The outstanding media prophecy about to be fulfilled???!!?
A precious brother, musician and friend called James Hughes from Liss is working to complete a Film project which has taken 22 years. It is called Mercy is a Person. It is like no outreach project you have ever seen. Imagine an artistic piece of work which contains teachings broader than the Alpha Course, yet too direct an evangelistic message for any English Christian film director, yet deep enough to study for years to come...to refer to alongside the works of CS Lewis,(his adult material) yet with music that will pierce your heart. This type of thing is EXACTLY what Julie Meyer is prophesying without knowing about it.
James and his co-producer have put 40 years into this, which is about equivalent to the average film, split between a team of 8.He has a meeting with a media person on 19th September. Please pray that he completes the finishing touches of all this work ready for presentation.
People have already come to the Lord through its prototype versions!!!!
Sunday, 31 August 2008
Saturday, 30 August 2008
The Holy Ghost Growing Machine - The Body of Christ
"We can only point to Christ; the Spirit opens people's eyes. I can't make someone grow, but I can speak Truth into their life; the Holy Spirit grows them." Another great quotable sentence from rjw.
The Holy Spirit grows us.
He does it every waking moment, whether we are consciously aware or not.
“Day to day (our surroundings) are pouring forth speech” Psalm 19:2.
He does it every waking moment, whether we are consciously aware or not.
“Day to day (our surroundings) are pouring forth speech” Psalm 19:2.
He does it through our family and friends. He does it through The Word, written, preached in church , or on God TV. I say the latter because in Iran , say, it is not possible to do much else...save receive direct impartation through God Himself. So far so good...I could be a Methodist or Anglican Minister eh !!!!
Then in 1973, Graham Pulkingham, when he visited our little rural Baptist Chuch with the Fisherfolk, dropped a bombshell. Now today it will seem so yawningly obvious...you won't even read further. But before revealing his words ...listen..this man spoke with the conscious revelation that he had died and his life was hidden with Christ in God. He wouldn't have it that he was baptised in the Spirit on one particular day. He would constantly say, "I was baptised in the Spirit over 3 months on the crypt floor crying, in the Church of the Redeemer Houston."
Whatever happened to him on the insides during those weeks...came out in the words that he spoke. They flashed out of him like a 100Megawatt light flash. They seared the insides of the poor Baptist people who were present. Like phosphor they clung to the clothes of everyone, so that whatever they made of this sentence, whichever way they fell on it, they had been marked for the rest of their lives. He said " WE ARE The Body Of Christ On Earth!!!"
Boy..were there eruptions! Some had never heard anything so proposterous in their whole lives. Some wanted to leave the church. Some made sure that Pulkingham was never invited back.
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One or 2 years later, a fellowship in Emsworth that met on an adhoc Sunday evening basis to explore the gifts of the Spirit and praise and worship, received a travelling Catalunyan/Argentinian by the name of Jorge Pradas (George, pronounced by Paul Ellis in his inimitable Spanish as Hawkeye. I thought I'd come into a right sect here!! It was the days of the mass suicide of the sect in the South American jungle. My mum was so scared!)
Jorge said more or less the same thing...with the same amount of phosphor from out of the Throne of God. He said," Are you a fellowship...or are you The Church (of the Living God) meeting in Emsworth." And so, under apostolic anointing Emsworth Church was born.
You see , the one thing is undefined, like a "new Cart" that I've been talking about. The other is the conscious decision to walk in the scary uncharted waters of the Order of Melchizedek, or what Bill Johnson, or Mark Stibbe calls The River.
When I am so brutally rude about Terry Virgo, or Rob Rufus, or the apostles headed up by Bill Johnson Peter Wagner or Che Ahn...it is not I repeat, NOT from a spirit like Hank Hanegraaf ..to demean, destroy and dishonour. It is in the spirit of the prophet who was cheery in the morning with David, saying ," Yes, yes David go ahead and build a house for God at Jerusalem." Then that evening he phones up and says..".er David, you know what I said this morning...about you building the house of the Lord...er...You are not going to. You've known too much bloodshed. Your son is going to do it. But tell you what...you can collect all the materials."
Now the Word I have is not as strong as saying to the previous move..."None of you are going to be involved." The Word about the New Cart, comes out of what actually happened at Florida.
Florida, as specifically stated by Bob Jones, and confirmed by Rob Rufus, was not "another Revival". Also it was not going to stop. It is another leap forward of perhaps an ultimately greater order than the leap forward of 1907. IT IS ANOTHER THING entirely.
It contains these factors. Facelessness. Pre-training over years in the hidden places with the Holy Spirit. Nearly all the new anointed teaching and behaviors, and patterns of the Holy Spirit were coming from men in their early 30s. Todd Bentley, Ryan Watts,Roy Field, Todd's team.
It was another order of anointing. It was another order of church. Like the River itself it is contagious. Highly significant for us in the UK was the Word that Florida was primarily NOT for America , but for places like the UK. Every hungry church in Britain has been affected. The way we do church in Havant has changed. Every major conference and camp over the summer in UK has had a different order of anointing in worship, signs wonders and preaching, and conversions. Soul Survivor was amazing, New Wine was amazing, Colin Urquart's one was amazing. River Camp, I say, for all 20 from our church, was absolutely stunning...with Mark Stibbe and Ken Gott.
But the Word I have, which comes out of the misgivings Christine and I had with loads of info about Todd's situation through people , as nice as they are, and as humble as they are, like Peter and Doris Wagner.....is
"Tread warily. You are dealing with a different order of ministry. You are dealing with a different Church Age. Just because you were Christ's apostolic gift to deal with what Ern Baxter in "Thy Kingdom Come" 1975refers to as...The Ziklag job... or the Hebron job....does not presuppose you have the accreditaion transferred to allow you to waltz in and assume you have apostolic authority for the next phase. Now listen to my words...it doesn't mean you don't either. Derek Prince managed to serve the Order of Melchizedek over a series of decades through many changes of level and anointing. (To my knowledge) Michael HarperUK Fountain Trust Pioneer did not. Another speaker in Kansas City in 1975 called John Poole did not. Everyone has to get their visas checked for this next phase.
