Grace to Me Part #4: The Simplicity of God's Upside Down Kingdom

The Grace message is that Jesus loves us and serves us. Not that we love and serve God. ---That is still difficult for me to admit, but what humbling, powerful, empowering truth! Woo!

The Grace message is simple. I love it that Albert Einstein said something like, “If you can't explain it to your grandmother, then you don't really understand it.” In my experience, those who complicate the “gospel” are only mudding the water so that you can't see clearly for yourself making you think you need the speaker to be your guide. News Flash! The only guide lives in the born again and leads you where you need to go. The more awake you get to his love for you, the clearer you also see.

In grace there is no hierarchy. People who see through the eyes of grace see that God's kingdom is flipped upside down. We are equal to Jesus and each other. We have all been given the same power in us that Jesus had which raised Him from the dead. We lack nothing. No man has a special anointing over someone else. Jesus is our covering. We need no man telling us what to think because we have the Spirit who is our teacher. This eliminates any illusion of “responsibility” (control) over people and frees us now to enjoy each other in true relationship. In God's upside-down, awesomely, cool kingdom, the least is the greatest, the servant is the king, the children are the wise, the ones who say they can see are the ones who are blind....do you have ears to hear that? It's my favorite to explore the infrastructure of His upside kingdom!

Grace To Me Part #3: Fruit Bearing

Grace is effortless living. This God quality of life is just what happens by accident (fruit) when we believe and awaken to who we are sons of God. Yes! Fruit happens, but it is NEVER about the fruit, it 100% about soaking up the nutrients (love) from the one in whom we are planted. Fruit comes from resting in the vine. But it is about the vine....not the fruit. To focus on the fruit is to glory in self efforts and take your eyes off the vine.

Good fruit in a person's life is birthed from intimacy with the bridegroom. The focus is on the intimacy....not to bear fruit. Bearing fruit apart from that is still a dead work even if the fruit looks good. This is very dangerous and why we must be lead by the Spirit. Eve thought the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil looked good too. I'm sure Ishmael was a handsome young lad. God said to cast out his mother and her son (fruit) simply because it came by works of the flesh. If God is not the father, he is not interested in how good the fruit (a.k.a. behavior) is. Grace is living by the Spirit.

Many have abused the principal of “If you are in grace then you will ____” (speaking of the fruit of grace.) While it is true that grace produces fruit of life in a person, most of the time I have heard it in a form of manipulation to get you to live right. Any way of thinking implying right verses wrong is eating the fruit of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Words like that are satanic. “If you are the son of God, then turn this stone into bread.” Grace will never imply that you must prove you are in grace. That is like proving I am a human. Either I am or I am not.

Grace To Me Part 2: I Am and Lack Nothing

A Grace message is about who you are and is uncontaminated with anything that implies you have to do to become. Grace sees that you have everything already. Anything that implies you have lack in your life is not the grace message. Don't believe lies that you lack something. People who think they lack are easily manipulated because they doubt the voice within them. Grace is that I have died and the me that now walks around enjoying life is really Jesus in me because we are one.

A mixed message is completely dangerous because it has enough truth in it to make it seem right to people. “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end leads to death.” (Right and Wrong = death.) A gallon of water with one drop of poison still looks like water, but it will kill you. Mixers throw in the truth just to make the lies taste palatable. Jesus said a little leaven leaven the whole. It is a good thing that nothing real can be threatened and therefore we don't have to battle with the mixers. If it is not pure grace, it is not grace at all. There is one voice that matters. Hear ye Him and enjoy this life the God quality way.

Grace recognizes the completeness in Jesus. Law is something you need to do to become. This is in every area of life, not just the Leviticus laws. If you recognize law, you don't see that you already “Am.” If you think you need to do something to be perfect, then you don't know you are already. You have BEEN MADE righteous. There is no need to do anything AND I MEAN ANYTHING to become. Recognizing that you lack is not only an imagination, but will keep you bondage in your mind and lead to death. Whether a law that you can't pick up sticks on the Sabbath day to be righteous, or You have to be in a church every week to be a good Christian, or you have to help coach a football team to be a good dad. If you think you have to do to be....this is not grace. Right living is not about right and wrong any longer. There is no more sin because there is no more law that would make you guilty. To think there is still sin is to believe in an illusion that only existed before Jesus. The imagination of it is still bondage and will keep you from God-quality of life. Well, of course there are consequences to actions. DUH! But focusing on the choices will only keep you making the same ones over and over. Holy Self-Righteous Cow! The Truth is the only thing that sets people free from a life of “trying” to live right. Truth is God's perspective, not our perspective. Can you not see that “trying” to live right is the very definition of self-righteousness. We have been made righteous. I am righteous. Trying to be righteous is like me trying to be an American. I am an American because I was born here. Righteous is who I am. How could I try to be something I already am. Jesus is NOT OUR EXAMPLE! He is our LIFE. We wouldn't need him if we could try and get it right. Is this not the sweet and simple Truth?!?! Oh, and I guess I should add I automatically act like a stereotypical American. I like everything instantly. I tear up when I see an American soldier. I believe in the American dream that anybody can have success. And I always wear white socks. Nobody had to teach me to do those things. It just came because I was born here. Nobody has to teach me what loving people looks like because I was born in love.

