Meta-more-foo-may-I

Declaring good news of real change out of, through and into the Spirit of Jesus Christ Rom. 12:2 Rom. 11:36

Faith

(part 5)

Say what?

So then, faith comes out from hearing and hearing through the spoken word of God. I have been writing on this particular verse for five articles now, and there is still more here than I could ever begin to relay. We have faith as a result of the word of God Himself. It is created into our hearts and minds to transform and renovate our minds into His mind, the Mind of Christ (the mind anointed). Romans 12:2 says: “Be ye transformed (meta-more-foo-may-I) by the renewing (more properly translated renovating) of your minds.” Do we see Jesus? Yes! But remember there comes an end of our faith, even the total rescue and salvation of our souls to which we look and press toward.

We have touched on the fact that we are spirit beings, and nothing is accomplished in our lives but it is generated and understood in our union and oneness with the Spirit of God within us. Know you not, that he that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit? Yes, we know. We should also be able to see then that it is in our minds where the transformation and real change occurs. God is Spirit, God changes not. He that is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit. As we walk after the Spirit, and not after the flesh, we are one in Him. We are seated with Him in the heavenly realm and in Him we have dominion over all things as they are under our feet. Again, if we are being honest, we must still say that we do not yet see all things under our feet; but we see Jesus. So then, we are changed from (away from) glory to (into) glory as we are brought out of each realm or level of understanding and experience into the next, by faith.

We the ecclesia, the called out ones, are not only called out; it is important for us to see that we are also simultaneously called into something else, namely more of God in Christ. If there is nothing else, nothing different, then you were not called out, and are in the disobedience of your own imaginations being unwilling to submit to the corrections which for the appointed season are for your benefit from your Heavenly Father. But we are not so, and have endured and as yet still embrace with joy and uprightness of heart the corrections of our Heavenly Father. We are Sons. This is the word being spoken in this Spiritual Day that is dawning upon our earth. Remember it is the Sons who are called by the Father to come outside the house of Mother to work in the fields. Can you see? They are white unto harvest. We have been given—this word of reconciliation to manifest the very nature and divine character of our Heavenly Father. Just as Jesus was given-so we too, are being given to bring about the restoration of creation, each soul in its own rank and company. God still adds to His church daily those who should be saved. So then we are going from needing a word of faith to be created in us, to being the word of faith spoken (declared or manifested) to such as should be saved. We are given as this word of reconciliation. You say, “Say what?” Fear not, that word of faith is still and will always be Jesus Christ, King and Lord. The Son says: “Not my will Father, but your will be done in earth as in the heavenlies;” Are we sons? So then, we are that word of reconciliation. It is Christ in us the hope of glory. It is God in Christ reconciling to Himself all of creation. It has been given to us. It is/has become us. Romans 11:36 says that all things come out of Him, go through Him, and culminate back in Him (paraphrase). I urge you to look into this. Reference Romans 5:10 and 2 Corinthians 5:17-19, and let the Holy Spirit lead you into discovering this truth. We are given. Do you see? We are called out of giving unto us, into becoming and being given unto those who should be saved, daily.

All of this goes through Him for direction and completion. We could not do any of this on our own. Going through Him, we learn there is no power in the flesh, nor any strength of will in our own natural/carnal minds. We need to go through our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus is Author; Jesus Christ is Lord and Finisher of all faith birthed within us, and every man. Cast that crown of victory at His feet, and continue on to truly worship God in Spirit truth.

Paul Mueller stated this thought of being the word of reconciliation eloquently when he wrote: “We are Sons of the Day, for we have been enlightened with the transforming Light of Christ. We are not children of the night; we have no relationship with the darkness; and will not succumb to the spiritual darkness of these times. We are called of our Father to awake the dawn. The Psalmist David was also going through a night-time experience, as we are, when he sang this song to the Lord: ‘My heart is fixed O God; my heart is steadfast and confident! I will sing and make melody. Awake! My glory [my inner-self (my in-ward Spirit man, that part of me which is of God—author’s note)]; awake, harp and lyre! I will awake right early (I will awake the dawn)!’ (Ps. 57:7-8 The Amplified Bible) We are called of our Father to bring forth the glorious new morning of the Kingdom of God on earth. Therefore, we will completely trust and rely on Him Who has purposed that we should walk faithfully and triumphantly [See Jesus (?), in faith!] through this present midnight hour of spiritual darkness, overcoming the spiritual gloom of this hour as we do. Our hearts are fixed and confident in the Lord! To show our present status in God, we will sing and make melody to Him, in Spirit, for we are those who shall indeed ‘Awake the Dawn! ‘“--End Quote--Wow!

