The gospel introduces us to ourselves again, so that we may know evenas we've always been known! 1 Cor 13:12

"Neither Jesus nor Paul told people to “get born again”! You couldn’t even get yourself born the first time, how are you going to get it right a second time?

Jesus did say to Nicodemus unless you’re born from above (meaning unless you realize that you originate from above) you would have no interest or appetite for heavenly things! John 3:13

God is not man’s idea; mankind is God’s idea. Man began in God, not in his mother’s womb. God says to Jeremiah, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb” Jer 1:5 Mankind is by design the god-kind.

(You'll enjoy "Thoughts on the new birth" in my book Divine Embrace! Kindle or print)"

- Francois du Toit

Yes, it occurred to me that the phrase "born again" was used only in the context of addressing the Jews to give up their natural identity as Jews and embrace their true identity as sons and daughters of God, together with other members of the human race, regardless of ethnicity, nationality or religion.

As I learnt recently, Jesus could be telling Nicodemus to give up his natural identity as a Jew and adopt a new identity as a child of God in the family of humankind. (Jesus had said in another place that the kingdom of God is within us.) If Nicodemus sees himself only as a Jew, he will see himself separate from other people who are seen as non-Jews. But if he sees himself as a child of God in the family of humankind, he will see himself as one with other fellow human beings and there is no separation between him and other people.

Similarly, Peter wrote to the Jews about "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever", which I believe is about renewing their mind to see themselves not as Jews by natural descent but as children of God by spiritual descent. In the same way, we are all made in the incorruptible image of God and we all began in God, as mentioned in the post.

I like what 1 Cor 13 said about that which is perfect has come.

"But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away." 1 Corinthians 13:10

Yes, the perfect has come in the person of Jesus, and we no longer see ourselves through a glass darkly but we see ourselves face to face with our Beloved in the mirror of our divine beauty. Indeed, the gospel introduces us to our true divine self, and we shall know even as we are known by Divine Love.

"The Still, Small Voice of Love" - Henri Nouwen

Many voices ask for our attention. There is a voice that says, "Prove that you are a good person." Another voice says, "You'd better be ashamed of yourself." There also is a voice that says, "Nobody really cares about you," and one that says, "Be sure to become successful, popular, and powerful." But underneath all these often very noisy voices is a still, small voice that says, "You are my Beloved, my favor rests on you." That's the voice we need most of all to hear. To hear that voice, however, requires special effort; it requires solitude, silence, and a strong determination to listen.

That's what prayer is. It is listening to the voice that calls us "my Beloved."

- Henri Nouwen

Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

“Love is the only way to grasp another human being in the innermost core of his personality. No one can become fully aware of the very essence of another human being unless he loves him. By his love he is enabled to see the essential traits and features in the beloved person; and even more, he sees that which is potential in him, which is not yet actualized but yet ought to be actualized. Furthermore, by his love, the loving person enables the beloved person to actualize these potentialities. By making him aware of what he can be and of what he should become, he makes these potentialities come true.”
― Viktor E. Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning

Yes, love believes the best of a person and brings out the best of him or her. Love recognises the full potential of the person and helps actualise his or her hidden qualities to the fullest, like what the quote says. For example, my beloved twin flame inspires me to express my potential to love, as she builds me up through her encouragement  and support as well as sharing edifying nuggets of wisdom with me. I have been reflecting that conversing with my beloved is like a blessed homecoming to our resting place, where I take refuge from the performance-oriented system and mindset of the world that is based on the illusion of duality and separation, and be refreshed by our inner journey to discover more of our innate oneness and reawaken to our true divine identity as beloved and perfect spiritual beings on a human journey. Together, we shall continue to flourish and overcome the system of the world, and experience more of love and freedom from religion and condemnation both for ourselves and others around us.

Be aware of how you feel at all times

"Be aware of how you feel at all times. Your feelings will point out where the subconscious blockages of pain are."-Jason Hairston

 I suppose being aware of how we feel at all times is part of living and being in the present moment, practising mindfulness and meditation. We can watch our feelings pass by, just as we observe our thoughts come and go, like passing clouds in the sky, without necessarily engaging or acting upon our thoughts or feelings. Our feelings may or may not be validated, depending on how we perceive things, since I learnt that life is a matter of perception. I am not sure what the quote meant by subconscious blockages of pain - if they refer to guilt and regrets about the past, I would say it is only human to experience such feelings, since we all tend to do some self-reflection and wish we could have done something better (I tend to do self-evaluation from time to time, such as in the area of my work). 

 I believe even as we embark on this inner journey, it is also good to remember that our past - whether shortcomings or achievements - does not define us since our true identity is based on that which is unchanging and eternal - beloved, blameless, beautiful and perfect spiritual beings on a human journey - we are here to have a human experience. This is how we can reconcile to our highest self (the Father) whenever we come home and remember who we really are and awake to our innocence, being embraced in divine unconditional love. Being aware of our feelings at all times thus becomes a meditation practice in which we make peace with ourselves, and experience inner bliss. 

