PART I7C
THE STAFF AND SWORD MINISTRY
October
15
MANIFESTING CHRIST A CLOSER WALK WITH JESUS -- -
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THE KINGDOM OF GOD WITHIN YOU -f..-- - - --,
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by Nancy-TONI Youngbrandt
Jesus told us in Luke 17:21, "Neither .vhurtl they say, Lo here! or, Lo there! , for, behold, the kingdom of God is within_ you." And the reason I quote this is because the Holy Spirit has really done a work in me over these past few months so that I now have a new, deeper appreciation of just what Jesus is telling us here and I would Iike to share it with you all. This is not an easy article to write as it has come from a journey over this summer that has personally and spiritually been the most difficult of my life so far. Yet, from the start I knew Jesus was doing a deep and meaningful work in me that I knew would be worth it in the end, even though at the time there was little evidence that would be the case. I will say that I am still a work-in-progress but I believe what Jesus has shown me could benefit others so I am now attempting to put down on paper some of what I have learned. For me, this part of my walk started in May, even though there were little things in the previous year that popped up but suddenly I seemed unable to handle all that was pressing in on me. Things 1 was used to handling for years such as the ministry work, caring for the property and looking after Chuck-JOHNEL, suddenly had the addition of a loved one who needed help getting to appointments and was facing a number health issues all at the same ti me. It all got to me in the form of anxiety big-time, to where I physically felt awful and unable to cope. My usual way ofpraying and coping with situations did not work, and issues I thought I had dealt with in prayer years ago, emerged anew. As I prayed to Jesus for help, at first it seemed like the answers were so far away but in actuality the Holy Spirit was guiding me in the right direction. One such help was found when I read an article in Reader's Digest, where they mentioned a book by Friedemann Schaub, MD, PhD, entitled The Fear and Anxiety Solution . Over the next couple of months of reading and praying through the exercises in his book, Jesus surely answered my prayers and brought me to a new place in Him, or at least a renewed one with a deeper understanding of my soul and my
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relationship to it and to my spirit-man in Christ. In the end, I realized that in the past I would come to Jesus and seek to be more like Him in part to get away from myself, to get outside of who I thought I was, to be someone else — to be Him. However, this is not what Jesus wants. He wants us to be who God made us to be so we could be partakers with Jesus, and in Jesus. I also fully realized that to truly get to Jesus and the kingdom of God, it would be found within me — in my spirit-man in Christ — and not outside of me. This would later be confirmed to me as I read Madame Guyon's book, Union with God , where she wrote: "... your purpose is to pursue the inward life. This is the spring of all the joy of
the soul. This is the solid foundation of all spiritual progress. Your purpose is to pursue that life which dwells deep within your inmost center." So with that, I would like share with what I have learned so far on my journey to my "inmost center" so that we ail may be who God made you to be and manifest the Spirit of Christ in your whole being, in union with God.
THE JOURNEY OF MY SOUL While much of what I have Iearned and experienced in these past few months is specific and personal to me, I do believe there are some general insights and prayer-exercises that I believe anyone would benefit from. The main lessons are: 1) A deeper understanding of the soul. A part of our soul I've previously underestimated is our subconscious, and that it has quite a bit of power over us if we are unaware of it. 2) Much of what is at work in our subconscious we put there to protect us. The problem with that is that it is operating often in ways that actually hinder really trusting in Jesus and letting God and Jesus Christ be our protection. Seeing the ways that my subconscious seeks to keep me safe and protect me, helped inc see more clearly what I need to die to. 3) On the other hand, in prayer, as I let go of the hurt and things that led inc to seek to protect my soul, I also found a part of my soul that I needed to love as Jesus loves, and to have compassion and forgiveness for. 4) And lastly, a greater understanding and insight into possessing the soul: of giving it direction and reining it in, centering it in the present, and aligning it with our heart and spirit-man in Christ. So, let's get to it .. .
