So, lately I have been listening to Joyce Meyer's "My Heart Christ's Home" CD series...WOW!! In the first CD she refers a lot to the stigma 'I want. I think. I feel.' and it has really been eye opening for me.
So many times I base my sentences off of one of those phrases. I want. I think. I feel. And usually those phrases are bases in ungodly ideas and sinful desires. She also talks about how your spirit is the Godly part of you that is eternal. Your soul is still your flesh. And your body houses it all. Obviously your soul and body will pass away at death and your spirit lives on in Heaven or Hell because it is the only part of you that God can sanctify and make holy. I guess I am coming more and more to the realization that so many times my soul and my body overtake my spirit and I make ungodly decisions based on those I want. I think. I feel. mentalities.
In the second CD Joyce talks a lot about people striving to be holy and Godly and that is good but not to get into legalism. She emphasizes on the fact that God knows us, cares about our feelings, hears our crys for help and is always there waiting for us to just simply surrender to His will. I love how she is hardcore on being all that God wants us to be and striving to live Godly lives but at the same time how much mercy and grace she shows and explains that God shows. She says that 'All guilt does is weaken you so you keep doing that thing again and again.' Powerful!! There are so many times that I say or do something and later reflect and realize that it was a terrible decision and ask God's forgiveness and I believe that at that moment that I repent that I receive His forgiveness. So many times however, I cling to the guilt and shame of my actions, not forgiving myself. I have to learn to just say 'Help me, God!!'
I want to become so in tune, in such a oneness with Christ that I can say that I only say what my Father would say and that I only do what my Father would do and I only go where my Father would go. I think that it is important to strive for the oneness, that holy temple for Christ to dwell in. And at the same time I also find it important that you see your fails, your stumbles and your shortcomings not just as a mess up and that you can't do better, but as a bridge being built to reach that place of oneness with your Heavenly Father! Like Pastor Keith has been preaching on lately, we need to fail forward. Let your failure propel you forward into what you want to become in Christ. We will forever be striving to be like Christ, we will never arrive because we live in a sinful world. We can always keep moving forward looking at our failures as stepping stones and learn from them, making us into the image of Christ.