28
April 2017
In
the course of this week we were all challenged in a new way that went
deeper than anything we had seen before. It was in the area of needs
and living a life of spirit. We have always taken comfort in the fact
God will provide all our needs but in reality needs in and of
themselves just do not exist on a God level. How can I have a need
when complete? Now of course we all see the natural screaming at us
and these natural needs threaten to take our attention away, they
threaten to have us abide in their grip not in the limitless God.
Together we can see a needless life and together we are walking into
it.
We
are yet to discover the freedom of spirit that arrives in a complete
abandonment of needs and in fact the ability to not even see needs is
more alarming than the ability to see needs met. Maybe children were
meant to be a challenge to everything we have lived. A child does not
see needs they just expect and usually in a very demanding way, They
just never have a concern about life. We cannot say kids see needs
but rather they have expectations and to them it is never a thought
that those expectations will be disappointed.
A
huge catalyst for change happened this week in our lives. The needs
were piling up and personally the ability to remove my eyes off the
needs was naturally impossible. One of our sons just turned 15 and
another will turn 18. They are eating machines, I don't think it is
even possible to fill them. I could give stories about the huge
amount of food they can eat but unless it can be seen it cannot be
believed.
So
in a week of extreme need food was not abundant and the desire to
find a corner somewhere and be alone was pretty enormous. As men we
want to think about where we are and kids are a great distraction
from us being able to feel sorry for ourselves. To be honest days
like the day I was having are living misery. With no possible escape
visible for the thoughts of the predicament closing in.
Over
the journey of the next day an amazing thing happened that would help
set a new course for life. A text message from a man in Boston who
did not know much of us at all. We had spoken many times on spiritual
life and he obviously was one of those men who just never fitted with
religion. Being from Mexico originally religion was well known to him
but he had no time for such things. The issue had been he was alive
in spirit and never understood that. It had been a long time since we
had talked and that was what made his text message even more amazing.
It said “are you OK do you need $”
We
spoke a few days later. Omar had been at work and saw a picture of
our family without food. So he sent a text and not being a wealthy
person acted on what he saw and deposited $225 into our account. Omar
is a humble hard working man who sends much of what he has back to
help his family in Mexico. He sent a message saying we are his family
and he wants to help us. In reality his statement could not have been
more true.
So
as simple as that may sound it needs to be understood the randomness
of what had just happened. He had no way of knowing except God. Now
any in religion would clearly say Omar is not a Christian as Omar
just does not fit that stereotype. Thank God for that as perhaps we
are all realizing we are not Christians. Omar is koinonia life with
us and that was nothing we would have defined naturally. Yet he is
one with the godhead. He would not talk it that way but Omar is one
in spirit and neither of us understand that.
So
this raised a new level of spiritual life not ever considered
possible and it bought release. The amazing continued when the next
morning I stepped out of bed to a call form another telling me the
rent will be paid. Marius had needs of his own but has moved beyond
tat level in life. It seemed something was changing or had changed in
all of us. It was never about the money or needs and never will be.
As if it ever is all we show is we are not in spirit life. Needs just
cannot exist in such a life and the existence of needs shows the lack
of Holy Spirit life.
Now
it can be a process to abandon and allow Godhead koinonia to empty us
of the defilement of this world. The religious mindsets that have
defined us all. But realistically it is as simple as abandoning the
life we have known. Everyone wants this life in some way and every
religion known to man is about taking aspects of spirit life and
containing or controlling it. Teaching it and using ti to gain.
Gaining peace, life, freedom, control, love, etc. In the case of
spirit life who would not want its benefits and who would nto want
its peace. Many are called in this case but few are chosen. The many
choose not to be the few. They just cant let go and will always hold
onto what their identity has been. The many will always love to hear
spirit. Yes it makes them uncomfortable and causes them to feel
inferior and insecure and to feel like they need to act. The many hit
roadblocks in their path of abandonment and all this reveals is they
have abandonment issues. Abandonment issues that come from having
needs and seeing needs.
How
would it be if we were so absorbed in peace that we never even saw
needs. To abandon life in such a way that what was needed on the day
just arrived. Lost in spirit life in such a way it created the moment
things were needed. This is our life, this is where we are all and
now we just relax and enjoy the creativity of a limitless union.
We
have spent our lives convincing ourselves we trust God and not seeing
the very action of trusting God shows we do not trust Him at all. We
want to believe everything will be ok and often wrestle around in
life until we find a place of belief but in believing all we show is
we have no belief. It is impossible to believe, it is impossible to
trust, it is impossible to know and see God in our natural. If we can
trust, believe, rely on or have faith then in reality we have dumbed
down our world to a religious level we can handle. We have control of
our world and as little challenges arise we use our religion to
navigate the challenge. We show our natural identity is alive and
ruling supreme. This is religion and religion steals intimacy.
Religion is the bastardization of spirit life and maybe no greater
test for this than to ask do we call ourselves a Christian. If we do
then we are trapped beyond any ability of our own to see a way clear.
There
is no name for what we are in koinonia. The bible translators could
not define koinonia and in so doing took a spiritual movement and
made it religion. Perhaps why many will never understand the spirit
of the bible. If we have any understanding of this we don't have it.
So
living beyond the needs is when peace arises from our spiritual
koinonia and we are not even aware there is a need. We have abandoned
identity not by action but by abiding. In this abiding a peace is
possible. What happens in these times is, we feel uncomfortable with
the freedom and almost feel guilty we don't feel guilty. We find
ourselves wanting to care that we don't care and wonder if that is
OK. To be honest it is not OK to this world and never will be but in
spirit life there are no cares.
We
can say although spirit beings we have natural needs and in reply why
point out. Needs only highlight where we have not abandoned life.
Needs highlight religion and in the observation of needs we
acknowledge we are in control.
Yes
we have been cast into the extremes of life as koinonia and together
we rise. This whole week has gone beyond needs and into intimacy and
what came up is vision revealing some of our lives for what they have
been. This vision will be outworked as we embrace the fragrance of
life.
So
yet again there is nothing we can do. We cant choose not to see
needs. This would be self deception. We cant choose to live beyond
needs as needs just scream too loudly. All we can do is allow the
deposit of koinonia life to well up and come out of us. Lets say it
again. Everything for life is in the koinonia and those in koinonia
abandon to abide. We have been too religious in our definition of
koinonia and through god using Omar we can only say koinonia is alive
in ways and places we do well to see through our spiritual eyes. We
are in each others lives to call out the holy and the profane and the
profane in all of us is the walls we have erected in self
preservation. These walls block us from spiritual freedom and as we
become aware of them we cant remove them we just say “yes
koinonia.” To say “Yes God” is too religious as koinonia is God
we say yes to Holy Spirit ordained Godhead, “yes koinonia”.
The
greatest blessing is to see a limitation in our life and not to act
to change it. The act of seeing it causes us to lay down in
exhaustion and say I cant change it. This has defined me for so long
it has become who I am. In this act of honesty the Godhead brings
life. Koinonia reveals, unites challenges and changes. It rises
together, falls together and is transformed in unison. Such is the
church of Jesus Christ that we are.