Rethinking Everything
Living and enjoying NOW
is the fulfillment!
Waiting on another event,
another revelation,
another time or another place,
another advancement or
another location,
puts your hope in “another.”
It is now, not another!
It is found in the I Am, not the other.
Do you believe it?
Wynema Clark – 5/9/2019
For the cause of “good” came destruction.
For the cause of “making things better” they became worse.
For the cause of right, came chaos.
Within the chaos, I tried to fix.
What I tried to fix remained broken.
What I tried to control remained immature and fought me for freedom.
Then I became aware of my own insanity.
By admitting it I became sane.
By letting go came freedom.
By setting free came maturity.
By admitting wrong came humility.
By accepting humility I welcomed help from a Higher Power.
It gave me strength in my weakness.
It gave me wisdom in my ignorance.
It gave me love and compassion instead of judgement.
And it gave her wings.
And it gave her freedom to go on her own journey.
And permission for me to get out of the way and let it happen.
Wynema Clark – 2/20/2019
My husband and I are blessed to own a great house in SA. We live in that house, pay for it and hire out repairs (we aren’t real good at that stuff) and care for the upkeep of it. If there is painting that needs to be done or a lawn that needs to be mowed Jeremy and I don’t blame the house, how silly would that be, we simply take care of it. We may rearrange things at times, remove walls or update the light fixtures. But that’s up to us not the house.
The verses below all say that you are God’s house. If you are God’s house what does that say about whose in charge of your care. You can rest in that! I just think about that and it gets my mojo goin!
Hebrews 3; 2 Corinthians 6;
1 Corinthians 6; Acts 7 & 17 1 Corinthians 3
Jesus can revolutionize your life and world view. The idea of grace in its fullness characterizes the very nature of Jesus and changes our concept of the worth of humanity. Our world view in the past has been filtered through religion, which tainted our ability to accept those that would not qualify to be a part of our family. All the while hoping that the outcast and the freaks would conform to our image so that we would be more comfortable with them among us. After all we don’t want that kind of person to representing us, right? How ugly is that, how sad, bland, boring and comfortable.
In the old covenant only the high priest could go into the holy of holies in the presence of God. The high priest were the very upper crust, the closest to perfect that existed. They were the only ones worthy to even attempt to meet with God and even they would drop dead if they did not fully qualify. How frightening, how intimidating, how confident, how self assured would you have to be to attempt a journey into the presence of God?
The magnificent exchange was that the very God that the high priest feared, the God that reigned down manna from heaven and whose presence lived in the form of Shekinah glory behind the veil had a plan all along to come to us. To go to the darkest places and the deepest earth to identify with us. The very God we feared became one with those who would never qualify. Because what we failed to admit is that no matter how hard any of us try, none of us can ever qualify. It is only by grace through faith in this man Jesus Christ.
So you see, it’s not a matter of qualifying to get to God, it’s a matter of God qualifying to get to us. Who am I to disqualify anyone? Who am I to claim Christ death returns insufficient on anyone’s behalf. God wanted us all along. He wanted us to admit our dependence on him all along. So if you are an outcast, freak or classified weirdo Jesus came to you, identified with you and brought you freedom, grace, and love. Not freedom from who you are, but freedom from having to be who you’re not. We are all dependent on him, we require him, we thirst for him and in him we find our life. Run to him, don’t be afraid!
Hebrews 4:14-16, Romans 5:8, 2 Corinthians 12:9, 2 Corinthians 5:19, Ephesians 3:19
Walking in the spirit doesn’t mean doing churchy things. Doing churchy things can and often is very very fleshy. You know as well as I that the more you do the more you feel you have to do. If you pray an hour you feel two is better. If you give there is always more needed and if you go to classes there is always another class to take. Then have you ever tried to step away from these things? Yikes watch out because forget what you have done it’s a perpetual state of do do and give me, give me, give me. This is the life of your everyday enthusiastic church goer. This life is exhausting!
When your churchy actions are done to gain something from God or even keep something bad from happening then you are depending on what you do and that is walking in the flesh. By definition walking in the flesh is dependance on you and your actions and walking in the spirit is dependence on Christ, who He is and what He has already done.
