Being like God: Knowing and Enjoying It!

Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous. The Apostle John

Practice makes us righteous in experience.  Not just righteous, but just as righteous as Christ.

Really righteous.

Whoever practices patience is patient, just as patient as Christ. 

Think about it.

If I’m practicing patience, practicing waiting before I speak, what is the difference between what I am doing and what a “patient person” does?  Patient people can wait, and do wait.  If I am waiting, then I can wait, and I do wait, at least at that moment.  But what other moment do I have than right now?

Not only are these things true, but they can be fun!

I remember band practice and choir practice.  What we did in practice, we did on stage.  It was fun on and off stage. 

Or put it another way.

What if you went to school to learn something you enjoy, but needed the degree or diploma or license for a job.  And what if the professor said to everyone in the class, “You all pass.  You all have an A.  You will have your diploma at the end of this course.  Now simply enjoy learning and applying what you are learning!  You're already A students!”?

That’s like what God did for us.

When Jesus died for our sins and rose for our justification, we could become God’s children, if we accept what God did for us in Christ.  Now that I am a child of God, already perfect in God’s eyes, I can simply practice perfection!  Not to gain perfection, but to EXPRESS the perfection that I am!  Just for the fun of it!

After all, I’m sure it’s fun being  God!

Why shouldn’t it be fun to be like God?!?

How to CHANGE and STAY CHANGED

You are children of God through faith in Christ Jesus.  The Apostle Paul

As many as received Him, as many as believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of human will, but of God. 

The Apostle John

If anyone is united to Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold all things have become new.  The Apostle Paul

We all have default settings, or automatic habitual responses that we learned and practiced to the point of skillful identity.  When we are angry, we have an automatic response.  When we feel anxiety, we react like we always have in the past.  We learned these responses in our families and upbringing, a combination of temperament and environment.

How do we change our default settings?  Our automatic habitual responses?

We must be born again, become new creations, given new default assumptions.

The default setting of believers is belief.
The default setting of unbelievers is unbelief.

Put this another way.
The default setting of unbelievers is SELF TRUST ALONE.
The default setting of believers is GOD TRUST ALONE.

As it is written,

Trust in the LORD with all of your heart and lean not to your own understanding.  In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.

Unbelievers trust in themselves with all of their hearts, and totally lean to their own understandings.  In none of their ways do they acknowledge God, nor do they seek Him to direct their paths.

But those who were born again were born again by faith in the Lord Jesus. 
And their lives are characterized by this very faith, or complete God trust, as it is written,

For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

The believer's new, changed life begins by faith and continues by faith.  It is the defining principle of their lives, the new default setting, the new automatic response, the new habitual reaction.

When  believers disbelieve, or do not live by the same faith that changed them, they are not being true to who they are, to their new identity.  This is why they feel convicted by the Spirit in them.  That is what conscience is, consciousness revealed to the soul.

R.A. Torrey said these powerful words,

Every act of sin is an act of distrust in God.  Trusting God deprives sin and temptation of all their power.  The one who trusts God will do right though the heavens fall.

Whatever your default vice is if you are a believer, it is not in agreement with the new principle of your life:  God Trust ALONE.  You used to live by self trust, and thus respond or react accordingly.

How did you express faith in God?  Prayer!  You confessed your sin through prayer, and you accepted God's Son through prayer.

Now live by the same expression of faith.  Pray before, during, and after every action and interaction as an expression of total trust in God and total distrust in yourself; totally seeking God's direction and not your own.

The prayer of faith is your new default setting.

God Addiction

"You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore."  Psalms 16:11

"Taste and see that the LORD is good.  Blessed are those who take refuge in Him."  Psalms 34:8

God is better than sex.  Better than drugs.  Better than drinking and smoking and getting high.  Better than money and jewelry and beauty.

Not just theoretically, hypothetically, philosophically, or theologically.
Really.

How and why?
Why and how?

Everything comes from Him and is a reflection or glimpse or likeness of Him.
There is something about God that men and women resemble.  Something about worshiping him that is orgasmic and intoxicating.  These things, orgasms and intoxication, are like the feeling we have when we are with God.

But God is not sex or drunkenness.
He is not Cupid or Aphrodite or any other sex god or goddess.
He is not wine or opium.
He is who He is.  He is what He is.

