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RELATIONSHIP REPORTS February 1984 to January 1985 The Staff and The Sword Ministry DEFINITIONS Accusation at its purest definition is "devilish" activity. It has a powerful negative effect on not only the accused but those around them to say nothing of the accuser. The one who accuses is really justifying themselves and their weaknesses by blaming someone else for what they are guilty of. So, this report is a double-header: two reports at once!
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The Staff and The Sword MinistryRelationship Reports
RELATIONSHIP REPORTSFebruary 1984 to January 1985
@ 2008 (All Rights Reserved)
ByChuck-JOHNEL Younybrandt
RELATIONSHIP
PART 7FIRES OF ACCUSATION:
THE DYNAMICS OF SELF
DEFINITIONSThe one who accuses is really justifying themselves and their weaknesses by blaming someone elsefor what they are guilty of. So, this report is a double-header: two reports at once!
Accusation at its purest definition is "devilish" activity. It has a powerful negative effect on not only
the accused but those around them to say nothing of the accuser.
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Accusation by one person against another often triggers self-accusation in the accused as well. A
mature Christian can be badly hurt by it, and the baby Christian is utterly destroyed by it. There is
nothing more deadly and destructive in the Body of Christ than ACCUSATION because at its center
is a void of love, which is terribly infectious. When Christians stop loving, then we are in effect
"dead".
EVIDENT TRUTHS vs. ACCUSATIONSThere is a very fine line between EVIDENT TRUTHS and ACCUSATIONS, it is so fine a line thatexcept we abide in Jesus' Love and ever look to Him we will hardly realize when we cross over froma pure observation of an evident truth to accusation.
How do I see that "accnsers" are the ones gouty of what they accnse others of? Let's
take a look as some Scriptures and some Biblical events:
King David was guilty of adultery and then murder to cover it up, and so God sent a prophet to him
with a story-a disguised version of what he had done. King David leveled a harsh judgment, he was
really accusing himself by judging what he thought to be someone else.
When Jesus tells us in the Bible so clearly, so often, "JUDGE NOT LEST YE BE JUDGED," we
are seeing the ultimate end of accusation-self judgment.
Bnt let ns look into the natnre of accnsation more than its consequence.
That is the very reason that I stress having a living relationship with Jesus, with a focus ever on
Jesus. This is so important. It is VITALLY IMPORTANT!
All of us in a thousand different ways, both small and large, have been taught to accuse and we do
it without even realizing we are doing it.
AN EXPERIENCE: THE NATURE OF ACCUSATIONA time back, Jesus led me to minister to a man in a mental institution who was so severely doggedby demons he could hardly think or speak rationally.
After a time of deliverance (he was delivered), his problem with re-infestation by demons was
constant. Jesus would show me he had need of fellowship with loving Christians and needed time
to slowly grow in Him. Then, Jesus would have me work with him for some weeks. By this time (2
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years later), it had become evident he was not possessed but obsessed with demons, he hated
them and blamed them for all his troubles and his intense fixation of them gave them power to
harm him in many ways.
In a day-by-day togetherness with him for three weeks, each day I would require him to pray for anhour in the morning, reading Scriptures then put his whole focus on Jesus. It was a daily battle toget his eyes off himself and his problems and onto Jesus; but when he did-He came to hear Jesus'Voice easily, even to seeing the Lord and Angels. I knew it was real because I saw what he did, butdid not say so, until he told me what he saw and heard.
Yet, left to himself, he would again slowly redirect his focus more and more on his problems and gethis eyes off Jesus, and returned in measure to his former state. While he was vastly better off than2 years ago, the problem persisted primarily because too much of his attention was on himself, noton Jesus.
OLD SELF vs. TRUE SELF IN CHRISTWhen we accuse ourselves or when we are are accused (or both!), our focus is on our SELF. Not ourTRUE SELF in Christ, but on our OLD SELF (that is, our soul and that darkness therein).
Any of us, that are honest, and face accusations may often see a grain of truth in the accusation.Accusations when they come, come in a torrent, and by hit and miss, some weakness we have that isevident to us is sure to be touched on. Accusations bring us first to look at ourselves, and when wedo that we will surely be depressed, and then begin to self-accusing, and then we are in a whirlpoolof darkness to deeper darkness. If enough damage is done to a person accused, and the harm isin the soul, we then strongly tend to self-fulfill what we are accused of. Thus, the accusation notonly drives one away from Jesus and into the darkness of self, but also compels one to do the thingaccused of, and in sinning, the self accusation is strengthened the more driving the accused deeperinto sin.
The Christian who has not learned to go to Jesus with everything, to keep their eyes on Jesusalways, will be spiritually murdered by accusation.
By my experience, accusation seems to come primarily from the question-direction of DID YOU?
and NOT from the question-direction of ARE YOU?
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Again, when we are accused of anything, it seems we immediately (even me) look at "our SELF"
first, and Jesus lastly or not at all. Accusation is not something we "receive" it's something thrust
into us like a poison-tipped knife. We are better able to withstand accusation from outsiders, but
when it comes from those near us, its terribly harmful.
When you make holy habit out of looking to Jesus, and form a relationship with Him. You may atfirst look at SELF, but out of that holy habit you will lastly look to Jesus, and Jesus is NO accuser orever will be. He will Love you no less, He will give loving counsel, help, and Grace to come throughand though you be hurt, you will be healed and more in a time.
MORE?More? As you draw near Jesus, coming to know Him, the Loving Fire of His Presence will begin tobubble out those impurities in you, thus accusers will always have some basis on which to accuseyou. What they will accuse you of is "backsliding", but why they accuse you is because, in effect, thebonds of sin are being burned off you, but not them. Once we can understand why they act so, hurtand anger changes to compassion and sorrow for them, we can love them and forgive them andbless them and pray for them and really mean it within.
If we ever look to Jesus and earnestly desire His Love abide in us, then Romans 8:28, "AND WE
KNOW THAT ALL THINGS WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM THAT LOVE
GOD . . ."-EVENACCUSATION!
DOERS vs. HEARERSAt first we are HEARERS of God's Word, then need to be DOERS going to our limit; but only in
knowing Jesus personally and seeing this world out of His Love can we experience the Spirit of
DOING His Word in Truth, which is Love, which is Jesus!
God Bless,
Chuck-JOHNEL
The Staff and The Sword MinistryRelationship Reports
@ 2008 (All Rights Reserved)
The Staff and The Sword MinistryRelationship Reports
RELATIONSHIP REPORTSFebruary 1984 to January 1985
@ 2008 (All Rights Reserved)
ByChuck-JOHNEL Younybrandt
RELATIONSHIP
PART 8GRACE WHO?
INTRODUCTIONAs you draw closer and closer to Jesus, you will need to know and understand the function of
GRACE.
But, Where does GRACE come from? GRACE comes by JESUS CHRIST.
Who is GRACE? JESUS CHRIST.
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What is GRACE? Ah, to quote a phrase :"THAT IS THE QUESTION!" In fact, THAT IS EXACTLY
THE QUESTION!
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DEFINITIONS OF GRACEOK let's look at some DEFINITIONS.
The Sunday School version of GRACE is: (G) God's (R) Riches (A) At (C) Christ's (E) Expense.
Nothing wrong with that definition, except it that is does not tell us much that we can understand
or why it's needed or how it is obtained.
I can come up with one, just as true-GRACE is: (G) God's (R) Righteousness (A) Accorded (C)
Christ's (E) Elect. That's a little closer to the mark-it tells us GRACE had a distinct function.
So, what is the function of GRACE? Read on
FUNCTION OF GRACENow it's true that those who trust in Jesus have GRACE, but Christians slip out from under GRACEquicker than anything else, because they do not understand its function.
