A recent article I came across.
The Open Secret
By Adolph Saphir
There is a hidden wisdom. Paul writes: "We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory." In the center of their being, God makes His own to know wisdom. They have an unction from above which teaches them of all things. "Knowest thou where wisdom is found?...The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with me." But the Father hath revealed it unto babes.
There is a hidden glory. It is manifested, and yet only faith can behold it. Jesus changed the water into wine at the marriage of Cana, and showed forth His glory. Men saw, and yet did not see; but His disciples believed in Him. Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave. There were many witnesses; yet only those who believed saw the glory of God, and the Son of God glorified. The glory of God is beheld by faith in the face of Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ is known only by those who know the mystery of His cross and resurrection, and are waiting to be glorified together with Him.
There is a hidden life, far, far away--high, high above. It is life hid with Christ in God, life born out of death. "For ye have died, and your life is hid...." It is mysterious in its commencement. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." It is mysterious in its progress: "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." It is mysterious in its consummation: "We shall all be changed, in a moment...."
There is hidden manna. We have meat to eat that the world knows not of. There is an unseen river, "the streams whereof make glad the city of God." Only God's children see it, and know the Source whence it comes, and the Ocean where it is flowing. "If a man love Me, he will keep My words: and My Father will love him, and We will come unto him, and make Our abode with him ."
"Drawing nigh to God" is the most comprehensive expression to describe the soul's attitude toward God. Prayer is the culminating point of this attitude. If we rightly view prayer, it embraces our whole life, our thought and feeling, our will and work, our conflict and rest. In the meditation of our hearts, the desires of our soul, the activities of our daily path, we approach God; for we wish to live before Him, conscious of His presence, in dependence and enjoyment of His grace.
"God drawing nigh to us" is the most comprehensive expression to describe God's dealings with us. The Scripture is the great channel of God's communications to our soul. Hence the advice that prayer and the reading of Scripture are the great means of sustaining and nourishing the inner life, is perfectly correct so long as it is understood that prayer and Scripture are not isolated powers, but culminating points.
There is no safety in distance from God. If we take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, we cannot flee from His presence. Fear of a guilty conscience seeks a hiding-place; but where can we escape the eye of Omniscience, or shield ourselves against the anger of our holy God?
There is only one hiding-place--God Himself. The only safe place for helpless and sinful men is close to God--in the arms of the Father, at the feet of Jesus, the Friend of sinners. Come to Jesus, and you are in the secret place of the Most High, where no evil can befall you. There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. The Lord has forgiven all our transgressions, and will remember our sins no more. There is no life, or light, or love in distance from God.
Even if man had not fallen, his only happiness and strength would have been in constant dependence on God and communion with Him. In Paradise, sinless Adam lived by faith in God. It was in God's light that he saw light, and in receiving constantly the bright and blessed influence of divine love, his spirit rejoiced and was strong in God. No creature has within itself a fountain of life and blessedness. Constantly beholding the countenance of the Father in heaven, angels and saints are upheld by divine love, and replenished out of the divine fullness.
To See
Art Katz quote from an Article that I am still reading called Apostolic Conversion Pretext or Reality. Beyond mere Salvation.
Basically Art is speaking out of the book of Acts, Saul's conversion being apprehend by Jesus.
I really enjoy this quote in which he states one of the deceptions of a believer
Something that I am striving for with my walk with God. I need this selflessness.
Enjoy
"Now I want to tell you the last and cruelest of our deceptions - it is our concern to be understood and to be perceived in the way that we would like men to acknowledge us spiritually. And until we are blind to men, even to the "spiritual man" that we think ourselves to be or who we desire to be know as, we can not serve God apostolically. We must come to such a selflessness, such a mindlessness about this last man, this last cruel deceiver, who, after we have given up every other form, yet retains this kind of power by which we are traduced and compromised; the necessity to be understood by men in the way that we would wish ourselves to be seen and to be approved! We need to come to a place where we see NO man, even our own man, even our own seeing!!"
art katz
Today, yes today July 1, 2008 My baby girl was born.. Yes that right she was born. I am so excited that she is here. And I can't wait to see her. Even though I was never told that the mother of my baby was going into labor which is kinda messed up. She is finally here. Yeah I was left out and one of the last to know which break my heart. I am over that now, well kind of but its alright. Yeah that right I didn't see her yet because of circumstances but thats another subject. Well this is my heart as of right now to those who want to read this.
