Old Dog III
Back to: Memorial Day and Joel’s Armies
False and True….The Mirror of GOD
Bob Neumann
Dear Brothers,
Yesterday I got one of those posts where a simple question was asked. I sent a ”K.I.S.S.” post, ”Keep it Short and Simple”. Now after the thoughts of this morning I went back to reflect on my answer and got a question from ABBA. HE has this ability to make you reassess your position without guilt. There would have been a time where I would have ”reacted” with ”what did I do wrong this time?”, but I’ve grown out of that to a degree. It helps when you start walking in multiple levels of HIS SPIRIT and you find that TRUTH often has depths not easily perceived. This is one of those ”ouch” times.
The original question is how do you/ can you tell if someone is a ”real” ”brother” in the
LORD. My response was based on the ”red letters”….JESUS said ”WHO IS MY
BROTHER?….HE WHO DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER.” I added the ideas of
”judging a tree by it’s fruit”. All scriptural and was firmly on solid foundation. Yet I had been questioning the same myself the last few weeks and been struggling with the issue of being unequally bound. Honestly I ran myself in circles and got myself tromped when I should have kept my mouth shut.
ABBA was trying to make a point and as long as I tried to get it I messed up big time. So I shut everything down and turned everything off. Only to find my wife and son caught in a set of crosshairs I could not counter. No chance to ”be still” and ”wait on THE LORD” when the secular authority threatens action and you have five minutes to respond. So I fell and took the blows. Now I needed to understand the point ABBA was trying to make. I think I got it, but I will know in time.
I was given this mini-vision of a large antique mirror. It gave a clear full size view as you looked into it. As I stood before “THE MIRROR OF GOD”, THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT explained “THE LAW OF THE KINGDOM SAYS THAT WHICH IS OF GOD IS
OF LIGHT, AND NEVER CHANGES. THAT WHICH IS NOT OF GOD IS DARKNESS. DARKNESS, HAVING NO LIGHT HAS NO REFLECTION.”
Immediately I thought of the old Bela Lugosi movies and the idea of the ”undead” casting no reflection. I remembered the line of the Count describing the howling of the wolves as the sound of ”The Children of THE NIGHT”, and was cut short. THE MOST HOLY SPIRIT corrected me and said. “DO NOT CONFUSE THE NIGHT AND THE DARKNESS. IT IS A MISTAKE TO CONFUSE THE SEPARATION OF THE TIMES OF THE DAY WITH THE ABSENCE OF LIGHT”.
I had to ponder this. Confusion leads to deception. When we do not perceive things from the position of THE KINGDOM we confuse things in our own minds. If we take as TRUTH that which is not, we are deceived. So the only way to judge whether my thinking is of GOD is to see if it reflects in GOD’S MIRROR. As I came to this thought I once again stood before the mirror. This time it was a distorted image and I stared at myself. “LIGHT WHEN REFRACTED IS BENT. WHEN THE VESSEL IS LESS THAN PURE IT REFLECTS THROUGH IT’S IMPURITIES.” and I grieved and repented….
Now I looked and the mirror showed a ”blurred image”. Again instruction came. ”THE
MIRROR OF GOD REFLECTS THE HEART AND THE SPIRIT, NOT THE FLESH.
WHEN THE HEART IS TROUBLED AND THE SPIRIT IS IN CONSTERNATION YOU HAVE LOST YOUR FOCUS. MANY OF MINE OWN HAVE TROUBLE BEING SHARPLY FOCUSED AT ALL TIMES. AS THE DAY CHANGES AND AS SITUATIONS CHANGE FOCUS MUST CHANGE ACCORDINGLY”.
So I pondered all this as my reflection skewed and darkened, then focused and brightened. And suddenly I felt a familiar hand on my shoulder and the Mirror turned incandescent. “WHY ARE YOU TROUBLED, OLD DOG.” THE MASTER ASKED.
“Who LORD is my brother, LORD? And why am I alone?”
“WHEN ARE YOU ALONE, DOG?”
