Category: Truth

The Unseen

I am grateful for the unseen, that things eternal are spiritual and out of the perception of human eye, but will not always be so. [2 Corinthians 4:18, 1 Corinthians 13:12]

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1

Me: Good morning, Father!

Abba: Good morning, Jon!

Have you considered why you have a sense of gratitude about the obscurity of the unseen? Do not think that it originates within you. I tell you plainly that it is My heart to hide the mysteries of glory from the eye of natural man.

Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.

Genesis 6:5

Nor was that wickedness eliminated by the flood.

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

John 8:44

You only need to look at daily news items to see his activity in the hearts of men.

But I AM your redeemer. Consider John’s description of Jesus:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:1-5

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:14

Have you observed a lack of discernment? I AM sure that you have!

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 14:6

The spiritual realm above is safe from the machinations of corrupt man, but open before those who are in Jesus; to those who love Me, who are a new creation.

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.

John 16:12-15

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

Me: Thank You, Father! I love You!

Abba: You are welcome! I love you!

Exclusive Predestination?

I am grateful for the immeasurable love of God!

28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Romans 8

Seems there are endless arguments over Bible passages that contain the word “predestined”. I know some denominations take the idea of predestination to mean, “We are included, but perhaps not you.” The idea can be carried so far as to eliminate evangelistic outreach. Even further, that since predestined by an omnipotent God, that the actions of life are irrelevant; essentially erasing personal accountability. (Don’t hear what I am not saying. Not all Calvinist groups are this extreme.) This idea derives from the perspective that the foreknowledge of God is absolute and therefore immutable.

In the Romans 8 passage above, the idea of predestination is surrounded by divine balance. First, it is addressing the heart. Do you love God? As a result, do you want what He wants? What about evidence? Are you becoming conformed to the likeness of Jesus?

While we are here in this passage, lets talk about the foreknowledge of God (verse 29). The omniscience of God extends to continual observation of every created particle in the universe. God is Spirit (John 4:24, among many others). He sees the immaterial, from gravity to energy and attitudes and our very thoughts.

Further, God is eternal. Eternal existence is also a hard concept. I believe that time is created by God regulate the physical universe. Breathe in. Breathe out. Heart, keep beating for some variable number of seconds. Earth rotate and fall around the sun as prescribed by said gravity. Cesium, decay with a half-life of 30 years. God is regulated only by His nature and His word. What He says, is. He is not regulated by His creation, including time. The word “foreknew” in is used because human language doesn’t have a notion of observation that transcends time. Our own perception is limited to the sphere of our focus in the moment we are in. God is not limited. “Predestined” is also framed in our own limitations in the same way as “foreknew”.

The argument that foreknowledge and predestination only applies to certain ones is inexplicable to me. Our Father knows us all (Psalm 139). I defy you to read that Psalm and remain unmoved if you know God in the slightest!

As we talked about this subject today, my wife reminded me that when God answered Moses, when he asked what he should say to the Israelites about His identity, God instructs Moses to tell the Israelites that “I AM has sent me to you,” I find it amusing that Moses was cheeky enough to ask God for His ID. In so doing, though, we have Him clearly establishing His eternal, self-existent nature.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

Ephesians 1

Do you see yourself “holy and without blame before Him in love”? If we are “in Christ”, this is true in your spirit, which is now indwelt by Him who has eternally been holy and without blame. Our Father currently sees that truth in our spirit. More, He sees us being progressively transformed as His Word is allowed to work in us (Romans 12:2, 2 Corinthians 3:18). He sees our ultimate blamelessness. For now, let us offer praise that we are accepted in the Beloved!

11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, 12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

15 Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Let no one despise you.

Titus 2

Titus 2:11 tells us that salvation has appeared to all men. Does that mean, as some teach, that all will be saved? That a loving God would never send anyone to hell? I have heard those who declare they couldn’t serve a deity who would allow his children to go to hell for eternity. But God has extended the invitation to all. Acceptance of the invitation is voluntary. Jesus talked about those who decline in the parable of the wedding feast (Matthew 22:1-14). Note that declining the invitation is not without serious consequence. This fact will not be a mystery to anyone with a wayward child.

6 Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. 7 And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. 8 So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, 9 and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? 11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they.”

