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Evolution of the Spirit Mind

Evolution of the Spirit Mind

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The ways and laws of the Old Testament in the Bible were a reflection of mankind’s understanding of who they believed God to be and what they thought God wanted according to the image they held of God. Thus they had animal sacrifice, stoning, harsh judgments, and various laws. They saw God in a certain way and everything was filtered through that image.

The church system does the same thing today. Water baptism, communion, tithing, “corporate” worship, and their understanding of what being a “good Christian” means is based upon their image of God and how to “worship” and “serve” Him.

It’s deemed that today’s reflection is a more “loving” reflection of God. Yet, the image is still based upon mankind’s ideas and not the true nature of God, which is made evident from the countering acts that are contrary to a “loving” God. A glaring one is the unkind treatment and attitude of indifference to other creations of God’s creation. This kind of treatment to others isn’t found in divine love, for divine love protects one from suffering. But this isn’t seen as odd or even contradictory because of mankind’s perception of who they believe God to be. For example, be kind to your neighbor, but perpetuate mass cruelty to animals. It’s all contradictory and we will find contradictions in what isn’t truth, which is always sown in divine love. When we start learning of the love of the true God, that truth holds no contradictions because it reflects the real nature of God.

God’s reflection can’t be contained in a book, even the Bible, only man’s understanding of who He is.  Anything, even “words” of God, that pass through the mind of man is always limited to that mind and the perceptions it holds. The image of the OT God was true and real for those who followed it, as we can see by the acts they took in the name of God, just as much as the image is true for the church today, but that doesn’t make it the true reflection.

The truth is what is real. It never changes. What is real is the love of God that fills ALL in ALL, because this is what divine love does. What mankind perceives is always connected to and limited to their ability to perceive certain qualities or receive a certain understanding. We can’t truly know and believe what we don’t first perceive. We are all limited by our perceptions. This is why we want to see or perceive from divine love, and that alone, for that is what is truly real, and how we come to know God’s true nature, and thus be a part of Him.

What I’m learning is that divine love, the love of God, extends to the smallest creation and to every living creation, thus why when we start growing in divine love we have a growing and deepening love for all of creation, even ants. It is a true concern and care in which we desire NONE to suffer to ANY degree. This is why I’ve been talking so much about the animals, it is the growing understanding of the extent and nature of divine love, the true reflection of the heavenly Father.

This love extending to all without boundary, limitation or cessation is a reflection of God’s love. It’s a love that desires not only that none should perish, but that none should suffer. Divine love prevents suffering. It prevents fear. This is why it is so powerful, desirable, beautiful and magnificent in our lives. These torments can’t exist in its presence. This is why when we are fully in this love suffering and fear cease to exist. This is why there is no suffering for eternity; the perfect love of God in our lives prohibits it. And praise God for that!!

So now you must be wondering how can suffering exist here?

This is an unreal reality. It’a a picture of a place without God’s love that is why there is so much confusion about who God is, because it lacks His love. How can something exist without the love of God who fills all in all, except that it is an unreality, like a dream state, a deep sleep, or a “death” state. Death, the absence of love, doesn’t exist in the reality of divine love. This state is exactly what it prohibits.

Does being aware of this “dream” state make the love we know and give any less significant? No, on the contrary, we can only understand the true nature of this dream state from the perspective of divine love, and when we are in divine love that love never lessens but only grows deeper and continually increases.

So this dream that we are partaking of is serving a specific purpose. In it we are learning many things, and above all without this divine love and only a tainted natural human love, this reality is what is created, everything contrary to God, even His very image.

This is going to be an interesting year ….


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Defeating Illness

Defeating Illness

 

3 John 1:2  Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.

It’s quite straightforward really …

Fear = disease       Love = health

Every time you act in true pure love, you heal. When you act in fear, you proliferate disease.

Many are suffering in the afflictions of illnesses and sicknesses. Healing springs forth when a transformation occurs within. Whatever is the state of your heart; so your life will be. When you think, speak and act out of the pure love of God, then all you are and all around you prospers in blessing, peace, rest, beauty, and loving kindness. When you think, speak or act from any other motive, then you and all around you deteriorates in suffering, illness, hardships, sorrows, and pains. This truth has been given to us from the beginning, yet it’s manifesting more powerfully in these days as truth increases. Proverbs 4:23, Luke 6:45

Deuteronomy 28:2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:

The key to vitality is for your truth to be God’s truth. The truth of God is true love and God’s love is the truth. Mark 12:30-31, 1 Timothy 1:5

Whatever your truth, it manifests itself in your life and surroundings. If you are bound in lies that create fear and its subparts: anxiousness, worry, guilt, blame, and anger, then in your life you create what you hate (all the negative outcomes including illness). In seeking and following after THE Truth/love; all that you hate is removed because the sources of it, the lies, are replaced by Truth.

