Where "Show Me Thy Glory ~ In The Struggle" all started . . .
"I want you to know how glad I am that it's me sitting here in this jail and not you. There's a lot of suffering to be entered into in this world—the kind of suffering Christ takes on. I welcome the chance to take my share in the church's part of that suffering. When I became a servant in this church, I experienced this suffering as a sheer gift, God's way of helping me serve you, laying out the whole truth."
"This mystery has been kept in the dark for a long time, but now it's out in the open. God wanted everyone, not just Jews, to know this rich and glorious secret inside and out, regardless of their background, regardless of their religious standing. The mystery in a nutshell is just this: Christ is in you, so therefore you can look forward to sharing in God's glory. It's that simple. That is the substance of our Message. We preach Christ, warning people not to add to the Message. We teach in a spirit of profound common sense so that we can bring each person to maturity. To be mature is to be basic. Christ! No more, no less. That's what I'm working so hard at day after day, year after year, doing my best with the energy God so generously gives me."
Col 1:24-29
My vision ~ dream ~ purpose is to create, facilitate and practice an ecclesia such as this ~ where each one of us may gently and lovingly learn how to ~ "Become like Christ" ~ called, " Show Me Thy Glory . . . In The Struggle.
The goal of this ecclesia (Blog) is not to inform minds but to change lives, not merely to answer intellectual questions but to perform loving acts. The apostle Paul sums it up, . . .
"The whole point of what we're urging is simply love~
love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith,
a life open to God."
love uncontaminated by self-interest and counterfeit faith,
a life open to God."
I Timothy 1:5
This Love is the summary of Grace and Mercy ~
"That you love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer
and muscle and intelligence—
and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself."
Luke10:27
and muscle and intelligence—
and that you love your neighbor as well as you do yourself."
Luke10:27
I want to be in the business of assisting people learn how to freely choose Grace, Mercy and Peace in the nitty gritty of their everyday life because ~ Faith with Paticipation is ALIVE . . . in Christ.
On a mountain top, overlooking a beautiful valley & a lake below ~ I see a place of spirtual, emotional and physical healing where creative idea's and inspiration come to each one of us each day on how to be with the broken hearted in such a way that is not controlling or manipulative and will assist each person to experience their own inner healing and transformation within the process and reality of life itself.
I see God's Grace and Mercy reaching out through a team effort, assisting and discipling people to experience first hand what I call ... ownership of ~ Unconditional Love, Mercy and Amazingrace.
This Love ("Grace") is the willingness to accept ourself and others for who we / they are and who we / they are not.
I see all of us becoming like little children, being transparent mirrors ready and willing to mature thru God's Word . . .
God's word should be more to us than a comforting afterthought. It is both profound and practical. It is able to open our understanding to the deepest needs of the human heart and direct our steps out of darkness of shame, our defenses, abandonment issues, pretenses, pain. loss and sin ~ to the light of a Christ (Grace) centered, Spirit empowered life.
In the first public message of his ministry, Jesus said, He came to heal not only the physically ill, but "those who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed and broken down by calamity." ~ Clearly this was his public announcement of God's commission to him ~ his task is that inner healing which alone can release the heart from emotional shadows ~ the trauma that keeps us bound to our past calamities.
When we are freed from tyrannies of repressed or long forgotten memories ~ we realise that creative thought is more powerful than negative thought ~ because the creative flows from, into and with this Christ~destined design of the universe.
We then realise that God "can" use all of our past to bring us to an oasis and make us into a tree of sweetness unto Him . . .
We now have available to us a means of touching and transforming troubled hearts. Through inner healing, the lonely can find release from their imprisonment. The depressed can find light to dispel impenetrable darkness. Those who feel unloved and rejected can find acceptance and the ability to give and receive this crowning emotion of love. The torment of guilt which seems indelible can be washed away.
Until we have experienced this torment ~ or until we have been freed from it ~ we cannot appreciate on our own heart level the saying of Paul ~ "the whole creation groans as if it is in the pangs of childbirth."
Each one of us can ~
"Give up all that inferior stuff so we can know Christ personally,
experience his resurrection power,
be a partner in his suffering,
and go all the way with him to death itself."
experience his resurrection power,
be a partner in his suffering,
and go all the way with him to death itself."
Phil 3:10-11
"We (each one of us) carry this precious message around ~
in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives."
in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives."
2 Cor 4:7
. . . It is hidden within each one of us!
And, if we choose to allow God the freedom to become the arc of the covenant ~ the Holy Spirit in our heart ~ we will discover that ~ this precious message is addressed to each one of us personally ~ what each of our, vision ~ dream ~ purpose ~ is . . .
"Be assured that from the first day we heard of you, we haven't stopped praying for you, asking God to give you wise minds and spirits attuned to his will, and so acquire a thorough understanding of the ways in which God works. We pray that you'll live well for the Master, making him proud of you as you work hard in his orchard. As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you'll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us."
Col 1:9-12
I see a place where we can feel secure while we work, play and learn ~ together ~ how to serve each other by confronting our incompleteness as we become whole.
"We will all get where we are going; We will all succeed ~
"Strength! Courage!
Don't be timid; don't get discouraged.
God, your God, is with you every step you take."
"Strength! Courage!
Don't be timid; don't get discouraged.
God, your God, is with you every step you take."
Joshua 1:9
"God, your God,
will cut away the thick calluses on your heart and your children's hearts,
freeing you to love God, your God,
with your whole heart and soul and live,
really live. "
will cut away the thick calluses on your heart and your children's hearts,
freeing you to love God, your God,
with your whole heart and soul and live,
really live. "
Deut 30:6
'The land on which your feet have walked will be your inheritance,
you and your children's, forever.'
you and your children's, forever.'
Joshua 14:9
"Don't push these children away.
Don't ever get between them and me.
These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom.
Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them. "
Don't ever get between them and me.
These children are at the very center of life in the kingdom.
Mark this: Unless you accept God's kingdom in the simplicity of a child, you'll never get in." Then, gathering the children up in his arms, he laid his hands of blessing on them. "
Mark 10:13-14
"I'm telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over
like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in.
Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child,
will rank high in God's kingdom.
What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account,
it's the same as receiving me."
like children, you're not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in.
Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child,
will rank high in God's kingdom.
What's more, when you receive the childlike on my account,
it's the same as receiving me."
Matt 18:3-5
"If you stick with this, living out what I tell you,
you are my disciples for sure.
Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you."
you are my disciples for sure.
Then you will experience for yourselves the truth, and the truth will free you."
John 8:32
"Anyone on God's side listens to God's words."
John 8:47
"When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant.
When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
"We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist.
But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright!
We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us,
knowing him directly just as he knows us!"
When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
"We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist.
But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright!
We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us,
knowing him directly just as he knows us!"
I Cor 13:11-12
"God knew what he was doing from the very beginning.
He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun."
He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun."
Romans 8:29-30
"Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did,
God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face!
They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him."
God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face!
They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him."
2 Cor 3:16-18
"By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise."
"There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!"
Romans 2:1-5
The underlying threads I see woven thru this vision are Unconditional Grace, Mercy and Love.
"God gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed (by sin, shame, defenses, abandonment issues, or pretenses);
by believing in him,
anyone can have a whole and lasting life."
by believing in him,
anyone can have a whole and lasting life."
John 3:16
Jesus, is a friend that will stick closer to you than your own family. He accepts you and me unconditionally for who we are and who we are not. By His example, we are challenged to transform ourself and our relationships by patterning all of our friendships and acquaintances after the one we were given as a gift.
To receive this gift ~ God asks only one thing from us . . . Humility ~
God is asking his people,
Are you "willing" to look into your heart and share it with me? ~
Because, (one by one) ~ their is only one way to heal a nation . . .
"If my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying,
seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives,
I'll be there ready for you:
I'll listen from heaven, forgive their (your) sins, and restore their (your) land to health."
seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives,
I'll be there ready for you:
I'll listen from heaven, forgive their (your) sins, and restore their (your) land to health."
2 Chron 7:14
The question is . . .
Are you "willing" to let go of anything that keeps you from being in right relationship with your Father God?
Are you "willing" to step out of your comfort zone?
Are you "willing" to humbly follow Jesus example and allow your Father God to transform you into being this kind of friend?
My answer is, wholeheartedly, Yes!
However ~ My next question is ~ What will your answer be?
I welcome YOU to follow along while God begins to "Show" each one of us "His Glory . . . In the Struggle" ... of what we call our life ... and then ~ if you so desire ~ we all can continue to peruse, observe and interact ~ by prayerfully sharing our stories together here ~ as He begins to uncover within you and me ~ His Mercy and Grace ~ we become ~ FREE ~ to Triumph over ~ our own ~ Judgement.
Because His Unconditional Love compels me,
I look forward to seeing you on the mountain top ~
Oceans of ~
Amazingrace
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