{Guest Post) Where do we turn to get our needs met? to allay our fears?

Guest Post: Jo Hilder

The most compelling part of scripture for me is when Jesus is tempted in the wilderness by the devil in the gospel of Matthew, 4:1-11.

Jesus addresses perhaps the most common fear responses of humanity.

• I will starve. I need to feed myself.
• I will get hurt. I need to stay safe.
• I will be a nobody. I need to be somebody.

We humans fear these three things - and work to contrive responses to these fears - at times to the point of obsession.
All our resources are turned towards having these three basic needs met.

Jesus was no different. He was human.

The difference is Jesus was aware of His God-ness.
And so the temptation came in the form of a seduction by darkness for Christ to use his God-ness to relieve his human fears, rather than simply trusting in God-source to take care of him.

And likewise, I find myself misusing my own God-ness to allay my fears and meet my screaming, visceral needs, to feed my pride and self-esteem, to bed down my worry about being nobody and having nothing.

Where God would have me trust in him to give provision, peace and community, 
I would rather strive for them, build them, grapple for them and say I worked for them.
Trusting seems too easy.

Although we all know, in a society where "basic needs" includes a house worth several hundred thousand dollars and groceries worth hundreds of dollars a week, when many live on a dollar a day, it can be much harder to trust God than it sounds.

Our darkness still pulls us towards listening to the fears of our soul.
I do not have enough.
I am unsafe and vulnerable.
I am no one, and nothing.

But the light calls us away from our fears.
What we have or don't have, where we are or are not, who we are or are not, is no measure of our worth or value.

Darkness says when we have all our needs met, our fears will leave us.
It will be a kind of sign of our power, or of God's favor.
But this isn't true. The wilderness is the wilderness. The wilds are the wilds.

Jesus was forty days hungry.
Jesus was exposed in the wilderness.
Jesus was a nobody out there, in the wilds with nothing.

The darkness left him when he answered his fears with truth.
"I'm hungry, but I can't live just on bread, I need more than that to be truly fed.
I'm unsafe, I can be hurt, I can even be killed out here, but testing God to save my life won't prove he exists to me.
Nobody knows I'm here, yes, I am no one with nothing, but owning all the kingdoms and dominion over them won't make me their king."

What do you need to truly fill your hunger?
What would it take for you to feel completely secure and safe?
What needs to happen before you feel like you're a someone who matters?

There are two sets of answers for you.
The answers of darkness, which our Jesus turned away from,
and the answers of light, which he embraced.

Which will you choose, and what does this mean for you?

Selah, friends.
Jo

Guest Post: Jo Hilder
Jo is an Australian writer, coach and speaker: website.
She shepherds a highly-interactive & nourishing FB group: Free-range Christians.

Align with God: with Master Jesus: Meditation Workshop in Asbury Park, NJ, September 9, 2015

Align with God: with Master Jesus: Meditation Workshop 

Wednesday, September 9th, 7:15 - 9:15pm

at Trinity Episcopal Church, Asbury Park, NJ

Say Hello to Master Jesus

• Clear other's opinions about Jesus, get to know him deeper, in present time, for yourself.
• Learn from Jesus spiritually, to shift into more Harmony with Jesus. 
• Let Jesus show you how to more easily Let Go, and Let Spirit Shine! 

Let Jesus lead you, Come into more Alignment with God

• Open to more Blessings: your Light, your Truth, your Wisdom, your Unique Way.
• Come more into Alignment with God.
• Say YES to more Spiritual Cleansing, Communication and Blessings.

In this Meditation, you will have the opportunity to:

• Learn and practice some basic meditation techniques.
• Share your experience, if you choose, a couple times during this session.
• Mostly, quietly enjoy letting go and experiencing your inner world.

Details:

• Bring a snack to share if you would like.
• Please tell your Friends.
• Freewill Donation  - this workshop is usually $35, please give as you are led.  All donations will to go to Trinity's Saturday Soup Program.  (Cash or a check made out to Trinity Church)

in Life, Wendy

Please register on Facebook, or e-mail me that you are coming.
then Come to:
Trinity Church
503 Asbury Avenue
Asbury Park, NJ 07712

• You can come at 7:15 for workshop - come through parking lot, and enter silver and glass doors.  Come into hallway, turn left, room is on left.
• OR You can come at 6:30 for Worship/Mass (all are welcome) - come in main church (red) doors, to the chapel in the front right of church.

Can't make this?  Maybe you can come previous Tuesday:
Relationship with Your Source: Meditation Workshop in East Windsor NJ, Sept 8, 2015

Permission to Co-create: Being Pregnant with the Seed of God

Watchman Nee was an amazing Chinese Evangelist.

 
According to my favorite Christian teacher, Dr Bruce Morgan:
Nee spoke of being pregnant with the vision - with what he co-created with God.
 
Nee was in rural China, early-middle of last century - it was a big deal:
he wanted a bicycle, it would help him a lot in ministry.

He told the local boys: I am pregnant with a bicycle.
Of course they laughed and joked - the pastor is pregnant!
And of course the bicycle came ; )

I like this picture of co-creation: 

We are pregnant 
with the possibilities 
that God seeds within us...
 
When we allow ourselves, to open to Life, to open to God's invitation/allowance: 
we HAVE Permission!
We can now say YES to Life, to God, and to our Dreams!
 
We can now, boldy and powerfully:
- ask and so we receive
- seek and so we find
- knock and so the door is opened to us.

Together with God, we can bring these seeds of possibility into the world, we:
- carry them to term 
- birth them into the world, 
- support them and watch them grow!

FYI - I am a big fan of Nee, the way he followed God directly, his elephant-sized faith... even though I don't agree with him about many thought-beliefs ; )

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About Watchman Nee:

From a ministry that shares his work: Nee's Life and Ministry

A short thing I wrote about Nee and one of his books (from years ago ; )


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ALL have sinned and fall-short of the Glory of God

Please read this first:
Funeral For A Friend (The Death of Bill Cosby)


My comment:

Thanks for another amazing post, John.
This is very sad, all round.

While I was reading, I just keep hearing
"ALL have sinned and fall-short of the Glory of God."

ALL of us have things we hide,
and if these things were shared with all the world,
there would be consternation all 'round.

I am reminded how Jesus hung out a lot with the 'sinners';
the 'low', the 'outcast', the obvious law-breakers of our society have less to hide, and less-far to fall.  They can be more Real.

The "good" folks, the "religious" folks, the "squeaky-clean" folks, the "successful" folks
- we have more to hide, and much farther to fall.
Which holds us in pretense, in hiding, in continuing to spiral down in to darkness and sin.

When OUR sins - where we fall short, where we miss the mark
- when our mis-steps are seen to the world, it is ugly, always. 

If not the things we have done and failed to do - then, certainly what has been in our hearts and minds.
As bodies/flesh, in our every-day consciousness, none of us are clean, and none of the works of our hands are pure.

Yes, as we allow the Light to grow in us,
and we start to operate from spiritual consciousness (putting on the mind of Christ),
instead of physically (influenced by the world, the flesh, and the devil).

Yes, then the fruit of spirit becomes more overt.
But, we still all miss the mark, regularly.

SO, I think we must "hold the opposites" regarding our brethren who fall spectacularly from the 'heights':

• the wonderful beauty of art, music, culture, comedy, inspiration that they produce and we enjoy
• AND at the same time being-with the broken and struggling real-people that we play the earth-game-with... We are all just humans, together.

We are ALL always falling down and, by grace, getting up,
hopefully always letting God help us back up;
hopefully always helping each other back up.
(Here is a useful application of the often misapplied 'love the sinner, hate the sin')

Because Mr. Cosby, like us all, has done good and evil,
and he will continue to do so...
and so will we. 

May God bless his soul - and all of us. 

Mr. Cosby has been given a terrible blessing, a dark gift
- one that none of us ever ask-for:
his deepest secrets are coming out for ALL to see - horrendous for any of us.

AND Now he can stop running and hiding - which only makes things worse and worse;
and start reconciling and healing.
I hope and pray he does this with humility, grace, and (yes, even) humor. 

IMO, Mr. Cosby has a lesson for us all, may we learn from him.
May we confess our shortfalls and where we are hiding our darkness, ASAP!
Tell our TRUSTED and LOVING and SAFE brethren the truth that we have been hiding about our lives
- there is so much power in saying the Truth!

May we make amends, as best we can, where and when we can.
May we, with as much ease and amusement as possible, get back into alignment with God, with ourselves, with our fellow travelers.

When Jesus helped people heal,
he helped them back into Alignment with themselves and with God
and he said something like this after:

1) Your faith has made you whole,  
(you co-created this healing with God - you can keep doing so, even when I am not right here with you to help you...)

2) Go and sin no more
(Stay in Alignment with who you are in God, Stay in Alignment with your path in God, Stay in Alignment the Light, with God - let go of your old habits that had you miss the mark: STAY in the Light..)

May we be always in this process ourselves,
and give each other this Mercy and Grace as well... including Mr Cosby.

