Me And Jesus

 

*The author realizes the scientific evidence which points to the fact that there is no "me."  However, for the sake of this discussion, he feels it is relevant to the page* 

We can't afford any fancy preachin'

We can't afford any fancy church

We can't afford any fancy singin'

You know Jesus got a lot of poor people out doin' His work

Me and Jesus, Tom T Hall 

I recall a man in the church I used to attend who was on fire for the Lord each and every Sunday.  This man would sing and dance in the aisles of the church as the orchestra played the morning worship songs.  In essence, this was my motivation for todays page.  The term "me and Jesus" in no way aims to say that I am somewhat separate from Him, as that would be living the lie of the accuser.  What I wanted to capture was the overall excitement one feels when they are first introduced to Christ in their lives.  I have seen this reaction in many a new believer.  I believe that I also may have exhibited some excitement when Jesus was revealed to me.  He loves me, He died for me and He saved me, who would not be excited for something like that?  As the singer Tom T Hall said, "Me and Jesus got our own thing goin'."  It's hard when we first come to know Jesus to escape that feeling that He lives just for you.  That Jesus indeed has a personal relationship with us.  Well, that is not too far off.  We know that the desire of Christ is that all of the Lords children are one with He and the Father {John 17:21}.  How much more personal can you get?  Church theology (the teachings of man) will tell us that we and God are separated.  Now, if the desire of the Lord is that we would be one with He and the Father, why would we be separate from Him?  There are many scriptures which the mainstream church has mistook in their attempts to push the issue that we and God are separated.  Yet that is a discussion for another time.  Knowing that Jesus has an intimate connection with our lives is a large part of the excitement we feel.  That despite what everyone else claims to be true, Jesus is in me.  

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. 

Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament 

The other day a good friend sent me a email link to an interesting article.  It seems that science has finally caught up to what we have known for some time, that there is no "me."  That's right, science now agrees that there is no "self center" in our brain Science has gone to great lengths to map the areas of the human mind.  They can isolate the language center of our minds as well as the part dealing with memories.  However, when it comes to the location of the self in our brain, there is no clear scientific conclusion.  Does it even exist?  If you adhere to the teaching of eastern religions, you will come to find that the self is nothing but an illusion.  In western Christianity, however, the self is the driver of who we are.  Whichever you believe, it is clear that the self would ultimately be at odds with a faith and trust in God.  How can we trust in God to be in control of our lives when we believe that we ourselves are in control of it?  Even the tried and true Christian saying "Dying to ones self" raises a few eyebrows.  If we have no self, how do we die to it?  The apostle Paul called it correctly when he referred to this truth of Jesus as the "Secret of the nations" {Colossians 1:27}.  This is not cookie cutter church theology but a deeper knowing of Christ Jesus in us.  Having the revelation of Christ Jesus in us is more than enough to be excited about.  I'm not all too sure if Tom T Hall had this realization, but I do.  

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. 

Colossians 1: 27, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

Casting Seeds

 "Yet he who is being sown in the thorns, this is he who is hearing the word, and the worry of this eon and the seduction of riches are stifling the word, and it is becoming unfruitful.  Now he who is being sown on the ideal earth, this is he who is hearing the word and understanding, who by all means is bearing fruit, and is producing; these indeed, a hundred, yet these sixty, yet these thirtyfold."

