I have been thinking of the number nine when it comes to the spiritual gifts that God generously gives his children. There are nine fruits of the Spirit which culminate as one fruit of God's love which covers them all. There were ten lepers who received healing and one came back and Jesus said, "Where are the nine?" Nine in the Bible refers to finality, judgment, and here I want to focus on God's merciful gifts he gives us. In First Corinthians 12:7-11, there are nine manifestation gifts that God gives us listed in these verses of scripture.
So when it comes to going deeper into Christ and God's manifest love in our life, here are nine areas that God is showing me in the present where we need to go deeper. So today, the number God has on my mind is nine.
1. The Gift of Being: We try to create our lives by the things we do, by filling it up with things we have, and by fueling it with the praise that other people give us. But this only creates a false self, an idol that does not have God at the center of our being. Life with God is about being which overflows into doing and not the other way around. We do not attain the presence of God. We are already in the total presence of God but our problem is we are unaware of it. God simply wants us to stop being the self we have created and simply be the true self that He created us to be. My identity is based upon who I am in Christ and not on what I do (even for God).
2. The Gift of Being Yourself: There is no deep knowing of God without a deep knowing of oneself. Nor can we know our self without knowing God. We have tended to focus on knowing God while failing to know ourselves. As long as we keep our focus off ourselves, we will continue to miss the deeper life in Christ that God wants us to experience. God wants to expose our false self and the many god-substitutes that fill our lives that take our focus off of God. We try to steal things from God whereas he simply invites us to drink deeply of the wells of His love which He freely gives us.
3. The Gift of Being in love with God: This is personal knowing that goes beyond knowledge. I do not just know about God, I know God in the core of my being. Truth can not be known apart from love and loving God intimately can not happen unless we surrender our will to Divine Love. Loving God is not superficial or romantic. Loving God is the deepest love of all because its very source is God. It's because of God's love I can love myself and everyone around me. It's because of my being in love with God that I know who I am and whose I am.
4. The Gift of Being God's Beloved: Do you recognize, do you know you are God's beloved child? You are the one that Jesus loved and died for. You are the one who God calls "My Beloved." This truth is where we experience the very heart of God. This is the place where God heals every wound and rejection of our soul. This gift once received removes all the striving, the pushing and rushing, the performance trap that so many of us get caught up in. This gift brings us back to the beginning with God and it is here we become like a child again.
5. The Gift of Being a Child: When we discover fresh revelations of God's love for us, it transports us back to being God's child. We no longer have to work so hard but simply delight in the presence of God. Doing for others becomes less of a chore and more of a privilege. The lower I go, the higher God becomes. I am small and God is huge. I am nothing and God is everything. I am but a child and God is my heavenly parent who knows how to take care of me and everything around me. I am learning that no matter how much one grows in Christian perfection, God always leaves certain weaknesses to keep us humble like a child that keeps depending upon Him.
6. The Gift of Being a Radical Lover of God: God's divine love is unconditional, unlimited and extravagant. When we discover that we are deeply loved by God then we begin to desire a deeper and more radical love for the God who loved us before we ever loved God. God's divine love is relentless, radical and reckless. This is how Jesus ended up on a cross because love put him there. God wants His Love empowering us to love with His radical, relentless and reckless love.
7. The Indescribable Gift of Being In Christ: You are not only deeply loved by Christ, you are the one that Jesus loves, but you also are a sinner saved by God's love. You are not simply a sinner, but a deeply loved sinner. God not only loved us into being and preserves us by His being but in Christ, He redeems and restores our being back to Him. All of life is spiraling back to the center which is Christ as we find our identity, purpose, and life in Him. "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!" (2 Corinthians 9:15)
8. The Gift of Being Jesus's Bride: We miss the most important gifts that Jesus offers us by focusing on the wrong things. Like the Samaritan women focused on physical water rather than the living eternal water, "If you knew the gift of God, you would have asked," God invites us to His wedding and guess what, you are the bride. The bridegroom is waiting expectantly for you like an impatient lover wanting to experience the divine union of marital intimacy and constant love. As the Bridegroom races to meet his Bride, we the Bride will not see anything else around us except for Him. The world clamors for our attention but all we hear is the music of Jesus' love flowing through and to us. The world wants to distract us and look at it but the only thing that captivates us and what our heart longs for is to see the face of the Bridegroom.
9. The Gift of Being in Union With God: Union with God begins with death. Death to all the old ways of coping and how we learned to manage our world. Die to self and the many ways we hold onto things as if they are ours to posses. As long as we strive to take control of our lives, we will never enter into the depths of union that God is calling us into. Even in my brokenness and pain, you are there. I embrace the cross which is the only pathway into the deeper journey God desires for every one of His wayward children. Rest in God's love. Choose peace every day no matter what the circumstances. Leave everything in God's hands and do not try to take things back once you have given them over to God. Plunge yourself into the deep peace and love of God and stay there with Him. Soak in His presence!
So the number God has pressed upon me today is nine. As I think about these deep truths and God's magnificent love, I am overwhelmed by God's love and mercy. I am reminded in all this that I am a part of a spiritual formation group called Deeper Journey. I will be having my spiritual coach help me absorb the results of my Enneagram personality test the next time we meet. Did I tell you how many personality types there are? Nine! This is another way I believe God is helping me face my many deceptions and illusions about myself. The goal is not simply knowledge about myself but being transformed into God's New Creation. Pure love is waiting for each of us who are willing to travel this path.
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