WHEN WORDS SEEM
INADEQUATE.
When things of God are
revealed it can feel a bit like being Lucy, who found a place called Narnia when she stepped into wardrobe in
C.S. Lewis’ book “The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe.” And “sometimes” when we try to share what has been revealed
to us we see by people’s facial expressions, it is difficult for them to fully
appreciate what we are sharing even though we share or may share the same Spirit.
I guess it is like when a
person falls in love. They might
be able to express in words to a confiding friend about the love they feel but
find words never seem to adequately color the sentiment and depth of their personal
feelings of love. The person we
might confide in may have an “idea” of the love we are feeling but they don’t
know “exactly” what you are feeling.
Conveying those feelings,
emotions, and truths is difficult.
And it can be the same way when God speaks to us. The way in which He speaks to us often
has great magnitude behind it but when trying to share and express the
magnitude of those truths with others, it can be difficult to get across.
For the The word of God says,
“Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one
else can fully share its joy.” Proverbs 14:10
The Spirit of God makes
the words of the bible come alive in us and without Him the bible's words are just words on a page. When I tried to read the words of the bible before I received Christ, the words were confusing and difficult- not to just comprehend but apprehend as well. BUT after I received Christ, I read and understood things that I could not before. Spirit started me off in the book of Romans.
The Spirit of God gives understanding and power to His words.
Think about Pastors who are fired up about the Word of God. Pastors often seem to get a heavy dose
of what they are to teach on Sunday from God. They often get more out of the message then we do
because God was the one who spoke to them directly about the message. I find it true with us as well when we
spend time with the Lord and he guides and directs us in the Word of God giving
us deeper insight, understanding and revelation.
“… Therefore, we who have
fled to Him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that
lies before us. This hope is a
strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.”
Hebrews 6:18-19
Through the reality of
God, our Hope, we are ushered into new and deeper understanding, understandings
that we ourselves could not fabricate or come to tuition on our own.
I also find when sharing these truth/insights with others, the natural mind/eye hinders understanding.
In the natural/human mindset we can't seem to gather all the puzzle pieces the Spirit has given and put them together to makes sense to us in such a powerful way. The natural mind can't make sense of the words and when shared they may even sound far fetched, down right crazy and impossible.
So should we stop sharing
our insights? Of course not
because the very insights you receive from God may one day encourage others in the Lord
as well. There are times I am very
glad I have shared what I have received from the Lord because these truths sooner
or later are revealed to them and we can appreciate these truths along with them.
Of course when you come out of those
wardrobe revelations… and someone asks, “What is going on with you?” and you reply
“You would never believe me, if I told you.” It’s always nice to hear, “Just try me.”
That is why I am sharing
this truth with you now. But if
your reply is not “Just try me” read no further.
HOPE
I was coming to the end
of this short study on “knowing God.” based on Philippians 3:10-11 when God
brought up the word- HOPE.
I really hadn’t given much thought to
HOPE before… I knew simply GOD is our HOPE and HOPE wasn’t some kind of
“wishful” thinking but honesty I hadn’t meditated on HOPE too deeply. But where I found Hope…there wasn’t
just God but THERE WAS GOD. HOPE we find God is to be known and experienced in our
lives.
Psalm 62:5-7 “I wait quietly before God, for my
hope is in him. He alone is my
rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My salvation and my honor come from God
alone. He is my refuge and where
no enemy can reach me.”
“But those who hope in the LORD will renew their
strength. They will soar on wings
like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be
faint.” Isaiah 40:31
HOPE & US
LOOK: Hope (God)
resides in the inner man of the believer (in Christ). The inner man, the soul, of the Christian is rooted IN
Christ. The Christian soul is
anchored IN Christ. Christ surrounds
the soul. Christ protects what is most
essential- the man’s soul.
Jesus said, “Don’t be afraid of those who can kill only your bodies-
but can’t touch your souls! Fear
only God who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”
Hope is not found in the unbeliever or in the
things of this world. Our Hope is
God who is Spirit and the Spirit lives IN us.
2 Timothy 1:7 “For God hath not given us the
spirit of fear; but of power, and of love and of a sound mind.” (Does this not speak of Hope living IN us?)
HOPE, FAITH, LOVE
I found hope permeates. Like yeast that is worked into the pliable
dough of our life by God’s love it causes faith in the inner man to rise to the
occasions in life. (Trusting in God's love makes the dough of our life pliable causing hope to be worked into our life causing our faith in the inner man to rise to the occasions in life.)
What happens when one
doesn’t have Hope, the assurance of God’s love, and faith? There is nothing to eat… there is
nothing to satisfy them. That is
why Jesus, who is our Hope is said to be the bread of life.
