Practicing the Presence of Christ.
Part FourAlan Mc Savage
Isa 45:6b "I am the LORD, and there is no other,"
I am the Lord, there is no other. Zeph 3:17 I, The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; I in the midst of Moses made the cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night, I in the midst of Jesus multiplied the loaves and the fishes and healed the multitudes.
I AM is the Lord; I AM is the Saviour; I AM is God; I AM is Christ. This I is not the personal sense of self which walks the earth calling itself Bill, Mary, John, or Charles, and saying arrogantly "I am God." Or, "I am Christ." No. it comes as a gentle whisper in your inner man and mine that say's: "Don't you know that: "I am in you and you are in Me, that we are one. I in the midst of you am mighty." When we hear that still small voice, when that divine awareness within us tells us of His presence, we know that the I is the Christ; "closer ... than your closest friend, closer than your heart beating, closer than your breath or your hands or feet."
The I which is Christ has made us in His own image and likeness, and has given us His name and character. He is the Divine Presence that will never leave us nor forsake us. Even if we go through the fiery furnace, His Presence, the Christ will bring us safely through, so that there will not even be the smell of smoke upon us. Whatever our experience is in life: "Even in the valley of the shadow of death...I AM with you and in you." We find our good in our oneness with the presence of Christ in God, and our consciousness or awareness of His presence appears outwardly in the area of supply, as our opportunities, as our clothing, transportation, food, and as every expression of harmony and beauty in life. (Dan. 3: 15 - 27; Psalm 23.)
I used to play in a brass band and let me tell you, when the instruments were being tuned up there was much discord and clamor until each instrument was tuned to the G Trombone.( Let us always be in tune to the source of all harmony in our lives, The indwelling Presence of Christ in God..)
I have found that the discords and all the clamor for attention in this life comes from the personal sense of "I" - from the sense that "I" am the source, or "I" am the doer, or "I" am something or other. But "I" am nothing of myself; the Father is that which I am. and "I" am but the instrument of the Father's life, the lamp through which His light may shine.
Rejoice that your names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Rejoice that you have found your identity as a child of God. Rejoice that you have awakened unto your Spiritual awareness. If the Spirit takes hold of your hands and you begin to type, if the Spirit takes hold of your voice and makes it sing, then follow the leading of the Spirit. Until that time, live your normal life, but from morning to night, remember to acknowledge that it is the indwelling Presence of Christ in God that is producing the harmony, the joy, the peace, and the prosperity of His Divine Oneness. John 17:22-23 "And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one,"
As you continue to Practice His Manifested Presence you will make a conscious transition to a place where you will actually feel and know that:
Isa 46:9 "I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me," I am not living by bread alone. There is no other power acting in me or against me. Something other than I is doing the work; I did not consciously plan it; I am not consciously doing it; I did not consciously think of it, a power greater than I is responsible for this,
"I have meat to eat that you know not of..." I have bread to eat, water to drink...I am walking in the power of the resurrection. All the power of healing, redemption, regeneration, reconciliation is within me."
Always remember this; That which flows out is never from ourselves: It is from the Father flowing through us as the indwelling Presence of Christ, and the greater the demands that are made upon Him, the greater the flow. We find that illustrated in the cruse or flask of oil which never ran dry; merely by lifting it up and beginning to pour, the flow of oil was continuous.(1 Kings 17:12,14,16.) We find the same thing in the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. (Matthew 14: 15 - 20)
By taking that which we have and using it, more keeps flowing and flowing. In acknowledging God's wisdom, understanding, presence and divinity within us, the flow begins. We block our own realization of this by claiming insufficiency under the cloak of false humility. It is not our truth or the truth we know, but the truth that Christ IS. (John 14:6 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." )
If we agree with the Word, (Luke 15:31"Son, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours") and that we are joint heirs with Christ to all His heavenly riches, we shall soon realize that nothing we have in the world is ours by reason of our own strength or wisdom, but by virtue of sonship, by virtue of divinity, by virtue of being a child of God. In our divine sonship, we must realize that "Christ is our source, and there is no other." So let us go into the world, wherever He leads us and "Practice His Manifest Presence."
To be Continued.
Alan
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