When I think about myself, I realize when I show signs of struggle and stress my ego has returned. The strength of our ego strengthens our sense of disconnection we have within our relationships with others. Here I find that ego and pride can be interchangeable!
When we are walking according to the grace God has bestowed upon us, we are inclusive to all people, not just toward people of like religion, race or political choice. The good works we do rate second to our spiritually wholeness. This spiritual wholeness I am speaking of is who we are in Christ. Christ within us produces the outward ways of living our faith!—or the action.
Without this inner growth, outward actions are worthless. We become what I refer to as "an empty suit". We look good, smell good and do good but are really empty--without Christ! Therefore, we remain dead. Any action done without our inner growth and the love of Christ just feeds our ego. (Hence, the firty years in the desert experience—around the mountain one more time!) This is the cycle of the ego—better known as pride, which I believe is the center of our old nature, our unsaved selves.
We can totally miss the point of our human existence and our purpose if we continue to allow the human condition of our mind and spirit to remain in conflict. Conflicts in our personal relationships are also caused by EGO. Fear, greed, and desire for power drives wedges between our relationships. These emotions are created by dysfunction or original sin. This sin is a stain on our spirit and also taints our minds. So how do we conquer these false characteristics? The Blood of Christ makes our spirit man right with God. It is then up to us to apply the Blood to our minds.
Trying to do good does not make us good—It is the awareness of the goodness within (Christ) and releasing that goodness (Christ love) that will change our conscious mind. What I am driving at is that once we are saved we must choose to wash our minds with the love and power of the Word!—Christ Himself and the written word. We must act on transforming our minds from the dysfunction we were been born into!
So do we agree that our state of mind has been in a form of dysfunction? Well, the good news is that Jesus saves and He brings light to not only our spirits but also our minds. He sets us free to choose. He breaks the chains of darkness over our minds and gives us the opportunity to let the light in. We are no longer held captive to sin. NOW we are free; we are liberated! AMEN.
In twelve step meetings they refer to "insanity of addiction" as the inessential driving to our over indulging just to satisfy a bottomless hole we crave to fill with our drug of choice (food, alcohol, chemical dependency, and chocolate). This vortex we have is derived from our dysfunction. (Sinning is missing the purpose of our existence)
The more we try to fill our empty hole with things (possessions, money, sickness attention, and deeds of kindness) the further away we become to having a relationship with our heavenly Father and to our true self. Our conscience becomes seared and we are lost in the black hole. The more we gratify ourselves with self-enhancement and materialistic desires; the more we build up our self-image with earthly possessions, and pump ourselves up with positions of status the least likely we will be able to find our true spiritual being.
We need a foundational shift from the worldly things to our spiritual being. We need to be awakened by the blood of Jesus! A fundamental spirit awakening to Jesus our Savior and an enlightening to a transformed walk by aligning ourselves with the Holy Spirit to shine upon the good that has already been placed within us so that we can grow from faith to faith and from glory to glory!
You might say church has the answer, the established religion if you will. I say NO! The answer is within you and your personal, secret relationship with your Lord, your God.
Religion has made God in its own image and likeness! There are people with the framework of religion who have experienced a shift in their consciousness. Their life has become dependent on the Holy Sprit's leading. They are the ones who bring life to such structured religions and through no fault of their own lead new believers in thinking that the structural church is their light and salvation. They may say the words, that the Lord is their Lord and Savior, yet point people to church functions, classes, teachings, and so forth to mature them instead of pointing them to the Word of God and setting an example of praying, listening, journaling, and living according to the Living Word of the Spirit.
My challenge for us today is to do away with, chip away, and let go of our identification with form, dogma, and ridged belief systems and discover the original depth of our being. It is hidden yet uncovered by the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus and the love of God our Father.
Realizing how 'spiritual' you are has nothing to do with your beliefs… but everything to do with your new state of consciousness—a changed mindset. This will determine how you will act in the world and it will also determine how you will interact with others.
LOVE is revealed, LOVE revives, and LOVE transforms our natural being as well as our spirit being.
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