Without Spirit, We Miss The Mark

We are made of both spirit and mind, all contained somehow in a physical body. To myself, this is the miracle of being alive; being endowed with a spirit and mind that is the core of our existence. Two strong forces, vying for control. The mind is so strong, and is the center of our anxiety, worry, anger, much of our emotions. And the spirit is everlasting, made to be eternal, yet tied to this very transient living soul to prove itself worthy of our Creator. We are encouraged to not be carnally minded, meaning, not to live in the soulish realm of the mind, but to set our mind to eternal things of the spirit and be led by the Holy Spirit. Jesus implores us to seek FIRST the kingdom of God, and all things will be added unto us! It is so hard to do this when we are living in our carnal mind, instead of our spirit and bonded to the Great Spirit. It is when we are living in sync with the Great Spirit, we are truly living, and we can walk with out sin. Sinning means literally to "miss the mark", related to archery. When we live only in our mind, and are not led in spirit by the Great Spirit, we are not in sync with His good and perfect will, then we are missing the mark. Therefore, if we are not being led first by Spirit, we are sinning.

Real Persecution

Matthew 5:11 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

What stands out to me about this scripture is how easily it could be taken to mean that if a Christian lives out their faith, goes to the right church, wears the right shirt, votes for the right president, believes in a Jesus that is very well defined in their culture, that they are blessed when they are misunderstood or not accepted.

I would submit to anyone that being forsaken and persecuted in context was not merely for believing in Jesus, but for listening to the Spirit, being obedient, and effecting major and instrumental change within the Kingdom and against the enemy. When just living your life becomes warfare against evil, you can be certain the persecution and feeling forsaken is in your destiny. It is not conceivable that the enemy would tolerate such an adversary in you to allow you to peacefully be obedient to the Spirit and wreak havoc on their plans. Being forsake isn't about being made fun of because of your Jesus t-shirt or music, its because you are living a righteous life that yields fruit in the power of Spiritual manifestations that release the power of God to break strongholds. For that, you will surely be persecuted. And rightfully so. Most of us who call ourselves Christian, we do not even KNOW or understand the persecution and forsakenness that Jesus is speaking about here.

The true blessing comes from the obedience and the fruit of your works, which sets captives free, is satisfied by thirsting for righteousness, loves on the poor in spirit and meek, is a peacemaker, and is pure in heart. Blessed are you for your good fruits, and NOT for your culture of Christianity, your Jesus tshirt, or your political stance.

Church and Worship

I was talking to a friend today, who I am trying to help and encourage. One of the words of advice I gave was about church. I told her that we can't "go to" church. Church is something you bring to wherever you are. And also that worship isn't a music service, worship is obedience. These simple and profound truths have kept me alive and floating. Not that I am in some kind of rebellion against the church or worship music, but I feel a deeper understanding of what those things are. I feel church is everywhere, every day, all of the time. (Tangent thought, if you are expected to act a certain way in church, and church as omnipresent, how do YOU act?) I encouraged my friend that church is right here, right now. Its getting together, encouraging and lifting up one another, fellowship, sharing, engaging. But it definitely brings up another point of what church is not, and why I don't like to go to most conventional churches. Church should not be a one sided conversation. It shouldn't be just one or two people talking to a congregation of people and that's it once a week. Its that model, which to me, is non-relational and is void of the interaction, encouragement, engaging, conversing, and human contact that I crave. That is why I do not go to church much. Ironically, I go when I am playing music in the "worship" service. I do feel true worship when I play at times. But I feel true worship when I am driving to work. Or when I am in a room full of people. Or at home taking care of my daughters. I feel it at any time, because in my church, we are always in church.

Disclaimer AND The Desert IS Alive

Disclaimer: I am a terrible blogger. I realised this at 14 when I tried to keep a diary. My entries were sporadic, maybe one every few months, or even skipping years. Recently in my other blog's, I have had the same issue. I would try to fill in pages of blank non-entries with something, just out of some kind of diary-guilt. I try not to live a life of guilt and guilt driven fear anymore. That is why I cannot promise in this blog any regular type of entries. I know myself well enough to accept who I am and my lack of commitment to writing entries. That being said, I want to share on here my thoughts, and thoughts shared to me by the Spirit, who is the Creator of this world. I am a man of the land. Of the Earth. I have always felt a special connection to it. It is so fitting that I once worked as a Soil Scientist, I know a spiritual connection to the land, and I know the scientific connections and mechanisms. Another love I have is for the desert, in a place so barren and dry, apparently, there is so much life. Life that many do not see. Barren - is a misrepresentation, the desert is more than alive, it is waiting, patiently, while many overlook its beauty, to be discovered and understood, in its simple ways, in nuances that are appreciated at the lowest and highest levels.