Abiding In Christ (developed from a four year old post, so if this sounds familiar to you, thanks for being a faithful reader!)

Think about going through your day to day life. Involvement in a discussion at work bounces back and forth between dual levels of communication. With a co-worker, we  speak in the expected or required. Yet, in the case of a co-worker we have befriended, as well, we seamlessly switch back and forth between "professional" and "casual" registers of speech. The cadence, vocabulary, and intent of the thoughts involved to speak on these two levels are accomplished with very little calculation. We are the trained worker and our natural self at once. 

For example, we are communicating professionally with the employee-friend who quips about unprofessionally about the work, a customer, the weather or the President. A rejoinder in kind out of our mouth is immediate. That answer back, detached from the professional mode of speaking, springs from whom we are emotionally and largely separated identity-wise from the moment before when we were fully engaged in professionalism. The professional register is put on and maintained to meet the job requirements, but underneath this vocal register and its thinking is our personality constant in its residence of our soul. This dual condition is an "abiding" in our casual personality while fully engaged in the “dress” of professional responsibilities?

Now think about how on top of it all, we run “sub-programs” of thought where we comment to ourselves, feel things in response, notice details and make mental observations. The inner self exists with links to our dispositions shaped by our born natures, our experiential nurturing, and our adult, active choices. We experience the level of exchange with others in the outer world simultaneously with our on-going observation, analysis, and emotional response of the inner-person. When the personal or casual register is employed with others, we speak from the condition--whatever it is--of this inner sub-program. This inner level is our soul and its state.

“Abiding in Christ” simply means monitoring the flow of the inner sub-program and accepting training of this inner person. Therefore we actively make decisions to keep the inner thoughts and feelings lined up with a knowing of our life-force as alive from Christ. Since He has brought about our redemption and rebirth in Spirit, and we exist in His Presence. The soul, its feelings and thoughts, are not what is important. Thoughts and feelings are experienced and are indicators, but these are not the reason one exists. His Truth is important. Living as a vessel filled by Him achieves His purpose and is why we exist. This is what is important.

We train the inner flow by acts of will to reject thoughts or feelings that are not of Jesus. We  learn instead to wait upon God and utilize the peace so abidiing as the basis of stirring up love, patience... Making these active decisions is a function of an individual's will.

Feeling insecure or uncertain? Does He feel insecure or uncertain? Revenge or hate? Does He want revenge against or experience hate for other humans? Feeling afraid and want comfort? Does He wish to escape reality and provide Himself wanton pleasures? No. Neither does your new creature in Him. So, we must sort the inner world. We seek to know His in-dwelling reality of supernatural love which is His Spirit and which we feel with Him. We seek to have His light shine upon and convict when our thoughts and feelings are simply of our soul. We seek to have His light confirm when we are resting in Him.The mechanism which enables this understanding and insight is the connection between a Living God, who in every moment is personally engaged with us, and our conscience. If a conscience can be seared, is it not also made more sensitive? An ever more sensitive conscience is evidence of a growing maturity in the spirit of Jesus.

Maintaining this attitude might be called taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. Walking through life monitoring this inner flow and thus actively seeking a sensitive conscience will guide what springs from our casual register of speech in day to day life. This is a function of knowing we are with Jesus and appears to others as an unusual ability to love.

We are…abiding in spirit.

It's Been Said Before

We are told to speak the truth in love. Why? Love separated from truth does not destroy truth, as truth cannot be destroyed. However, love separated from truth opens the soul to confusion over the nature of authority, superstition about spiritual matters and licentiousness of the body. What the world needs, as it has needed, is love. The church in America purports to offer the Truth. When the rank and file of the church – not its high-sounding rhetoric or social justice or political activism -- manifests the love that offers truth without condemnation, hospitality over tradition, and water for one's enemies, then the spoken message of truth will be credible.

The modern American experience in and out of the Body of Christ is an emphasis on the intellect. The result is that we are in the midst of a culture which has benefited us all by any prosperity measure one cares to examine, but which has also failed us humans emotionally.  That failure is the cut off from understanding and fostering healthy emotional growth. We feel our hearts but are cut off from factoring in this component of ourselves effectively in every day life. We either are over the top with passions we insist make life meaningful (an over emphasis on "loves" that are of the earth and not of the Kingdom), or some manifest a coldness of demeanor that would frighten a statue in the park (an over emphasis on strict adherence to words of truth). Most of us are a pile of emotional confusion that survives by coping mechanisms intended to control our heart. We cannot fathom how to release our hearts without fear of the consequences. Aside: the general population regards such coping as emotional maturity.

This is a spiritual issue, of course. Moving from the general population to the Kingdom of Our Father and Creator is the remedy. Praise His name forever for the love, compassion and grace that has enabled such a rebirth! However, the church generally is a mixture of the falsehoods of coping clothed in Christianese and the Truth of wholeness between heart and mind found in spirit life. This unfortunate circumstance is not to be condemned, as it is part of the path. However, it can be remedied. 

