CHAPTER 13
SERVANTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS
“But
God is thanked, that you were the servants of sin, but you have obeyed from the
heart that FORM OF DOCTRINE which was delivered you. Being then made free from
sin, you became the servants of righteousness.” Romans 6:17-18
Interesting and familiar text we may all have heard at one time or another. It rings for some as just another religious text with no deep meaning to it. Let me indulge a bit here and give my paraphrase of what this text says to me.
“If anyone is to be thanked it is the One I have learned to hear from beyond reading a book or hearing it on a tape, CD, DVD or sitting listening to some speaker. There is a NEW FORM of teaching I now follow. I once thought otherwise, thinking I was obeying what I heard, when in truth I hadn’t heard at all till I heard from HIM. I was only acting independent from hearing from Him and following my head not my heart or inward voice. What now is delivered to me I meditate on day and night and write it down to someday pass on to those I love. This is the true FORM delivered to me….to hear His voice and obey. I am free from having to act independent from hearing from Him. I can ask and wait with expectation that He is there and will answer. I am now a servant of hearing from Him as any one who has the same ability, thus the term, “SERVANTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Many forfeit this ability by going about establishing their own idea of this righteousness….they have forfeited the Righteousness of Christ. (Rom. 10:3) He too heard from the Father. The words He spoke were not his own but His Fathers. The words I speak are not my own but Christ in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God. (Gal. 2:20; II Cor. 3:3)
Interesting and familiar text we may all have heard at one time or another. It rings for some as just another religious text with no deep meaning to it. Let me indulge a bit here and give my paraphrase of what this text says to me.
“If anyone is to be thanked it is the One I have learned to hear from beyond reading a book or hearing it on a tape, CD, DVD or sitting listening to some speaker. There is a NEW FORM of teaching I now follow. I once thought otherwise, thinking I was obeying what I heard, when in truth I hadn’t heard at all till I heard from HIM. I was only acting independent from hearing from Him and following my head not my heart or inward voice. What now is delivered to me I meditate on day and night and write it down to someday pass on to those I love. This is the true FORM delivered to me….to hear His voice and obey. I am free from having to act independent from hearing from Him. I can ask and wait with expectation that He is there and will answer. I am now a servant of hearing from Him as any one who has the same ability, thus the term, “SERVANTS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.” Many forfeit this ability by going about establishing their own idea of this righteousness….they have forfeited the Righteousness of Christ. (Rom. 10:3) He too heard from the Father. The words He spoke were not his own but His Fathers. The words I speak are not my own but Christ in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God. (Gal. 2:20; II Cor. 3:3)
Some may say, “How dare you make such a claim!” My answer, “How dare I think otherwise.”
“If any man speak, let him speak AS THE ORACLES OF GOD; if any man minister, let him do it AS OF the ability which God gives, that God in all things may be glorified THROUGH Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever….Amen” (I Peter 4:11)
CHAPTER 14
THROWING IT ALL OUT
In a forum on the web I
once was questioned not only about my claim of hearing from God but also my
belief in the inerrant word of God, the Bible.
I have left names out and edited a lot that I shared to fill you in, the
reader of this book, of what transpired.
Here is what I shared:
Addressing
what you said SIR: (here is what he said)
So…so far a purpose driven life requires one to except…
A…the bible as unaltered truth
B…God makes no mistakes
C…that here on earth we will not remain forever.
I can except C but not A or B….not yet at least (OH I used too that’s for sure)
THIS WAS MY REPLY:
So…so far a purpose driven life requires one to except…
A…the bible as unaltered truth
B…God makes no mistakes
C…that here on earth we will not remain forever.
I can except C but not A or B….not yet at least (OH I used too that’s for sure)
THIS WAS MY REPLY:
I can see from what you have said, that this world and its system of conditioning have had an effect on not only you but just above anyone who has sought to find TRUTH. You have entered here some of the things that changed your mind on excepting “A”…the Bible as unaltered truth. You have stated over and over again that you have thrown it out. We have said we understood how you felt because some of us here have thought to do this one time in our past. As for God making mistakes, mankind will always believe this to some degree from our limited view point. Seeing it any other way takes time and the experience of how this is a lie, comes. Twisting those verses that give some idea of God changing his mind, or expressing what might appear that He made a mistake, is just as I said a limitation on our part that only a deeper understanding of this God would cause us to see it differently.
You said, “Well you know I don’t have an answer for that…do you? I would expect Paul Woodward would?” (said in sarcasm)
To be honest, any answer that I have shared in this forum sure didn’t come to me via any human source. Most answers to the questions you raised in this forum and I answered, are mine and mine alone, and they are answers that I have come to learn only satisfy me. Why? Because I asked “not knowing”…and He answered me in a time of need; a time when I had thought to “throw it all away.”
