From Here to There: Spiritual Transformation
Finding God in the Daily
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all.
The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
John 6:63
Pain, disappointments, and wounds get buried. To allow them in the conversation might seem at odds with spiritual belief. The truth is, coverups don't work in spiritual life. Issues need to be addressed with God to live freely in the spirit.
Active engagement with God affects spiritual perceptions. Reorganization in the interior self initiates an altering of viewpoint. Impact in the hidden place, which long functioned as a repository for hurts, wounds, and struggle, is inevitable. Hiding the wounded self is natural in believing Christians for many reasons. This is problematic. Hiding behind belief creates a false front. Internalized pain erects a barrier that disrupts the flow between experience and belief.
Active engagement with God affects spiritual perceptions. Reorganization in the interior self initiates an altering of viewpoint. Impact in the hidden place, which long functioned as a repository for hurts, wounds, and struggle, is inevitable. Hiding the wounded self is natural in believing Christians for many reasons. This is problematic. Hiding behind belief creates a false front. Internalized pain erects a barrier that disrupts the flow between experience and belief.
For spiritual life to thrive, the barriers need to come down. After the shake-up happens,
when the spiritual awakens and enlivens the soul, those formerly empty clichés no longer ring a false note. Experience and belief blend into one solid, health-building unit. Gone are pretense and disillusionment. The means to get there takes a process and some doing.
Once the deeper understanding is apprehended and becomes part of daily experience, spiritual life is anchored in such a way that the person becomes secure, content, confident and able to function well while in the best and worst of times. Because spiritual life is centered and secure, the personal flows hand-in-hand with the spiritual. No longer does a breach separate belief from experience. The two operate on the same page and act in tandem with each other.
The effects of this are wonderful. Newness in outlook and refreshment in the spirit have internal liveliness and quiet authority. Others can't help but notice the change. What is this? they ponder. A thing of beauty, transformational and real, is happening right before their eyes. From the inside to out, the Christ-life is transformational, and it shows. This amazes onlookers.
Once the deeper understanding is apprehended and becomes part of daily experience, spiritual life is anchored in such a way that the person becomes secure, content, confident and able to function well while in the best and worst of times. Because spiritual life is centered and secure, the personal flows hand-in-hand with the spiritual. No longer does a breach separate belief from experience. The two operate on the same page and act in tandem with each other.
The effects of this are wonderful. Newness in outlook and refreshment in the spirit have internal liveliness and quiet authority. Others can't help but notice the change. What is this? they ponder. A thing of beauty, transformational and real, is happening right before their eyes. From the inside to out, the Christ-life is transformational, and it shows. This amazes onlookers.
In the context of a soul-changing intervention, what transpires throughout the process is utterly
life-changing and is evident once the intervention
has culminated. It is like how you know you are free once you experience
freedom. God heals, engages the heart, mind, and soul, sets free, and opens a new path.
A soul-changing intervention enacts several steps that enable a living relationship with God. God, plus the individual, are in this for the long haul. They cannot act independent of each other for this is a joint venture. To be frank, a soul-changing intervention is an active time of serious soul searching combined with intentional seeking of God for answers and truth.
Dear Father, Thank you. You meet us where we're at and it doesn't phase You. Amen
A soul-changing intervention enacts several steps that enable a living relationship with God. God, plus the individual, are in this for the long haul. They cannot act independent of each other for this is a joint venture. To be frank, a soul-changing intervention is an active time of serious soul searching combined with intentional seeking of God for answers and truth.
Dear Father, Thank you. You meet us where we're at and it doesn't phase You. Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment