3/18/2016

ARE YOU EMPTY ? --- Passover Meditations for the Monastic-At-Heart ... THE SEED




Are You EMPTY ?

We Try to Fill the Emptiness of our lives with everything... Except JESUS

We work.

We go to school.

We marry and raise children.

We pursue careers and advancements.

We buy. We sell.

Sometimes we buy a BIGGER house, lots of rooms to renovate into the current styles and LOTS of yard to manicure.


We rent, too, and thus we re-locate a lot.


Then again, we sometimes move to a little apartment in order NOT to manicure our living quarters and expansive, growing yard.  We avoid  “that kind” of busy-ness.

What does any of it accomplish?

Other than basic --- and I do mean BASIC --- necessities for our health and care of those we are responsible for, what does this constant involvement in this temporal world accomplish for our souls  ?

Nothing ?

Wrong.

WORSE than nothing.

We stay busy and concerned with all manner of temporal matters which touch our lives and of which ( we think ) we have control ( i.e., as many options as our money will buy or our lender will allow.)

Then we are in debt.

What has been accomplished ?

Nothing.

Actually , worse than nothing.

After the last room has been renovated, the last bloom planted, fed, and trimmed back, and the last loan has been paid off... we are still empty, devoid of REAL Life in the inner man. … emptier than ever before !

Our lives, unfortunately, have become emptier and emptier of REAL life. Things of this world DRAIN us of that real life.

Why is this so ?

Inanimate objects simply have NO life in them. The more we pursue them, the emptier we become.

Man's life DOES NOT consist in the abundance of things he possesses, or THINKS he possesses, or Things that POSSESS him.



More significantly, they HINDER us from accessing true Life. They clutter and impede our pursuit of REAL Life.

Life, as we see it, is not tangible. It cannot be touched. It consists of "something" NOT visible or touchable... like love. 

Love is not something that can be seen with the eye, touched with the hand, or bought with money. If demanded or grasped, Love eludes the Demander and Grasper.

Life --- REAL Life in the inner man --- is like that too. It cannot be BOUGHT with money. One cannot "demand" Life nor greedily grasp it at will. 

The effects of having REAL life bear witness to it, but truthfully, LIFE which operates in the inner man cannot be seen with the eye nor touched with the hand.

REAL Life comes from JESUS the LORD.  There is no substitute for the Life HE+ brings in the inner man.

HE+ changes us from being a dead soul into a living spirit when we share His+ death.

Yes, share His+ death.

We will never have a garden if the seeds remain huddled together in a dry packet.

Each and every seed requires moisture before it will sprout.  Either in soil or in a sprouting jar, the seeds need moisture. 

They absorb the moisture even through their hard hulls or coats and swell INTERNALLY. 

Then they send a shoot, a sprout, through that hull.  If in soil, the sprouts will continue on to grow into little plants and the hulls will fall away and dissolve into the ground, their job being completed.


Now... what if the hulls REFUSED to function as all hulls are supposed to do... and instead, harden themselves as best they could ? 

What if they secretly AVOID coming in contact with any moisture ( sigh --- What a job! ) ?

What if they gather about them all manner of rocks and stones and bits of plastic, trying to prevent their demise?

We laugh…

knowing seed coats never function like that. They do not function like that because their Creator  DID NOT GIVE THEM A CHOICE.

But, we humans DO function like that because GOD did indeed give us a choice at our creation.

We dig in our heels and steadfastly avoid anything that might water the Word+ of GOD which we inadvertently have heard.

If our consciences DO rise up and bother us, we drown those well-meaning voices out in busy-ness over our concerns of the day. 

We gather pieces of rock and stone and bits of plastic all around us to prevent our demise, refusing to look at Truth.

The Truth, that is,
that all flesh will die.

This TRUTH has been screaming at us since we realized that our puppies and kittens and goldfish are not breathing or moving about any more.  They cannot communicate with us in any way. They are dead and will have to be buried else they stink.

But now, as adults, we pretend that by hardening our hulls, by gathering stones and bits of plastic about us, that our outer man will not perish like all flesh.

JESUS told us differently. HE+ said it in many ways. 

HE+ said,

I+, 
I+ AM the Way,
the Truth,
and The Life.

