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2 Cor. 12:7-10,

“⁷ And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. ⁸ Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. ⁹ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. ¹⁰ Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

I use to read the above scripture and think God wanted Paul to be humble, but that is not what the Lord told Paul. The Lord said, “My grace is sufficient for you…” The phrase, “There was given me” could also be translated, “The thorn was permitted or granted.” The enemy did not like Paul. The enemy did not want Paul to share the gospel of grace. Although it was God’s will that Paul share this good news with the world.

So, did God put the thorn in Paul’s flesh? I say no. We live in this world and the prince of the power of the air, Eph. 2:2, is just that. He is the god of this world until Eph. 4:13-14 and Rev. 20:6. If I am under law, which I am not, then it would not be far fetched to imagine¹ that God is putting this thorn in my flesh. God is out to get me, but not like that. Luke 15:20 says, “And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.”

I believe the enemy wanted Paul to shut up so he persecuted him and tried to kill him and did, Acts 14:19, but believers don’t always have to stay dead, Rev. 11:11, or experience death, Heb. 11:5, 2 Kings 2:11. The enemy did not want Paul “exalted above measure.” In the Greek, this reads, “Wherefore not to lift up over.” Over what? Over the power of the enemy.

God was not persecuting Paul. The devil was. It was and is God’s will that we experience and manifest His grace by and through His Son and the manifold wisdom of God. Does God want you to be hurt? If He does then why do people get healed or saved?

In Acts, it seems when persecution came upon the church the church grew stronger. Why? 2 Cor. 12:7-10.

2 Corinthians 8:10-12,

“10 And here is my advice about what is best for you in this matter: Last year you were the first not only to give but also to have the desire to do so. 11 Now finish the work, so that your eager willingness to do it may be matched by your completion of it, according to your means. 12 For if the willingness is there, the gift is acceptable according to what one has, not according to what he does not have.”

In Christ, what we have is what we have been given which is the gift of Christ. This gift is Him, His nature, love, power, righteousness, knowledge, hope, faith, willingness and more.

Paul says in verse 12, “IF the willingness is there…” There first must be a willingness. If I read this with spiritually legal perception I would feel obligated to give. I would also be giving from what I don’t have because I am not giving willingly. My willingness is His willingness in me. His willingness will give me substance and ability to give because I truly want to. The Father sent His only son. The Son willingly accepted because His desire is to do the will of the Father. This willingness is in us now by revelation of Him according to hearing the word.

I had a dream last night that that reminded me of a C.S.I. (Crime Scene Investigation.) I was with a small group of people searching for someone who was possibly missing. Our investigation appeared to be located in what seemed to be a relatively large hotel. We searched and searched and then finally got to an elevator. The elevator opened and I saw a glimpse of the murdered body on the group. The murderer was also in the elevator. He or it grabbed the person in front of me. I grabbed his hand to pull him back, but there was not much of a fight. He slipped away. Then the murderer in the elevator tried to grab me. I stepped back and woke up from my dream. I also knew the elevator was going down. Not up.

1 Cor. 15:55 says, “O death, where [is] thy sting? O grave, where [is] thy victory?”

I see the elevator going down as a means to Sheol or the grave. I believe the Greeks misinterpret Sheol and call it Hades. Both places are very different. The Hebraic Sheol is not the same as the Greek mythological Hades.

Jesus went into to Sheol and led the captives who were there back with Him to heaven. He is the Resurrection and Way. Prior to Christ’s arrival in Sheol, the souls there did not have knowledge of the Resurrection or Way out. Their knowledge was from the first Adam which was death, Rom. 5:14. A new Man or Adam, the Last Adam, revealed Himself to the souls who were created in His image in Sheol. Christ preached Himself to the captives. He imparted His resurrection power, Rom. 6:9. They received this knowledge and power and there spirits were quickened, Eph. 2:5. They were saved.

That was a tangent, but a good one. So, according to 1 Cor. 15:55 and many other verses in Christ, death does not have dominion over me or Christ in me.

The dead person in the elevator was perhaps the old me. Our adversary, the enemy, accuses the brethren and is a murderer Rev. 12:10, John 8:44. The condemnation of the law with kill me, Rom. 7:11, 2 Cor. 3:6.

I believe the man slipping away is what Paul says in Philippians, “Forget those things which are behind.” Quote from ,What was destroyed?

“The long Greek word for ‘forgetting those things which are behind’ is epilanthanomai. It means to intensely, willfully forget or even give to oblivion.”

