.  But what happens when our prayers go unanswered?  This was the situation that I found myself in as I mourned the passing of my mother.  It seemed that God had turned His back on me and ignored my prayers for her.  Or had He?  In my mind, that is what happened.  Of course, I was only seeing things from my own perspective of grief.  It took awhile, but I eventually came to realize that my assumption about God had been wrong.  Not long after the passing of my mom it was revealed to me that God had indeed honored my prayers for my mom.  This only happened when I not only came to see my life in the Father, but seeing Him through the perspective of my own pain.  For through the pain of my grief, the Father revealed unto me that He had indeed answered my prayers for my mother, but not in the way I was expecting to see Him work.  For my mother was no longer hurting, and she no longer felt the effects of her illness.  Isn't that what I had been praying for?  How is it that I could be angry with God for relieving my mother of the pain she endured for so long?  Easy, I was not seeing my situation through the lens of God.  I was not seeing God through the lens of His love for us {First Epistle of John 4:8}.  My thoughts had been focused on my mom and the pain which I was enduring.  As I have learned, our life is in Him even through our pain. 

I didn't know it a the time, but the passing of my mother opened the door for me for a greater knowing of my life in the Father.  Was God using this circumstance in order that I would grow in my knowledge of Him?  It's entirely possible.  I can only confess that up until that point my own knowing of God was based on what I had learned while growing up in the Christian church.  That being said, the teachings of the church never brought me closer to knowing who I am in the Father.  I believe that seeing God through our own suffering requires looking beyond our own circumstances to see things from the Fathers perspective.  By this I mean seeing ourselves and the world around us in the way which God looks upon us.  How is it that He sees me?  How is it that He looks upon you?  Does He see you as simply a sinner, or are you far more loved that that?  Indeed, He loved us enough to dispatch His only Son to bear that sin penalty for us {Johns Account 3:16-17}.  He loved us enough to create us in His own likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  THIS is how God sees me.  This is how He looks upon His children.  That He will be "Brushing away every tear from their eyes" {The Unveiling of Christ Jesus 21:4}.  This raises the question among many Christians and non Christians alike, does God use difficult situations in our lives in a wicked and vengeful way?  No!  That goes against His true love nature.  Will He use difficulties to establish His will and desire for our lives?  Absolutely.  I believe that He used the grief I felt at my mothers passing in a positive way that I would come to know my life in Him.  That being said, I also believe that if we look past our own pain that we will ultimately see His desires for us.  

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of pitties and the God of all consolation, Who is consoling us in our every affliction to enable us to be consoling those in every affliction through the consolation with which we ourselves are being consoled by God 

Paul to the Corinthians (2) 1: 3-4, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (Looking For Jesus) # 2051

" Going, then, disciple all the nations, baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the holy spirit, teaching them to be keeping all, whatever I direct you, and Lo!  I am with you all the days till the conclusion of the eon! Amen!"

Matthews Account 28: 19-20, Concordant New Testament 

Have you ever found yourself looking for Jesus?  I have.  I usually find myself in this predicament when I am facing a time of uncertainty or discomfort.  When everything I know has failed, I turn to the Lord and ask Him, where are you, Lord?  Back in my formative years of being a believer, when everything I knew about God I learned from my time in the church, I often found myself wondering if Jesus was even there as He had promised me in the scripture {Matthews Account 28:20}.  And it's not just me, either, I have had many discussions with other believers who have at times felt that same way.  For their part, the church taught me that I had become separated from God through my own sin.  So, is it any wonder, then, that I would have difficulty in seeing Jesus in my life?  I had been born into the world a sinner, and it seemed that I was destined to always be looking for Jesus no matter where I went.  Had Jesus lied to me?  Had He promised me that He would be with me always only to remain apart from me as the church proclaimed?  If there is one thing that I understood about Jesus is that He keeps His promises.  If Jesus has said that He will be with us always, He will do just that.  Then I began to wonder, maybe the this isn't a Jesus issue, but a me issue.  Was it entirely possible that Jesus had been there all along and I had not realized it?  Not only is this possible, but it is the basis of the evangel rarely preached within the mainstream church.  For some time, I have viewed the church belief that it is my sin which has kept me separated from God as one of the lies the church has told me.  I have also received a lot of resistance for speaking this belief to others who claim to know Jesus.  Yet there is definitely scripture that I can point to which supports my belief.  Jesus Himself has spoken that we live in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20, Johns Account 17:21}.  In our search for Christ Jesus, we should start by looking within ourselves.  