Matthew 13: 22-23, Concordant New Testament 

I've recently had the opportunity to share Jesus with a coworker and good friend.  We talk of what I know of Him, and of what He has accomplished in my life.  The fact that my friend is deeply seated in the teachings of the Orthodox religion makes some of our discussions somewhat...interesting.  Indeed, there have been more than a few times when he has gone silent as he contemplates the Jesus I am speaking with the Christ he has been taught to know.  For these two versions of Jesus are completely different in nature.  On the one hand, I speak to my friend of a Jesus who loved me enough to give Himself in my place {2 Corinthians 5:21}.  For his part, my friend will speak of a Jesus I once knew from my own time in the church.  This is the Jesus of mercy and judgement.  The Jesus who, despite dying to forgive me of my sins, willingly judges and condemns those He finds unworthy.  I find this church version of Jesus to be a total contradiction of the Christ I now know in me, so I continue to speak the Jesus I have come to know.  I am a sower of the seeds of the gospel of Christ.  For his part, my friend is a sower as well, of the Jesus he has been taught for so long.  In my eyes, they could not be any more different from each other.  Ironically, it was the Jesus which I once learned of in church that convinced me to seek the Jesus I now know.  Sitting in a Easter morning service, I was encouraged to step forward to reveal any unspoken sins which I might be hiding.  Of course, this was right after listening to the pastors sermon on how Jesus died on that cross to rid me of my sin.  The Jesus I had grown up learning didn't mesh with what I knew in my heart to be true.  

Yet hallow the Lord Christ in your hearts, ever ready with a defense for everyone who is demanding from you an account concerning the expectation in you, but with meekness and fear. 

1 Peter 3: 15, Concordant New Testament 

Jesus speaks to us in His parable of the sower of those who hear His word.  There are those who hear the word, yet they have little knowing or understanding of the word, and the seed falls on rocky ground.  Meanwhile, there are those who hear the word, but the cares of the world choke the meaning of the word and they remain unfruitful {Matthew 13:22}.  Then there are those who hear the word of the Lord, understand it, and in turn bear much fruit {Matthew 13:23}.  Which of these are you?  I believe that my friend falls into the first category.  He receives the word of the Lord with joy and eagerness, yet he has no solid root for the word to take hold and prosper.  This was me.  I received the word of Jesus with joy, yet I knew very little about Him.  There was no solid ground for the word of Jesus to take hold of in me at the time.  Why do I mention this?  Because in our time knowing the Lord Jesus, we will be led to sow the word of the Lord unto others.  Not everyone whom we speak to will receive what we proclaim in the same way.  This is not meant to discourage, but to encourage us to speak the Jesus we know.  The mainstream church has a few thousand years head start in speaking the  alternate form of the Jesus I know.  Do not be at all surprised if those you speak the Jesus you know to seem somewhat confused.  In the end, our goal is not to change their mind, but to speak the truth of Jesus into their heart.  

~Scott~ 

Sins Of Our Fathers

 Fathers, do not vex your children, less they may be disheartened. 

Colossians 3: 21, Concordant New Testament 

I had a brief conversation with a good friend this week about the regrets we often face over the actions of our parents.  Indeed, this is a subject which I am all too familiar with.  For my own father forsook our family when I was quite young to follow his own desires.  Consequently, I grew up never knowing whatever positives my father may have known in his life.  All I routinely saw of him was the negative, selfish side which he seemed to exhibit very well.  For my father, it seemed that it was all about him.  Yet there were brief moments where, as if peeling back a layer, I caught a glimpse into the man who himself was obviously hurting.  My mother once told me that whenever he would come upon an accident in his job as a sheriff deputy, his first thought was of his two boys at home.  It was in these moments that I would catch a rare glimpse into the rough exterior of the man I knew as dad.  One of my uncles once shared with me the torment he and his siblings faced growing up at the hands of my grandfather.  It seems that my grandfather would often demand obedience from his own children to the point of verbal abuse.  Seeking a way out, my father left home when he was eighteen years old for a hitch in the navy.  It does not take rocket science to see that the actions and attitudes of my own father were influenced by his own parents.  The sins of his father begot the sins of my own.  Now, this by no means guarantees that everyone who grows up in a abusive home will turn out like my father did.  My father made his choices and he had to live with them.  Consequently, what he learned growing up he sometimes enacted in his own family.  Over the years I have learned to focus more on the positive side of my dad than on his negative actions.  I have come to realize that, like my friend, he was seeking help in his own way.  The old age idea that we were created to fend for ourselves is a myth.  Growing up, my dad was fed the lie that men were strong and never show emotion.  Another lie.  Some call it the generational curse, which keeps cycle going until someone is brave enough to break it.  Again, this is something I know well.  