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The chain picture above shows that the strength of a chain depends on the strength of the weakest link.
When we talk of the Body of Christ. When we use that phrase what is going on inside us? Have we sucked the Blood out of it? DO we use it in the same way as meaning I am in a club, firm, association of people, like IBM, or the State, or the RAC or AA? When I used the stark phrase (Ihave died with Christ, it is not I, but) Jesus Christ in Chris form who lives in me? Did you get angry? Did you just laugh and say "that's weird" or what did you think? I tell you this. The strength of the Body of Christ on earth is directly related to the ability that you as an individual are believing "Christ in me the hope of glory." Anything else is a bunch of people running around still in the lie of Genesis 3:5, as gods in their own right, and when scaled up over the whole Body of Christ, makes us into just another secular institution. As each of us makes the switchover internally , (changeover of our internal seeing) the secondlevel church which sees itself as quite detached from the glory of God(Like on a new cart), actually moves forward into the (new) Levitical order who carry the Ark on their own personal shoulders. It's not just shoved into the hands of the worship band. Or the star preacher. Or our ability or not to pray in the Presence of God for 5 hours.....Why. Because that's where we live .Full time. Knowing there is no separate life. There is no independant life. Never was. It was always Satan wanting to live his independence through me. Since the Cross...Jesus has bought me back as His possession.
The concept of Ezekiel 47 the River is described from a fallen Man's viewpoint. Going deeper into the River until finally diving right in.
The Tabernacle is devised for us fallen men, going from the East (Sin) to being containers of Christ (West).
But the Truth is, from heaven's perspective ....how many of Satan's cancer sin cells dragging you into hell, do you want in your body? Oh I think I'll settle for a count of 25 actually....Nope I don't think so.......You want to get every last drop of independant delusion self life out...now...before it wrecks your marriage,job,health everything. And the Body of Christ is the Holy Ghost growing machine to achieve this.
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Why John 15 is not the same as New Age
The most "Third-Level" of all Jesus' teaching is in the discourse He had with the twelve disciples over the Passover meal immediately before His death at Jerusalem. John Ch13-17,especiallyCh 15-17.
The concept of Christ in you as you is often confused with New Age secularism.It is actually no coincidence that as the hidden depths of the teaching of Jesus Christ are being brought out into the open, even more so this year than ever before, that in the last 30 years or so there has been such an increase in New Age belief.
Before the paddywagon wheels Christians away for general insanity, I wanted to hammer a few things in this post.
Whilst, yes, We Christians are The Vine, we are equally accurately the branches of the Vine.In the sense that branches are The Vine, then yes, we are that. But the Vine in our own right, nope, we are not.
I am not Jesus Christ. The second Person of the Godhead who laid all aside to become a normal man injected as a second Adam into Mary's womb, having no earthly father....this man, was Jesus Christ of Nazareth. I have never been to Nazareth. I have no relation (yet) with the land of Israel. My brother , who worked on a kibbutz, has more relation with Nazareth than me.When I asked Jesus into my heart, His Spirit came in to live His Life as me. It's just I was never told about this...which has caused years of confusion. As it has in most Christian's lives.I am Jesus Christ in Chris form, born in Ghana, come out of Berkhamsted and born again in Amersham, but I am not Jesus Christ of Nazareth. As we receive Christ's Spirit into us when we are born again, the old spirit which drove us is kicked out, and we begin a new history of Him forming Himself in us, using similar techniques by which the Father matured and "grew" His Son whilst on Earth. We are the Branches. "Branch expressions" of the The Complete Vine" . But the Complete Vine we are not. His Church are the Branches.Some have gone before and are interceeding with Jesus for us in heaven. The rest of the branches are on earth. But we are all the Vine. The Vine is not the trunk. The Vine is both the trunk and the branches.
Watchman Nee wrote "The Normal Christian Life". In it he describes the traditional view that comes through the Brethren teachings, and indeed through most of the Church, that we have two natures, and the one we feed the most wins out. Most of the Church live with this schizophrenic view of themselves.
The Bible says quite clearly we have died. Our spirit that was completely fused with satan's spirit , what the Bible describes as :We were by nature children of wrath...that is .....joined to that nature of Rebellion that has already been eternally judged. When we say nature here, this is at the spirit level. This is the spirit force of self "out for its own ends " that drove us.
Now Jesus dealt with this spirit once and for all at the Cross, then He gathered up the you and me bit of our spirits and "hid us with Himself (Christ) in God." That is, our root spiritual self is so entwined and interleaved with Him, it is impossible to separate out again. And the moment we ask Jesus into our lives, it is this new fusion that comes into us. There are NOT 3 things going on here. We were darkness. Now we are Light. It does not say there is a middle realm now where we are "self-running beings" choosing a bit of Light here and a bit of Darkness here.And this lack of definition is enough to paralyse the Charismatic and non-charismatic Church.
(The first and second levels...to grossly simplify and thereby annoy Southbourne Free Church.)This "self-running lie" which we picked up like a virus in the first ever rebellion, and the Bible calls the "mystery" of sin, is the reason why Christians cannot make their Christian lives work outside of meetings. As soon as we get caught up again in the futile myth of the independant self we are just seconds away from producing bad fruit again...because although our spirit centre has eternally switched over, we have just effectively produced a landing strip again for the spirit of error to work his "works of the flesh".
And it is the Romans 7 pressure cooker experience that proves it to us. Because 1st and 2nd levellers do not want to hear this stuff, God has Plan B to prove it to us. As soon as we have had enough, and are prepared to actually listen to His Word...then comes Romans 8 Living, and a whole new realm opens up. It is ofcourse not us doing this, as 1st and 2nd levellers assume, it is actually Christ being allowed for the first time to live His Life through us for any stretch of time.Outside a meeting.He'd have done it ages ago, but we were too busy kicking and screaming.