To whom God wills to make known what are the glorious riches of this secret among the nations, which is: Christ among you, the expectation of glory 

Paul to the Colossians 1: 27, Concordant New Testament 

I believe that the major issue which prevents us from seeing Jesus in our life is our own view of Him.  Do we adhere to thousands of years of church teachings which proclaim that it is our sin which has separated us from God?  Or, as I have, do we realize that revelation which the Father has revealed unto our heart?  The revelation that not only has Jesus provided for the forgiveness of ALL sin, but that it is He in Whom we now live {Paul to the Galatians 2:20, Paul to the Romans 6:8}.  Not only that, but the apostle Paul speaks to the truth that Christ Jesus has died to sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  Knowing this, what is left which Jesus needs to forgive us for?  That debt has been paid in full by Christ Jesus on the cross.  Another lie which the mainstream church has taught me was that, as a sinner, that I could never be in the presence of the Lord.  The church continues to drive home this point by proclaiming that all have sinned and that all are in need of the forgiveness of God.  Yes, that is true, but the truth is that the Father HAS forgiven us!  It is through His Son that we are no longer slaves to the bondage of sin {Paul to the Romans 6:6}.  It is also through Christ that God has once again been reconciled to His own {Paul to the Colossians 1:20}.  The church is correct in speaking that all have sinned, but that is where their truthful belief ends.  For they continue to speak of our search for Jesus, when what they should be speaking is that our life now rests in Him.  

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (House Of Cards) # 2050

 

"Now woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you are locking the kingdom of the heavens in front of men.  For you are not entering, neither are you letting those entering to enter.  Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  for you are going about the sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and whenever he may be becoming one, you are making him more than double a son of Gehenna than you are.  Woe you, blind guides! who are saying, 'Whoever should be swearing by the temple, it is nothing; yet whoever should be swearing by the gold of the temple is owing.'  Stupid and blind! for which is greater, the gold or the temple that hallows the gold?" 

Matthews Account 23: 13-17, Concordant New Testament 

A good friend sent me an article the other day in which people were describing the "Incident that made them bever step foot in church again."  I found this interesting for the very reason that I can relate to their situation.  The incident which caused me to never step foot in a church again came at the end of an Easter Sunday service, where the pastor invited the congregation to come forward to confess any sin which they felt compelled.  This after speaking a sermon of the resurrection of Jesus, who gave Himself for the forgiveness of sin.  This blatant hypocrisy, preached by someone who seemed to know better, was the final straw for me.  In my heart, I began questioning the message of the church.  So, I'm not surprised at all that others have encountered similar instances which made them question their own involvement in the church.  It is no secret that the traditional mainstream church has seen a mass exodus of people over the years.  Why is that?  If I were a business owner, the traditional church would be seen as the perfect example of a failed business model.  A diminishing customer base combined with falling revenues.  Any business heralding these characteristics surely would not last too long.  And yet the church seems to limp along year after year seemingly on life support.  Yet those in the church continue to be good at the game of advertising the fact that we need them around.  The world is a wicked place, and in the church we can find solace from that.  Or can we?  Over time, I have come to know the inner workings of most churches.  Indeed, many churches follow basic business models in order to survive.  There are payrolls, mortgage payments and board meetings just as in any other business.  Ask yourself, is this what God intended for the ecclesia of Christ?  I would say no.  It is for this reason that I have come to refer to the traditional church as a house of cards.  

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 

When we talk about the need which we have for the church, we must first answer the question of if it is indeed the church which provides us with access to God the Father.  The church has for years heralded itself as being "Gods house," where everyone and anyone could come to connect with the Father.  But what if we already had that access yet didn't know it?  The church preaches that we have been created in the Fathers likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  Yet, in the same breath, they proclaim that it is our sin which separates us from Him.  So, we have an institution which preaches that all can enter and have access to God the Father, yet tells them that their own sin separates them from He who created them.  Go figure.  Know this, that the very sin which the church preaches separates us from God is that same sin which Jesus gave Himself to free us from {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 5:21}.  The apostle Paul, in his evangel, speaks to the truth that Jesus gave Himself for the forgiveness of sin "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  Yet the trad church continues to preach to the error that sin continues to be an issue in our lives.  To this I pose the question, what about Jesus?  Do we believe that Jesus gave Himself for the forgiveness of sin or don't we?  I choose to accept the truth proclaimed in scripture.  For those who hold on to the belief that God is only worshipped in the brick and mortar houses of cards, consider the words of Christ Jesus Who speaks to our union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  I will continue to see the trad church as a source of fellowship but not a center of worship.  That ship has sailed.  

God is spirit, and those who are worshipping Him must be worshipping in spirit and truth 

Johns Account 4: 24, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (The Mirror Image) # 2049

 

Now we all, with uncovered face, mirroring the Lord's glory, are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as from the Lord, the spirit

Paul to the Corinthians (2) 3: 18, Concordant New Testament 

I've never been the greatest at having confidence in who I am.  There have been plenty of times where I would identify myself by what others thought of me.  If they saw me as lazy, that was who I thought I was.  If they thought of me as not all that important, that is how I saw myself.  In recent years, I've run across far too many podcasters and internet junkies who have began to speak to the idea that men should have a strong self confidence.  Now, while I agree with this idea, we as men also need to take account of just who it is that we are confident in being.  Who is it that we want those around us to see when they look upon us?  A good example comes from the gym environment which I have immersed myself in over the past few years.  In this testosterone fueled environment, having self confidence usually means that you're bigger and stronger than those around you.  This, of course, is a lie.  For anyone who has studied the scriptures will know that these physical bodies of ours (I know them as a vessel) are but temporary.  This raises the question, what is our real and true identity?  Who is it that we se when we look into that mirror each day?  Do we continue to judge ourselves by whatever positive or negative flaws which we, and others, see in our physical bodies?  Or is there something more in play here?  For the answer to that we need to ask ourselves one question.  That being, how is it that God looks upon us?  We know that we have been created in the Fathers likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  So, who is it that God sees when He looks upon us?  For this will go a long way to speaking to our one true identity.  Does God simply look at us and say to Himself, "This flesh I have created?"  I would answer no to that.  Why?  Because not only have we been created in His very image, but He has also breathed into us the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  Yes, God has breathed Himself into that which He has created.  