"If God made us for connection, one of the cruelest things we can do is to withhold our affection from someone who needs it." 

Wayne Jacobsen

I have often wondered if my dad had anyone around who would speak positively into his life.  If he did I never heard of it.  So, I can only assume that he surrounded himself with people whom he knew shared his ideals.  If you can imagine the attitude of men in the late 70's and what it supposedly took to "Be a man" in the eyes of the world.  The drinking, brawling and womanizing brutes who populated our cities and towns.  These were real men, so they say.  This is how my dad grew up.  This is all he knew.  To him, God and Jesus were something for the weak minded.  I'm guessing that were my father still with us today that he might not approve of the direction my own life has taken.  One of the promises I made to myself so long ago was that I would NEVER be the man that my father was.  I had lived the path of destruction which he left behind him.  My father was stuck in the idea that he was in charge of his own life.  The very same lie spoken by our accuser in the garden {Genesis 3:5-6}.  The lie Satan spoke to Eve was that by partaking of the forbidden fruit that she and Adam would "Be like God."  This immediately put into action the lie that we are separate from God.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  For we are not separate from God, but alive IN HIM {John 17:21, Galatians 2:20}.  This is the desire of the Lord our One true Father.  The choice we have been given is to continue to live the lie of the accuser, or accept what we know in our hearts to be true.  The cycle indeed can be broken. 

For ritual clean and undefiled with God the Father is this; to be visiting the bereaved and widowed in their affliction, to be keeping oneself unspotted from the world. 

James 1: 27, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

The Name Jesus

 

You are believing that God is one.  Ideally are you doing.  The demons also are believing and are shuddering. 

James 2: 19, Concordant New Testament 

Has anyone ever trusted in how smart Satan is?  Ever thought that he is smarter than us?  Well, I look around the world and I see that there are way too many people who seem to be blinded to this fact.  There are far too many people who treat Jesus as a ancient story and not the living, risen Lord He is.  They point to the scriptures as simply fables written by ancient scribes for the enjoyment of the masses.  I get it.  Satan simply laughs at this notion.  He knows better.  For those who doubt the name Jesus would be far fetched to believe that Satan knows Him all too well.  Satan indeed knows Christ Jesus, and fears Him {James 2: 19}.  Satan went so far as to bribe Jesus out of His mission to redeem us {Matthew 4:1-11}.  Jesus, of course, withstood Satan's advances and sent him away.  It was Satan who desired the throne of the Lord for himself {Isa. 14:12-14}.  Indeed, it was Lucifer who plotted to have the kingdom of heaven for himself.  For those who see Satan as some dimwitted, clueless rube, you have another thing coming.  Our adversary is quite cunning {Genesis 3:1, 1 Peter 5:8}.  In many cases, Satan knows what many humans do not know, that Jesus is real.  How many times have you questioned whether or not God was listening to you?  I know I have.  When we do this we are falling right into the trap of the accuser.  Make no mistake, the number one goal of the accuser is to drive a wedge between God and His creation.  The more people that question the validity of Jesus the better.  Yet if I could ask one question of him I would simply ask him, "Satan, do you ever feel as if you're being used?"  How could he not?  If his minions know and understand the name Jesus can we assume that Satan himself is aware of the implications?  Absolutely!  If Satan knew not the importance of Jesus, he would never have tried to entice Him in the wilderness.  Satan knows Jesus.  

And at His coming to the other side, to the country of the Gergesenes, two demoniacs meet Him, who were coming out of the tombs, very ferocious, so that no one is strong enough to be passing by through that road.  And lo! they cry, saying, "What is it to us and to Thee, Son of God! Didst Thou come here to torment us before the season?" 

