{"id":17256,"date":"2018-09-19T09:58:31","date_gmt":"2018-09-19T13:58:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=17256"},"modified":"2018-09-19T10:04:17","modified_gmt":"2018-09-19T14:04:17","slug":"the-souls-objective-union-with-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/?p=17256","title":{"rendered":"The Soul\u2019s Objective Union with God"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/LxFsxugWkwQ\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong>Western Christianity&#8230;&#8230;.The Soul\u2019s Objective Union with God<\/strong><br \/>\nWednesday, September 19, 2018<\/p>\n<p>The Genesis story of the Judeo-Christian tradition is really quite extraordinary. It says that we were created in the very \u201cimage and likeness\u201d of God, proceeding from free and overflowing love (Genesis 1:26). This flow is rediscovered and re-experienced by various imperfect people throughout the Jewish and Christian Scriptures. This sets us on a positive and hopeful foundation, which cannot be overstated. The Bible illustrates, through various stories, humanity\u2019s objective unity with God, the total gratuity of that love and, unfortunately, our resistance to such an \u201cimpossibility.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Due to a lack of mysticism and contemplative consciousness, I find that many Christians still have no knowledge of the soul\u2019s objective union with God (e.g., 1 John 3:2, 2 Peter 1:4). Such gratuity is too good to be true. Even ministers often fight me on this, quoting Augustine\u2019s \u201coriginal sin,\u201d Calvin\u2019s \u201ctotal depravity,\u201d or Luther\u2019s statement, \u201chumans are like piles of manure, covered over by Christ.\u201d I am sure they all meant well, but they also dug a pit so deep that many could never climb out or allow themselves to be lifted out.<\/p>\n<p>How do we ever undo such foundational damnation? Grace can only be trusted by an equally graceful human nature. Our work is merely to till the fertile soil, knowing that the Indwelling Spirit has already been planted within, and She is the One who \u201cteaches you all things and reminds you of all things\u201d (John 14:26). Many Christians have tried to pile a positive theology of salvation on top of a very negative anthropology of the human person, and it just does not work. The human self-image is too damaged and distorted within such a framework.<\/p>\n<p>What we call sins are usually more symptoms of sin. Sin is primarily living outside of union; it is a state of separation\u2014when the part poses as the Whole. It\u2019s the loss of any inner experience of who you are in God. \u201cSins\u201d often have more to do with ignorance than actual malice. Disconnected people may become malicious, but they did not start there. They began in union, and disunion became their experienced lie.<\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t accomplish or work up to union with God, because you\u2019ve already got it. \u201cBefore the world began you were chosen, chosen in Christ to live through love in his presence\u201d (Ephesians 1:4). You cannot ever become worthy or \u201cperfect\u201d by yourself; you can only reconnect to your Infinite Source. The biblical revelation is about awakening, not accomplishing. It is about realization, not performance. You cannot get there, you can only be there. Only the humble can receive it and surrender to such grace.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>Young, Sarah. Jesus Calling Morning<\/p>\n<p>THERE IS A MIGHTY BATTLE going on for control of your mind. Heaven and earth intersect in your mind; the tugs of both spheres influence your thinking. I created you with the capacity to experience foretastes of heaven. When you shut out the world and focus on My Presence, you can enjoy sitting with Me in heavenly realms. This is an incredible privilege reserved for precious ones who belong to Me and seek My Face. Your greatest strength is your desire to spend time communing with Me. As you concentrate on Me, My Spirit fills your mind with Life and Peace. The world exerts a downward pull on your thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>Media bombard you with greed, lust, and cynicism. When you face these things, pray for protection and discernment. Stay in continual communication with Me whenever you walk through the wastelands of this world. Refuse to worry, because this form of worldliness will weigh you down and block awareness of My Presence. Stay alert, recognizing the battle being waged against your mind. Look forward to an eternity of strife-free living, reserved for you in heaven.<br \/>\nwith Me.<\/p>\n<p>As you concentrate on Me, My Spirit fills your mind with Life and Peace. The world exerts a downward pull on your thoughts. Media bombard you with greed, lust, and cynicism. When you face these things, pray for protection and discernment. Stay in continual communication with Me whenever you walk through the wastelands of this world. Refuse to worry, because this form of worldliness will weigh you down and block awareness of My Presence. Stay alert, recognizing the battle being waged against your mind. Look forward to an eternity of strife-free living, reserved for you in heaven.<\/p>\n<p>EPHESIANS 2: 6;  6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus,<\/p>\n<p> ROMANS 8: 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.<\/p>\n<p> 1 JOHN 2: 15, 17  Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father[a] is not in them. 16 For everything in the world\u2014the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life\u2014comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Western Christianity&#8230;&#8230;.The Soul\u2019s Objective Union with God Wednesday, September 19, 2018 The Genesis story of the Judeo-Christian tradition is really quite extraordinary. It says that we were created in the very \u201cimage and likeness\u201d of God, proceeding from free and overflowing love (Genesis 1:26). This flow is rediscovered and re-experienced by various imperfect people throughout [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17256"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=17256"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17262,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17256\/revisions\/17262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}