Spirit and Religion

"God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. "

                                                        1 John 1:5                

     That's a pretty black and white statement, at the most primitive level. Our fellowship with God can only be realized through Jesus Christ. We do not work our way into true faith, especially in the light of verses like "...no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says 'Jesus is Accursed!' and no one can say 'Jesus is Lord' except in the Holy Spirit."
     We do not work out our own salvation by means of our own actions. God saves us! This is His Spirit. Abraham did not need religion or the church to find our faith. And neither do we. But Abraham did need God, his faith, and a fellowship of righteous friends. The only thing not imperative are the friends.
   

"If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth."

     All this said we do need to "walk" and work out our faith, just not before we have faith. And we are not always "in the Light as He is in the light". We have to turn our face towards His. We can act out our faith carnally before others, and even ourselves, but can never actually be "in the Light" unless we humble ourselves and "seek first the kingdom.
     Too many things cloud our eyes in this world. Things we made up. But we did not create our faith. That is something we find by the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Blasé demeanor

It's been over a year...I guess I'll jump back into this. My life is full of stuff..stuff...stuff. And so, to illustrate my nonchalant return, as I feel my Spiritually is these days, I will keyboard scribble in a blasé demeanor.

"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you"

-Matt. something : something

You ever heard someone say, "If we only had one page out of the Bible that would be enough?" Well, I don't know if that was the exact wording I heard, but it's something to ponder. Let's extend it to "One scroll". Because obviously they weren't "pages" until Gutenberg in the mid 15th century (I think, doesn't really matter"). Is the story of man made in perfection, falling into sin, Jesus becoming a sacrifice for that sin, and the promise of Christ' return all on that scroll? We have to remember that the Living Word (Hebrews 4:12) and the ACTUAL words are unanimously different (literary liberties). Just like reading a music chart, you gotta first know the Spirit of music. Can't just play it like a computer.

If all we had was "Seek first..." would that be enough. God would give us the rest if we lived out that verse. If God can add all these things (material necessities) then he's all-powerful. If it's "His" kingdom and righteousness then ours must be flawed. And as we humbly seek we would surely find Christ. Just like we would surely find the true meaning of the song in the chart. A song that was written by a man and is flawed/dead in it's existence on paper/scroll.

There go I with one thought (ideally). To seek first His kingdom and realize all these things have been added or I'd be dead, having nothing to seek before Him.

Two Sides of the Same Coin

Saint James states, "...if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was."

Doing the Word has physical actions but a lot of times begins in a conscious thought. I often forget what God taught me in previous trials. Here's one to remember.

Most ungodly traits counterfeit truth. This makes it complicated because the truth cannot be reached simply by seeking something completely opposite of the lie. This is found in love, money, music, art, family, leadership, sex, motive, friendship,...

So, what's the difference and how do we flip the coin?

Whit's End

Staring at the walls of my day to day life I imagine walking away into the unknown sunset where all possibilities merge like rivers before an ocean.

I look at my hands, the life within. These walls and this air have no room for me or the life dwelling inside. I want to express myself and be human. I long to discover the power in my soul and get off this Tatooine planet.

But this is not my walk. This is not now. To arrive at the delta marks the end of the river. To achieve whit's end and say "I shall not want" marks the beginning of the ocean.

God will not open the seas for our discovering until we learn to read His nature. Without him we will crash back on the shore or fall prey to the South Seas.

If I allow room for self-discovery in my soul then God cannot have his complete way with me. If I want all that today has for me I must first let all ambition go and achieve the whit's end of my self.

The Jordan River

Beyond the Jordan river lies my promise. My soul thirsts for something I can't explain. I'm discovering more and more the reality that I can't cross the Jordan until it's time.

"All things work together for good to those who love God

 and are called according to His purpose."

Romans 8:28

I have a tendency to get complacent and bored as I wait for the bridegroom to come. Many times I have burned all my oil seeking pleasure and entertainment. But I always hold dear to those nights waiting for God to come while my friends and colleagues laughed and cheered pursuing and achieving success.

Why do I spend my nights staring across the Jordan? The times I turn away lead me to a shut door. Behind a voice says, "I do not know you."

While I wait in these field herding my sheep I must settle for lions and bears because without them Goliath will defeat me. My confidence is still skin deep and my talk is big. All things work together a lot faster when I learn to wait on the Lord. That's what I'm learning, to wait.

"Not my will but Yours be done on earth as it is in heaven."

From Chaos Comes Clarity

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.

Nick Hexum might not have meant what I mean by my title but I'll run with it. In this post I'm basically quoting Oswald Chambers and letting it reflect off the other posts. 

Oswald writes

"When the Holy Spirit comes into a man 'his beauty is consumed away', the perfectly ordered completeness of his whole nature is broken up; then the Holy Spirit, brooding over the chaos that is produced, brings a word of God, and as that word is received and obeyed a new life is formed."

Lately, I've realized it's not about redeeming what was once innocence in me. I need my slate wiped clean. That means all the victories and defeats are with Christ.

Scapegoat - Bad Parent

Have you ever allowed blame to be placed on another even though it was technically your fault? But since the actions leading up to the incident were instigated by another you drop the gavel and escape judgment? But really no one cares but you so you really just screw your conscience?