A Right Spiritual Perspective Starts with Me

JOURNAL MUSING:

God prepares us for the ministry He has for us. Often I battle the feeling like I’m wasting time and being unproductive during the hours I spend with Him. Yet this really is the most important time of the day. God is refining me. What a true blessing. I rejoice in all He’s done. It’s like entering a new world–and I want everyone to go with me! Returning to normal living is the challenge.

Put to death sin that is in me that is against You, dear God. Expose it. Search me and try me, see if there is any wicked thing in me, Oh God, I ask it. In Thee do I trust from morning to evening, in season and out, year after year, I ask Your hand upon me, Your truth within me, and Your Spirit flowing from me.

We are either living in the Spirit or in the flesh (self first etc.). The door to both cannot be open at the same time. I’ve been thinking about Christians, how some find themselves living partly for the world and part in the church; how when the world becomes greater they want the church to adapt to the world and embrace some of its tenants. In its pure form, the church cannot remain unspoiled or unsoiled if it becomes sullied by the world–especially in its philosophy.

What the church believes about the authority of God, and then its response to that authority, makes a great deal of difference. If truth is compromised, the end result is a weakened message and an unstable foundation.

Remaining pure can also be practiced as an outward visage or manifestation–a conformity of behavior to codes and standards–which can also be misleading if pride and arrogance generate from the separateness. This one is subtle and takes great humility to recognize and overcome. I know, since I have been there and could easily return.

We are such a people of extremes. We rarely live in moderation. In truth, it all starts with me. No one else can live my life for me nor make my decisions. I long to have the blessed beauty of Christ to be made manifest in me.

I’m struck by how fickle people are. At one point in Acts 14, the people were practically worshiping Paul and Barnabas. Later that same day, the two missionaries were stoned and left for dead. It is amazing how opposition can create mass movement in a crowd–almost a frenzy.

Our hope has to be in the Lord. When we turn to Him and depend on His strength, our lives show forth His joy and good pleasure–which is seen by others. Sometimes we resist His pruning and become bitter complainers. Oh to let go of self and let God produce in us His blessed work.

After the winter comes spring.
After the rain comes a rainbow.
After sorrow comes joy.

…

April 2003
Journal 3

‡Copied from journal quotes written the year I was struggling with the effects of  job loss and divorce. I was seeking to know God in close relationship. I spent long hours in bible reading, supplication, and meditation while my children were at school.

True Christ-following is real, genuine and authentic Christian living and is a highly personal journey, no two Christ-followers are exactly alike. “An Organic Church is not a theater with a script, but a lifestyle, an authentic journey with the Lord Jesus and His disciples” attributed to Frank Viola at www.organicchurch.com.

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