The thoughts of accusation, condemnation and even self-righteousness are obsolete in Christ. Since the power of the law was abolished and nullified in His flesh these “thoughts” fade into oblivion. One definition of oblivion¹ is, “the state of being completely forgotten or unknown.”

I think the search part in the dream is working out our salvation with fear and trembling, Phil. 2:12. I believe the fear and trembling is an open awareness of God through Christ and not a legal fear of condemnation.

I believe the large hotel is me. It is reflective of deep areas in my life that become exposed to absolute liberty by the light of Christ. I believe the hotel is the Church as well. I am a part of the Church and the Kingdom of God is within me, Luke 17:21.

John 1:1-3 says, ” ¹ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made.”

In the Hebrew, the word “davar” means:

For forty years God had Israel wander in the ‘wilderness’. Insights into why God had chosen the wilderness for their wanderings can be found in the roots of this word. The root word is ‘davar’ and is most frequently translated as a thing or a word. The original picture painted by this word to the Hebrews is the arrangement of things to create order. Speech is an ordered arrangement of words.In the ancient Hebrew mind words are ‘things’ and are just as ‘real’ as food or other ‘thing’. When a word is spoken to another it is ‘placed in the ears’ no different than when food is given to another it is ‘placed in the mouth’. The Hebrew name Devorah (Deborah) means ‘bee’ and is the feminine form of the word davar. Bees are a community of insects which live in a perfectly ordered arrangement. The word ‘midvar’ meaning wilderness is actually a place that exists as a perfectly arranged order as its ecosystem is in harmony and balance. By placing Israel in this environment he is teaching them balance, order and harmony.¹

“The original picture painted by this word to the Hebrews is the arrangement of things to create order.”

If something is in working order then it is functioning as designed according to the will of the designer. In Genesis 1, God davars or words His words into things by His word according to His will. Creation longs for His order by the revealing of the sons of God, Rom. 8:19.

By revelation, according to hearing the word, we can speak davar now into this creation. This is what the apostles and early church did in the Book of Acts. This should still be the same today. Jesus has not changed.

Since John was Jewish I wonder if John 1:1-3 could read also like this? “In the beginning was the Davar, and the Davar was with God, and the Davar was God…” In the Hebraic perspective, a word is a thing and a word. If a word is spoken it becomes what it was spoken by the will of the speaker.

If I am under a curse and Jesus is the only curse-remover then without revelation of Him I will reinforce this curse by my words. Even if I try to avoid the curse or not I still fall short. Why? He is the only one who can purge my conscience from dead works. Regardless if I try to avoid the curse or not I am under law apart from Christ. I am only created dead works. In Christ, I have been predestined unto good works. The Galatians mixed law a grace and got into trouble with themselves. I believe they adhered to another gospel like Paul states in chapter one of the letter. Someone came in and put law on them and they became entangled, Gal. 5:1.

Christ is the Testator, Mediator, Sacrifice, High Priest, Elder Brother, The Way, The Truth and Life. Why would God make it complicated? Is that why the Old Covenant is called old? Hebrews 8:13

On 12/30/08, I went with Ben to the park. I had a peculiar awareness of the sun shining above my head. It was almost as if the sun and the sky were a painted mural behind me. It was as if they were not real. Later, I believe what I saw was the corruptibility of these elements similar to what Paul speaks of in 1 Cor. 15:53.

I wrote this above comment almost seven months ago. This thought dawned on me, no pun intended. I believe this is what I saw.

Genesis 1:14-16,

¹⁴ Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; ¹⁵ and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. ¹⁶ Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also.

Prior to verse 14 light existed because He said in verse 3, “Let there be light.” He did not say, “Let there be light created by the sun.” That occurred 11 verses later. I believe the effulgence of His glory was the light, Rev. 21:23, 22:5; 1 John 1:5, prior to the radiance and photons emitted from the sun.

Prior to this, I recall having an awareness of this creation not be what I call real, but the unseen being the reality. Paul saw this as well. His words are more fitting. Read 2 Cor. 4:18, “While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal.” So, the revealing truth was the sun and everything I saw would only exist for a season or a certain duration.

Scientists say the sun is about 4.5 billion years old and in about another 5 billion years it will die. What 9,500,000,000/∞ = ? James says this life is but a vapor, James 4:14.

