When I tune in to, wait for, and focus on God’s still voice and obey the inner nudging of the Spirit’s whispers in my soul, without regard for outcome or personal desire, amazing insight comes to me, and I am awed by the presence and reality of the risen Jesus. Jesus graciously calls me to welcome His inner presence and leadership as a greater and greater part of my everyday lifestyle. One way I do that is to listen throughout the day, write down the insights that He gives me, and do whatever He prompts me to.
The New Testament doesn’t tell us to be led by religious leaders but by the Spirit. See Romans 8:14. The early Christians were Spirit-led people. Only Spirit-led people can light and spread fires of inner awakening. Jesus wants you to let the reality of His presence be part of your daily personal experience.
It’s the inner content of your life (not the outer content) that determines whether or not you’re happy. If you won’t pay attention to what’s going on inside you, you won’t be aware of God because He is working in you to get your attention.
Too often a pastor is like a governor on a rental truck that limits the speed it can go. Pastors, let God’s people go as fast and as far as He wants to take them.
Too many Christians have abandoned Spirit-led discipleship and put their trust in church attendance and a one-time “sinner’s prayer.” If Christians were as good at being led by the Spirit as we are at being led by preachers, we’d see continuous revival and spiritual awakening.
Church is a cracked up religious system that has shattered into tens of thousands of independent denominations around the world that proclaim their theology and their way as the best way. Perhaps it’s time to abandon the independent, human-led religious ships and instead embrace the direct Spirit-led discipleship of Jesus the living Way.
Is God just or merciful? Most people want God to be about justice when wrong has been done to them and about mercy when they have done wrong. Here’s the paradox. Everyone is accountable to God’s justice and everyone is offered His mercy. Unfortunately, many people think that they are too “good” to need God’s mercy, so they pridefully reject it and opt out to face His justice without His mercy. The end result of this choice will not go well. Lord, have mercy on me a sinner!
Spring forward
New life conceives
As trees fill up
With leaves
And everyone who believes
Receives
Hope
From what God weaves!
A plea for less sensuality and more sensitivity
Sensuality is about the feelings of the body. Sensitivity is about the feelings of the heart and conscience. Our self-focused culture is full of sensuality but the open expression of heart-felt sensitivity to conscience is rare.
Sensitivity to your conscience isn’t a weakness. It’s a strength that many people don’t have.
Sensuality is focused on self-gratification. Sensitivity is focused on kindness for others and speaking the truth in love. ‘
People who are easily offended are self-focused and insensitive to the fact that “hurt people hurt people.” True sensitivity has such compassion for other people that it’s not easily offended.
Society today focuses almost totally on sensuality while mostly ignoring sensitivity. Our culture is in trouble because following the feelings and desires of the body is seen as strength, while having a sensitive conscience is seen as a weakness.
Just because someone has a desire to do something doesn’t make it the right thing to do! The strength or weakness of a desire has nothing to do with the morality of a desire.
To refuse to notice what your conscience is saying opens the door of your life to much self-destruction and self-deception. To be sensually minded is to be a prisoner of your desires and feelings. Sensual desire is often deceptive. Many of our sensual desires need to be resisted and rejected, not justified and embraced.
Uncontrolled sensual desire leads to the bondage of compulsion. Putting sensuality above sensitivity leads to many human problems such as, drug abuse, alcoholism, overeating, other addictions, divorce. hatred, violence, abortion, casual sex, pornography, sex trafficking, child abuse, fraud, corruption, etc.
Sensual desires want to dominate and dictate your life. Don’t let them. Follow and obey the risen Jesus instead. Sensuality asks, “What do I want to do?” Sensitivity asks, “What does the risen Jesus want me to do?”
To be led by the living Jesus you need to begin to be aware of and sensitive to His presence. He wants His followers to be led by His Spirit not by their desires! See Romans 8:14.
Sensuality can never permanently satisfy the longing of the human heart, but awareness of and surrender to the living Jesus does! Look where following your own desires has gotten you inside and out. Following the risen Jesus has to be an improvement.
“Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality.” Ephesians 4:19. Turning away from the sensuality of our human desires, feelings, and opinions and keeping our heart wide open to the presence, intimacy, and Lordship of the risen Jesus is the great miracle all humans need.
Whether governments acknowledge it or not, sensitivity and compassion declare that a human fetus is a human life and is of no less value than any other human life. Medicine heals or treats illness. Pregnancy isn’t an illness. Sensitivity to conscience recognizes that abortion pills are not medicine.