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Christ Likeness
Matthew 5:48
Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect
What is our understanding of perfection?
A perfect morning for fishing
The car looks good and runs great
The house is in good order - everyone is happy - and dad is doing the dishes
(Maybe that even qualifies as a miracle lol)
Perfection: Things meeting and or exceeding our expectations
But maybe our expectations are not the plum line for perfection
Beatitudes: Matthew 5:
V.3. Poor in spirit
V.4 They that mourn
V.5 Meek
V.6 Thirst after righteousness
V.7 Merciful
V.8 Pure in heart
V.9 Peacemakers
V.10 Persecuted for righteousness sake
Consider the child training it would take to mold these scriptural traits into our being.
The Beatitudes requirements are not natural to our life’s ambitions
This being Satan’s kingdom the residents then inherit his characteristics
Satan’s Character:
Isaiah 14: 13&14
For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
Notice the key word in his declaration is “I”.
“I” The EGO is born
Jesus said of the scribes and Pharisees: St. John 8:44
44. Ye are of your father the devil and the lusts of your father ye will do.
The lusts: The “I” EGO
Merit:
Matthew 20:1-16 - Workers in the vineyard
Generally applied to the church ages - but I believe there is also a person application
God is sovereign: I may labor all my life for the kingdom
But: God is justified in raising ‘a nobody’ off the street - fill him with abundant revelation and placing him before me
Now according to Merit I would have a problem
But I haven’t earned anything
What have I done to earn my salvation???
Merit is a trick of the devil
Merit is an EGO thing
Perfect love and Merit don’t mix
Perfect love does not need any support or proof
It is just there – a part of God
Merit needs both
Matthew 16:4 Jesus said “A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign”
Why do they need a sign?
They want proof
Proof is a circumstantial product
Eternal is ‘Absolute’ it has no supportive requirements
A wicked and adulterous generation needs proof
EGO: Revenge: Someone does you bad wrong
You might not say it but you may feel it.
‘Just wait until the judgement day then we shall see’
Because we live in a mix of good and evil / checks and balances our mind
We automatically goes to reasoning - to weigh thing out.
In perfection there is no mix
No need to balance anything
EGO: Fair: How come this person this or that and look at me
Some through the fire, some through the flood, some through great trials but all though the blood
Scripture says do not judge
Because we judge according to our sense experience
Our sense experience is subject to the Mix of Good and Evil
Not fit to judge because our vision is marred – due to the mix
EGO: Analyze: We always try to analyze.
Because we are in the mix of good and evil we are always called on to judge
Unfortunately it spills into spiritual applications
The Spirit drops something down or we simply feel His presents and right away we go to analyzing
And the Spirit takes its flight.
When Moses seen the burning bush, if he would have said “let me see” God never would have spoken to him.
How often do we drive God away by analysis reflex?
Say: we need to use the Word as a filter
True – But if the Word lives in us it will ring the bell – we won’t have to be a theologian and figure it out.
EGO: Pride and self sufficiency
God doesn’t force himself on anyone
If we think we can handle it - he will just let us go – He only comes where He is welcome
If we would get to a place where we can see clearly: Pride and self-sufficiency would not be an issue: Just as Moses was the most humble man in all Israel
EGO: Jealousy – thou shall not covet
I am sure there a more but these are what came to mind:
We can also see that Ego’s are governed by circumstances
Lucifer was governed by circumstances:
He seen that he was filled with beauty and wisdom
It was on account of those circumstances that he fell
Circumstances did not govern Jesus
Because he is the absolute
Absolutes don’t change
Personal thoughts: about Adam and Eve
Adam was a part of the absolute
We might think of him representing an element
No matter how much heat is applied to that element it doesn’t change – it stays an element
Eve was maybe like a composite
If you apply enough heat there may be a reaction – a change
Brass is a composite, it is very stable but if you apply enough heat it can separate
Consider: When Lucifer stepped out from perfection - thinking he had a better idea than Michael.
Stepping out from perfection - then you have error – and error requires correction
And correction demands support and proof
Did not Jesus say: An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; Matthew 12:39
An evil and adulterous generation needs proof
Because: they don’t have the proof/absolute living inside of them.
Current Condition:
Why do we want to be saved:
To save us from damnation, hell?
Or do we want to be saved on account of a love affair – to worship
Do we want to be healed to feel better???
Or is it our desire to be healed so we can live for Him???
Grant it: that we can raise to a level that is EGO free
Dying to self:
For only perfect love will enter there
Of course we know that it is not in our natural power to attain it or even desire to go there
As Einstein said: We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking that created them.
Greatest Battle Ever Fought:
Is characterized by these three parameters
Money, women and popularity
Broad Definition:
Money: Power, possession, real-estate, land, cattle etc…
Women: Base: Fleshly lusts and needs – Physical needs of the house we live in
Popularity: Sports, physique, beauty well-spoken of
Interesting: Matthew 4: 1-10
Jesus’ three temptations addresses these areas
V.3 Hunger: Hunger is our most basic need but satisfying physical need works on a hierarchy. Once our very basic physical need is met it moves down the ladder.
In our modern setting we have move down the ladder to where flesh lusts prevail (women).