What is the function of GRACE? When a believer first believes in Jesus Christ, something the
Church calls �born again' and Jesus calls CONCEPTION-they have GRACE. In the sketch above,
top left side we see two newly CONCEIVED babes, now the GRACE of Jesus covers them from the
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rain-shown as "consequences of sin". They are free of the Law, and under GRACE through Christ
Jesus.
Have you ever noticed how baby Christians get such quick answers to prayer, how they can do
everything wrong and be blessed anyhow? Then, how after time, this changes? What happens
is that as they mature in knowledge of God, they grow out of their diapers, and what was cute
and overlooked by God because they were just babes, is no longer overlooked because God is now
teaching them disciplines. The Bible calls it "chastisement", which is God's loving correction, and it
more often comes when we stray from Jesus, thus out from under the umbrella of Grace and into the
rain of "consequences" (AS YOU SOW, SO SHALL YOU REAP). Well, we learn not to stray because
God will allow consequences to come, to correct us.
So, walking out from under GRACE is one way to lose it, but its not the only one. Another common
way of losing GRACE, one seen from coast to coast in this nation, is to not answer God's call. The
sketch above, top right, shows the two babes as having grown to the pre-teen state, and Jesus' Call
is "COME FOLLOW ME". Thus, one Christian answers the call and follows after Jesus (taking up
the cross, which is the self-sin nature); and the other does not (more common) and ends up in the
rains of consequence and is out from under GRACE.
Thus GRACE is seen as being both STATIC and MOVING. It is STATIC when a Christian is a babe,
thus is stays with you, covers you. It is MOVING when the Christian reaches the point where they
can take up their cross (self nature) and follow after Jesus. Only the Christian that follows after
Jesus stays under GRACE at this point-all the rest are in the rain.
"MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT"When Jesus asked me to go out and warn the nation of coming Judgment I felt unworthy and illequipped to do that, Jesus would say, "MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT." In other words, as wefollow Him to the best of our ability, weaknesses, shortcomings, sin nature and all, He covers uswith His Grace.
When my own self-sin nature would emerge, and at times it has, it would only affirm my viewof being unsuitable and unworthy of serving God; but each time Jesus would tell me, "FINISH,
MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT." I, like others, would often think, "I have to stop and get my act
together," but Jesus would have none of that in me, showing me to �come through trusting Him.'
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GO-AND-GROW or STOP-AND-SINKGRACE when it moves before us (like the cloud by day, fire by night in Exodus), requires we keepup. The pace of movement is not such that one cannot keep up, it's that we constantly think wecannot go on a step further, but we can.
The question is more, "are we willing to yield to God's Will, Purpose, and Plan?" It's either a YES or
a NO.
The Christian who stops to get their act together will sink, and backsliding is another word for sink.
The fundamental view of "stop-get act together" is in the view that we ourselves can do a better job
than Jesus, that we really do not need Him but can do it our all by our self alone. And, if a Christian
that does stop following Jesus because of sin nature is acting up, and it seems control is being
lost-they may indeed regain control over the sin nature.
APPEARANCE OF RIGHTEOUSNESSBut some Christians tend to fall trap to the APPEARANCE OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, because man canonly REFORM, it's only God through Jesus that can TRANSFORM, and that takes FOLLOWINGJESUS.
Take a look at the following Scriptures [emphasis added to all four Scriptures]:
' ". . . FOR AS YE HAVE YEILDED . . . TO UNCLEANNESS AND TO
INIQUITY . NOW YIELD .TO RIGHTEOUSNESS UNTO HOLINESS."
(Romans 6:19).
' "BE NOT OVERCOME OF EVIL, BUT OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD."
(Romans 12:21).
' "LIKEWISE THE SPIRIT ALSO HELPETH OUR INFIRMITIES . . ."
(Romans 8:26).
' And He said unto me (Jesus to Paul), �MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR THEE; FOR
MY STRENGTH IS MADE PERFECT IN WEAKNESS.' Most gladly therefore will
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
(II Corinthians 12:9).