Walking in the spirit is very simply resting in the finished work of Christ that has already been given to you when you believe. That includes righteousness, favor and blessing. All of this in Christ now, today without doing a single churchy thing. It is faith and rest “in Him” and what He already accomplished. See “you” died with Christ (Colossians 2:20, Romans 6:8, 2 Corinthians 5:14) and then Galatians 2:20 says he gave us Christ life and it’s out of His life that we live. Do you think God is counting how many times Christ is going to church or taking communion? No way, Jose! And His life is your life. That is the life of grace instead of law.
This isn’t laziness or doing nothing, this is the capacity to actually be more productive doing what you were put on this planet to do. It’s the most natural way to live (as a spirit being) and it is all from a place of rest.
Now before you run to FB to set me straight, think of the story of Rachel and Leah. Jacob fell in love with Rachel and worked for seven long hard years to have her. In Hebrew Rachel means “ewe or lamb”. So Jacob worked for the lamb (see the picture). Only when you work to gain the lamb you wake up with Leah. What! After seven years of hard labor Jacob woke up on the wedding night with Leah. Leah in Hebrew means “weary”. That is a dirty rotten trick, but it happened. And that is what you get when you work for the lamb you get weary. After that Laban gives Rachel to Jacob and Jacob works seven years because he has her. So you can work to get and end up weary or you can work because you have and end up at rest. God’s plan is good!
This story illustrates to us that when you work to get you will end up weary. Or you can realize that the lamb is yours, that He loves you already and gave His life as you and for you and to you. The truth is you will get more done from love than from fear and obligation. It isn’t about your churchiness but about His life in you.
Pretty men in stylish suits
Dressed to kill with lights and smoke
Flashy people, pretty stages, perfect lives
I want to choke.
Oratory crisp and perfect
emotional, charismatic, convincing, loud
Golden chairs and purple curtains
White attire their coifs a shroud.
A fairy land of false impressions
set about as if it real
Pointing fingers, telling lies
Using Jesus with blood to spill.
Don’t judge my Father by these prophets
they have an image to express
Truth be told the work is finished
But their needs they must address.
No man, no prophet, no televised performance
If He could use a willing ass
Is needed in this life and purpose
So on that show I choose to pass.
Let us stop the masquerade
Strip it down and lay it bare
If what is left is Jesus only
then all your needs will be met there.
Jesus alone is all it takes
to change a world and set things right
Turn off the noise and lies and image
and rest in peace in Him tonight.
Here’s a bit of brutal honesty. Try as I may, I seem to say something dumb at least once a week. It’s not intentional. It’s born of frustration or emotion and although it’s hard to admit, sometimes it’s just ignorance. Am I alone in this? I think not…I hope not.
The most challenging times are in the passenger seat while my daughter is driving, or in a department store trying to convince her that the lesser expensive pair of sweatpants are equally as good as the ridiculously expensive sweatpants. Truth be told, the expensive sweatpants are probably better, but heck, they are sweatpants and they are ridiculously expensive! So in the heat of the argument I say something that seems appropriate to me but painfully hurtful to her.
Unfortunately my brain doesn’t register, “inappropriate” until she hits back with a verbal upper cut. Suddenly we both find ourselves suffering from emotional internal bleeding. Then it all goes quiet and I know I’ve done it again. I know I’ve spoken out of the heat of the moment instead of the truth.
Once the arguing stops, I explain my point of view. We argue some more and finally I apologize…again. I say “again” because this ain’t my first rodeo. Once we stop and listen to each other, I mean really hear each other out, it ends up in forgiveness. But there is still a deep sense of shame and regret that I’m not aware enough to avoid these mis-steps.
Then I think about my Heavenly Father and the fact that His plan made allowance for my humanity. As if He knew somehow that in the eons of time Wynema and Hannah would need a lot of grace. That because of the blood of Jesus I am allowed to make mistakes and my daughter is allowed to desire the expensive sweatpants and I am allowed to tell her “no”. The emotions of the moment are still real, the words just as painful. But at least I know it’s going to be good, it’s all ok. I think as His grace is working in me, it can work through me toward Hannah or whomever happens to need it at the moment. And hopefully through Hannah toward me who need grace quit consistently. I’m growing, she’s growing, all God’s children should be growing in Grace.
