OUR MARVELOUS ENTANGLEMENT WITH CHRIST by David Roberts
Wild animals were not intended to live in cages.
Some years ago, in my late teens, my family had an opossum posing a nuisance around our home. The animal was routinely getting into our trash, making a mess and caused us to fear for our pet’s safety. Cornering and disposing of the nuisance was quite memorable. As it turns out, if you corner a wild animal, they live by their survival instincts and let you know quickly they’re “all-in” in every moment.
Be wild but you are not an animal!
Animals are subject to their feelings, reputations and instincts but our feelings, reputations and instincts are supposed to be subject to us!
When we are cornered, hopefully we’re not operating out of pure fear where we return evil for evil. The way my mind works, I wanna know what that looks like so as I’ve prayerfully considered a few things.
What evil is to God is not what man thinks it is. When faced with trouble, we may play some scenario out in our minds, possibly with a lawyer (arguing for our favor), to defend us, saving our reputations/lives. But, if we’re occupied defending ourselves, seeking vindication, aren’t we refusing the reconciliation Christ offers? We have the ability to choose whether we’ll entertain these fantasies or not; or whether we’ll deny our instincts and follow Him.
Christ lowering Himself and making Himself of no reputation is a wonderful thing because this simply means He’s plugged fully into being the Father’s Son, while walking around as a man. With a clean heart, this is our position as well.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” Psalms 51:10kjv
“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” Phl 2:5-8kjv
According to Jesus, instead of despising our enemies our Father loves them and so do His children. There will be those that curse you, hate you, despitefully use you, and persecute you. Responding out of animal instinct is to speak the world’s language and it’s power lasts only until the next battle, because it requires constant effort instead of flowing in identity, born out of faith in joint-sonship with Jesus. When our confidence is in our Father in heaven, Christ manifests through us, revealing our new creation. Sons of God bless those that curse us, we do good to them that hate us, we pray for them that despitefully use and persecute us.
Christ does not let our sin separate us from Him, nor from one another! In fact, He’s drawn to weakness and surrender. We’re inviting you to open your heart afresh and be reborn again, again, this moment and as often as you choose Life.
“So here I am dead and alive at the same time! I’m dead to the old me I was trying to be and alive to the real me which is Christ in me! Co-crucified, now co-alive! What a glorious entanglement! I was in him in his death; now I discover that he is infused in me, in my life! For the first time, I’m free to be me in my skin, immersed in his faith in our joint-sonship! He loves me and believes in me! He is God’s gift to me!” ~Paul, Galatians 2:20 Mirror
Why would we resist such a marvelous entanglement with Christ? What’s behind the need to remain on the survival instincts track? Sure, familiar paths are quite appealing but while we’re sober, let’s look around and describe what we notice, the sometimes persuasive arguments made by our egos. Hopefully, by doing so, we identify the place within ourselves God is addressing, the places that are less than sincere.
Count the cost. It’s important we inventory what we lay down. It’s the smoke from burning flesh, the aroma pleasing to the Lord.
After fasting 40 days and nights, Jesus was led to a mountaintop where He was tempted by Satan. Satan offered Him the whole world and all it’s kingdoms; truth, beauty and goodness. This same trick is at the core of the deception taunting mankind. [Luke 4:1-14, Matt 4:1-11, Mrk 1:12,13]
When He was on the mountain, being tempted, He already owned it all, and so do you, because we were co-crucified and are now co-alive! It’s not really a temptation for a rich man to shoplift at the candy store.
How we describe ourselves is the base line for how we see one another:
When we describe ‘self’, to ‘self’, what are the parameters used, revealing our source of hope?
How do you describe yourself, to your ‘self’? If in the common language of the world, we describe ourselves by using safe and predictable words, keeping nice categories so we can control everything, it’s probably because it comes from our training as humans. Of course, no one stands in front of the mirror, describing themselves to their own self except in vanity, but in case you’re unaware, you and I do describe our self to our self and this description is hidden in the thoughts and intentions of our hearts.
If we are simply giving lip service, He may be our friend but we’re struggling knowing Him as Savior. If that’s the case, we continue unchanged, in the old wine skin. But, if we are being renewed, our wine skin becomes soft and pliable, able to be shaped and molded by one greater.
Many of us have sang songs declaring God is our Father yet worry every time the world shakes. In effect, when we worry, we’re really saying the devil is our father (in that moment).
At the young age of 12, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem. When his parents completed their yearly feast of the Passover they left the city but Jesus stayed. Unaware of this, they looked for him three days until they found Him teaching in the temple. Jesus saw Himself as He was, even when no one else could understand Him or what He meant when He said, “He must be about His Father’s business.” Jesus, not defining Himself as simply a craftsman, or by skin or eye color, political affiliation, denomination, evangelical program, etc, defined Himself as who He is, simply surrendering to being God’s Son, God’s Word being made flesh.