So as the parable of the Cave said....our end game is not getting Warehouses of born again and baptised in the Spirit Christians all going out and reproducing the same...but still unable to live life, and still unaware of what the Bible is actually on about.If that was so, then Christine and I,her in Alfreton,me in Amersham, would have arrived by most 2nd level standards, the year we converted in 1972. Because both of us were leading people to Christ , and unknown to each other, both were praying over people to get them baptised in the Spirit. Terry Virgo would be thrilled.
Mark Driscoll would have made us elders at age 14!!!No. No. No. No. The end game is to get everyone to know what went wrong in Genesis 3 verse 5, and to actually LIVE Christ's remedy. As much as I love Josh Mills and the fact that the glory of God regularly manifests in gold on him. Recently this happened again in Plymouth. I just get the impression from things he has said, he still has precious little idea of how you actually live a normal life in Christ outside meetings. He behaves like an extreme sort of 2nd leveller, that just knows how to splash about in the 3rd level in meetings? Josh, is this fair??
The Holy of Holies is real. Joshua knows it. But the glory is the actual manifest Presence who hovers above the Mercy seat. What about the wooden Ark of our lives, covered with gold inside and out, with the Living tablets of Christ living His Life out through us in Marks and Spencer's?The Cart Maintenance schedule in the parable is the mistaken "self-running" delusion that as a self-operated Person you have to pray for 3 or 4 hours to get the glory. No, what you have to do is renounce the 2nd level belief system which is part of the Fall anyway, and do Romans 12 verse 1 in this new context. Let Him live His life through You. If that means talking to a Samaritan woman at a well, and you miss your 5 hour quiet time...well praise God...you probably needed to...because now God gives you "food to eat" that others know not of. See John 4:32 .
I sometimes joke with Peter Stott that I need to go back to work, to recharge prophetically.I chose piano tuning because it is a good activity for waiting on God. I have done this for 27 years, and Peter will tell you what happens in meetings. Folks, this stuff works!!!!
Thursday, 21 August 2008
The Shekinah Construction Company and the Cave - A Church Parable of the last 50 years to the Present Day
My friend Dan (or maybe another Dan) watched from his window as a helicopter descended upon a rough craggy hill a long way in the distance. He could vaguely make out three pallet loads being lowered onto the ground in front of a cave which was hidden in the rocks somewhere near the hilltop. Some people on the ground were then attending to the items and wheeling them into the cave for storage.This all happened in the evening and by morning there seemed to be no trace of anyone working around the outside of the cave.
Then Billy Graham made his way up the hill, peered inside the cave, saw one of the pallets, and made his way down the hill with a pallet truck carrying what he thought was all that was needed for the job in hand. On the first pallet was stacks and stacks of thousands and thousands of invitations, freshly printed.
The Invitation read:
"You are requested to be present at a Shekinah Glory event that will last forever and ever."
The slightly annoying thing about the invitation was the vagueness in time details. The invitation seemed to point mostly to a future date, but did include some contemporary details, however nobody could agree firmly on them.
The slightly annoying thing about the invitation was the vagueness in time details. The invitation seemed to point mostly to a future date, but did include some contemporary details, however nobody could agree firmly on them.
Some time later, waves of other Shekinah construction workers came.
There was Morris Cerullo. Winkie Pratney of Youth With a Mission. There was Benny Hinn. Rheinhardt Bonnke, many others.
These all peered further into the cave and noticed two pallet loads. The first one as mentioned…but also a second one with perhaps the most important load in terms of content: It turned out to be the Ark of the Covenant with the very Glory of God actually above it.
This proved very popular because people liked the fact that now the invitations pointed to something that appeared to start now, and went on for ever. The Shekinah celebrations were fantastic and even larger quantities of people were affected as these men all went on the road with their teams. By now also it was easier to teach other workers because the process was made easier by having more than just invitations to study and hand out. There was the real Ark to gaze and be amazed at, and participate in.
They discovered the fastest way to carry the Shekinah glory was on a brand new cart pulled by oxen.This had the convenience that the work was done for you, but it also maintained a nice link with the traditions of the past, that everyone admired.
Oxen,you see, added the needed gravitas to the whole affair.
Terry Virgo and Rob Rufus would simply pitch up in a new city, bring a crowd of people with them,skilled in the contents of the two pallets, wheel out the Shekinah and within a few weeks or a couple of years at most they had built "warehouses of the grace of God ", like PCWorld scattered all over the globe. Che Ahn was brilliant at this, so was Yonghi Cho. It was so impressive.
There was Morris Cerullo. Winkie Pratney of Youth With a Mission. There was Benny Hinn. Rheinhardt Bonnke, many others.
These all peered further into the cave and noticed two pallet loads. The first one as mentioned…but also a second one with perhaps the most important load in terms of content: It turned out to be the Ark of the Covenant with the very Glory of God actually above it.
This proved very popular because people liked the fact that now the invitations pointed to something that appeared to start now, and went on for ever. The Shekinah celebrations were fantastic and even larger quantities of people were affected as these men all went on the road with their teams. By now also it was easier to teach other workers because the process was made easier by having more than just invitations to study and hand out. There was the real Ark to gaze and be amazed at, and participate in.
They discovered the fastest way to carry the Shekinah glory was on a brand new cart pulled by oxen.This had the convenience that the work was done for you, but it also maintained a nice link with the traditions of the past, that everyone admired.
Oxen,you see, added the needed gravitas to the whole affair.
Terry Virgo and Rob Rufus would simply pitch up in a new city, bring a crowd of people with them,skilled in the contents of the two pallets, wheel out the Shekinah and within a few weeks or a couple of years at most they had built "warehouses of the grace of God ", like PCWorld scattered all over the globe. Che Ahn was brilliant at this, so was Yonghi Cho. It was so impressive.
Just one thing though. One thing nobody seemed to notice. Dan had seen three pallet loads being put into the cave. A young man called Todd Bentley became aware that there were in fact three pallet loads in the cave and began wheeling the 3rd one out of the back of the cave for inspection. It was the Florida Revival. Something new was happening!
Todd became increasingly irritated with the other men who had gone before, but he found it difficult to put his finger on why. Because, as they all assured him, they had the invitations, and the most important thing of all, the very Shekinah of God. Joseph Prince was really adamant about this. So Todd , although aware of the third pallet, never actually got to unload it properly and just buckled down, as instructed by Wagner, Che Ahn and others who were on TV, to a daily maintenance check of the new cart.