OUR SUBCONSCIOUS In past articles I have defined the soul as our mind, will and emotions. It was created with
our physical bod y and is therefore quite tied into our physical body and operates through it. Scripturally speaking, the soul is our woman. A male human being has a woman/soul, and
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OUR SUBCONSCIOUS continued a female human being has a woman/soul. A male human being likewise has a spirit, which Scripturally is called a man, as does a female human. In God's eyes, we are all co-equals in Christ. This also means that when it says in Scripture that it is "shame for a woman to speak in the church," it is speaking of those who are speaking from their soulish nature, whether they be male or female. In the church, we are all meant to be led by our spirit-man in Christ Jesus. The new understanding I have now is that our soul also includes our subconscious. In Dr. Schaub's book, he sees that we not only have a conscious mind and subconscious mind but a higher consciousness as well. He defines these as: the conscious mind is our intellectual and analytical capabilities the subconscious mind being our emotions, memories and beliefs — and our higher consciousness as being that "which represents the core of your being
and goes beyond your thoughts, your emotions or your body. Your higher consciousness is strongly linked to your true essence, which some may refer to as you spirit ..." When I read that emotions, memories and even beliefs are a part of our subconscious, this made sense as I found myself knowing certain things in mind but yet felt helpless against the feelings of anxiety, and the memories and emotions that were being stirred up. I felt pulled in every direction. I felt like inwardly I was being stretched to the max in every possible way, even though on the surface and in my conscious mind I knew there was really no reason to feel that way. Facts didn't change the way I felt in my soul and even my physical body. It was in reading Dr. Schaub's bookthat I began to get a handle on my subconscious and what was working in me, even against me. I could certainly relate to what Paul wrote in Romans 7:15: "That which I do, I do not wish to do. But what! would do, I will not. What I hate, that is what I do. "
For me, while I wanted to "not Iet my heart be troubled, nor let it he afraid," I found myself living just the opposite. I was helpless to be able to walk in my belief and faith in Jesus, as the anxiety and fear seemed to abate, only to reemerge just as strong as before. What I hated, I ended up doing, which was being fearful and stress-out. The great thing in all this was that in spite of what I was going through, I still knew and believed that God was with me, and that He was allowing this for His purpose and for my benefit. I also knew Jesus was letting this go on for way longer than I would have liked so that He could make a deep and lasting change in me. If He helped too quickly, I would slip
back into old habits too quickly, the same ones He was leading me away from. It wouldn't be until more recently that I would read in Madame Guyon's book, Union with God , the following: "Your Lord will uncover everything the soul contrives to cover; He does this uncovering so that He can enable you to conquer and overcome the natural tendencies of your soul."
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OUR SUBCONSCIOUS continued This leads me to my next discovery: the things our soul does to protect us.
PROTECTION If anyone is honest with themselves, they will see that even when we want to give Jesu! everything — every part of ourselves — we often hold something back, we often work tt cover or protect some part of us from any possible harm, be it real or imagined. It turns out that much of what protects us in our subconscious isn't necessarily bad, likf breathing, or even jerking our hand away from a sudden hot flame. There are actually a to of things we do subconsciously without realizing it that keep us alive and from harm. Thf
problem is that there are a lot of other things in there that we put there or developed in ou: younger years as a way of protecting us that can now work against us as we try to have closer, more trusting relationship with Jesus and the Spirit of God working in our lives. One such big way we work to protect ourselves, is by unconsciously trying to anticipate trouble. It's amazing how much we often direct our energies out into the world trying to picl• up on the people and world around us to be able to protect ourselves. As an example, I havf seen that some people can expend great amounts of energy trying to keep track o prophecies and news in the hope that having that knowledge will enable them to protec themselves and their family. The problem is that it gives the illusion of being safe an protected but not the reality. It isn't one's knowledge of prophecy and having a time tabIE for events that allows one to be safe — it is Jesus Christ who keeps us safe. It is in Him tha we are protected. Jesus in John 16: 13 even told us: "Howbeit, when lie, the Spirit of truth is come, he wilt guide you into all truth : for Ire steal! not speak of himself; but whurtsoevel lie shall hear, thin shall he speak: and he will show you things to come."