2 Corinthians 3:3 says, “Clearly you are an epistle (letter) of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.”

Now, God is in contact with humanity by His only Son, Heb. 1:1-2, the Mediator of the New Covenant, with these vessels of clay, 2 Cor. 4:7, our bodies. He is connecting and reconciling heaven and earth. He is reconciling all things to Himself by and through His Son, Eph. 1:10.

The Spirit of God imparts God’s will and nature into us. His will is to write on tablets of fleshly hearts and not stone. This contact between God and man by Jesus causes a metamorphosis in every aspect of our being and existence: spirit, soul, body.

The revelation and power God through His Son, Jesus, causes the dead to rise, deliverance from addiction, healing, miracles, signs, wonders and even transformation of our bodies at the DNA level. Isn’t healing a transformation of DNA? What is cancer? It has been called a “disease of the genes.” “Scientists surveying the human genome have found that many more gene mutations drive the development of cancer than previously thought.¹” I believe the revelation of Christ in us, according to His all-powerful word, mutates whatever it encounters to align with truth. Jesus said He is the truth. Sickness and even death are not truth according to God’s will. Otherwise, Jesus would not have resurrected. His will is that we be made whole spirit, soul and body. The Father sent Him to save us or make us whole and complete, John 3:17.

Paul says we are members of His flesh and bones, Eph. 5:30. How is that possible? It is possible by revelation of Christ in us by hearing the word of truth.

The bible says Jesus is our elder brother. Since we are His siblings we are like Him. He is also the last Man or Adam. He is the first and last pattern of who Man really is or should be: spirit, soul, body. This man pattern in Christ is also love because God is love and we were created in His image. Christ is God’s only Son. Christ is love. Christ is the exact representation of the Father’s being, Heb. 1:3. His essence and substance is like that of the Father. This pattern will and is manifesting again until it is at full stature, Eph. 4:13.

What separates the “old man” from the new man? Or rather who separates him?

The word says the old is gone, 2 Cor. 5:17. The old man is crucified with Christ at His death. We are drowned and immersed into Him at salvation. Paul says in Romans 7:24, “O wretched man (referring to past tense ‘old man’) that I am! who shall deliver (or separate) me from the body of this death?”

Jesus is the Deliverer, Jehovah Mephalti¹, Psalms 18:2. How did and how does He deliver us from the old nature or man? He does so by purging our conscience from dead works and the knowledge of the judgment of self-imposed law.

By the way, if I am not aware that I am or have been separated from the old (man) then I may read Romans 7 from the perspective of the old man. Truth says He is our Deliverer. If this is true and it is then Romans 7 is not referring to us while we are new creations in Christ. Someone then may say, “What about Galatians?” I believe Romans is talking about what Christ has accomplished for us. I believe Galatians is talking about what the Galatians forgot Christ had done for them by believing someone else’s doctrine, Gal. 1:6. In doing so, they were entangled. Also, there is a reason Paul says, “works of the flesh are manifest” or “manifestations of the flesh” in Gal. 5:19. It is because of a purged conscience and the deliverance or separation from the body of this death.

Since the conscience or ‘chief witness’ is no longer aware of the judgment of the law then it has nothing to witness to. If it has nothing to witness to then there is no judgment or condemnation. This is the new way of the Spirit, Rom. 7:6.

I had to go back eight months, to 11/17/08. I wrote a blog then called Separating me.

It seems sanctification is a continual work, but my finite understanding and fleshly mind seem to overlook that.

Recently, I had a stressful experience. I had a mountain of work, stress at home and my father recently had a heart attack. On a good note, I have a job, beautiful family, and my father is healing and recovering. I also had not been taking enough time to take care of myself.

During this stressful time, I encountered an old emotion of what I would call ‘abandonment’. If you read some of the about revelator history you will see that when I was 13 years old my mother died. I was her nurse at times. At 15, I moved out. I also was found by the Lord at 15 years old. At 14-15 I think, my father remarried and had more children. At this point in my life, I was solo. I was by myself without my mom. She was like my best friend, but was not on earth anymore. The only part left of her was me. I love my mother and she is alive. She is not dead. Her body is asleep. I will see her again in glory. She is in His presence. Can you imagine that? At 15 years old, I also almost became a father with a 19 year girl. When I was 20 years old, 5 years later, I found out she had a miscarriage with twins. She had told me 5 years previous it was a false alarm.