When we STOP following Jesus to REFORM ourselves, and often it takes the form of an "Appearance
of Righteousness", we cease being YIELDED to the Holy Spirit of our choice. We will not be yielded
to the uncleanness and iniquity that stirs up in our members and though we gain a visible control
over it, it simply takes another form in our actions.
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AN EXAMPLEHere's an EXAMPLE: A brother once told me how he had a problem with "lust" but got control over
it, and was free of it. I asked his definition of "lust" and "sexual" was his reply. I pointed out that
this was only just one dimension of "lust" and told him he had not overcome the problem but simply
changed its form. What was evident to me was that this brother now had gone from the red horse
of" sexual lust" to the blue horse of a "lust for food and sleep". "Lust" still had control over him, only
it was not evident to him. Now he ate food with a compulsion and slept long hours well in excess of
the physical need.
I do not ridicule "REFORM" in that lacking anything better. But, it is better than nothing. There
is, however, a better something, and it's found in Following Jesus and being yielded, submitted and
surrendered to Jesus Christ.
TRANSFORMATIONWhen we seek to follow after Jesus, we are in a respect yielded, yet I have found that through prayer,
praying to be yielded, we do far better. In following Jesus, being yielded, I have found that when
what's "evil within us"bubbles to the surface in the Fire of His Love and Presence is not so much
overcoming us as it is coming out of us and leaving. GRACE covers us in this time and we learn
overcoming evil with Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit most certainly helps us in ways both obvious
and subtle. The process of TRANSFORMATION is gradual, and I doubt if many could take "instant
change"-it would be like being hit by a bolt of lightning.
Jesus has in this way over the years transformed me in many ways, but there were and are areas
that I'd not yielded to Him (unknowingly) and these had to do with the desires of my self nature,
in and out of my free will. Therefore, even if it's our desire consciously to be wholly submitted and
yielded to Jesus Christ, it's almost certain that in some areas where we have strong desires (long
standing ones) that we are not yielded here because a free will desire is active.
Nowin all of this (the FUNCTION OF GRACE) is to spare us, as we Follow Jesus, of the consequences
of that active sin nature. And if it breaks loose in one way or another, the worse that happens to
us is that we are humbled in seeing something in us that we hardly realized was there. So long as
we cling to Jesus and Trust Him, and keep following Him, He not only by GRACE spares us the
consequences of sin, but more, frees us of the compulsion to sin that more and more we do put on
His Righteousness.
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KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD & EVILBut, we need define EVIL and SIN in light of this consideration. The ultimate definition is when
Adam and Eve desired to be like God (being tempted) and the forbidden fruit was "KNOWLEDGE
OF GOOD AND EVIL." In so partaking, they made value judgments (naked for one) calling what
God called good-evil. Naked essentially means "uncovered" and while they were COVERED BY
GOD they needed no fig leaves. When they came out from under His cover, they saw they were
naked, they no longer looked to God but to themselves as "a god".
From this time on, what God called wisdom, men call folly and visa-versa. The point being this,
Adam and Eve had a RELATIONSHIP with God and were covered-GRACE. When they looked to
themselves as being "like god" they were not covered and APPEARANCE was their concern. Thus
�evil' or �sin' and looking to SELF or MEN are virtually identical. SIN is a rebellion against God, but
it takes very many forms and again essentially its being SELF-CENTERED.
GRACE = RELATIONSHIPSo I see that GRACE = RELATIONSHIP, coming to know Jesus Christ and believing in Him, we
are conceived, a Holy Seed is within us, our true self in Christ is growing. At a certain point, we
as babes being under GRACE, grow to where we can Follow Jesus, taking up our cross (old self
nature), if we do, we now follow GRACE and by Him see the sin nature overcome. However by
APPEARANCE, men may say we are NAKED, judging God's work in our life as evil, tempting us to
run back and put on the "fig leaf". If we do, we judge God, and this Paul the Apostle talked much
about in Scriptures.