Matthew 8: 28-29, Concordant New Testament

I have never been naive enough to believe that everyone would come to know the Lord Jesus in this age.  However, I know that it WILL happen {Phil. 2:10-11}.  I know that it is Gods desire that all of His creation would come to know His Son {John 3:16-17, John 17:21}.  It is the desire of the Lord that all will come to Jesus.  It is the arrogance of Satan which seeks to prevent that from happening.  Indeed, even after failing to advance to the throne of the Lord, Satan continues to try {Isa. 14:15}.  I am reminded of a conversation I had with a good friend the other day as he referred to our accuser as a "useful agent" in the Lords plan.  I believe that Satan is well aware of his ultimate fate, yet chooses to continue in his attempt to drive a wedge between the Father and His children.  How does he know his future?  Unlike the Father, Satan cannot know the future.  He is well aware, however, of the same scriptures which you and I know.  Satan knows of the writings which tell of his ultimate fate.  He knows what we already know.  Still, there are those who continue to deny the name Jesus.  Does this mean that Satan is smarter than they are?  Not really, all it really shows is that those who deny Christ make the conscious decision to choose to do so.  Perhaps they have never heard of His love for them.  Maybe they have simply followed the lies of the accuser.  Whatever the case, all will eventually know the name Jesus {Phil. 2:10-11}.  

That in the name of Jesus every knee should be bowing, celestial and terrestrial and subterranean, and every tongue should be acclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord, for the glory of God, the Father. 

Philippians 2: 10-11, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

Canceling God

 

For the era will be when they will not tolerate sound teaching, but, their hearing being tickled, they will heap up for themselves teachers in accord with their own desires. 

2 Timothy 4: 3, Concordant New Testament 

Recently, the beer swilling public of this great nation was thrown a curveball by the brewer Anheuser Busch when they decided to partner with trans gender mouthpiece Dylan Mulvaney.  Although they soon found out that the majority of the country did not accept this move, the war on what is right continues.  A good friend of mine recently lamented the decision of his favorite Los Angelos Dodgers to host a trans LGBTQ "pride night."  As a result, Dodgers hurler Clayton Kershaw helped in bringing a family themed night to Dodger stadium.  These two events are just a few of the instances in what has become known as the "Cancel culture" movement in our nation.  It seems that none of what we have traditionally known as right and just is safe from this assault.  Here in Oregon, voters approved a measure which, in essence, legalized possession quantities illegal narcotics.  Walk down the streets of Portland these days and you will likely see many lost in addiction.  My current Raising the dead blog series is based upon a few of my experiences with those who are suffering from addiction.  What was once known as wrong, is now known as right.  It's not as if we weren't warned beforehand that this was coming.  The apostle Paul, in his letter to young Timothy, warned that there would come a time when people would no longer embrace sound teachings, but would raise up teachers "In accord with their own desires" {2 Timothy 4:3}.  When you look a what has been happening in our nation, you can't help but see the fruition of these words of warning from Paul.  From liberal DA's who refuse to prosecute dangerous crimes to the rise of addictions to illegal drugs, at times it seems as if the moral fabric of our nation is being ripped apart.  By design.  For this has been the goal of those on the left side of the political system for some time.  

Be not loving the world, neither that which is in the world.  If ever anyone is loving the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 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. 

1 John 2: 15-17, Concordant New Testament 

The scriptures have warned us time and again that friendship with the world around us goes against what God desires for us {1 Corinthians 15:33, 1 Timothy 6:10}.  So, why wouldn't God simply take these bad things away from us?  Well, the Father has created us in His image with the ability to make choices on our own.  Adam and Eve made a choice in the garden which affected all humanity for generations.  King David chose to seek out Bathsheba.  Our lives will be filled with choices, right and wrong.  The symphony playing from the mainstream media that normalizes what we have known to be wrong presents us with yet another opportunity to choose.  Don't get it twisted, if you know something is wrong, then it hasn't changed no matter what the media tells you.  There are those who abhor all which we know and believe in as Christians.  They fight day and night to instill a new reality upon us.  I am not naive enough to believe in someone who tells me that the grass is blue, I know better.  Yet those teachers whom people have heaped up for themselves will tell you that what was once known as right is now wrong.  Likewise, you will be told that what you have known to be wrong is now right and acceptable.  This IS NOT direction coming from the Father.  It is the false narrative born out of the desires of those who have not known the Lord.  