To experience God as the supreme ultimate pleasure and satisfaction, we must not seek supreme ultimate pleasure and satisfaction in anything or anyone but God.  How?

If you are addicted to anything, how did that addiction begin?
Or if you simply love doing something, how did you come to love it?
How did your addictive habit become a habit?

The first time.
Somehow, you were introduced to sex, drugs, smoking, drinking, money, whatever.  You were told that these things are really fun or feel really good. You took a LEAP OF FAITH and tried it.  Now notice this.  With some things, the reward is immediate, like those who smoke crack once and are addicted.  But for things like smoking (or even sex) or drinking, there may or may not be immediate pleasure.  There may actually be displeasure, like the body rejecting cigarettes--coughing, the green sick feeling shown on cartoons when someone smokes, nausea.  The same with drinking.  There are some who genuinely enjoy the taste of beer, and there are those who hate it--AT FIRST.  But they keep doing it, BELIEVING, that it will get really good.  And it usually does to some extent.

But do you see what happened?  We were told something or someone would be really fun or feel really good.  We took the person's word for it and tried it.

The same thing happens in scripture.
In the Psalms, men of God consistently say things equivalent to  "Try God!  He will supremely please you and satisfy you.  There is nothing and no one better!" 

They do the same things we do when we experience something really fun or exciting.  If we see a good movie, we can't wait to tell someone, to praise the movie. Key word:  Praise.  The joy of seeing the movie isn't complete until we tell someone about it, and take someone with us to see it.

The very same thing is true with God

If you want supreme, ultimate, constant, and eternal happiness, you will find it in only one place:
God Himself.

As it is written,

Taste and see that the LORD is good.

Try God!
REALLY TRY HIM!
Don't give up until you experience Him!
As much effort as you put into whatever you are addicted to, put at least that much effort into finding and feeling God. 

The only worthy addiction is GOD ADDICTION.

Vulnerability: The Risk We All Take When We Love Someone

Bruce:   How do you make people love you without affecting Free Will?
God:  Welcome to my world, son. If you come up with an answer to that one, let me know. From the movie "Bruce Almighty"

"I'm going to make you love me."  Morris to Apollonia in the movie "Purple Rain"

"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." From the song "Nature Boy."

I wanted a guarantee that when I loved someone, that someone would love me.

But I had no such guarantee, except from God, who is love, who first loved me, who loved me when I was His enemy.

Love is vulnerability.
Risk.

So be it.
It's worth it.

God regretted making people before He flooded the world.
Think about that.

Think of pouring your heart and soul into someone, knowing  in advance that before you gave him your all, he would spit in your face.  And, knowing what would happen, you give him your all anyway.

Jesus came into the world He made, to the people over whom He'd be king, and was rejected, spit on, and crucified like the worst criminal.

This was God's defining act of love for us. 
He couldn't give any more than He gave when He gave His Son, and later on, His Spirit.

Everyday we spit in God's face.
But He loves us.
He takes the risk.

His calling in our lives is to take the risk with Him.
To love people as He's loved us.
Unconditionally.
Graciously.
Mercifully.
Forgivingly.

The next time you feel hurt, tell the person that hurt you how you feel.
Not in anger or vengeance or with attitude.  But with sincerity and vulnerability.

"I really wanted you to call me back.  I was waiting by the phone and would have picked it up on the first ring.  When you didn't call back, I was disappointed and hurt.  I felt like I wanted to connect with you more than you wanted to connect with me."

You may get hurt even more.
The person may apologize, but be lying.
Or she may sincerely regret hurting you and cry real tears of remorse, never hurting you again.

You don't know.  Love is a risk.
God knows.  He takes the risk anyway...with me...and with you.

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  1 John 4:10

 

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8

 

God is love.  1 John 4:16b

How to determine the impression you make on GOD

Positioning...the way to create an impression in the...mind.  Wikipedia

Though this definition focuses on marketing, it applies to my thoughts.
It refers to the first thing that comes to our minds when we hear a brand name or see a symbol for a brand.

It also refers to the first thing that comes to mind when people hear your name and mine.
Impression management deals with controlling that impression, determining how people will see you.

But Jesus said something that very much impacts me:

"I do not receive honor from man."

Jesus' focus was, and is, and forever will be, on the impression He makes on the Mind of His Father. 

This also my focus.
If it's yours, then how do you control the impression you make on God? 
What do you want to come to mind when God thinks of you?