One cannot be "faint-hearted" in following Jesus. Yet, as we do HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT.
THE GRACE OF FATHERS & THE GRACE OF THE BODYAbraham believed God, and was counted righteous for this. Abraham is called "father Abraham",even Paul referred to himself as a "father" and it would not be incorrect to call Martin Luther ofthe Reformation a "father" as well. Some years back Jesus would tell me I'd be like Abraham and"father many children". At the time, I did not grasp the meaning very well, thinking in the naturaland spiritual both, wondering which (either/or).
But to put it into perspective, I came to realize that I had God's GRACE long before I knew what
GRACE was, and by that GRACE had FAITH before I had HOPE, which is Scripturally reverse
order. So Jesus would tell me I was sent and called to a specific work, that I would learn, then teach
this to a few and the few would teach the many.
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So it was I'd see that I had this GRACE (Individual Grace) to the end that all might have the
opportunity of entering into a Corporate Grace (GRACE OF THE BODY OF CHRIST).
The rampant legalism in the Church today tells me its largely under LAW not GRACE. What theChurch should be is a place where the bond of Love for one another be of prime importance, andexcept in and out of a living relationship with Jesus, and a life of prayer, such a bond of Love isvirtually impossible.
The difficult and painful learning process I have gone through and am going through is not the
most excellent way. Except for GODS GRACE that covered me, I would not have endured, and that
unique GRACE, the Grace of a father type, is not made available to everyone as God's Plan is really
to have the GRACE OF THE BODY become functional. Jesus does not want a bunch of independent
mavericks apart from each other running around serving Him. Why?
Each of us are differently made by God, some are strong in this area, weak in that, none are alike.
We function best together in Christ in a strong bond of mutual Love in prayer. When an individual
follows Jesus, the sin nature is a problem-but in a loving Body of believers that look to Jesus and
pray-that same sin nature would not manifest in the same way it does with an individual. Some
are very weak, and in a BODY UNDER GRACE, others that have a stronger relationship with Jesus,
can in a bond of love and prayer, bear some of a brother's burden of sin. Thereby all grow in Christ
shoulder to shoulder. Each Christian is co-equal in Christ, and though some have an anointing
to teach or whatever, they are not above brethren except in having a greater responsibility before
God.
DIMENSIONS OF GRACEThus GRACE is seen to have many dimensions, it covers the babe until they can follow after Jesus,and covers those that do Follow Jesus. By God's anointing and call on some, it's unique, but designedto bring all Christians under a GRACE FOR THE BODY that all might grow in Christ in and out ofa unity of love and prayer.
UNDER GRACE vs. IN GRACEBut lastly, being UNDER GRACE is a temporary thing, not permanent. For as our relationship withJesus deepens (the more you look to Jesus, the more you look like Him), we come to the place whereunion with Jesus becomes possible, and then we are IN GRACE. So being UNDER GRACE is onlydesigned by God to cover us until we can be "IN GRACE."
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IT'S STILL ALL ABOUT RELATIONSHIPBut, what does this have to do with the HOW OF RELATIONSHIP? Again, the closer you draw to
Jesus the more you will see that this sin nature in you is very active and more so than you thought.
As we yield the more to Jesus' help in overcoming these weaknesses, we need understand that the
function of GRACE is to cover us in this time of TRANSFORMATION. This does not mean that we
do not have to repent of sin in any form, for the basic definition of repentance is a turning away from
sin (SELF) and a turning to God through Jesus Christ (RELATIONSHIP).
Thus, we can now see that REPENTANCE is a progressive turning away from SELF and a turning
more and more to JESUS, and in this transition, we are to know GRACE covers us.
