Deceptions Of The Mind

Col 2:6-10

6          As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:

7          Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

8          Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

9          For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

10         And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:   (KJV)

            Today, we need the Truth, the Whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth, so help us God. In this great Day of the unveiling of Jesus Christ we cannot settle for anything less than the fullness of God’s truth and revelation for our present time in God. As the ages have unfolded, there has been a continual unveiling of the glory of God in a people, measured out in degrees by the infinite wisdom and purpose of Jesus Christ. Each age has had it’s own identity and purpose, bringing a new dimension to mankind from that continual unveiling, which spoke of elements of Truth that extended beyond the prior measure of the former glory. As Truth reveals itself, from glory to glory, we are changed by that unveiling, endued with power from on high, anointed by the Christ that rises in us at the appearing of the new measure, and we transcend our former habitation in God and come into a new expression in Him, full of new life and glorious release!

            Indeed, when we speak of the “fullness of God”, we are talking about a WHOLENESS, a full measure, the whole loaf, the whole book, the whole power, the whole breadth, the whole width, the whole length and the whole height of God’s substance. Our rightful inheritance in God is to come into that fullness, to continue to partake of the measures of God’s unveiling to us, until we are walking as a new man in Christ, fully demonstrating His character and nature in this present age. We must not settle for anything less! If we are to go beyond the “earnest” of our inheritance, then we must know that we will not stop our journey until we come into the full possession of that inheritance. Some have settled for a lesser experience, and a lesser expression, choosing to validate their dormant state and condition by theological and legal arguments over certain scriptures, taking those scriptures out of context and ministering “another Gospel” than that which Jesus and the Apostles taught.

            Deception comes about when someone chooses to take a single element of God’s revelation of Truth and make that single element the whole Truth, rather than a part of the whole. We have all probably been guilty of such a thing, because it is human nature for us to put a disproportionate amount of importance upon those things that God is doing at this moment in our personal life and in our present generation. Those that remain immature in the Word of God and in the knowledge of the plan of God will always look at themselves as the harbingers of “a new thing”, and usually that comes with the idea that no one else will be able to come into this “new thing” unless they come and sit down at the feet of the self-proclaimed Messiahs. For them, there is no past truth and no future truth, having cast off all scriptural references to being anything less than whole and perfect, they set themselves up as being sinless, having had no part in ever partaking of the sin nature of Adam, having no need of redemption, they stand before us as God Himself, without spot or wrinkle! There could be a saving grace to such a view, which rests just short of a state of insanity, if they could only manifest just a fraction of God’s nature and character, but for the most part, this crowd is made up of the most troubled, phobic, double minded, short tempered, arrogant, proud, and generally mixed-up people that I have run across. Some of those that hold to such professions are only capable of showing a public affection and love, but incidents keep cropping up in intervals of their lives that give rise to moments of misbehavior that simply do not measure up to such unbalanced and misleading statements. The idea that such incomplete creatures insist on the rest of us overlooking their obvious flaws of character and behavior and receive them as truly “complete and perfect, without need of any further processing or correction” is the epitome of spiritual imbalance, and smacks of a parallel condition of the unfortunate “mentally unstable and imbalanced” men and women that fill our institutions today. It is no coincidence that in every mental institution today, the overwhelming similarity of all the cases on file will be the position that the patient has an adamant idea that they are the “Christ, or a “Special Messenger Of God”, or even, “God Himself”. This God Concept comes from an imbalance in their minds, which comes from a developed phobia or psychosis. In the case of the deceptions being introduced into the kingdom ranks, this is a “spiritual insanity”, an imbalance of the Truth, and is akin to the condition and state of Nebuchadnezzar, who came to think of himself as higher than God and above God’s will and purpose. He learned, the hard way, that “the heavens do rule” and eventually came back into his right mind. Even so, today the Lord is dealing with His people to come back to their right minds and to see Him as their King and Omnipotent Lord.

