Recently I revisited some notes on a line of reflection initiated as I sat in traffic driving home one day. At the time I was playing a reflection game (to harness my thoughts to Christ), whereby you would look at something in your surroundings and then draw from the anointing to make a connection to Christ and His perfect provision for our faith.

The Spirit ministered the word “suspension” just as my eye fell on the car ahead of me, prompting consideration of vehicle suspension as an analogy for the things of God. Such gifts of the Holy Spirit, as this word of knowledge, manifests God’s direct involvement with those sealed to Him in Jesus’ new covenant, as we build and bond with Him through the spiritual tools of faith He sanctified with the blood of Christ.

At this point I must clarify that the act of reflection I am referring to is not an open exploration of the imagination to take the thoughts wherever it may roam, but a faithful referencing of the foundation knowledge of Christ. As we read in 1 Samuel 2:3b “…for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.”

Throughout the scriptures, each time God’s people departed from His ways He would establish a steward (called and equipped of Him) to restore their faith through knowledge. Noah did this, Moses did this, Ezra did this, and ultimately Jesus came to bring new knowledge for a new covenant, and He prepared His apostles with a measure of grace in the calling to lay that accurate foundation of truth in the hearts of believers.

1 Corinthians 3:10
According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon.

This is the same remarkable unfolding of Christ in the 12 elements of His gospel which God has restored to the church in our time by the restoration of the apostles office. Once a believer has been sealed with the baptism of the Holy Spirit (evidenced by tongues), and received this re-education from His living apostles, this knowledge opens the eyes to behold Christ accurately not only in the scriptures, but also in the tokens He ministers for the feeding of our faith daily.

The anointing is activated by each choice of faith to reach to His truth (reflect by weighing to His knowledge), and discernment follows to keep us progressing in the way. This is especially crucial in our cycles of growth as the Lord allows for the testing of our faith – as He recently ministered in a word of wisdom: “discern, decide, do”, which spoke of encouraging the saints to follow through on that labor with truth, activating the anointing unto gaining Godly discernment.

As we are granted the power to discern between the two kingdoms each presenting knowledge to direct the mind either in the way of righteousness or iniquity, we follow through by deciding to conform to Christ in obedience of faith, and then do so by laboring with His holy knowledge and tools to overcome self, Satan and the world.

The importance of having that foundation of truth to draw from cannot be overestimated, so let’s draw from our freely accessible online IDCCST Course to learn more:

In science, the periodic table is another good example of a foundation. The periodic table is used to organize information about the naturally occurring elements in the earth to predict what they will do and how they react to each other. Rather than simply memorize what they are, the elements are used to describe how they behave.

The same is true spiritually. When we enter into covenant, we are given the 12 elements of the gospel. Whether we are talking about successfully completing a growth cycle from revelation to resistance to reward, or whether we are talking about stewarding the grace of God, or learning how to overcome self, Satan, and the world, or offering spiritual sacrifices to God, each of the 12 elements come into play to describe how we experience the life of Christ. The elements of the gospel are the foundation from which we build faith to reflect Jesus Christ perfectly.

[handbook page 270 or online week 7]

Now that we’ve established the ground rules of reflection, we can get back to the word suspension, to share a few reflections I had noted down at the time. I thought of how a vehicle’s shock absorber system makes for a safer and more comfortable ride, which is paralleled to what reflection does for our mobility of faith. This started a line of reflection from which I could offer spiritual sacrifices to the Lord, which made for a very edifying ride home.

Looking up vehicle suspension online once home, Wikipedia defined it as:
“Suspension is the system of tires, tire air, springs, shock absorbers and linkages that connects a vehicle to its wheels and allows relative motion between the two. Suspension systems must support both road holding/handling and ride quality, which are at odds with each other.”

Reading how much more is involved in suspension, and seeing pictures of the various systems was quite edifying when taken to Christ in terms of an analogy ministering of the intricacy of God’s design for our faith’s functioning – how much is at play behind the scenes to make for our fruitful progression every time we start those engines of faith by laboring with the tools of Christ.

Just as shock absorbers work in conjunction with all those other elements listed in the suspension definition, so likewise do the 12 elements of the gospel work in perfect synergy to effect the work of salvation within. And furthermore, our activity of reflecting on the knowledge of God joins us to all that God provided for a perfect balance between the “road holding” of progressing through the needful challenges set before us (grace & suffering), and the “ride quality” of doing so in the comfort and consolation of the Spirit (faith & patience).

So what might be some of the other aspects involved in faith’s suspension?

• Reflection links us to the doctrine; truth gives mobility to our faith as it turns over in the mind to progress our reason by the anointing, from carnal perception (own feelings, failings and desires) unto our true reality which is measured to Christ.
• As air in tires adds to its suspension, making driving much safer, more efficient and comfortable, so reflection links us to the witness of the Holy Spirit, entering into truth to make it living, quickening understanding to our hearts.
• Reflection builds with the gifts and manifold graces of the Lord, which tokens are as linkages whereby to make the needful connections of faith that facilitate overcoming and increase.
• Reflection also links us to the empowerment of God in elements such as grace and peace, which are as springs which further buffer against the impact of “the road”. We see herein God’s provision considering the mental and emotional impact of enduring the presence of death in the contradictions, controversies, conflicts, contrasts and contrariness faced in our daily cycles of growth.

The ability to reflect on Christ is such a gift to our faith – it allows us instant contact with the Lord, and access to the volumes of wisdom which manifest His love to us in a very tactile way. When the foundation is sound, Jesus is truly present as the cornerstone and our building in faith progresses effectively.