I have shared some of these answers in this form. I had at one time expected that others might be as thrilled to hear the answers that I got from this God on His character, Personality, Intelligence and ability to communicate One on one, answering all the questions that I never got in my religious past. I have come to regret sharing these answers. As I said above, “Most answers to the questions you mentioned above are mine and mine alone, coming from my asking God for their answer, and they are answers that I have come to learn only satisfy me and those who have asked as I have; what we have gotten confirms to us that these answers came from God.”
Our hearing from one another is good and should be done as another in this forum mentioned. “BUT”….the most satisfying answers, insights that we get come from our own personal One on one encounters with this Living, Infinite, Personal, Intelligent BEING we have came to call God. These moments are Pearls and precious jewels and are OURS…matters which I have been told I never need to share. If they are shared to those of the world around me, I should expect that only a few will ever see that what I got truly did come via this God. Christ shared this living word and received the same results for the sharing and warned us not to share it with, what “HE SAID” would be considered dogs or swine. I had asked about this in the past, and the post I posted was His response to that question, found in my post, “Dogs and Swine”. (Chapter 15 in this book) It was not a judgment on my part but simply an answer given to me. If anyone wants to judge that article, he or she would have to ask this God why He said what He said to me at the time it was given.
I recently have subjected myself to about every negative video offered on this web that attacks the Christian view. Believe me the web is full of these attacks. Strangely, you see it not only coming from the secular world but also the religious world. Attacking what you mentioned of the reliability of the Bible, and the character of God. These videos were hours long. Why do this to myself? I didn’t want to do this I was lead to do this. Did it have any effect on me, yes? But all that I viewed, did not TOUCH the answers I have been given. Other religious individuals and their rebuttals of these videos did the usual thing of shooting themselves in the foot and making God out to me the idiot that the videos were attempting to make Him appear to be. But what I got makes Him out to be the LIVING BEING that He is. I leave them with their debates and limited views. I have learned the hard way, as Paul the Apostle learned in the same way….”Unless God draws someone to you, you labor in vain.” It’s learning where and to whom to share these things God has given to you in answer to the questions we have asked of Him. We usually learn this by sharing things OUT OF SEASON. I’ve seen in the past, that even in this forum I have done this. I am learning.
CHAPTER
15
DOGS
AND SWINE
“Give not that which is
holy unto the dogs, neither cast you pearls before swine, lest they trample
them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” Matthew 7:6
Things must be
explained to understand this quote given by the Son of God. The symbol of dogs is directed towards those
that give God no regard. To them He is
non-existent. To share what the Lord has
given to you to them, they will trample under their feet you pearls. Know this, a dog neither has a split hoof nor
chews the cud. As for a swine, it has a
split hoof yet also does not chew the cud.
A cow, for example, has a split hoof and chews the cud and was
considered a clean animal, one which the Jews could eat. A split hoof is a symbol
that represents a separated life, knowledge of a God. Chewing the Cud, is a symbol of one
who has meditated on that letter of the word to the point they receive what
that letter promises, HEARING FROM GOD, One on one.
With this understanding
the text comes alive. Here is what He
was saying to us: “Give not that Living
word which you receive from one on one communications with the Father to those
that do not believe that He even exists or feel He no longer speaks to us. They would see you as crazy for speaking to a
non-entity or out side of the covers of a book.
Those who think it foolish to believe in such things, let alone hear
from Him. What you have is of great
value. Would you give away a Real Pearl to just any one? If you did so, having such a low estimation
of your pearls, if you just gave them out to anyone, what value would you think
they would have of your pearls? Hold
them as precious!
Now there will be those
that appear to have a life devoted to God (Split hoof, separated life devoted
to God, and even go to church). Yet,
they are forever learning never coming to Experience a one on one
communications with the Father. They
Know about Him, yet have never come to experience this precious relationship
that constitutes hearing directly from Him (pearls). If you cast your pearls before them, they
rend you with your own words which you claim you heard from the Father, because
they have not CHEWED the CUD of the letter to where they get past the dead
letter and come to hear the Living Word…one on one communications with the
Father. These are those who will ask,
“Where is that in the Bible?” They cannot
imagine that God could speak one on one to us and are stuck between the leather
covers of a book thinking if it doesn’t come from the Bible it couldn’t
possibly be from God. They in return
REND you with the LETTER of the word thinking they are doing God service; thus
for them, THE LETTER KILLS.
