PRAGMATIC INDWELLING
"If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite. For man has closed himself up, till he sees all things through the narrow chinks of his cavern." — WILLIAM BLAKE
You see there is a prevalent and persuasive enemy of the Truth that is difficult to discern and the culprit has a name—- “pragmatic.” When I heard the Lord say pragmatic, I knew this sort of thinking had permeated not only our culture with its logic & practical approach but in the church as well.
On the surface, pragmatism doesn’t appear to be an enemy and we often embrace it as a friend and counselor, but if we take a deeper look, we find it’s subtle deception. The danger of pragmatism lies in its potential to shift the focus from God's glory to human achievement.
Pragmatism starts at the end of the process of truth, and then works its way backwards. It starts with the results of an idea or practice. If the results are desirable, then it validates a truthfulness of the concept that leads to that end.
Truth is subjective and changes depending on the judgment of the one assessing the outcome. Through this process man ends up “creating truth” as it suits or seems reasonable to him by setting aside the Truth of God for human understanding. Because man is fallen and is primarily oriented to his soul-realm, pragmatism is an inherent influence that controls much of his thinking, and this is true even for believers.
As the Elect, we must ensure that our worship remains pleasing to God and true to His Word by cleansing our souls. God is calling for lives that have been born of Him, not merely trained to look religious.
We have all seen enough religion that talks but does not transform. The world is not only suffering because darkness exists; it is suffering because many who carry the light have not yet understood who they are in they in Christ!
If we look across the world, we have churches claiming to act “under Christ’s authority” yet operate by human identity rather than their true identity in Christ. —--which means they are achieving results or rather “getting things done” but Holy Spirit keeps reminding me Creation is waiting ….
“for those who can carry the burden of the Father without becoming bitter, carry authority without becoming arrogant, carry influence without becoming corrupt, and carry glory without stealing worship.”
These ones are the sons of God and they are not revealed through noise but revealed through fruit. When we cross the threshold of His Ark and take the steps down into His ship’s galley we become known by love, humility, wisdom, holiness, compassion, courage, endurance, and obedience. It is these seekers who work to break free from self-centered thinking and attain a broader life perspective. Now, the practical person might start to experience some of that same enlightenment and heightened awareness that these seekers claim comes from a liberated consciousness - exiting the matrix! [more posts to read about the matrix here]. However, there is a difference between being taught about God and being born of God that can be seen by the fruit in one’s life.
In Christ, we receive both dimensions: the authority, which grants us the right to act in Jesus’ name, and the power, which equips us through the Holy Spirit to carry out what we have been authorized to do.
Our lives must carry the evidence of both.These two cannot be separated—authority without power is empty, and power without authority is reckless. Together, they enable us to faithfully and effectively represent Christ as Sons of God in the world. This is not a charismatic movement - this is Sonship and dominion on earth! The enemy fights authority because he knows mature sons threaten darkness.
An immature believer may have life in Christ but little impact.
A wounded believer may carry gifting but remain bound by fear.
A distracted believer may have calling but never walk in responsibility.
But when a person becomes settled in identity, healed in the Father’s love, led by the Spirit, formed in character, and obedient to assignment, darkness loses —- not just it’s influence or persuasion— but the ability to twist the truth. Pragmatism is dethroned!
It’s by the unity of one’s soul & spirit that brings power to a believer. It is your God-given right that carries judicial weight and supersedes every other power. So why hasn’t the church comes to understand its authority correctly?
I saw once they do, they will stop using spiritual language to control people. They will not manipulate, intimidate, or exalt themselves. They will not treat gifting as proof of superiority. They will understand that everything received from God must be used for His Glory and the good of others.
Kingdom authority heals, delivers, builds, protects, teaches, corrects, and serves. It does not crush people under pride. It lifts burdens, confronts darkness, and points hearts back to the Father.
In contrast, power refers to the ability, strength, or capacity to act and bring about results; it is the active force that makes things happen. To exercise Christs’ authority, we must first build a real relationship with Christ, live in submission by emptying ourselves to His Lordship, walk in obedience to His word, and step into the assignment He has given us.
——-Kingdom authority flows from intimacy, surrender, and mission something we have talking about for along time on this blog.
It’s now time to ACT and to be governed by the life of the King but how do we do this? Well, it’s by empty ourselves [souls] even more?