Logos anyone?

So then our faith is a journey, a journey from the Rhema, into the Logos, a journey from the word, into the word. I have covered a few times already the understanding of the Greek word rhema. It is a word which in the English language is often translated as “word,” but it carries the connotation of being a word spoken, or an utterance. It is a sound; heard only in the Spirit with ears to hear, and it is pictured in the Bible in many different ways. It is a rhema word of God which creates hearing so that we can begin in faith. So then in faith, because of the rhema word of God spoken into our hearts and minds, we find a beginning (a seed the size of a grain of mustard, if you will) into an aspect and part of God we had never known before. We cannot speak or realize our seed of faith into existence; God speaking to us within us is the beginning. This is clear.

I want to look at the end now, and then as the Lord leads I might go back to look at the part in the middle, the going through. The end of the matter is also a word. The Greek word logos (Strong’s # 3056) is another English language word translated as “word.” Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance defines the word like this: “from #3004; something said (including the thought); by implication a topic of discussion, also reasoning (the mental faculty) or motive; by extension a computation; specially (with the article in John) the Divine Expression (i.e. Christ). The root word (Strong’s # 3004) is lego which means to lay forth or relate. Both these words carry with them a connotation of not only speech, but thought and motivation put into word and deed, a Divine or at least a living expression. “In the beginning was the Word (logos), and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. This is a very clear example of the Divine Living Expression implied by this word, logos. This is not just a spoken word, but the thought and motivations, which precede and go into the spoken word. The thought and motivations (as a man thinketh in His heart, so is he) which define the nature and character of the one speaking, the living expression if you will, is the totality expressed in this “word”.

Let me paint you a word picture to illustrate the connotations here. A man walks into your office. He is neat and trim, in relatively good shape with a clean cut look and decent muscle tone. His bearing is one of respect, yet you can see confidence and self-esteem with-in him. He moves gracefully with little extra motion. His movements are economical. His appointment is not for a while yet, so he is early; but when you ask him to wait, he sits and is the very model of patience. What can you tell me about this man, without any further information? What would your observations of him show you?

If you thought that his “living expression” was that of a military man, then I have painted for you a decent picture. If this thought never occurred to you, but you can see it, now that I have said, the picture is adequate. If you still don’t see a military man in the picture I “painted”, I blame my lack in skill with words and that is what I was trying to show. This picture could be of someone else, a police officer maybe, or a fire fighter, so there are no right answers. The point is, all that the man is, and the way he portrays himself to those around him is the connotation connected with this word “logos.” Not just the words that come out of his mouth, but all that he is. This, in no way, depicts

all military personal, that was not the point, but to try to show you that the way we present ourselves, our “living expression”, can be seen and read by others.  The following is an excerpt from a paper written by a dear brother and personal friend in the Lord. Brother Elwin Roach has been faithfully writing and sharing as the Lord leads for more than twenty years now, and I trust you will be blessed by these words penned so many years ago.

The Word

When we speak of a “word”, we usually imagine it being something that is simply “spoken” or “written”, not giving it much more thought. However, a word, whether spoken or written, can be an EXPRESSION of the one speaking the word; and in essence would be a manifestation of what the person is. It can be the beautiful words of compassion and love or the words of envy and hate; and when they spill out of one’s mouth, or flow from one’s pen, we can know of what spirit they are. They have EXPRESSED to the world what is hidden in the womb of their hearts. They have BIRTHED a part of themselves, and the thing that is birthed is one’s own person—it is their CHARACTER.

Perhaps now, we can better understand why Jesus was called THE WORD in the first chapter of John. “In the beginning was the WORD (LOGOS), and the WORD was with God…and the WORD was made flesh…” (Jn. 1:1,14). And in Hebrews 1:3 we read, “Who being the brightness of His glory, and the EXPRESS IMAGE (Greek, CHARAKTER) of His person…”

JESUS was indeed THE WORD, for He was spoken or birthed right from the heart-center of God. That which God is was EXPRESSED by Him, and every thought, desire, word and action of Jesus was the very ESSENCE and CHARACTER of His Father. When this Word became flesh, the glory of the Father could for the first time be seen in the world. Yes, Jesus was and still is the MANIFEST DECLARATION of God the Father. Oh, what a wonderful thing; the glory of the “begotten God”, as some Greek texts have it (Jn. 1:18), coming forth for every eye to see. –End Quote—

Do we see the connotations of this “word” LOGOS? It is not just a spoken word, but an express image of the thoughts, desires, motivations and will of the one speaking. Now, let me show you something that will tie all of this together. If you’ve never considered what I am about to show you, I humbly ask that you inquire of this in the Holy Spirit which leads us into all truth.

