yipee!

"Now the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God- to him they are nonsense!  Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit." Corinthians 2:14

I want to present this idea as humbly as I can.  I present it as a concept.  I don't want to be so foolish to think that I am much more than a natural man.  When we come to Christ He gives us a new nature.  We being men are still in contact with all the forces of the old nature.  We are in a manner of speaking natural men with an invitation to be much more than that.  Our natural state is to be natural men.  Men from nature with natures that are natural.  Our basic and inherent features are those of animals.  We are worse than animals because we can harbor sin in our hearts.  Animals are not judged for their ways.  They can do what they do and it is as it is and is supposed to be.  God did not create animals for intimate companions He created men for that.  We are to acknowledge God as created things yet with the breath that is different from the other breaths in the land.  God breathed His life into when you became a new creation.  Though we are new creations be can pick and chose as we will.  The things that are natural to God are supernatural to man.  It is in fact the essence of the Kingdom of God.  The Kingdom of God is not anything like this world excepting the references that we can make to it with the only knowledge that we have, which is natural knowledge.  Our limitation of knowledge and its corresponding words are what we are forced to use for things that we do not understand.  Try telling someone that you love them.  You will use a word like love because it is what you have knowing good and well that it really has no meaning that can be transferred by its usage.  The words will have no meaning without the sense of connection being established to support it.

This is part of what the scripture above is referring to.  God is an expanse of ever increasing proportion that we get to be transformed by in relationship.  There is no limit to the knowledge of God.  In this life we will never even scratch the surface of knowing Him as He is, but we are given a glimpse that will never cease to be an exponential experience even in the limited nature of what we can know.  I mean this in a very realistic way.  All of the knowledge of man and what it eludes to in all areas of interest is but a drop in the ocean of what we can know about God in this world.  He is greater in a way that is unable to be compared to any of the created things that capture our attention.  We being men, and mostly of the lesser intelligent ones frequently think our ways are pretty legit.  They are not.  We are natural men with natural thoughts.  We are self-referential by nature.  There are very few phrases in human nature that are not born of self-reference.  Only those things that are Kingdom references have much value as statements that can be made by the mouths of men.  We are lucky and honored to be able to say, "Holy, Holy, Holy!"  Only a revelation from heaven can reveal this to a man.  Any man can say it.  We desperately need men with a revelation of who God is revealing Himself to be in the present.  We need to be present.  We need to present ourselves to God asking Him to reveal Himself to us humble men from the dirt of the earth, not much more than animals.  God desires to reveal Himself to us.  I don't want to sound mean, but our notion of who God is is really shallow and self-referential.  We want God to be with us so we can have great interesting lives that are "kingdom" lives but we seem to overlook the very basic premise of the Kingdom.   The Kingdom is one that must be entered.  We do not exist in it.  To enter we must be:  meek, hungry, thirsty, poor in spirit, and prone to mourn.  If we are these things we will likely be: be pure in heart, making peace, showing mercy, and being persecuted for it.

These things that are requisites seem like very strange things to be persecuted for.  We are promised by Jesus that if we Love Him we will enter through the doors of these things to meet Him.  Jesus says that He, "did not come to bring peace but a sword!" Matt 10:34  He goes on to say that He came to make set those of one's own household against him.  He said that if we love those whom are closest to us more than Him that we are not worthy of Him.  The idea that I see in this passage of scripture is that we are not to shrink back from sharing His word that He whispers in our ears to those who we have much to loose in this world from our obedience.  If He were to whisper into my ear that the church is full of deception and is enflamed with passion for lovers whose genitals were like donkeys and  have emissions like horses then I would have a lot to lose  by sharing that with you.  You will not like me if I tell you that is what God is saying to you.

Here is what I am telling you.  God is calling you to lend Him your ear.  He wants to share with you who He is.  He is very kind and gentle to the humble.  He will resist you at great length if you are proud.  If you are proud you will not realize it.  One who God is resisting is likely not to know it.  The only way to know that God is not resisting you is to be broken and mourning in His presence seeking His Kingdom to break into this world.  That is pretty much the only way to tell.  Those who cast off the present pleasures of this world to embrace mourning and intercession are those whom are inheriting the Kingdom.  If you are seeking a life of 21'st Century Christian Kingdom entitlement complete with the honor of men you get exactly what you are looking for, acceptance from man...for a time.  A natural man wants natural things.  I am not God.  I am not much like Him.  I am a man with natural desires and natural distractions with temptations that originate within.  I will war and fight to get the things I want just like you.  I will fight for things that I have not even asked for.  When I don't get what I want even after asking I may murder and covet to get it.  Jesus makes it very clear that these things happen in our hearts.  Murdering and coveting in our hearts is no better than doing so in the flesh.  It is good for others  that we do not do these things, but the fact that we do not do them is exactly like washing the exterior of a glass to present it as clean without having ever cleaned the inside.  This is what pride is.  Pride is thinking one is doing fairly well because the outside of the glass looks good yet there is nothing but death inside.