God bless,
Chuck-JOHNEL
@ 2008 (All Rights Reserved)
The Staff and The Sword MinistryRelationship Reports
RELATIONSHIP REPORTSFebruary 1984 to January 1985
@ 2008 (All Rights Reserved)
ByChuck-JOHNEL Younybrandt
PART 9JESUS OUR FRIEND:
BEING SAFE
LETTER OF THE LAW vs. SPIRIT OF THE LAW"FOR THEY BIND HEAVY BURDENS AND GRIEVOUS TO BE BORNE, AND LAY
THEM ON MEN'S SHOULDERS; BUT THEY THEMSELVES WILL NOT MOVE THEM
WITH ONE OF THEIR FINGERS . . ." (Jesus in Matthew 23.'4).
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Our relationship with Jesus is all important here: it is all the difference between the LETTER OF
THE LAW and the SPIRIT OF THE LAW.
In the Scriputre reference above (Matthew 23:4), Jesus is speaking of what we DO and what we DO
NOT DO-speaking of legalism as less weighty (important) than the greaterweight (more important)
of "JUDGMENT, MERCYAND FAITH" (verse 23). What is important to note is that Jesus qualifies
tithing (which I call legalism) and "Judgment, Mercy and Faith" all as "THE LAW."
In the U.S. legal system the parallel is seen in two versions of the law, version #1 is THE LETTER
OF THE LAW and version #2 is THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW.
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LETTER vs. SPIRIT: A SIMPLE VIEWThere is a simple view: if a four-year old child started a fire by playing with matches and a houseburned down. By the letter of the law, the child should go to prison for arson, but by the SPIRIT OFTHE LAW (Judgment in this case) no legal action would be taken. In present day Iran, under strictMoslem law children are being executed for breaking the law and here was see THE LETTER OFTHE LAW and being weightier than THE SPIRIT OF THE LAW.
The present day church system too perfectly fits within the definition Jesus made in Matthew 23
and the effect it has had on each of us becomes a factor in our relationship with others, ourselves,
and Jesus. What I speak of is HEAVY BURDENS: we are taught "heavy burdens" and we in turn do
the same thing to ourselves and others. But more on HEAVY BURDENS later . . .
BEING FREED BY LOVEWe are too hard on ourselves and if we have had any kind of normal upbringing, we practice selfabuse as if it were a virtue. We know we are not perfect, yet we are deeply disappointed when it isan evident fact by our mistakes and we tend without conscious awareness to "punish" ourselves forthat lack of perfection-as if that action would make us more perfect. But is does not accomplishthat, rather we assume greater burdens on ourselves.
Excessive fasting can be a self assumed burden, excessive prayer can be a burden, and all of it comes
under the heading TRYING TOO HARD or STRIVING or GOING PAST OUR LIMITS.
What HEAVY BURDENS create in us is a personality out of balance, we lose sight fo our true self.
When we are not sacrificing (the burdens part) then we are self-seeking and both in excess. What
do I mean?
It is not what we do that counts, though we need go our limit, we need also see we have a limit. It istruly who Jesus IS that counts and all the self-purging exercises we can dream up to not enhance ormake better our relationship with Jesus. In fact, they become stumbling blocks.
HEAVY BURDENSHere's a little more on HEAVY BURDENS . . .
Years back, I would purge myself at regular intervals with severe fastings, destroying everything
that was a hindrance (in my eyes) to a walk with God, forcing myself to pray endless hours, and
keeping my nose in the Bible hour after hour. And then, when I eased up, I was so self-seeking and
driven by suppressed desires that what followed virtually undid any holiness I gained in the HEAVY
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BURDEN exercise
I ended-up with an exaggerated view of myself, very holy (self righteous) at intervals followed bycompulsions that left me with a reverse self image (very unholy).
But, it wasn't Jesus laying these heavy burdens on me, it was me laying heavy burdens on me.
