Understanding Us

                                   Understanding Us 

                                                       By: brotha-Anthony Meyer

          I am a thinker. I love thinking. I perceive things so differently sometimes that I come off as "weird". Lately I have been doing a lot of pondering about God's greatness in us & the fact that we are so special & meant to be set apart from any of God's creation. However, one huge weakness of mine is I tend to over-think things & then stress myself out about the end result forgetting to lean on the Father. Not long ago, I found myself in a debate with four Atheists and it was 4 against 1... I "lost" because I was outnumbered & it wasn't a battle I needed to win.Nonetheless, I know without any doubts that creation, simply points to a devine creator (especially humans).I just find it so ridiculous how human nature causes us to fight the fact that an awesome God created the world & that we are uniquely made & were meant for more. But that debate is neither here nor there. 

           My coworkers & I do Bible studies on our break & this topic came up & sure enough we were studying the word & our beauty in Christ. I had to pray hardcore before I decided to post this because I wanted it to be understandable, Holy Spirit-filled, & a blessing to you. So I pray right now in Jesus name that you my reader are blessed by this post & that you keep your heart receptive & realize that understanding yourself isn't based on looks,status,or material items. Your identity is found in Christ & acknowledging that you are unique.

           The Lord sactified us & put His Spirit into us. The Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, & breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; & man became a living being. (Genesis 2:7)

God breathed HIS very breath into us. He holds our very breath in the palms of His hands! So it isn't wrong to believe that God can give life & take it away....(Have you accepted Jesus as your savior yet? ) 

God gave all humans a spirit,soul, & body. 

Spirit- God awareness. we talk(pray) to God with our Spirit.

Soul- Self awareness. Personality,reasoning, emotions,mind,will & understanding

Body-world awareness. We interact with the physical world through our senses.

            Animals do not have a spirit. Therefore, animals have no consciousness of God. 

         God throws signs of Himself literally everywhere! And there is proof that God wants us to have Christ-centered lives & a heart pleasing to Him. 

Do you know what laminin is? Laminin is your body's cell-adhesion molecules, It is the "glue" that holds all the cells in your body together. 

This means that God has given us His "DNA". We were meant to live a life in reflection to Jesus Christ. Our identity REALLY is in Jesus Christ & the pure blood he shed on the Cross.Ironically, when people say to you "carry your cross" just respond: "I already am! I'm filled with laminin yo!"

He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. (Colossians 1:17)

         When we ask God to pour His Spirit on us & fill our surrounding with His presence, sometimes our body shakes & we feel physically weak, but spiritually alive..almost like we could shout His name forever & yell "Praise Jesus!" on every place on earth & run in circles without getting tired. Our Spirit in this moment is connecting with God's spirit but our body(flesh) is constantly dying & cannot handle the Holy Spirit so it often shakes or trembles in the presence of the Father. I believe that our soul is often defined as our heart in the bible. And since our soul gives us an understanding of self- awareness of emotions &; the mind, it is basically describing our heart. If our heart has been set on the Lord then we have found our self-awareness in Christ.

          2years ago when I gave my life to Christ, I often prayed. But I was scared to have the presence of God near me because He is powerful,beautiful, convicting,& loving all at the same time. It was almost too much to take in. I give you important advice that when you pray, ask God to get the Devil away from you & fill you with inner peace so you can spend time with the Lord. Anytime a person tries to receive something from the Lord for example a message preached, a spiritual gift, peace,wisdom etc. the the Devil will try to steal the blessing away. Don't fear the Devil. You have authority over Him in Jesus name! Satan does not want you to discover your identity in Christ & discover just how awesome God really is & how unique you really are. You were made with excellence for excellence.Be blessed! 

  Love you all,

                  -Anthony

"Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (Philippians 4:8)

A Fragile Treasure - By Ashley

As I began reading 2 Corinthians 4 I noticed that the of the chapter was “Treasure in a Fragile Clay.”  I looked up the definition of Fragile. It means easily broken, shattered, or damaged; delicate; brittle; frail.  After reading this, I felt in my spirit that our hearts are our fragile treasures. How many times have we put our hearts on the line for someone? Sitting here thinking of how many times I have gave my fragile heart away to someone because they promised not to break it. Our heart is a treasure. A treasure that shouldn’t be tossed, thrown, stomped, given away so easily, or put on the line for someone who has no idea how to treat a precious, fragile treasure.  Proverbs 4:23 says, “Guard your HEART above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” That right there throws up a red flag in my life… It says your HEART determines the course of your life. I think if we would really grasp the realness of this verse we wouldn’t be so quick to give our heart away. 

Lord, I ask that you teach us how to treat our hearts like fragile treasures. I pray that to show us and teach us the realness of Proverbs 4:23. I ask you to become real in our lives. Amen!

Speaking victory over your life

I just thought this would be great to share...