            In taking such scriptures that proclaim us to be “complete in Him”, (Col. 2:10), for example, some would make it sound as if that one single phrase means that we do not need any further development in Christ, but according to them, we have entered into the fullness of God already. It is extremely misleading to infer such a short sighted and all encompassing conclusion. Of course, through Christ Jesus, in whom resides the fullness of God, we are complete, which means simply whole, not sinless or at the end of our progressive metamorphosis. It simply means that we have no need to go to any other source  other than Him in order for us to be transformed into His divine image and likeness. All that we need is in Him, and He is in us! We don’t have to go to any certain group or location to come into this full measure of God, we are complete IN HIM. But, it is plain to those that see the whole Truth of the scriptures as a complete work, that Paul does not continue to write as though we have already arrived and have no need for any further dealings of God. Paul continues to groan and travail for his brethren, encouraging them to enter into those things reserved for them “In Christ”, even upbraiding them for falling short of such aspirations.

Gal 4:19

19         My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, (KJV)

1Thes 5:1-28

1          But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.

2          For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.

3          For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

4          But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.

5          Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness.

6          Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.

7          For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.

8          But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.

9          For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ,

10         Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him.

11         Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.

12         And we beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you;

13         And to esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake. And be at peace among yourselves.

14         Now we exhort you, brethren, warn them that are unruly, comfort the feebleminded, support the weak, be patient toward all men.

15         See that none render evil for evil unto any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among yourselves, and to all men.

16         Rejoice evermore.

17         Pray without ceasing.

18         In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

19         Quench not the Spirit.

20         Despise not prophesyings.

21         Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

22         Abstain from all appearance of evil.

23         And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

24         Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.

            This does not sound like someone that wants us to enter into some kind of “finished work” mentality. If we are complete in Him, is that the end of the process of coming into His fullness? Evidently, Paul himself didn’t think so. He still had a great travail working in him for his “children” to have Christ formed in their lives. Christ was present in them, and they were complete in Him, but the full balance of what Paul taught concerning the process of coming into the full experience and expression of Jesus Christ was that the process did not stop until there was a complete metamorphosis of us into Christ, until we were truly InChristed. The full measure of this concept is that it is not enough for us to be in Christ and He in us, but for us to be entwined in Him and He entwined in us. Compoundment is the principal thought here.

It is one thing for me to say that I am one with Him, but that can be taken many ways. One in purpose, one in will, one in thought, and so on. But, the true thought behind such a scriptural concept must be expressed in balance, which would dictate that we recognize all of the elements in such a oneness. Some would teach this oneness as us becoming one single element, God. This is where some justify themselves in declaring themselves to be the I AM, or as being The Christ, as if God’s plan is to have us all be consumed and dissolved into one single element, but according to the scriptures, when this work of God is come to full measure, when the final enemy has been destroyed, or made of no effect, then He would become All in all. Notice that I have capitalized the first All, and by doing so, I have emphasized the compoundment of this fantastic phrase, All in all. Not just one single element, “THE ALL”, but All IN all, in and through all. Entwined and compounded in, amongst and through all things. Do you see the fullness of such a balanced Truth? This is the fullness of Truth that creation is waiting for!

I don’t think that the plan of God is very complicated, but it will become extremely complicated if we leave out vital elements of that plan and fail to see the various times and seasons of God’s operation of measuring out the various elements of that magnificent plan. It would be like trying to work out a long mathematical formula using only a part of the equation. Once we have determined all of the elements of the equation, we only need to insert those mathematical symbols into the formula to come up with the correct conclusion. This is why J Preston Eby’s study on The Revelation “From the Candlestick to the Throne” is so exciting to myself and all of those that love balanced truth. When men try to plug in all of the elements of John’s vision into the unbalanced formula of man-made religious charts and end-time teachings, it always comes up with a conclusion that is not consistent with the scriptures as a whole. Their pitiful attempt at summing up God’s plan for mankind is a scenario where a small percentage of mankind is found in heaven, and a large portion of mankind is tossed into eternal damnation. This conclusion does not match up with the plainly stated conclusion of scriptures that proclaim Jesus Christ as the savior of the world, the perfect sacrifice that took away the sins of the world and has reconciled every man to God and having a destined end to be All in all.

