Andre Rabe - Contented
Susie Golman Cox might just as well have been over here in the UK at our meeting with Francois Du Toit and Andre and Mary-Anne Rabe...and it's the quickest way of putting in note form some of what was said to just simply reproduce this section she sent through on Facebook from Bill Freeman.
Comprehending the Scriptures
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1
Comprehension is a vehicle of the Lord's voice. Because of this, it is important to know what it means to "comprehend" in the biblical sense. The Greek word for comprehend is a compound word that means "putting things together in a way that causes you to grasp or understand something." For example, the disciples did not understand the Scriptures until the Lord opened their mind to comprehend them (Luke 24:27-32). It was when He opened up the Old Testament, book by book, and unveiled Himself as its focus that they were able to comprehend the Scriptures. At that point, they could put everything together. They understood and comprehended the central meaning of the Scriptures.
To be able to put everything together and properly comprehend the Scriptures, we need to know that the focus of God's speaking is Christ (Heb. 1:1-2). Christ is the Word, the logos, God's unique utterance embodied in one Person (John 1:1). When we see Christ as all in all, then we truly begin to comprehend the Scriptures. Furthermore, with this comprehension we are able to know the Lord's speaking. Our comprehension of the proper focus of the Scriptures becomes the factor of the Lord's speaking, and this speaking automatically gives us discernment concerning all other voices and speakings which are not the Lord's.
In Ephesians 3:2-11 the apostle Paul unveils that God's speaking comes through the proper comprehension of His eternal purpose. In verses 3-4 he says, 3 "How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I wrote before in a few words, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)." Paul had a comprehension of the mystery of Christ, which is the central focus of God's heart's desire. This was one of the main reasons that he had so much of the Lord's speaking. God's desire, as Paul unfolds it in Ephesians 3, is centered in Christ being expressed through the church to display God's manifold wisdom to the universe. In verse 11 this is called "the eternal purpose," or "the purpose of the ages." Comprehending or understanding this purpose constitutes the main subject of all the Lord's speaking.
- Bill Freeman, The Supplied Life
Who are Andre and Mary-Anne Rabe then? Well, what better way than to quote them both from the book and CD they gave me. Here is a passage from Andre Rabe's book "Secret of Contentment" ISBN 978-0-9563346-0-2. The passage in brown was originally set out as prose.
Comprehending the Scriptures
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1
Comprehension is a vehicle of the Lord's voice. Because of this, it is important to know what it means to "comprehend" in the biblical sense. The Greek word for comprehend is a compound word that means "putting things together in a way that causes you to grasp or understand something." For example, the disciples did not understand the Scriptures until the Lord opened their mind to comprehend them (Luke 24:27-32). It was when He opened up the Old Testament, book by book, and unveiled Himself as its focus that they were able to comprehend the Scriptures. At that point, they could put everything together. They understood and comprehended the central meaning of the Scriptures.
To be able to put everything together and properly comprehend the Scriptures, we need to know that the focus of God's speaking is Christ (Heb. 1:1-2). Christ is the Word, the logos, God's unique utterance embodied in one Person (John 1:1). When we see Christ as all in all, then we truly begin to comprehend the Scriptures. Furthermore, with this comprehension we are able to know the Lord's speaking. Our comprehension of the proper focus of the Scriptures becomes the factor of the Lord's speaking, and this speaking automatically gives us discernment concerning all other voices and speakings which are not the Lord's.
In Ephesians 3:2-11 the apostle Paul unveils that God's speaking comes through the proper comprehension of His eternal purpose. In verses 3-4 he says, 3 "How that by revelation He made known to me the mystery (as I wrote before in a few words, 4 by which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)." Paul had a comprehension of the mystery of Christ, which is the central focus of God's heart's desire. This was one of the main reasons that he had so much of the Lord's speaking. God's desire, as Paul unfolds it in Ephesians 3, is centered in Christ being expressed through the church to display God's manifold wisdom to the universe. In verse 11 this is called "the eternal purpose," or "the purpose of the ages." Comprehending or understanding this purpose constitutes the main subject of all the Lord's speaking.
- Bill Freeman, The Supplied Life
Who are Andre and Mary-Anne Rabe then? Well, what better way than to quote them both from the book and CD they gave me. Here is a passage from Andre Rabe's book "Secret of Contentment" ISBN 978-0-9563346-0-2. The passage in brown was originally set out as prose.
Before our milky way was formed,
before our sun ignited,
before Jupiter or Mars began their orbit,
before the earth was able to support life ...
you were planned, identified and named for a very specific purpose.
