Do you think that statement becomes any less true if you are white, black, brown, male, or female?  Do you think that other people who aren’t the same denomination, religion or a person who doesn’t believe in God at all as you are just as valuable to God?  How about people in a different division of the place you work like “the mail room people” VS “the clerical staff”?

What is it within us that makes us judge one another?  Do we think that God feels the same about other people as we do?

It is the tree of knowledge of good and evil.  We inherited it from our great grandparents Adam and Eve.  It makes us judge everything independently, that is, without God.  God knew this would happen and warned “in the day you eat of it you will surely die.”  Well one proof of that is that God had said man was “very good”.  Now man was judging himself and said “naked and ashamed”.  “Who told you that you were naked?”  “Did you eat of the tree I told you not to?” (Genesis 3:)

God knew man ate of the tree as soon as he started judging good and evil for himself.  Man’s new found knowledge wasn’t complete though and therefore not correct.  God is perfect and has perfect knowledge.  He can see the beginning and end of a thing even beyond time.  He can correctly judge good and evil.  He made them.

Man, now judging good and evil judged himself and saw himself as imperfect.  This is sin.  Much later, in the book of Hebrews (9:13), God says through the writer “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”  It is the consciousness of sin that kills man (separates him from God).  This is what the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil does.  In man’s little imperfect knowledge and judgment, he can’t be with God because he is less than perfect.

Another aspect of the working of this insidious tree is that it makes people self-centered.  One example of this is the situation between Cain and Able (two sons of Adam and Eve).  The one had offered God a sacrifice of a lamb.  This indicates a consciousness of personal sin and the need of payment (the lamb representing Able).  Cain on the other hand offered Grain (the work of his hands) and became very angry and jealous of Able because God showed respect to Able’s sacrifice and not to his.  There is a lot going on here but the main element is Cain doesn’t understand why his hard work isn’t worth much more than the Lamb that Able offered.  In answer to Cain’s expression of anger God told Able that sin was lying at the door and that he must overcome it.  Rather than submitting to God against this wrong Cain felt he had been dealt, he decided to kill his brother.  This marked the climax of Cain’s self-righteousness, anger and jealousy.  All of these have their root in the knowledge of good and evil, self-centeredness, and self-exaltation.

We tend to think of “sin” as something wrong we have done.  While this is one aspect or manifestation of sin, it can be more clearly defined as that element that separates us from God and all that issues out of that element.  The element is the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  If we act apart from God we manifest sin (the independent nature inherited from our great grandparents Adam and Eve).  God actually designed man to become one with Him, to live in and with Him.  This tree separates us from Him and compounds that separation by driving a wedge between us every time we act independently of Him.

Now God has brought man a cure for his consciousness of sin.  The God Himself came down to man in the form of a man (His son Jesus).  As a man, He suffered on man’s behalf all the punishment man deserved for his sins and then provided a new life.  God himself with His resurrected Son comes into us by the Holy Spirit that we now can receive Him because we have the consciousness that we have been forgiven and cleansed from our sins through Jesus the Christ.  This new life within helps us and teaches us how to live according to God so that we can please him and because of our cleansed conscience, we are able to have continual fellowship with God.

Even when you know what God has done for us, it takes special progressive revelations to really get it.  We are so dull because of being used to judging according to our own ability to understand or, as I should say, inability.  As we grow in Christ, we are taken from one degree to another in our ability to grasp bit by bit what God has done and why.  I could say thousands of times “God really loves you” and you might start to get it some special day as you think and dwell on those words.  Then when you really believe it, you start to grow more and realize it more.  God says that when all of the believers together, each sharing their own grasp/understanding/comprehension/apprehension/experience/fellowship with all the others through God’s indwelling Spirit; while being continually infused with the flow of His pure divine love that we will eventually be filled up with the fullness of God.

(2 Corinthians 3: and Ephesians 3:).

A wonderful thing I want to leave with you, that is PRAY.  God wants us to seek him out and talk to Him.  He is more than ready and willing to manifest Himself to us; we just need to keep on asking him, be thankful, and believe that He hears and will answer out prayers.

Joined to the Lord as One Spirit

From God’s point of view, all of the believers are one with Him by His Spirit. The Bible shows these in many ways- two of them are:

I Corinthians 6:17 (King James Version) “But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.”

John 17:21 (King James Version) “That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one.”