For one, I had a fear of rejection, of being judged and upsetting others. Due to unexpected rather traumatic events in my younger years, my soul was constantly sending out feelers like a soul-radar, trying to seek out potential trouble. Suddenly, what may have seemed tc work for me in the past, now didn't help at all and actually made my life worse. But Jesu., had let me see this; He uncovered what my soul was working to cover, to show me this an the futility of my ways. Madame Guyon explains, that to do His work in us, God offer brings us to a place of what she calls desolation. She writes,
"Now let us consider this time of desolation. The believer is first deprived of the work which he accomplished voluntarily; that is, he becomes unable to do what he coulc formerly do very easily. As this desolation increases, he begins to feel a general inabilit} in all things. This state does not get better, but rather enlarges day after day. After you have been deprived of all past progress -- both inward progress and outwarc progress (all of which might be referred to as non-essential), the Lord begins to work or those things which are essential. Every Christian virtue — even the ones that we have taken for granted — disappear. As they depart, you love all joy within; there is a sense o^ inward loss. I would like to point out that this is not a real loss in your spirit. The loss i^ only in your consciousness. You can be sure that your spirit is still strong."
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PROTECTION continued I can truly identify with what she says here. It surely seemed that all progress I had made and the things I had learned were now ineffectual in the face of fear and anxiety troubling my heart. It was then that Jesus gave me two visions that became my life-line out of the darkness. One was a vision from Jesus of how He saw me, which was my spirit-man in the armor of God. I was very impressed by the armor as it was so beautiful and ornate. It was very detailed and impressive to look at, but even better, was the deep knowing that to be in the armor of God was to be in JESUS HIMSELF. Alter all, He is our salvation, our righteousness, The truth, the Prince of Peace, the author and finisher of our faith and from Whom flows the Word of God. I knew then that, in the armor of God — IN HIM — I am protected, and that He is the power behind that protection. The second vision, what 1 would even call an experiential reality, is when the Spirit of God seemed to take me from my conscious view of my life, to being in my spirit-man, looking down on m self in this world, and feeling, knowing and seeing God's Love literally shining down on me and my life to where I just knew then and there that I had nothing to fear. I suddenly felt the spiritual strength to stand in Christ, to stand in Christ for my life, my marriage, our home and property and Jesus' ministry which He has given us. I literally experienced the Love of God which casts out all fear as I knew in my spirit-titan that I had . NOTHING TO FEAR. It is just as it says in 2 Timothy 1:7 — " Foi God lath not given us the spirit of fear; but o ower and of love and of a sound mind.
I could see then, that one big area I needed to die to in my selfnature was this one — all the ways I seek to protect myself. I saw as F looked down upon myself, a type of outer layer over me that represented the attempts I've made to protect myself in the past. I then prayed to let them go, to die to my efforts to protect myself. At the same time, I saw my soul as though a spotlight were on me and I was bathed in and surrounded by God's Love and Protection, not unlike the woman/soul in the sketch here (drawn by Roger Augustin). Jesus is to be our protector and all else must go. We need to let it go all of our defenses to God and let them die if need be. LOVING YOURSELF? On the other hand, with all this talk of dying to self and of all that is at work in us that makes our walk in Christ more difficult, why is it that Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:39 that the 2 Commandment is "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself'"? Is there anything about our soruI that we can love? Well, the answer is YES! Why? Because our soul is also a part of us, it is part of who we are, and
LOVING YOURSELF? continued who God made us to be. After all, Jesus came and died, was resurrected and ascended to Heaven so that we too, our soul and spirit, would have life through Him in Heaven. What God doesn't like is our fallen, sinful, self-nature that can operate in our soul. We can yield our soul to sin or we can yield it to righteousness. Deeper yet, it is at its core a part of us and we are the children of God, created and loved by God. Therefore it is that Love with which we are to love ourselves. We are to have a Christ-centered love, full of compassion and forgiveness towards ourselves, and it is with that love with which we are to love others.
THE JOURNEY CONTINUES Years ago, the Spirit of God showed Chuck-JOI INEL that when God forms our soul, He actually forms it from a portion of our spirit, like when God took a "rib" from Adam to form Eve. So, while our soul-woman is a part of us, our true being or true essence is actually our spirit-man. As believers of and in Jesus Christ, our spirit-man then comes into submission to Jesus Christ upon receiving Him as Lord and Savior. However, because of the Fall of mankind and sinful state we are born into, we are often far removed from our true selves as our worldly, natural self in our soul has more sway in our lives. For this reason, it becomes imperative for Christians wishing a closer relationship with Jesus and seeking union with God, that we start by possessing our soul, by reining it in and giving it direction, and by letting the death of Jesus Christ do its work in our self-life, letting it die in Christ Jesus. By shedding this excess baggage of our self-life, we can then turn inward, through our heart and into our spirit-man in Christ -- our true identity. By letting Christ's death work within us, we then can also partake of Christ's resurrection and ascension, just as it says in Romans 6:5-8 "For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with
Hiin, that the body ofsin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed fron7 sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him: " It also says in Colossians 3:1-3 -- "If he then be risen with Christ, seek those things
which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God."
