Physical body vs. Spiritual body

What if the defining factor of any person’s joy in life is actually based on their attainment of alignment between their physical reality (body, decisions, actions, behavior, beliefs, etc) and their own unique spiritual reality.  The closer attuned the person is, the more joy that person experiences.  Of course the spiritual reality is within the domain of God and/or the Kingdom.  The focus on the physical body is actually, then, the cause of pain, anguish, sin, separation from God.  That focus on the physical is due to fear, over-reliance on physical senses, deceipt.

Signs

Last few days have been really stressful with the house situation.  The owners countered too high and then [my wife] and I started reconsidering whether this is the right thing to do right now at this price.  It doesn’t add up to be as affordable as we feel comfortable with.

As I struggled with thinking through it today, I prayed to God that I trusted him and asked to be shown a sign.  As I looked around me, I saw four stop signs.  I laughed – coincedence, right?  Then I looked around more, hoping to find a sign with a positive message – I saw a sign that said ‘wrong way’.  I instantly thought of the movie Bruce Almighty when he’s asking for ‘just one sign’ and he keeps looking past the ones right in front of him.  Not wanting to accept it quite yet, I tried chalking it up as coincidence.  I got in my car and drove away (from the Costco gas station) to my regular lunch study spot.  As I drove, I prayed that God would send a sign to me through spoken word – audibly – but I didn’t have any clue where it would come from.  While I was sitting in my car at lunch, reading the Bible, my dad called.  The result of that call was clearly that this is not a time that I need to feel any pressure to act quickly to buy a home.  The sign had come again.  I accepted it this time.

Offer on House

Heard from [real estate agent] today that it looks like our offer is going to be accepted by the listing agent, subject to approval by the lender.  We’ll find out more tomorrow.

Amazing Facts

• Most of the time, people try to find time in their busy schedule for God.  For the converted man, the Sabbath is their schedule
• The Sabbath is not a rule – it’s a blessing!
• Matthew 15:3 – “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition?
• Matthew 15:8-9 – “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.  And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men

Projects

I passed my PMP certification exam today!

Something even more interesting happened though, right before I went in to the building to take the test.  Out of nowhere, I thought to myself, hey I’m going to play "Bible roulette".  I grabbed my Bible from the backseat floor, and whimsically and without a second thought flipped to whatever page I landed on, and started reading.  I landed on the first page of the book of Haggai, which is the 2nd shortest book in the Bible (next to Obadiah).  What caught my attention was Haggai 1: 5-8 where it talks about working in vain for the Jews own interests, when what God wanted was for them to "Go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple, that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified."

I took this experience as a possible working of the Holy Spirit, leading me to consider how he is equipping me with purpose.  At some point, he will call me to collect wood and build his house – which may mean any of a number of projects.

I pray that I will understand when and how he is calling me.

Offer on House

We put an offer on a house in Aliso Viejo today.  It’s beautiful, but would need some TLC.  It’s a short sale, so we’re trying not to get our hopes up too high.

Discipleship

“Winning Souls” is a lot different than “Making Disciples”.  Jesus commands us to make disciples.  I can’t think of anywhere in the Bible that says “win souls for Jesus”.  A soul that’s “won” too often becomes withered (fallen).  A disciple is on a path toward Jesus.

The Rock San Diego – 3/22/09 – The Invisible Man Speaks

What does God’s voice sound like?

• He talks to you every day
• The Holy Spirit is all God – as much as the Son, as much as the Father
• He has all of the attributes of the triune God

1 – The Invisible Man sounds like a small still voice

• No matter what, if God is on your side, you have the advantage
• The fact that it’s a small and still voice forces you to be intent on listening or you just won’t get it
• Listen to your radio, your friends, or be intent on listening to Him, slow down and listen
• He sounds like your conscience
• He will come across as profound
• Pieces of wisdom
• He may not repeat things for you
• If your life is goin goin goin goin goin, you may be drowning out God
• You need time during the day to listen very carefully – He’s not going to shout
• God’s voice will not be loud

2 – The Invisible Man sounds like a groan in your heart (Romans 8:26)