Todd had more and more trouble with his personal problems. Somehow the grace that Rob Rufus and Joseph Prince were talking about was not helping him as he was driving the cart forward. Rob Rufus, Joseph Prince and many others made encouraging noises to do with Romans Chapters 3,4,5 and 8. Dan wondered to himself, if Todd Bentley had been instructed properly about the contents and usage of the third pallet by his mentors from the beginning, whether he would have had so much trouble.He also noticed that New Cart preachers never went through Romans 6 and 7 properly.
Instead,every time Todd Bentley had personal problems, all would ask about his Cart maintenance schedule.( In fact all the previous apostles of the Shekinah Glory (ON THE CART INC), gathered round Todd at one point, to officially recognise him as a full OX CART evangelist as if he had been an OXCART Fellow Seminarian.) Todd pointed out that his Cart schedule was already pretty hefty, working out at 5 hours. The others reminded him that Benny Hinn thought 6 hours was necessary and carried on driving their own carts forward.
Pretty soon , as with all previous revivals, sooner or later the cart hit a severe bump and Todd was reprimanded very firmly by some and beaten into the ground by others. But the one thing that Dan noticed was that nobody had even mentioned that the third pallet had made a brief if somewhat unexplored appearance in front of the cave.
Dan went out of his house to take a closer look. When he arrived at the cave, in the darkness he could see that the Zerubbabel group (http://www.zpress.org/newsletter/) had already taken the cover off the pallet and were already working with the content quietly and unnoticed. What on earth was it? It appeared to be two long wooden poles or something. He asked them what they were going to do with the two poles? Were they going to carry the Ark of the Testimony with it? They said they didn’t believe in the experience of the second pallet. But they were gilding the poles quietly and that they would be happy with that and handing out invitations from the first pallet. (Rob Rufus had told Dan not to have anything to do with the poles. That’s New Age he said. I used to see fakirs sitting on top of them before I was converted. Have nothing to do with the third pallet Dan. It’s all grace and oxcarts now.)
Dan asked Zerubbabel,” But what about Che Ahn? Rob Rufus, Joseph Prince? Morris Cerullo, Benny Hinn? Youth With A Mission? “ “Never heard of them”, they replied. “Are they people on TV? We don’t do TV. And we believe the gold on the poles is everywhere, and that is enough for us.”
Dan was a bit shocked. Also he could see a long and protracted debate going on between them and people like Madame Guyon, and Mother Basilea Schlink, R.Edward Miller , Ruth Heflin, and Gene Edwards. They were all saying the poles should be called brokenness, like the pole that Jacob leaned on, and the staff that Moses had which budded. But Zerubbabel were adamant that these poles of the Christ Life within had now superceded everything else, because they reversed the original root problem in Genesis 3:5. So Dan went away totally bemused.
Zerubbabel were familiar with the third pallet as were many others from the past, but didn’t feel it had any connection with the 2nd pallet. Which was a bit odd...since the poles were only made to operate with the other pallets. They just liked the poles as they were, now gilded. And Todd Bentley was sitting in the corner of the cave confused, somewhat battered, and believing that somehow there was a way that all three pallets could be used together, so they could do away with the rather rubbish new cart way of pushing the glory of God around."
I SUBMIT THIS FOR DISCUSSION
The Basis of the Florida references comes from a report that was sent me surrounding the last weeks, that I have also sent Dan Bowen. Both Christine and I have been puzzling over the different strands of things that were taking place in Florida.
Tuesday, 19 August 2008
On,Now,To the Third Level
This blog has a prehistory....about 100 A4 pages are to be found in the Comments sections of my friend Dan Bowen's blog Life On Wings since February 2008. Here also you will discover loads of incredible related blogs both by Dan and his associates and friends. The only reason for creating a separate blog at this point is that the project I wish to undertake is more substantial than a comments section will allow. So many have been so encouraging and wonder why it's taken so long. Well the climate has changed and I think the time has come to present many of the 3rd level teachings in a systematic way for a grown up Church. I am going to use "Yes I am" by Norman Grubb, available here. Norman uses "3rd Level" a bit differently. I use it to mean the Father level , of 1John 2:12 onward.Both corporately and individually. I believe, since Luther we have been retracing the steps of grace back into the spiritual reality of the Heavenly Tabernacle, of which Moses' version was a prototype, a shadow. I believe the three areas of the tabernacle , correspond to a salvation Christianity, a Baptism in the Spirit type of Christianity, and now the third level, where God wants by His grace to reproduce His Son in us , outside of meetings, learning how to live full-time in Him. In time to come there will be no need for levels-talk, because this will be the norm as Psalm 110 verse 3NASV."We shall offer ourselves freely in the Day of His Power."
Yes I Am is not a book.It is a spiritual symphony in words 60 years in the writing. It contains tramlines of thought that are second nature to the author, but need teasing out in chunks to new readers.
Here is a testimony that is so similar to the material now appearing on blogs everywhere. It comes from the epilogue....So let's begin as we mean to go on, eh, BACKWARDS!!! I would like others to add relevant postings too, to the material as it unfolds.
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July, 1980
Dear Brother Norman.
Thank you very much for making yourself available to come
and stay with us We so appreciated ycur fellowship and your
showing us the way of God more perfectly.
Every day is such a wonderful experience in unbroken
fellowship and communion with the Father. That was how He
meant it to be from the beginning. I know that 1 am one with
Him, and that 1 am no longer I, but Christ living in me, in my
human form. And the thrilling thing is that I can do abso-
lutely nothing to deserve or merit Him. I used to think that the
Christian life was wrapped up in rules and regulations, dos and
don'ts, laws and commandments, and daily disciplines. That's
religion — man's way of being one with Him. I've discovered
that on the cross He said, "It is finished." He settled it forever,
once and for all! I am complete in Him by virtue of Him in me
and as me. There is absolutely nothing I can do to add to the
righteousness of God in my life. Everything that Christ is, I am
—justified, sanctified, glorified, etc. (Rom. 8:30, 1 Cor. 1:2).