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 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 

The apostle Paul, in his evangel, gives us a few hints as to our true identity.  It is Paul who speaks to the truth that we all "Mirroring the Lord's glory, are being transformed into the same image" {Paul to the Corinthians (2) 3:18}.  Is it possible that when God looks upon me that He sees His own image before Him?  After all, He created me in His very image.  He breathed into me the breath of life, thereby creating the living soul.  Wouldn't we therefore expect that I would mirror the appearance of the Father Who created me?  Now, we're not talking about those physical attributes by which so many people judge those around them.  For we're told that God is spirit {Johns Account 4:24}.  Therefore, we can assume that if we have been created in His likeness, that our one true identity is in spirit form as well.  THIS is what God sees when He looks upon me.  This is the image which I see when I look into that mirror each and every day.  What does this all have to do with the concept of having confidence?  Well, what are we confident in?  Are we confident in the false image of the flesh, or do we recognize that it is the spirit image of God which defines us?  That is who we truly are.  When we look into that mirror, we see that we are mirroring His glory.  Confident in our faith that our life is in Him {Johns Account 14:20}.  

~Scott~ 

The Good Of The Father (The Two Faces Of God) # 2048

 

Religion has actually convinced people that there is a invisible man living in the sky watching everything you do, every minute of every day.  And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he doesn't want you to do.  And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever until the end of time.  But he loves you.  He loves you and he needs money.  He always needs money.  He's all-powerful, all-perfect, all-knowing and all-wise, somehow he just can't handle money

~George Carlin~ 

I noticed the comment from a friend of mine the other day asking if we have a fear of God.  Like my friend, it has taken me a good deal of time to overcome my own fear of the Lord.  The fear that if I didn't somehow measure up to His requirements that He would suddenly become a God that I didn't sign up for.  A God Who would, in an instant, forsake His own love for me and condemn me to punishment.  I've spent a good portion of my life attempting to avoid the vengeance of this two-faced God.  Is it any coincidence, then, that I've spent a good portion of my life adhering to the teachings of the mainstream church?  Indeed, it is through the church by which I was taught to fear God.  To fear His judgement.  To fear His wrath.  Indeed, this is one of the cornerstones of the teachings of the church, that we should fear a God Who loved us enough to create us in His likeness {Genesis 1:27}.  That somehow, despite His love for me, that God would toss me under the bus if I didn't adhere to what the church taught me.  One question I often asked is, what kind of love is this?  It's also a question which I've been asked by many people when I engage in conversations about God.  What loving God would condemn those He loves?  Well, I believe that this fear of God comes down to how it is that we see Him in our life.  Do we adhere to the teachings of the mainstream church, and believe that it is our own sin by which God will condemn us?  Or, do we trust in another view of God.  A view of God seldom spoken of in the church.  That of a loving God Who loved us before time began {Paul to the Ephesians 1:4}.  Can love even exist in the face of fear?  The apostle John speaks to the truth that there is NO fear in the love of God {First Epistle of John 4:18}.  We also know that the one true nature of God...is that of love {First Epistle of John 4:8}.  That's right, God IS LOVE.  We're told that "Fear is not in love, but perfect love is casting out fear."  This is the God that I have come to know.  

Perceive what manner of love the Father has given us, that we may be called children of God!  And we are!  Therefore the world does not know us, for it did not know Him 

First Epistle of John 3: 1, Concordant New Testament 

I've made no secret of the fact that my own view of the Lord and that taught by the mainstream church are radically different.  For I do not adhere to the view of the church that God will love us one minute but then suddenly condemn us in the next.  Indeed, one of the core beliefs of so called Christianity is that God never changes {To the Hebrews 13:8}.  Knowing this, are we then forced into choosing which side of God to trust and believe in?  Do we continue to live in fear of a vengeful God?  Or, do we trust in the truth of the scriptures that we have been fearfully and wonderfully made in His likeness?  That God has loved us enough to call Us His children.  For if there is no turning with God, then there is absolutely NO room for the church narrative which proclaims that with God comes the threat of condemnation.  The false narrative which is proven a lie by the sacrifice of Christ Jesus on the cross {Paul to the Romans 8:1}.  That it is Christ Jesus who has given Himself for us "Once for all time" {Paul to the Romans 6:10}.  The truth spoken by Jesus Himself that we are not of this world, but that we now live in union with He and the Father {Johns Account 14:20}.  This is the truth of the Lord rarely spoken by those within the church.  The truth which proclaims that in the love of God, there is no room for condemnation. 

~Scott~