Friends, Have you ever wondered where permanent joy, peace, success, and even life itself comes from? Have you at times felt unsatisfied even though everything may seem to be going great? Have you felt a dull ache or uneasy feeling that something is missing but you didnt know what? Or perhaps youve been too busy living to notice? In our search for life we must begin by realizing that as human beings we exist in three basic areas: 1. The Physical, the body and senses, 2. The Mental, the mind, thoughts, desires, emotions, and intellect, and 3. The Spiritual, that part of us which is capable to interacting in the unseen but very real realm of the spirit. Which of these three areas is to have control of our life? Using joy for an example, lets examine each area and see how it would work. If our joy is centered in the physical area of life then it will be controlled by how our body feels at the time. The body is like a house. If the structure is firm, the paint is new, the carpets are cleaned, and the floors are scrubbed, then we are happy. But if the paint is peeling, the floors are dirty, and there is a crack or two in the walls, then we are unhappy. Now obviously it is important to do our best to keep our house in order, but if that is where our joy is based then it will be extremely unstable - constantly changing with the state or feelings of the body. Perhaps you know people who have the body in control of their life, they are always up and down. They do whatever they feel at the time. What about the mental aspect? Should joy [or life] originate in the mind, with our thoughts and emotions? If our joy comes from the mental part of us then our thoughts and emotions will dictate our joy. If youre anything like me, you know what a wild roller-coaster ride we would be in for then! If the body is like a house, then the mind is like moving into the house. It gives the house a personality and character. Still, that does mean it will be a happy house or a home. There will be times of joy, of course, but whatever happens to you, how you perceive it emotionally or mentally will control your joy [or life]. You and I need something firmer! Naturally, we want our joy to affect the mental and emotional part of our being but if it is controlled by the mental part of our life, then we are in big trouble. The circumstances and situations of life will twist and turn our joy into the most unpleasant shapes. Unfortunately, many people try to base their joy from the realm of the mind. Positive thinking, positive speaking, etc., will play an important role with our joy but if the source of our river of joy is not higher than the body or the mind, then busy little beavers will soon have it damed up. Our mighty river of joy will have turned into a trickling stream or just a pool of stinking, stagnate water. Those busy, pesky beavers just love to run around our lives daming up all the good things. Fortunately there is one area of life where they cannot come...unless we invite them in. The final area of the life is the realm of the spirit. With our house illustration, it is that intangible part which turns a house into a home...and home it will remain regardless of the disasters of life. When we talk about the area of the spirit strange and weird ideas often surface. The spiritual realm is often made unnecessarily hard. Like every other area of life it is governed by rules and laws we need to learn and work with. As we discover these laws [or principles] we find life in the mental and physical areas taking on exciting, new meaning. It is then our joy and life are not only untouchable by the circumstances of life but they are also guaranteed! What we need is a guide into the realities of the spirit realm. We have to be extremely careful in finding a guide. A wrong choice will destroy us and lead us into eternal misery and not into eternal joy. Take care. Just as we can damage our bodies or minds, we can also damaged our spirits. Lets not be fearful, but lets walk carefully, with our eyes wide open - not believing everything we hear or see. Religions, the Occult, Astrologers, the New Age, and others all claim to be guides in the realm of the spirit. But we are not deceived, we know they are all blind guides, and when one blind man leads another blind man they will both fall into the ditch. - Jesus Christ If we want to stay out of the muddy ditches of life well have to avoid the blind guides. We must have a reliable guide, someone we can trust, someone who knows the way, someone with the power to protect us from harmful spiritual forces. Does such a guide exist? Is he willing to help us in our quest for life abundantly? The answer is: YES! But again - take warning - there is only one true guide: all others are destructive frauds. Dont trust every spirit, but test them to discover whether they come from God or not. For the world is full of false prophets. - John Who then is the one faithful guide who will bring us to the fulfillment of our desires? Who is the one we can trust, the one who will never lead us down a wrong path? Who is the only who is totally familiar with the realm of the spirit, the one who personally crossed deaths barrier and returned to show us the way with confidence? The answer is simple: Jesus Christ. I Myself am the Door for the sheep, all others who came before Me are thieves and robbers...I am the Door. Anyone who enters in through Me will be saved - will live... The thief comes only in order that he may steal and may kill and may destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance - to the full, till it overflows. - Jesus Christ Jesus Christ is the way to a full life and our Guide into the spirit realm, and yet the Christian religion [as well as all other religions or occult groups] spells death. How do we balance this out? How do we get our spiritual life on track so we can experience abundant, joyful life? The truth is not meant to be confusing. Understanding sometimes depends on how we look at things. Nearly 2,000 years ago an extremely wise men discovered and shared the key to