Oh, what a wonderful mystery! One with the Father! So many
know only the saving knowledge of Christ by His blood for the
forgiveness of sins, and so very few know the replaced life
through His resurrected and ascended body, of victory, joy,
peace, overcoming, triumph, and complete rest. It is now my
everyday continual experience that in fact I am a new creature,
where old things are passed away and all things are become
new. God intended only for His life to be manifested in us.
Satan no longer has any foothold in me and sin no more
power, no more dominion over me. Condemnation is a thing
of the past that no longer plagues me. In reality, our becoming
born-again puts us in the same standing with God the Father as
Jesus being born of a virgin!
As I know who I really am, there is only victory in Christ.
When trials and afflictions come, it's only God putting His
Christ through such circumstances in life to bring forth life in
others. I have been bought with a price... His precious blood,
and am no longer my own. I am now for others. I am now the
express image of the very nature and character of God in the
earth. It is written that God has "created all things for His
pleasure." At first thought that sounds selfish, until one
realizes that His pleasure is that of giving His all. He's not
looking for something to get from us to fulfill His desires or to
please Himself, but rather His pleasure is to give. That has now
become my pleasure and purpose in life. I no longer look to
God for what 1 can get out of Him for me. My nature is now
His and that is to give. Now as I give, it's with the
understanding that He first gave to me. He is my source. "I loveHim because He first loved me."
With that in mind, trials and afflictions are a pleasure
because they are for the benefit of others. I used to think trials
and afflictions were the "dealings of God" to perfect me, to
sanctify me, to improve me — me, me, me. But I've discovered
that Jesus completed the work of redemption, sanctification,
and perfection: "He hath [past tense] perfected forever them
that are sanctified." God is no longer interested in dealing with
me, but that the world through me might be saved. As long as
we think trials and afflictions are for us as the dealings of God,
we will forever be trying to get our lives in order and
disciplined in order to reach that unobtainable goal of
perfected self. We become very self-centered, self-assessing,
self-disciplined. I've given up once and for all that self-
assessing life, realizing the finished work He has done.
When Jesus said, "Be ye perfect, even as your Father...,"
He did not set an impossible standard for us. He accomplished
the work of perfection at Calvary and it is found only in the
replaced life. It is actually possible to fulfill all of Matthew 5,6,
7 without even trying. It is possible to live a life free of sin. "As
He is, so are we in this world." How can I say He hath perfected
Me? Because it is no longer I that live, but Christ!
When we can welcome and embrace circumstances joyfully
and with thanksgiving, we can endure all things and become
(as you have well put it. Brother Norman), co-saviors with
Christ. I am now crucified to the world and the world to me
that the world I come in daily contact with might be saved. I die
daily for the benefit of others, that life might spring forth in
them. God has ordained difficulties and seemingly evil
circumstances to happen to us for the express purpose of
Christ being made manifest to others.
Knowing these things, the life of God becomes reality. We
live by faith, not by sight, nor by feeling or circumstances. We
live by that which is eternal and unseen, not by the physical.
lying vanities around us. We are blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. This world is no longer our home.
We are simply pilgrims passing through. The world of faith
becomes more real to us than the physical world that we see
and touch and smell and taste and hear, with our five senses.
Faith establishes the word of God as fact, as evidence, as
substance, as already accomplished. The promises of God are
in Him "yea," and in Him "Amen" — by us\ All we do is say
"Yes" and "Amen" to what God has already said, and it is so!
When we live by faith, it doesn't matter what happens around
us. We no longer judge things by outward appearance, but we
judge righteously. This is where life becomes fun and exciting
and full of victory as we let God be the judge in life, and we live
by the unseen, eternal reality!
As life becomes a walk of faith, we then see everything with a
"single eye." Jesus said our eye is either single or evil. One or
the other. To see double is to see evil. Adam and Eve partook
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They then saw
with double vision. They then became judges in life rather than
leaving that to God. The -devil very subtly fooled them by
saying, "You shall become as gods, knowing good and evil,"
when in fact the Father wanted them to be gods. We are always
trying to become something when in fact we are simply to be
the "I am" within us. It's so simple that it's complex! When we
look at everything in life as good or evil, we become the judges
(as God), always classifying everything in one category or
another. We become bitter, frustrated, judgmental in life.
There is no joy, no peace, no rest.
To see with a single eye is to have a pure heart. That's why
Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God." Paul also speaks of living our lives in "singleness of
heart." When we have a pure heart, walking in singleness of
heart, with a single eye, we see only God in everything. Every
circumstance, every problem, trial, affliction, seemingly evil
thing, is the manifestation of God to us. We can flow with and
be in harmony with everything that takes place, and be at peace
with God and every man. Proverbs says, "There shall no evil
happen to the just." Knowing this, life is exciting! It is fun!
When we see God only in life, we can truly give thanks in and
for everything!
There is such an emphasis today on getting and keeping "the
presence of God" in one's life. I also once strived and struggled
and cried out to God through daily disciplines to get the
"manifested presence" of God. I thought the presence of God
was dependent upon what I did. I have since thrown all of that
out of the window forever, realizing now that I in fact am the
presence of God. the Holy of Holies, the temple of the Holy
Ghost. I no longer have to go running around striving to get
His presence in my life. /am the manifested presence of God,
even as Jesus was upon earth in His flesh. I am the will of God
in the earth, that the world though me might be saved bv virtue
of Him that dwells permanently within me. As Christ is lifted
up. He will draw all men unto Himself — by us.
Psalm 22:3 says, "But Thou art holy, 0 Thou that inhabitest
the praises of Israel." I've always thought that the way to get
His presence was to praise Him and then He would come down
and inhabit my praise and manifest Himself to me. But that's
the God of the Old Covenant, the God of "influence," or as the
world calls it, a philosophy. Most people look at God as an
"influence": "Here I am down here, and there You are. God, up
there; and if I do certain things and fulfill certain principles,
You'll come down with Your presence and bless me." Even the
world lives by that philosophy, feeling they'll be blessed by
doing and fulfilling certain principles in life. Israel, an
unregenerate people, lived by that principle. But because God
is self-giving, He doesn't expect anything out of us. 1 don't have
to fulfill anything to get His presence. My God is not a God of
influence, but He's a God that has taken permanent residence.
