Blessed are the Pure in Heart

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

The condition of your heart is so important for the Lord’s purpose.

The proper heart for the growth of Life

And not holding the Head, out from whom all the Body, being richly supplied and knit together by means of the joints and sinews, grows with the growth of God.

God’s Eternal Purpose is to head up all things in Christ and He is accomplishing His Purpose through His Economy, which is to dispense Himself into all the saints to be our Life and Life-Supply.

God’s Economy is what we see in Matthew 13. The Lord is dispensing Himself as the Seed into our hearts. He is uniting Himself with us in eternal Oneness.

In Matthew 13, the Lord gives a picture of the growth in Life concerning four heart conditions. These heart conditions are symbolized by the soils.

We see a few pictures in this parable: the Sower, the Seed(the Word), and the Life.

The Lord is the Sower.

The Lord is the Seed.

The Lord is the Word.

The Lord is the Life.

The Lord is everything for us. When we believe into the Lord, He comes into us as a small Seed. But, this Seed isn’t lacking anything. Within the Seed is the entire Tree. This Seed becomes One with the soil of our hearts. The Lord Spirit is mingled with our spirit in Oneness.

With the proper soil, water, and light this Seed will grow up to be the overcoming inner Man in us. You must understand that what grows forth from the Seed planted into our hearts is not just God, but also Man. The Plant that grows is God with us. It is God and us as One New Man. This Seed is planted in our spirit and will grow to fill and saturate our mind, will, and emotions.

I do think that we all have the experience of each of the different types of soils in Jesus’ parable. I encourage you to go read that parable now.

The Hard Soil

A hard heart is of no use to God. It gives Him no room to enter or grow.

The Rocky Soil

The rocky heart is somewhat hard and somewhat soft. It gives the Lord room to enter and grow, but the growth is too shallow.

The Thorny Soil

The thorny heart is a soft heart, but the thorns take away the nutrients for its growth.

The good soil

The good heart is gives the Lord plenty of room to growth. It receives His Living Water and His Shining Light. Root dig deeply down to strengthen the inner man. The Plant grows upward growing from glory to glory, until the ultimate expression is revealed: the glorious flower. Right now you may not look so beautiful outwardly, but if you have the proper heart for the Lord, someday you will be a glorious shining flower, displaying the beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will express the fullness of God!

The proper heart for the flow of Life.

The Tree of Life grows in the River of Life. The Tree of Life is for growth of God’s Life and the River of Life is for the flow of God’s Life.

In Genesis 26, we have a picture of Isaac with his tent in Beersheba, where Abraham had planted a tamarisk tree. The Lord appears to Isaac and Isaac builds an altar and digs a well. We need to set our tents(our dwelling) in the Lord’s constant appearing by the tamarisk tree(a picture of the Tree of Life), building an altar and digging a well. The altar symbolizes the application of the cross and the well symbolizes our enjoyment of the flowing resurrection Life.

None of us have the proper heart by nature. So for God’s flow, we need to learn to be altar-builders and well-diggers.

Hidden deep beneath layers and layers of hardened dust, there is fresh Water. Every morning we must wake up and dig through our natural man to enjoy the flowing Life deep within our spirit. I just wake up in my flesh every morning. I don’t want to turn to the Lord. I don’t want to get up. I don’t want to work.

I do think that many of you have the same experience. So we must build an altar, leaving our old man there. And we must dig a well to keep our hearts soft and tender for the Lord’s flow. With such a soft heart, the Lord will be a fountain springing up within us to eternal Life. We will have the freshness of His flowing Life. He will even overflow out of us and water those around us.

But whenever their heart turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. And the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit.

Keep turning your hearts to the Lord by Faith, dear ones. With a pure heart, a heart that’s single for the Lord, you are free to behold the Lord within you. The more time you spend beholding the Lord within you, the more you will shine. You will be transformed into the Lord’s image, expressing His glory more and more. How gloriously blessed are the pure in heart!

I Press on Toward the Goal for the Prize

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:12 NASB

There are many aspects to and pictures of the Prize, the consummation of which is the New Jerusalem. But I want to focus on the Good Land.

Beginning with Abraham, God called out a People to take possession of the Good Land. The Good Land is a type of Christ as Everything for us. The Good Land is the All-Inclusive Christ.

Today, this Good Land is in our spirit.

Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall enter. Encourage him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it. And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.’ Deuteronomy 1:38-40 ESV

The first generation in the wilderness is a picture of the old man, who couldn’t overcome the flesh and experience all that Christ is for us. But second generation is a picture of the New Man. It’s the New Man, having no knowledge of good or evil, who can take possession of the Good Land.

Adam, the first Man, ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. But in Christ, the second Man, Adam has been terminated. All that is of Adam has died in the wilderness.

So the Israelites pass through the Jordan, a figure of our baptism, death, and resurrection in Christ. It’s the Ark, a type of Christ, that leads the Way. Then the Israelites are commanded to circumcise themselves.

