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Today, 01/13/10, I was reminded of Peter Petrelli¹ from Heroes². I was at lunch and was reminded of the Greek word for imitate, μιμητής mimētēs, 1 Cor. 4:16 (NIV), “Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” Imitate here means to mimic or act someone else.

In ‘Heroes’, Mr. Petrelli has the ability to absorb other heroes’ or villains’ powers. I believe the mimicking above occurs by diffusion like a parent with child or peer with friends. What I saw was almost an absorbing of other people’s knowledge or truth. This reminds me of the word ‘knit together’ or coalesce in Col. 2:19, “And not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increases with the increase of God.” Paul also says in Eph. 3:18, “May be able to comprehend with all saints what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;” Eph. 3:10, “Might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God.”

What am I getting at? What is the point? I guess one analogy would be that of a diamond. Picture a diamond suspended in air and the sun light passes through. The light penetrates the diamonds and then reflects through each of the diamond’s facets. I see each person in the Church as the diamond and facet. For example’s sake, Christ is the diamond. He is the effulgence of the Father’s glory. He is the light of the world. He dwells in unapproachable light. The light of His word shines and reflects uniquely in each person’s life. In collaboration, everyone manifests the manifold wisdom of God. The diamond reflects through every facet simultaneously. Perhaps this is Matthew 5:14? “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.”

If a brother or sister stumbles or even utterly falls they do not start over, but continue onward. As believers, I am of the opinion we can only go forward, Phil. 3:13, and NOT start over. Rom. 8:1 says, “There is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.” Gal. 2:18 says, “If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker.”

Rebuilding what I destroyed is ‘starting over.’ This is trying to hit the bulls-eye, but there isn’t one. His righteousness in us is not compelled to gain self-approval for peace. He is our peace, Eph. 2:14. If our nature is intrinsically righteous according to revelation and grace then we ARE. If we ARE then we don’t have to try to be or even try to sustain ourselves, but grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ. He keeps us.

• Something destroyed should stay destroyed
• Hit the bullseye. What bullseye?
• He keeps me
• Keep us from malignance

Hebrews 1:1-4, ” ¹ God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, ² has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; ³ who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself^[a] purged our^[b] sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, ⁴ having become so much better than the angels, as He has by inheritance obtained A MORE EXCELLENT NAME¹ than they.”

When we see a name such as “King David” we see the word “King” as a title and “David” as a name. In our western mind a title describes a character trait while a name is simply an identifier. In the Hebrew language there is no such distinction between names and titles. Both words, King and David, are descriptions of character traits, King is “one who reigns” while David is “one who is loved”. It is also common to identify the word “Elohiym” (God) as a title and YHWH (Yahweh, the LORD, Jehovah) as a name. What we do not realize is that both of these are character traits, YHWH meaning “the one who exists” and Elohiym is “one who has power and authority”. The Hebrew word “shem” more literally means “character”. When the Bible speaks of taking God’s name to the nations, he is not talking about the name itself but his character. When the command to not take God’s name in vain literally means not to represent his character in a false manner. It is similar to our expression of “having a good name” which is not about the name itself but the character of the one with that name.

Eph. 3:13, “¹³ Therefore I ask that you do not lose heart…”

Lose heart (1573) (ekkakeo [equivalent to egkakeo, enkakeo] from ek = out of or intensifies meaning + kakós = bad) means to  strictly speaking means to act or behave badly in some circumstance. It can mean to give in to evil. It can convey the idea of to be weary in or become tired of doing something.

It can mean to be a coward or to lose one’s courage.

It was used of husbandmen who are tempted to slacken their exertions by reason of the weariness caused by prolonged effort.

Ekkakeo means to lose one’s motivation in continuing a desirable pattern of conduct or activity.

Ekkakeo means to be fainthearted or to faint or despond in view of trial or difficulty and it is always used with the negative particle.

It means to lose one’s motivation to accomplish some valid goal and so to become discouraged and give up. It can mean to lose one’s motivation in continuing a desirable pattern of conduct or activity.