Now we may not be despondent in ideal doing, for in due season we shall be reaping, if we do not faint.

Galatians 6: 9, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~ 

Sleeping Dogs

 

For freedom Christ free us!  Stand firm, then, and be not again enthralled with the yoke of slavery.

Galatians 5: 1, Concordant New Testament 

There's a old adage which often tells us that we should let the past remain in the past.  Never to be resurrected again.  "Let sleeping dogs lie," they tell us.  That is, ignore an issue because trying to deal with it might cause a more difficult situation.  As many know, a sleeping dog can be unpredictable if suddenly awakened.  My experience is more with cats, but I'll go with it.  I mention this because there is a tendency in Christian circles to resurrect the past and continue to dwell in it.  The apostle Paul refers to this in Galatians.  Paul warns us to "Not be enthralled by the yoke of slavery."  Slavery?  What is it that Paul was speaking to?  Well, first of all we will need to somewhat define the word slavery I guess.  Google defines it as "The condition compared to that of a slave in respect of exhausting labor or restricted freedom."  Does this sound at all like the Christian life you are now living?  Are you laboring for something you find unreachable?  What was it that Paul was talking about here?  Well, believe it or not, many a believer has fallen victim to the yoke of slavery in their lifetime without realizing it.  It is a thought process that is so engrained in us that we often do not even realize that we're living it.  Yet make no mistake, we are slaves to it.  What is it?  I'm speaking to the very identity which we have mistakenly associated ourselves with for far too long.  The identity which places a divide between ourselves and God.  Now, rest assured that it has never been the Lords intent that He be separated from His loved creation.  From the beginning it was His desire that we be one with He and Christ Jesus {John 17: 21}.  That is His desire for us.  Yet instead of following our Fathers desire, we instead follow the lie of the accuser which has led us into the slavery which Paul spoke of.  The lie of our accuser is the same lie Satan spoke to Adam and Eve in the garden.  Eve bought into the lie of Satan, believing that if she ate of the fruit which the Lord instructed her not to, that she would "Be like God" {Genesis 3:4-5}.  Unknown to Eve, she already was like God {Genesis 2:7}.  Scripture tells us what happened from there.  Adam and Eve were banished from the garden, and mankind was branded with the sin they chose to accept.  Paul tells us that we all have sinned {Romans 3:23}.  We live the lie.  

Knowing this, that our old humanity was crucified together with Him, that the body of sin may be nullified for us by no means to be still slaving for sin, for one who dies has been justified from sin.  Now if we died together with Christ, we believe that we shall be living together with Him also, having perceived that Christ, having been roused from among the dead, is no longer dying.  Death is lording it over Him no longer, for in that He died, He died to sin once for all time, yet in that He is living, He is living to God.  Thus you also, be reckoning yourselves to be dead, indeed, to sin, yet living to God in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Romans 6: 6-11, Concordant New Testament 

If you think that all is lost, think again.  For even after reminding us that were all once sinners by nature, Paul reminds us of the love and grace of the Lord God which saved us from ourselves.  Once again, in Romans, Paul speaks to our no longer being slaves to the sin {Romans 6:6}.  But weren't we slaves to the lie of the accuser?  Yes, we WERE.  Paul reminds us that our old humanity, that which was affected by the sin lie, has been crucified with Jesus on the cross {Romans 6:6}.  We are no longer slaves to the lie of the accuser, we have been set free in Christ {Romans 6:11}.  The lie of the accuser is that we are somehow separate from the Lord.  That we are our own independent self.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  The Lord is a everyday part of our lives, even if we choose not to believe it.  It is Christ Jesus who now dwells in us {Galatians 2:20}.  We are not one in ourselves, but one in Jesus and the Father.  By choice, we can no longer be slaving to the lie of the accuser.  