At the same time, this true scriptural conclusion of God becoming All in all cannot possibly exclude the necessary corrective elements plainly stated throughout the scriptures concerning God’s righteous judgments and faithful corrections of our corruptible condition. To leave those necessary elements out, would bring about the wrong conclusion, which is that we will go through eternity in the presence of God with a corruptible nature, never to be changed or transformed into His glorious nature and character. To arrive at this sum, we would have to resort to quoting partial elements of scripture trying to justify our skewed self, proclaiming one thing and constantly acting out something else. The full measure of Truth dictates that we accept all of the elements of God’s plan in a balanced and complete manner, which will lead us to the glorious fact that when all things are put into the proper perspective, there is a built-in principle that brings every element into harmony with the overall formula of Life, which turns night into day, sorrow into joy, death into life. What would life be without the element of death preceding it? I will tell you what it would be. A partial life, limited and fractioned. But, when God introduced death into His equation, LIFE IN GOD became something that held a greater sum total than the temporal life of a man. It became Zoe life, as God has life. This is how we have come to know that there is a life beyond the life of a man, because we have had a limited life to compare to the unlimited LIFE that comes from being compounded with Jesus Christ!

So, it remains obvious to me, that today we are in need of balance in our expression of the kingdom of God more so now than at any other time. In order for us to come into a more perfect expression of this great Word of the Kingdom, we must allow God to balance us out, to bring us back into alignment with His purpose and will and redemptive plan. If not, we will never become mature sons of God, but there will continue to be a need for “Christ to be formed in us”. Immaturity, selfishness, wantonness, greed and corruption will continue to be seen in the priesthood, if we do not accept God’s dealings in our lives and humble ourselves before His face and submit ourselves to His will and desire.

Without balance, we are children, TODDLERS. Have you ever seen a young child learning to take it’s first step? It can be very humorous, watching it try to get it’s head lined up in the right alignment with it’s body, wobbling and bobbing around on it’s neck like a bobble head doll! Arms outstretched, legs spraddled to each side, it’s little butt stuck out, the child tries it’s best to get everything in place, under control so it can just stand still. It is actually quite a feat! We take it for granted once we develop enough strength and coordination where it becomes instinct to walk across the room, but until we come into proper balance, we are susceptible to comical gyrations to make up for those elements that are way out of balance. Eventually, we figure out some basic principles. One is that wherever the Head goes, the rest of the body will follow. Every gymnast knows this basic element of Truth. If you want to do a forward somersault, you must dip your head forward and the body will follow that lead. If you want to do a backward somersault, the head must be tilted back and other things will follow that course. The trick, of course, is to bring the rest of your body under control to a point where at the moment the revolution is completed, your feet will be the first thing to hit the ground and not your back or head!

Now, back to the toddler. We have all seen the process acted out. Eventually, after some trial and error, the child will eventually be able to stand upon his feet. Even so, it is anything but the picture of stability. Knees wobbling, buttocks thrusting forward and backward, hands grabbing the sofa or table, the toddler is receiving much encouragement from it’s parents, who position themselves strategically in front of the child, far enough away where the child will have to let go of it’s perch in order to reach the parent’s outstretched hands, but close enough to the child to catch it when the predicted fall comes. Over and over, the child will be driven by both his own instincts and the parent’s desire to see this milestone accomplished, until that monumental event happens, that fabled “first step”, which will be a welcome relief to the proud parents, who have been carrying a camera day and night, always at the ready in hopes of catching this moment for future enjoyment.

