Resurrection 25 The Great Promise Part 5

[HKHaugan]

Priority, priority, priority! Thinking spiritually, trusting spiritually and acting spiritually---spirituality is the base for true living, for facing reality and being a person. Our very existence is dependent on how we focus spiritually. There is not one human activity that is free from spiritual consideration. Name any human involvement and its foundation is based on some invisible concept, motivation and inspiration. Spirituality is invisible, unseen, beyond physical measurement. So is reason, intellect and decision making which are instruments of our personal spirit, part of the image of God in each of us. It's not about what you do but why you do it. It's not about what you are but who you are. It's not about what you have but why you have it. These take us back to the three basic questions that everyone lives out in one way or the other: Who am I? Where am I going? How am I going to get there? Identity, destiny and motivation describe our life pattern. Guess what drives us? That's right, it's who and what we believe, trust and have faith in.

The forces that move our personal lives are unseen. In fact it is as I have previously stated. 100%, yes one hundred percent, of all we do is motivated 100% by what we can't see. This insight is so basic that even people whose lives are centered in Jesus rarely apply it to their own personal and relational understanding. Everyday we face a world of people whose spiritual grounding is simply trusting themselves and their social instincts at any given moment. That's how they process their personal experience, emotions and cultural expectations. It's a self-destructive course. It's called sin.

As disciples of Jesus we should know what sin is. It's what we are coming out of. It's our instantaneous reliance on self as opposed to the Holy Spirit. As disciples we know that struggle in our hearts and how easy it is to fall into that survivalist cycle. We know what starts alone ends alone. So if we think ahead of time and realize we are walking in the invisible dimension we have to be prayerful and slow to react in any situation. One way we can see this need in ourselves is ending up in a discussion with people who don't believe in Jesus with either defensive or superficial arguments rather than depending on God's grace and love. Are we consciously depending on the presence of the Holy Spirit to listen spiritually, discerning the hearts of those who are locked in some stress, sympathizing, empathizing, feeling what they feel? The are we reacting, responding spiritually in a way that another's heart finds understanding and that inner answer they need?

The kind of world we live in is complicated and conflicted. The cellphone, the computer, the TV and technology in general are tempting us to withdraw from interpersonal contact. We text rather than visit. We 'Facebook' rather than converse. We let the garage door down and run to the TV. We gather for large events watching popular rock stars from a distance and neglect the person next to us. And that's not only at music concerts, it happens in 'rock star' churches and small small churches alike, even in our homes. None of us are free from these invited incursions.

You can see it when so called 'Christian' denominations become more interested in politics than the Lord. Like when their leadership betrays their membership and leaves basic biblical truth to offer cultural trends a free pass rather than present the truth about Jesus as Savior and Lord. And too, when the Bible is replaced in the pulpit by the latest social issue. Then, and I say then, we are in trouble. As disciples of Jesus all of this should raise our prophetic hackles.

The time is ripe for us to think of ourselves as '100%ers.' One hundred percent of of everything is spiritually based. We are not human beings having a spiritual experience. We are spiritual beings having a human experience. If we will keep that in our minds then everything physical will find its proper place.
Three immediate consciousness grabbers are these.

First, pray to the Father to see and hear everything spiritually.

Second, ask the Lord Jesus to help you view every person with who you come in contact, believer and unbeliever, as images of God.

Third, ask the Holy Spirit to help you discern the spiritual nature of any given situation and respond spiritually.

John's Gospel is very clear on these, “The work of God is this: to believe on the One He has sent (6:29).” Luke is no less, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (10:27).” Paul picks up on this relationally: “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer every man (Col.4:6).” The operative words here are 'believe', 'love', 'all', 'full' and 'always.' They are a 100% words for '100%ers.'