Blessings, Wendy

Until we get our free-will back, we CAN NOT FOLLOW GOD.

When we get our free-will back... Everything is Possible!
But, until then, we are in bondage.

Our free-will is our birthright,
our Authority to choose in our own space,
and to act - within (inside our skin) and in our world.

Our free-will is, was, and always will be ours -
but most of us don't own and utilize our most precious gift.

We are all given free-will,
we are all given dominion in our space and in our world...

But

• we lost it,
• we squandered it,
• we traded it for something else,
• we forgot about it,
• we didn't value it,
• it was ripped from us...

We can all get our volition back!
I encourage you to do whatever it takes (spiritually), to get your free-will back;
back from our own and others:

• religion, understanding of the bible, religious defaults, thoughts, ideas, beliefs, doubt...
• body impulses, survival instincts, control pictures, habits, patterns of thought, feelings, fear, pain...
• expectations, limits, lies, programming, invalidation, control, competition, judgment...

A different way to say it, in old-time religious terminology, is this:
Spiritually, we must take our free-will back from the world, the flesh, and the devil.

And when we get our free-will back, as spirit;
Then, and only then can we Begin to Consciously Choose to:

• align with our Source - our Light, our Life, our Truth, our Way in God.
• behold and reflect, as in a mirror, the glory of God
• pay attention to - utilize - our soul senses... so we can see, hear, know God - and the leading of God, for us, today.
• actually follow, when we hear a word behind us, saying, 'This is the way, go ye in it'

Until we get our free-will back, we CAN NOT consciously FOLLOW GOD.

From this place, 

We are blessed to engage our Unique Process of Soul Maturity, Teleios 

REALizing who we are in God, into our body, life, world...

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May God lead you to the freedom that is yours!
Wendy

For more see previous post 

From the silly human rules to the Wild Freedom of God

Waaa-hoo!

And of course, the POINT

is not to Resist the Resisters (bless their hearts)

It is to

BE
FREE

IMO, the point is to do what Paul encouraged:

(this is perhaps my favorite bible verse since my teens)

It was for freedom that Christ set us free;

therefore keep standing firm and

do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery (bondage, servitude)

Christian Culture has gotten so far off the track on this!
(yup, there I said it ; )

From my perspective, most of us have been infected...

we are so infected by the law, the legalists, the religious bullys. 

• some of us in compliance, dominated
• some of us in resistance, fighting
• many of us waffling back and forth, not Really Clear about who we really Are...

 

But, we really are
FREE,
now!

So, let's BE that!

If this resonates for you at all,

and you want to help clear your body, mind, heart, soul of all the religious rules and regs...

You may want to go see and meditate through these many different translations of this one verse

- I get encouraged by just looking through this: Galatians 5:1

Most importantly, I ask you to ask Jesus to help you

• to heal,
• to let-in a waterfall of the blessings of God, asking for the vibration of Freedom, that will fill you up with the fruit of Liberty - in your body, in your life, in your world.

When we allow the spiritual freedom that is already ours:

• then we can BE the us - that only we can be.
• then we can DO what we are called to do - that only we can do!

Until we are free, we are only RE-acting.
Until we are free, we are only following and/or resisting some one else's agenda. 

Until we get our free-will back, we CAN NOT consciously FOLLOW GOD.
(for more on this, see next post)

Of course this is a life-time process, deepening in God, maturing spiritually.

So let us choose each day to Let-go of what holds us hostage, 
and to LET IN these blessings from God.

We can choose each day to
ask Jesus to help us to heal and grow into who we really are,

• from law to Grace, 
• from bondage to Liberty, 
• from the silly human rules to the Wild Freedom of God.

From this place, we can engage our Unique Process of Soul Maturity, Teleios 

Realizing who we are in God, into our body, life, world...

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Blessings on your Unique Journey in God,
Wendy

If you have not seen it, here is a similar theme written half a year later:
Willpower (flesh) OR Free Will and True Power (spirit) - choose

God plays with who shows up, today!

I have been thinking lately about this scripture
 Matthew 22:2-10

2“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.
3“And he sent out his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding feast, and they were unwilling to come.
4“Again he sent out other slaves saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited, “Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and my fattened livestock are all butchered and everything is ready; come to the wedding feast.”’
5“But they paid no attention and went their way, one to his own farm, another to his business,
6and the rest seized his slaves and mistreated them and killed them.
7“But the king was enraged, and he sent his armies and destroyed those murderers and set their city on fire.
8“Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.
9‘Go therefore to the main highways, and as many as you find there, invite to the wedding feast.’
10“Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered together all they found, both evil and good; and the wedding hall was filled with dinner guests.