The individual Christian must be encouraged and supported through fellowship in the growth of the heart and a walk with and by the Holy Spirit. Such a walk both eliminates the dangerous passions we mistakenly think are an expression of life and brings forth a warmth from heaven resulting in powerful actions reflecting the wholeness of Jesus.

Saturday, a New Year's Eve

In thinking of another year...what's it hold?
All in all He is enough.
Thankful 2011 finishes and our family is healthy.
Hope in Jesus' finished work is a continual state.

In-Dwelling by Holy Spirit -- a real time streaming--
a continual lesson in peace and contentment,
The power of heaven's love is a goodness beyond all man's wisdoms.

Have I had an obstacle in my soul?
It's a burden cast on Him

Embrace spirit...there is no better hug!

Eyes upward into the grace of the Father,
by an act of will, I choose His righteous leading,
He holds my family and me,
Come 2012, Come Lord Jesus!

Witnesses, Part Three

I imagine some will think I over simplified in the last post that three types of people and their reactions to Jesus are the whole of what's wrong with the world. 
    
     "What about murder and sexual immorality?" asks the mom without taking her eyes off twin daughters catching and eating or chasing the missed flying candy from a Christmas parade float.

     "What about the loss of our national heritage as a Christian nation?!" the Tea Partier demands.

     "What about greed and injustice?" queries the lawyer from the local Legal Aid Society.

If the John 12 refection is viewed in comparison with the following verse:

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.  1 John 2:16 NAS
      
...and the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness is factored into this study, a masterful unity of thought is clear. (See Matthew, chapter 4)


The Lust of the Flesh
At the height of a forty-days-fasting hunger, Satan tempts Jesus to turn stones into bread. Jesus refuses to do so stating life is not in bread alone but in the words, the meaning, found in God. In so doing He ruled over the desires of the body in favor of obedience demonstrating authority over the lust of the flesh. Thus Jesus both models and explains the ability to make meaningful decisions in line with life in God in contrast with succumbing to innate physiological drives of the human body we fallen humans like to justify as our basic needs. Seeking gratification of the body as the point of life through the varied sensual measures of the palate, a sated stomach or fulfilled loins are the "lusts of the flesh".

The crowds or masses in John 12 represent the wild swings of opinion that ride on this lust. When one lives for body gratification as the meaning of life, highs bounce up with expectation, lows deepen with deprivation and manipulative behaviors of appearing interested in what is expected while secret motivations protect one's love of the dark abound.

The Lust of the Eyes (do not confuse as what lust of the flesh wants to view)
Next Satan invites Jesus to prove His value in the eyes of God. Satan tells Jesus to throw Himself from the top of the temple that God would then send angels to protect Him. Jesus refuses and states that would be a test of God. Religious Christian behavior  attempts to raise the value of the adherent through self-righteous works. If the adherent has achieved the level of holiness demanded by men, it is falsely believed the individual can expect God to save or protect. People surrendering to this sin also expect to be honored for their piety. This is a "lust" of the eyes, since it means that the person so inclined "sees" him or herself as valuable for their religious practice. The heart of such a person is idolizing the self.


Clearly the Pharisees of John 12 are afflicted by this area of sin.

The Pride of Life
 Last, Satan asks Jesus to receive payment of the wealth, beauty, and power of the "kingdoms" on earth by holding out to Him the "glory" of these. Kingdom is a political term that refers to the way in which organization of political power can maximize the productive power of the people within the kingdom. The modern state or nation is a "kingdom" whether it is an absolutist-leaning government such as Saudi Arabia, a constitutional monarchy such as the United Kingdom, or a democratic republic such as our own US. 

The Greeks in John 12, who are today regarded as the primary root of Western Civilization,  represent the Pride of Life sin. From the Greeks, Western Civilization derives its respect and love of analytical thought, the arts, and the power of organization of an involved constituency. The Greeks produced direct democracy as the means of political power and organization of society; they gave voice to ideas of scientific observation and philosophic expression of wisdom, and crowned it with a symmetrical and expressive art in architecture, sculpture and theater. In our modern corporate world, this power of organization is tied to profit. Greed and glory of achievement are the fruit of this sin.


All that is wrong with world, indeed, is in the story where Jesus starts His walk of passion to the Cross.

He did it for all of humanity.

Think about this: In the story He made no attempt to "minister to" or evangelize any of the groups represented.

Part Two of Witnesses

In the previous blog, I looked at various responses of types of people to Jesus found in John 12.  As just some guy thinking about what it says, I find this moment in the life of Jesus hugely significant, a bit like finding $1,000.00 missing from the checking account. This has to be figured out!