As the verse goes, "Having been made righteous by faith (awakening to our true identity of innocence and perfection and wholeness), we have peace with God (our highest self) through our Lord Jesus Christ (representative of our human race, our true identity), in whom we have access in this grace (divine favour) through faith." We can continue to expect wonderful things to happen to us because we are beloved and precious children of the universe.

"Behold, now is the day of salvation. Now is the time of favour." Every day is a good day because we are accepted in the Beloved.

Daily Meditation: Signposts on the Way to God

 How do we know about God's love, God's generosity, God's kindness, God's forgiveness?  Through our parents, our friends, our teachers, our pastors, our spouses, our children ... they all reveal God to us.  But as we come to know them, we realise that each of them can reveal only a little bit of God.  God's love is greater than theirs; God's goodness is greater than theirs;  God's beauty is greater than theirs.

At first we may be disappointed in these people in our lives.  For a while we thought that they would be able to give us all the love, goodness, and beauty we needed.  But gradually we discover that they were all signposts on the way to God.
- Henri Nouwen

I think this is a gracious view of the various people in our lives, including pastors. I have come to see that while I can be grateful for pastors who have contributed in my life, in terms of preaching the gospel of grace and unveiling God as our loving Father, I am also learning to see them as humans who are subject to fallibility.

As I am growing and learning new things beyond mainstream christianity, I have grown out of my former church pastor's teachings. When I look back at the institutional church system from the outside, I begin to see that it has pros and cons. The upside is that it favours those who are part of the system, as the members get to enjoy the privilege of fellowship. The downside is that it draws a clear distinction between those who are "in" and those who are "out" of the system.

For example, those who do not subscribe to a particular church system's teachings are seen as "apostates" or "heretics". This is especially so if the church institution leaders are insecure and feel threatened by what is seen as a challenge to their "authority".

Secondly, megachurch pastors tend to be regarded as celebrities, who are usually too busy or important to address queries and needs of the church members. They would usually delegate the tasks to their appointed leaders and deacons. While having a busy schedule is understandable, we can't help remembering Jesus for being different from most megachurch pastors. Jesus made time for everyone, regardless of their social status, whether be they Roman centurions or fishermen or widows or Samaritans.  Jesus sees and treats everyone as equal.

Thirdly, I have ceased to be reliant on church pastors to feed me with daily manna. Maybe the fivefold ministry of apostles, evangelists, teachers, preachers and pastors are only applicable in the old covenant system of law during Paul's time in the first century AD. Once the new heavens and new earth began in AD70, as the new covenant of grace took effect, we no longer need a preacher to teach us about God. After all, the new covenant said "None shall teach his neighbour 'Know the Lord', for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest."

Therefore, everyone knows God intuitively. Everyone can listen to the still, small voice of God for himself or herself. We may learn from others when they share their insights about God and their encounters with God, but we can only truly experience God for ourselves.

I have come to see the danger of depending solely on a preacher to share about God because we can become confined to or restricted by the preacher's own theological box. Besides, by doing so, we would be subjecting ourselves to the mood swings and emotional experiences and religious sensibilities of the preacher. What if the preacher gets up one Sunday morning and decides that God is displeased with him about something, and he starts to preach a message that focuses on sin management? This will invariably affect the minds and emotions of the listeners.

Fourthly, megachurch pastors are probably more susceptible to becoming a victim of their own success, so to speak, if we were to measure success by their popularity, compared to pastors of smaller ministries and denominations. Some of them may have started well when they preach grace at the expense of themselves being criticised by more legalistic preachers. But the moment they become well-known, they may become addicted to fame and recognition.

What happens when people around the world experience spiritual awakening and start questioning traditional doctrines on the literal hell, rapture, literal second coming of Christ and penal substitutionary theory of the cross? Are the same pastors willing to bear the costs of exploring these questions and display intellectual honesty to admit they might be mistaken in their interpretation of the Bible if they were to consider certain principles, such as time references, audience relevance and symbolism used in the Bible? The costs of being intellectually honest may include being ostracised by the mainstream church circles, losing support of their peers, losing church membership, being labelled as heretics, and experiencing their own spiritual crisis, not to mention the risk of losing their regular income in the process, along with their comfortable lifestyles.

"There are few things more dangerous than inbred religious certainty.”
― Bart D. Ehrman 

At the same time, I do not want to come across as being judgmental, because as the saying goes, when I judge someone, it reflects more about me than about the other person. Besides, if I were to be in their shoes, would I be certain I would not have made similar decisions and faced similar dilemmas? I have been "unconscious" myself in the past as I was also involved in mainstream christianity for several years, and I used to think such church doctrines and programmes were "normal".

