Our Relationships with God /
NINE Our Relationships with God Foundation Text— Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. —Phil 3:12
Someone has said that the only thing necessary for the children of God to do in order to enter into full possession of their inheritance, is simply to be what they are. That is, in other words, to "take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." In all human relations this principle holds good. If a man is a king in fact, he must Je one in actual outward recognition, or his kingship avails him nothing. Ifa man really possesses wealth, he must act and live as a wealthy man, or his riches are of no worth to him. In all conditions of life, our success depends upon this little point of betmg what we really are.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light.—Eph 5:8
You are children of light, now walk as such. That is; be what you are.
In our relations with God this is especially necessary, because these all exist in the unseen spiritual region, and can of
106 / The Open Secret course only be real to us as our faith makes them so. It is essential then to our peace, and also to our well-being, that we should intelligently take hold of and live out that for which Christ Jesus took hold ofus. That is, we must find out what are our relationships to God, and then we must e just what they are. For instance, if God says I am his child, then I must ea child; if he says Iam aking, then I must e kingly; and so on in all the relations which exist in the soul life.
It is of vital importance therefore that we should find out what we really ave, in order that we may know what we ought to be. And this we can do by looking at the names by which he calls us.
The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice.
He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.—Jn 10:2-3 He "calls his own sheep by name." God's naming always means character or position. He has no fancy nor arbitrary names. Just as we never call a man a farmer unless he is a farmer, so likewise when God calls us by a name, it is because we are that which he calls us. The names he has given us, therefore, will tell us what we are.
No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.—Gn 17:5
(Abram means "father of height," and Abraham means "father of multitudes.") May my lord pay no attention to that wicked man Nabal. He is just like his name—his name is Fool, and folly goes with him. But as for me, your servant, I did not see the men my master sent.
—1 Sm 25:25
(Nabal means, a "fool.") Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but
Our Relationships with God / 107 Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."—Gn 32:28
(Jacob means a "supplanter," and Israel means, "a prince with God.") But now, this is what the Lord says— / he who created you, O
Jacob, / he who formed you, O Israel: / "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; / I have called you by name; you are mine."
—Is 43:1
Let us see then what are some of the names by which God has called us, that we may learn to know what we really are in his sight.
. He calls us his children.
He calls us his hezrs.
. He calls us his friends.
He calls us his brethren.
. He calls us his sheep.
. He likens us to birds.
. He likens us to chickens.
. He calls us branches of the vine.
. He likens us to trees.
. He likens us to flowers.
. He calls us clay.
. He calls us vessels.
. He calls us tmstruments.
. He calls us his treasure.
. He calls us his bride.
. Finally, he declares that we are one with himself.
In every one of these names there is included a whole world of comfort to those who consent to be what they are thus called.
We will look at them a little in detail, and see what is really included in this naming.
1. He calls us his children.
You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. —Gal 3:26
108 / The Open Secret The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children.—Rom 8:16
Let us be children then in the blessed ease, and security, and childlikeness of childhood. Let us take the children's happy place of freedom from care, and from anxiety; and let us live as the children do, in the present moment, without taking thought for tomorrow.
2. He calls us his heirs.
Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.—Rom 8:17
So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.—Gal 4:7
Let us Ue heirs then in the sense of entering into possession of our inheritance. No earthly heir fails or delays to take possession of that which he inherits. He may be amazed at the good fortune which has befallen him, he may feel himself to be utterly unworthy of it; but nevertheless, if he is the heir, he takes possession of his inheritance, and rejoices in it. And we who are declared to be the heirs of God, must do the same.
3. He calls us his frends.
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.—Jn 15:15
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness," and he was called
God's friend.—Jas 2:23
Let us be his friends then in the best that we know of friendship. Let us trust him, as we like our friends to trust us; let us lean on him, as we beseech our friends to lean on us; let us try to please him for love's sake, as love leads us to try to
Our Relationships with God / 109 please our earthly friends. Moreover, let us recognize the blessed fact, that if we are his friends, he is necessarily our friend also, and that the sweet duties and responsibilities of friendship are upon his shoulders, as well as upon ours.
A man of many companions may come to ruin, / but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.—Prv 18:24
The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as aman speaks with his friend.—Ex 33:11
If God is our friend, and if we are his friends, he will tell us his secrets; "I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you" (Jn 15:15).
(Compare Gn 18:17, and Amos 3:7; See also, Ps 25:14.) If we would learn the Lord's secrets, therefore, we must be his friends; and he himself has told us how. "You are my friends if you do whatsoever I command you."
4. He calls us his brothers.
Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, / "I will declare your name to my brothers; /in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.
—Heb 2:11-12 Let us be his brothers, then, and take to our hearts the wonderful comfort and joy of having such an "elder Brother" to bear our burdens and share our sorrows. Some of us know the comfort of an earthly brother; let us realize the comfort of the heavenly brother as well.