Grace to Me part 1: God's Quality of Life.

This is Grace to me....

Grace is more than God being a good God and having mercy on his children. Grace is a COMPLETE life transformation in every single area of life. It is no longer my life, but Christ.

Grace is a celebration. It is enjoying life. It is the revelation of heaven on earth. Grace is seeing people and situations through the eyes of Jesus. It is love that compels us. And we simply enjoy. Well of course bad things still happen. We live in a fallen world. But when you see from God's perspective, you see the world differently than we were always taught. We walk fearlessly through the valley of the shadow (illusion) of death because our focus is on the still waters.

When I act contrarily to my new nature, I have just forgotten who I am. The Holy Spirit reminds us of all things---Who we are! Hallelujah! Grace is not just my relationship with my father. Grace is my life now. In the old way of thinking, I might wash the dishes because that is what I expect from me as a wife and mother. With my new nature, I wash the dishes because I want to. And I DO want to because I enjoy a clean kitchen. I enjoy sitting with my family eating on clean plates. It's quiet time where I can commune with my Father. My “want to” changed only when I rest in the Truth about who I am. His love for me is my tackling fuel.

Daily tasks are now effortless and fun...not because I HAVE to, but because it is something I do as a result of seeing and believing who I am. Can you see the difference? Who is the Father of the things you do? Even self-expectations are a fruit of the fallen world. Grace overcomes ALL of these. Jesus fulfilled ALL laws...the ones written in stone AND the ones we write ourselves on our hearts. This is exceptionally excellent news!

Grace-full Ponder

A recent ponder....  Ever wonder about the law from the Old Testament thinking verses Jesus in us and New Testament thinking?  Hope something resonates.

 

1. There is a HUGE difference between Scripture and the Word of God. Actually, I believe they are opposites because one produced death and the other life. Thank God that he loved the people of the Old Testament enough to teach them how to live safely, etc. and also bring them to a place where they could see they needed a savior. He continued to offer them relationship, but when they refused, he gave them what they wanted to show them it is really not what they wanted. The law-minded read the scripture. The Spirit-lead read the Word of God. Can you see the difference?

#2. The Old Testament wasn't bad. Jesus and Paul read the same scriptures of what the Pharisees read, but they interpreted love from it. They saw it from a higher perspective. Now that I understand grace, I also read the Old Testament and see grace. For example, Song of Solomon taught me that maturity is to say, “God loves me.” Immaturity is to say, “I love God.” Job is about Jesus. The reason Cain’s sacrifice was rejected is because his offering was a fruit of his toil. God always intended for our sins to be paid for by another. Thank you Jesus for grace-filled revelations from the Old Testament!

#3. However, when we look at the Old Testament from the perspective of right and wrong, this will produce death. Right and wrong is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It’s the focus on the behavior (or the fruit) rather than the source of life that feeds the tree. Our actions must never be lead by the “right thing to do.” We are lead by the Spirit. The action may be the same….The written law says no potty in the kitchen. The Spirit won’t lead us to put a potty in the kitchen. But who is the father of that fruit or action? The law or the Spirit? If it is birthed from the thinking that you MUST DO TO BECOME...You are committing adultery on the Bride Groom with the one he freed you from.  I could literally dance around the house when I think about that!  GOOD NEWS!

I LOVE this next one...