The present tense in this verse speaks of a continuing action (“don’t let this be your continual response to my tribulations” is the idea).

1 John 1:10, “¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word (truth, life, hope, peace, love, power, faith) is not in us.”

The word ‘liar’ means,

Liar (5583) (pseustes from pseudomai = to lie) is one who speaks falsehood, untruth, and so attempts to deceive. Thayer adds that pseustes describes “one who breaks faith, a false or faithless man.“

Christ is not ‘one who breaks faith, false, or a faithless man.’ He remains the faithful High Priest. 2 Tim. 2:13, “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”

Self-imposed law hinders revelation. Revelation obliterates self-imposed law.

If I say I am not a sinner or transgressor PRE-salvation then I am saying Christ’s death was not real or enough. If I am not putting my faith in Him or His faith in me. My understanding then derives from the flesh, intellectualism, education, philosophy and/or anything other than the truth that is in Jesus, Eph. 4:21. This is self-justification based on self-imposed law in my heart. Only Christ’s blood can purge my conscience from dead works based on this self-imposed law.

Matt. 6:25 (NIV), “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?”

The Greek word for ‘worry’ is μεριμνάω merimnaō. It means “to be anxious about, to have a distracting care.”

If I know Christ died, descended into Sheol, resurrected, was glorified, ascended on High, and sat down for me then the knowledge of His completed work based on His love and the Father’s love has an influence on me and changes me. Truth¹ has an effect on those around it. The purpose of truth is to conform that which it encounters to be like itself because truth stands alone. Truth is undeniably real. Something or someone that is more real than something else has pre-eminence and priority. I recall when I quit smoking. After 6 weeks or so, I forgot I quit. Why? Something more important occupied my care, thoughts and even motive. And it wasn’t a nicotine patch or Zoloft. It was the revelatory truth of the word.

Truth sets you free from what is not real. The things that are not real have not power. 1 Cor. 15:56 says, “The sting of death [is] sin; and the strength of sin [is] the law.” Sin no longer has power. How has sin lost its power and strength? Eph. 2:14-18, Col. 2:11-15. Jesus nailed the penalty of all the law of Moses and self-imposed law to the cross in His flesh. God Himself in His only Son shed His blood to annul the penalty and guilt of the law even a law I have against myself! Christ’s sacrifice and blood purges one’s conscience from the knowledge of the guilt and penalty of any self-imposed law. It is as if the tree of the knowledge of good and evil did not even exist! If I cannot eat from the tree then I cannot partake of the knowledge of good and evil that will bring guilt and condemnation to my conscience. Only Christ’s work can purge my conscience from dead works and self-imposed law. Now, the Just shall live by faith!

To realize this work and His motive is the beginning to seeing the manifestation of love. Unveiled, real love creates after-thought. The Greek word for repentance means after-thought. This is the free gift of His grace. Love is a gift. You do not owe love or pay it back. Otherwise, it was out of debt and obligation.

If I do not know love then my love is based on self-imposed law and ‘what I think is love.’ That is not love, but soulishness and infatuation based on self which leads to idolatry which has not reality, true fulfillment or peace. This soulish love ‘distracts’ and brings worry or ‘anxious and distracting thoughts.’ This soulish love is not real and lasting. It brings disappointment, Rom. 5:5.

With real love I can have real assurance, comfort, rest and peace.

Eph. 2:4-7, “⁴ But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, ⁵ even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), ⁶ and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness¹ toward us in Christ Jesus.”

The word “kindness” means the following,

Kindness (5544) (chrestotes from adjective chrestos = useful, profitable in turn from chraomai = to furnish what is needed in turn from chráo = lend, furnish as a loan) is a gracious attitude, and thus describes the quality of being helpful and beneficial, furnishing that which is needed.

The part that catches my attention in the above definition is “to furnish what is needed” or to provide what is in lack. The word “exceeding” means overabundant, overflowing, superfluous, etc. “Riches” could also mean abundance or plenitude.