A natural man will not receive the word that the inside of the glass is full of death and filth.  This must be spiritually discerned.  I am not sure what to do with this.  If the thought makes you cringe it is likely because you have no understanding.  If it sets your heart free it is because you do have some understanding.  If the word brings tears to your eyes because you realize that we are all bound to sin and are missing the great Glory and Honor of bowing your head to the King then you may be inheriting the Kingdom right now.  This life is not what it seems.  Life is a test.  That is about it.  Life can be very fulfilling and full of Hope and Love.  This hope needs to be in God.  This hope needs to be rooted and grounded in love.  Love is rooted in mourning and compassion that comes through intercession.  We must have God reveal to us who He is.  We have to see who we are.  When we accept the forgiveness for who we are and what we are, we can take that forgiveness and extend it to others.  We can extend it with great vigour because of what we know from our revelation of who Christ is.  These ideas must be spiritually discerned.  Seek God.  Ask Him to reveal Himself to you.  Ask Him to cast down all your notions that exalt themselves against the Knowledge of God that agree with the demonic wisdom that you are inclined to agree with.

One of the most secretive deceptions and lies that thrives in the church is that we can justify the boundaries that we have set up with those in the church.   I will be very forward here.  The church is full of divorce.  Full of divorce!  Don't be foolish, this is not ok.  Divorce is not ok!  We have created a notion that we serve a God who wants us to be happy and that if we are not then He wants us to be in situations where we feel loved and appreciated.  Of course He wants us to feel loved and appreciated, but not at the cost of your integrity!  Ask Joseph if he felt loved and appreciated as he endured betrayal and condemnation by those who had no discernment.  This man had to leave the room to cry every time he stood before His brothers years later walking in his "calling" as God was preparing to reveal his grace to them.  He let Joseph's brothers "murder" their brother so that in due time their foolish ways would be apparent to them and they would have to acknowledge the way of sin in their lives.  Divorce is not God's heart!  Many of us who are not married have many divorces in our hearts.  Jesus says that that whom God has joined let no man separate!  If your mate has a quality that is upsetting it is not a reason for you to bail.  Hosea loved his wife even through great infidelity as an honor to God and His love for His Bride.  Abraham gave his wife up twice and lied to protect his "future".  I cannot imagine the betrayal that Sarah would have felt at this gesture.  She did not leave him.  Her faith was in God.  She knew that God comforts those who mourn.  She persisted and was given a promise of faith!  God revealed Himself to them through her commitment to the covenant of being one with Abram and more importantly the covenant with God that was referenced in the human relationship.

We want others to know the Love of God, yet we don't know the Love of God.  God's love is committed.  It is committed to the truth.   It is not committed to allowing you to feel free from the Law, It is committed to you fulfilling the Law through Love.  When you hurt another you are to take it seriously and seek forgiveness.  When another hurts you you are to seek forgiveness.  Seek the Kingdom of God.  Jesus teaching us about the Kingdom says we are to pray like this... that His Kingdom would come and His will be done on earth like it is in Heaven.  That we would share in His bread.  That He would forgive us in the same manner that we have forgiven others.  We are forgiven for breaking His Law.  We are being forgiven from a law that was a Law of Love, yet the requirements of that Law were not sufficient to purify the heart of man.  It was a law that was sealed with the blood of animals.  Jesus changed the nature of the law by giving His own blood.  We are to do the same.  We must fulfill the His Law, a Law of love.  The law remains.  Jesus says our righteousness needs to far exceed that of the Pharisees or we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.  Divorce is breaking a covenant that was sealed by blood between a man and his wife as a symbol of the blood that was shed by Jesus to bring us into a covenant with Him!  My aim is not to condemn, but to set the record straight.  It is not ok to break covenant.  God doesn't encourage you to do so...maybe your friends do but they are foolish virgins with no oil in their lamps!  Don't be a foolish virgin.  Hearken your ear to God.  When this is all over God's love will cover us all.  It is not over!   Be a wise virgin.  Love your wife, love your husband!  Love them!  The greatest love one can give is their own blood, their own life.  Frustrated hopes and dreams are not so great that you should forsake God and adulterate.   I want all of us to experience hope, love, joy and appreciation in relationship.  If I had a message it would be that God wants to express these things in relationships between men and women.  I know this is true.  These things are only attainable if we are committed to God more than we are to ourselves or to our mates.  This commitment to God is expressed in honoring our commitment to one another.

well, i have to go.  the coffee shop is closing

So if you are offering your gift at the Temple altar and you remember there that your brother has something against you,  leave your gift where it is by the altar, and go, make peace with your brother. 

I just spoke with a wonderful individual from New York. As we were finishing our conversation he told me that he had been sleeping with the same woman for 62 years. "Good for you", I told him.  He had a great peace in his voice as he said, "I am pretty proud of that." It was a great statement!  We need this joy in our world. Be true.