Despite the circumstance I tend to hold on to the little faith that I have and hope for defense and security in the one who breathed into me, and I mean by a thin thread. For those you really know me when I mean thin thread. I can't not seem to shake the feeling in my being to just give up and go back to sleep with the circumstances but that what I really want to do. "If you know what sleeping is" According to most I don't think they know what sleeping is in view of peoples present conditions. The question arises to me may come off hypocritical but in all reality if we are Christians why do we treat each other with condemning and hypocritical spirits. Or should I say let those spirit continue to oppress us if we really are free in Christ? Can somebody please answer that question? The funny thing I have only seen a few people actually walk like this on earth. Not that I am perfect or say that I am because I am far from it. What reality are we really living in? I recently purchase a book called Christ and the Powers. I am hoping it will shed some light on things for me, but who knows. ya know! I try to stay sane but I can not see. It feels like my light (I guess you can say) just wants to be extinguished. The more that I try to do right and walk in love it seems like everyone; I mean certain people not everyone. They are trying to take that life from me. Have I awaken to something beyond my comprehension? Or am I just imagining thing. Well when it is all said and done my soul, spirit, body, whatever it still cries out to Him. Why is that ? I don't want an philosophical or religious answer but for real?
In all other aspects I just can't wait to hold my baby girl.
Praise the Name
Just a few things that our Lord has been revealing to me and a more deeper level by His unmerited favor. (Grace) It is totally awesome Praise the Lord. When i am at my desperate place in life the Lord always come through even when i am faithless. He never left me. In Jps words " Praise God brotha" Haha!!
2 Corinthians 2:14-16 AMP VERSION
14But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ's victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,
2 Corinthians 2:14-16 AMP VERSION
14But thanks be to God, Who in Christ always leads us in triumph [as trophies of Christ's victory] and through us spreads and makes evident the fragrance of the knowledge of God everywhere,
15For we are the sweet fragrance of Christ [which exhales] unto God, [discernible alike] among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing:
16To the latter it is an aroma [wafted] from death to death [a fatal odor, the smell of doom]; to the former it is an aroma from life to life [a vital fragrance, living and fresh]. And who is qualified (fit and sufficient) for these things? [Who is able for such a ministry? We?]
2 Corinthians 3 AMP VERSION
2[No] you yourselves are our letter of recommendation (our credentials), written in your hearts, to be known (perceived, recognized) and read by everybody.
3You show and make obvious that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, not written with ink but with [the] Spirit of [the] living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
4Such is the reliance and confidence that we have through Christ toward and with reference to God.
5Not that we are fit (qualified and sufficient in ability) of ourselves to form personal judgments or to claim or count anything as coming from us, but our power and ability and sufficiency are from God.
6[It is He] Who has qualified us [making us to be fit and worthy and sufficient] as ministers and dispensers of a new covenant [of salvation through Christ], not [ministers] of the letter (of legally written code) but of the Spirit; for the code [of the Law] kills, but the [Holy] Spirit makes alive.
7Now if the dispensation of death engraved in letters on stone [the ministration of the Law], was inaugurated with such glory and splendor that the Israelites were not able to look steadily at the face of Moses because of its brilliance, [a glory] that was to fade and pass away,
8Why should not the dispensation of the Spirit [this spiritual ministry whose task it is to cause men to obtain and be governed by the Holy Spirit] be attended with much greater and more splendid glory?
9For if the service that condemns [the ministration of doom] had glory, how infinitely more abounding in splendor and glory must be the service that makes righteous [the ministry that produces and fosters righteous living and right standing with God]!
10Indeed, in view of this fact, what once had splendor [the glory of the Law in the face of Moses] has come to have no splendor at all, because of the overwhelming glory that exceeds and excels it [the glory of the Gospel in the face of Jesus Christ].
