BE IMITATORS OF GOD
“It has been taught us from the primal state, that, that which is, was wished until it were.” (William Shakespeare) God started with a wish, saying; “Let us make man in our image.” And we are told that we will be perfect as our Father is perfect, and holy as our Father is holy. Therefore, whatever God was, when his work is completed, man must be. We are told to be imitators of God as dear children, so we must discover how he became us in order to imitate him. It seems God lives as one possessed by a dream. Jeremiah tells us: “The will of the Lord will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his mind. In the latter days you will understand it perfectly.” God, refusing to turn back, remains lost in his dream until he has executed and accomplished the intents of his mind. If you want your dream realized, imitate God by becoming totally possessed by your dream. Do this and you, too, will reach your desire’s fulfillment, just as God has brought – and is bringing – his dream to completion. Have an intense wish. Clothe it in tones of reality and imitate God by living as one possessed by a dream. Like God, do not turn aside until you have executed and accomplished the intents of your mind. God began the good work in you and when he brings it to completion on the day of Jesus Christ, you will reflect the glory of God and bear the express image of his person.
If God will not stop until that wish is completely realized, then you must be equally persistent. Regardless of things to the contrary, persist until your dream is completely realized. See the story of Jesus Christ as God’s plan of redemption. Read the directions, and you will discover that it is only as the Risen Christ that Jesus makes himself manifest. When Judas asked: “How will you manifest yourself to us and not to the others?” he answered: “Any man who loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my word for the word I speak is not mine, but the Father’s who sent me. Scripture is the Father’s word. First recorded as individual expressions of the Risen Lord, each vision is complete within itself. With nothing in the paragraphs to indicate their chronological order, the writers wrote a story – which appears to be history, but it is not. I will take one such paragraph, as it fits a letter I recently received. In it she said: “I fell asleep requesting a deeper understanding when you appeared as the Risen Christ and handed me the number 26. I have tried to understand this and can only come up with the number eight.” If you add the two and the six together you have the number of the Risen Lord. It was on the eighth day (the first day of the new week) that Christ rose; therefore, eight is always associated with resurrection, regeneration, and the number of the Lord. But I gave her the number 26!
There are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, of which five are repeated and called finals. We have kaph as 20, but when used as a final it becomes 500. Mem is 40, whose numerical value becomes 600 when used as a final. Nun is 50, and when encountered as a final it is 700. When peh is first encountered it is 80, but as a final it becomes 800, as its tone does not change. The symbolical value of this letter is the mouth; in its final form it is the mouth of God: “My word that goes forth from my mouth shall not return unto me void but must accomplish that which I purpose and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.” You are Christ, the Word sent forth from God’s mouth as his hope of glory. God is making you into his perfect image to possess all that he possesses, as God’s Word cannot return void. This is the mouth I have given this lady. Recently she has been wondering why – when she knows something intuitively – she is hesitant to speak out. Questioning herself, she fell asleep and saw me as the Risen Lord, at which time I gave her a voice of authority to speak out, regardless of what others may say. Only the Risen Lord will be seen. I can tell you: I have ascended from earth and entered the highest heaven, but you will not know it until my Father reveals it to you. When asked: “Who do men say that the Son of man is?” they said: “Some say John the Baptist come again, others say Elijah, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets of old.”
But when he asked: “Who do you say that I am?” Peter answered: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” The Risen Lord then replied: “Flesh and blood could not have told you this, but my Father who is in heaven, he has revealed it to you.” Many will tell me they love what I teach, but walk away, not believing it to the point of application. But those who truly love me believe and apply my words. They are the ones who will see me as the Risen Lord. They will recognize a man called Neville – not as a man of flesh and blood, but as a completed pattern; for the pattern which God placed within me, has erupted. If you love the idea of completing such a pattern, then you are in love with me. Not as flesh and blood, but the Christ who has risen within me. When I manifested myself to this lady she knew I was Neville; yet she also knew I was the Risen Christ; thereby, having the same experience as Peter. Having heard and loving the message, Peter recognized the Risen Lord – while others heard it, but – not loving the telling – they did not have the experience. Such is granted through the discernment of love. Many claim to love Christ, but worship an icon on the wall. Called the image of God, Christ is God’s plan, which was in the beginning with God, when he said: “Let us make man in our image.” Christ reflects the glory of God and bears the express image of his person. That image is found in the pattern. I have described this image in a more chronological manner than recorded in the Bible.
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