Oneness, which redeemed believers have with God and Jesus is that His Divine Spirit, has been mingled with the human spirit of that believer. This truth transcends any earthly church group or worship system. All that does not exist in harmony with this truth is outside of God. The oneness believers have with God is an absolute reality and a supreme truth in the Word of God; it is of supreme importance. It is the essential element in the fulfillment of God’s plan for us. It is the reason Jesus Christ died on the cross.

John 16:7-15 (King James Version) “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.”

Jesus was demonstrating the fullness of the Father to the world when He was manifest in the flesh, ministering on Earth. He spoke of going away (through His crucifixion) saying that it was necessary or expedient that He go so that the “Comforter” would be able to come, take up residence in the redeemed believers, and be the fullness of God in us. This Holy Spirit of God and Jesus, which He has caused to dwell in His redeemed believers is our oneness with Him.

Dear Lord, by your faith working in us, may we live in the oneness we have in you. Lord we take our stand in you against all opposition to this and every adversary.  May the power, love, and joy of Your Spirit overwhelm and overtake us. Dear Father saturate us with the blessing of Your continual presence.  Let us live in this oneness with God and enjoy this resurrected and mingled-with-God life.

Galatians 2:20 (King James Version) “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.”

I am sorry to all the unbelievers for all that I have not lived according to this oneness I have with Christ.  Had I and all the church lived more in this wonderful oneness, it would be much easier for everyone to realize the reality of God.  Living in the oneness with Christ causes us to be shining examples of the reality of God to all.  When we don’t realize or forget what being born again is, we get stuck in a life of futility.  This is it; we become one spirit with God.  Then to the extent we live and walk in the spirit, we walk in God.

It is a relationship that is designed to last forever. This relationship is that of a son and a father. You actually will receive the very life and nature of God into your human spirit. Once this happens, you will have the way to live by His Spirit in your spirit, and your very soul may become renewed; that is, His Spirit may be lived out through your thoughts, feelings, emotions, and your will. Your whole life will be revolutionized to be a shining expression of God in you if He is given the place in your life that He desires.

Let’s talk about oneness with God a little bit. What does it really mean? When a person becomes one with God, it is a spiritual thing. God’s Spirit is able to search all things, including the depths of God, and reveal an understanding to us. This is just one aspect of His working in us, but we can see from this that knowledge and understanding are conveyed via the Spirit of God in our human spirit. Though it is conveyed by means of the Spirit, we gain understanding in our soul. The Holy Spirit, mingled and made one with our spirit, becomes the vital link or connection between God’s mind and our mind.  This is what happens to all our soul.  Our emotions are filled with the emotions of God.  Our thoughts and even our will can just be filled with God.

God’s Desire – That Man Take Him In

In the beginning, God desired to be man’s everything, but not without man’s free-will choice. God desired that man would willingly choose Him and see that he was incomplete without God. God wanted man to desire Him and see the value of relationship with Him. God intentionally gave man a free will and wanted him to exercise it. His hope, plan, and intention was that man exercise his free will to receive Him into him and become one with him. God, from the beginning, wanted man to exercise his created, independent, free will to choose Him and take Him in.

God knew man was ignorant, so He gave instructions in the form of a command and a warning: “Eat freely of every tree of the garden including the Tree of Life, but not of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. In the day you do eat of it, you shall surely die.” This is, in essence, what God said. Had man continued in the garden, taking in his nourishment according to God’s instructions; he would have eventually become a partaker of God’s life and nature. All that God is would have been combined with man. As it is now, having been redeemed through the precious blood of His Son, Jesus, we are positioned again to take in God. All that He is can be ours in His Son, Jesus.

So, the call is to all who would come to the Lord and drink. Jesus has become “the Life-giving Spirit.” A perfect human life, now in resurrection, has become available for us to partake of in the Holy Spirit. God has done this so that He may get into us and become our life in order for us to become one with Him. Let us come before the Lord right now and say from within: “Lord, I open my heart to You that You may fill me with the living water. Wash me and make me thoroughly clean through the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your life, and use me to do Your will. Lord Jesus, be the Tree Of Life to me, and let me eat and be filled with You. Amen!”

Father I Pray

Prayer is much more than just asking God for stuff (although that is a pretty cool thing that we can do that too).  What we are doing when we pray is we are communing with the almighty creator of the universe.  No one can corrupt God and He is not in the business of malicious mischief.  He tells us in Matthew 7:7-11 Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.  Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone?  Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he?  If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!  From this passage, we get a revelation of some aspects of the nature and general behavior of God.  He wants to do good to us and for us and He likes us to ask, seek, and knock.  He demonstrates an attitude of a loving, benevolent father who is more than able to give us what we ask for; and that with a mind-set of demonstrating a quality in giving that is above natural, earthly fathers.