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Ti iE JOURNEY CONTINUES continued I see this life as not just eternal life, but our true life in our spirit-man in Christ, which is hid with Christ in God. It is here that we can first and more fully receive and experience the depths of God's Love and all He has for us. It is here, deep in our inner man, that we can truly know Jesus Christ and He can manifest in us. As it says in Ephesians 3 :14-19 "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ,... that He would grant you, according to the riches ofHis glory,
to he strengthened with »night by His Spirit in the inner rnan . That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with the fulness of God." It is here, in Our spirit-man, where we first become "partakers of Christ." (Hebrews 3:14)
DIVINE ALIGNMENT To operate more fully in our spirit-man, and less in our soul-woman, 1 find it helpful to understand and practice what 1 call "Divine alignment." In the past I used this sketch to illustrate how we are to be aligned. Here God and Jesus Christ are our head, with our spiritman in submission to Jesus Christ. Then through our heart, our soul-woman is in submission to our spirit-man. As far as our < < focus goes in prayer, we actually pray from the bottom up, r praying to come to Jesus by opening our heart and coming to Him, abiding in His Presence in our spirit-man. w Ji=m C""' 6r
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spiriliman s ° uliwoman
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On the next page I have updated the sketch to depict our inner alignment in a more specific way, and one perhaps others can relate to a bit more. Regardless, to pray in `Divine alignment', we pray first to possess our soul, bringing our focus and our energies inward, away from the world, with the intent of going in prayer to Jesus. At the same time, praying to die to the self-life and anything we are holding onto, and any activity in our self-nature seeking to protect itself— letting all of that go to Jesus, dying in Christ, praying for God's Protection and life to take its place.
From there we direct our focus into our heart, praying to relax and open our heart to Jesus
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DIVINE ALIGNMENT continued Christ, and then pray on through our heart to our spirit-man and into Christ Jesus. As I said before, it is here that our true identity lies. It is here that we, in the armor of God, are literally clothed with Christ Jesus. It is here that we abide in Christ and God's Love. Here we can see through God's eyes, here we can walk in His Love completely. It is from here that God moves and as we are filled with His Light and Love. That Light and Love will then flow through our heart and into our soul, changing and transforming us from the inside out. Madame Guyon put it this way: "Eventually His Life and
Spirit — dwelling deep within you — get the upper hand of your external nature. After all, your natural man is an inferior part of you. The Lord, who dwells supreme in the innermost portions of your being, is the higher portion of you. This inferior portion, this natural man, comes under subjection. Without resistance, without striving and without struggle, the external weaknesses are cared for."
PARTAKING OF CHRIST'S ASCENSION In Ephesians 2:4-6 the Apostle Paul wrote: "But God, who is rich in mercy, for His
great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved,) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus ; " So, in words of F.J. Huegel, "We are made not only partakers of Christ's death and resurrection, but even of His very ascension." After all, nowhere does it say we have to physically die to commie into this heritage in Christ. In his book entitled, BONE OF HIS BONE , F.J. Huegel shared this insight which opened up Scripture even more to me. He went on to write: "It is ours now: He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. It is not death (physical dissolution) which will bring us into our heritage in Christ. It is faith. We may now sit with Him in the heavenlies, because God has already made us to sit there in the person of Christ, the head of the church." He later goes on to say, "You are spirit, soul, and body. "The God of peace Himself," prays Paul, "sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless" (1 Thess. 5:23). The Bible constantly distinguishes between spirit and soul. We are told that the Word of God pierces to the division of soul and spirit (Heb. 4:12). When man fell he ceased to live in the spirit, which is the seat of God-consciousness
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PARTAKING OF CHRIST'S ASCENSION Quoting F.J. Hue el continued and which God intended should dominate. He sank into "the vessel of the soul," and then into the flesh. He became "flesh." ...