Acts 15

Here we see the Jewish religious leaders arguing to apply the same burden on Gentile believers that they applied to a convert to Judaism: keep the law. But God (do you love that phrase as much as I do?), had already made clear His acceptance of those who come to Him in faith. Remember, we started this walk through the Scripture examining the idea of evidence of salvation. There is no stronger attestation than the presence of the Holy Spirit. This passage is one more example that God is “no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34).

8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

2 Peter 3

God’s will is the salvation of all. He is not going to force any. But He is willing to wait until we come to our senses. The question is, whether we accept His Gift while we are still breathing. The dead have lost the opportunity.

Unclean Lips

I am grateful to be able to talk with You!

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice;
But when a wicked man rules, the people groan.

Proverbs 29:2

As it is written:

“There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”
“Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Destruction and misery are in their ways;
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

Romans 3:10-20, [Ps. 14:3, 53:3]

Me: Good morning, Father!

Abba: Good morning, Jon!

Me: Yesterday, as You know, of course, we listened to many speeches as various ones in authority exclaimed how wonderful our experience has been under their administration. I kept thinking they must be hoping their revisionist history would be accepted as gospel. Indeed, most of the ones in attendance (delegates to the political party state convention) seemed perfectly willing to applaud what was said as though it was as true as if You had uttered it with Your own mouth. With the primary election behind us, some of those talking were new candidates who had no demonstrable history in political office.

Abba: You know the tendency to read into things what one wishes to hear. It is a fundamental reality exploited by shrewd salesmen. You have also learned as an engineer that pointing out likely misrepresentations contained in a sales pitch will get you labeled as a negative naysayer. Predictions coming from long experience will be completely forgotten or ignored if you are proved right and they come to pass, just as you said. You also know the desire to say, “I told you so!” will almost always backfire on the prophet. People don’t wish to have their misjudgments brought to light when the entire cost becomes apparent.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

1 Corinthians 13:12

Isaiah 6 – Unclean Lips

[One partial definition of unclean lips is speaking to elevate self and tear down others.]

See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, “Yet once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. For our God is a consuming fire.

Hebrews 12:25-29

Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!  And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.

James 3:5-6

Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:

‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”

So Jesus said, “Are you also still without understanding? Do you not yet understand that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”

Matthew 15: 7-11, 16-20

 “The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:9

[But God has a plan of salvation:]

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel 36:26

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

2 Corinthians 5:17-21

Me: Thank You Father! I love You! I pray you will help me be a voice of truth and circumspect about what to speak, and when!

Abba: You are welcome! I love you! Listen to My Holy Spirit in your heart. I have promised to give you what you need in the hour you need it.

Have it Your Way?

I have inclined my heart to perform Your statutes forever, to the very end.
I hate the double-minded, but I love Your law.
You are my hiding place and my shield; I hope in Your word.

Psalm 119:112-114

I am grateful that we have the Holy Spirit to guide us into truth!

For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

James 1:7-8

I haven’t heard the Burger King® jingle “Have it Your Way”, of late – probably because I avoid the conduits of communication where I might be thus accosted – but I believe it was registered as a trademark in the 1970s, during the decade of my graduation from high school and military service. Nonetheless, it seems to have stuck in my brain… scary as that is.

It came to mind when I was considering the lament of God to Isaiah about the people’s hardness of heart. God told Isaiah to address their attitude, lest it go unchallenged. Jesus quoted from that very passage in Mathew when the disciples asked Him about His teaching style.

10 And the disciples came and said to Him, “Why do You speak to them in parables?”

11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given.

12 For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.

13 Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.

14 And in them the prophecy of Isaiah [6:9–10] is fulfilled, which says:

‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand,
And seeing you will see and not perceive;

15 For the hearts of this people have grown dull.
Their ears are hard of hearing,
And their eyes they have closed,
Lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.’

16 But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear;

17 for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.

Matthew 13:10-17 (NKJV)

Did you see what attentive hearing with hearts of understanding would bring? Repentance and resultant healing! The “turning” that Isaiah and Jesus spoke of is under our control. Having once granted us autonomy over our own decisions, God does not violate them while we still breathe the air of earth. There are often negative consequences, to be sure. I have endured many of these myself. But such repercussions are really signposts of mercy; glaring evidence we are on a degenerating path, descending to a dreadful terminus. Turn around!

The Apostle Paul had some heartfelt things to say on this subject as well:

1 For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh,

2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ,

3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

4 Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.