Then again, I would not be true to myself if I were to close my eyes to what is happening in the world today. Maybe there is a fine balance between making an observation and making a judgment. By being aware of what is happening, and by questioning the status quo, I may be helping both myself and others to come to terms with the whys behind the whats. In this case, I am questioning why the church institutional systems, particularly mega church institutions, are continuing to function the way they do (as corporate entities) and the preachers seem unwilling to question doctrines that are based on the illusion of separation (such as literal hell and literal second coming of Christ and sin and penal substitution). Perhaps this is a question only the preachers can answer for themselves honestly.

As for me, I am still growing and evolving. I have come to a place where I think everyone needs to have the freedom to explore spirituality on their own and come to their own conclusion. Each of us is a mystic, and we are our own preachers. We are our own pastors. We don't need to rely on someone else to pastor us or save us. We are our own saviours. We don't need any external saviours.

We are saved by grace through faith, yes, and yet grace is not separate from us. We are saved daily by our own repentance (change of mind to believe the gospel). We are saved by our own thoughts and beliefs about who we really are - Christ in us the hope of glory.

The implanted Word that is able to save our souls is not an entity separate from ourselves. We are the implanted Word. We are the good news. We are the mirror image of our Beloved, in whom we live and move and have our being. As we behold our true divine Self, we are being transformed into His same image from glory to glory.

Peace and blessings.

Related post:
Our Purpose - Joshua Guild

Nuggets of encouragement (August 2010)

We are not just a face in the crowd. We are favoured children of God. We are a precious blessing wherever we go, bringing refreshing and peace and joy and acceptance.

Jesus is meek and lowly, noble and honourable, gracious and compassionate and full of mercy - and so are we in this world!

Prioritise rest as rest is our greatest responsibility.

Expect the favour of God to work in our life, health, relationships, finances, work today because God treats all of us as Jesus.

Speak blessings because our tongue is like the rudder of the ship, setting the course of our destiny. :)

Keep sowing, keep blessing, and God will bring a harvest in people's lives.

The more we talk about and meditate on the truth of "Christ in us, the hope of glory". the more it becomes a living tangible reality in our lives because what we are conscious of will ultimately manifest. :)

"Rest in the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will make your ways come to pass."

Appreciate what we have because God (our highest self) has blessed us with so much, with the best for us. Thank You, Abba!

When God (our highest self) makes it happen, it's beautiful and effortless. "Commit your ways to Him and He will bring it to pass."

Build our consciousness on Christ by spending time to behold His glory and grace. Children are naturally righteousness-conscious.

God (our highest self) is pleased with us all the time because He sees us in the perfection of His Son (our true identity).

Heaven (our highest consciousness) is where Jesus (our true self) is - His love makes a difference.

Jesus is our perfect representative, and since His thoughts are holiness to the Lord, we are accepted before God (our highest self).

The more we rest, the more we see God's grace in our lives. :)

Jesus is our perfect representative, and we are a reflection of His glory and goodness.

Knowing we are God's beloved gives us dominion in life (over death and condemnation and fear).

God favours us and has crowned and encircled us with glory and honour.

Small acts of kindness are powerful seeds of God's love to help others succeed in life.

"I stand, I stand in awe of You (our highest self). You are marvellous beyond description, too wonderful for words."

God has made us sufficient to be a minister of the new covenant, ministering grace and peace, life and righteousness and no condemnation to people.

Be ourselves, for God has made us unique and complete in Christ.

Jesus (our true identity) is lion and lamb, majesty and meekness, mighty to save yet lowly to serve.

Jesus (our true self) came not to be served but to serve (willingly, out of revelation of kingship and sonship), and give His life as a ransom for many (to redeem ourselves from the illusion of separation and fear).

Jesus is our joy; we don't have to do anything to become joyful.

The proverbial lake of fire

What do we make of verses from the Bible such as:

"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels:" (Matthew 25:41)

and 

"The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever." (Revelation 20:10)

An angel from heaven is like a messenger of thought from our consciousness. Some thoughts need to be refined in the proverbial lake of fire to be cleansed from self-righteousness so that they no longer have the power to condemn and accuse us, when they are transformed into loving thoughts of unity and peace. How good it is to learn to accept ourselves and love ourselves the way we are when we are free from the illusion of separation. We are made in Love's image and are worthy of unconditional and unbridled love. Knowing this will cause us to love ourselves and others without discrimination. "All love is self-love and all hate is self-hate". :)

Christ our true self and identity saves us from the illusion of separation, and renews our mind to see we are one with God (who is also ourselves), thus reconciling us to ourselves and ending the conflicts within us. We will experience inner peace, which will emanate as outer peace and positive vibrations to the rest of the world. When the world awakens to who they really are - knowing they are perfect, complete, beautiful and beloved, there will be peace and unity and harmony.