#4. This is a revelation that saved my life: Grace does not empower us to do the law. Grace is not the ability to behave. Grace has ZERO to do with behavior. I think this is what was meant by “having a form of Godliness but denying the power.” This is how I might explain it…We need to get to Australia to save our life. It’s impossible to swim there. So Jesus brought us back Life (His life) on a big cruise ship. Now all we must do to have his quality of life is to hop aboard and enjoy the ride. Mixing the gospel would be like thinking we now can swim the pacific with WWJD on our water wings. While Jesus sails on his cruise ship beside us cheering us own. No! If you are swimming, He’s hollering out, “come and rest and let us enjoy this life in relationship together.” Swimming makes you look like a champ to people watching from the shore, but you look like an idiot to the people in the boat.

#5. The written law came with Moses, but actually, law entered hearts with Adam. It is a mindset that, “I can become if I do.” Everyone agrees that our “doing” has nothing to do with our righteousness before God, but I tell you any tiny drop of that belief for ANY area of our life is poison. If you think you have to do something to improve, grow, press-in, be, etc...then you do not understand that you already ARE. I AM because HE “AM” (Sorry grammar girls.) Together WE ARE! Yes and Yes!

#6. Some people use pretty words that make the law sound right. But I tell you that there is a way that seems RIGHT to a man, but in the end... yep, = death. Let God be true and every man a liar! You know you hear the truth because you get a hallelujah in the heart. I like to call it a “flip flop” in my heart. Even if it is the “right” doctrine from man, but there is no hallelujah, I disregard it. Truth MUST come from the right heart. ( I personally think this is because it is revelation that is communicated more than mere words.) Even Satan used words that were truth. Satan’s “right doctrine” was the bait. If you see it as right or wrong, you are focusing on behavior/fruit instead of enjoying life that feeds the tree. You see Scripture and not Word. You hear with your fleshly ears instead of the ears of your heart. This is the knowledge of good and evil.

#7. Stop and think about this statement for about five seconds:  “Wisdom (a.k.a Good advice) will help you improve your life.”  Think.  Think.  Think.  Think.  Think about what you are thinking about.   

Can you hear it? What happened in your heart when you read that? This is subtle trouble. “Improving your quality of life” sounds good to the fleshly ears. Please open your ears and hear! If YOU think YOU can DO something to improve your life, JESUS WOULD NOT HAVE HAD TO COME! It’s all or nothing, my friends. Just pick hot or cold. Luke warm tastes disgusting. To think you need improving is to still think you lack something. You must now DO something to become or improve---live Godly.  It’s poison! It is this very way of thinking that lead Adam to take a bite of that apple to become somebody. He already was somebody but thinking he lacked KILLED US. Again I ask you, who is the Father of this fruit/behavior? Abraham had to cast out the Bond Woman AND her fruit. Was she a bad person? No way, but it wasn’t the promise. Abraham did that in his own efforts. Look at the death he produced. God created the promise in a womb that was once dead. Ga-lory! Just like Jesus becoming the sin and law and dying, then raised to life. And we have the same power within us. Not to live the law, but to have LIFE. We can learn to know if we are listening with the ears of our heart or the ears of our head. It's like a switch. Which ears are you listening with?

#8. When people focus on their behavior at all, they fall into the trap, “I must do to become.” They begin to doubt the voice in them and think they must rely on a man to tell them how to think and act toward God. This is a dangerous thing. They become sin/self/fruit-conscious instead of God-conscious. It happens even in grace circles. This is not one bit different than the Hebrew children sending Moses up on the mountain to hear from God for them. So sad because it hinders relationship and LIFE even if they know God is not mad at them.

#9. It is this belief system that Jesus abolished. It used to bother me that Jesus took a whip into the temple, but now that I see, I ADORE him for it. He was crashing the belief system because they were imputing that system onto people. Believe what you want, but don’t you dare mess with God’s kids and make them think they are not enough. Jesus fulfilled all the written and unwritten law. Where there is no law there is no sin. And let's face it. Sin like people think of sin is only fruit of unbelief. That's it. When we tell them the truth, they have the information that will help them believe. They already have the Truth on the inside.  Sometimes they need to hear it from another so they can hear it in their heart.  They will see who they are and they will stop producing the “bad” fruit.

#10. Thank God he loves us and doesn't enforce HIS system on us either. He allows us to choose… What a fabulous Daddy! What a fabulous bridegroom!