5 For though I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.

6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,

7 rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.

8 Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

9 For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily;

10 and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power.

Colossians 2:1-10 (NKJV)

God is the source of “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge”. What is left if one rejects the source of wisdom and knowledge?

What is left is human “philosophy and empty deceit”. Often what is left is delivered passionately with words that can persuade those who are not intimate with God and His word. But look where that is going:

6 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,

8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

9 But as it is written:

“Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,
Nor have entered into the heart of man
The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.

11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.

12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one.

16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

1 Corinthians 2:6-16 (NKJV)

Because God really does allow you to “have it your way” and as the rulers of this age, not even realizing it, are “coming to nothing”. Do not go with them. Neither lean on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5). Set your heart on Him. Let Him direct your paths!

The Lamp of the Body

Today, I respectfully remember those who were serving at Pearl Harbor in 1941, especially those who were lost in the attack.

I am grateful for my relationship with You! How amazing the length You have gone to, sending Jesus to suffer in my place, making it possible for our relationship to exist.

Me: Good morning, Father!

Abba: Good morning, Jon!

Me: I have been considering Luke 11:34 & Matthew 6:22

“No one, when he has lit a lamp, puts it in a secret place or under a basket, but on a lampstand, that those who come in may see the light. The lamp of the body is the eye. Therefore, when your eye is good, your whole body also is full of light. But when your eye is bad, your body also is full of darkness. Therefore take heed that the light which is in you is not darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, the whole body will be full of light, as when the bright shining of a lamp gives you light.”

Luke 11:33-36

Would you speak to me about that more?

Abba: In John 1:4-5 you find, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

And

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

John 8:12

Also,

 “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

John 16:12-13

You know, of course, the eye is a complex precision optical instrument. There are many pertinent words: focus, perspective, clarity, vision, illumination, perception, to name a few.

Light dispels darkness. Notice the passage you asked about refers to the eye as the lamp of the body. This metaphor is important. A common proverb is “seeing is believing”. In the spiritual realm, believing is seeing. In this case, you will see your body/soul responds to what you truly believe.

Now, when Jesus says, “I am the light” and light is the thing the lamp emits and the eye processes, so if your focus, vision, perspective, etc. is Jesus the Word; then your belief will be illuminated by Him resulting in a positive effect on your whole being. And if not, well, darkness.

P.S. About lamps – they are most needed in the dark, when it is hard to see.

Me: That is awesome, Father! I am grateful for Your careful explanation! I love You!

Abba: You are welcome! I love you!

I served as a sonar technician aboard USS Whipple FF-1062, homeport Pearl Harbor in the late 1970’s. When we were (rarely) in port, we were sometimes berthed within sight of the Arizona Memorial. (Photo Wikipedia)

John 1

I cannot read the first chapter of the Gospel according to John without finding myself riveted, not only to the content, majestic as it is, but I am also taken in by its cadence, grandeur, and mystery. I feel I am peering into the very heart of Almighty God. It surges with the pulse of all He has determined to do among us and for us. He coaxes us back from teetering at the precipice of the dark abyss. He does not stop there. No, His intention is to bring us into the glorious light that powerfully streams from Himself. (1 John 1:5) All His desire is to bring us into the Kingdom of the Son.`

He knows full well we are incapable of making such a transformation on our own. He has given us an invitation, complete with new authority, increasing understanding, and even committed His own Spirit to us, to act as internal guide and revealer of hidden truth. He clearly marks the path. (2 John 1:16)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, “This was He of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.’ ”

And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

John 1:1-18

Sing with Gratitude More Often

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

Colossians 3:16

Me: Good morning, Jesus!

Jesus: Good morning, Jon!

Me: I am grateful that your word brings wisdom! I pray that You will help me to more deeply let it “dwell in me richly”.

Jesus: One way is for you to follow the instructions of this verse and sing more often.

Me: I am grateful that You always give me spiritual songs if I only turn my heart to You and open my mouth and lift my voice to You. I don’t know why I tend to skip that blessing.

Jesus:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Romans 12:2

Those songs will be transforming. This is wisdom.

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

Colossians 3:2

Me: Thank You Jesus! I love You!

Jesus: You are welcome! I love you! I tell you the truth of the way to walk in Me to abundant life.

Members

I am grateful for yesterday’s safe and successful trip!