 
And I have been thinking, along these lines...

In Jesus day, the rules and culture of those who believed they were following God - but were not - got in the way of the enjoyment of God's banquet; in that case, perhaps specifically the Jewish-identified people invited.  The invitation went out to a wider circle - and here we are.

In our day, the rules and culture of those who believe they are following God - but are not - are getting in the way of the enjoyment of God's banquet; in this case, perhaps specifically the Christian-identified people invited.  The invitation goes out to a wider circle - where will God lead next?

Many who purport to follow God, will not come to enjoy the goodness of God!
Many who purport to follow God, will not listen to the invitation of God, today!
Many who purport to follow God, will not let go of everyday concerns, old habits and beliefs.

It is Hard to BE WITH the WEDDING - so we fight against the invitation.
The beautiful, delicious, present-time joining of spirit and body, of God and us...
Is intense, and it takes our whole self and our whole life, showing up TODAY.

We can't just send a card ; )
We have to Show Up

We can't wear our old clothes, our work clothes.
We have to ALLOW NEW!

You who can hear; hear...
It matters not who you are, what you believe, what you have done, where you come from, if you believe you are good or bad, worthy or unworthy...
Come eat, drink, be merry.

Perhaps it is so; and has always been so, and will always be so:
God plays with who shows up, today!

Are you willing to drop everything, now, and come to the banquet?
Can you BE WITH THE WEDDING
Then please put on your new clothes, and come!

The banquet is set,
Do You Want to be part of the Wedding?
Then show up in your wedding clothes, ready to party!

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Here I am, Lord

I read Jeff Robinson's wonderful FB post: we are

mere Kindergartners
in the much larger world of grace-filled, Spirit-led, Christ-following.
Many of us remain Pharisees wrapped in costumes of grace.

How will we ever find our way out...our way forward...
into the Light and Freedom of Jesus?
Who will lead us?
Who among us is even willing to admit how cozy we are in our small and narrow, exclusive cocoon?

And I had to play!!
so this I wrote:

I believe and expereince that Jesus will lead us
- as he did when he walked the earth, and ever since. 
Jesus himself will disciple us
- IF IF IF WHEN WHEN WHEN we let him!

I believe the question is: who will follow Jesus?
Who will say YES! to experiencing him spiritually, and follow him spiritually?

Who being last, is willing for God to put us up front?
Who as followers, are willing for God to have us lead?

I pray to God, the answer for every single person who reads this is:
ME, YES!
Each one of us who Really loves God, who really wants to follow Jesus:
Let's Actually DO it!

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From my perspective, the tripping point is:
we have been lost in doctrine and ritual and tradition and ethics and physical-focus and... 
We have been led astray by our bodies, our culture, our thoughts, our beliefs, our habits, our feelings, our survival impulses, our control issues...

Mostly we have been led astray by the LIE (of the flesh/physical)
that we must learn from a book
about a Jesus who physically died 2,000 years ago!

Instead of the TRUTH (of the spiritual, available in our soul)
that the Risen and Ascended Christ is right here, right now.
Jesus is just as much available to us as he was to Saul/Paul, for example.

And like Saul/Paul:
- our inner lives, our outer lives, our companions, our world can be completely Transformed;
- when we let go of our Concepts and Traditions and allegedly-biblical Barriers; and
- instead choose to say YES! to our unique Spiritual Adventure with the Living God!

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From this place, we can engage our Unique Process of Soul Maturity, Teleios 

Realizing who we are in God, into our body, life, world...

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So
1 - How will we ever find our way out... our way forward... into the Light and Freedom of Jesus?
2 - Who will lead us?
3 - Who among us is even willing to admit how cozy we are in our small and narrow, exclusive cocoon?

MY specific answer to each of these questions, is below
-> what are your answers?

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1) How will we ever find our way out... our way forward... into the Light and Freedom of Jesus?

I am in that process of letting the Light and Freedom that Jesus IS,
BE more and more IN, AS, Through me. 
It has been an expletive-filled process
- becasue I fight Every Single Step. 

This dying daily business Really Sucks. 

But when I am not screaming so loud,
I am Grateful beyond measure! 
This Way, Light, Life, Love, Truth expereince is worth Everything, Anything!

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2) Who will lead us?

Jesus leads me, God leads me, Spirit leads me, God sends Angels and Spiritual Masters to lead me -
there is NO lack of spiritual leading, filling, healing, wisdom...

WHEN and only when I am Willing
to Open my spiritual senses
to see, hear, know, touch, taste, smell, feel, expereince oneness with spirit;
then Act spiritually and physically in alignment with that spiritual leading.

