A Need To Process Our Experiences

Joyandpeace said:

Let me say it differently.
Anything with an eternal purpose (Him) is good.
Anything else will be burned up.
But not because it is sin (necessarily).
But because it was useless for eternal gain and purpose.
So is it pointless to do/think things that are not about Him?
Yes, probably so - but I don't think that makes it sin necessarily.

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I believe there are plenty of examples in the Word that show how God is a jealous God and is not pleased when we allow anything to become more important to us than Him or His desire for us. It's called idolatry.

But honestly, the sin wasn't really the focus of the my earlier statement - God's desire for us to become everything He designed us to be was. I'm not into sin management. I'm into pursuing the heart of God. I believe we stand covered by the blood of Christ and our sins are forgiven... even those sins we may or may not be aware of.

What is more important to me is that while I am still in this realm, my greatest desire be to submit to my Father - beyond all self-interest. All this world has to offer are substitutes intended to steal our hearts and distract us from walking in the spirit and being one with our Father.

dallasapple said:

TW,

Thank you.


I think I get glimpses of this. Its a feeling of fullness.In your mind ,body,and heart. And so it spills out of you.You arent rooting around.Its the opposite.The opposite of hunger.

For me it only last a micro-second.But I understand.I think.

Blessings

Dallas

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One micro-second at a time. It's a journey Dallas.

Joyandpeace said:

Oh! - well I'm in agreement with this part of your statement. It is the sin part of your statement that I questioned!

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Consider the following:

Haggai 1:1-11

1 In the second year of King Darius, on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:

2 "The Lord of Hosts says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt."

3 The word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet:

4 "Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins?"

5 Now, the Lord of Hosts says this: "Think carefully about your ways:

6 You have planted much but harvested little. You eat but never have enough to be satisfied. You drink but never have enough to become drunk. You put on clothes but never have enough to get warm. The wage earner [puts his] wages into a bag with a hole in it."

7 The Lord of Hosts says this: "Think carefully about your ways.

8 Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house. Then I will be pleased with it and be glorified," says the Lord.

9 "You expected much, but then it amounted to little. When you brought [the harvest] to your house, I ruined it. Why?" [This is] the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. "Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.

10 So on your account, the skies have withheld the dew and the land its crops.

11 I have summoned a drought on the fields and the hills, on the grain, new wine, olive oil, and whatever the ground yields, on the people and animals, and on all that your hands produce."

For twelve years the people of Israel had neglected building God’s temple while they focused on their own needs. Here’s the question to us today... where do we personally put God and His work in our life? Is it central or a sidebar? It’s about priorities.

It’s interesting in the passage above that the people had been discouraged, disinterested and disappointed. They had pulled back from doing what God had said... and you know what? They were real spiritual about it. They had good doctrine and they blamed it on the Lord. They said... “Well the time hasn’t come yet to build the temple.” Isn’t that interesting? Doesn’t that sound spiritual? It’s all in the Lords time… the Lord has that in His hands... the Lord has that all under control.

They had taken a self-serving choice and didn’t have the guts and integrity to acknowledge that it WAS a self serving choice. They “theologized” their lack of progress in the spiritual realm and said it’s not God’s time yet.

How ‘bout if God comes and sits down and has a talk with us and asks us about our spiritual life... about what He’s building in us. What would our answer be? What if God asks us about our priorities and where we are putting our energy and what we’re investing in the Kingdom? What would our answer be?

“Well, you know, I pray, but it just doesn’t seem to be working so it must not be the Lord’s time. Revival would be nice... and it sure would be cool to see God moving, but, a guys got to live you know... the interest rates are low... it’s time to fix up the house.”

Are we neglecting God’s house? God’s place... God’s worship... God’s honor in our life and shoving it down on our priority list. You know what? God will not be a number on our priority list... even if it’s number one. He IS the list. There’s only one item on the list and it’s HIM. We don’t get just a “little bit of God” on our list. God isn’t something we get to try out... He’s the God of the universe! We surrender our life to Him and we build our life around Him. So our relationship with God is not a part of our life... it’s everything! And within that context our relationship with our family has meaning and takes it’s place. Our work takes it’s place. The things that we do take their place. Ministry takes it’s place. Everything falls into place because He’s everything. And so, when we’re arranging our lives they are to be built around and in and for Him. He is to permeate everything that we do.

“In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)

Here’s an important point. The process of figuring out how God permeates our lives is called discipleship. We learn to live in this process and grow. And this concept and process is so vital because it keeps us from the tendency we have to compartmentalize our lives. Home life. Spiritual life. Work life. Recreational life. And for each of these we have a different face. Church face. Work Face. Home Face. Etc. Of course different things are required of us at different places in our life, but we are to be the same person everywhere... at all times.

God WEAVING us with Him to live our lives to the full.