If you are facing sickness and illness; become aware of God’s wisdom speaking to you from within; where He speaks intimately with YOU. No one can listen and find the answers for you. Only the spirit of God can search your soul and reveal your lies that you hold as truth; lies that are destroying you. Others can only confirm what you have heard. Ask for His wisdom regarding your circumstances. Desire to come into HIS truth and have all that isn’t of Him purged from your life. And be aware of the great manipulator; hypocritical love. It can be difficult to see. Romans 12:9

James 3:17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.

As you listen and obey, health will start to fill your soul and body transforming you, inward out.

When a thought or situation arises that causes you to respond in fear, chose to trust in the love of God. When you trust Him in the midst of a situation, (thus you feel a deep letting go and peace), you infuse His power into your circumstance and the outcomes are full of His perfect grace and love. This display of power is also how you know you are trusting the true God. When you truly trust THE GOD, you see His power. Psalm 34:10

When you feel pain within your body; seek God’s counsel to understand its source. Be aware of the acts or thoughts His Spirit within you brings to mind for you to stop and which new ones to embrace. It may be these incorrect thoughts/acts are manifesting the pain or illness. When you obey God and walk according to His perfect love; your obedience creates peace and power in your life across many dimensions.

God has given you all you need for what you seek; His spirit of wisdom/love which longs to commune and be united to your soul. 

John 7:38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”


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No Need for Suffering

No Need for Suffering

1 Peter 4:15-17 But let NONE OF YOUR SUFFER as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people’s matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? 

Talking about different types of suffering, and how we don’t need to suffer because of sin. We’ve been given the grace to walk in righteousness, thus life, which we have been given in Christ.

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The Path To Our Desires

The Path To Our Desires

Sophie

Poor little thing . . . when Sophie got spayed, she wore a plastic collar for several weeks. Unlike her brother, Malcolm, who was back to normal the next day, she carried the burden of this plastic garb. Though uncomfortable and hindering to her activities, it was necessary for her to properly heal. Without it, she would yank out her stitches, reopen the incision, cause an infection, and delay the healing for weeks – making the situation much worse.

When we first brought her home, the collar was so big she could hardly lift her little head, use the litter box (as it got stuck in the sand), eat and drink. She walked pushing it along the floor. Our hearts broke. We tried a bandage; it didn’t last two seconds. Why the vet put that huge collar on her I don’t know. We cut it to fit her, yet left it big enough so she couldn’t access her stitches. Though smaller, her sleeping, eating, and playing were much more uncomfortable.

Sophie

During the first week, the most critical because she could do the most damage, my eyes hardly left her little frame. If she or Malcolm removed the collar and she tore out the stitches, she would be in a mess. After several days, she stopped trying to remove it; she finally surrendered.

We both wanted her stitches out, Sophie and us. She wanted them out now, but that would have led to more pain and a longer healing process. We wanted them out AND wanted her healed in the best possible way; therefore she had to endure the collar.

Sophie’s situation reminded me of our journey with God. As God’s child, we desire to be who He created us to be, and do the good works He has planned for us. Ephesians 2:10 He places desires in us to motivate and direct us toward these goals. The desires are planted in our hearts, but it’s God who directs our steps to manifesting them. Proverbs 16:9 Often, His path is different from our own and often longer. Like Sophie, the desire was the same, but the paths to getting there were different. She needed the collar to get to where she wanted to be, though she didn’t realize it.

God renews, heals and shapes us to move us into becoming new creations in Him and into the works He has planned for us. Sometimes, the best path has difficulties, like wearing that collar. It’s through difficulties that we are broken, refined, and rebuilt. It can be uncomfortable and seem unnecessary as we don’t always understand why we need the trial. We can feel hindered in doing what we should be doing like Sophie. Yet, with God all is purposeful and for a reason. He won’t give us more than we can handle. Our burdens are the perfect fit to accomplish what is necessary. They provide the best possible journey to prepare us for the life God desires for us, which is ultimately our desire.

