Where do we start?
Greetings in the name of Jesus:
One of the things most ignored in our spiritual lives is the need to continually work on balance between the physical and spiritual areas of our lives. Unlike any other creature we have been created to be both spiritual and physical. That means that Satan has the opportunity to work on us in both areas. In the "PHYISICAL" parts of our lives there can be things that keep us from doing what we need to do spiritually. Physical illnesses, depressions, and over burdens can pull us away from concentrating on our relationship with God. But there are other things that can also get in the way. Spiritual overkill can be just as hazardous to keep us as physically not staying in balance because we close off our minds to problems that spiritually cannot be dealt with. As an example disease is not a spiritual problem. Being overburdened with problems of this world is not a spiritual problem. Our views and reactions to ourselves and how we look at our worth physically is not a spiritual problem, and yet we treat these many times as spiritual issues.
Balance is not achieved in an over kill mentality. We cannot look at this life as being all of one thing and none of the other. A balanced life is a life that includes all things in it in a balanced way. The pleasures of this life and the things that make us happy are as much a part of maintaining our health and balance as the list of things that you avoid. What makes you happy about yourself and allows you to love who you are becomes as important as the dedication that you have two guns will for your life. It is important to realize that each day we rise we need to look at our balance for that day because it is a part of maintenance of balance that keeps us close to God.
There are attitudes that we need to maintain in our lives that help us stay close to God as well and staying in touch with ourselves. The phrase "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"is a good place for us to start; by asking ourselves "what is that mean to me"? Does it mean that you should do all things by yourself because you are invincible? Does it mean that you should wait for God to tell you what it is he wants from you? Do you think that there are always others who are ordained to do a part of the work that God has given you to do? You see having this balance is very important in your relationship with father. Social balance gives us the ability to get along well in group settings, however when does this become an issue in our relationship to God? If we are socially adjusted and accepted, does that mean we are accepted by our heavenly father? The idea of playing well with others has always been stressed, but is there a point when it becomes a determent for us to just go along with the crowd to get along in our life? What was the relationship that Christ had with the church community? And finally we need to ask ourselves which becomes the most important for us to do, following the rules and regulations of the church we go to or the example of Christ when we deal with everyday life situations?
Why is that so important? The believer of this generation will be forced to give an account for what they believe and why they believe it. We live in the last days before Christ's return. When we are confronted with what we believe and why we believe it are we ready to give an answer? For many people it is simple to spit out the information that we have been taught without checking it out to see if it's true or not. So we must ask ourselves what part of our relationship with God is dependent upon our knowledge of the truth about who we are and why we were created? Can we afford to continue to just go through the motions of being a child of God without really understanding why we are?
Finally in this discussion I want to give you an idea of what it means to give an account for what and why we believe. We have all been told what we believe by others most all of our Christian lives, but when was it that we set down and learned for ourselves what we really did believe? What does it take to shake your faith in the principles that you hold as truth? What does it take for your faith to be strengthened? There are some very important factors in the development of a solid faith. First we need to know that we believe because we have firsthand experience in something or in someone. Just in a courtroom where an eyewitness account carries more weight than hearsay evidence, so it is with our Christian experience. We need to be able to believe because we have researched the facts for ourselves. One of the ways to do that effectively is to study with others or set and reason with others on ideas and possible answers, then making your mind up to believe based on the conclusions that you draw, but I also think it is important for us to look up the reference material that takes us directly to passages in God's word that we can read for ourselves rather than take the word of someone else. These are important and basic reasons for the development of our belief, but few of these are really being used in the development of the Christian's modern faith today. The principles that are being used in the established churches of today require very few of the principles of true belief. It is my prayer that each one of us would take a very close look at what and why we believe what we do. You are always in my prayers. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
One of the things most ignored in our spiritual lives is the need to continually work on balance between the physical and spiritual areas of our lives. Unlike any other creature we have been created to be both spiritual and physical. That means that Satan has the opportunity to work on us in both areas. In the "PHYISICAL" parts of our lives there can be things that keep us from doing what we need to do spiritually. Physical illnesses, depressions, and over burdens can pull us away from concentrating on our relationship with God. But there are other things that can also get in the way. Spiritual overkill can be just as hazardous to keep us as physically not staying in balance because we close off our minds to problems that spiritually cannot be dealt with. As an example disease is not a spiritual problem. Being overburdened with problems of this world is not a spiritual problem. Our views and reactions to ourselves and how we look at our worth physically is not a spiritual problem, and yet we treat these many times as spiritual issues.
Balance is not achieved in an over kill mentality. We cannot look at this life as being all of one thing and none of the other. A balanced life is a life that includes all things in it in a balanced way. The pleasures of this life and the things that make us happy are as much a part of maintaining our health and balance as the list of things that you avoid. What makes you happy about yourself and allows you to love who you are becomes as important as the dedication that you have two guns will for your life. It is important to realize that each day we rise we need to look at our balance for that day because it is a part of maintenance of balance that keeps us close to God.
There are attitudes that we need to maintain in our lives that help us stay close to God as well and staying in touch with ourselves. The phrase "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"is a good place for us to start; by asking ourselves "what is that mean to me"? Does it mean that you should do all things by yourself because you are invincible? Does it mean that you should wait for God to tell you what it is he wants from you? Do you think that there are always others who are ordained to do a part of the work that God has given you to do? You see having this balance is very important in your relationship with father. Social balance gives us the ability to get along well in group settings, however when does this become an issue in our relationship to God? If we are socially adjusted and accepted, does that mean we are accepted by our heavenly father? The idea of playing well with others has always been stressed, but is there a point when it becomes a determent for us to just go along with the crowd to get along in our life? What was the relationship that Christ had with the church community? And finally we need to ask ourselves which becomes the most important for us to do, following the rules and regulations of the church we go to or the example of Christ when we deal with everyday life situations?
Why is that so important? The believer of this generation will be forced to give an account for what they believe and why they believe it. We live in the last days before Christ's return. When we are confronted with what we believe and why we believe it are we ready to give an answer? For many people it is simple to spit out the information that we have been taught without checking it out to see if it's true or not. So we must ask ourselves what part of our relationship with God is dependent upon our knowledge of the truth about who we are and why we were created? Can we afford to continue to just go through the motions of being a child of God without really understanding why we are?
Finally in this discussion I want to give you an idea of what it means to give an account for what and why we believe. We have all been told what we believe by others most all of our Christian lives, but when was it that we set down and learned for ourselves what we really did believe? What does it take to shake your faith in the principles that you hold as truth? What does it take for your faith to be strengthened? There are some very important factors in the development of a solid faith. First we need to know that we believe because we have firsthand experience in something or in someone. Just in a courtroom where an eyewitness account carries more weight than hearsay evidence, so it is with our Christian experience. We need to be able to believe because we have researched the facts for ourselves. One of the ways to do that effectively is to study with others or set and reason with others on ideas and possible answers, then making your mind up to believe based on the conclusions that you draw, but I also think it is important for us to look up the reference material that takes us directly to passages in God's word that we can read for ourselves rather than take the word of someone else. These are important and basic reasons for the development of our belief, but few of these are really being used in the development of the Christian's modern faith today. The principles that are being used in the established churches of today require very few of the principles of true belief. It is my prayer that each one of us would take a very close look at what and why we believe what we do. You are always in my prayers. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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