No man comes to The FATHER
except through ME+.


HE+ was not bragging.

HE+ was simply stating a fact of life ... a very IMPORTANT FACT.  And if we will accept it, THE MOST IMPORTANT FACT of both Life and Death found in the Universe !

JESUS is the Way.  HE+ is the Way to live in this temporal world so that we avoid filling our lives with EMPTINESS.

JESUS is the TRUTH. HE+ Who+ never lost His+ integrity in sin tells us how to come to The FATHER for REAL Life.

JESUS is the LIFE.  HE+ died so that we might live.  We die to Self and live unto JESUS CHRIST in order to be given REAL Life ... both here and beyond the grave.

What shall we choose ?

To die to Self and have REAL Life with JESUS ? 
--- Or ---

To cling madly onto "our" little world
inside the hull ... which will be taken from us
at the appointed time.

You see, the seeds can NOT keep their hulls intact once moisture touches them in a jar or in the ground. 

Likewise, we can NOT keep our hulls intact, our outer coats pristine, once we are placed in the ground. They dissolve, just like the seed-coats.

Nor can we keep them once the Water of the Word+ affects them. 

We either sprout, are planted,
and grow, bearing fruit,
as our Old Hull falls away

 --- OR ---  
we ROT and DIE in our SINS.




JESUS said,

I+  
I+ AM
 the WAY,
 the TRUTH,
and the LIFE;

no man comes to The FATHER

except through ME.+

 
Are you EMPTY ?

Then YIELD your Life to JESUS, die out to Self, and you will bear fruit in HIM+. 

EMPTY ?

You won’t be empty… 
IF  you are bearing Fruit.

+  +  +



3/17/2016

ACCESSING GOD'S LOVE ... Passover Meditations for the Monastic-At-Heart ... Ephesians 2:4

    
Meditations  for  the Pascha Season
(The Passover Season, 2016)

Meditations for the Monastic at Heart

+  +  +
Now is My+ soul troubled;
and what shall I+ say ...
FATHER,
save ME+ from this hour ?
but for this cause
came I+ unto this hour.

FATHER,
Glorify Thy Name.

Then came there a Voice from Heaven, saying,

I have both glorified IT,
and will glorify IT again.

John 12:27-28

+  +  +

Meditation Verse
Ephesians 2:4


[ ... and were by nature --- that is, by our Adamic lineage and family spirits ---  the children of wrath, even as others... ]

But GOD, Who is rich in mercy, for HIS great love wherewith HE loved us,

Literal Greek:

But --- in contrast --- GOD being rich in mercy through HIS great love (with) which HE loved us

+  +  +
+  +  +

+  +  +
MEDITATION

In times past, before CHRIST came to be LORD of our lives, we were conducted  , the literal Greek tells us,**  into our UnRedeemed, UnSaved, and UnRegenerated Family ways.  Our conductor, remember, was the dark and evil prince of the power (authority) of the air. (** See yesterday's post entitled "Our Conductor.")

The satan works in the children of disobedience, conducting them -- indeed, DRIVING THEM --- into the course of this world which leads to the Wrath of GOD. In times past, we followed our family spirits in this path, our Adamic lineage.

NOW, HOWEVER... with the Advent of JESUS CHRIST into our lives ... we are invited into a different existence.

NOW, HOWEVER... instead of facing GOD'S wrath, we are being over-whelmed by His great, rich, and fulfilling AGAPE LOVE.

Are we experiencing His great LOVE in a tangible way -- or -- do we know His LOVE mentally, academically, as a head-knowledge that we have been taught?

We usually AFFIRM that His LOVE is there; we usually do not feel much of it, though, as we plod on through our existence.

Most of us struggle through life trying to "see" His LOVE through the valleys and turmoil of life on planet earth.

If we SAW and EXPERIENCED His over-whelming fullness of that AGAPE LOVE, the joy  resting upon us would be so strong that we would become invincible in it.

The JOY of the LORD would be our STRENGTH. We would be able to face all difficulties with thanksgiving, praise, and a decisive  VICTORY of faith over our troubles.