For me, it is easy to see how this is a type of creation, instinctively reaching out for God, going through much trial and error, falling down and getting back up again, but always being driven by an inner, innate desire to find it’s Creator and Father. How thoroughly plain it is to me, to know that even in the ages ahead, that mankind will be reaching out for the love and peace of God, and through His unlimited measure of riches in Christ Jesus, each portion will be measured out to each individual, each one in their order and rank, until every eye has seen Him and every heart comes to know Him. Glorious God!

This is why I am groaning in my spirit today for those that are chosen and predestined to walk in this inner sanctum of God’s fullness. When we should be walking in total balance and moving in flow of continuity and coordination in the plan of God, I am witnessing such infantile ideas being promoted that I know we must start to walk into the EXPERIENCE of what we know, without being content with the revelatory knowledge of such a realm. I am yearning for us to go beyond the toddler stage, but unless we get the True Head lined up with the rest of the Body, we will continue to walk, talk and behave as toddlers, even while some claim to be the Champion Olympic Gymnast’s of God! That is really how foolish it is for men to continue to minister a message that is missing basic and vital elements of God’s full measure of Truth.

Why is it so hard for some of us to minister a balanced reality? I believe it is because we are unwilling to recognize some underlying weaknesses that are inherent in every one of us. Rather than to become aware of these weaknesses and present them to the Father to correct and release us from their influence, many have taken to just dismissing them entirely, calling them illusions of the carnal mind, and even going to such a degree of delusion and denial as to deny the existence of the carnal mind itself! Of course, this is the proverbial, easy way out. Deny, Deny, Deny. Any good lawyer will tell you that! Otherwise, you will open yourself to judgment, which is still largely thought of, by many in kingdom message circles, as being something to be avoided at any cost, even in taking the Fifth when confronted by evidence as to the existence of such a thing. Actually, when balance is enforced in our walk in God, judgment is revealed as our pathway to maturity, a son of God that has been visited by his loving Father and given the opportunity to become “like Him”. God only judges His own, and He only deals with true sons, but leaves servants and hirelings to other methods of correction. But, with His sons, it is hands on judgment, personal and up close. Merciful, but determined, faithful and true, pregnant with purpose and a determined end.

His instructions to us are balanced and complete. He will not bring us to a place of transition and translation, then fail to take us clean over into that which He has reserved for us to experience. I have no fear of His judgments, for I have never found them to be indeterminate events, for no rhyme or reason, but every time His judgments have been enacted in my life, the end result has been a higher and deeper relationship with Him. Where would we be without the judgments of God? I will tell you. In a part realm, with a cloudy vision of our God. For through His judgments, He reveals His intent to us concerning our place in Him! I have found, through His judgments in my life, that God loves me with an everlasting love, and He has worth in me, through an investment of His time and effort in bringing me to a more complete state and condition. Wondrous Lord!

It is easy to identify where we will end up if we do not cure our instability in God. Just look at the religious orders of men today. We could pick any one of the denominational groups and one could readily see where they became off-balanced in their message and vision. The Baptist denomination became unbalanced in the truth of water baptism, the United Pentecostal Holiness Church became unbalanced with the truth of holiness, the Charismatic Movement became unbalanced with the gifts of the spirit, the Orthodox Church became unbalanced with orthodoxy, the Christian Science Church has become unbalanced with metaphysical truths, and so on. Are we out of balance with the established truth of The Kingdom Message? I believe so. I am starting to feel a great urge to center myself in God, to find my balance in the Word and in the Spirit. I am wanting to go beyond the “TODDLER” stage of my walk and to start to walk, talk, sing and move in God with harmony and flow as never before. I am meeting people where they are at in their experience in God, and believing in the power of God to bring them up higher in that experience. I sense the gates of the City opening up now, to receive the stranger and the outcast into the presence of the King, and drawing men out of darkness into the Light of His glory. In order to do such a thing, we must become more than children, playing in the fields of God, but we must become a people of destiny and purpose, with a balanced view of the world of God, looking beyond where we have been and walking into the next measure of His substance.