He has taken permanent abode in me. The veil was rent once
and for all from the top to the bottom, opening the way into the
Holy of Holies whereby I freely partake of His presence... no
strings attached. Because of that, praise is now a natural, free,
flowing, continual expression unto Him. Praise becomes as
natural as breathing, and is a state of being and not an act. Our
lives can simply be a praise to Him (Eph. 1:12). The act of vocal
and demonstrative praise simply flows out of that state of
being in which I find myself— that of union with Him, one and
the same with Him. I no longer know a God coming and going,
a life of ups and downs according to whether I praise Him or
not. There is such a higher realm where He becomes you and
you become Him and are one with the Father.
The organized church today is, by and large, a modern
Moses'Tabernacle, trying to fulfill certain principles, rules and
regulations, dos and don'ts, laws and commandments, and
daily disciplines in order to get the presence and approval of
God. That's fine, as long as one does all that; but Scripture says
that no one can keep the law. It also says that whoever does the
law must also live in it. You're blessed if you can do it. but
cursed if you can't. (I've been trying for thirteen years, but
never could.) Besides that, even if one could keep all the
principles, laws, disciplines, etc., there is room for pride
saying, "I've done it." But God will share His glory with no
man. There is absolutely nothing we can do to merit His
presence or approval; neither does God expect us to do
anything to obtain it, because of His very self-giving nature.
It is the tangible, felt, manifested presence of God that the
organized church is looking for today. They'll never find it
though, and only become frustrated in the process, because
Jesus said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with
observation, but behold, the kingdom of God is within you."It
is a wicked and adulterous generation that seeketh for a sign, a
manifestation of God. Once again, the signs and
manifestations will automatically and naturally follow them
that believe. It will be a natural outflow of who we are and not
what we do.
For years I have been asking God for a great hunger and
thirst for Him. I felt that the more hunger and thirst I had, the
more God would come to me. I now realize I've been wasting
my time and energy. But as I now understand who He is within
me, I am full, I am satisfied, my thirst is quenched, my hunger
is gone. Even as the Scriptures declare, out of my belly, my
innermost being, flow rivers of living water. Jesus said, "He
that drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst."
He said, "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall oe filled." He also said, "He that
cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me
shall never thirst." There is an end! That end is Christ! 1 no
longer hunger or thirst. I now only know a permanently
satisfied, fulfilled life in Christ — full and overflowing for the
benefits of others.
I've given up trying to improve my life. All I have to do is to
be who I really am, which is Christ in me. If I may be so bold, I
am a god, created in His very image with the indwelling Christ
my all. It's no longer I that live, yet it is I, yet not I, but Christ.
No wonder Paul calls it a mystery! Jesus was the firstborn
among many brethren. He came as a Son to be an intercessor
to bring many sons to glory. Paul said, "Let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus," the "mind" of total self-
emptying, and then spoke of Jesus' exaltation. I, too, am to
have this intercessory mind of total self-emptying to take
humanity's lowest place on the cross. And any exaltation that
follows will be from God.
After years of struggling and striving, frustration and failure
(a necessary step!), I have finally ceased from my own works
and entered into rest. Oh, what fellowship divine, what
communion, what "est! I know Him, even as 1 am known of
Him. I used to work so hard at being a Christian... and, as a
result, God was at rest. Now I'm at rest and He's at work! In
this rest, prayer becomes a state of being. It's no longer an act
of formality. It's continual communion and fellowship with
the Father. Then and only then is it possible to fulfill the
scripture "Pray without ceasing."
I have come to a realization that it was not/that committed
myself to Him. It was He that committed Himself to me. My
spiritual life is dependent upon His total commitment to me.
As long as I think that my walk with God depends upon my
decision, my dedication, my commitment to Him, then life
becomes a never-ending parade of recommitment,
rededication, reconsecreation to Him. In reality, however, the
Christian life is dependent on replacement.
Hallelujah, it is wonderful in Him! The best Bible college
there is is life itself! "For me to live is Christ." Our mission on
earth is to live and to be the Christ to an unregenerate world
around us.
I have concluded in my life that it is absolutely impossible to
live the Christian life, and that God never intended us to do so.
He intended the Christ within us to live it. Then and only then
is it possible to fulfill the law and the spirit of the law (Matt.
5,6,7). And it only comes as a revelation from the Father. Jesus
asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter said, "Thou art
the Christ." Jesus told him, "Fleshand blood hath not revealed
it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven. "Jesus then told
Peter, "Upon this rock [upon this foundation, upon this
revelation] I will build My church." Paul said that "the gospel
which was preached of me is not after man. For 1 neither
received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ." Many try it build the church upon principles,
upon teachings, upon everything imaginable except the Christ.
But "except the Lord build the house, they that build it labor in
vain." It is upon this revelation of the Christ that life is fun. Life
is exciting, fulfilling, and wonderful. Oh what fellowship, what
communion,what victory! Hallelujah to Him for ever! I'm sure I'm repeating to you many things that you've already grasped years ago.But I appreciate your listening ear.....
I love you Brother Norman.Thankyou for your love and rich fellowship.
Christopher Bernard
Yes I Am is not a book.It is a spiritual symphony in words 60 years in the writing. It contains tramlines of thought that are second nature to the author, but need teasing out in chunks to new readers.
Here is a testimony that is so similar to the material now appearing on blogs everywhere. It comes from the epilogue....So let's begin as we mean to go on, eh, BACKWARDS!!! I would like others to add relevant postings too, to the material as it unfolds.
===================================
July, 1980
Dear Brother Norman.
Thank you very much for making yourself available to come
and stay with us We so appreciated ycur fellowship and your
showing us the way of God more perfectly.