In my experience, the emptying began with dreams and later visions. I didn’t understand the process at the time, but as I read the Bible I would feel a witness with YAH’s Word drawing me along His bread crumb trail. Hallelujah!
Let me share an example, My Dream - repost from years back.
I was standing at the sea and ahead of me was this most brilliant sight—a tunnel of water without a ceiling with miles and miles of people walking on the seafloor between two enormous walls of water on each side of them. I heard weeping and complaining cries turn to dumbfounded gasps of amazement as these magnificent walls revealed their path’s journey.
It felt this truly spectacular sight unfolding before me as the wind continued to move forward, forging a pathway through these sea waters. I knew these waters symbolized the Red Sea within my soul as the cloud seemed to move towards the place where I stood by the wall of fire. I had a knowing that this wall was separating the slaves from their master.
As I watched, the cloud appearance changed to swirl overhead into an iridescent form, darkening into a denseness that fell over the land behind me. I had a knowing that this wall of protection separated the Kingdom from the enemy.
As the cloud appearance changed overhead, I was holding my breath, watching the cloud, roll over and move towards the city in the distance ahead, making a blockade between me and the city. I watch with bated breath as the cloud moved closer, creating a chilling canopy of darkness dividing me and the slave masters of Babylon to form a blazing wall. I had a knowing these barriers had been previously opened but were now closed and I woke up!
First, while your eyes are open to the light, you can not only see the natural, spiritual and Divine dimensions but you can begin to gather all the scattered bits of your personality into the one which is the real you - not the fallen you—and eventually where "unity of your soul & spirit” reside.
If you are still reading…. I am so proud of you! This truth has been hidden long enough! To be indwelled by the Spirit of YHWY, we must rightly understand —-what is meant when God is said to be the center of your soul, and again in the highest part of the spirit. This is the true place of understanding and where confusion dissolves all fallen mindsets and truth is unveiled!
When your soul actually realizes the depth of her nothingness, for seeing how the Spirit of God is to live in her and how she is to be wholly subjected to it. The walls of water in my dream vs the cloud of darkness are competing - Without unity, there is only death. If you can accept that man is an entity which consists of a body and a soul and that Man is an animated body or embodied soul; body and soul are joined together like an object and its form.
As the form of the body, the soul and the body are one. Read that again… The soul is called “soul” (anima) for it is the forming principle of the body and animates the body, that is, gives it life and keeps it alive.
This can only be explained as Spiritual Marriage. The soul is common to all its faculties, to the whole body, to all its members. Yet in each member it is entire for the soul cannot be divided save by reason. For though the reason distinguishes the highest powers and the lowest, the spirit and the soul, yet in nature they are one.
“Behold, the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet him”, these words were written by Matthew. Christ spoke them to His disciples and to all other men in the parable of the virgins. This Bridegroom is Christ, and our human nature is the bride; the which God has made in His own image and after His likeness. And in the beginning He had set her in the highest and most beautiful, the richest and most fertile place in all the earth: that is, in Paradise. And He had given her dominion over all creatures; and He had adorned her with graces; and had given her a commandment, so that by obedience she might have merited to be confirmed and established with her Bridegroom in an eternal troth, and never to fall into any grief, or any sin.
When we willingly participate, you are consistently breaking down the barriers of individuality, willingly submitting to the rhythm of a larger existence than just your personal self, by continually broadening, deepening, and shifting your focus away from yourself, you are expanding your horizons and becoming a citizen of a broader, more joyful, and more profound world. You become a partaker of a richer life.
Are you ready to face your inner pragmatic self?
Be careful now how you answer because there will be incalculable visitations, on the sudden wind and rain that wash the windows of your soul to let in the vision of the landscape at your gates.
You can, if you like, keep those windows clear, choose to turn your attention to contemplating…. The Cross of Yashua.
When we apply The Cross, we are taking an axe to the root of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It fells the self-exalting nature within each of us that causing us to be a “god” in his own right, motivating him to be the creator of truth for himself. Whatever works for him is believed by him.
The Cross applies the Word to our lives as a flaming, flashing sword, dividing our fallen soul to find unity with our spirit so that we might find our way once again to the Tree of Life.
We must offer ourselves daily to God as a living sacrifice and only then can we prove what His good, acceptable and perfect will is. I pray we are all willing to embrace the cross and become those whom God not only blesses, but also endorses, because we have learned to walk in the TRUTH! Hallelujah!
Comments
Post a Comment