I believe that many are feeling this same way and I also believe that we will see one of the greatest gatherings in this hour that has ever been seen in this present truth. Some would say, “How do we know that it is the right time for such a thing?” My answer would simply be that we know the times of the Lord the same way that the farmer knows the right time to plant or to reap. I feel the season changing, and when that starts to take place it is the time to get ourselves ready and prepared for the change of order. There is a vast difference of operation between the planting of the seed and the harvesting of the fruit of that planting. For as long as I have been in this word and revelation, it has been a time of much sowing and little harvesting. Now, hear the Word of the Lord, prepare yourselves for the Harvest of the earth! Get ready to thrust the sickle into the earth and to reap out of it the rest of the first fruits of God. I believe we have been in a portion of the first fruit company, the early fruits, but we must now bring out of the earth the rest of the first fruits company, for we are entering into a manchild order of salvation, dominion, power, glory and restoration that must come together and be seated in the Throne Room of God. The 144,000 on Mt Zion, completely developed, trained and endued with our Lord’s character and nature. As He moves, we move, as He speaks, we speak. We do nothing without Him and He does not move without us.

Oneness, unity, harmony, compoundment, a corporate life, one for all, all for one, such is the mindset of the Corporate Expression. This union is paramount to the rest of God’s plan being enacted. That is why I am making a call to us to leave the foolishness of our youth and to come into a sober walk in God. We must not be inebriated at this crucial hour, but we must have our spiritual wits about us, and walk with purpose and reason. The world will be looking for such a people and another they will not follow. That is why the modern day charlatans cannot bring the world to God, because in the heart of every man is an ancient knowledge of Him from whom they have been birthed, a genetic memory of their birth Father, and nothing that the Babylonian systems of the carnal, religious mind of man can come up with will move the world out of the place of destruction and hate. Only one thing will bring kings out of their thrones and demand them to throw their crowns down, only one thing will cause hatred and bias to come to an end, only one thing will cause racial strife to diffuse and lose it’s powerful hold on the hearts of mankind, only one thing will cure the disease of the sin-sick soul that turns good men and women into beasts and vultures. That one thing, my friend, is the unveiling of Jesus Christ in the sons of God, a company of proven and qualified priests and kings, moving as one under the rule and government of their Supreme Commander and Chief, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. With the Captain of their Salvation leading them, they will assail the gates of hell in every heart and will lead captive into captivity, and the appearing of the Christ in them will turn the world upside down, as the darkness upon the minds of men will give way to the rising of the Sun of Righteousness in each one of these sons of God, and the healing of the Lord will be dispensed throughout the creation of God, world without end.

Why do we still groan, when others have entered into a state of contentment and satisfaction? Why do we still press into a place in Christ, when others have sat down and settled for a comfortable place? Why do we still reach higher and love deeper and give greater? I can only speak for myself, but I think there are many that would agree and witness to what I have to say. We don’t think this present state and condition of mankind is what God had in mind when He instituted this Great Plan. We don’t think the ultimate in God is to just talk a great message, but never come into the reality of it. We don’t think that the kingdom of God is full of murder, rape, atrocities, abominations, heresies, death, sin, sickness, disease and all the other maladies that happen every minute of every day. We don’t think that the message of denial and illusion is going to get the job done. We think there must come out of the inner most part of our being an arisen Lord, and we believe that the time is ripe for such an event to happen in us, right now and right here. If this is true, then we will not be satisfied until we awaken in His likeness, in every particle of our being, changed, transformed, translated, transfigured into that express image and likeness. Anything less, anything short of this supernatural event, will not be accepted by us. We don’t care how long it takes, how many of our ranks cross over the river, how old our bodies get, how tired our mind and emotions get, we will stay the course and finish this race, until we see every creature of God, everywhere, whether in heaven, or in the earth, or under the earth, we will not rest until each one is standing in total victory and complete salvation through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. So help us God.

By Robert D Torango

Part 5