There is no independent, self-operating self in the universe, except the One who calls Himself the I AM {Ex 3:14} and says, "I am the Lord and there is none else, there is no God beside Me"{Isa. 45:5}.  

Norman Grubb, No Independent Self 

~Scott~ 

Raising The Dead (Feeding The Lie)

 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." 

Norman Grubb, No Independent Self 

What is the price we pay daily to feed the lie we live?  We struggle for money, power and influence all to satisfy that which has never existed.  I could very well pose the question, what is the price of happiness?  It has been estimated that around 140,000 people die each year from alcohol related illnesses.  When you add to that the body bags we fill as a result of drug related illnesses you get a staggering number.  I have a friend who has recently struggled with the demons of alcohol addiction.  I myself have struggled with a few addictions in my life as well.  With each and every addiction I fed into, I believed that I would be a happier person as a result.  Obviously, I was wrong in that assumption.  Happiness did not come to me as a result of food or stimulants.  All I ended up gaining in the end was my own share of health issues.  Although I have never struggled with hard core addiction issues, I have definitely seen its effects on others.  I've watched a young man overdose on heroin only to be revived moments later after being administered narcan.  I've watched a young lady miserable from her life on the streets and longing to see her family once again.  They all had one thing in common, they believed that their next dose of their drug of choice would make everything better.  Good luck with that.  I've been down that road, and it got me nowhere as a result.  If we remember one thing about addiction it's that they ALL have a underlying physical issue attached to them.  Some used to refer to them as coping mechanisms, others called them a crutch.  Whatever we choose to call them, rest assured we all deal with our issues differently.  I'm not going to sit here and preach that Christians are somehow immune from the evils of addiction.  I'm not that naive.  If that were the case, I would have spared myself a lot of pain years ago.  One thing that helped me to understand the nature of addiction was knowing the man that I am.  Despite all the which the world tries to convince me, I know that my identity lies with the Lord and not myself.  

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.

Galatians 2: 20, Concordant New Testament 

So, what is the lie which our addictions so easily feed into?  The answer to that goes all the way back to Adam and Eve in the garden.  When presented with a choice, they chose to believe in the lie which the deceiver presented to them {Genesis 3:4-5}.  Satan enticed Adam and Eve into partaking of the forbidden fruit with the promise that they would "Be like God."  Adam and Eve could not know it at that time, but they already WERE like God.  They were created in His own image {Genesis 1:27}.  It was God who had breathed into them the breath of life {Genesis 2:7}.  How much more like their creator could they be?  Yet, as I mentioned, they didn't know that at the time.  Satan, the deceiver, did not stop there when it comes to spreading his lie.  He has convinced millions of people that they and they alone are the center of their lives.  I am me and God is God.  That, in a nutshell, is the attitude  which produces many an addiction.  The belief that I can make myself satisfied and happy.  What self is that speaking to?  You?  Are we to believe that we are separate from He who created us?  That God somehow has no influence over our His creation?  If we believe that, then we are succumbing to the very same lie which the accuser spoke to Adam and Eve.  I am not foolish enough to believe that God is not in me.  The apostle Paul spoke to this reality of Christ in us in Galatians {Galatians 2:20}.  One of the most difficult revelations of the Lord we will ever encounter is His revelation of His Son is us.  Paul realized this, and referred to it as the "secret among the nations{Colossians 1:27}."  The world will tell us that we need material things to survive.  God reminds us that all we need is Him {2 Corinthians 12:9}.  

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. 

Colossians 1: 27, Concordant New Testament 

~Scott~