Gospel Bliss

"Jesus, seeing that everything had been completed so that the Scripture record might also be complete, then said, 'I'm thirsty.' A jug of sour wine was standing by. Someone put a sponge soaked with the wine on a javelin and lifted it to his mouth. After he took the wine, Jesus said, 'It's done...complete.' Bowing his head, he offered up his spirit...The eyewitness to these things has presented an accurate report. He saw it himself and is telling the truth so that you, also, will believe."

John 19:28-30, 35 MSG

The Good News (gospel) that has me captivated is that Jesus' work in his incarnation that culminated in his death on the cross was perfect! There is nothing I have to do to add to it. I am not expected to establish, build or "bring" the Kingdom to earth. Thankfully, Jesus did all of that! All that is left for me to do is to enjoy partaking in the unveiling of what He's already accomplished, with much gladness and gratitude. And really, what I mean by "unveiling" is discovering...because Jesus actually already tore the veil! Discovery and proclamation of what he has unveiled is what is for now and it is a feast of delicacies! What a lucky fortune we've been granted to live in such a blessed age!! The time that the prophets of old hungered and thirsted and longed to see has come and is satisfying, to the point of abundant overflow, all who believe! The time for dim-seeing is past! The cold, dark winter is over! The seeds of Spring are planted and the harvest is here!

I'm so glad that I don't have to make converts, heal the sick, raise the dead or any of that stuff that made me feel so frustrated and like such a failure in the past. I'm free to rest, to dream and to trust my wonderful Father, and from that place of rest will many believe, receive their healing, walk out of their tombs and even greater wonders be done. For this, he has promised.

Jesus said in Luke 17:21 that the kingdom is within you! (How funny that he was speaking to unbelieving Pharisees when he made that bold statement). In like manner, Paul wrote to the Colossians that the mystery, the wonderful secret that was hidden for ages past and has now been revealed is that of Christ in you, hope of glory! You see, my faith doesn't bring something into existence that wasn't already. God's Word actually did that, spoken and manifested. All that my faith does is recognize what was true all along! It opens my eyes to see and ears to hear and my mind to conceive the depth of my Father's love and all of its ramifications. And I become compelled to love him back. I can't help it. I don't choose to love him, but my will just suddenly can't resist him! He's kissed me with the kisses of his mouth and I'm kissing him back! His love is more intoxicating than wine.

Every person I meet, stranger or lifelong friend, I am beginning to love and look upon with amazement! Whether they know it or not, or can believe it or not, they are the temple of the living God. They are my family. I am one with them even as Jesus and my Father, and my Father and me are one. When they hurt, I feel it in my own heart. When they rejoice, my soul thrives off of their ecstasy. There is no more room for envy or hate or personal space or competition.

I eagerly anticipate every man and woman and child coming to see their true life that is hidden in Christ! I have hope, a hope that is far from empty, that every created child of my Father will believe that he loves them and in so doing, will take hold of their fully mature sonship in him, leaving their childish ways behind and embracing their childlikeness that is becoming of a fully grown son or daughter.

This is what the Gospel of Jesus Christ does! It is ruining me for the world systems and the world systems for me! Instead I'm beginning to see Heaven everywhere. He has painted everyone red with his blood, making peace and befriending all of his enemies, delivering them from the sin that once molested them and drove them into the pit of shame and loneliness. Every lost sheep, every lost coin, every lost son-they were only ever lost. Never did they stop belonging to him. If God can be anxious about anything, he's anxious that all of his lost ones would know that they've been found in his Son; that they belong, that they've been rescued, that they are wholly accepted in the Beloved and he rejoices over them in the undignified manner of a dancing child! He cares not that we would consider this an ungodlike thing to do.

Faith in this Gospel has awakened me to the truth that he has successfully sprinkled my conscience clean. His love persuades me that it is safe to draw near to him, to be endeared to him...always. He has freely given me his own heart at the cost of his precious life. Daily, I open the treasure that is buried in my chest, the treasure that is Christ and I marvel! He is my portion. He is yours too.

