Freedom...Yes, it's nice...
Yesterday was one of those day's that was really high...and really low, but in the reverse order. There were some amazing things that I learned. I would really like to share some of the things, but not really, so I have compromised with myself and will share with you one trinket of new wisdom I gained. Here it is:
Yesterday both of my friends talked with me about seeing our life as a spiritual person having a physical experience, yea, yea we all know the cliché, right? But do we experience the cliché? One comment was made that people view themselves through there physical body but don't realize that if they lose a finger, arm, or leg they have not lost any part of themselves. As spiritual beings we are contained within ourselves, we are not our physical bodies, we are what is within our bodies, if we loose a part of our body that doesn't take away from who we are...it is difficult to write out revelation.
The other part of this whole thing is people. People who shine their lights. My friend also talked about people, Christian who have started off life bad but then had a salvation experience and turned there less than glamorous decisions into amazing ministry opportunities, things like drug clinics, single mother’s supports groups, prison ministry, ect. We don't want to go to prison so we can start a prison ministry, but you know the guy who has one has a heart for the people who he ministers too. Same goes for drug clinics and homeless shelters.
It's amazing to see these people's lights shining in the city one of the friends said. As you look around the city, do you see the lights shining? I was blown away at the thought of those people's little shacks and poorly funded ministries as being lights in a city. Does that do something to your insides? Does it completely change the way you see things? As a spiritual being who walks around the city how many lights are shining? As we allow the Lord to open our eyes in this way, and maintain a spiritual perspective...I think we would see the lights shine brighter and brighter, but those who are evil...are blinded by the light...
I am a physical person who once in a while has a spiritual experience, at least that's how I live. I think about everyone lights shining and I told my wife, it's like we are a bristle on a Christmas tree and all we see are other bristles, then one day God opens our eyes to a light next to us (as my friend did) and then we start to see one a little farther away, then another, and another. And as we grow in the Lord and develop relationships with these believers they open our eyes to others who are lights. As this happens we begin to see an entire network of lights and the string that holds them together. I have a suspicion that if we got the opportunity to get off of the tree and see it from across the room I think we would realize that all of the lights are off in the house except for the ones attached to the Christmas tree. And I think that if we stood outside at night we would be able to see the lights on the tree inside and if we stepped back even further I think we would only see I giant light glowing from inside a house down the road....and I think its a powerful image of what happens as we give up a little bit more of ourselves and begin to live our lives as spiritual people have a physical experience......
One more quick thought, it seems that we think about what it will be like once we get to eternal life, I’ve got news for ya, you received eternal life when you were saved, let’s enjoy the journey.
EDIT: My wife reminded me that in our original conversation I told her that we are also lights on the Christmas tree...this also works very well in the analogy, we just have to make sure that if we are going to be lights we have to make sure we are all the way screwed in (or connected to Christ)
Yesterday both of my friends talked with me about seeing our life as a spiritual person having a physical experience, yea, yea we all know the cliché, right? But do we experience the cliché? One comment was made that people view themselves through there physical body but don't realize that if they lose a finger, arm, or leg they have not lost any part of themselves. As spiritual beings we are contained within ourselves, we are not our physical bodies, we are what is within our bodies, if we loose a part of our body that doesn't take away from who we are...it is difficult to write out revelation.
The other part of this whole thing is people. People who shine their lights. My friend also talked about people, Christian who have started off life bad but then had a salvation experience and turned there less than glamorous decisions into amazing ministry opportunities, things like drug clinics, single mother’s supports groups, prison ministry, ect. We don't want to go to prison so we can start a prison ministry, but you know the guy who has one has a heart for the people who he ministers too. Same goes for drug clinics and homeless shelters.
It's amazing to see these people's lights shining in the city one of the friends said. As you look around the city, do you see the lights shining? I was blown away at the thought of those people's little shacks and poorly funded ministries as being lights in a city. Does that do something to your insides? Does it completely change the way you see things? As a spiritual being who walks around the city how many lights are shining? As we allow the Lord to open our eyes in this way, and maintain a spiritual perspective...I think we would see the lights shine brighter and brighter, but those who are evil...are blinded by the light...
I am a physical person who once in a while has a spiritual experience, at least that's how I live. I think about everyone lights shining and I told my wife, it's like we are a bristle on a Christmas tree and all we see are other bristles, then one day God opens our eyes to a light next to us (as my friend did) and then we start to see one a little farther away, then another, and another. And as we grow in the Lord and develop relationships with these believers they open our eyes to others who are lights. As this happens we begin to see an entire network of lights and the string that holds them together. I have a suspicion that if we got the opportunity to get off of the tree and see it from across the room I think we would realize that all of the lights are off in the house except for the ones attached to the Christmas tree. And I think that if we stood outside at night we would be able to see the lights on the tree inside and if we stepped back even further I think we would only see I giant light glowing from inside a house down the road....and I think its a powerful image of what happens as we give up a little bit more of ourselves and begin to live our lives as spiritual people have a physical experience......
One more quick thought, it seems that we think about what it will be like once we get to eternal life, I’ve got news for ya, you received eternal life when you were saved, let’s enjoy the journey.
EDIT: My wife reminded me that in our original conversation I told her that we are also lights on the Christmas tree...this also works very well in the analogy, we just have to make sure that if we are going to be lights we have to make sure we are all the way screwed in (or connected to Christ)
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