When I posted my most recent article, attempting to answer the question that many ask, “Why doesn’t everybody see this?,” as soon as I posted it I realized that some may take it in a way I did not mean it, and was considering writing a follow-up to that. Well, when I woke this morning I received my confirmation on that, having received this below from a person who is waking up to union with Christ. My “fears” were realized, but I am glad it has worked out this way, because it is by overcoming these negative situations in our own consciousness that we are taken from glory to glory in Christ. Here is the back and forth on that.
Dear Fred:
After reading yours (“Why Is
Union Not Embraced More?”) and Norman Grubb’s (“Self Consciousness and
Christ Consciousness” — recent post on christasus.com) articles, I
became deeply depressed. I was having such joy reading all the articles
until I realized I really do have only an intellectual, objective
knowledge of union life with Christ. While I do believe whole-heartedly,
as Norman put it, that I’ve been “one’d with Christ,” I cannot deny
that my thinking is still predominately separated and self for self no
matter how much I “choose” to focus on Christ as my only hope. If “some
go on with God and some do not” and only God can fix that by giving one
the faith to go on, then there is nothing left to do but twiddle one’s
thumbs and wait to see whether God has chosen me to be one of the
“blessed” ones. I do not really know how to “press on” and “not let go”
until he “blesses” me, although all my life so far I have been one of
those “Thinkers” (as opposed to “Doers”) who has sought to know Him more
deeply (or believed I have), even if only in an intellectual way (which
I can’t seem to help). I know you can see this is “separated thinking”
however if only God can fix that, nothing really matters until He does,
does it?
Dear dear ______,I am SO SO SO SO sorry you got out of mine and Norman’s what you did. After I wrote it, I knew it might be interpreted that way by some, and had in mind to write something to go along with it. I am on the road as you may know, in Tyler Texas right now, and sometimes have time to write and sometimes not. But please please please do not end with the “conclusion” you have come up with.
You have NOT heard either me or Norman correctly! That LAST thing I was wanting to do was to give the “impression” you got.
 |
| through a glass darkly |
You ARE Christ in your form. I must clarify this for you, this “knowing” stuff. You have “inner knowing.” You ARE one in Spirit with God – 1 Cor 6:17. Norman always taught that faith is two part. There’s the part where we make our confession – “I am crucified with Christ …. yet not I but Christ ….” We do not come to that first confession if we have not been brought there by the Spirit. And the truth is everyone is brought there in some way.
How does one “get brought there?” How is one “chosen?” It’s something of a paradox, because God has chosen all of us. We “hook into” God’s choosing by simply agreeing with His choice – of us! You would not be delighted with what you had heard if the Spirit was not working in you to know Him in this way. When I said some “do not go on,” it is simply a fact that many believers are satisfied with the status quo of their lives and exhibit or have no desire for something else. And that is perfect for them, but that is not you!
Back to this faith confession. We make our confession of who we are in Christ. When we enter a new faith, it is from the side where it is not yet our experience. We believe it, because the Spirit has shown us. We desire it, because He is moving in us to desire it. But we see, of course, that faith starts out with something “unseen,” or something yet to manifest. But we believe it anyway, even as Abraham believed God’s promise to him regarding the birth of Isaac. He believed God when there was no evidence of it in any sense, and it seemed like it was not possible for him and Sarah to have a child.
Now what we are talking about is more intangible than the physical birth of a child. There is no kind of outer proof whatsoever that what we have believed and confessed with our mouths about who we are is true. It is from beginning to end an inner thing, inner spirit consciousness.
Now my point is this: from the first moment you see the truth of these things we have been saying, things which have caused you to be joyful and hopeful again about your life in Christ, it has been your inner truth! But for some time after we see and begin to “believe it” – the length of time does not matter – we walk our faith-understanding only in our own confession. It’s the “stand” we make, even though everything seems to come against it.
But what happens eventually, the time frame doesn’t matter because it is the TRUTH about you always, even when you do not know it, is that the Spirit comes up within us and floods us with His confirmation of Himself in us. There is no describing how or what that is for or in each individual, except that to say what we have rather gingerly “believed,” becomes “solid” in us.
Now not too much is to be made from that. We stick to our faith confession that the Spirit has led us to make and believe, and do not “judge” whether this has occurred or not, this “inner confirmation,” but just walk always in faith that we are exactly who the scriptures and the Holy Spirit has revealed that we are – Christ walking around in our bodies, souls and spirits!
The ones I was speaking of who do not “go on” are the ones who stay in their churches, happy with the scraps and mixtures of law and grace, and for some reason do not ever press beyond that. I have no explanation for that. But, those folks are as much Christ in their form as someone who has seen it and confessed it, and they are living Christ, but they do not know it. And when we don’t know it, we can’t live from it in our consciousness, even though God is still manifesting Himself in the world by us.
Now I have no criticism for them, because God is still the source of their identity. Let’s imagine Christ is like a bank account (He isn’t but bear with me). Let’s say someone opens an account for us and puts in $500 million dollars. When we hear that we think that could not be true, and we only believe we have $500 in our account. So we only live from the $500 because that’s all we think we have. But we actually have $500 MILLION, we just don’t know it.
Now you have one of these $500 million dollar accounts, and by the Spirit you are beginning to see and believe it. So keep on! I am only encouraging you to believe who you already are! This reality, Christ in you, IS YOU, and IS FUNCTIONING right now in this current moment! How it works, for me and for many others, is that we increasingly see how much our account has in it and begin to live on more and more of our inexhaustible inner supply. That is where you are right this moment. You are He living in you, and just trust Him to take you from glory to glory in this, as He has your whole life. The truth which you learned, “As He is so are you in this world,” holds true!
If anything for the moment, toss mine out and Norman’s, too. Go back to what you were excited about before, because it is certainly your total reality! You are Christ living out in your human life! There is no going back on that, only a pressing ahead!
Please keep in touch. You come behind in no good thing. You ARE complete and perfect in Christ. You ARE Christ living because Gal 2:20 is just as true for you as for me or anyone else. If I have given you the impression that this somehow depends on “you” to make it work, then disregard that impression. He is your Life, Identity, Power, Love, Wisdom, Righteousness, Holiness, etc., in totality and completion right now – TODAY! He is the “author and FINISHER of your faith.” (Heb 12:2) It is He who is in you “both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (Phil 2:13) “Faithful is He who has called you, who will also DO IT!” (1 Thess 5:24).
And even Paul said, “If we believe not, He abideth faithful, because he cannot deny Himself.”(2 Tim 2:13). All our agreement or “faith” does is hook us into what already IS, and strangely, even when we do not believe it (because we do not yet know it), He still manifests Himself to the world in and AS you and me!
All my love,
fred
No comments:
Post a Comment