this perplexing problem. He was a man who had an intense, single-minded devotion to religion until he saw the light. The truth of his words are often missed, but they are vital to a clear understanding of the religion problem. The letter of the law leads to death of the soul; the Spirit alone can give it life - Paul What does our wise man mean by this? Basically, we could say the Christian religion is like a dead body. The body looks fine, in fact, it might look like it ought to get up and start walking, but it wont. The life isnt in the body any longer. What is the difference between a dead man and living man [not much according to some:)]? The living man has a soul and a spirit in his body making it alive and unique. That is the difference between Christianity the Religion and Christianity the Relationship. If someone were to walk in and see the dead mans body resting on a bed they might assume he was alive and merely sleeping...oh, but what a difference when you know! Likewise, someone looking at the two Christianities from the outside might think they are the same, or at least, very much alike...but what a difference when you really know. Christianity the Religion [hereafter referred to as religion] is hard, cold, and dead. It focuses on knowing about God; obedience out of duty, habit, or fear; ritual; and struggling to be better. Christianity the Relationship focuses on knowing God; obedience out of love; being in love, knowing we dont have to earn Gods favor. Ironically, some people are caught in the trap of religion and think they have real Christianity. They may do and say all the right things but the life isnt there. It is the life that makes all the difference. Dont be caught by religion! Its deadly. Learn and experience the real Christianity. So in our search for activating our spiritual life in order to have abundant life in every area, we must avoid religion and enter a dynamic relationship with Jesus Christ. Now perhaps you object because you know people who have a relationship with Jesus Christ - and who do not appear to be trapped in religion - yet do not look like they are enjoying the abundant life we want. There could be three reasons for this: 1. They are caught in religion regardless of appearance; 2. Starting a relationship with Jesus ensures eternal life after death and unlocks our potential of abundant life right now; however, we have to develop our potential. It wont develop itself. It is a growing experience. And if we choose to live below our potential God wont force us into abundant life; 3. We all have times when our mind and/or body feels drained or down which is why it is so important to have our life flowing out of the spirit realm where it cannot be touched by circumstances. If our life base is firmly established in the spirit then we will have true life even when things are going wrong We will have learned how to master our circumstances. We will be able to bounce back from anything! So our river of life must flow from the realm of the spirit. That is where the source must be although we expect it to overflow into every area of life. It all comes down to one Guide, one Person, one Hope: Jesus Christ. So how do we start a real relationship with Jesus Christ? We start by considering three facts. FACT ONE Jesus loves you. It doesnt matter who you are or what you have done in the past. Jesus loves you personally. His eyes of love are fixed on you even as you are reading this, caring deeply about everything that happens to you. Jesus stands by your side ready to forgive you because He wants a love relationship with you. Well, you wouldnt say that if you know what Ive done! expresses how many people feel. The point is not what I have to say anyway, the question is How does Jesus feel about it? Does He know all of our sins? And is He willing to forgive us and give us a fresh start with abundant life? No creature has any cover from the sight of God: everything lies naked and exposed before the eyes of Him with Whom we have to deal. - Paul Our wise man, Paul, is back with the answer to the first question. God knows our worse sins! Every word, thought, and deed you and I have had or have done since we were born...He know it all! Does Jesus reject us because of our sins? ...I will never, no never reject one of them who comes to Me. - Jesus Christ As long as we are willing to come to Jesus, He will always let us in. It is impossible to do anything that does beyond the limits of His love and forgiveness. Allow that thought to sink into your mind. It is the Truth! The love and forgiveness of Jesus will be given to anyone who accepts it. What weve done or thought about doing doesnt matter. A perfect example of this is the willingness of Jesus to forgive the men who were slowly torturing Him to death. Even as they were pounding the nails into His hands on the cross, completing their horrible work, Jesus cried out... ...Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. - Jesus Christ So the first fact we must keep in mind is: Jesus loves us and stands ready to forgive us. FACT TWO It cost Jesus something to be able to forgive us. Jesus offers His forgiveness [Salvation] to us free, but it was not free for Him. The price was high...higher than you and I could ever imagine. [If you saw Mel Gibsons The Passion you have a small - very small - idea of the sufferings of Christ.] For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world [that includes you!] that He gave up His only-begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not come to destruction but have eternal life. - Jesus Christ This is the message of Jesus to you today. The price for your life was the death of Jesus Christ. Thats how valuable you are to Him...thats how far He was willing to go for you. Even though we are sinners - rebels against God - Jesus was willing to die so we could be forgiven and have a love relationship with Him. And we can see that it was the very time that we were powerless to help ourselves that Christ died for sinful men. In human experience it is a rare thing for one