We are the real Hebrews, which means river-crossers. We are the ones circumcised in our hearts.

“When the Lord your God cuts off before you the nations whom you go in to dispossess, and you dispossess them and dwell in their land, Deuteronomy 12:29 ESV

Not only were the Israelites to cut off their flesh in circumcision, but they were to cut off the people in the Good Land. All of the Canaanites are a type of the flesh and the kings are a type of the evil powers that govern our flesh.

Even though, objectively, we have been crucified with Christ, we must apply His finished work by the Spirit, who is the very effectiveness of His death and resurrection. This is the picture that we have of the circumcision and the cutting off of the people’s from the Good Land.

If we are to take full possession of the Good Land, we must have practical daily experience of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ by the Spirit.

In Joshua, we have some pictures to give us practical help in overcoming and taking Christ as Everything for us.

By Faith.

Jericho, with its high walls, is a great big picture of the flesh. The Israelites didn’t need to struggle against Jericho. They walked around it by Faith. They walked with the Ark, as a type of Christ. They blew the Ram’s Horn, a type of announcing the Gospel of Christ as the fighting power. See Overcoming Jericho.

Being right before the Lord.

After Jericho, the Israelites attacked Ai. They spied out Ai and saw that the enemies were few there, and didn’t even send all the people to fight. But, they didn’t contact God and they kept something from Jericho against God’s command. So, Israel was defeated because it wasn’t right with God.

We don’t need more introspection, but we do need to go before the Lord and allow Him to illuminate our being. We are His House and He desires to keep His House clean. Don’t take a flashlight(introspection) to look for dirt, but turn to the light switch(the Spirit) to shine. He will show you everywhere that you are not right before the Lord. Wait on Him. Don’t rush ahead. Stay in the shining of the Lord. This Life within us is the Light of men. We are men, so His Life is our Light to shine in us. Stay in the cleansing flow of His River of Life. We walk in this world it’s too easy to get dirty. Our feet are always in contact with the world. This is the reason that Jesus washed the disciples’ feet. He is the Spirit washing our dirty feet in an inward way today.

Not being deceived by the flesh.

Next is the picture of the Gibeonites. Unlike Ai, the Gibeonites did not come to fight against Israel, but came to deceive it. The Gibeonites pretended to be poor travelers from far away and convinced Israel to make a covenant with them.

In regards to your flesh, you may say that this aspect or that feature is not so bad. You consider it to be useful for the Lord. Perhaps you are naturally a great speaker. Once you used your speaking for yourself, now you will use it for the Lord. Whether your natural speaking is for yourself or for the Lord it doesn’t matter. What matters is the source. The source of your speaking is the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Only if your strong speaking is crucified, can it be useful to the Lord in resurrection. Then God will be the Source of your speaking. Then whether you speak clearly or with stuttering, God’s Life will flow through your speaking because He is your Source.

If you embrace your natural strengths, you are just like Israel. You forget your Husband and go ahead to make a covenant with your flesh. We must always wait on our Husband. The River of Life flows from the Throne, the Lord’s Headship. Only when we are living practically under our Husband’s Headship, will we enjoy the Flow of His Life.

Not taking your own choice.

The Lord desired to give the Good Land to the tribes of Israel. But, two and a half tribes didn’t want to cross the Jordan. They wanted the land before the Jordan, because it was good for their livestock. God gave them their choice and because of their choice, they would be the first tribes attacked by invaders and they wouldn’t have the protection of the Jordan.

You must not take your own choice, dear children. You must wait on the Lord. You must drop your opinions. You must be One with God’s People. As long as there is no sin or idol, be One with God’s People. If the saints are loud, be loud with them. If the saints are quiet, be quiet with them. Drop the ordinances in your heart that cause enmity between you and the Body. Water baptism by immersion or sprinkling? In a pool or in a lake? Drop your opinion in such matters. Who cares if you are right? The Oneness of the Body is far more important. We must march as One together with the Lord.

Not giving up and settling for less than God’s desire.

If you go on reading the Scriptures, you will find that the Israelites never fully cut off their enemies. They became content with the little that they had gained and gave up the fighting. Thus, they suffered. They succumbed to idolatry, to sin, and to invasions by the enemy.

I do think that many of you are defeated and accept that defeat as “this is just the way it is”. You are just waiting for Jesus to return to make everything better. But that isn’t God’s Economy. There is a reason Jesus calls for Overcomers. There is a reason Jesus warns of unfaithful servants, of virgins without Oil. God’s Economy to fulfill His Eternal Purpose is to dispense Himself into us to be our Life and Life-supply, so that He saturates us and constitutes our entire being, starting with our spirit and working His way out to our mind, will, emotions, and someday to our resurrected Body. This is why we eat His flesh and drink His blood. You are what you eat. So keep eating God in Christ. It’s the eating that gives us Strength for working and for fighting.