This process of opening,
I only utilize
(and eventually was called to share)
because it was and is my call.

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Like Jonah, I tried to run!
and I suffered terribly for many, many years
- until I let go, and became willing to follow my call.

That was over a dozen years ago.
Since then, I slowly became willing to learn
HOW to operate, to listen and to follow - spiritually, instead of physically.

I am Still learning, of course!
But, I am not overtly running any more. (The war is won, but the battles Rage-on ; )

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3) Who among us is even willing to admit how cozy we are in our small and narrow, exclusive cocoon?

I have only enjoyed a cozy cocoon a few times in my life - and then, not SO cozy, for not so long...
But, I have had times where I wish to God I could stay and play and at least kinda FIT-in... longer. 

For the last several years, though, I have experienced more True community and acceptance than I ever have, amoung others doing their spiritual work.

Although, I can now own, there has been a tear right down the middle of my being-ness in the world, and in my ministry - that God is NOW healing.

This is getting long - I am putting the rest in another post

in LIFE! Wendy

I have been singing lately, like we did when I was a teen in house church... way back in the day ; )
Here I Am Lord, by Dan Schutte and the Saint Louis Jesuits

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When we Follow God: Everything Must Go!

Many Religious folks want us to believe,
that following God means being Good and staying out of Trouble
- but really it is the opposite!

story:
One class-series many years ago, I was blessed to teach a group of very powerful Jewish women how to use basic soul tools - not to work with Jesus, just to Open to Spiritual information and action.

They all enjoyed the class, and did well.  One particular woman, I will call her Ruth, was really lapping it up, she opened-up a whole new relationship with God.

SO class series over, Ruth says I don't know what I am going to do
- how can I practice this spiritual way,
AND do my religion?

- she was some kind of Jewish Orthodox, a combination of strictness and freedom that wasn’t completely comprehensible to me
- but this is her Life, it is her Family, it is her Culture, it is her Religion, it is her Identity…

I told Ruth, in this practice, you are following God, loving God, connecting to God.
You are letting in the blessings of God, and more overtly co-creating with God in your world...
this is all good, right?  yes

Ok, now in your religion, in your way of life, you do good, you love your family, you serve people.  You have rules, and it is normal for you to follow them;
there is no necessary contradiction, right?  yes

SO, I say to Ruth:
Ok, you are good for now:
Listen, Deepen, Heal, Love, Follow God, Do good works - all is well - FOR NOW.
For awhile everything will be fine…

But, eventually, sooner or later...
God will lead you Out.

I don't know how or what, but I can promise you,
that you will be led in a way that is not aligned with your religion, family, traditions, community...

I don’t know How, What, Where, When, Who...
But I do know God’s leading will cross the lines of the life you have.

And THEN you will have to choose.
Follow God or follow your traditions...
Until then, enjoy yourself ; )


How can I possibly say this??

Because
God doesn’t play by our rules, or any rules. 
So, following God’s leading sends us on a collision course with the tyrants of our inner and our outer world.

Therefore, as Jesus said:

If any one doth will to come after me, let him disown himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me - Luke 9 YLT

Because here is the thing:
I have been watching life,
I have been learning from lots of other people’s challenges - and my own.

I have noticed many kinds of spiritual literature,
as well as what is written about Jesus, and in the Bible,
and watching how Spirit leads me, and many others...

So, I can say for sure:

God doesn’t play by our rules.
God doesn’t care about the little fiefdoms we set-up.
God doesn’t care about our culture or the leader/follower game.

God doesn’t care about gender roles or what day of the week it is.
God does not care about our little games we set-up about how life is, and how everyone should do it.
God doesn’t take politics or economics or religion seriously.

God is not limited by our beliefs about Life, the Universe, and Everything.
God is not stopped by our beliefs about the Bible. 
God is not controlled by the traditions of our church.

All the Domination systems of this world, are meaningless to God.
All the games we think we have to play to survive, to fit-in, to get love, to be successful...
All the Lines we draw in the sand, and then think we or God can not cross.

God does not honor or pay heed to any of them.


Isn’t it interesting:

Jesus always seemed to be healing on the Sabbath - which was against the rules.
Jesus didn’t care if his disciples followed this rule or that - it drove the religious people batty.

Jesus Being himself,
saying what Abba was saying,
doing what Abba was doing:

Jesus Undermined the Religious Authorities
and the Political/Economic Authorities
and the Cultural/Family Authorities.

So of course, he Had to Go
- he had to be put-down. 

