You know that you really are one with someone when all it takes is a single glimpse of the eye for you to know exactly what they are thinking or feeling. This notion of "complete oneness with someone" conveys a particular singularity that abounds with the fluidity of "synchronised swimming". There is a specific rapport to oneness that entertains no hint of ambivalence when standing up an entirely like-minded sameness. Oneness prescribes a certain parity of thought and matching understanding that speaks of a lifetime of operating in precise harmony and lockstep. Oneness declares a "quality of communion" and a "fervour of intimacy" that thrives on knowing infallibly every intention and every unction of will that percolates mutely in each and every expression of the "window of the human soul".

      Yet before there can be even the beginnings of any evidence of relational oneness, there needs to first and foremost be the grounding of a genuine "first meeting of minds". Then, as a next-step offshoot from this preliminary "memorandum of understanding", there spawns over time an incrementally deeper and deeper knowing of the heart and mind of one another. This "step-by-step intimacy" is the defining precursor to what thereafter flourishes and forms into the wonderful landscape of a truly connected and abiding "Garden-of-Eden" or "Noah's Ark" relationship. But right at the very inception, before anything can unfold and become "the very life" that is this living rapport, there always needs to be the "foundational seed" that thereafter then becomes the formidable phenomenon that is none other than the exquisite "oneness of mind".

     When Jesus became flesh, and dwelt as a mere mortal amongst men, such was the kind and the occasion of the oneness that the Son had with His Father. So perfect was their oneness that Jesus said to His disciple, "'Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" - John 14:9. In other words, how can showing Philip "the Father" reveal anything different or contrary to who and what Philip can already see "in Jesus". In His relational oneness with His Father, Jesus was, in every way, both the flawless image and the exact likeness of His Father, right through to every "intent of thought" and "expression of will". Therefore, where "Jesus ended" and the "Father began" was a oneness of mind that was distinctively and empirically indistinguishable.

      In fact, of this same oneness, before ascending to sit at the right hand of the Father, Jesus specifically petitioned of God the Father that in precisely the same way that the Father and He are one with each other, that we may likewise be as one with Jesus too. "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us." - John 17:21. And not only this, Jesus said that everything that is Mine, I give to you. "All that belongs to the Father is Mine. That is why I said that the Spirit will take from what is Mine and disclose it to you." - John 16:5. When Jesus speaks of the Spirit taking from "what is Mine" and thereafter "disclosing it to you," Jesus is referring to our equipping for oneness with Jesus by the Holy Spiriit giving us of the seven spirits that make up the complete "mind of Christ." - Isaiah 11:2.

      This equipping is conditional upon a single, significant event. As long as Jesus remained on earth as the Son of Man, there would be no Pentecost. For this reason, Jesus HAD to return to heaven. Without the significance of Jesus' ascension, He would not be able to send the Helper to enable, empower and equip us for relationship and oneness (John 16:7). The Holy Spirit would remain unavailable to helping the sons of men become sons of God by becoming one with the mind of Christ, and in so doing, becoming one with God in right relationship, just like His Son before us. This crucial step in our maturing as seeds for the new life that is yet to come, is indispensable to the presenting of our souls and bodies together with our spirits as blameless at the coming of the Lord. This is fundamental to not only us being "made" in the image and likeness of God (spirit), but to us also "living" in the image and likeness of Christ too (soul and body). So that we may truly, through and through, be as one, just as the Son is truly one with the Father. We have been saved from the PENALTY of sin (in our spirit). We are being saved from the POWER of sin (in our soul), and we are being saved from the PRESENCE of sin (in our bodies). So that as a spirit, soul and body that are now one, we may also be one with Jesus, just as Jesus is one with the Father.

     As with the oneness between Father and Son being specifically predicated upon a "perfect meeting and union of minds", so too does our own oneness with Jesus first begin, and thereafter remain, with our own minds being in lockstep with "the mind of Christ". This requires relationship. But before this can be accomplished, there needs to first be a oneness with "Jesus as SAVIOUR". Thereafter, a oneness with "Jesus as LORD" follows. Accepting Jesus as SAVIOUR is wisdom. This is "right standing". Accepting Jesus as LORD produces knowledge and understanding. This is "right relationship". There needs to be both. First "right standing" (salvation of spirit), followed by "right relationship" (salvation of soul and body) between us and the Son of God. “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” - 1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:23‬. Our entire being, not just our spirit, needs to be at one in "right standing" AND "right relationship" with God.

     Whereas the rightstanding of "the spirit of man" with "the Spirit of Christ" takes place at a single "point IN time" (as in the instant of receiving a gift, which it is), the rightstanding of the soul and body takes place as a "process OVER time". It takes relationship. It takes knowledge and understanding that only through access to relationship with the "source of all knowledge and understanding" can provide. And that process of assimilating knowledge and understanding requires the assistance and counsel of the Holy Spirit, both in revealing the spirit and life of the living Word (1 Corinthians 2:10), and in leading our living and walking in the Spirit (John 16:13; Galatians 5:25). This counsel and help from the Holy Spirit remains unavailable to unregenerate man. UNTIL man's spirit comes into right standing with the Spirit of Christ, until man accepts Jesus as SAVIOUR, which is the beginning of wisdom, does his spirit remain relatively stillborn to the spirit and life of the Spirit of Christ. So the foundational step to end-to-end salvation (tripartite salvation by a tripartite God) begins with the first step of the salvation of man's spirit. Before we can enter into right relationship with God as LORD, we need to first become one with Him as SAVIOUR. In other words, we need to first QUALIFY for right relationship. This qualification is the "first act" of being as one with Jesus. It begins with the free gift of "atonement". Atonement establishes the foundation of our continued "rightstanding" and "right relationship." It is that "foundational seed" that thereafter then unfolds into exquisite phenomenon that is oneness with God.

