Unpacking the New Covenant ...

(in case you were wondering, yes, this is a continuation of the whole "living beyond disease" exploration)

I notice something about the new covenant ... God tells us, through the prophets, that this covenant is *not* like the old one ... the old one was an agreement, with each party, God and man, doing their part ... IF you do this, then I shall do that, but IF you do that, then this shall result.

(& further, I see that man insisted on the conditions, and God in His mercy, in His desire to reveal how fruitless this whole experiment was, met man right smack-dab where he was ... that's what God does.)

But ... God says that in the new covenant, GOD is the one who does it all. It's based on mercy, on grace, on God being all in all.

(& this, my friends, is the good news for ALL mankind..!)

Grasp this (or at least ponder it a while): in the new covenant, the Spirit of God lives this life for us.

HowEVER, if we insist on remaining in the old mindset, the old covenant, thinking we have to do certain things in order to please God, to gain His acceptance, to bridge the gap of "separation", then we will continue to suffer the experience of futility and failure.

Yeah, we have that option. Good to know.

Keep this in mind: God is not the One who causes the failure and suffering when we 'do our own thing' ...! It's just the consequence of choosing to live under human effort -- the law of sowing and reaping, cause and effect -- it's US bringing about our own suffering!

And remember this: Our life is not our own (small self). There is One Life, and that Life is God's, and we are all manifestations of God's Life, and Life is eternal ... we have a purpose, to demonstrate truth and compassion and mercy ... to bring Light into every dark corner of creation ... to demonstrate live-action displays of love-replacing-fear... to BE Christ in every experiencing, bringing healing and wholeness to all that appears to be broken...!

First, we must learn to be still, and to listen. Stop, look, and listen (whoever first said that was tuned in to God!). "In returning and rest shall you be saved from this (whatever is presenting) evil ... in quietness and confidence shall be your strength" (Isa 30:7).

Rather than responding in our egoic/carnal/natural thinking (our usual first reaction), we must let the Spirit of wisdom counsel us, and direct us and lead us, in every single situation, in every decision. This will at first be an intentional exercise of our wills ... dying to self (that which fearfully screams, "DO something!"), and listening deeper, to who we really are, way down deep where we are One with God. In time, with practice, with familiarity and trust, this will become our nature, our first inclination. We can learn to "practice the Presence of God" (to realize God is always here, everywhere, in and as everything that is).

Now, this doesn't mean that we're ignoring the presenting problem ... this is not denial. We are having a human/physical experience here, and thus God's application will be practical. But let's face just how our normal first-reaction tends to be problematic in itself ... because if we meet a problem (be it a person or a situation) with the same consciousness OF the problem, then we just wallow IN the problem -- only, we've likely made it worse (ohhhh, we're SO good at that!).

Our calling is not to fix problems -- but to heal them. Not with the wisdom of egoic man (which ain't working too good, y'noticed?), but with the wisdom of God (which is the TRUE nature of man).

Here's what I'm seeing about *how* to do this:

We need to let go of any predetermined outcomes ... we can't go to God, telling God how He should deal with the situation. "Please do this, and oh please do that," as if He doesn't know what needs to be done, and how, and when...! (oh, we're so funny!)

Knowing that God is good, and thus only goodness can come forth, we can THANK Him for whatever it is that's already being worked out, and THANK Him that He knows how to let us cooperate with the unfoldment of that good (yay, we get to play with God!).

Knowing that the Spirit is always leading, always guiding, always speaking, always directing, we can plunge into that current, that River of Life, trusting that we can listen, that we can hear, and that we can thus respond as God responds.

(& didn't Isaiah prophesy of this: "and you shall hear a word beyind you saying, 'This is the way, walk ye in it' when you turn to the right or to the left." Seriously, I learned SO much when I actually LOOKED at what the prophets said about this new covenant, and then compared it with what Christianity teaches about it ... NOT the same! Methinks I'm going with the original rendition, and not the re-make!)

What's so incredibly, amazingly, astonishingly, unfathomably uber-cool to me, is that, in this process of *wanting* to know and understand (& live) the heart of God, I'm finding, more and more, that His will and my (truest, deepest) will are one and the same...! I'm beginning to understand the ancient quote, "Love God and do what you wish."

Fathom this: We share the heart of God. God is Love. God leads us by the desires of our heart -- God PUTS His desires in our heart (which is His heart). The Wisdom of God appears to us AS our desires.

We need not fear the will of God ... we need not fear surrendering to God ... and if we DO fear God, perhaps and perchance 'tis time to examine our view OF God ... are we fearing a man made, man-projected god who rewards and punishes, who withholds His favor unless we perform well, who plays hide and seek with us, who is schizophrenic in his response to us...?

Is that god truly God...? Dare we ask? Dare we fire the false god who is keeping us from seeing and experiencing the REAL God...?

EVERYthing that happens to us is good, in that it will all teach us what we need to know about God, about ourselves (including exposing the lies we believe!), drawing us higher and deeper into the truth of everything, into the Mind of God, releasing our inherent Mind of Christ ... resulting in peace, in the Abundant Life.

The new covenant, the kingdom of God/heaven, the new Jerusalem, the new heavens and new earth (new EVERYthing) is at hand, is in our midst, is within you ...!

~*Inquire Within*~

Shalom, Dena