Guess a paraphrase of verse 7 could also read,

“That in the ages to come (after the book of Acts) He (the Father through Christ) will show (because His will is not arbitrary) the overabundant, overflowing, superfluous abundance and plenitude of His nature through His beloved Son to fill us in every way imaginable or unimaginable.”

I say ‘unimaginable’ because the revelation Christ goes beyond our little brains and PhD’s. I mean come on He created the universe and is bigger than that, but even bigger than that, and that, and so on. The five-fold ministry of God will display His manifold wisdom and impart grace and His nature to whosoever that believes on His only Son. This impartation will only continue to grow and never stop growing because of God’s nature and His fullness. His fullness will be manifested in the Church universally by revelation through holy apostles and prophets who are set apart by His will and grace.

I believe verse 7 is saying there is an exponential, overflowing wave of revelation upon revelation that is and WILL manifest and grow in the Church. This is the beginnings of Ephesians 4, the five-fold ministry in His Body. His Body will grow. His church will grow more into His fullness into the Church. The rest is history.

1 John 3:3, “³and every one who is having this hope on him, doth purify himself, even as he is pure. ”

John was a Hebrew and possibly a Levite Priest. He most likely was familiar with the definition of the Hebrew word for holy which means, “Set apart from the rest for a special function.”¹

In the Greek, the word ‘pure’ from the verse above is the verb hagnizō. Hagnizō can mean “pure from contamination.” It is also comparable and akin to the Greek word hagiazo or sanctify which means “the state of proper functioning.” So, that which is purified by grace, hope and faith is set apart and grows more into the state of proper functioning, wholeness, godliness, and fullness.

The hope of verse 3 is Christ the Hope of Glory! Hope predicates on faith according to revelation and grace.

Reference blog: Set apart through mental osmossis

Instead of having a Need for approval I can be a new creature in Christ no longer under self-imposed law that entangles, condemns and torments me through fear. This new creature is initiated, drowned and immersed into Christ. This new creation grows in the grace and knowledge of Christ. In doing so, the individual becomes more of who they really are in Him and are made pure by grace and not dead works. This righteous nature is part of “the state of proper functioning.”

Last night, 01/06/10, I felt the Lord asked me, “Is your spouse in your soul?”

Me: “Yes, we are one flesh. Co-mingling of our souls.”

The Lord: “How old were you when she came into your life?”

Me: “19-20 years old.”

The Lord: “How old were you when your mother left this earth?”

Me: “13 years old.”

The Lord: “Were you WHOLE when you met her?”

Me: “No.”

This is my conclusion and what I perceived quickening in me. I was in lack and need under self-imposed law. I was needing to grow in grace, faith and revelation to compliment my spouse and not complete.

The whole chapter of Galatians 4 comes to mind. Marrying someone to be completed or complete them is not necessarily godly. It could also be infatuation and idolatry. What!? Read this blog, Compliment not completion.

Christ is the High Priest who gives love, life, hope, faith, mercy, grace, peace and living water to whosoever is thirsty. No other man or woman can do this.

QUOTE: “Peptides are miniscule pieces of protein. Protein comes from the Greek word ‘proteios’, meaning primary. Proteins are the first material of life as we know it.”
https://www.healthstresswellness.com/index.asp?pgid=72

QUOTE: “They are neuronal signaling molecules…”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuropeptide

My response:
So, how are these neuropeptides created? A neuropeptide seems to require energy to be created. Perhaps the energy comes from my inner man. This energy employs the body’s creation of neuropeptides? Seems to sound right.
So, my neuropeptides are created by my will. I see these little pieces of protein being created little by little from every thought. If I grow in patience, or thoughts without fear (Aramaic definition), by grace and revelation of Christ, then this should give something to my body versus taking something from my body because fear has lack. This is making me whole.

If my will is not not to love myself or love myself based on my limited understanding, or presumption of love then I am not willingly loving myself. I think I am loving myself based on vain or empty thoughts. Thoughts without fear are not empty thoughts.