#11. Please allow me to give a very practical example of what I'm talking about. Nowhere in the Scripture does it say that I must have the house clean, kids clothed, and supper on the table by 6:00. But I thought I did. This was an expectation I had on myself. A law was written on my heart. The thought that, “If I want to be a good mom and good wife, this is what I must do.” It caused frustration. Negative emotions always mean there is a law somewhere in your heart. The pressure I placed on myself leaked into our whole family. Is it considered wisdom to keep the house clean and cook supper? I tried to use grace to fulfill those responsible tasks to help me become the mom I should be. (Sounds crazy to me now.) The actions themselves are a blessing to our family, but it was causing death in the peace and relationships of our home. There was no life. If I didn’t get it done, I felt guilty and condemned. I felt less than. If Wayne came home and began to help me, I became offended because it was just a reminder that I couldn’t do “my” job. It wasn’t until I understood grace and cast that “law” into the sea that life was allowed to enter. My value is not placed on what I can do. My value is not even based upon the behavior of my kids. I allow myself to be pampered and served and loved by the Lord and simply out of that enjoyment, I do stuff. I know I don’t have to do it, but I want to. That is the difference. Cooking supper is fruit from love and value I have for myself and my family. Now there is rest and peace. No pressure. There is contentment with or without a messy house. This is life of the God kind. The actions are the same, but one way of thinking produced the fruit with death. The other produced the fruit with life. This is what Grace is….not the ability to do law. It is believing and resting and finding our true value…our life hidden is his, one with him. We are valuable because he loves us. Not because we can do stuff. “Apart from Him, I can do Nothing” You know what that word “nothing” means in the Greek? ----“NOTHING”

#12. Wisdom is Innocence. Does that resonate?

Pied Piper

This came into my head during my commute today.  It is a poem about the same mindset that Jesus drove out of the temple.

Pied Piper

Pied Piper, You try to tickle my ears.
In my heart I hear truth.  Your words are not real.
Your music is deceiving and played with such skill.
It sounds good for a season, but eventually kills.

Pied Piper, your flute sings a reasonable song.
The lyrics sound right, but your heart makes them wrong.
I see you entertaining.  Your motives are clear.
You think people are puppets and you their grand puppeteer.

Pied Piper, you increase the volume skillfully loud.
It drowns out relationships to draw a big crowd.
You seem very talented, but you play only games.
You love your own life and lead others astray. 

Pied Piper, you smile, but I see your tears.
You trust in your music because Truth makes you fear. 
You march to your stanzas but desire to rest.
You entice the innocent to validate your quest.  

Pied Piper, you kiss the instrument of death.
You are just like the victims you sing to impress.
Have faith and don't doubt. Cast your flute to the sea.
Decide this is useless and you have no needs.

Pied Piper, you are deaf.  Can you  not hear my song?
It comes from the one to whom you also belong.
My heart rings with life from a live symphony.
I dance WITH a lover to its Truth melodies.

Pied Piper your analysis of me is all wrong.
It's not a rejection if I don't dance to your song.
Tune in your real ears!  How I wish you could see!
You're worth more than your music.  You are loved and set free. 

Life With Boys Part 2

Life with Boys  The Sequel.   The fun never ends...

1. Boys have the best imaginations EVER.  Once I watched them work together to build a big bond fire in our living room.  Brown pillows were the logs, and red pillow shams with multicolored thin stripes were placed on top for the fire.
   
   
2. My rough and tumble boys still like soft things. Everybody likes to sleep by me especially when I wear silky PJs. Jack used to be sort of possessive over soft pretty pink things so I made him pinky promise me when he was two that he would never kiss a girl until he got married.
   
   
3. Boys growl and roar.
   
   
4. Boys have this "tough guy" tone I'm fascinated with when they communicate about stereotypical-boy things like cars or sports. They all do it as soon as they can talk.
   
   
5. Boots and cape required.  Underwear optional.
   
   
6. Boys wrestle. Then they wrestle some more.  And when they greet each other, they wrestle.  And when it is not wrestling, it is playing "punch" or just a good hearty tackle.  They are even born knowing what to wear for this bonding experience.....Pants (or underwear.) No Shirt.  Socks on their hands.
   
   
7. Quote #539:  "Don't clean up this pile, Mom.  It's special."
   
   
8. How do boys under six know how to talk "army"?
   
   
9. Boys greet other boys they love with punching or tackling. My boys always punch their uncles when they first see them.
   
   
10. I heart superhero underwear.
    
    
11. Boys ALWAYS try to turn an ordinary task into a game. For example, "Come and let me put on your shoes." Might turn into a chase. They see how close they can get to you then run away screaming to see if you'll chase them. After they see your not in the mood to play, they'll comply.
    
    
12. When boys approach you, they stop about three feet away from you and then jump the remaining distance. All my boys do this.  Every. Single. Time.
    