For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.—Rom 8:29
Since he is the firstborn in the family, we, who are the younger members of it, have surely a right to look to him for all that belongs to an elder brother's place, and may without
110 / The Open Secret hesitation make use of him as our brother; and lay upon him a brother's burdens.
5. He calls us his sheep.
You my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are people, and I am your God, declares the Sovereign Lord.—Ez 34:31 (Ps 95:7)
Let us be sheep then, and abandon ourselves to the care of the Shepherd to whom we belong. The sheep cannot care for themselves, nor protect themselves, nor provide food for themselves; the Shepherd must do it all. The responsibility of their well-being is all on his shoulders, not on theirs. They have nothing to do but to trust him, and to follow him. And the Lord is our Shepherd.
A great many people refuse to be the sheep, and insist upon trying to be the Shepherd instead. That is, they try to assume all the duties that belong to the Shepherd; and they entirely decline to be cared for and protected as the sheep are. Or else they try to be both the sheep and also the Shepherd, and to perform the part of each at the same time, an impossible and wearisome task. Let us cease then trying to be anything but just simply what we are; sheep in the care of the Divine Shepherd.
6. He likens us to birds.
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?—Mt 6:26
Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.—Lk 12:6-7 We are to "look at the birds of the air" that we may learn to live a life of freedom and of joy such as theirs, in the glad consciousness of our heavenly Father's watchful care and protecting love. Let us say then with the poet,
Our Relationships with God / 111 It cometh, therefore, to this, Lord, That I have considered thy word, And I will henceforth be thy bird.
7. He likens us to chicks.
"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing." —Mt 23:37
The little chicken hides itself under the fortress of its mother's wings, and feels safe, no matter what enemies may be raging around; and we also may hide "under his wings," and have no fear. Suppose a little chicken should stand off trembling and frightened, when the hawk was in sight, refusing to go under the mother's wing, because it was too small and insignificant and helpless. Would not the mother's call say to it as plainly as words could speak, "It is just because you are little and helpless, that I want you under my wing. If you were strong and capable of protecting yourself, you would not need my wing." And does not God say the same in effect to us? Our helplessness and littleness constitute our right to his care. Let us then consent to de the little chickens, hidden under the blessed fortress of his divine wing.
He will cover you with his feathers, / and under his wings you will find refuge; / his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
—Ps 91:4
8. He calls us branches of the vine.
I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he trims clean so that it will be even more fruitful.
You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit
112 / The Open Secret by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Ifa man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.—Jn 15:1-5 Be branches then, and realize that you have no life apart from the vine: and realize also that you have nothing to do in order to bring forth much fruit, but to abide in the vine. The branch cannot bear fruit of itself, in the very nature of things.
Do not try, then, to do it, but abide in the vine, and let the life-giving sap flow through you, without effort on your part, and without anxiety. Only see to it that you do not hinder its flow by doubt or by rebellion. Be a branch and a branch only, and do not try to be anything else. Do not try to make the fruit, but consent to dear it. Let it grow.
9. He likens us to trees.
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, / whose confidence isin him. / He will be like atree planted by the water / that sends out its roots by the stream. / It does not fear when heat comes; / its leaves are always green. / It has no worries ina year of drought
/ and never fails to bear fruit.—Jer 17:7-8 (Ps 92:12-13; 1:3) 10. He likens us to flowers.
And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you not even
Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? —Mt 6:28-30 (Is 5:7)
Let us de trees and flowers then, and grow as they grow, ina happy unconsciousness of our growing. Let us consider them
"how they grow," and let us give up all our straining, and stretching, and self-efforts after growth, and try to grow like them by the power of an inward growing-life alone.
Let us be like them also in this, that we do not try to cultivate ourselves. Too many try to be their own husbandmen, and to
Our Relationships with God / 113 cultivate, and water, and dig about, and prune, and even sometimes to plant themselves. They try to be what they are not, and what they never can be, i.e., the husbandman instead of the branches, the gardener instead of the garden, the farmer instead of the trees and flowers. And of course they fail. But let us be what we are, the trees, and flowers, and gardens only, and let us leave to our Divine Husbandman all the care and responsibility of our growing and our blooming.
11. He likens us to clay.
Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. / We are the clay, you are the potter; / we are all the work of your hand.—Is 64:8 (Jer 18:6)
Let us de the clay then, and not the potter. Most people try to be both the clay and the potter. But this is an impossibility, and only mars the work. The clay must be put into the potter's hands, and abandoned to his working. The potter takes the clay thus abandoned to him, and begins to mold and fashion it to his will. The clay can do nothing but yield itselfto the potter and submit to his processes: the potter alone can do the fashioning and moulding; and the responsibility for this is all on his shoulders, not on the clay. Let us consent then to be what we are, and give up forever trying to be what we are not and never can be.