Colossians 3 (esp. v3 and v5)

For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Me: Good morning, Holy Spirit!

Holy Spirit: Good morning, Jon!

Me: Would You clarify these passages for me? I note the KJV and NKJV are more word-for word with the Greek, while some other translations make it clear the translators considered it to be more figurative language. Also verse three says we have already died while verse five talks about putting our “members” to death, which is more of a process, I think.

Holy Spirit: Many tend to look at the example list of “earthly things” as a checklist. You should hear their personal observations, “Well, I’m not doing that!” Paul in no way intended the list to be exhaustive, and it is only a small part of his letter. Look at Col 1:9-14.

For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:9-14

You see, this entire letter is explaining that the perspective of the world, self-serving almost exclusively (and serving Satan’s destructive purposes) does not belong in a fruitful life that is “hid in Christ”. Rather, a totally new focus is required:

Set your mind on things above, not things on the earth.

Colossians 3:2

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience,

Ephesians 2:1-2

Colossians 3:3 is clearly not speaking of being physically dead (yet), else one would not be capable of walking according to any course, either good or bad.

I Am sent to guide into all Truth (John 16:13). None of this transformation of a mind focused on self – and the dark things of the prince of the power of the air – to a mind renewed by the washing of the water of the word, “putting on the mind of Christ”. None of that change happens without Me being invited to do it. Even so, the “made alive” reference in Ephesians 2:1, is speaking of the perfect spiritual state of the one who is “in Christ”. This is an instantaneous transformation at salvation, while the “put to death your members” of Colossians 3:5 is the progressive transformation of the mental/physical/soulish part of your being by continued and consistent obedience to the Truth.

The Christian life/or walk in the process of bringing the soul into conformance with the fully redeemed spirit, one decision and resultant act at a time. Human effort is going to fail at this, for it equates to trying to pull oneself up by one’s own bootstraps. This is why I Am sent to guide and empower those who decide to yield to My prompting and rely on My power instead of their own (dead) efforts. Those who think they must “get straightened out” first to be “worthy” to come to Me are mistaken. If they come to me, they will get straightened out.

There is a better list than the one in Colossians 3:5. It is one I Am sure to enable:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

Galatians 5:22-26

Aren’t those better members?

Me: Thank you, Holy Spirit! I love you!

Holy Spirit: You are welcome! I love you!

Light and Darkness

I am grateful for sight! What a marvelous gift!

22 “The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of life light. 23 But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

Matthew 6:22-23

And He said, “Go, and tell this people:
‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand;
Keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’
 “Make the heart of this people dull,
And their ears heavy,
And shut their eyes;
Lest they see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart,
And return and be healed.”

Then I said, “Lord, how long?”

And He answered:
“Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant,
The houses are without a man,
The land is utterly desolate,
The Lord has removed men far away,
And the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land”

Isaiah 6:9-12

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:4-5

Me: Good morning, Holy Spirt!

Holy Spirt: Good morning, Jon!

Me: I wrote “life” instead of “light” when writing down Matthew 6:22.

Holy Spirit: As you see from John 1:4, there is a sense in which they are equivalent.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness [a]was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.

Genesis 1:1-5

And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

John 1:5-9

And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

John 3:19-21

Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

John 8:12

 “A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

John 14:19-21

 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:14-16

Me: Thank You Holy Spirit for leading me though these scriptures! I love You!

Holy Spirit: You are welcome! I love you!

Mahaska Morning

Substance

I am grateful to have the small chicken coop moved under the trees, where the chicks will be cooler in the summer heat!

1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

3 By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Hebrews 11

Substance, here, in the NKJV, is hypostasis; a compound of hupo and histemi; a setting under (support), i.e. (figuratively) concretely, essence, or abstractly, assurance (objectively or subjectively) — confidence, confident, person, substance.

I note that we get our English word stasis from the Greek word histemi, meaning – in this context – equilibrium or a stable state. The Strongs exposition, above, incorporated the word concretely, which we equate with stability.

In the third verse, the writer speaks of the worlds being framed by the word of God as a basis for understanding faith. The word of God is surer as a foundation than is concrete! Concrete will eventually decay, but the word of God stands forever (Isaiah 40:8).

Lord, thank You that Your word is faithful and true, a sure foundation for life! Thank you that our relationship with you is by faith in You, and not by our always-inconsistent performance.

Small Chicken Coop