The point of salvation is that a man comes to God ONLY in Spirit and in Truth. Jesus gave many parables about the variance in efficacy based on the depth of the display of faith. I have constantly told people that had been 'saved' for decades that to actually have your heart tell God the truth about anything is the most fearful and powerful thing that could happen in a man's existence. To stand before the Lord for real is to see yourself as you really are. God is the consuming fire, His presence presents the phenomenon of peeling away all of our socialistic and 'self'-ish state of 'being' so that we can feel the contradiction between ourselves and His purity. This is why Jesus said that the publican BEATING on his chest, and realizing out loud before his God, had found justification in God's eyes; and conversely not the man who could only see his polished religious reflection.
These moments that God allows us to talk the truth with Him are still very few and far between for the average Christian. This is mainly due to the all out fear of the consuming Truth that God speaks back to us, and the fact that we subconsciously know that God could leave us unveiled permanently by revelation, to the travail of our 'self' made 'LIFE'. Christ said that to gain a hold of LIFE, we must lose OUR lives.
So…. The Law states that God would only accept unblemished sacrifices in the Old Testament. This is without a doubt not to make the 'pure lamb' business prosperous in Jerusalem. But more to symbolically tell mankind that their offering, or conversation with God was blemished with self interest, the grip of lust, deception, and unwillingness to let God really shine the light of Truth into our innermost parts; the areas of our hearts that we share with no flesh.
I have spent many hours in prayer asking God to grant me the faith to speak TRUTHfully with Him, knowing full well that this could obliterate all of my expectations of existence itself. Consequently every time that He has granted me this Faith, it has led to a major shift in my own personal paradigm of existence itself.
As you also see in the Old Testament account of those that offered sacrifices to God, He would consume them with fire from above, Consuming Fire. The natural conclusion of a petition or conversation untied from 'self' is the revelation of Truth back to us.
The American Church has understood this efficacy and jokingly told 'the Body', "Don't pray for Patience or you will have trials". What is this? The 'face of Christ' to the world, would joke to its followers about avoiding the actual genuine will of God in their lives? All for the sake of sustaining the charade that the way of life in America is because of God's blessing on the country. This is one indication why there is no genuine spiritual power within the majority of the 'American' Body of Christ. We will go around showing face before one another about wanting to know God more, when truthfully that is the last thing on the agenda, for the sake of the Pride of Life. America has pacified the Church with a superficial material wealth, which has brought about much false comfort. A time of AWAKENING is coming, as God begins to "shake the foundations" of American thought.
Hey Loren,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with all you have written here! And I would like to add that it truly takes something to move past yourself when you live within world systems that could care less about you. It is all we can do but survive within these systems many times. And so when we come to our God displaying all that is in our hearts, it really takes something to continue to be able to do that and still survive within whatever systems we are in.
Prayer, like I said earlier this week, is something that I believe God intended for us, not something to move Him. Although I know (I think actually) there is somewhere in the Bible that says prayer moves God. Anyway, just like people have their "motivational and self-help" tapes and people go to meetings, seminars, conferences, and read books and see counselors, I believe that prayer to God is similar. It is a method to focus the mind on the things that it needs to be focused on (according to the "good side" of the mind)!
I think people are drowning in the abilities to survive within the systems and this is not allowing them to thrive in the Lord! I mean, if millions of people are apart of a machine and they are the ones that cause it to work, imagine how strong the force is that is "not allowing" them to "hear or see their God".
I tell you what, when I see God and Jesus, I am going to be like, WHAT WAS THAT ALL ABOUT????