Every day is such a wonderful experience in unbroken
fellowship and communion with the Father. That was how He
meant it to be from the beginning. I know that 1 am one with
Him, and that 1 am no longer I, but Christ living in me, in my
human form. And the thrilling thing is that I can do abso-
lutely nothing to deserve or merit Him. I used to think that the
Christian life was wrapped up in rules and regulations, dos and
don'ts, laws and commandments, and daily disciplines. That's
religion — man's way of being one with Him. I've discovered
that on the cross He said, "It is finished." He settled it forever,
once and for all! I am complete in Him by virtue of Him in me
and as me. There is absolutely nothing I can do to add to the
righteousness of God in my life. Everything that Christ is, I am
—justified, sanctified, glorified, etc. (Rom. 8:30, 1 Cor. 1:2).
Oh, what a wonderful mystery! One with the Father! So many
know only the saving knowledge of Christ by His blood for the
forgiveness of sins, and so very few know the replaced life
through His resurrected and ascended body, of victory, joy,
peace, overcoming, triumph, and complete rest. It is now my
everyday continual experience that in fact I am a new creature,
where old things are passed away and all things are become
new. God intended only for His life to be manifested in us.
Satan no longer has any foothold in me and sin no more
power, no more dominion over me. Condemnation is a thing
of the past that no longer plagues me. In reality, our becoming
born-again puts us in the same standing with God the Father as
Jesus being born of a virgin!
As I know who I really am, there is only victory in Christ.
When trials and afflictions come, it's only God putting His
Christ through such circumstances in life to bring forth life in
others. I have been bought with a price... His precious blood,
and am no longer my own. I am now for others. I am now the
express image of the very nature and character of God in the
earth. It is written that God has "created all things for His
pleasure." At first thought that sounds selfish, until one
realizes that His pleasure is that of giving His all. He's not
looking for something to get from us to fulfill His desires or to
please Himself, but rather His pleasure is to give. That has now
become my pleasure and purpose in life. I no longer look to
God for what 1 can get out of Him for me. My nature is now
His and that is to give. Now as I give, it's with the
understanding that He first gave to me. He is my source. "I loveHim because He first loved me."
With that in mind, trials and afflictions are a pleasure
because they are for the benefit of others. I used to think trials
and afflictions were the "dealings of God" to perfect me, to
sanctify me, to improve me — me, me, me. But I've discovered
that Jesus completed the work of redemption, sanctification,
and perfection: "He hath [past tense] perfected forever them
that are sanctified." God is no longer interested in dealing with
me, but that the world through me might be saved. As long as
we think trials and afflictions are for us as the dealings of God,
we will forever be trying to get our lives in order and
disciplined in order to reach that unobtainable goal of
perfected self. We become very self-centered, self-assessing,
self-disciplined. I've given up once and for all that self-
assessing life, realizing the finished work He has done.
When Jesus said, "Be ye perfect, even as your Father...,"
He did not set an impossible standard for us. He accomplished
the work of perfection at Calvary and it is found only in the
replaced life. It is actually possible to fulfill all of Matthew 5,6,
7 without even trying. It is possible to live a life free of sin. "As
He is, so are we in this world." How can I say He hath perfected
Me? Because it is no longer I that live, but Christ!
When we can welcome and embrace circumstances joyfully
and with thanksgiving, we can endure all things and become
(as you have well put it. Brother Norman), co-saviors with
Christ. I am now crucified to the world and the world to me
that the world I come in daily contact with might be saved. I die
daily for the benefit of others, that life might spring forth in
them. God has ordained difficulties and seemingly evil
circumstances to happen to us for the express purpose of
Christ being made manifest to others.
Knowing these things, the life of God becomes reality. We
live by faith, not by sight, nor by feeling or circumstances. We
live by that which is eternal and unseen, not by the physical.
lying vanities around us. We are blessed with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places. This world is no longer our home.
We are simply pilgrims passing through. The world of faith
becomes more real to us than the physical world that we see
and touch and smell and taste and hear, with our five senses.
Faith establishes the word of God as fact, as evidence, as
substance, as already accomplished. The promises of God are
in Him "yea," and in Him "Amen" — by us\ All we do is say
"Yes" and "Amen" to what God has already said, and it is so!
When we live by faith, it doesn't matter what happens around
us. We no longer judge things by outward appearance, but we
judge righteously. This is where life becomes fun and exciting
and full of victory as we let God be the judge in life, and we live
by the unseen, eternal reality!
As life becomes a walk of faith, we then see everything with a
"single eye." Jesus said our eye is either single or evil. One or
the other. To see double is to see evil. Adam and Eve partook
of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They then saw
with double vision. They then became judges in life rather than
leaving that to God. The -devil very subtly fooled them by
saying, "You shall become as gods, knowing good and evil,"
when in fact the Father wanted them to be gods. We are always
trying to become something when in fact we are simply to be
the "I am" within us. It's so simple that it's complex! When we
look at everything in life as good or evil, we become the judges
(as God), always classifying everything in one category or
another. We become bitter, frustrated, judgmental in life.
There is no joy, no peace, no rest.
To see with a single eye is to have a pure heart. That's why
Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see
God." Paul also speaks of living our lives in "singleness of
heart." When we have a pure heart, walking in singleness of
heart, with a single eye, we see only God in everything. Every
circumstance, every problem, trial, affliction, seemingly evil
thing, is the manifestation of God to us. We can flow with and
be in harmony with everything that takes place, and be at peace
with God and every man. Proverbs says, "There shall no evil
happen to the just." Knowing this, life is exciting! It is fun!
When we see God only in life, we can truly give thanks in and
for everything!
There is such an emphasis today on getting and keeping "the
presence of God" in one's life. I also once strived and struggled
and cried out to God through daily disciplines to get the
"manifested presence" of God. I thought the presence of God
was dependent upon what I did. I have since thrown all of that
out of the window forever, realizing now that I in fact am the
presence of God. the Holy of Holies, the temple of the Holy
Ghost. I no longer have to go running around striving to get
His presence in my life. /am the manifested presence of God,
even as Jesus was upon earth in His flesh. I am the will of God
in the earth, that the world though me might be saved bv virtue
of Him that dwells permanently within me. As Christ is lifted
up. He will draw all men unto Himself — by us.