Jesus
replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be
hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Hope is life and it is
the same as saying, GOD is LIFE.
1Corinthians 13:7 says,
“It (Love) bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things and endures
all things.”
GOD enables
us through HIS LOVE.
Hope, love and faith
changes us, transforms us, ministers to us and makes us recognizable as God’s
children- Children of HOPE.
“The Spirit Himself bears
witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” Romans 8:16
How does he bear witness? God's who is Spirit bears witness on our lives because he is who our faith, hope and love. He reveals who we are and whom we belong not to just the world but to ourselves.
“For in Him we live and
move and have our being. As some
of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’” Acts 17:28
God sees what is in the inner man... Jesus SAW “in”
a person or people. Jesus didn’t
look at the outer appearance of man but saw what was on inside of the man.
As they approached, Jesus said, “Now here is a genuine son of Israel—a man
of complete integrity.”
Matthew
23:25-28 Jesus said, “Woe to you, teachers of the
law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish,
but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside
of the cup and the dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Woe to you teachers of the law and
Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful
on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and
everything unclean. In the same
way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are
full of hypocrisy and wickedness.
So what does God's offspring look like to God?
THE VISION-
As I was writing about
hope I unexpectedly saw in a vision the “essence” of a person. The human/mortal/flesh body was not present but the “inner man/ essence/ spirit/ soul
was… These slender bands of light
ran on the surface of the soul/ essence/ inner man as he reclined in the Lord (A picture of one trusting in God.) He was being transformed in
light from head to foot. God Himself clothes the
inner man with IN Faith, Hope, and Love- IN Himself.
He did not just create our physical being our but spiritual
being as well and he clothes and takes care of both- even though one is temporary and one is eternal.
God is light and he is transforming us (Christians) as individuals of
light.
The Spirit then reminded
me of this verse about Jesus.
“Life itself was in him, and this
life gives light to everyone. The light shines through the darkness, and
the darkness can never extinguish it.” John 1:4-5
What happens when you extinguish something? It becomes no more but God doesn't extinguish the smallest hope. Why do you think God never quenches the smallest hope- the littlest measure of faith?
Before anyone of us came to the faith in JESUS- we prayed in Hope to whom? Why? Who placed that little seed of faith in us. God would answer and place a marker of light in our dark landscape- even if it was in the desert. Sure we would easily forget the answered prayers but God would show his faithfulness in hopes we would finally come to Him. God gives us a choice to come to know Him who is life over meaningless and death. But how many of us rode the train meaningless? How long did it take? Hope is reachable right now as long as people have breath in their body. Hope is life giving light but hope is no where in Hell.
1 John 4:4 says, “the one who is in you is greater than the one
who is in the world.”
Think about Colossians 2:4 "And set your minds and keep them set on what is above (the higher things), not on the things that are on the earth. For (as far as this world is concerned) you have died, and your (new, real) life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, Who is your life, appears, then you will appear with Him in (the splendor of His) glory."
IN THE GLORY
Since this vision I have
been like a bee harvesting nectar from this truth- God has continued to expound
on the vision with other scriptures:
Psalm 97:11 says “Light
shines on the godly and joy on those who do right.”
Jesus said to us as His believers,
“You are the light of the world- like a city on a
mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don’t hide your light
under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all.”
Matthew 5:14-15
Don’t hide your light in
the weakness of your flesh, which is a temporary basket that holds the inner
man but let the light that covers the inner man LIVE. You do not represent yourself but God Himself. You are clothed in Him- His Glory.
Just think Jesus who knew no sin temporary clothed himself with our shame. He took up the cross in our nakedness that we might be dressed in His glory.
Think of how Hope, Love
and Faith in God strengthen you.
Think of whose glory is in you and covers your inner man. You are ambassadors to whom?
“That He would grant you,
according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with power through His
Spirit in the inner man.” Ephesians 3:16
“But we all, with
unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being
transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by Spirit of the
Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
“And as we have borne the
image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly man.” 1
Corinthians 15:49
COMPLETE IN CHRIST
"If indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. 4 For we who are in this
tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but
further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life." 2 Corinthians 5:3-4
These mortal bodies-
weak- hold a greatness deeper then we can understand.