Does the clay say to the potter, / "What are you making?" / Does your work say, / "He has no hands?"—Is 45:9
12. He calls us vessels.
If a man cleanses himself from the latter [ignoble purposes], he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
—2 Tm 2:21 (Acts 9:15) The things that are necessary ina vessel are that it should be empty and clean. It is of comparatively little account for purposes of use, as to what is its shape or the material of which
114 / The Open Secret it is made. The Master can fill and use any vessel that is emptied of self and is open to receive his Spirit.
13. He calls us instruments.
Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.—Rom 6:13
You are my war club, / my weapon for battle— / with you I shatter nations, / with you I destroy kingdoms.—Jer 51:20
God does not tell us that we are the workmen, who are to use and manage the instruments, but that we are the instruments to be used and managed by the Divine Master Workman who made us, and who alone, therefore, understands for what work we are best fitted, and how to use us. The only thing the instrument can dois to "yield" itself perfectly to the will of the Master Workman. Romans 6:16. The Master surely knows how best to use his instruments, and it is plainly not the business of the tool to decide these questions for itself. Neither must it try to help by its own efforts to do the work. One absolutely necessary characteristic of a tool is its pliableness.
The moment resistance is felt in any tool, the moment it refuses to move just as the master wants, that moment it becomes unfit for use. If 1 am writing, and my fine gold pen begins to leak and to move with difficulty, I will soon lay it aside and take gladly in its place even a stub end of a lead pencil, if only it will move easily in obedience to my will. The strength of an instruments lies in its helplessness. Because it is helpless to do anything of itself, therefore the master can use it as he pleases. There must be no interference on the part of the instrument. So Paul says— But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.—2 Cor 12:9-10
Our Relationships with God / 115 The "power of Christ" can rest fully only upon those instruments who have no power of their own.
14. He calls us his treasure.
For the Lord has chosen Jacob to be his own, / Israel to be his treasured possession.—Ps 135:4
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine. ...—Ex 19:5
If God can call us his "treasured possession" let us take the joy of it to our souls. For, dear and precious to our hearts as are those we particularly love, far more dear and precious must we ourselves be to our Father in heaven, since he calls us his
"treasured possession." We always take special care of our treasures, and God will surely take special care of his.
15. He calls us his bride.
As a young man marries a maiden, / so will your sons marry you; / as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, / so will your God rejoice over you.—Is 62:5
I will betroth you to me forever; / I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, / in love and compassion. / I will betroth you in faithfulness, / and you wil! acknowledge the Lord.—Hos 2:19-20 (Eph 5:23-32) But little need be said concerning this. It gives us a sight of the love of espousals between Christ's heart and ours. Love takes different forms in our lives, and regards its object in many different ways. The love here set forth to us in this wondrous naming, is the highest and closest and most tender that human hearts can know, and it pictures to us a glory of affection between Christ's heart and ours, such as no words can adequately express. It is one of the latest revelations that come toa soul. At first we seek his gifts only, but at last we seek himself. At first we are occupied with our needs and come to the Lord simply to have them supplied. But at last we lose sight
116 / The Open Secret of the gifts in our longing for the Giver, and can be satisfied with nothing short of himself. Our souls cry out fora realized union with our Lord. And then there comes to us with untold joy the wonderful words, "As a Bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will thy God rejoice over thee," and we believe them, and enter into our rest in the bosom of our Beloved!
16. Finally he declares that we are one with himself.
That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are inme and] am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
—Jn 17:21-23 "That they may be one!" it is all shut up in this! One with the Father as the Son is one! Similarity of thought, of feeling, of desire, of love, of hate! We may have it all, if we will. We may walk through this life so united to Christ, that our cares and our interests, our sorrows and our joys, our purposes and our wishes will be the same. One will alone to govern, and that his will. One mind alone to lead us, and that his mind. He in us, and we in him, will then be our living; until at last, so intermingled will our lives become, that we shall be able to say in truth, always and everywhere, "Not I, but Christ." For self will vanish in such a union as this, and that great "I" of ours which so fills up our present horizon, will wilt down into nothing before the glory of his overcoming presence! Be one, then, since he says we are, and let the power of that oneness be lived out in every moment of our existence.
Dear reader, which one of these figures expresses your relationship with the Lord? Which name have you had an ear to hear whispered in the secret of your soul?
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden
Our Relationships with God / 117 manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it.—Rv 2:17
Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God.
Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.—Rv 3:12
Will we consent to let God write upon us his "new name?"
And what shall it be? He awaits our answer. For he may call us what he will, but until we consent to be what he calls us, the new name is not written upon us.
Choose your relationship then, either one, or all, and henceforth de what you have discovered you really are in the mind and will of God.
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