Jesus crossed all their lines
of right and wrong,
of good and bad,
of religious and profane,
of oppressor and oppressed
- willy nilly.

And so will we.

Fortunately, we don’t have it so bad.
The age of the martyrs is pretty much over - thank God - we have had enough of that!

So,
Usually it is merely spiritual, not physical death that we sign-up for when we follow Jesus.

Usually it is some mix of emotional, rational, religious, relational, social, familial, financial, vocational, wellness, ego-identity death that we sign-up for
- and that is WAY more than enough!

As we grow-up spiritually...
As we get-beyond the honeymoon phase in our relationship with God...

Spirit WILL likely lead us to cross the wrong people, authorities, structures, belief-systems outside us.
AS WELL AS inevitably lead us to stand-up to the limiting beliefs, limits, structures and energies… within us.

And THEN we will have to choose
- the old way OR the new way...
- the way of the body, ego, world... OR the way of the spiritual warrior/death…
- following OUR current thoughts, beliefs, feelings, habits, religion, culture About God, Life, Truth, Love, Light, Way...
*OR*
ACTUALLY Following our God, Life, Truth, Love, Light, Way...

When we follow God:
We are gonna Change,
our Life is Gonna Change,
eventually the World around us is gonna Change!

From this place, we can engage our Unique Process of Soul Maturity, Teleios 

Realizing who we are in God, into our body, life, world...

We are gonna die... daily.
Anything and Everything that we hold on to, except God, is on it's way out.
Until then, enjoy yourself ; )

: ) Wendy

My favorite Christian Teacher, Dr Bruce Morgan, used to say this often:

Our God is a consuming fire,
who burns up everything that is not God

This is in NO way a downer, BTW.
This is the greatest gift we can receive
- there is sooo much blessing on this road, this narrow way:

And having called near the multitude, with his disciples, he said to them, ‘Whoever doth will to come after me — let him disown himself, and take up his cross, and follow me;  for whoever may will to save his life shall lose it; and whoever may lose his life for my sake and for the good news’ sake, he shall save it;  for what shall it profit a man, if he may gain the whole world, and forfeit his life? - Mark 8 YLT

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this post has a similar theme, if interested: This is love: we lay down our lives for our friends

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Let's stop worshiping the Bible, and instead worship God!

The bible is not meant to be the Final Word.
The bible is not the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Light, the Love of God.

The bible shows us, over and over, folks who walked with God, who heard from God, who followed God.  And calls us to do the same!
The bible encourages the people of God to have a real-time relationship, with the Living God!
The bible is a finger pointing at the moon - it isn't About the Finger, it is ALL about the Moon!

God did not get laryngitis 2,000 years ago.
IMO, if we want answers, fellowship, healing, filling, leading - we Must go to our SOURCE.

I agree with Marcus Borg (whom I greatly respect, but who sadly misses the whole picture, now and then, IMO)
when he says "When there is a conflict between Jesus and the Bible, Jesus trumps the Bible."

But this is what I mean by that: GO TO JESUS - right here, right now. 

NOT the bible. Jesus who is available to us Spiritually, right NOW.

Jesus will show us the Way, the Truth, the Life, the Light, the Love of God - as he has done for those who open to him, for over 2,000 years.

Christianity has fallen down horribly and constantly, by focusing on intellectualizing about the bible. By focusing on doctrine and thought-beliefs - as if that were some kind of spiritual practice.
As if the bible could give us answers, fellowship, healing, filling, leading...

The Bible Can Not Do This...
only God can do this!

I pray, that instead of worshiping the bible, fighting about the bible, wasting time and energy focusing on the bible...
Instead that Christians will begin to do for ourselves (and for All) what is most important:

To Actually Open to Communication and Blessings, to the ONEness-with and Leading-of the Living God, with Jesus, with Spirit.
This is what set the world on fire in biblical times, and that is what does it every time!

 
WE want GOD!
People want GOD!

Let's set the table and enjoy the presence of God, on our own, and with All!
Let's be disciples of Jesus, not disciples of the bible. Let's follow Jesus, right HERE, right NOW, WHEREVER we are explicitly led - this is World Changing!
Let's enjoy the fruit of the Spirit, the Gifts of the Spirit, the Comforting of the Spirit - in All ways, alone and with All people!

If you don't know how, then find out.
If you do know how, then let's DO IT!

From my perspective, this is what the bible tells us to do.
So let's just do it: focus on the Moon, not the finger pointing.

Let's stop worshiping the Bible, and instead worship God!

in life, w

We can't pin-down the Way, any more than we can pin-down Love, Truth, Life...