You predate the dinosaurs!
You began way before your conception -
you began in the mind of God.
"Your eyes saw my unformed substance,
and in Your book all the days of my life
were written before ever they took shape,
when as yet there was none of them." (Ps. 139:16).
It is this realm, this eternal dimension,
that preserves the truth about you.
In our temporal, time-bound realm
there might be many events, circumstances
and experiences that try to contradict the truth about you ...
but they are as shadows
compared to the unchangeable truth
that was decided before this world began
and will remain the only truth
after this world has come to an end.
Some of you might remember a movie called 'Never Ending Story' In this movie a boy starts reading a very special book that draws him into an entirely different world from his own. The book doesn't, in the first instance, give advice or direction for his world. In fact the story draws him into a new world, entirely oblivious to his current world and seemingly unconnected. Only closer to the end, as the boy understands more of this new world and more about himself in this new context, does the connection with his 'real' world become clear.
In a sense this is what the scriptures want to do - open a door into an entirely new world - the world of God - a world which at first seems entirely different and unconnected to our own. The first priority of the scriptures is not to comment on your life, your subject, your idea, your doctrine or your world - it has much greater ambitions and purposes. Only once you have allowed yourself to be taken to this new world, and discovered yourself in the context of this new world, do the connections and implications for our world become clear. I can't help thinking of the song: ‘A Whole New World’ Here are a few of the lyrics that fit this concept so well:
...A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view...
· whole new world
· dazzling place I never knew
But when I'm way up here
It's crystal clear
That now I'm in a whole new world with you Now I'm in a whole new world with you
A whole new world
Don't you dare close your eyes
A hundred thousand things to see Hold your breath - it gets better
I'm like a shooting star
I've come so far
I can't go back to where I used to be
God wants to be more than an accessory to your world. His message is greater than a comment on your life. The scriptures have more to offer than a feel-good inspirational thought to help you through the day. As we read the scriptures, be ready to be transported into an entirely different setting, confronted by entirely new ideas, and transformed into an entirely new person.
Some of you might remember a movie called 'Never Ending Story' In this movie a boy starts reading a very special book that draws him into an entirely different world from his own. The book doesn't, in the first instance, give advice or direction for his world. In fact the story draws him into a new world, entirely oblivious to his current world and seemingly unconnected. Only closer to the end, as the boy understands more of this new world and more about himself in this new context, does the connection with his 'real' world become clear.
In a sense this is what the scriptures want to do - open a door into an entirely new world - the world of God - a world which at first seems entirely different and unconnected to our own. The first priority of the scriptures is not to comment on your life, your subject, your idea, your doctrine or your world - it has much greater ambitions and purposes. Only once you have allowed yourself to be taken to this new world, and discovered yourself in the context of this new world, do the connections and implications for our world become clear. I can't help thinking of the song: ‘A Whole New World’ Here are a few of the lyrics that fit this concept so well:
...A whole new world
A new fantastic point of view...
· whole new world
· dazzling place I never knew
But when I'm way up here
It's crystal clear
That now I'm in a whole new world with you Now I'm in a whole new world with you
A whole new world
Don't you dare close your eyes
A hundred thousand things to see Hold your breath - it gets better
I'm like a shooting star
I've come so far
I can't go back to where I used to be
God wants to be more than an accessory to your world. His message is greater than a comment on your life. The scriptures have more to offer than a feel-good inspirational thought to help you through the day. As we read the scriptures, be ready to be transported into an entirely different setting, confronted by entirely new ideas, and transformed into an entirely new person.
***********************************
Mary-Anne Rabe's CD In His Light available from
This is an excerpt only from the song "The Mystery".
The Mystery is understated here, but is SO strong as a song and content
I can literally hear 1 million singing it in a valley somewhere locally.
30 years ago, as we were selling gift items to the gift trade in London by which
the whole of Emsworth Bible House lived for a period,
two of us heard/saw something like a rock concert filling a local valley up the A3.
In a sense we've seen this already in the Big Church Day Out (see post), and in Delirious's concert in Wembley stadium, but there are two main differences.
What we saw
was the Third Level and the crowd was bigger!
What better song than this one. It's easy to envision these words as Christ sitting happily alongside an independent you, which I described here in the former post as totally wrong. When this song eventually gets sung properly with massive orchestra and massive choirs, let's hope by then..............
it is common knowledge that
Jesus doesn't share space with anyone...He is Lord.
We have died, and our life is interleaved/hidden in Christ
such that we don't know where one starts and the other finishes!
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