This is the impressin God had, and has, and forever will have, of Jesus:

"This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased."

That's how God saw, sees, and forever will see Jesus.

If you want God to see you as His son or daughter, with whom He is well pleased, there is one simple way to do this:  

Have faith in Jesus.

As it is written,

"You are children of God through faith in Christ Jesus."
"Enoch had this testimony:  that he pleased God.  And without faith, it is impossible to please the Lord."

By faith in the Lord Jesus, we become children of God with whom He is well pleased. 
If we choose to have faith in Jesus, this is the impression we will make on God.
This is the position we will have in God's mind.
This is what will come to mind when He thinks of us.

Is there any better impression or position?

My time with Jesus at the park (Part 3)

Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed are those who take refuge in Him.

Let’s look at your feelings in light of real experiences.

Alright.

Did you constantly feel as intensely about Mark as you imagine?

No.  Not all the time.

How much of the time?

I don’t know…when we were really connecting and understanding each other it was intense…

But this wasn’t all of the time?

No.  I’m sure if it was I would have married him instead of Samuel, right?

Exactly.  So why are your feelings so intense about Mark when you remember him, or imagine a future with him?

I believe it’s because I focus only on when we connected deeply.  I don’t focus on the fights, or all of the pain we caused each other by being immature or selfish, or just plain not right for each other. 

Do you remember Richard?

Yes, I do.

Do you remember how you didn’t find him very physically attractive at first?

 

Yeah!  I actually do!  I decided to focus only on what was physically attractive about him, and to especially emphasize his personality, which was awesome!

And by doing that, he actually became physically attractive to you, and his personality became intensely attractive. 

That’s what I was doing with Mark.

And what you aren’t doing with Samuel…or Me.

But there’s nothing negative about You!  There’s nothing I have to emphasize or look past in our relationship.

No there isn’t.  So why doesn’t it feel as intense when you think about Me, or when you’re with Me?

Because I don’t focus all of my attention on you.

What would happen if you did?  Would it arouse you physically so that your face is red? 

Maybe, but not for the same reasons.  but i’m seeing that arousal is not the same as…love…or deep connection even.

What do you have with Samuel that you can never have with Mark?

Ten years of faithful friendship…of committed marriage…of seeing each other at our best and worst.

You’re leaving something out.

I know.  I’m leaving out how intense it is when we make love.

Why is it so intense?

Ten years of being one.

Ten years of oneness with each other and with Me.

My feelings for you, and for Samuel, are intense, but in a different way.

How so?

They are intense like the sun is intense…constant, alive, energizing, comforting…at times too hot to handle, but most of the time comfortably unnoticeable.

They're real.

Very real.

 

My time with Jesus at the park (Part 2)

“Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?  Mark 8:34-37

It was summer time, so the sun was still out, though going down. Jesus sat across from me at a picnic table.

I looked down at the table, avoiding eye contact, foolishly hoping the red in my face went unnoticed by Him.  He sat quietly.  His presence, His silence took, the red out of my face, and brought my eyes to His.  Then it all came out.

“Sometimes I don’t know if I really love you or my husband.”

“Why don’t you know?”

“I don’t know, it’s just that I sometimes imagine being with my first boyfriend.  I imagine what it would be like if we were married, and my feelings are so strong when I imagine us together.  I was very connected to him, emotionally and physically, as you know of course.  He was my first true love, the first man I gave my body to.”

“Do you regret marrying Samuel?”

“I don’t know.  My feelings are so strong when I imagine Mark that I don’t know if I think Samuel is the best man I could ever be with.  But there’s something else I’m feeling.”

“What else?”

“Sometimes I think I have stronger feelings for Mark than I do you.  When I’m with you, it doesn’t feel as intense as when I imagine Mark.”

“Think about this.  Imagine that your thoughts and feelings for Mark are completely and utterly real.  That if you were with Mark, it would be exactly as you imagined, even better.  Would you leave Samuel to be with Mark?”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

“I do love Samuel.  He is a wonderful husband. He’s my bestfriend.”

“What about Me?  Would you leave Me for Mark?”

“Never.  I love you more than anything and anyone in this world or any world.”

“Then what do you make of these intense feelings for Mark?”

“I don’t know Lord.  You do….please tell me what they mean, if they mean anything.”