I have had many wonderful experiences praying/communing with God.  Once I had a season of regular prayer because I had been asked to make a commitment of daily prayer.  I went daily to the appointed place for the agreed amount of time (I think it was an hour daily) and opened my heart and mouth to God.  I began with praising and giving thanks to God and Jesus for all. I also confessed my sins and prayed regarding the things I had been requested to commit to prayer.  I listened as God revealed what he wanted of me in certain areas and things, and He gave me answers concerning the other things I was praying about.  By the end of the week I realized that I was so much closer to God that I thought possible.  I was hearing Him speak in a regular conversational way.  I understood so much more than I had before that because His Spirit was making things so clear and giving me such good understanding of most everything.  I realize even now as I’m sharing my testimony that God would really like it if we prayed all the time.  If we made an effort to pray as much as we can, we would be so pleased with the results, we would want to pray much more.

Another instance I had asked God to make me sure because I thought He was telling me that he wanted me to quit working for kindly Christian man that needed some help with his business and was paying me decent wages to do some typesetting for him.  The reason I thought the Lord wanted me to quit was so that I could go back to my own business (a combined Desk Top Publishing and Computer business).  I talked to my wife and she suggested that I pray and make sure it was the Lord’s idea and not just me.  I told the Lord that I would appreciate Him making me sure so I wouldn’t make a mistake because I was a little unsure.  Before too long my immediate supervisor started being greatly irritating to work under.  She began to be very unreasonable, and demanding.  Normally this person who was also a Christian was very pleasant to work for and on occasion I had talked with concerning our mutual faith in the Lord.  I normally finished my “rush” work before I would take a lunch break which was also their preference because of deadlines.   Most days, I wouldn’t even take a Lunch break; I’d just get done as soon as I could and go home early if I could.  This day, I had had it with my supervisor’s unreasonable, demanding and irritating attitude and speech.  As soon as I was able to, I left my computer, stated in a curt manner, I’m going to lunch.

Outside, in the parking lot, I was fuming.  I was so irritated; tears were coming from my eyes.  I was leaning on my car praying “God why is she being this way?  She used to be so nice.  What the heck is going on”?  I clearly heard the Lord say “you asked me to make you sure”.

Just then, my main boss, the owner drove up in the parking lot and got out of his car.  Coming over to where I was, he asked “what’s going on—Is everything ok”?  I said “Lloyd, I think the Lord is telling me that I need to quit here and go back to my own business”.  “I just hate to leave you without anyone to do my work”.  Lloyd said “well, Bruce, don’t worry about anything, we’ll be ok”.  “Why don’t you take the rest of the afternoon off, just pray and make sure you are doing what you need to do”.  I said “thank you Lloyd, I feel much better already–I’ll call you later” and left.

I then drove over to a Christian bible/tape ministry to see if I could talk to Annette who, along with her husband Jerry, were good friends.  Annette, worked as a counselor as part of her ministry and I thought It would be some help to talk to her about the situation.  When I walked in I asked the front desk clerk if I could please speak with Annette; letting her know that I didn’t have an appointment but that we were friends and if she wasn’t too busy I would really like to speak with her.  The clerk let me through and as Annette was coming around the corner, I just hadn’t realized how emotional this whole thing was and the tears started to come again.  Annette rushed over like a big sister, “Are you alright?” as she put her arm around my shoulder.  When I finished explaining everything to Annette, she gave her best and most sincere effort to council me according to what she felt the Lord would have me do.

The most interesting thing happened as she shared her feelings that I should go back and continue to work for my friend Lloyd.  Although she was sincere and as true to what she believed the Lord wanted, the more she went that direction, the more sure I was the Lord wanted me to go back to my own business.  I believe the inner witness of the Holy Spirit was clearer because of our fellowship in the Spirit.  The Lord said “where two or more are gathered in my name I am there in their midst”.  So, our praying and talking to each other with our hearts open to the lord made me more able to sense the Holy Spirit’s speaking and directions He had for me.

Prayer is so wonderful and I’m so glad I started thinking more about it and sharing my thoughts.  It encourages me to be more mindful of the prayer and fellowship of my brothers and sisters in Christ.