The Rose Colored Gospel: An Introduction

"I will sing for joy in GOD, explode in praise from deep in my soul! He dressed me up in a suit of salvation, he outfitted me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom who puts on a tuxedo and a bride a jeweled tiara. For as the earth bursts with spring wildflowers, and as a garden cascades with blossoms, So the Master, GOD brings righteousness into full bloom and puts praise on display before the nations." Isaiah 61:10-11 MSG

Greetings friends! However you happened to stumble upon this blog, welcome! I'm honored that you've come. With this first post, I'd like to explain what it is that I call The Rose Colored Gospel and how I came to believe it.
I'm working from the assumption that most folks have heard and know the term "rose colored glasses", but just in case you haven't...

"Rose colored glasses" is a term that is usually used in the context of new love. When two people first fall in love, you'll often hear old lovers give this advice: "Enjoy this time of bliss, because once you've been together longer and REALLY get to know each other those rose colored glasses will come off and real life will start." It implies that the beginning of love is rosy and fun and feels like a dream, and in your eyes your lover can do no wrong. But then, usually after the honeymoon, "reality" hits and you have to work your butt off to keep the spark alive. Doesn't that just sound wonderful? (As a sidenote,after 4 years of marriage, 6 years together if you include dating and engagement, 9 total years of friendship and one toddler to show for it, this disappointing "reality" has not been my experience with my sweet husband. Sure, the feelings of nervousness and anticipation and drama over whether or not we'd actually end up together is gone, but that is to my relief. Now we get to enjoy the security and certainty and rest of having the partner we love for the rest of our lives! It feels pretty rosie to me!).

Funnily enough (or really it's not so funny), this was how I remember feeling, and maybe even being taught, about the Gospel of Jesus. Anytime I had an amazing and intimate experience with the Lord I was warned not to get too excited or overly confident in this emotionally charged moment, but to soon expect things like "dry seasons" and "mountaintop experiences" that would eventually level out into a field of work to be maintained. I should also expect to walk through low valleys when God would pull his presence away to test my faith, and in those dry wilderness experiences, Satan would unleash all kinds of crazy attacks that I had better be ready for! "Make sure you put on that, oh so heavy, armor of God!" My personal favorite of these... what shall we call them? Joy extinguishers?...Lies?...YES, LIES!...is that I would be in a battle to overcome this ugly thing in me called "sin nature" my whole life. My identity was: Sinner with a big, old scarlet "S"! Maybe it would be easy to avoid temptation at first, while I was still on this spiritual high, but then some major self-discipline would have to be found and kicked into gear and, even then, I should expect to fall numerous times. But it's okay. God will forgive me if I confess my sins and his grace will pick me back up with renewed zeal...just waiting for the moment that discipline wavers and I fall again...and again...and again. And then there was always the scary notion floating around the back of my mind that if I fell too many times there was a chance that I maybe wasn't even really "saved". Saved from what? Well, Hell of course. In my mind, Hell was the punishment for the bad decision not to follow Jesus and Heaven was the reward for the good decision to follow Jesus.

Doesn't this sound just like the good news that you've always wanted to shout from the rooftops? It's no wonder I loathed evangelism! If beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news, then dirty, ugly and hobbit-like are the feet of those that bring this false gospel. And I was one of them. I knew my feet stank and I was embarrassed to get near anyone else who didn't have stinky feet. That's why I'm incredibly glad to tell you that part of the real good news is that none of us has to ever reak again! In fact, we can smell so rosie and sweetly fragrant that people will actually be drawn to us and our message rather than repelled. I don't want to get ahead of myself here though...