      It is often a surprise to discover that atonement comes from neither a Greek nor a Hebrew word. Instead, it is a cojoining of the English words, “at-one-ment,” describing a state of being “at one” in heart and mind with the conditions of the offer of salvation (Romans 10:9). Thereafter, the LORD declares that He will establish another demonstration of oneness. “'This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,'” - Hebrews‬ ‭10:16‬. Jesus will write Himself as the Word on our minds. How exactly will He do that? Firstly, Jesus says, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you." - John 16:12-15. And then, for those who ASK, for those who SEEK, for those who KNOCK at the door of right relationship, the Holy Spirit will then give of the seven spirits of the mind of Christ that together we may be as one.

     "The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD - and he will delight in the fear of the LORD. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist." - Isaiah 11:2- 4.

     Isaiah 11:2 - And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him (the anointing for the right relationship of oneness, that shall rest upon him like the dove descending upon Jesus - Luke 3:22

1. THE SPIRIT OF WISDOM - Wisdom is the heart-blood and lifeblood of the Tree of Life, being all that is the embodiment of God's sovereign thoughts on what is good and true, of what is noble and right, of what is lovely and admirable, of all that is excellent and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8), as well as all the “unsearchable insight" of His supernatural wisdom, being the accumulation and aggregation of His applied knowledge and understanding that culminate in "the way, the truth and the life" that is love - Ephesians 1:17; "He who gets wisdom loves his own soul” - Proverbs‬ ‭19:8‬.

2. THE SPIRIT OF UNDERSTANDING - The Holy Spirit will reveal and illuminate His Word - 1 Corinthians 2:10. "Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know." - Jeremiah 33:3; “He who keeps understanding will find good.”- Proverbs‬ ‭19:8‬.

3. THE SPIRIT OF COUNSEL - The Holy Spirit will personally guide our decisions - John 14:26; "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel." - Proverbs 12:15. "“Listen to counsel and receive instruction, That you may be wise in your latter days. There are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless the LORD’s counsel—that will stand.” - Proverbs‬ ‭19:20-21‬

4. THE SPIRIT OF MIGHT - "Greater is He who is in you (Christ) than he who is in the world (the flesh and the devil)" - 1 John 4:4; "But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you". - Luke 11:20; "Behold, these are but the outskirts of his ways, and how small a whisper do we hear of him! But the thunder of his power who can understand?” - Job 26:14.

5. THE SPIRIT OF KNOWLEDGE - The Holy Spriit will guide us into all truth - John 16:13. "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction." - Proverbs 1:7; "For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit." - 1 Corinthians 12:8; "“Also it is not good for a soul to be without knowledge.” - Proverbs‬ ‭19:2‬

6. THE SPIRIT OF THE FEAR OF THE LORD - The Holy Spirit will sharpen our conscience (1 Peter 3:21), so that we do not grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30) by ignoring His inner counsel, thereby ensuring we both live AND walk in the Spirit (Galatians 5:25) and in so doing, do not quench His Spirit (1 Thessalonians 5:19)

7. THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD - The Spirit of Christ personalises it all by filtering the inflows of the living river of wisdom and understanding and knowledge and counsel through the lens of His heart, which is to look at the world through His eyes. Which is to wrap it in the colours of loving service, like the seven colours of the rainbow converging into a single beam of glorious light that is a lamp unto our feet, where the "heart of service" is the principle nature and power of Christ in loving the Father with all our heart and mind and strength, and in loving our neighbour as ourselves. For did Christ not demonstrate perfectly what loving both His father and His neighbour looks like? Which is why it is written that with righteousness shall he judge the needy, that with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. All the colours bleed into one. The Holy Spirit will give us the spirit of discernment - Philippians 1:9-10; Hosea 14:9; to discern even to the division of the thoughts and intents of the heart - Hebrews 4:12, that, on the one hand, we may know the will of the Father, and on the other hand, the need of our neighbour. So that the river of life may flow from the high hill of the LORD to the open mouth of the sea of humanity. Thereby glorifying the Father and fulfilling all the law. For is it not written: For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 5:14).

     When we operate in the seven-fold spirit of the mind of Christ (being the perfect and complete mind of Christ), not only will we KNOW our Lord and Saviour, but we will no longer SPEAK with the words of men, but with the pearls of wisdom framed by the mind of God Himself. And in the same way that Jesus says that the words He speaks are SPIRIT, and they are LIFE, our words, as spirit too, will in turn land softly upon the palate of man's heart and soul and produce life where their is need, liberty where there are chains, light where there is darkness, and healing and deliverance where there is brokenness and separation.

And in this gift of oneness, so it shall be that the "SPIRIT of love" shall become the very "LIFE of love" too.

To God be the glory, forever and ever. Amen and amen.

#WarriorServants4God #LovingAuthentically #LivingAuthentically

"For My house will be called a house of prayer."