SO... how do we ACCESS His great LOVE which we do not doubt is there ... and there for us?  How do we ACCESS that LOVE of GOD so that we are carried in joy over the mountains of distress in our lives ?

A FEW STEPS TO ACCESS HIS+ LOVE

1. REPENT of SELF-PITY. It is a spiritual trap which leads to depression, oppression, and worse. Self-pity is a SPIRIT.  For some, it is a family spirit which afflicts all members of the family. It torments.  That is why you know it is a spirit, not a reality. 

It will be seen in various manifestations of sadness and sorrow, but also in resentment, anger, and oddly enough, pride.

You can smell it. The spirit of self-pity usually is accompanied by thoughts of "Why doesn't  XYZ love me? I don't deserve this, do I ? "

Bitterness and feelings of mis-treatment will be there too.

All of this MAY indeed BE TRUE.  We are helpless to make anyone love us or even stop mis-treating us.

So... quickly and EARNESTLY forgive. Quickly and earnestly pray blessings upon that troublesome person or situation.

THEN LEAVE IT ALONE, COMMITTING it unto the LORD. DO NOT OPEN THE DOOR of that "room" in your mind again. If it creaks open, SLAM IT SHUT AGAIN in the Name of The LORD JESUS CHRISTHE+ can take care of it without your help.

2. RE-DIRECT ALL  THOUGHTS TO THE LORD, magnifying HIM+ and glorying in WHO+ HE+ is.  Bless The LORD out-loud if possible; these tormenting spirits hate to hear thanksgiving and praise. AFFIRM WHO+ JESUS is and His+ great Victory over death, hell, and the grave ... and the satan.

3. REPLACE the tormenting thoughts with The WORD+ of GOD.  Do not necessarily turn to the comforting Scriptures ... yet.  But rather, turn to the AFFIRMATION of WHO+ JESUS is Scriptures.

Try Psalm 24, Psalm 118, to start with. Out-loud is best; tormenting spirits like to block the ears of one's heart. John 14 and John 15 are excellent torment-chasers. They will HAVE TO FLEE as JESUS' Name is being lifted up.

Doing Scriptures out-loud CLEANS THE AIR.  Remember: you are doing Battle with the prince of the power of the AIR.  

For we wrestle not
against flesh and blood,
but against
principalities, against powers,
against the rulers
of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness
in high places.

Wherefore take unto you
the whole armor of GOD,
that ye may be
able to withstand
in the evil day,
and having done all,
TO STAND.

Ephesians 6:12-13

+  +  +
LET US PRAY:

Dear Holy, Heavenly FATHER,

We thank YOU for Your LOVE... that LOVE which came through the Cross of JESUS CHRIST.

We thank YOU that by His+ excruciating death, HE+ beat the satan for HIM+ and for us.

We do not mean to doubt Your Great LOVE, O Heavenly FATHER, when we are in the midst of our troubles.

Forgive us for "agreeing with the satan" that we are "unloved" ...  when we feel abandoned, un-loved, rejected, and helpless to change any of our conditions.

Move us from the mental knowledge of Your LOVE to the APPLICATION of it in our lives.  Show us how to have victory over the lies the satan torments us with when we are faced with troubles.

Then we will proclaim Your name and say with the Psalmist:

" I LOVE The LORD  because  HE+ hath heard my voice and my supplications. Therefore will I call upon HIM+ as long as I live. " ( Psalm 116 )

Again and again, in peace, let us pray to the LORD: LORD have mercy,  in the Name of our Beloved SAVIOR+, the LORD JESUS CHRIST...

Who+ lived and died and Behold, HE+ said, I+ am alive forevermore, AMEN, and have the keys of hell and of death... and am seated at the Right Hand of My+ FATHER... and ever liveth to make intercession for you." 

... We pray. Amen and amen. 

+  +  +
Worthy is the LAMB+.

Worthy is The LAMB+
that was slain.

Worthy is the LAMB+,
Slain from the foundation
of the earth.
Revelation 13:8
+  +  +

PRAISE and THANKSGIVING
be to The FATHER,
and to His Beloved SON+
JESUS CHRIST,
and to
the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT.

ONE GOD:
FATHER,
SON+,
and HOLY SPIRIT,
both now and forever,
world without end.
Amen.
+