This is the prelude to John's view and insights into the Crucifixion, after all. It's not a stretch of basic logic to infer the following: if my faith is ultimately an acknowledgement that the One who dashed off a few billion galaxies across a mind-bendingly expansive universe authored this through John; and if He thought so much of this moment in the life of Jesus as to invade the temporal and voice Himself aloud to these folks—and to you and me by extension—then there must be profound revelation laid bare within these verses.  Not that any other scripture is less profound given Who is the writer, mind you, but if we open our heart's eyes just a bit more than usual…

Jesus is about to proceed through the great Passion of God, the redemption of His fallen creation through an act of supreme love and grace. The Father will have to heap all the sin of the world upon the shoulders of His Son, then turn and punish this holy and wholly awesome man for everyone else's multiple and often vile wrong-doing.

All the sinners of the world are watching in the story and all turn away from Him rather than accept Him. I don't mean "all" by inferring all who are watching by reading the scriptures across time. Right there in the story, every sinner and every root of sin are displayed in the characters who are present.

The events begin as Jesus enters Jerusalem and the "crowds" rush to watch. They get a little emotional and heap upon Him praise hosanna's and palm fronds. Next, the Pharisees grumble their complaints having rejected Jesus from the first; the Greeks come poking in to ask Jesus a couple of things, as they ponder if He, in fact, holds any truth needing consideration; and the crowds come round again in the end with the truth revealed--they are not nearly so full of praise once it's realized Jesus is not giving out what they want.

There you have it: What's wrong with the world described in a handful of short verses.

Think about it.

Witnesses of the Beginning of Christ's Passion

John 12:12 – 50 is a very public moment in the life of Jesus as He enters Jerusalem at the beginning of Passover week. In this event, the Father audibly speaks over him (vs 28). This revelation by the Father speaking over Jesus swings the story of Jesus as told by John fully toward the passion of Christ and His crucifixion and resurrection.

However, before the voice of God is heard, we see three distinct groups interact with Jesus. These who enter the scene are in order: Pharisees, Greeks, and the crowd. 

The Pharisees speak first to one another with,

       "You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world is going after Him (vs. 19)." This is spoken in reaction to Jesus' triumphal entry into the city with many crying out, "Hosanna!" The reader confronts a face worn by the hardened heart. These who trust in their religious traditions reject Christ as the all in all. Such folk are around today from many religious traditions including ones labeled Christian.

Next enter the Greeks. This group seeks to meet with Jesus. Their request is relayed from Philip to Andrew to Jesus who answers them by speaking of a grain of wheat which falls to the ground and dies. He speaks the principle that all who seek life in Christ must be willing to die to the life of this world. For those who would meet Christ out of an honest desire to know--these Greeks in the story represent a valid intellectual inquiry into who Jesus is--there is but this response: Understand the life one knows must end for the true spiritual life in Him to come forth (vs. 20-26).

Jesus then speaks from a place of trouble in His heart regarding the events soon to come and places Himself in the trust of the Father, 

      "Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came out of heaven:

      "I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again (vs. 28)."

The crowd reacts with unsure and doubting words. Jesus next speaks to these who have heard the voice from Heaven with, 

       "This voice has not come for My sake, but for your sakes (vs 30)." Jesus verifies the Father's voice as for the sake of these witnesses, and logically then for all readers across time, as well (assuming a regard for all biblical accounts as one great spiritual message from the Creator God to the shared humanity on Earth).

Next, "Now judgment is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out." (vs. 31)  

Isn't there some significant understanding about where the spiritual line is drawn here? The ruler of this world is cast out is stated as a present tense marker. Something of the domination of Satan over humanity is forever altered. The Kingdom has come for those who will see it.  (see 2 Cor. 4:1-5 - those who do not see it are blinded to it.)

The focus shifts to "the crowd."  The crowd then answered Him,

       "We have heard out of the Law that the Christ is to remain forever; and how can You say, 'The Son of Man must be lifted up'? Who is this Son of Man?"  

       So Jesus said to them, "For a little while longer the Light is among you. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness will not overtake you; he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes.  "While you have the Light, believe in the Light, so that you may become sons of Light (vs 30-36)."

The inquiry of the crowd is in sharp contrast to both the Pharisees and the Greeks.While the crowd is not in open rejection like the Pharisees, neither is the crowd honestly seeking any answers to questions like the Greeks. The crowd's questioning is a challenge intended to shield those asking from Truth. Much like the challenge of adolescents to parents, this technique uses a question in anger or distrust or from a selfish desire of freedom from authority to blunt whatever answer may come.

Jesus cuts to the heart of the matter; the masses love darkness, resist vulnerability to truth, and consequently, the change of finding the Light of God.

Reflections on John 12

The events of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as told by John begin in chapter 12. Jesus is anointed by Mary, ostensibly for His burial. Then an interesting event occurs, and we have the opportunity to examine a revelation by God and some core words of Jesus as experienced and reacted upon by three different types of people: Pharisees, Greeks, and the crowds. As readers after the fact, we have the opportunity ourselves react to Jesus.

I'll share some observations over the chapter in the next few posts. Take some time to read the chapter and think it through. We can benefit from sharing our thoughts together.