Ethics, Ideals are not the Way.
No good thing is the Way.
Not friendship, honor, sacrifice…

Sometimes we are called to let-down, fall-short, betray;
and other times we are called to die for our friend.

Jesus let his friends down 

at the very moment he was laying down his life for them - penultimately.

Our unique leading in God is our ultimate Way
- not physically-driven, theory-laden, feeling-good: doing-right, loving, etc

But in this process, we must be willing to let-go of our attachment to or resistance to 'good' or 'bad', 

to doing ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ in our own or in other’s cultural estimation.

This seems backward, crazy, and scary,
and it IS the Way.

.
A whole lot started with Abraham, so let’s start with him.
Abraham is the Father of 3 great religions, the dominating religious paradigms of the West.
Abram was called out from his family, his home, his tradition, his life…

Did his family, his tradition appreciate this?
Did Abram appreciate this?
probably not…
And we see he followed his call slowly, jerkily 

- most of us do the same, if we follow at all.

Following God is about following the Living God, in Real-time.

It is not about following rules.
It is not about complying with physically-perceived 'good'.
Rather it is about following God. Period.

A more extreme example:
Abraham was called to sacrifice his son,
not just a person,
not just his child,
not just his long-awaited heir... 

Abraham was called to sacrifice all this
AND the representation-of, the container-for All Abraham’s (and Sarah's) dreams
and the perceived channel for ALL God’s promises to Abraham.

Abraham was called to sacrifice Everything,
Abraham was called to sacrifice far, far more than it would have been to sacrifice himself.
And he did it - well, he was willing and acting - it totally counts, from my perspective.

Abraham was Hard Core. 
Who among us would do such a thing? 
To follow God’s leading right against the tide of all that seems Good, 

and all God’s Blessings to us…
Letting Go of Everything.

.
The bible stories tell us this same story over and over and over.
Then there is the obvious - Jesus.

Jesus tells his disciples, I am going to Jerusalem to suffer and die,
and Peter says - oh no you are not;
and Jesus says - get behind me Satan.

We can all relate to Peter here, even Jesus can relate to Peter. 
I believe this is why Jesus replies so strongly against this temptation dangled by Peter. 

Peter is not (in this moment) just physically-focused and therefore missing the mark, sinning;
he is trying to block God’s will in the world,
tempting Jesus from his unique calling.

But, Jesus is not swayed,
Jesus will follow his Father right into the jaws of ignominy, of torture, of death, of hell.

Jesus was Hard Core.
Who among us would do such a thing? 
To follow God’s leading right against the tide of all that seems Good, all God’s Blessings…
Letting Go of Everything.

.
I was tempted to say Jesus was the end of the story, but no, he is just the end of an age, and the beginning of our age.
In our age we have so much permission to inhabit the Kingdom of Heaven, the Reign of God, Christ Consciousness, spiritual reality…
We have:

• So much modeling about what it is to follow God, to build our lives on the Rock of Divine Revelation, spiritual senses…
• So much freedom to choose spiritual-focus or physical-focus, Grace or Law, Spirit or Flesh. 
• So much support and modeling in the bible and in so many ‘witnesses’, we have tradition and ritual, we have the leading of the Holy Spirit.

But, we also have a Lot of Resistance,
a lot of Push-back,
a lot of Powers and Principalities of this world adding friction to our path...

We have a lot of justifications and alternate accommodations to hide-behind,
excuses to not follow God’s leading of us
through the Light and the Darkness, through birth and death.

Because that is where we will inevitably go:
Jesus says: If you will be my disciple, pick up your cross and follow.

Being a disciple of Jesus is no walk in the park.
We are called to be Hard Core
- this is not just for the Giants of Faith, the Matriarchs and Patriarchs... every one of us is called to be Hard Core... becoming Spiritual Heroes in our own right, in our own life, right where we are, Today.

Who among us would do such a thing? 
To follow God’s leading right against the tide of all that seems Good, all God’s Blessings…
Letting Go of Everything.

.
But, that is not the whole story, it is still not done.
The point of this post is - we cannot do any of these things willy nilly or by theory.

We can't pin-down the Way, any more than we can pin-down Love, Light, Truth. Life.
The best and highest good in our thoughts and actions - in our minds, in our culture, in our religion - are not enough...
Not. Nearly. Enough!

We cannot just die whenever we feel like it, just let go and Give Up;
because sometimes we are called to live, to fight for life - for our own and others:

• Sometimes we are called to lead; and other times to follow.
• Sometimes we are called to be empowered, to shine our Light and shift our world; and other times to have humility, to accept, submit and quietly wait in our prayer closet until…
• Sometimes we are called to be playful and open, receptive, trusting as children, gentle as doves; and other times wise as serpents, acting strategically.

