Can people “see” you?

–

We are “in” Jesus if we are true believers. To be “in” Jesus, our flesh has to be totally dead, so that all people see is HIM. However, many or most are a long way from being perfected.

–

“In” represents a relationship

When Jesus spoke in John 14:20, He said that He was “in” the Father, and “you” (meaning the apostles) were “in” Him. The apostles had been with Jesus, and had advanced to this point, where Jesus could say this. They had operated under the power of God, ministering miracles, through the authority of Jesus, and were ready to lay down their lives for Him.

However, could Jesus say the same thing about us today?

The secret was that they had become “in” Jesus.

–

–

Example: toys that are “in” each other

I have a wooden Russian toy that has 6 parts. Each part is a smaller one than the next size up, that it fits inside of. This “fitting inside” continues until all smaller ones are hidden inside of the biggest one. Once assembled, all you can see is the biggest one. The smaller ones are “in” the biggest one, and the tiniest one is the most hidden. They are all hidden, invisible to the eye. They have become “one” toy.

I wonder if this could represent “oneness” that many people debate over, with regard to God. This is just my theory, and something to think about.

–

–

What do unbelievers of the world, or other believers, “see” when they look at us?

When others look at us, who should be true believers, all they should see is God. True believers are completely covered by the glory of Jesus, who is completely covered by the glory of the Father God. We should be the center, most hidden piece, like the tiniest piece in the Russian toy. Being under God’s covering does not make us God. It just means we are “in” Him and receive His protection and spirit, and are totally in line with His perfect will.

If all people really “see” is us, then we are drawing attention to ourselves, instead of to God. We are exposed, spiritually naked, without the covering of Jesus, which is required to obtain the covering of the Father God. This also means that it is easier for the devil to attack us, since we are not covered.

We should be the most “hidden” piece. It is like we don’t exist to the world. Our “self” has died, and all that is left is Jesus, who also has died, so that all look like the Father. The plan is to glorify God, not ourselves. This is our greatest freedom, is when we have gotten to this level, even though we have to “die” to get there.

–

–

How to die to self? The price is very high.

You will feel much sorrow and abandonment during this process. You will be lonely, despised, disgraced, misunderstood, falsely accused, rejected, and criticized. You will be back stabbed. You will wish at times that you had never been born. You will feel like God abandoned you, as you watch others being blessed.

Your own family may ignore and reject you, and mistreat you. You may not have a friend in the world. The price may be your honor, acceptance, public standing, personal value in the eyes of the world, and possibly the church. You will lose any level of wealth you have, and success in life may never come. All your good works may be called evil.

You will give, and give and give to others, and do many good works. And NO ONE will care about you. You will be constantly overlooked, and more carnal, less qualified, people will be chosen in your place. People will push you aside as if you are nothing, and run to others instead. If you need help, no one will help you, or care if you die.

Why do people ignore you? Because you are fading away, and not demanding attention. They cannot “see” you any more. Many times, you will feel ashamed and a failure. There will be many things you will not be able to have.

Once you are detached from the painful emotions that you will experience, and all you can feel is the love of God for those who hate you, and God’s pain, and not yours, and the constant need to be alone with God, and no one else, you are dead. You no longer care about worldly things. Sometimes, you forget yourself, that you even exist.

Are you ready for this?

Submit to God – totally. What you want is nothing. He will provide if you submit. He already knows what you need. If you are totally submitted, what you need will be provided, even without having to ask, although asking is ok.

Resist the devil and his temptations, especially to pride, worldly things, and carnal things. Yes, this is hard.

Turn you back on your sins, do not keep repeating them.

Do not even desire material things, except for necessities. Be non materialistic in your thinking and behavior. If you want to know what is necessary, just look at what Jesus had, and did not have.

Give to the poor and needy as much as possible.

Put others first. You are not the center of the universe.

Do not demand, or crave, attention or “credit” for what you do for God. The world is His stage, not yours.

Be a hidden vessel. Let your good works be a secret as much as possible. As long as you are “increased” in honor, Jesus is “decreased.” You must allow yourself to decrease so that Jesus is increased. This is what John the Baptist did, and the apostles. We should follow their example.

This may really hurt, but do not protest when others ignore you or slight you. Not just the world, but other believers may do this, if they are in the flesh. This is God working in your life, to humble you.

Read the Word of God every day. You cannot live spiritually without being nourished with the Word. If you avoid this, you will lose your inner peace, and become a “dry bone.”

Spend more and more time with God each day, until you get to the point that it is anguish to be away from Him.

Avoid trouble, if at all possible, but accept persecution for your faith or good works. You are going deeper in God.

Spend time in personal praise and worship.

Evaluate carefully every word preachers say. There are many good ones out there, and then there are some real fakes. Be sure it lines up with the word of God. Do not just accept what they read to you. Read the passage in context, to be sure they are giving you the proper interpretation.

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

–

Being “in Christ” before the world

If the world likes you, and does not bother you, you are not dead yet. You are “one” with the world. You are not invisible due to a lack of covering. If you are “in” Jesus, it will be like you do not exist, even to yourself, and all they see is God. Since people of the world “hate” Jesus, and also His Father God, they will persecute what they see, because they hate the Jesus, your covering, that they see.

Since Jesus was “in” the Father, when Jesus was here, in front the disbelieving leadership, all they could see was His Father God, since Jesus was also dead to self. Since they secretly did not know God, or adore Him as they should, all they could see was someone they did not believe in, who was God Himself.

That is why Jesus said, “when you “see” me, you “see” the Father.” He was not saying He was the Father. He was saying His Father covered Him, and he was not the one to be seen. This is also why Jesus said (John 15:23) “He who hates me hates my Father.” All they could see was His Father, when they looked at Him, so they hated Him.

Example using colors:

If we are yellow, Jesus is green, Father is red. If we are genuinely “in” Jesus, then when someone looks at us, all they will see is red. They will not see yellow or green.

All you see is who is on the outside, since the others are “inside.” This is “Oneness.” The Oneness glorifies the Father God, who is the source of all power, authority, love, and glory.

–

–

Women and spiritual coverings

It is biblical for godly husbands to be an earthly covering for their wives, as they are “in Christ,” who is their covering. This demonstrates the “oneness” that is in heaven.

I might write more about the oneness concept in a separate post. I do not want this one to get too long.

For single women, their only covering should be Jesus. They do not need to look to any man, or a church, for a covering.