V.5 Popularity: “throw thyself off” prove who you are – or want to be
V.8 Money: “All these things I will give thee”
Money: To satisfy our lust for power
We understand that self-examination and resolve won’t solve our problem
But: It may instill in us with humility
Place us in a condition that we can receive
But our resolve isn’t enough
So we know we are dealing with something that is outside our realm and differs from our natural thinking
Don’t want to spend a lot of time studying the counterfeit
But you can’t get much done is a messy shop
So let’s take a look and see what needs to be - put the shop back in order
What was wrong with the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees?
Their expectations:
Smart: Able to site scripture and have all the politically correct answers
Strong: Kick the Romans out and put those heathens in their place
Successful: Having the blessings of God expressed in much material goods
Popular: Living that holy life that all people can see that you are blessed of God and you are the man of the Word and you possess the authority given by God
To be Smart, Strong, Successful and Popular s sounds alright:
But we also know it won’t get us to where we want to go
Because it stays right here
And of course we want something that will bridge the gap
The Word to the rescue:
St. John 15:16
Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,
Hebrews 12: 6,8
6. For whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
(Are you feeling loved?)
Ephesians 3:17
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love:
It has been said that this heart business is symbolic
Proverbs 23:7
So as a man thinks in his heart so is he
Story:
There was a case (I believe it was in the UK) where an 8 year old girl needed a heart transplant and as it happened there was one available from a 10 year old girl that was murdered. The transplant was successful but after the transplant the 8 year old girl was having very dramatic dreams. The parent became concerned so they took her to a specialist. After extensive examinations the doctor said these are not normal dreams - so the girls was counseled and interviewed by a specialist.
In her dreams she was being chased by a man in the woods and was finally caught and killed.
With the help of a police artist they were able to draw up a picture of the man.
The girl was even able to tell them the exact words and events that took place at the time of the ten year old girl’s death.
They caught the man and he was convicted.
There are other cases, one in which a woman who disliked fast food – but - found that after the transplant she craved onion rings and hamburgers, as was the custom of the heart donor.
It might be buried deep but it is there and it may surface unconsciously
Or maybe in a secondary way as in dreams.
I understand these occurrences are now medically acknowledged and attributed to something they call (cellular recall T cells)
Proverbs 23:7
So as a man thinks in his heart so is he
Scripture was right after all
More on heart felt religion:
1st. John 3:2
But we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
1st. Cor. 13:12
For now we see through a glass, darkly: but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
When you meet another believer don’t you just feel a kinship?
That which is in the heart will speak louder than the mind perceives
That power was demonstrated a number of times by Jesus:
St. John 18:5&6 Remember when the soldiers came to get him and he said “I am he”
And they fell to the ground
How about on the road to Emmaus Luke.24:13-35
When Jesus had to opened their eyes
Or when the Lord opened Gehazi’s eyes to see the chariots of fire: 11 Kings 6:17
Or Moses: Why couldn’t the people look upon his face when he came off the mount???
The glory of the Lord emanating from within:
One day we will arrive:
Whale Story:
Have you ever wondered how the trainers at Sea World get whales and porpoises to jump 22 feet out of the water and perform tricks?
This is a great challenge – as great as the ones you and I face as parents, coaches or managers.
The typical American approach to this situation is we would get a rope put it up 22 feet in the air and command the whale to jump over it.
We call that goal-setting or strategic planning.
With the goal clearly defined we take the bucket of fish and put it right above that 22-foot rope then we lean over from our nice high and dry perch and say “Jump Whale’
Of course the whale stays right where it is.
So how do the trainers at Sea World do it?
Their number one priority is to reinforce the behavior that they want repeated.
They start by creating an environmental condition in which the whale can’t fail.
They start by putting the rope below the surface of the water in a position where the whale can’t help but do what’s expected of it. Every time the whale goes over the rope it gets positive reinforcement, a fish or patted.
So as the whale begins to go over the rope more often than under the trainers begin to raise the rope, but it must be raised slowly enough so that the whale doesn’t starve, either physically or emotionally.
(Charles Coonradt)
Eventually the rope is lifted out of the water, out of the whale’s natural habitat, into the air - to fly like an eagle
Has the Lord been raising the rope for you?
Even out of the water?
There may be fish swimming all around you
But you can clear the rope
You were ordained to it
As sons and daughters of God we are meant to fly like an eagle.
Out of our natural habitat
God leads us on in a manner that we cannot fail…
Our trials, troubles, experiences all have a purpose
God raising the rope:
Joseph’s life of trials and troubles so God could get him into a place where he can use him
Moses had to fail so God could use him and get the glory
We need to be tested to the point of failure:
Why: If not - our EGO would prevail
The apostle Peter had to find out that he was an absolute failure (denying the Lord) before God could do great things through him.
Acts 5:15 Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.
Saint Paul had to be cut down so God could raise him up to do a mighty work
So we need too need to be conditioned to receive the promise for our age.
God being just don’t just lay out the red carpet for his bride and squash all others – no – that wouldn’t prove anything – the bride has to be displayed – who and what she is
He lays the trials out for everyone knowing that: only His bride can take the heat
(Song Leader: ‘Something keeps holding me’ )
We know that God does all things
The rain falls on the just and the unjust, gifts and callings are without repentance.
So we thank God for ambitions, visions and abilities - utilizing those gifts from God.
Things we do - are not really a payback - an earning
When we happen to feel low, depressed, everything seems to be against us.
And we are standing with minimal support - I expect that is a plus
Character is strength
That song: ‘God Wants To Hear You Sing’
There is a lot of depth to that song
True: we know we can’t choose to be led
We can only yield
So let us worship as we yield
Something Keeps Holding Me…
