Christ in the Heavens & Christ Within

[Marilyn C]

I see the Lord interceding for us and building up the Body of Christ as He is at the right hand of the Father.

`It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.` (Rom. 8: 34)

And He does that through His Holy Spirit who abides in us.

`However, when He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is mine and declare it to you.` (John 16: 13 & 14)

Christ in His glorified body directing the building up of the Body through the agency of His Holy Spirit who only does what the Lord directs.

Having gone through a time when the Holy Spirit was majored upon we can see the fall out of that - listening to any `spirit.` So it is imperative that we, as believers look to Christ and truths of Him -

`If you are raised with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above not things on earth.` (Col. 3: 1 & 2) 

[Alive]

Praise the Lord!

[Alive]

I was musing about this conversation this morning and this exchange came to mind…..

“Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. “You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. “Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.”

(John 14:8–31 NAS95)

 

 

[Arial]

My viewpoint. It is true that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit now work in us and this is invisible, as they are invisible. The new birth itself is done within us and brings about a complete 180 of our heart towards God. (Though sometimes not all at once but is progressive over time, with everything working towards it. God is outside of us but working in us.) The doing of it is done by the Holy Spirit.

And every bit of our learning and sanctification after this regeneration is done within us but always through His word. In this sense it could be said to be subjective as to what is taking place within us in our lives and in our minds, since it can't be seen, though the evidence should be visible in various degrees and ways. That would be the outpouring of the changes within.

An example of what is going on within a person being intangible and unknowable to others is found in Prov 14:10 "The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stanger does not share its joy." (So much for the unceasing  angry cry of the teenager  "No one understands me!")

However---what is being done by the Holy Spirit within a person is always objective to the objective truths of the Bible and always glorifies Christ. He speaks to us now through Christ, not feelings or emotions or unctions.  He wants us to learn of Him and seek Him. For example He does not tell us through a feeling that we should wait five minutes before we leave in the car because in three minutes a tree is going to fall across the roadway and if we leave now it will fall on us. He can keep the tree from falling until after we have passed just as easily. He can just as easily see that your mother calls you just as you are stepping out the door.

God will do what God will do. And sometimes He lets us see where He has protected us or guided us because that is what we need at the time. And it is usually in hindsight that we see it. But mostly He does not. He is doing so all the time and we can trust that, trust Him (which is what it is all about  in the end, and that we gain with the righteousness of Christ who never wavered in His trust but grants us His when we as humans cannot or do not do so).

Even though I was not brought into Christ until my early thirties, having gained what understanding He has given me so far, I now see that every step of my life, He was protecting that life, and it went exactly as it needed to go and was always leading me to the Good Shepherd. Everything. From when I was born to where, to the parents He gave me, through all the many wrong paths I took, to the very personality and individual that make up me, that He gave to me (though most of them I misused as is the case with fallen humanity). An aside. There is a very good thing in this for many particularly  when it comes to honoring our mother and our father as parents inevitably make many mistakes along the way and often with the best of intentions. And they often appear to have done damage as to what could have been. (I was raised as a Christian Scientist and kept very isolated from the world.) I have always loved them but my siblings, not so much. They still blame them for things.

There never was a time when God did not know us personally. There never was a time when He was not working in us personally.

 

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by Arial

[Alive]

Lots of good stuff there, sister.

Consider this….He could also tell you to wait for three minutes and thereby, use that experience to build trust. A thing you might need later in life.

This is the crux of what I have wanted to get across….give me a few minutes and I will ramble.

 

[Vine Abider]

2 hours ago, Alive said:

I was musing about this conversation this morning and this exchange came to mind…..

“Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? “Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. “Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father. “Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. “If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it.

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments. “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.

“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. “After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. “In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) *said to Him, “Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?” Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. “He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.

“These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. “You heard that I said to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. “Now I have told you before it happens, so that when it happens, you may believe. “I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.”

(John 14:8–31 NAS95)

 

 

This is a remarkable passage you quoted and as I've read this section many times, a question always comes up.  In one aspect Jesus speaks of the Spirit being sent like it's another person, but in another aspect He speaks as if He is the one coming to be in them.

This where the nature of the Triune God is really a mystery to us.  Is He three or one, and the answer I always come up with is "yes." They (if I can use that word) are so one that no separation is between them.  Of course then there's: "Hear oh Israel, the Lord our God is one God." (Deut 6:4)

So is God in us?  Is Christ in us?  Is the Spirit in us?  As per Romans 8:9-11 the answer is YES!

[Vine Abider]

5 minutes ago, Alive said:

Lots of good stuff there, sister.

Consider this….He could also tell you to wait for three minutes and thereby, use that experience to build trust. A thing you might need later in life.

This is the crux of what I have wanted to get across….give me a few minutes and I will ramble.

 

As a brother I'm close to is fond of saying, "It's all for faith!"  He uses it all, so that we might trust Him more and more!

[Mr. M]

2 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

In one aspect Jesus speaks of the Spirit being sent like it's another person, but in another aspect He speaks as if He is the one coming to be in them.

John 14:

16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you

another Helper, that He may abide with you forever.

17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive,

because it neither sees Him nor knows Him;

but you know Him, for He dwells with you 

and will be in you.

allos paracletos another helper, counselor

We know the Paraclete is the same Spirit because Christ

refers to Him as "the Spirit of Truth", and He also has

already spoken of Himself as "the Truth".

John 6:63 It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

John 17:

21 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.

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

"Blessed be the glory of the Lord from His Place!" Ez 3:12

Doxology:

Psalm 72:

18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who only does wondrous things!
19 And blessed be His glorious name forever!
And let the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen and Amen!

