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Diane

Well said Diane

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Jimmy H

Our Enemy will pull out all of the tricks in his book to cause us to stray from Christ (derive our identity from anything and anyone but the Lord).

It is really amazing how crafty he is. He knows us better than we do and thus, God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. He knows we are not self-existent creatures but rather derivative creatures. He knows that we do not exist within ourselves but that as derivative creatures we will (have to) derive our character from anything that seems "good" and thus he appears as an angel of light.

So all that seems good and noble and right (though it not be of Christ), we flock to thinking we are doing good. We buy the lie, over and over again. Why this powerful drive (as roadsign said), because we want to be associated with what is good (as our enemy well knows). And he also knows that most of us will take the easy path (no cross) so he continuously presents it to us. (The hard path is the cross).

Pilgrim

I hear you, Diane and as I was just reading Jimmy's OP a question came to mind. Understand that I've been doing the big Spring cleaning for the past two days and when I take a break, If I can get a signal, I'll check the web. It appears that nights are best for signals, probably because everyone's off and sleeping around here in Senior Citizenville. lol. I don't know who I'm hitch-hiking with, but I pray for them. Maybe unsecured means they come here with me? :)

Anyway, my question is - Has anyone here read Watchman Nee's "The release of the spirit"?
Re-reading Brother Jimmy's first few paragraphs triggered that question for some reason, and if so, what did or do you think of it?
Thanks!
Have a Blessed Sunday.

I read the release of the Spirit by Nee. But I've read so many of his works that they just kinda blur together. It's probably been about 7-8 years. What brings up that book?

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Jimmy H

Earlier Philologos asked for a biblical word that might encompass this idea of “identity”. King Jimmy, I hope it’s okay if I step in on this question posed to you. I’m going to suggest the word, “LOVE” – by drawing from two authors.

Larry Crabb, an evangelical psychologist, sees love as our core human need. He has categorized the meaning of love into two general terms: SIGNIFICANCE and SECURITY. Note how both these terms are associated with identity. In other words, one’s object of identity is supposed to fulfill both these overall needs. It may be unreliable, ultimately destructive, or a mere illusion – but nevertheless, at least for the moment, it fulfills the fundamental human for need for LOVE.

Here’s the other quote:

“Man cannot live without love. He remains a being that is incomprehensible to himself, his life is senseless if love is not revealed to him, if he does not encounter love, if he does not experience it and make it his own, if he does not intimately participate in it.”

This author notes that only the love of God can truly and adequately fulfill this need.

I think these points reinforce our emphasis on identity being a crucial component of the good news message - which itself is rooted in love.

Diane

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Diane

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Jimmy H

My word would be dependence. The more I am truly dependent upon the Lord, the more closely I am identified with Him. If everything that I have is flowing from Him, my love , my joy , my peace, my forgiveness ect, then it is HIm that is opertating through me. Say , for insatnce, that my peace, even in part, relied upon money in the bank, then if 20% of my peace came from that, I would be 80% useful in that area. If I happened to be a forgiving person by my own nature, perhaps handed down from a parent and so on, then much of the time I may be operating out of my flesh, albeit "good," but not Christlike. That is why circumtances and the cauldron of our afflictions is sure to bring our true nature to the fore and this is where we learn that all of righteousness is like filthy rags outside of God and our dependence upon Him.

To be identified with Christ is for Him to increase and we to decrease. Jesus could have turned a stone into a piece of bread in the desert, but He did not, He waited until God sent angels to minister to Him.If we are willing, God will deal with that part of our nature which is ours. If we will allow it to burn in the flames of affliticion, if we do not resist the scourging, then we will allow our true identity to come forward. Now, what if the American church truly has a desire for revival? If identity is a problem then perhaps God will deal with the core issues of how we see oursleves. If, like the Victorians, we see ourselves as the keepers of morality, then God will expose that part of our natures that are hidden but are truly part of our flesh. If American Christians have a wrong idea of who they are as American Christians then, if we are fortunate, God will create circumstances that will rectify that, a refining fire. What would be burned in that fire that would allow the American church to be freed from the shackles of an identity crisis?.......... bro Frank

What about the good old word, ‘SALVATION”?

"The Lord is my light and my SALVATION." Ps. 27: 1

"The Lord is my strength and my song,
He has become my SALVATION." Ps 118: 14 (in today's lectionary reading)

If the word SALVATION seems like an unlikely choice, could it be that we have reduced it to merely the absolution of sin and damnation? The psalmist seems to see the Lord himself as his salvation – in the very presence of threatening circumstances. Judging from his life context, I suspect that he was thinking not just about physical survival, but about all that encompasses his sense of identity - his security and significance as a human being - his sense of "who I am" when nothing around me provides it. (ex the hostile nations swarming around him like bees)

Frank, might the Psalmist's circumstances be somewhat what you imply when you refer to "circumstances that will rectify [the wrong idea of they are as American Christians] "?.

Diane

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Diane

Since Salvation is just another title for Jesus (which speaks of His nature and character) Who is our salvation, the word that would encompass "identity" for me would be Christ. Nothing ABOUT Christ, nothing POINTING TO Christ, no words that describe Him, but rather Christ alone.

I in Him and He in me.

If I have exchanged the nature of Satan for the nature of God in Christ (we are partakers of His divine nature), then my new identity is wrapped up in my new Lord, Jesus Christ. His will is my will. My old identity was characterized by one word, too. Satan. But God...

Pilgrim