11For if that which was but passing and fading away came with splendor, how much more must that which remains and is permanent abide in glory and splendor!
12Since we have such [glorious] hope (such joyful and confident expectation), we speak very freely and openly and fearlessly.
13Nor [do we act] like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze upon the finish of the vanishing [splendor which had been upon it].
14In fact, their minds were grown hard and calloused [they had become dull and had lost the power of understanding]; for until this present day, when the Old Testament (the old covenant) is being read, that same veil still lies [on their hearts], not being lifted [to reveal] that in Christ it is made void and done away.
15Yes, down to this [very] day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies upon their minds and hearts.
16But whenever a person turns [in repentance] to the Lord, the veil is stripped off and taken away.
17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (emancipation from bondage, freedom).
18And all of us, as with unveiled face, [because we] continued to behold [in the Word of God] as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are constantly being transfigured into His very own image in ever increasing splendor and from one degree of glory to another; [for this comes] from the Lord [Who is] the Spirit.
Just some more stuff the Lord is taken me deeper into which is a blessing. I am currently going through the book of 2 Corinthians, so we will see where it takes me. Just pray for deeper level deeper revelation.
The passages are from biblegateway.com
Back to the basic that is for me and my psyche. Back with the one two punch you can say. My dad just got back in town today. Its going to be good to have him back at the house living with me and my brother. There will be some dominance I guess you can say that. Well for Jamari that would be a good thing you know. As for me, I have enough problems taking care of my own sh!t. Identity crisis you might say that I am having but I am getting through it. HAHA! But anywho I have been currently reading out of Romans 11 and some other stuff also. Pretty interesting stuff I might have to say when I was reading through the chapter. I will post it on here for you, and the amplified version is pretty cool. I will hopefully share some of the revelation that I receive from the Holy Ghost. Lata.... lol
Romans 11
1I ASK then: Has God totally rejected and disowned His people? Of course not! Why, I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin! [I Sam. 12:22; Jer. 31:37; 33:24-26; Phil. 3:5.]
Romans 11
1I ASK then: Has God totally rejected and disowned His people? Of course not! Why, I myself am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe of Benjamin! [I Sam. 12:22; Jer. 31:37; 33:24-26; Phil. 3:5.]
2No, God has not rejected and disowned His people [whose destiny] He had marked out and appointed and foreknown from the beginning. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel?
3Lord, they have killed Your prophets; they have demolished Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.
4But what is God's reply to him? I have kept for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal! [I Kings 19:18.]
5So too at the present time there is a remnant (a small believing minority), selected (chosen) by grace (by God's unmerited favor and graciousness).
6But if it is by grace (His unmerited favor and graciousness), it is no longer conditioned on works or anything men have done. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace [it would be meaningless].
7What then [shall we conclude]? Israel failed to obtain what it sought [God's favor by obedience to the Law]. Only the elect (those chosen few) obtained it, while the rest of them became callously indifferent (blinded, hardened, and made insensible to it).
8As it is written, God gave them a spirit (an attitude) of stupor, eyes that should not see and ears that should not hear, [that has continued] down to this very day.
9And David says, Let their table (their feasting, banqueting) become a snare and a trap, a pitfall and a just retribution [rebounding like a boomerang upon them];
10Let their eyes be darkened (dimmed) so that they cannot see, and make them bend their back [stooping beneath their burden] forever.
11So I ask, Have they stumbled so as to fall [to their utter spiritual ruin, irretrievably]? By no means! But through their false step and transgression salvation [has come] to the Gentiles, so as to arouse Israel [to see and feel what they forfeited] and so to make them jealous.
12Now if their stumbling (their lapse, their transgression) has so enriched the world [at large], and if [Israel's] failure means such riches for the Gentiles, think what an enrichment and greater advantage will follow their full reinstatement!
13But now I am speaking to you who are Gentiles. Inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I lay great stress on my ministry and magnify my office,
14In the hope of making my fellow Jews jealous [in order to stir them up to imitate, copy, and appropriate], and thus managing to save some of them.
15For if their rejection and exclusion from the benefits of salvation were [overruled] for the reconciliation of a world to God, what will their acceptance and admission mean? [It will be nothing short of] life from the dead!