[Alive]

Without going into a long account of the journey the Lord has taken me on since He rescued me, I will attempt to communicate what I have been going on about here. In the first couple years 'In Christ', other than visiting a congregation or three, I was not indoctrinated. I did however read the scripture a lot and as a simple and very excited teen and 20 year old who was on fire for the Lord, I believed what I read. I both expected and experienced Christ to be a real presence in my life. I had not yet been biased in any real way. Christ and His Life was very simple to me and very real. After this time of the 'Jesus Freak' phase and reading Watchman Nee, where I got a basic foundation of the meaning of the Cross, Resurrection and Ascension and my inclusion in those real time historical events, I joined a congregation as I believe the Lord told me to do. After a time and functioning as a teacher, assistant pastor and such things, the elders of the denomination assigned me to a church to pastor.

I am skipping a lot in order to get to a few vital 'milestones'. That the Lord deemed it necessary for me. Years later looking back, I can understand better the whys and wheretofors.

I wrote these things years ago. The readers have a choice or two. Believe that these things happened just as described, think me a liar or think me delusional. Trust me, I get it...yet I am going to stick my neck out there all the while being acutely aware of the pitfalls of pride. Belieive me when I say it would be easier for me to not write these things. The enemy hates it.

The Lord wants to be a reality in our daily lives.

1. Milestone: 

Many moons ago when I was pastoring a church. A small congregation, so I worked as cab driver part time. One of the drivers name was Buddy Breaulx and I had a chance to talk with him about the Lord and he seemed very receptive. One night the Lord woke me up at 2am and told me to go see Buddy and he told me right where he would be. My wife thought I was crazy, but I told her I had to go.

Buddy was right where the Lord said he would be. I pulled up and he rolled down his window.

Meanwhile, I’m asking the Lord what He wants me to do and I had no clue, so I asked Buddy if he had thought about what we talked about. He replied saying that he believed that Christ was the Lord and such.He confessed just as the scriptures say.I wished him a good night and went home.

About two hours later, Buddy was robbed and shot in the head—dead.

Buddy went to be with the Lord and the lesson to myself was—this stuff is important and pay attention when the Lord speaks.

Later, I was able to— in my duties, to relate this story to his recent young bride. I often have wondered how many others have heard this story told since then by her and others and how the Lord has used it.

2. Milestone:

One of the early lessons the Lord taught me was the reality of demon possession. It was one of those very remarkable experiences. He told me just what was going to happen ahead of time when visiting a woman that a member asked me to visit.

I was parked outside the apartment and I asked the Lord to guide me, as was my practice. I had a sense of wrongness, which was familiar to me. He said, "go inside and I am going to teach you something".

I went inside and I immediately sensed the 'wrongness'. I began to speak with her. She tried to seduce me in a very unpleasant manner. The Lord then told me "she is going to go into the kitchen, get a knife and come out to try to kill you". Ok says I.  A moment later she went into the kitchen and I could hear the rattling of utensils in a drawer. She came out and was literally screaming in a very strange and abnormal voice, with raised butcher knife screamed 'I am going to kill you'. I rebuked the spirit and she immediately laid down and went to sleep.

The Lord told me He was done and it was time to leave.

3. Milestone:

This dream has never been shared with the Church wholesale, but was shared within the context of a ‘home church’ body of believers at the time of the dream and then as will become obvious, several years later. The dream was given many years before the 9-11 incident.

The dream was one of those that is as clear as a bell and obvious to the dreamer that it was the Lord. I do hope and pray, it will be edifying. Please understand that the Lord was careful to adhere to His admonition regarding the time is known only to the Father—and He ain’t tellin.

The dream came in two parts and was given back in the late 80’s.

First part:

I saw an airliner about to crash into the tower at the precise angle. The airliner was similar to what we had then, but it was obvious in the dream that it was larger and more modern. That was the impression given in the dream. There were flames and smoke and a clear sense of the chaos that was to follow. Again—this was the clear sense communicated in the dream. The visual was amazingly precise and the picture in the dream precisely like what was shown on TV years later.

Part two:

The second part was like turning a page as though a second chapter.

Many of us believers were gathered in a large room/building that was ‘well lit’. Again this was the strong impression given. A large room that was well lit.

While we were all in this building I found caves beneath the building and came back up stairs and said, “there are caves beneath here where we can flee and be safe. Another brother said, “we should stay here, there are more yet to come”.

As you can imagine, when 9/11 occurred there was much discussion.

Conclusions were.

A time of chaos would follow the event.

Believers would be before the Lord and that there would be a tension between fleeing or hiding somehow and waiting and trusting while bringing others in.

This was a very powerful dream that the Lord sent.

I have mentioned before, but I am convinced that the Lord gives dreams, visions, and specific direction for edification and faith building to either individuals or communities of believers—or both.

He loves us and is gracious.

edit to add: I do not believe the second part has all happened yet.

[Alive]

22 minutes ago, Vine Abider said:

This is a remarkable passage you quoted and as I've read this section many times, a question always comes up.  In one aspect Jesus speaks of the Spirit being sent like it's another person, but in another aspect He speaks as if He is the one coming to be in them.

This where the nature of the Triune God is really a mystery to us.  Is He three or one, and the answer I always come up with is "yes." They (if I can use that word) are so one that no separation is between them.  Of course then there's: "Hear oh Israel, the Lord our God is one God." (Deut 6:4)

So is God in us?  Is Christ in us?  Is the Spirit in us?  As per Romans 8:9-11 the answer is YES!

Yup--This is one reason I think this exchange came to mind. All of what Jesus said there is equally true. The Godhead, although comprised of three in a way we cannot fathom, they are also inseperable in a manner we cannot fathom. I tend to stay away frrom the subject.

LOL