I’ve been so guilty at times, of labeling people and leaders, judging them by their appearance or by their choice of words. Most likely, I would’ve felt right at home with those wondering if anything good thing can could come from Nazareth. I might have been right there with the masses, saying, “that Jesus, boy he could’ve really been something… he could’ve made something out of himself. He sure was a superb craftsman yet he never really applied himself. He was given every opportunity to have every kingdom, and his answer was “man does not live by bread alone, but only by every word which proceeds out of the mouth of God”.
On the surface many of us appear to be wasting our opportunities, at least according to those who refuse to receive YOU, when you come in this same name, but it’s really testing, revealing whether the confession of our mouth is aligned with our heart.
Jesus didn’t swing at all the wild pitches we are inundated with daily. By taking His yoke, we ignore things having no authority over us. The enemy is a loudmouth and at most, a distraction if we make a place for those lies in our lives.
Even while submitting to his parent’s authority, Jesus exercised higher authority than they could yet comprehend.
“And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.” Luke 2:47-51kjv
We all know family members who’ve had great relationships and potential, yet they’ve possibly made some serious mistakes and wound up in what many might describe a wasted life. Possibly that’s you? Calling any life a wasted life is absolutely absurd, to think God hadn’t designed every life knowing we’d make those choices? Those with this idea of life are also chasing after being the greatest among us.
“For whether is greater, he that sitteth at meat, or he that serveth? is not he that sitteth at meat? but I am among you as he that serveth.” Luke 22:27kjv
The problem with judging whether someone is a success or a failure is that we often don’t yet know which is which and what is happening within them.
There was once a time we thought the self help section was only in the library/book store, but truth be told, walking by knowledge of good and evil is the ultimate ‘self help’ testimony, revealing who your father really is (in spirit).
God is aware of what we call “faults”; they’re simply not His focus. A “fault” is simply a moral weakness. For anyone whose focus is on one another’s faults, they see themselves as morally superior.
We humans make “faults” our focus, setting them up as our cornerstone/idol labeling them “things that disqualify” but God sees our living as mortals a prerequisite to acknowledging the need for the Doctor, who brings to us Eternal Medicine (Life). God calculated the course of our lives to include “bumpy roads” and even “dead end roads”, for His purposes, to reveal the greater, which you wouldn’t believe, even if told; it must be experienced, at His appointed times.
A prophet is without honor in his home town but being without honor isn’t the best reason to flee that town. If honor is what you’re seeking, you can get that with a few well placed advertisements on social media. It’s easy to ‘get liked’ but it’s treacherous water, being co-crucified and co-sonship with Jesus.
Mourning:
Three months ago, our family decided we needed to place my dad on hospice. He’d been diagnosed several years ago, with Parkinson’s Disease and he’d progressed to the point we needed help.
My dad is 82 years young and we’ve watched as he’s slowly lost his ability to use his motor functions. Now, he can’t feed himself, turn over, or control his voice, so he’s down to an occasional whisper.
As a younger man, he was very athletic and ‘hands-on’, not afraid to attempt building or repairing anything. He had a gift for understanding construction, mechanical and foundational principles, so it was nothing for him to tackle anything around the house, which he built. He’s always taken his commitments seriously, including the one he took when he married my mom, August 20, 1961, which would be 60 years, later this year, if he’s still in his body then.
As you might imagine, it’s difficult watching a loved one suffer but this particular disease seems to speak to me. If you’re unfamiliar with Parkinson’s Disease, it’s a neurodegenerative disorder affecting his motor function, which means, much of the man we new is in his mind but not in his body. I’ve watched him have desires to move, only to see disappointment in his eyes, as the signal between his head and his body disappears.
As we’re going through these experiences, I can’t help but sense God’s desire for His body to respond to His mind.
“It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:” Isaiah 40:22
God’s set in place ordered steps and instead of cursing our process, if we ask for wisdom, He will open up heaven and reveal so much to us.
Mourning is the process where we wish we had more time to be with someone/something, as we knew them previously, but God takes us by the hand and shows us how powerful it is to let go of the temporal, then imparts and exchanges His eternal Life in it’s place, in a very real, present way, so we can witness His Goodness personally. Mourning is NOT an eternal process but temporal. It’s like forced fasting, where it’s only necessary when our relationship needs to grow stronger with Eternal Life.
Life is eternal and whether we flow through life’s classroom (we sometimes stumble) or not determines whether we demonstrate Love or fear.
We have the power to choose Life but what will we choose? Wait before you answer with your mouth. This question is answered by our lives, as our living testimony, we are living stones. Our words simply state what’s happening and if it’s true then let it be true, but if you claim to choose life yet seek retribution on those doing evil to you, it would be better you remain silent.
It’s a heart transplant we’re receiving; lip service won’t cut it. God has the perfect way of shaking what needs shaken, in order for us to turn toward Him, confessing and repenting.
It’s all in the flow of joy coming in the morning, after we’ve mourned through the night. Praise be to our Father in Heaven. May He sit on the throne of our hearts as He prepares our inner self to be His hospitable home forever and ever. Amen.
David Roberts is an apostle and ministry son of Dr. Mark Hanby. He serves as Executive Director of Restoration House Ministries- You may contact him through his website: http://restorationhouse.com/contact-us
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