“For in Christ the fullness of God lives in the human
body, and you are complete through your union with Christ…” Colossians 2:9
We struggle with this idea of being complete in Christ because we don't truly understand and we let the flesh dictate the things of the heart instead of the Spirit. We even let Satan come steal, kill and destroy what God wants to sink from our heads to our hearts. We may seem incomplete because have lost certain abilities we once had or never seemed to have but those things are temporary. We may seem incomplete because we may not live up to societies opinions of how we should live, such as norms or standards. (Look at John the Baptist, he being named and chosen by God did not do things as the ways of the world.) We may seem incomplete due to circumstances that have happened in our life but those things in Christ are gone. In Christ we are complete.
The Soul/Inner man/ essence IN Christ is complete. We look to God the author and
finisher of our faith. We look to
Him who is our Hope. And we trust
in Him who is full of compassion and love. And through our focus on Him, He receives the glory, which
He mercifully and graciously bestows on us as His children. Just as the sun's light is reflected on the moon and stars.
" You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness." 1 Thessalonians 5:5
Skip down to 8-9
"But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.
Be sober knowing your completeness in Christ. Be sober in the Spirit of Christ. Don't let life manipulate you. For you are thoroughly equipped IN God- His clothes/skin.
2 Corinthians 4:16-17
“That is why we never give up. Though
our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and
won’t last very long. Yet they
produce for us a glory that vast outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can
see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be
gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.”
1 Peter
1:23-25 “ For
you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new
life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As
the Scriptures say, “People are like grass; their beauty is like a flower in
the field. The grass withers and the flower fades. But the word of the Lord
remains forever.”
The Word of the Lord.... remains forever in you. For the the Word of God was inspired by the Spirit of God and the Spirit of God lives in you and clothes you. God's WORD clothes you.. Think of Jesus in Revelation are there not words are on his clothes?
All Scriptures is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." 2 Timothy 3:16-17
“Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and
the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13
Yes this flesh will die
but we will live on…
“For this
corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality.”
1 Corinthians 15:53
THE SPIRITUAL BODY CLOTHED
“I will put sinews on
you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you
that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 37:6
Is that not what God is
doing right now in us? He is
strengthening and covering us with HIS SKIN and HAS PUT HIS SPIRIT IN US. And we know for certain Jesus is
LORD.
Jesus speaking to one of the churches in Revelation 3:17-18 says, “You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth
and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched,
pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I
counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich;
and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve
to put on your eyes, so you can see.”
When I looked these
things up I found “naked” means the soul/essence is without the coverings of
God. “Poor” means to be destitute
of Christian virtues and eternal riches. White clothes or garments are
translated in clothes of “light” or “dazzling white clothes”.
This should send goosebumps up your arms.
Keep in mind Ezekiel 37
and Revelation 3 as you read this. “The hour has already come for you to wake
up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now then when we first
believed. The night is nearly
over; the day is almost here. So
let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.” Romans
13:11-12
We are clothed in Christ who
is light. Light that is faith,
hope and love in GOD/ Jesus Christ.
Being clothed in Christ is very important for there is no way to the
Father except through Jesus Christ.
John 14:6 Jesus answered,
“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me.”
The importance of wearing the right clothes as you move from this life to eternity.
“So
the servant brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the
banquet hall was filled with guests.
But when the king came in to meet the guests, he noticed a man who
wasn’t wearing the proper clothes for the wedding. ‘Friend,’ he asked, ‘how is it that you are here without
wedding clothes?’ And the man had no reply. Then the king said to his aides, ‘Bind him hand and foot and
throw him out into the outer darkness, where there is weeping and gnashing of
teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.” Matthew 22:10-14
Taken note of REVELATION 19
LAST WORD
GOD as we draw close to you and submit ourselves to you, help us by your Spirit ( The Holy Spirit/ Spirit of God/Christ) to discover more and more of who you are. Help us have an intimate relationship with you GOD. GOD be our HOPE in all the rooms and corners of our life. We allow you to be the AUTHOR and FINISHER of our FAITH and LIFE. GOD help us discover and live in the strength and comfort and wisdom and liberty in your LOVE. Help us to love you with all our heart, mind, soul and all our strength.
JESUS is coming. I know you feel the same way I do. You don't want Him to show up and you not know Him more intimately. You don't want Him to be a stranger to you. We know God is deeper and further then our understanding but as long as their is breath in my body I want to seek after Him. I don't only want to be dressed in your righteousness, JESUS, but I want to know you more intimately. I want to shine your glory in my life regardless of the situations that come because I know you are with me and you can be trusted in every aspect that comes in this life. I don't want to be a person that says, "I trust you but I can't trust you with this part or that part of my life because I am afraid what will happen." As long as I find you in every aspect of my life I surrender it all to you. Thank you for being with me. Touch those who need your touch this day and I thank you Father for your willingness to share these deeper truths and encouraging us in Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Amen.