 Regardless of yesterday's circumstance, today can be your fresh start at life. Let's be honest, we don't always make the right decisions, we don't always act in faith, we don't always please God, but whatever has harmed you in the past, can be used for your advantage today...if we only believe!

The bible says that "death and life is in the power of the tongue" so claim your victory! Speak life. Choose to act in faith today! Sometimes, all you really need to do is "speak faith and victory into your future"...

I challenge you to refer to this video when your in a bad mood. When things seem to be worthy of a complaint, offer a praise instead. Profess the gospel of Christ and the promise of God in your life...

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29:11

Now that you know God's plan for you, do as Joel said in this video and STOP TALKING ABOUT THE WAY YOU ARE AND START TALKING ABOUT THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE!

Choose to communicate faith!

.5

Darkness. People all around you in the light but all you hear is silence.

Your past like a tunnel about to swallow you and smother you...you cant breathe.

Everyone says, "I know how you feel"...but nobody has answers.

So you're running in circles trying to forget all the problems, escape from the voices that tell you it's over. You dont want to give up but what else can you do? You're going insane.

So you cut yourself. You feel like you've won. That you conquered the chaos that burns in your blood that flows from your wrist as the blade cuts through your flesh. And finally! Sweet relief! Everything fades away and your burden is lifted and you are happy. your head feels as light as a feather and you take a deep breathe.

Or maybe you cut because you just want to feel something.

Embrace the challenge! Walk in obedience!

Think about it...The holy Spirit is bold and radical! Are the words that we speak bold? Radical? Are they challenging? Or are we just seeking the approval of listeners????....Be More

-Point5

Focus

Keep your eyes on where you are going because where you are can detour you. What you focus on will be the direction you go so stay focused on where you want to go and not on your failures. Your going to mess up get over it! Failing doesn't make you a failure...not trying does. Anytime you have a dream in your heart you will have opposition in your life. There are no free rides to your destiny. There will be naysayers along the path...what you listen to long enough you will believe. Be careful what you believe because that is what you become! What you invest time in will become valuable to you so invest yourself wisely. If you choose to spend your time on things that don't move you forward don't be surprised when you move backwards. There are two paths for your life, a right one and a wrong one. What you focus on is the difference between regret and a life well lived. Proverbs 4:21 says to guard your heart with all diligence because out of it flows the issues of life. Paul told Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:14 to not neglect the spiritual gift inside him. Whenever God puts something in our heart you must protect it and be diligent to see it lived out in our life.

James "Pops" Rees
SaltBox

The Heart

Have you heard the saying "Follow Your Heart"? That's the stuff of fairy tails and nightmares. Your heart can lead you into places you never ment to go and into things you didn't want to do. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that your heart can't tell you good things. It can, but we can convince ourselves in our hearts that anything is OK and right. What does your heart want? To whom is it submitted?

Do you have "if onlys" in you life? Like if only I had this then my life would be complete. Just as we get what we thought we needed the rules change and there is something new that we need. It's a never ending cycle.

In the Garden on Eden, Adam and Eve enjoyed a standing invitation of open access to God. All their needs were met. They had no hunger, stress, sickness, bills, demands... What are some of the things that you deal with that they didn't have to? They didn't sin because of their demanding circumstances or need. Sin is not the product of what we have or don't have. It is a product of the heart. "The heart is deceitful above all things." Jeremiah 17:9 The heart can easily buy into satan's lies.

Nothing is more misleading than an unsanctified, rebellious, or lost heart. For this reason God continually warns us through the Bible for us to give Him our whole heart. Here are some examples:
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength" Deuteronomy 6:5
"Acknowledge the God of your Father and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and thought." 1 Chronicles 28:9
"As water reflects the face, so one's life reflects the heart" Proverbs 27:19
"For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" Matthew 12:34b
"Good people bring good things out of the good stored in their heart, and evil people bring evil things out of the evil stored up in their heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks" Luke 6:45
These are just a few places in the Bible the heart is mentioned. Do a search and look up other verses and study them. Are you seeing a pattern?

So enter Noah...Adam and Eve lived in the most ideal circumstances, but still choose sin and disobedience. Noah lived where depravity ruled and people followed every evil thought without restraint. He made right choices and was righteous and blameless. "But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God" Genesis 6:8&9

What was the difference? The difference is Noah walked with God in his heart. Heart change doesn't come form a one time commitment or far away thoughts of God. It comes from the constant state of fellowship with God. Day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute...

The deliberate act of will is the inevitable choice between habitual fellowship or habitual failure. Our culture surrounds us with every conceivable practice of sin and the continual mockery of God. We can be victorious only if we walk with God and give Him our whole heart. There is no place more safe. The choice is your daily, hourly, momentarily... What will your choice be? Who will you serve?

Athena
SaltBox