I grew up in a traditional church that was filled with beautiful people that will forever remain fondly in my heart. When I went away to college I found myself drawn to a Vineyard church that quickly became my family and introduced me to the world of charismania! I fell in love with the freedom in worship and the encouragement to walk in spiritual gifts that I had previously believed were weird or weren't for today. Our pastors put great emphasis on the Kingdom of Heaven invading the earth now, with signs, miracles, healing, raising the dead, etc., whereas my upbringing focused on Heaven being some other place after death that we were trying to save people to. It was news to me that Heaven could be experienced now...only I didn't know how or what I needed to do to make that happen. I longed to experience the supernatural presence of God, which is the very essence of Heaven, but I felt overwhelmed by the effort I thought it would take to get there. Then I began to feel guilty that I wasn't doing my part to "bring the Kingdom". I'd see a man in Wal-mart walking on crutches or confined to a wheelchair and I'd think, "I should really offer to pray for him", but I'd chicken out and I just knew that God was shaking his head in disappointment. My lack of obedience and faith had sentenced the man to remain cripple. So I'd pull away from the Lord for a while thinking that this must be one of those bristly dry seasons. And it wasn't just my lack of praying for people that could bring on the guilt, but any "good work" that I wasn't doing: reading my Bible enough, giving out prophetic words, trying to hear from the Lord in quiet soaking time meditation, being generous enough with my finances, figuring out what dream God had placed in my heart for his purpose in bringing the Kingdom, and on and on.
Likewise, anytime I did these things "well" or with regularity, I'd puff up with pride and think that the world was really lucky to have me and my sacrificial obedience. Puke! Puke! Puke!

Even when I was at my best, I still knew there was something I lacked. I wanted to feel the presence of Jesus but I couldn't. There were definitely moments of light, usually in corporate worship, when I could feel his goodness and presence overwhelming me and I would just enjoy him. But they were fleeting. As soon as I'd leave the meeting, it felt like I left his presence.

I remember sharing with someone in my church who I respected that I could feel myself slipping into depression and I didn't know why. She said, "No! I reject that depression in Jesus' name. There is no darkness in him, only light." She was incredibly sincere and I knew that she cared deeply for my heart and her words definitely were truth, but they didn't change what I was experiencing. Knowing that I shouldn't be feeling depressed didn't change anything. In fact, the feelings deepened after that. I hadn't experienced any crazy, traumatic things in my life that people normally believe to contribute to depression. l'd had a great life! This depression was purely a result of a perceived separation from the presence of Father, Son and Spirit. (I actually believe this is the reason for ALL depression).

So, after that, for the most part I just became numb. I still enjoyed church gatherings and being with church friends and especially singing in worship, but I no longer tried going above and beyond to please God. It felt like a pointless endeavor most days. Sure, there were some weeks in the following years where I'd hear a really good speaker that would motivate me to pray for some people or give some prophetic words or read the Bible with a fresh perspective, but heaviness would inevitably follow and I'd get bored and my efforts would fizzle out. I began to especially loathe any message that attempted to push me into the community to effect change in some way for the Kingdom because I was completely apathetic. My love for others had grown cold.

One day a few years ago, I was feeling really frustrated and was near tears as I vented to my husband. "Why am I not hungry for God? How will signs and wonders ever follow me and bring the Kingdom of Heaven to earth if I don't care about people?" (Looking back, I now realize that I was starving for God, the thing that I absolutely wasn't hungry for were empty, dead works that were devoid of love and full of duty. I'd gorged myself on those things for years without satisfaction). I can't remember his response, but I remember coming to the conclusion that I just needed to do what the Apostle Paul said in one of his letters to the Thessalonians: Pray without ceasing, rejoice always and give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God for those in Christ Jesus.

This was my key, I thought. I felt relieved as I walked into work determined to do those three things. Some of you are probably laughing right now as you know the only possible outcome of such thinking. I didn't make it two hours and was already frustrated at the futility of my efforts...more dead works.

From then on, I gave up. I kept myself distracted with work and friends and my husband and TV shows and books and my weekly "fill-up" time at church. I didn't really have time to think about my spiritual poverty. I didn't let myself think about it. But sometimes at night as I would drift off to sleep, I'd pray, "Please God, I want to love you. I want to know you and have a relationship with you, but you have to do something to my heart. I can't pretend to feel something I don't." All the discipline in the world couldn't change my affections toward my Abba and all his kids. I'd tried the "fake it till you make it" routine. It was a good theory, but there's a reason why Jesus had such harsh words for hypocrisy. It keeps his children on the hampster wheel of acknowledging him with their lips, and maybe even their actions, while their hearts remain far from him.

I still held out a distant hope for some kind of "Saul on the road to Damascus"- type of dramatic experience that would give me such an encounter with God as to revive and motivate me for the rest of my life.