Malcolm & Sophie

Further, we can’t compare our path to another’s. What is best for us may not be best for someone else. Therefore, comparing our journey to another’s doesn’t make sense. Unlike Sophie, Malcolm didn’t need a collar. Didn’t seem fair, but they received exactly what they needed to get them to their desired state. We need to trust our caretaker, God, who especially during trying times has a watchful eye upon us, is allowing in our lives what needs to occur so that we end up where we need to be.

When Sophie, stopped fighting the collar and surrendered to it, her life got easier and less stressed. In a similar way, when we are obedient to what God tells us to do, we move forward more easily. Disobedience is a hindrance. Because of God’s grace, we sometimes take advantage and are disobedient to what He tells us to do, but it’s we who suffer for it. It delays our progress to where we want to be. We have to trust His path and trust eases the stress. Though the path is difficult, it’s THE path by which we will experience deep healing, growth and freedom. God doesn’t only care about the works He has planned for us, but the state of our soul. HIS path prepares us for what He has in store.

Our love for Sophie is tremendous, yet how much more is the love of God for us? Our hearts broke for her to wear the collar, but it was for her good. It may be difficult for God to see us in our hardships, but He knows it’s the best. His love is perfect.

Our path to our desires can be difficult and a process. We are battling against the flesh (our self-will wanting to do it our way) and having to let go of being in control and instead trust God in all His ways. We want instant, but instant is a rarity with God. Deep transformation is a journey. And it’s through the journey we build a deep intimacy with Him. God is a trustworthy and faithful Shepherd watching us every step. Psalm 32:8 We have nothing to fear. He wants us to be in an abundant life more than we do. Our part is to trust and obey what He calls us to do today and trust Him with the outcome (our desires).

Sophie was much happier in the end for having worn that collar. Had we done it her way, she would have been much worse. We too are better for the trials God takes us through because we end up in a better place in our soul. As God’s child, if we are abiding in His Truth and seeking His will, we can trust the path we are on is where we need to be, and He is leading us to where we want to be, His way.

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Why Bad Things Happen to Good People? (II)

Why Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Part Two

In my previous post on Monday, I talked about the “good people” aspect of this question. Today I address the “bad things”. To subscribe to my videos go to my Youtube Channel, Stirring the Deep.

1 Peter 1:6-7 “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ”

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Why Bad Things Happen to Good People? (I)

Why Bad Things Happen to Good People?

Part One

Below I share some of my thoughts on why bad things happen to good people. I’ll post the second half on Wendesday.

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The Great I AM . . .

The Great I AM . . .

 

God is the Great I AM . . . everything. Exodus 3:14

The power of His name, I AM, hit me a couple of years ago and it still astounds me when I meditate on it each morning. As the source of everything that is good, God is everything we need. When we are in a relationship with Him and seeking His face and His truth then we lack nothing.

Psalm 34:10 “The young lions lack and suffer hunger; But those who seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing.”

As God’s children, it is no longer about our strengths, abilities or resources, but about His. His truth, love, mercy, protection, provision, peace, rest, freedom, purity, beauty, comfort, wisdom, strength, and power become a part of our lives. We have access to incredible riches that the rest of the world doesn’t because we have Him and He is everything.

In Luke 5, the guys were out fishing without a bite. Jesus told them to go out and cast their nets one more time. They had been toiling day and night and caught nothing but at His word they let down the nets. They caught such a great number of fish that their nets started to break and their boat started to sink so they got another boat to help carry the multitude of fish. God’s Word has power in our lives. It accomplishes what man cannot. It does the impossible. But we have to listen, trust and act on it.

In this economy, many are pulling up empty nets. But when the Word of God penetrates our lives and we trust in His words and not the words of this world then what is impossible by the world’s means is possible for those who trust in God. His wisdom and ways defy the world’s.

God provides for every need. There isn’t an area of our lives that God doesn’t attend to. He is in the details because He loves us. The more you love someone the more you care about each little concern. He loves us beyond our comprehension thus He cares about everything. If we don’t believe He is in everything then we will limit out trust in Him and our lives will suffer for it.