What will you give?

A dear brother asked a question the other day which I found very interesting. He asked, “What would you give for your soul?” How many of us have ever really given this any thought? We should though. The scripture is very clear on the subject. Further, the instruction in the school of the Holy Spirit teaches us that we are to be so dependent upon who He is within us, as to even denying our very soul-life (psuche—Strong’s # 5590, pronounced sue-kay) in order that we might gain Spirit life or God-life (Zoe—Strong’s # 2222). Luke 9:24 gives us this in-sight. Quoting from The Revised English Bible, this passage reads like this: “Whoever wants to save his (psuche) life will lose it, but whoever loses his (psuche) life for my sake will save it.” What will you give? Why, as the Spirit gives us faith, we will give our very soul-life.

No one, least of all God expects us to be able to do this on our own. BUT, if you are hearing the call to come away from the system of Babylon and come into a greater union with the Spirit of your Heavenly Father through your Lord Jesus Christ, if you are hearing the call to be a son-given in this time, you are being called upon to step willingly into the fire of the Holy Presence of God in your midst and partake of this loss of soul-life. How do I know this?

Turn with me to Revelation 12, verse 11. “And they overcame him by (Greek—dia—through) the blood of the Lamb, and by (dia—through) the word (LOGOS) of their testimony; and they loved not their lives (psuche) unto the death.” There’s that word logos again, we overcome through the blood of the Lamb, and through the living expression of our testimony; and we love not our soul-life even as far as death. Very powerful! These are, totally, words to consider and let the Holy Spirit open up to us. Do you remember the words penned by Brother Mueller, quoted at the top of this article?

“We are Sons of the Day, for we have been enlightened with the transforming Light of Christ. We are not children of the night; we have no relationship with the darkness; and will not succumb to the spiritual darkness of these times. We are called of our Father to awake the dawn. The Psalmist David was also going through a night-time experience, as we are, when he sang this song to the Lord: ‘My heart is fixed, O God; my heart is steadfast and confident! I will sing and make melody. Awake (!) my glory (my inner-self); awake, harp and lyre!  I will awake right early (I will awake the dawn) (!)’ (Ps. 57: 7-8 The Amplified Bible). We are called of our Father to bring forth (declare and manifest-be the “living expression of”—author’s note) the glorious new morning of the Kingdom of God on earth, therefore, we will completely trust and rely on Him Who has purposed that we should walk faithfully and triumphantly (sounds like overcoming to me—author’s note) through this present midnight hour of spiritual darkness, overcoming the spiritual gloom of this hour as we do. Our hearts are fixed and confident in the Lord! To show our present status in God, we will sing and make melody to Him in Spirit, for we are those who shall indeed awake the dawn!” Wow, I don’t know about you, but I get more and more excited every time I read that!

This awakening the dawn, is a WORD, a LOGOS WORD which shows: “how that God was in Christ—a world reconciling to Himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses; and having put in us the word (LOGOS—LIVING EXPRESSION) of the reconciliation,” (2 Cor. 5:19 Young’s Literal Translation). We are either having this word, living expression put into us, or we are like the bride with the groom, so in union that we say: “Let whosoever thirsts, come, drink freely of the water of Life (Zoe—God life).” In either case, we are being quickened to love not our soul life, so that we might be in total union with the Spirit of the life-giving God within us. We are Sons, it is our heart’s desire to know (know fully as we are known) Him. It is our heart’s desire to see Him. It is said, that no man can see God and live. This is true; no Adam man can see God and live. If you can hear these words, in Spirit and in truth, then for you, Adam man is dead, and you are alive in Christ. If we see Him in the Light of the Spirit of Christ that shines within us, it is because we are like Him, in however little or much. If we are like Him, those, such as should be saved will see Him through us. We are called to be a LIVING EXPRESSION—LOGOS WORD—to the world around us. Come Brother, come Sister rise up in Him, let us awake the dawn!

Joy and peace to all who read, in Christ Jesus…Larry

REFERENCES: The Companion Bible with the King James Version, The Amplified Bible, The Revised English Bible, Young’s Literal Translation, The Pathfinder by Elwin Roach, and The Living Word by Paul Mueller

Larry Hakala