    
13. Beans = tackling fuel.
    
    
14. What Mom says is considered.  What Daddy says is law.
    
    
15. Boys will obey for safety that is explained logically, but they don't have a real sense of danger.  They think that the reason they busted their head on the ground was just a fluke, and therefore will hang upside down in the swing immediately again with their dirt-stained tear streaks still fresh on their faces.
    
    
16. Boys love naked time.
    
    
17. Boys wander.  We are constantly reminding them to stay close.  After number three, Wayne said we went from man to man to zone coverage.
    
    
18. I'm not proud of this, but all my boys have at least one chipped tooth, and my four-year-old is mithing two from rough-housing.
    
    
19. Boys thinks it's funny when their mama says bad words.(Bungle. Dumb. Butt.---you know.  The real badies.)
    
    
20. Even boys like bubble baths and candles lit by the tub.
    
    
21. Boys have a fascination with their special part that I do not understand. That's all I'll say about that except that when Ben-dudey was born, the doctor said, "Looks like another machine gun!"
    
    
22. Where there is a boy in your bed, there will also be sand.
    
    
23. In a house of boys, it is inevitable to have feet on the table.
    
    
24. Oh it's not just an inner tube, it's a force field.
    
    
25. Parents of boys say things like, "Well, we're just not allowed to take weapons into Wal-mart.  You'll have to leave your quadruple-iron-headed spear here in the truck."
    
    
26. Never, and I mean never look under the car seat. And the worst is when you have to remove one to let someone ride with you.
    
    
27. Embarrassing quote #757:  "Is that a mole or a nipple?"
    
    
28. My boys have no concept that people get sick and die.  Six-year-old Luke had never even heard of the word, "disease."  Obviously the only real explanation for death is that, "he must have eaten a mushroom from the woods."  The mushrooms from the store are okay though.
    
    
29. Even if they don't admit it, boys like girls.  My baby daddy had a, "girls aren't so bad" talk with them that produced the top ten best girls list.  Yep.  Yours Truly made number one and the rest of the gals on the list should feel mighty proud too.  It was well thought out.
    
    
30. A mother who raised four boys recently made a comment that brought freedom to my inner most being...."We didn't have company for TEN YEARS!"  ...Yes! I know why!!!!
    
    
31. Nobody quite "gets" you like a family with boys.  Love my friends who parent little little engines fueled by testosterone.  I feel at rest with them because, "they know how it is."
    
    
32. Manners are a privilege for boys to have, and it brings a sense of honor to them when they use them.  The best is when manners are used inappropriately.  Like parents may be in a serious conversation with another adult.  Boy passes gas that no one would otherwise ever know about, then you hear, "Pardon Me!  I pooted."  REALLY loud.  We try to teach them to say pardon me only as loud as the gas itself.  (That's handed down from Don Bohannon.)          Or how about this classic...
    Parent--- "Ben, come and help me pick up these toys please."    Ben-- "No thank you."     or maybe    when one says "Yes, Sir" to a lady who looks like a sir. 
    
    
33. To quote the Coach from the Boys home at the Mustard Seed Ranch, "If you have one boy, you have one boy working.  If you have two boys, you have half a boy working."  ----Could not be more true.  His math skills are impeccable.
    
    
34. Daddys of boys FINALLY have somebody who will play with them.
    
    
35. No matter what age...boys can EAT!
    
    
36. Classic example of Blaylock Boy conversation: 'There are two reason why a terror bird won't poop on our car.  They can't fly and they are dead."
    
    
37. Boys are natural protectors.
    
    
38. A ball is the most destructive force found in a house full of boys. AND the only real toy a boy needs.
    
    
39. Parents of boys say things like, "That was really amazing, but don't ever do it again."
    
    
40. Brothers love their brothers.
    
    
41. When should you clip a boy's fingernails?  When they are long enough to stay dirty even after a hot soaking bath.  My personal favorite is when you clip the nail and the dirt stays on as is so it has to be knocked off.
    
    
42. Boys get REALLY excited to show their brothers something amazing.  A cool trick.  An awesome toy.  A pile of poo.
    
    
43. Sleeping boys are the best snugglers.
    
    
44. The crawl space under the register at the grocery store is The Bat Cave.  Just F.Y.I.
    
    
45. It's fun to have a house full of boys and even more fun to talk about it with other parents who live in a house full of boys. 
46. Parents of boys are exhausted....and happy.

Looking forward to my house full of boys tomorrow.