• We don’t know what to pray for nor how to pray for it.  The Holy Spirit guides us
• Many times you just can’t put into words what you feel God is telling you
• You can’t put into words but you just know
• When you get this feeling, you don’t need to know why, you just need to obey
• "I don’t know why or how, I just know"
• The Holy Spirit is praying on your behalf
• Ask for the will of God

3 – The Invisible Man sounds like a child crying "Daddy" to God (Galatians 4:4)

• Always humility toward God
• You are not born a child of God, you are born a child of wrath who can then become a child of God when you accept Jesus Christ as your savior
• You cry "daddy" with dependence – can never be with attitude
• He nurtures within us a spirit of humility to cry out to "Daddy"
• God is not your peer, not your servant, not even your boss – He is almighty
• You are nothing but His child

4 – The Invisible Man sounds like biblical truth

• If anything contradicts the Bible, it is not God
• John 14-16
• Don’t ever let the devil get in the way of obeying God
• Don’t ever let the devil waste your time
• The Holy Spirit will testify of Jesus
• His job is to clarify who Jesus was and what Jesus did and does
• He will guide you into truth
• The truth will always be the Word
• Obeying God has nothing to do with what other people think and nothing to do with what you feel
• Your faith is most validated when you obey him when you don’t want to
• There will be times when God is prompting you to do something, and you have no idea why, but you know that it’s the right thing to do

5 – The Invisible Man wants us to speak like Him (Mark 13:11)

• Imagine your lips as God’s lips – say what He would say
• When you talk to people, are you saying words that Jesus would say?
• The Spirit wants to speak through you

The Rock San Diego – 3/15/09 – The Invisible Man Is a Person

• God is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent
• What makes you a person is not your body.  What makes you a person is the image of God in you
• If you do not understand the person-hood of the Holy Spirit, you will not have a powerful relationship with the Holy Spirit
• The Holy Spirit is more of a person than anyone you know

1 – The Holy Spirit is a He (John 16:9)

• The Holy Spirit can relate to your whole heart, your whole spirit, your whole mind
• He understands you better than anyone, even more than you know yourself
• He completely knows you
• He is not an it

2 – The Holy Spirit lives in you (John 14:15)

• He’s everywhere
• He’s not ‘out there’, he’s in you and around you everywhere
• He hurts with you
• He wants to help you carry your burden

3 – He has a mind (Romans 8:26)

• You don’t need a brain to have a mind
• God gave us a physical brain to mimic His mind
• Everything you can do, you received that ability in the likeness of God

4 – He has a will (1 Corinthians 12:11)

• God’s mind toward you is greater than the sands or the sea
• You have abilities that you don’t even know you have
• Talk to Him as a person who has a mind
• One of the first things He does is give you gifts (discernment, helps, faith)
• He knows what He’s doing – He’s giving you gifts for purpose, His purpose
• His desire is to fulfill your purpose on earth
• We are compatible to relate with God
• People’s council is second-class council, unless they are talking from God, which will lead you back to Him

5 – He can be grieved (Ephesians 4)

• Grieve = Cause to suffer
• The Devil cannot create – he can only pervert.  He counterfeits
• Walking after the devil’s trickery grieves the Lord.  He has so much in store for you.
• There is something you know – let Him lead you
• Don’t call Him an it

6 – The Holy Spirit loves you (Romans 15:30)

• The only reason you can love is because God loves you
• God wants to express His love through you
• He wants to think through you
• He speaks to you and wants to speak through you

7 – The Holy Spirit speaks (John 16:13)

• He wants to tell you:
  • Who you are
  • How he made you
  • The things he created you to do
  • The talents you have that you don’t know you have
  • The destiny for your life
  • About your friends and your enemies
  • How much he loves you
  • Even though you have cursed him, he’s ready to forgive you
  • Great and mighty things (even some of which are about yourself)
• When you let him guide your life, you’ll start to see opportunities open up for you one after another and start to accelerate
• When you start tracking down God’s path, he starts opening things up for you so fast, he doesn’t want you to turn around
• Make the Holy Spirit your friend – he should be your best friend 
• Renew your vow to him
• Ask him to lead you (and never let go)