Exhaustion, busy work and emptiness, these are the feelings that I have had after years of being a christian; until now. I’ve been taught x number of ways to sanctification, x number of ways to get right with God, x number of things to do to earn God’s trust but no one ever told me, until now, that all of these are found in “Jesus”. Wait a minute, you mean that sanctification, righteousness and even perfection are all in Jesus, “yes”. They aren’t achieved after Jesus, you aren’t empowered to receive them after Jesus, they are found only “in Jesus”. Meaning, Jesus is our sanctification, redemption, salvation, perfection, righteousness…etc..etc..etc.. Meaning, when you got Jesus you got sanctified, redeemed, saved, perfected and made right! You are a current possessor of all you have been working your butt off to achieve (I Corinthians 1:30). Rest, now just rest in Him (Rom. 4). Sure we work out our salvation with reverence (Phil. 2:12). But that is just to work out of what is already in you. In the person of Jesus Christ we find all that we will ever need. What is required of us is to say “Thank you” and “Amen”. Now go live!
Just had one of those moments with Hannah that are priceless. Moments of deep conversation. I’m so amazed at her emotional awareness and tender heart. We talked about what it’s like in that deep pit of anxiety and depression as a teenager when you are so caught up inside yourself that you are afraid to speak or participate or even be seen. But inside herself she became acutely aware of what was going on around her. She made mental notes to herself about what she would never do and what should never be done to another person. What hurts and what heals.
Now that she has become able to see the beauty of life again she said she understands that things, in that state, are not as they seem.
We both recall the night when in a deep pit of depression Hannah reached out to some “so called friends” and they relentlessly pushed her to the edge via text messaging, telling her that she was just an attention whore and she wasn’t depressed. Hannah did the right thing by reaching out for help but ignorance told her she was faking it, to pull herself up and stop demanding attention. And it went on and on until my son stepped in and took her phone.
We got much needed help and support from our church family but we also got a list of things we could have done to allow the devil in-road to our daughter bringing this depression. I was told to see if I had any unconfessed sins or un-renounced involvement that could have brought a curse into our lives. So in an exhausting attempt to free her from this we rebuked, renounced, covered and confessed whatever we thought would work. There would be relief for a time and then it would come back.
Finally after loud times of asking God why us, we tithe, we volunteer, we are the faithful ones, why us? I cried, yelled, and after doing all I could do, gave up. That’s when my attention was turned back to Jesus. That’s when I remembered the cross and the finished work and I was introduced to teachers like Dr. Farley and Creflo Dollar who showed me the truth of the New Covenant. Suddenly I was quiet long enough to hear the spirit say take her out of that school and check her hormones.
There wasn’t so much a miraculous deliverance needed as there were physical needs that had to be met. Now that those needs are being addressed she is my beautiful baby girl once again. Smart, quick witted and intuitive.
Watching a YouTube video of a bunch of middle school kids abuse a 20 year old autistic man brings her tears. She mentions it over and over because it bothers her so badly. She said mom, how could anyone at any age justify such an act in their mind? We talked about how grateful we are to the internet because now, that behavior can be exposed. Understanding that middle school ignorance and religious ignorance are both equally as damaging has helped us to grasp the need for a true revelation of grace in everyone’s life.
When young people are taught Grace and the power of God’s plan of redemption for ALL who believe there can be a revolution of love toward others that can change the world. When the church realizes what really happened at the cross they would see that Jesus bore any and every curse for us and put an end to the curse mentality. This would change our ideas that God owes us something for the good that we do and that it’s not my sin that brought some kind of Godly wrath on me.
This new covenant revolution is necessary to see our world change. It’s this new thing called “Love Thy Neighbor As Thyself”. Not because you’re taught to love as a rule but as a natural outgrowth of understanding. It’s the fruit from the tree of the life that is in our spirit, and it changes our lives in the most practical of ways.
Wynema Clark
September 11, 2014
Life Without Definition 