Now the purpose of God in the great work of redemption brings you more to a Godconsciousness through the spirit; quickens and releases your spirit, disentangling it from that which is soulish and fleshly, and brings it once more into ascendency so that you might be dominated by the spirit. So the Cross must cut â&#x20AC;&#x201D; dividing asunder soul and spirit. The spirit, once released from the bandage of the fallen life, takes its place with Christ in the heavenlies. Your life should then flow in a steady stream from the throne. Your spirit is translated into the kingdom of Christ here and now." This brings us back to the beginning of this article and what Jesus said: "... The kingdom
of God coineth not with observation: Neither shall they sa y, Lo, here! or, lo there! for, behold the kingdom ofGod is within you. "In other words, do not look "out there", at the world, events, or anything other `sign' to show you God and His Spirit at work, but turn inward in prayer. As God's judgment events unfold and the Devil is given more power and authority to do his deeds in our nation, Jesus has impressed on me the importance of standing in Christ, in the whole armor of God, in our spirit-Alan, praying to hold fast in prayer for that which God has given us personally and as His Body. On an individual basis, I am led to pray to stand in Christ in the whole armor of God, keeping in mind that the armor is also Christ Himself and all Ile has obtained for inc. Here I pray to abide (to live, to remain) in Jesus and God the Father and God's Perfect Love. In God's Perfect Love I have nothing to fear for the enemy has no power over me as I walk in Him. I also pray to stand in Christ, affirming that my life belongs to God, as does the life of my husband, as well as my home, our ministry, and all of our property. I pray to visualize God's Light, Love and Protection shining down on me and nay immediate family, my home and all that God has given me. Lastly, I would say that each of us has a choice as to our own identity and who we want to be. Do we want to stay in our soulish, worldly identity, with it past troubles and habits that lead us to sin and stray from God and Jesus Christ? Or do we want to operate from and live in our true identity as a son of God, which is who we are in our spirit-man in Christ? Now bear in mind, none of us are perfect, least of all me, as I know that Jesus and His
Spirit continues to do His work in me, but I would encourage you to do what you can, as you are led by the Spirit of God to apply this in your own life.
PARTAKING OF CHRIST'S ASCENSION continued One last Scripture I found to be of great help is Romans 6:5-14. Here the Apostle Paul tells us since we have been planted in the likeness of Jesus's death and resurrection, then our old "man", our old body of sin, is also crucified with Him. So with this in mind, we have a new life in Christ Jesus. We no longer have to yield ourselves to sin, but are to yield to God and His Righteousness through Jesus Christ. In particular, he wrote in verses 12-13: "Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but
yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. " The thing about this to keep in mind is that it doesn't just apply to our physical body but to our soul as well, and is a part of possessing your soul-woman. So, the next time you find your soul-woman going off in a wrong direction, perhaps getting worked up and full of anxiety or fear, or just plain stressed-out, remind your soul that fear, anxiety, or being just plain troubled is sin and not of God and His Righteousness. So, stop yourself and say to your soul, "I will not yield my members, my body or soul, to unrighteousness unto sin, but I will yield my whole being unto God and to His Righteousness through Jesus Christ. I am counted as dead in Christ and therefore I live in Hirn as well. I am resurrected in my inner man to be with Jesus Christ in heaven today and at this very moment." Then take time to simply, quietly abide in your spirit-man in Christ Jesus. Even if you have no awareness of being in your spirit-man, just quiet your soul and abide in Jesus Christ and focus on Him, and abiding in His Love. You don't have to feel or see anything for you to be there. When we abide in The Vine, His life is flowing into us from deep within our inner spirit-man, and works its way through our heart and into our soul. We are often unaware of what the Spirit of God is doing, but that doesn't mean He isn't growing in us. Enclosed is a new "PRESSING-IN TO JESUS" prayer sheet to help you pray to draw closer to Jesus. These prayers are on a personal basis and in a Body, Net of Prayer context as well. The insight and leading is to draw together in the spirit-realm, as the Body of Christ, in Christ Jesus Himself in our spirit-man, so that the Spirit of God may move not _just in each of us individually, but collectively as well, if God so desires. God's Will be done on earth and in heaven, in its this very day, in Jesus' Name is our prayer.