THE EXPERIENCE LEVELWhen any of us hear about Jesus for the first time, when we read the Bible, listen to a sermonor whatever-what we do is that we understand what we hear and read out of our own personalexperience frame of reference. We have no real way of grasping the essence of what JESUS' LOVEmeans because we are bound by our human love experience which as good as it gets is limitedand too often CONDITIONAL. Jesus' love is unlimited and unconditional. Yet, locked as we are towithin the confines or our own experience, we cannot really comprehend the true meaning of Jesus'unconditional love UNTIL we experience it.
MY EXPERIENCEOut of the rigors of my self imposed heavy burdens I did gain a side benefit, which was a disciplineof daily prayer. The Lord led me to "ease up on myself" and as I did, prayer became more and morea conversation and less a toil and heavy burden-that's when I could be in prayer six hours and itfelt like a few minutes, for it became a joy. That joy was a conversation with Jesus. An artist mightdepict a walk with Jesus-an excellent example in many ways.
Jesus' Love is unconditional to the extent all fear of anything and everything fades away instantly,and He can talk to us about our deepest darkest sins in such a way (lovingly) that one is not ashamedor convicted or condemned. And, it is that loving truth that does not offend in the slightest degreethat actually sets us free of the very sin inclination in us.
There is nothing hidden from Jesus and when we are with Him in prayer-meditation we KNOW
this, and there is NO FEAR. Because He does not judge us, I began to learn how NOT to judge
others. Because He accepted and loved me the way I was, and loves me the way I am, I learned to
accept myself and to accept others all at the same time. But none of this was forced on me, by me,
Jesus or anyone else-in talking to and being with Jesus, the more I KNEW Him, the more Iwanted
to be like Him and He did all the rest and is doing more.
My experience was that as I eased up, became myself in balance and accepted myself as He did, andyielded to Him as the One who transforms (not myself or man's system) that then and only then,
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changes happened in me. Of course, He works slowly and transforms at a rate we consider too slowand often we can hardly perceive the change in us. I know today that sin-areas in me were so totallyremoved from me that today I can no longer remember what they were. And, this is an interestingexperience: in the areas Jesus transformed me over the years, there is today absolutely no recall ofwhat I was like in those areas when sin was prevailing. What this means is that as we change intoHis likeness by Him, coming into what we are in Him, what we were ceases to exist even in memoryand it not longer can be feared.
If a man were a homosexual and was reformed out of that sin nature, the memory of the past wouldalways present itself with the FEAR falling back into it. That FEAR alone would always presentitself in such a person as a latent or hidden tendency. Yet, when Jesus transforms a person, His Loveremoves not only the fear but the memory with it. As a result, the person is restored to innocence.
Where we need remember one thing: ONLY JESUS CAN DO THIS!
WE WALKED & TALKEDOne time, I was taken into the heavens and Jesus and I WALKED hand-in-hand down a beautifulpath in Heaven and TALKED. A Christian will never rightly understand the meaning of the concept"Trust in Jesus" until they have experienced His Love in this way. You feel His Love, you feel totallysafe with Him, no subject is forbidden, no question is forbidden. There is no earthly experience toremotely parallel it.
So, it is repeatedly said that each of us need seek a personal relationship with Him but this is onlythe beginning. When we speak of Jesus' Second Coming, we usually realize that a preparation forHis Coming is called for yet how many know what it is?
Each of us are members of the Body of Christ and we should be with each other the way we arewith Jesus, as He is with us. So long as we lay heavy burdens on ourselves, we will never be ableto do anything less to others around us. It is as true for the Church system of man as it is for theindividuals out of that system.
BUT HOW CAN I??Ican't-you can't-we can't!
But, JESUS CAN!
So, how can you talk to Jesus as I do? It really is easy, so easy it will stun you!
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Here's how: you pray, you look to Jesus in your heart, you talk to Him, and IMAGINE a
conversation.
GOD'S GIFT OF IMAGINATIONIMAGE is the key word in IMAGINE, meaning picture in your mind literally WALKING ANDTALKING WITH JESUS.