Psalm 22:3 says, "But Thou art holy, 0 Thou that inhabitest
the praises of Israel." I've always thought that the way to get
His presence was to praise Him and then He would come down
and inhabit my praise and manifest Himself to me. But that's
the God of the Old Covenant, the God of "influence," or as the
world calls it, a philosophy. Most people look at God as an
"influence": "Here I am down here, and there You are. God, up
there; and if I do certain things and fulfill certain principles,
You'll come down with Your presence and bless me." Even the
world lives by that philosophy, feeling they'll be blessed by
doing and fulfilling certain principles in life. Israel, an
unregenerate people, lived by that principle. But because God
is self-giving, He doesn't expect anything out of us. 1 don't have
to fulfill anything to get His presence. My God is not a God of
influence, but He's a God that has taken permanent residence.
He has taken permanent abode in me. The veil was rent once
and for all from the top to the bottom, opening the way into the
Holy of Holies whereby I freely partake of His presence... no
strings attached. Because of that, praise is now a natural, free,
flowing, continual expression unto Him. Praise becomes as
natural as breathing, and is a state of being and not an act. Our
lives can simply be a praise to Him (Eph. 1:12). The act of vocal
and demonstrative praise simply flows out of that state of
being in which I find myself— that of union with Him, one and
the same with Him. I no longer know a God coming and going,
a life of ups and downs according to whether I praise Him or
not. There is such a higher realm where He becomes you and
you become Him and are one with the Father.
The organized church today is, by and large, a modern
Moses'Tabernacle, trying to fulfill certain principles, rules and
regulations, dos and don'ts, laws and commandments, and
daily disciplines in order to get the presence and approval of
God. That's fine, as long as one does all that; but Scripture says
that no one can keep the law. It also says that whoever does the
law must also live in it. You're blessed if you can do it. but
cursed if you can't. (I've been trying for thirteen years, but
never could.) Besides that, even if one could keep all the
principles, laws, disciplines, etc., there is room for pride
saying, "I've done it." But God will share His glory with no
man. There is absolutely nothing we can do to merit His
presence or approval; neither does God expect us to do
anything to obtain it, because of His very self-giving nature.
It is the tangible, felt, manifested presence of God that the
organized church is looking for today. They'll never find it
though, and only become frustrated in the process, because
Jesus said, "The kingdom of God cometh not with
observation, but behold, the kingdom of God is within you."It
is a wicked and adulterous generation that seeketh for a sign, a
manifestation of God. Once again, the signs and
manifestations will automatically and naturally follow them
that believe. It will be a natural outflow of who we are and not
what we do.
For years I have been asking God for a great hunger and
thirst for Him. I felt that the more hunger and thirst I had, the
more God would come to me. I now realize I've been wasting
my time and energy. But as I now understand who He is within
me, I am full, I am satisfied, my thirst is quenched, my hunger
is gone. Even as the Scriptures declare, out of my belly, my
innermost being, flow rivers of living water. Jesus said, "He
that drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst."
He said, "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall oe filled." He also said, "He that
cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me
shall never thirst." There is an end! That end is Christ! 1 no
longer hunger or thirst. I now only know a permanently
satisfied, fulfilled life in Christ — full and overflowing for the
benefits of others.
I've given up trying to improve my life. All I have to do is to
be who I really am, which is Christ in me. If I may be so bold, I
am a god, created in His very image with the indwelling Christ
my all. It's no longer I that live, yet it is I, yet not I, but Christ.
No wonder Paul calls it a mystery! Jesus was the firstborn
among many brethren. He came as a Son to be an intercessor
to bring many sons to glory. Paul said, "Let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus," the "mind" of total self-
emptying, and then spoke of Jesus' exaltation. I, too, am to
have this intercessory mind of total self-emptying to take
humanity's lowest place on the cross. And any exaltation that
follows will be from God.
After years of struggling and striving, frustration and failure
(a necessary step!), I have finally ceased from my own works
and entered into rest. Oh, what fellowship divine, what
communion, what "est! I know Him, even as 1 am known of
Him. I used to work so hard at being a Christian... and, as a
result, God was at rest. Now I'm at rest and He's at work! In
this rest, prayer becomes a state of being. It's no longer an act
of formality. It's continual communion and fellowship with
the Father. Then and only then is it possible to fulfill the
scripture "Pray without ceasing."
I have come to a realization that it was not/that committed
myself to Him. It was He that committed Himself to me. My
spiritual life is dependent upon His total commitment to me.
As long as I think that my walk with God depends upon my
decision, my dedication, my commitment to Him, then life
becomes a never-ending parade of recommitment,
rededication, reconsecreation to Him. In reality, however, the
Christian life is dependent on replacement.
Hallelujah, it is wonderful in Him! The best Bible college
there is is life itself! "For me to live is Christ." Our mission on
earth is to live and to be the Christ to an unregenerate world
around us.
I have concluded in my life that it is absolutely impossible to
live the Christian life, and that God never intended us to do so.
He intended the Christ within us to live it. Then and only then
is it possible to fulfill the law and the spirit of the law (Matt.
5,6,7). And it only comes as a revelation from the Father. Jesus
asked Peter, "Who do you say that I am?" Peter said, "Thou art
the Christ." Jesus told him, "Fleshand blood hath not revealed
it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven. "Jesus then told
Peter, "Upon this rock [upon this foundation, upon this
revelation] I will build My church." Paul said that "the gospel
which was preached of me is not after man. For 1 neither
received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ." Many try it build the church upon principles,
upon teachings, upon everything imaginable except the Christ.
But "except the Lord build the house, they that build it labor in
vain." It is upon this revelation of the Christ that life is fun. Life
is exciting, fulfilling, and wonderful. Oh what fellowship, what
communion,what victory! Hallelujah to Him for ever! I'm sure I'm repeating to you many things that you've already grasped years ago.But I appreciate your listening ear.....
I love you Brother Norman.Thankyou for your love and rich fellowship.
Christopher Bernard