The deepest cuts

In the emptying process He removes the stones and rocks and the clods from our hearts and refines the flesh. The desires of the world lose all their allure as He draws us to Himself. If we yield to the process then He draws us closer. I would love to say that in my experience it has been a one-time yielding, but no, not so simple. Time and again the calling comes. The deeper and the closer we come, oftentimes the deeper the cut. Shall we yield to the surgeon’s knife? Shall we yield to the sculptor’s chisel? I would say that only a vision of heaven itself could draw us to such yielding.

Just one moment in His presence. Can a single moment ruin us for the things of this world? Is it possible that after that moment the world turns to black and white? Then another miracle happens. As we begin to look at the world through those captivated eyes, the color begins to return but it’s not the color of the world, it’s the color of heaven. Now one truly sees the sunset because one has been intimate with the artist. I can see a waterfall and my spirit soars because I know the hand that crafted it. The mountains raises me up to higher places,to the place where they were born. The stars in the heavens draw my eyes upwards and my spirit follows the path of my gaze and I find myself in higher places. The hand of a child, a single ray of sunshine through the clouds, a wave that crashes to the shore, soon enough I see my Lord in all of it. I see His beauty everywhere.

Yet the darkness prevails and time and time again it comes against the light. Yet, out of that moment, out of His presence there is born an eternal longing that no darkness can quell just as no hand could hold back the tide. He comes. Yes and He comes again to those who would wait upon Him. How long shall we wait? However long it takes. This is the kind of love that would wait a thousand years. The kind of love that would fill an ocean with tears. The kind of love that was birthed in heavenly places. And so we yield, and so we die to this world. And we are drawn ever closer to the next until the day comes when we step over into the world that has touched us and called to us.

There is glory in all of it. It is a grand tapestry and we are but a thread. Can we see the vision of the artist? Can we see the vision of the sculptor? It is not so important to see the vision of the artist or to see the finished sculpture, it only really matters that we see Him, Him who creates it all. And in seeing Him we see everything in a single moment. Now with eyes that have gazed upon the Master we see it all so differently. Have you seen Him? Can you see the world through the eyes of Him who made it all? It's a glorious vision and it continually draws us.....bro Frank

Frank brother

In the emptying process He removes the stones and rocks and the clods from our hearts and refines the flesh.

It does not say that the flesh is to be refined. It is to be crucified. There is nothing in it at all that can be improved upon. And crucifixion is what happened in the past, so by faith the results of it can be manifested immediately.

There is a process to get there, but we can get stuck in that process and only expect to have it and miss out on the real thing.

Very sad reply Brenda, it seems that you have missed the whole thing. There is no point in me trying to explain the piece.

Someone could study an apple all of their lives and know every single thing about apples, experts. Then a child asks the expert " excuse me, what does the apple taste like," and there is silence, the expert has never taken a bite of the apple, never actually tasted the apple. Tozer once made the same analogy of a scientist who had no olfactics. No matter how much he studied the flower, he could not be convinced that the flower had a beautiful aroma because he himself could not smell it. He had a collection of facts and knowledge but no aroma. He could not appreciate one of the most beautiful part of the rose............bro Frank

I read the post and I also wonder what "refine the flesh", means? It's a fair question.

I'm sure Frank would not mind clarifying what He means by that phrase. I think you have mischaracterized Brenda's post, Forrest and I am wondering if you might have something against Brenda from involvement in a prior thread?

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Brother respectully I have to agree with Julius. I may not agree with Brenda on everything. But then she doesn't agree with me on everything. But we do agree on Jesus. Brenda has been a member of this forum for many years. She is ceetainly not a troll. Yes she does have strong convictions on things. But then so do we all in this forum. But that does not make us trolls.

Just felt your assessment of her was s bit hard.

My thoughts.

Forrest,

Being a Christian is to experience that Jesus purges us of mixture. And thus, the Christian becomes attuned to mixture and learns to identify it.

This phrase, "refine the flesh", can be found in use in many places.

Here is one such place:
http://www.fivedoves.com/letters/july2011/ericr76.htm

And here is the paragraph.

The comment made of my last blog concerning to be or not to be made me realize how much people really do misunderstand what the Scripture really does say concerning rebirth, justification and sanctification. The entire Bible is in fact orientated towards REBIRTH, and not so much of what happens AFTER THE FACT. The comments from Eric are very troubling, because it sounds like to me that this is attempting to "refine the flesh” and "purify” oneself with no testimony beforehand of meeting Christ! Unless I misread, of course.

Agree with Blane that Brenda has been here a long time and is a beloved sister, and as well, Frank is a beloved brother.

We assume (at least I do) Frank does not believe in refining the flesh and we are just pointing this phrase out to him as many read SI.

Hey guys, with all due respect could you have this proxy discussion elsewhere? And Julias, I am not going to explain the phrase, explaining the phrase would be to fall into the countless theological traps that abound on the forum. Why dont you just start a thread and teach everyone why that phrase is theologically incorrect. Those with that kind of focus can join you and display their prowess in matters theological. Knock yourself out guys :)..............bro Frank

You can just call me, J.

It's much simpler.

Terrible spirit about these replies, I would just like to ask people to read the OP and ignore the distractions......bro Frank

Apologies Frank, picking up on a theological point without acknowledging the beautiful picture you painted was a bit unfair and distracting. I guess l could have started another thread.

Thanks Blaine and Julius for speaking up for me. Forrests your heart is in a sorry state if you cannot disagree with someone amicably and can hurl insults as you do. I forgive you though.

you wrote and the arrow hit the bull's-eye, much to my grief:

"Terrible spirit about these replies, I would just like to ask people to read the OP and ignore the distractions......bro Frank"

indeed, "a terrible spirit", but even using the word "terrible" I believe you are being charitable, as I would add a "hellish spirit", forged in the anvils of the pit.....and it is only getting WORSE on this forum.