man to give his life for another, even if the latter be a good man, though there have been a few who have had the courage to do it. Yet the proof of Gods amazing love is this: that it was while we were sinners that Christ died for us. - Paul The amazing thing about the love of Jesus is that He gave His life for us while we were still His enemies. Even now, if we havent accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour, we are in rebellion against Him. We may not like to think of ourselves as rebels, but that is what we are whether we are fighting against Him, ignoring Him, or being religious. FACT THREE This is going to cost us something. Halt! Stop! Wait a minute! You said Jesus offered Salvation free...whats this about cost? So I did. Salvation is like an introduction to life. If we accept Jesus as our Saviour that is like being introduced to God. Only a fool stops there. It is like being introduced to your future spouse for the first time. The first meeting didnt cost anything but if you had stopped with that first introduction you never would have had a relationship. Likewise, being introduced to God is meaningless if you have no intention of going further. We dont want just an introduction [it begins there] we want a relationship...we want reality...and that is going to cost us something! So consider it carefully. The man who will not take up his cross and follow in My footsteps cannot be My disciple. If any of you wanted to build a tower, wouldnt he first set down and work out the cost of it, to see if he can afford it? Otherwise, when he as laid the foundation and found himself unable to complete the building, everyone who sees it will jeer at him, saying, This is the man who started to build a tower and couldnt finish it! ...So it is with you; only the man who says good-bye to all his possessions can be My disciple. - Jesus Christ Jesus is not saying we have to sell everything or become poor to have a relationship with Him. What He is saying is that He gave everything He had to have a relationship with you and I and He requires being made the most important Person in our lives. No one or nothing must be allowed to interfere with the very special relationship you two will have. And it is up to you to make sure there isnt anything that is going to interfere. That is one very easy way to turn relationship into hard, cold, religion - let something or someone become more important to you than Jesus. This brings us to a strange point. Jesus must be given top priority in our lives. Logically, it would seem then, that other people and things become less important, but when we place Jesus first, we find we love our family and friends more than we ever have before! If we allow these other people or things to take priority over Jesus then our love for or enjoyment of them immediately begins to fade as well. Anyone who puts his love for father or mother above his love for Me does not deserve to be Mine, and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me, and neither is the man who refuses to take up his cross and follow My way. The man who has found his own life will lose it, but the man who has lost it for My sake will find it. - Jesus Christ When we greedily grasp onto someone or something before Jesus and make Jesus less important, we will ultimately lose them or it. But when we are willing to trust them into His loving hands, they come back so much better than before. It is something like holding onto a wet bar of soap. The harder you squeeze and hold it the more likely it is to zip from your hands and plunge into the miry water below. We are considering the cost of following Jesus. What will it cost us? Everything! Realize that right now. Jesus is not interested in what you have or who you know. He is interested in you. There is no point in getting started if you have no intention of going all the way. But before we decide the cost of a relationship with Jesus is too great, lets look at what it will cost us not to have a relationship with Jesus. There is a price to pay either way. If we try to stumble down lifes rocky, twisty track without Jesus, we will never find the abundant life we crave so badly. We will forever have an emptiness in our lives because we are trying to run our lives with only two areas [physical and mental] working while ignoring the most important area of all [spiritual]. Its like having a car but no gas. The car may look great, and it may have driver, but its not going anywhere! Only through Jesus can come genuine spiritual fulfillment and then He brings fulfillment in the other areas of life as well. You have made us for Yourself and our hearts are restless until they rest in You. - St. Augustine Restlessness, guilt, fear, lack of fulfillment as a person, all these and more are a part of the price we pay for rejecting Jesus. And when we die we will hear those fateful words... ...out of my presence, cursed as you are, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. - Jesus Christ Which price is the greater price? Certainly, it may appear to some accepting Jesus and starting a relationship with Him is the greater price to pay now; but in the long run [and quite often before then] the price of rejecting Him is far greater. We are not playing games - your decision will affect eternity - your eternal destiny So in our quest for abundant life we need to begin a relationship with Jesus Christ as Saviour, Friend, and the Ruler of our lives. It means agreeing to do whatever He asks you to do. This is vital, without this step nothing else will work right. This step unlocks your potential for abundant life both now and forever. Yes, there is a price to be paid, but it is will worth the cost. We give ourselves to Him and He gives Himself to us...and He is so much greater. :) Right now you must make a decision. Take time to think about it. Consider, how badly do I want abundant life? God Bless you all! Love, Pastor-Robert Griffus
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 08:32:40 +0000
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