We tend to forget that God speaks to us in pictures, in dreams and visions and words themselves
are only symbols that depict images of things we know or have seen. We forget that we are made in
God's LIKENESS AND IMAGE, thus we have on a small scale His make-up within each of us and
talking to Him is so easy we get hung up on man's teachings that block what is in fact our second
nature (first actually).
A time back, I realized that Christians always see Jesus but do not have the sight in their conscious
minds because they have been taught to believe it impossible, therefore block themselves off from
seeing what they see. If they have their awareness raised to the point to where they KNOW its
possible they usually feel themselves unworthy (blocking again) and go the wrong direction, trying
to be worthy by the HEAVY BURDENS route. The greatest hindrance is actually FEAR-we fear to
see Him fearing He will be angry with us over our wrong doings (He will not), fearing He will scold
us over something, fearing He will tell us something we do not want to hear. It is all unreasonable
FEAR and it is this that lastly blocks us from the closer relationship.
Using the God given gift of IMAGINATION, being child-like, and simply imagining in our mind
out of prayer, out of a view of His Love as given here, both seeing and talking to Jesus we can cut
through all the fear barriers at once.
At first we will think (automatically) that it is only our imagination (we are in control) and becomfortable with imagining Jesus with us. To do this requires a child-likeness and innocence whichwe can by our choice exercise in a free will choice. But, after a time of imagining we will begin torealize that it is not our imagination, we will begin to realize that in fact we ARE seeing and talkingto Jesus Christ.
FEARING FEARFEAR is the major hold-back in all of us and it is an institution in the Church system of man; but INCHRIST THERE IS NO FEAR.
A person might fear to imagine seeing and talking to Jesus for fear of deception. Yet most deception
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is in us: it is self-deception. It is possible that at first by imagining seeing and talking to Jesus that
our own spirit-soul will speak to us, as well as Jesus. Thus, we may hear 50% from Jesus and 50%
from ourselves. Consider it, before we began to hear 50% from Jesus we were likely hearing 100%
from ourselves.
There is nothing in Scripture that tells me that growth in Christ in not a trialsome and painful
process because it is, dying to self involves pain but also joy in great measure at the same time
which more than compensates for the pain.
There are no fool proof systems in the Church today except an abiding ultimate and absolute Trustin Jesus Christ to keep us, one and all. Anything more or less than this is fail certain.
A secular writer (Sydney Harris) made an observation worth quoting here [I regret to note that I
no longer have the publication reference for this quote, but the quote is especially important to this
discussion]: "Even religion has failed to liberate and unify man, because it's adherents have never
tried to do what it's founders hoped for; from the bloodthirstiness of the Crusades down to the
madness of the mullahs, the love of power has triumphed over the power of love. Chesteron said,
�Christianit y has not failed,' it has never been tried."
Not long ago, a young prophet traveled with me a period of weeks, but he FEARED the power of
demons (obsession) and was very subject to deceptions and could not discern Jesus. In a matter of
days, by leading him in prayer, by instructing him to know how to discern, he was hearing Jesus'
Word clearly and with ease and seeing Jesus as well.
How was this done? I loved him as a brother and there was no subject or view he could make that
was not heard in Jesus' Love. In an environment of unconditional love, with the modest prayer
discipline, he was set free in a matter of hours and moved by the Spirit of God with ease.
Where Jesus is the focus, where Love of Him is primary, where there is no condemnations and an
abundance of encouragement to simply move by the Spirit of God Christians readily blossom in
Christ. The Love of Jesus removes fear, and when we begin to experience His Love personally from
and in Jesus Himself, we are set free.
FREEDOM IN CHRISTBut, freedom in Christ is something so totally new to us that when we move from the narrowconfines of �heavy burdens', of the DOs and DON'Ts system to the broad open fields of Jesus' Loveand openness we feel uncomfortable and tend to run back to the confines to feel safe. But, we willnever be safe in the confines only prevented from ever reaching the potential Christ Jesus has givenus.
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