I could share more, but
this will suffice. It is my belief that
God does speak to us one on one beyond the letter. That which I received is considered by me as
Precious PEARLS. I treat them as such
and do not, as I have done in the past, cast them without considering to whom
they go. How do we know when and where
and to whom they go? The leading of the
Spirit is the only answer to that question.
Let Him prompt their sharing.
CHAPTER
16
KNOW
YOURSELF
It’s been said, “Know yourself.” There is a reason for this. Paul the Apostle stressed it over and over again calling this “self”…the FLESH. That word in itself would take pages to explain. I’ll just say that it is “you” as you have come to know. What you think, feel, act in your everyday experience and usually what others know of you as well.
Getting to know your “usual” thought patterns, feeling and actions, as I have said, has its reason; the reason being; TO KNOW GOD’s Voice; why do I say this? I know how I think and feel…..I have had 65 years to get to know myself. When I hear HIS Voice, it sounds like me, my thoughts and feeling….BUT…..with this difference….It is not my usual self thought patterns and feelings that come.
Paul, again, stressed this. I will use the usual Biblical text, then give the paraphrase I was given today by THIS VOICE to answer your question….(HE knew it would be asked).
“I am crucified, never the lest I live, yet not I, and the life I now live IN THE FLESH, I live through the faith of the Son of God.” (Gal. 2:20-21)
That’s the Biblical text. Now here is how He wanted it said that relates to my experience.
“I came to understand my squirrelly thinking and feelings; when I came to really see myself after these many years, it slew me. Yet, here I am still living after this discovery. What kept me alive, after this discovery, was what I heard in me. It sounded like me, yet it wasn’t my usual stupid thoughts and feelings. Something was coming THROUGH my thought patters and feelings I had never heard before. Yet, strangely it sounded like me, but, knowing myself, it WASN’T ME. It was then that I discovered it was CHRIST fulfilling what He had promised. I would either ask questions or be asked of others questions, and this “OTHER SELF” would respond. I guess you could call it THE NEW MAN. There still are times when my usual “SELF” thoughts and feelings rise up. But I KNOW THE DIFFERENCE….so I submit this self to CHRIST, and wait for this OTHER SELF to respond. It always does. I sound good when I do this…otherwise; it is just my old way of thinking and feeling.
So, my EGO died, yet now it is ALIVE. I have an EGO, and I can say for the first time in my life…I Love myself (Ego)….not as before under old thought patterns and feelings. I AM WHAT I AM by this GRACE of GOD given to me. I LIVE!!! Because I can hear HIS VOICE and know the difference, I live. SO, when this squirrelly self does its thing, IT IS NO LONGER I THAT DO THESE THINGS. I have the choice…walk with this old self, or walk in the NEW SELF. (Rom. 7:16-20).
I
believe all of us have heard from God. Some may not know this. I guess most
kind of think hearing from God would be some audible voice with the skies
splitting and God saying, “Hello.” If you remember, in Scriptures, Jesus had
that very thing happen when He entered Jerusalem on what we now call Palm
Sunday. (John 12:28-30) The Father spoke to Him in an audible voice from the
sky. Jesus in return thanks Him for this, but says He didn’t need it but knows
it was done for the crowd’s sake. Well, the crowd just didn’t
get it. Some thought an angel spoke or something or another. Some thought they
heard thunder. So, I think God did this, as Jesus said, not for Jesus’ sake,
but so if any one ever would said, “God, if you would just split the sky and
speak in an audible voice, then I would believe in You.”….this example would
thus prove that they wouldn’t understand it if He did.
I said that I believe that all of us have heard God speak to us and that many just may not know that it is Him speaking. Let me say this concern those I have encountered in my life; I hear His voice through all of them. Of course there might be those that might say of “us”….”Come on, all I hear is the voice of my husband, wife, family members, friends and work associates. I don’t hear anything of God in their expressions?” I like the illustration a friend once used in one of his tapes and will end on this for now….”There was this artist painting a beautiful sun set with an individual looking over his shoulder. The individual said to the artist, “I don’t see all those colors in the sun set?” The artist replied, “Don’t you wish that you could!”
I said that I believe that all of us have heard God speak to us and that many just may not know that it is Him speaking. Let me say this concern those I have encountered in my life; I hear His voice through all of them. Of course there might be those that might say of “us”….”Come on, all I hear is the voice of my husband, wife, family members, friends and work associates. I don’t hear anything of God in their expressions?” I like the illustration a friend once used in one of his tapes and will end on this for now….”There was this artist painting a beautiful sun set with an individual looking over his shoulder. The individual said to the artist, “I don’t see all those colors in the sun set?” The artist replied, “Don’t you wish that you could!”