16Now if the first handful of dough offered as the firstfruits [Abraham and the patriarchs] is consecrated (holy), so is the whole mass [the nation of Israel]; and if the root [Abraham] is consecrated (holy), so are the branches.
17But if some of the branches were broken off, while you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among them to share the richness [of the root and sap] of the olive tree,
18Do not boast over the branches and pride yourself at their expense. If you do boast and feel superior, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root [that supports] you.
19You will say then, Branches were broken (pruned) off so that I might be grafted in!
20That is true. But they were broken (pruned) off because of their unbelief (their lack of real faith), and you are established through faith [because you do believe]. So do not become proud and conceited, but rather stand in awe and be reverently afraid.
21For if God did not spare the natural branches [because of unbelief], neither will He spare you [if you are guilty of the same offense].
22Then note and appreciate the gracious kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's gracious kindness to you--provided you continue in His grace and abide in His kindness; otherwise you too will be cut off (pruned away).
23And even those others [the fallen branches, Jews], if they do not persist in [clinging to] their unbelief, will be grafted in, for God has the power to graft them in again.
24For if you have been cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and against nature grafted into a cultivated olive tree, how much easier will it be to graft these natural [branches] back on [the original parent stock of] their own olive tree.
25Lest you be self-opinionated (wise in your own conceits), I do not want you to miss this hidden truth and mystery, brethren: a hardening (insensibility) has [temporarily] befallen a part of Israel [to last] until the full number of the ingathering of the Gentiles has come in,
26And so all Israel will be saved. As it is written, The Deliverer will come from Zion, He will banish ungodliness from Jacob.
27And this will be My covenant (My agreement) with them when I shall take away their sins.
28From the point of view of the Gospel (good news), they [the Jews, at present] are enemies [of God], which is for your advantage and benefit. But from the point of view of God's choice (of election, of divine selection), they are still the beloved (dear to Him) for the sake of their forefathers.
29For God's gifts and His call are irrevocable. [He never withdraws them when once they are given, and He does not change His mind about those to whom He gives His grace or to whom He sends His call.]
30Just as you were once disobedient and rebellious toward God but now have obtained [His] mercy, through their disobedience,
31So they also now are being disobedient [when you are receiving mercy], that they in turn may one day, through the mercy you are enjoying, also receive mercy [that they may share the mercy which has been shown to you--through you as messengers of the Gospel to them].
32For God has consigned (penned up) all men to disobedience, only that He may have mercy on them all [alike].
33Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unfathomable (inscrutable, unsearchable) are His judgments (His decisions)! And how untraceable (mysterious, undiscoverable) are His ways (His methods, His paths)!
34For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has understood His thoughts, or who has [ever] been His counselor?
35Or who has first given God anything that he might be paid back or that he could claim a recompense?
36For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. [For all things originate with Him and come from Him; all things live through Him, and all things center in and tend to consummate and to end in Him.] To Him be glory forever! Amen (so be it).
From Biblegateway.com
Well again I write to you with thoughts of loneliness. Bored out of my mind and the only thing I really want to do it pop a few pills and go to bed. For real, but on the side note I just finished watching the matrix movie. That is number two and there was some stuff i never really paid close attention to in there and it made me think. There was a quote from the movie about choice and understanding. Pretty interesting stuff if you have seen the movie. Not to far fetch but you get my drift. And I quote "We can never see past the choices we don't understand", and "I have already made the choice" Now I have to understand it.
Now I have to understand it? Whoa! And I have already made the choice and now I have to understand it... Well isn't that true for everyone. The choices we make and the fact that we can never see pas the choice we don't understand. I believe it, well I do ya know. Who cares is probably what you are thinking and that okay. People you maybe know may seem like they care but really don't, or maybe they do care and are just waiting to see if you would mess up again. I have come to a point in which my understanding is really messed up. If I would really let me heart be expose on paper internet you probably would be pissed or not want to talk to me. You would probably think to yourself I should pray for this young man. I ask myself awhile back when have I seen my prayers being answered? Again I go back to the heading of my page, Waiting. Why wait you might say. Well, because I am waiting for something real.
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