My beloved Frank, and I am NOT tickling your ear, but I understood what you meant as swept along by the Holy Spirit, when you wrote about "refining the flesh"....some term it as "holiness"....or "obedience"....Paul even spoke of how athletes train, I understood what was wrote.

i'm not addressing any poster but you precious brother, when the Holy Spirit IMPELLED you to write what you wrote, you weren't looking for or seeking "commendation", or a plethora of "amens"....BECAUSE I KNOW YOU!

i'm writing this publicly, rather than a private email or one of our FREQUENT (long) phone calls, because by God's Love, Mercy and Grace, He has allowed you and me to craft a REAL brotherhood AND love AND friendship.

In the 5 years that God blessed me, and hid me away up here, in this "Kerith Ravine", there have been so many times, where I have been vexed, or perplexed, or been given revelation....but in the natural I was alone up here....and if it wasn't for the fact, that all I had to do was pick up the phone, and call my brother Frank, my life in Christ would be impoverished...that is how much I love and esteem you, my dear brother.

Praise God He has bound us together, our wonderfully long conversations, we talk about the Deep Things of God, this Most Holy Faith, we pray....OR we talk about the everyday "mundane" things of life, I know all about your family, you most certainly know about mine....and we "hide" nothing from each other, I confess my sin issues to my brother Frank, because Frank IS my brother. Never has a cross or rash word passed between us, All Glory to Jesus for that blessed heartspace between us, knit and woven together, with care in the Holy Spirit.

I regard our brotherhood AS a Gift from God, and that is no mere sentimental humbug.....that is Agape.

I KNOW that you brother Frank did not write such to have everybody "agree" with you, "disagreement" is perfect fully valid, but what I fail to understand is this:

there are SO MUCH "stuff" I read on this forum that I ABSOLUTELY "disagree" with, but I say or write nothing in refutation....why?!?......who cares about my opinion? (I must be authentic, in that there is ONE topic I am intractable on, and WILL get right up in the "cyber" face of any poster who speaks ill of what they term as "Zionism", and/or the State of Israel...in real life, I was involved in an "industry", where many were "anti-Israel", and they learned, real world, there is no "upside", nor "profit" in tangling with me on this.)

oh Frank, I grieve with you....but stay the course, steady the rudder, don't fret, I am with you till the end of days, for what that is worth, MUCH love in Christ Jesus, your neil

ps...I long for the day I see you coming down this gravel road, the fatted calf awaits, along with my hug.

Thank you Brenda, in apologizing you have done what some on these forums are incapable of and this is a great strength. Below I have included a piece I wrote a few years ago called " The black dot or the white canvas."............

When I was a younger man I went to an art museum and wandered around. I loved the paintings of portraits and landscapes and anything that captured a scene. In a very real sense these paintings were snapshots, photographs if you like, capturing a moment in time and space. I have never cared much for modern art though, although I like splashes of color with oils. I came to a painting that has stayed with me. It made me mad. It was a painting of a black dot in the middle of a large white canvas.

Just a very tiny black dot. Yet oh how it grabbed the attention of bespectacled rich looking people. I thought how nice it must be, thinking satirically of course, to have the time to stand about , index finger and thumb on chin, and mull over the meaning of the black dot. I imagined the painter(probably dead) of the black dot laughing somewhere about how easy it was to pull the wool over the eyes of people with more money than sense. It was hanging in a well know gallery so I assumed it was worth a lot of money. A lot of money for a black dot. The height of pretension I thought.

It is only as I have gotten older that the painting has begun to make more sense to me. Here is this large beautiful white canvas with one single tiny black dot in the middle but all of the focus is on the black dot. I have known so many people over the years, that despite all the good things in their lives, they have all of their attention on the black dot. Despite the fact that it is so tiny, it dominates the canvas. For the Christian the white canvas is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. It is eternal salvation, it is our husbands and wives, our children, the food on the table, the clothes on our backs, a roof over our heads and a warm bed to sleep in. We have all these things but if we are not careful, this one percent, this tiny dot can draw all of our attention away from the huge white canvas of our lives.

Can I ask you a question. Do you focus on the black dot? Is there a disproportionate focus on the things that you do not have rather than a thankful focus on what you do have? Admittedly some people’s dots are bigger than others,but when you lay down your head and get ready to take your final breath, will you be able to look back on your life and know that you focused on the white canvas of your life? What you see with the eye affects every part of who you are. What do you see? Out of the heart of the thankful man flows rivers of love and joy and peace. He can see the beauty in life even in the rain. He can love because he sees the best in others. He can forgive because he can see the potential for reconciliation. He has peace in the midst of storms because His eye is fixed on something bigger than the storm. He has joy because no matter the circumstances of his life he has access to the throne-room, he can see God high and lifted up, his eyes have seen the glory of God. When you look at this world do you see what motivated God to send His only Son for the who-so-ever? Only with these eyes can one love as God loves. What do you see?

Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. (Luke 11:34)

That's good Frank. Thanks for sharing it. Profound

Love you brother.

Love you too, brother.
Julias :-)

Listen guys, my heart is rejoicing at the outbreak of love and forgiveness on this thread, maybe that is what the Lord had in mind all along. God bless you all for the maturity it took. Forrests and Brenda have led the way in showing us what it means to be a mature saint. The ability to publicly acknowledge a fault and ask for forgiveness is, to me, cutting edge Christianity and it far surpasses any head knowledge we may or may not have. Neil, thank you for your kind words brother, you have the gift of loyalty which I learn from..............bro Frank

You are forgiven Forrest. Thank you.

This is indeed a good thread. Praise God.