I had no real answer for HIS WORD says HE would never leave me or forsake me. ”MY WORD ALSO ASKS….’WHY SO DOWNCAST OH MY SOUL’….IT’S OKAY. YOU
KNOW I UNDERSTAND, YET YOU QUESTION. IN SPITE OF WHAT PEOPLE MAY
SAY LACK OF FAITH IS NOT SIN. THOSE WHO I HAVE CALLED TO SERVICE
ALWAYS STRUGGLE BECAUSE IT IS IN THE STRUGGLE THAT FAITH GROWS AND
BEARS MUCH FRUIT. EVEN THE BEST HAVE FALTERED AT TIMES. FALLEN BADLY
EVEN. SOME HAVE BEEN AT THE BRINK OF DESPAIR. BUT MY GRACE IS ALWAYS THERE TO THOSE WHO CRY OUT IN THEIR PAIN, THEIR FEAR, AND THEIR DOUBT. I’M STILL FAITHFUL AND I KNOW THE HEART. WORDS WILL NOT IMPRESS ME UNLESS THEY MIRROR THE HEART EXACTLY.
”AND I’LL TELL YA DOG, THAT HAPPENS SELDOM. ESPECIALLY IN THOSE ‘MEN
OF GOD’ AND ‘WOMEN OF GOD’ THAT SEEM TO BE ALL OVER THE PLACE. ABBA
HAS THIS TENDER SPOT IN HIS HEART FOR BABIES AND CHILDREN, WHO PRAY IT AS IT IS. NO GAMES….JUST REAL.”
”BEING ‘BORN AGAIN’ MEANS A WHOLE LOT FROM MY POINT OF VIEW. TO BE REBORN MEANS THAT THINGS ARE MADE RIGHT. THE SINNER UNDER CONVICTION IS LAID BARE BEFORE ME. THERE IS NOTHING TO HIDE AND NO WAY TO EVADE THE REALITY OF SIN. SO THEIR PRAYER IS PURE FOR THEIR HEART IS MADE NEW”.
”I AM THE MIRROR, AND ALL THAT IS OF ME REFLECTS BACK TO YOU. WHAT IS NOT OF ME IS A COUNTERFEIT AND WILL NOT STAND BEFORE ME. THAT IS
HOW YOU TELL THE TRUE FROM THE FALSE, THROUGH THE CLARITY OF WHAT REFLECTS IN ME.”
“THIS CAN BE SIMPLE DOG, OR VERY COMPLEX. DEAL WITH THE SIMPLE NOW.
KNOW THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SHEEP AND GOATS. KNOW ALSO BETWEEN
SHEPHERDS AND HIRELINGS. AS FOR TELLING SHEEPDOGS FROM WOLVES….IT
DON’T CHANGE….I STILL KNOW MINE AND MINE KNOW HOW TO DEAL WITH THE ENEMY.”
”MY SHEEP AND MY GOATS ARE MINE. I ALONE JUDGE THEM, SEPARATE THEM. THAT IS NO MAN’S JOB. WARN BOTH MY SHEPHERDS AND THE HIRELINGS.
THEIR JOB IS TO STAND WATCH AND TO GUARD MINE AS THEY FEED AND
DRINK OF ME. TELL THEM DOG, THEIR ACCOUNTS WILL BE WEIGHED AND THE HEALTH AND WELL BEING OF MY FLOCK I ALONE JUDGE.”
With that I watched a goat and a sheep, each full grown, stand before THE MIRROR. In THE MIRROR I only saw the sheep.
“IT IS ONLY WHEN THEY ARE GROWN AND COME TO THEIR FULLNESS WILL I SEPARATE BETWEEN THE TWO. ALL BORN IN MY FLOCK ARE MINE. SOME CHOOSE TO BE SHEEP, SOME CHOOSE TO BE GOATS. AND THEN THERE ARE THE GOATS WHO WANT TO BE SHEEP AND THEY ARE BORN AGAIN. YOU LIKE THAT ONE DOG! I CREATED THE LION AND THE LAMB. TO CHANGE AN OLD GOAT
INTO A PRECIOUS LAMB IS WHAT I ENJOY THE MOST BECAUSE ABBA IS PLEASED.”
For a brief moment I thought He would put a shepherd and a hireling before THE MIRROR. HE didn’t. I wondered about the ”brother” and THE MIRROR. Still trying to grasp between the counterfeit and the real. How deception is to be exposed. Then I got this last shot….
”TELL THEM TO JUDGE AS MY WORD REQUIRES. WEIGH EVERYTHING FIRST BY
MY WORD AND THEN BY MY SPIRIT. BY LOGOS YOU WILL TRIP UP THE FALSE TEACHERS. BY DISCERNMENT OF MY SPIRIT WILL YOU SNARE THE FALSE ANOINTINGS. BY MY SPIRIT WILL YOU BATTLE AGAINST THE DARKNESS AS IT ATTEMPTS TO OVERCOVER YOU.”
So I share this as ordered. And I sure don’t have all the answers. Right now I’m going to work on the ”overcover” thing. selah old dog