You must not accept defeat. We fight by turning to the Lord and continually receiving Christ and all that He is for us by Faith. Are your tired? Christ is your Energy. Are you hungry? Christ is your great Feast. The same Power that resurrected and ascended a Man to be seated in the heavenlies at the right hand of God, is now in us. This same Power is flowing towards us who believe!

All of the difficulties, the trials, the drynesses, are for our growth. If we will persevere in pursuing the Lord and enjoying Him day-by-day we will grow. It’s through the dry times that the roots of the trees dig deeper searching for Water. Dig deeper into our Lord. He is perfecting us. Keep turning to Him, loving Him, enjoying Him, all the time, and you won’t be disappointed. You will have the growth in Life and when the Lord appears in glory, so will you. What has been wrought in you in secret, will be manifested outwardly in great glory.

I Have Been Crucified With Christ

In God’s eyes, there have only been two Men in all of history: Adam and Christ. When Adam ate from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, we all ate. When Adam was poisoned by the Serpent, we were all poisoned. When Adam died, we all died. This is because we were in Adam.

If you don’t understand, let me give you an example. You were in your grandfather before you were born. If your grandfather died, then you would have died and would never have been born.

So, from our natural birth we have been dead, little vipers, spreading the Serpent’s poison. We were like zombies walking around consumed with the hunger of our flesh. Zombies eat brains and the cause of our condition is eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.

Zombies are governed by the lust of their flesh and just spread death wherever they go. When Adam ate from that Tree of Death, he became governed by his flesh.

God created man uniquely as body, soul, and spirit. This was so that man could be the invisible God’s physical expression. Man was created in such a way that He could be One with God. But man wasn’t created with the divine Life and the divine Nature. If Adam had eaten of the Tree of Life, God would have entered into Him to be His Life. God, who is Spirit would have entered into Adam’s spirit.

The human spirit was meant to be the dominant part of our being. But we were seduced by the Serpent and became spiritually dead. The flesh became the dominant part of our being to the point that God just called us flesh. Whether your natural self is good or bad, it doesn’t matter so much. Your natural source is a dead man, Adam.

So God came and was born as the Seed of the Woman. Jesus was not born of a man, but of a woman. Jesus lived as a perfect Man. Whenever the enemy came and called Him “Son of God”, Jesus replied “Son of Man”. He indeed is the Son of God, but He came to be the perfect Son of Man. He had the fine humanity expressing divinity. He lived a perfect human life, was crucified, died, resurrected, ascended, and seated at the hand of God. He remains a God Man in His ascension and will forever be a God Man. And you also, if you have believed into Christ, were in Him as He lived a perfect human life, died, resurrected, ascended, and seated at the right hand of God.

In Christ, who you were according to your natural birth is dead in God’s eyes. Christ is your Second Birth. Christ is your Life. Christ is your Nature. Christ is your New Man.

Jesus Christ, the Last Adam, became a Life-giving Spirit to enter into us. So that the Spirit, who is mingled with our spirit, is not just the Spirit of God, but also the Spirit of the Man Jesus. The application and the effectiveness of Jesus’ perfect humanity, His death, His resurrection, His ascension, and His sitting down at the right of God…it’s all in this Spirit…and this Spirit is in us!

But don’t think that the flesh is completely gone yet. God is still bringing us forward into the experience of the Reality of Jesus’ finished work. It still remains with us because it is profitable for us. It drives us to pursue God and rely on Him. It is the manure, the compost, that drives our growth. Without the compost, plants can grow, but not so swiftly. The dead and decaying compost enriches their growth in Life.

But don’t walk by the flesh, walk by the Spirit. Adam is no longer your source, Christ is your Source. You have a new Father. You have been born of God! You are a son of God, sharing in the Sonship.

Disown your old self, the person you are by natural birth. That person, good or bad, was crucified in Christ. You have a New Man, which is Christ Himself. He was been born into you as the Seed. Within a seed, there is the entire tree. In the same way Christ enters into us in a small way, but this is the entire Christ, lacking nothing.

Whether you succeed or fail, you must disown that old man. Declare that that person is not you. He is dead and buried. You are in Christ. It is good to declare, dear saints. Declare words of Faith out loud or in secret. Turn off the radio on your way to work and turn your heart to the Lord Spirit within you, and declare who you are in Christ. Declare all that He is for you and all that He has done for you. Declare your Love for Him. Declare that you have no Love of your own, but God in Christ is your Love and you are returning His Love back to Him.

This is some practical help to bring you into the experience of Christ as your death and Christ as your Resurrection Life. Don’t be dismayed if you take by Faith that your old man is dead and then you find yourself even more in the flesh. This is the enemy’s scheme. The enemy would cut off your Faith quickly. The enemy wants to cut off your Hope in Christ. But you must press on! You are not able, but Christ is. He is your Power. The same Power that raised Him from the dead and seated Him at the right hand of God is in you. This Power is towards us who believe. It is more powerful than any nuclear bomb.

Keep turning to your spirit, enjoying and experiencing Christ, and your inner man will be strengthened.