As it turns out, he didn't want to motivate me or revive me. He wanted me to see that I was already dead. That I was crucified with Christ and no longer live, but Christ lives in me! That sin nature thing was non-existant! This whole time I was trying to hold together a dead woman who was never capable of producing anything but death. I was trying to polish her and discipline her and bring life out of her and it was exhausting, not to mention, fruitless. I was already included in a perfect union with Father, Son and Spirit and there was not a single thing separating us! My ignorance and unbelief kept me from enjoying reality and kept me alienated from him in my mind. My lack of knowledge, regarding Father's perfect, limitless love and Jesus' finished work on the cross and the Spirit's witness constantly declaring my righteousness, tried to destroy me. As it does many people.

I wish I could tell you exactly the moment that the light broke through or the exact words that were said that caused me to believe, but I just don't know. He made his appeal to me through something much deeper than language and it touched something deeper in me than mere understanding. He shook my very being awake, as if from a bad dream, to the reality of the Eden of his love. I wasn't even seeking him out, but he found me!

I know that in January of this year (2012) was when it began. I randomly stumbled on a blog site called Escape to Reality. I cried for three days as I read blog after blog post about the depths of God's grace. It's not as though grace was a foreign concept to me. All my life I'd sung about God's amazing grace. But his grace had always seemed so limited. Whenever I'd heard it preached about it was always followed with some warning about how grace didn't license sin so don't abuse it. Or it was followed with "grace should teach you not to sin." Both of those statements are true, but they aren't conditions that exclude you from grace and they most certainly aren't expectations to be met through discipline and self-effort! This simple realization made me so full...literally...that my stomach had no desire for food! I lost four pounds through an effortless fast!

I then read a book that broke many of the remaining strings attaching me to my impoverished mindset of needing to perform for a disappointed god: Mystical Union by John Crowder. I highly recommend it! Although, I feel it my duty to warn you that once you read it there's a really good chance that you'll become addicted to the Gospel. Or, if you're still in a place of trusting your good works and your self-discipline has yet to burn out, you'll hate it and most likely have to reject the Good News and call it heresy.

Once you do come to believe and thus see that Abba Father through Jesus has reconciled you to himself without asking your permission, without waiting for you to clean up your act, without your repentance, confession or love, but that he is so amazingly good and his love is so perfect that he used our ultimate rejection of him as the means of embracing us and pulling us into his bosom...once you dare to accept this reality, you may just find yourself transformed! You may find yourself singing! You may find yourself rejoicing always, being thankful in all circumstances and praying/communing with Father unceasingly! You may find your heart overwhelmed with love for your neighbors and even possibly your enemies! You may find adventure in the most mundane daily activities. You may find yourself unashamedly sharing the Gospel with the lost and making disciples and healing the sick and setting hearts free through prophecy! You may even forget about sin amidst all the goodness! You may find yourself relieved to know that the Kingdom of Heaven doesn't depend on your good works, but Jesus already finished the work! And you may find yourself enjoying participating in the unveiling of what he already accomplished with no pressure to make things happen! You may find that you're already sanctified, righteous and perfected in the person of Jesus. You may find that you're a whole new creation! You may find yourself persecuted for the utter foolishness of what you believe, especially by modern day religious authorities, but your awareness of the nearness of Jesus will fill you with a joy and strength that will eclipse your grief for those who can't yet accept such undiluted goodness. Yes. You will find all of this and more because this is the glorious nature you've inherited from your Father.

This is the Rose Colored Gospel: that while we were sinners, Christ died for us. He rejected our rejection of him. He has included all of humanity in himself that we may know the love that always existed in the Father, Son and Spirit. There is no limitation on his love. He is the ultimate lover that woos us into returning his love without a single violation of our will, and then he just keeps on lavishing. He is love. He is love. He is love.

The Rose Colored Gospel will captivate you and the longer it holds your gaze the more attractive Abba, Jesus and Spirit become! So, frolick with the frolickers, dance with the dancers, giggle with the children! It's time to start living, moving and having our being. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom. And praise God our Father through our Savior Jesus Christ, the Spirit has been poured out on all flesh! Receive him. Welcome him. And enjoy the reconciliation that is yours every day that is called Today!