God may use the world around us to test and refine us, but we lack nothing. If we trust in His Word He will provide and fill our nets in due time. But this promise is to those who seek Him. Many Christians have cultivated a relationship with the church and not God. They seek what the church offers and not God’s truth. They spend time at church, but not one-on-one in the Word cultivating an intimate relationship with God. As a result, their lives are full of hardship, suffering and lack like the world’s.

Everyone has hardship. But for God’s children it is completely different. We are always in the midst of God’s provision as He disciplines, tests and refines with the elements of this world. Tough circumstances teach us that we don’t lack and that we aren’t limited to the world. When you are in a tight situation then you see God’s deliverance that is beyond this world it is astounding. Without the trying circumstance, we can’t witness and learn about the power of His deliverance. But if we trust in worldly means then we will miss the lesson and often the blessing. We have what the world doesn’t because we have Him.

Trials come for a season. The ultimate purpose of any trial is to move us closer to God and His truth. Therefore, we aren’t meant to remain in those tough places, but move through them by growing and maturing in our relationship with God. However, if we lack a love of the truth and don’t seek its revelation in our lives then we will miss out on the abundance of His promises. We will live limited lives like the rest of the world.

God wants to show His power and glory to the world through His people. Tough times are the perfect opportunity.


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Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

Why Bad Things Happen to Good People

 

The problem with this statement is there are no good people. Therefore, goodness doesn’t protect us as this phrase implies. I think this is the lesson in the book of Job: not that bad things happen to good people, but that no one is good in the eyes of a holy God so we shouldn’t rely on our perceived goodness. Mark 10:18

In the last chapter, I think the verses Job 42:5-6 reveal what the book is about “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. 6 Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes.” Why is Job repenting if he is blameless? Why does he abhor himself if he is one of the most upright men to live?

I believe he finally realized that his goodness and righteousness were nothing compared to a holy God. Instead, we are completely dependent on God’s mercy in every facet of our lives. It isn’t about our goodness because we have none. It is about God’s mercy that covers us. Psalm 33:13-22

The fact that we can never earn our goodness or be truly good is why Christ came. We need someone to stand in our place and do what we never could – fulfill the holy requirements of God. When we accept Christ we accept His life in place of ours. Then God sees us with the righteousness of Christ. It is an incredible sacrifice and amazing gift that affects every area of our lives now and for eternity.

People aren’t divided between good and bad since we all fall short whether feet, inches or centimeters. When we think of “bad” stuff happening, the division lies between those who are God’s people and those who aren’t.

Without God

For those without God in this world (Ephesians 2:12) they are susceptible to the whims of this world, a world governed by evil and death. (1 John 5:19) They suffer by the work of their own hands and by the ways of this world that breed death. Only God is life. Any life apart from Him manifests death despite people trying to convince themselves otherwise.

With God

For those with God, all that happens to them serves the purpose of drawing them closer to Him. Trials, afflictions or sufferings have the ultimate goal of moving us into a more intimate union with God built upon truth and love. God is constantly calling us deeper and deeper into Him. This is why we can sincerely praise God in our troubles, because they aren’t just fostering pain and suffering, they are bringing about newness of life that is united to Him if we are seeking God in them.

God doesn’t want us to remain in these troubled states that is why He promises deliverance from troubles, trials, and afflictions. Yet, difficult times, suffering, and afflictions, have a way of making us call out to God, to trust, to seek Him with passion and fervor in a manner we otherwise wouldn’t do. “Bad” stuff gets our attention, makes us seek, ask, and go deeper into Him and His truth where we find true freedom and deliverance. But for us the bad isn’t bad, it is good if we seek His truth in all things. (Romans 8:28) Even if we are experiencing the consequences of sin, those situations serve the purpose of motivating us to turn from our ways and to His. Only His ways bring life. Everything in our lives is a lesson and an opportunity to draw closer to God if we will seek Him and His truth.

Since God has been the center of my life, my Lord, everything that has happened has brought me closer to Him, which wasn’t the case before. Before I created paths of destruction piling up pain upon pain, now all that happens moves me further into abundant life inside out. Though difficult, hard times have a completely different meaning and purpose. Through them I learn that what I thought was life wasn’t. It was bondage. Then God brings me into true life.

This life isn’t about how good we are; it is about depending and trusting on God’s mercy alone and nothing of ourselves. When we do we will draw near to Him in truth as He desires and our lives will continue to move out from under death and destruction and into life and true abundance.