After my mother died, even though I accepted the Lord in my heart I did not have a spiritual foundation. My foundation self-based. I also had not dealt with the areas in my soul that the Lord desired wholeness and healing in. I was promiscuous, drank a lot of alcohol, did a lot of drugs and wanted to hurt people because I was angry and hurt. In my mind and heart, I was abandoned.

I read Hebrews 13:5 where Jesus says, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” I believed it. I experienced it, but apparently there are areas that are in our souls that are deeper than deep. We are spiritual beings that will not die. We are created in the image of God’s Son Who is immortal. So, our souls likely possess immeasurable depth. Psalms 42:7 says, “Deep calleth unto deep…”

So, the pressures of life came to attempt to choke the word in me. At this time, I was by myself. This old emotion of abandonment crept up or in and memories were triggered that had been attached to it. I became angry and frustrated. Where is the full armor of God? I am saved, helmet of salvation. Where is the shield of faith? Where is the sword of the Spirit? The quickened Word of God.

This situation made me do some serious praying and self-reflection. I had to take a more serious look at and tell myself once again Hebrews 13:5. Faith comes by hearing the word of God. When I did something happened.

This old awareness of abandonment faded away and is fading. I believe spiritual substance was created. This new spiritual substance became and is a part of me or Christ in me. It separated me from abandonment in an extremely deep area in my soul.

Hebrews talks about “purging our conscience from dead works”. Like I said, “I thought I knew.” It seems when I think I know something the Lord says, “Here’s some more.” And I say, “Huh?”

In Christ, if we are really new creations in Him then it may not be what we think a new creation is. It isn’t. It is what He reveals by His power. 2 Cor. 5:17 says, “The old is gone. The new has come.” In a word, that is how I could describe it. “The old is gone.” Gone means there is no longer awareness of it. This ties into a conscience that is whole and sanctified. It is no longer aware of the judgment or penalty of self-imposed law.

I believe the experience of desertion made me lean on my own understanding that originated from my family traditions, culture and dead religion. This ‘self-imposed law’ told me I need to be a ‘certain way’ in order to avoid abandonment. This self-rule separated me from life and peace, Rom. 8:6.

As Paul says, “Thanks be to God who gives us the victory in Christ Jesus!” I have been separated from this body of death, Rom. 7:24, and these ‘dead works’ no longer matter or have power because of the complete work of Christ. His complete work is fulfilling its purpose in me by grace and revelation.

Currently, I am once again in unfamiliar territory. Why do I say that? I say that because for years I have been use to listening to ‘self-imposed’ law written in my heart that says, “You gotta be like this or that.” This self-imposed law can be a false sense of security. Now, even after 21 years of being saved, it is an unusual, but invigorating perception of reality. I believe this is called liberty and salvation. If we grow in Christ, 2 Peter 3:18, then our liberty has to grow as well. Otherwise, are we growing?

I can see people when prisoners are released from prison squinting their eyes in amazement and wonder with the new thought that they are free. He whom the Son sets free is free indeed!, John 8:36.

This blog ties to Spiritual substance deposit.

So, in the Aramaic, patience means,  “Thought without anxiety”. In the Greek, boldness or plainness of speech literally means, “Words without fear.” I see a similarity hear. 1 John 4:18 says, “Perfect love casts out fear.” How do I acquire this perfect love? By grace. John 1:17 says, “Grace came through Jesus.” Jesus said He is THE way. Paul said in Gal. 1:16 that Christ was revealed internally.

How? Someone must be sent to preach the living, quickened, life-giving Word or Logos to the hearer. By the way, Jesus was sent by the Father. Once someone is sent, the hearer spiritually hears the word of God. Faith comes by hearing. In this faith, understanding is given. Understanding is deposited and diffused into one’s being and person. I am of the opinion this faith is a spiritual substance if you could call it that. When it is imparted “thoughts without anxiety” are an attributing effect. After this, “words without fear” are spoken now. The motivation is the passive effect of godly love by grace.

On 04/09/09, I read the following.

2 Cor. 10:12-13 “12 For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves (according to self-imposed law), and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond measure (beyond Christ’s measurement of grace), but within the limits of the sphere which God appointed us (the measure of faith)—a sphere which especially includes you.”

Verse 17-18 say, “But  ‘he who glories, let him glory in the LORD.’ 18 For not he who commends himself is approved, but whom the Lord commends.”

I believe Paul is speaking to those who were comparing themselves based on self-imposed law. Those who were still under the law. Possibly, even those who privily, Gal. 2:4, spied out on his liberty in Christ.