Spiritual Ponderings

He entered again into the synagogue, and there was a man there who had his hand withered. They watched him, whether he would heal him on the Sabbath day, that they might accuse him. He said to the man who had his hand withered, "Stand up." He said to them, "Is it lawful on the Sabbath day to do good, or to do harm? To save a life, or to kill?" But they were silent. When he had looked around at them with anger , being grieved at the hardening of their hearts, he said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was restored as healthy as the other. The Pharisees went out, and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him. (Mark 3:1-6) Studies of the human brain and how we experience emotions have led brain scientists to identify six major negative emotions people experience that can cause problems if one does not learn to recover from those emotions. These same studies have c...

Spiritual Autoimmune Disorder – SAD Humans are designed for joy. That is supposed to be our default mode of living, feeling and thinking. When the default mode becomes infected with resistance to joy, resistance to accepting and giving love and valuing others more than myself, then I become sick with a spiritual autoimmune disorder that predisposes me to feel torture in the presence of God, because He is the origin of all love and joy. What kind of symptoms provide indications this serious condition? A spirit of criticism, compulsively looking for faults in others which exacerbates this condition. Allowing negative scenarios to be the default reaction to problems strengthening this disorder. Suspicion and obsessive fear of being deceived is a strong indication of this malady. Viewing people who are full of joy as a threat rather than a sign of life. This is a strong clue that one has already been deeply infected with this virus. Saul of Tarsus...

As for us, brothers and sisters, when, for a short time, we were made orphans by being separated from you--in person, not in heart--we longed with great eagerness to see you face to face. For we wanted to come to you--certainly I, Paul, wanted to again and again--but Satan blocked our way. For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you ? Yes, you are our glory and joy! (1 Thessalonians 2:17-20) I am starting to sense some thing big emerging into my consciousness, something existential in nature. We sometimes ask why we are alive, what is the purpose of our existence? We offer all sorts of attempted explanations for this, many distorted by our natural selfish desires. But what I am starting to perceive is something far bigger, far more deeply satisfying, rich and meaningful. We were created to live life on this earth primarily to leverage opportunities to form bonds of joy with as many other people as possi...

Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. (John 14:27) We usually imagine that we could enjoy peace if only the problems around us would just go away or be resolved. We believe that if only wars could just be stopped, if fighting would die away or arguments could be silenced, then we could have peace. This kind of thinking remains stuck in the realm of external living. Satan's system of life is externalism. With our heart dominated by the fallen operating system of selfishness, self-protection at the expense of others, we tend to see only a narrow band of options in most situations. When threatened we assume we have two options – fight back or run away. Even withdrawing within ourselves is a form of running away. But both of these options are in the external realm and are both rooted in selfishness, our natural state as fallen humans. What Jesus came to...

...fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame , and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2) Much of my life I have puzzled over what this phrase really means. What does it mean to despise shame? Is that the same as living in denial when I feel shamed? Why would Jesus despise anything in the first place as it seems so out of character for Him? What is shame? That might be a good place to start, for if I don't even know what the word means I am likely to arrive at wrong conclusions about what this verse is trying to tell me. If I understand what Jesus despised it might be easier to arrive at an understanding of why He despised it. Some clues have recently surfaced that have brought my attention back to this verse and phrase, clues that have accumulated from diverse sources over the years that have helped make sense out of many other things...

Then he said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength ." (Nehemiah 8:10) The joy of the Lord is more than just your strength, though it is most certainly that as well. The joy of the Lord is likened to oil. (Isaiah 61:3) And what uses do we have for oil? Oil is used for lubrication. The joy of the Lord, gladness to be together, lubricates our relationships with each other and with God. It reduces and eliminates friction and thus prevents the resultant damaging heat. Oil is used to burn for light. The joy of the Lord brings light, both into our own minds and hearts and also to those around us. Oil is used as the ingredient that brings cohesiveness to our food, to hold things all together. We need the oil of joy to bind our hearts together into the unity of the Spirit of God. "By this all men will know that you ...

I experienced something last night that gave me a real wake-up call, a reality check about a major area of weakness in my heart. God's Spirit has been using that experience to reveal to me all sorts of things this morning, many of which I cannot even remember but are part of ongoing silent discussions of the heart between God and I that He is putting inside for future use. I sense that God is trying to speed me up a bit in lessons of faith and obedience. He is seeking to train me to cooperate with Him closer to living in real time responsiveness instead of learning in retrospect after failing to reflect Him in some given situation. There are so many things I am learning in parallel these days that I feel like I am in an intensive educational program where I have to attend seemingly unrelated classes to learn all sorts of new things. But over time they begin to make sense with each other, and as the various insights of knowledge begin to become more clear, it also becomes excitin...

Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus... (Philippians 2:5 NRSV) Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself , taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name... (Philippians 2:5-9) Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame , and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2) Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith, who went through the pains of the cross, not caring for the shame , because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his...