Ecclesiastes pointed out there is a time for all things,

• but in Following God it is not a structured thing - like accommodating ourselves to the earthly seasons.  
• It is a spiritual thing - accommodating ourselves step by step to our Unique Divine Dance.

This is the narrow way - the narrowest of ways!
Far Far beyond any moralizing, ethics, ideals - beyond any external obedience, even of the strictest order.

We are not just called to die,
or to live what we think love is,
or to follow any rule we may devise.

Laws, rules, systems are Not the Way.
We Dance with a Living God - up and down, all the way, and all around.

There is no structured, outside-us, formalized, idealized way to do it.
As much as we wish this were so, act like this is so, are told by ministers and moralizers that it is so 

- but, this is just not so.

Therefore, we cannot just Give Up, die, submit, obey... outside authorities.
We cannot coast in any trajectory, inertia ruling us. (As much as I would wish this were so!!)

We cannot do something just because something is a Good Idea,
or it looks like service or like love,
or we think the bible says it,
or it suits our personal ethics,
or even because God led us that way yesterday…

Because each day anew;
TODAY, if you hear God's voice, harden not your hearts.

Rules are for children, and we are called to be adults
- and to Say and DO WITH the Progenitor, as Jesus did, every moment.

In this Way we will go where we never imagined.

We will experience highs and lows,
we will expand and contract,
we will let go and we will fight,
we will die and we will rise.

To paraphrase Paul:
we learn to be in Joy with both little and much,
with seeming success and seeming failure,
with social derision and general acclaim…

We die to All our own and other people’s ethics, trajectories, hopes, dreams, visions, beliefs, expectations, ideals.
And we do it daily.

Who among us would do such a thing? 
To follow God’s leading right against the tide of all that seems Good, all God’s Blessings…
Letting Go of Everything.

.
We will.
We will rise to Life, Abundant.
We will choose to live in Alignment with our Source - our God, our Truth, our Light, our Love, our Life, our Way.

We will engage our Unique Process of Soul Maturity, Teleios 

REALizing who we are in God, into our body, life, world...

So, let’s do it Now.

Blessings in your Unique Journey,
Wendy

Is Love the Way to Live?

I am ALL for Love of God and others, unequivocally, as the practice of followers of Jesus.

And, I think that is Just the Beginning of the practice of following Jesus.

From my perspective, Love is where we Start, as spiritual children.

And from there, we learn to follow where God leads us, hear the voice behind us saying: this is the way, walk ye in it; see God moving in the world and we move too...

As disciples of Jesus, we learn to follow the Father in each step, as Jesus did.

The early church, as we do, had lots of churning about this.

Grace great! Love, great! Leading of Spirit, great!

...but what about the Law?  How do we Live?

Well, they pretty much decided to chuck the law, almost completely (see Acts 15).

But then in Practice, they kept running into real-life expectations, social norms, general human drama - predictably - and things got muddy.
Even the Pauline letters, which were constantly ringing the bell that we are beyond sin and no longer under law, have been known to throw some lists of do's and don't's around - just to try to get things in line.

What went awry?

Well, from my perspective Paul himself tells us - Rules are for Children.

It is spiritual Adults who have the spiritual ears and the spiritual muscle to Perceive the individual leading of God, and Do it.

Spiritual adults can have spiritual perspective and can generally follow spiritual leading.

But, before that, the body/flesh physical perspective tends to hold sway. Because that is how the world operates.

Therefore, spiritual kids still need the general guidelines - which boil down to:

Love God with all you got

Love your neighbor as yourself.
.

My point though is - figuring out what is and what isn't sin, is really not our calling. This is for spiritual beginners - think kindergarten.

Our calling is to Grow Up in God: Deepen spiritually, open to our soul senses, practice following (as we practiced learning to walk, by falling down ; ) ...

so we can be led in our own unique Way - our ministry to the world - as Jesus was.

Sometimes, when we see the bigger picture, when we start playing the bigger game, we get new perspective on the old challenges.

From my perspective, as many say - Love people, and trust Jesus to lead them where they need to go.

Meanwhile, let's each of us say hello, ourselves, to Jesus, and deepen our real-time soul-relationship with Jesus, today. Let's let him spiritually lead us, uniquely in each step, now.

Thanks for reading,

Wendy

Want to read more about How do we Live?  Jesus, Paul, and the early church

Much better convo in this same neighborhood: 

• This is love: we lay down our lives for our friends