I promised to discuss how the Lord "gives life to our MORTAL bodies" as part of the discussion on "Self Control".
We have already noticed that "self control" is the yielding of control - a process of "Sweet Surrender" which releases our hearts from bondage.
In this you have a NEW DAY! Like the Israelites coming out of Egypt, you are now FREE.
Consider the impact of Romantic Love on our hearts. We hear a love song and it's somehow "bigger than life". Why? Most of us don't get as charged up over food - even our favorite food. It's the PERSONAL side of romantic love that opens our hearts to something far bigger and more beautiful than simple sexual gratification.
I had this "Big Feeling" toward LIFE when I came to know the Lord. Romance came later. But that zest for life - all those rich and wonderful feelings - it was all mine. And if you know that the magic comes from the Spiritual World, romantic love grows in it's "magical" quality. If you think the "magic" comes from romance itself, well . .
"Life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone."
I've mentioned before that one of the biggest hinderances is that people can't let themselves believe that it could possibly "be this good"!
I tell you the truth, "It's better!"
The awesomeness of God is good and deepens and gets better the longer you live - AS LONG AS YOU RECOGNIZE THE TRUE SOURCE OF LIFE.
My son and I wrote a song that expresses this (called "The True Source Of Life") It talks about our former life when we touched the "shadows' of the things we now enjoy. Though you can touch them, they are but "shadows".
And romantic love isn't the only powerful "shadow".
Bob Sieger's song "Like A Rock" expresses the True Manhood of a PRINCIPLED MAN. Then it sadly chronicles how that manhood gets crushed through time and compromise. When he realizes how far he's fallen it's all restored.
But that rarely happens - and almost never with any kind of completeness.
But in Christ I have the Fount of Eternal Youth.
And those who do not fear death truly love.
So we took on the worst of the worst in Detroit - and watched God show his might.
Real humility is the basis of real manhood.
You feel strength pour into you and a Fire begins to BURN in your heart!
TWELVE MEN CHANGED THE WORLD.
Forget the little twerps the world praises. Rousseau, Voltaire, Freud. All midgets.
The great men of God who GAVE THEIR LIVES to overcome the spiritual forces of darkness in time past - IF YOU COULD SEE WITH EYES THAT PIERCE INTO WHAT IS REAL - they were Fearsome Warriors ALL.
David said, "I can run through a troop of soldiers and leap over a wall!"
Real manhood!
Because though Jonathan and David were mighty warriors - and knew the mighty love of a true Band Of Brothers - their warfare with feeble weapons that, yes, defeat flesh and blood . . . well . . .
They are nothing compared to the Shining Warriors of LIGHT!
John the Baptist was the greatest of men born of woman.
The LEAST in the kingdom is greater than he!
Look death in the face and laugh! The risk we faced only energized us and made us stronger.
And our biker evangelists make "Born To Be Wild" sound like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"!
God sees! God knows!
And ETERNITY KNOWS!
Since we see with eternal eyes we hear God mock the pretend strength of rebels and the "Alpha Dog" weaklings of the world.
So strength pours into our minds, bodies and spirits. Our society despises manhood.
We STAND!
We ARE NOT MOVED!
Zorro would don his disguise and go off on mad adventures. My wife would send me off onto the streets - knowing we would court mortal danger like I once courted, and still court, her. And she's a spiritual warrior like "Mrs. Zorro" too! My wife is AWESOME.
Jael kills them with kindness! The demons shudder.
The world sees our weapons and our warfare in mockery like Don Quixote's tin sword and delusional quest for glory. We know better. Just ask Dulcinea. She'll tell you. We freed the Dulcineas of Detroit!
Conquering the demons out where there's blood on the asphalt and setting people free is a joy beyond words. I have dozens of stories that would thrill your souls. As Paul said, "Was it for nothing that we FOUGHT THE BEASTS in Ephesus?"
May God open your eyes to see what kind of MAN the GREAT WARRIOR, the Apostle Paul, truly was. He FOUGHT THE BEASTS! Yes! And he put his FOOTon their NECK in triumph.
But because we see the spiritual warrior, this only brings the battle into focus. Some of our most thrilling stories were fought out in the offices where I've worked. There are stories that give me goosebumps and cause me to weep for joy at the slightest memory of God's mighty deeds of deliverance. If I told you you'd laugh. You'd cry. You'd marvel at God's miracles.
So go forth and CONQUER! Stand your ground in that seemingly insignificant place where you do war for God. Matters of eternal consequence will be decided on that field of battle.
Womankind have their equivilent lifegiving force in the Spirit.
But for me, I feel powerful forces released in my mind and body that renew my youth and God given manhood.
In "The Passion Of The Christ" Jesus crushed the serpant's head in the garden. HE, the Mightiest of ALL warriors!
The true warrior dies daily. His is a bloody fight. And when he takes the body and blood of Christ in Spiritual Communion there is a warrior bond that is off the charts in intensity. We are Blood Brothers with Our Lord!
Finally, in true spirituality
there is the quiet time where the man of God finds one of the greatest victories in Absolute Peace.
He draws near to God in that Sacred Place of quiet meditation.
My wife demonstrated how complete peace equates to great strength.
I used to work as a janitor on the OB unit of a hospital. So when my wife and I had our first child the nurses left us in a room I'd mopped and cleaned innumerable times.
She gets obedient to the point of being "hypnotic" when in labor. If I see an arm muscle, or hand, tighten - I just touch it and she relaxes it. Her body worked with tremendous efficiency. It was no picnic. But she wasted very little strength as she was in perfect relaxation and peace. Without any act of her will the hard work of labor went forward effectively. Her mind focused on complete loving obedience. And in obedience she found amazing peace.
The nurses thought she was sleeping when we knew from our studies that she was within a half an hour to an hour from delivery. The nurses said, "No. This is false labor. She needs to go home until the labor gets real." I just commanded them to get the doctor. She had our first son less than an hour later.
What deed, on earth, is greater than bringing an eternal soul into the world?!
I could never keep her down after a birth. She'd want to hop in the car and go show off her new baby to all her friends. I had to make her rest (for a while).
So, too, the true warrior fights his mightiest battles on the valiant battleground of true spiritual prayer. There's the mighty fight of Gethsemane. But allowing the mightiest warrior of all to break through the veil of our flesh and enter our innermost being is the heart and soul of what and who we are.
So now many of you are beginning to believe that it CAN BE THAT GOOD.
When you feel his mighty strength pouring through your body - and energizing your mind and spirit - you'll KNOW it's true. And it only gets better!
It's not by our strength that we are renewed.
It's by yielding.
You are like the filament of a light bulb. When you throw the switch to turn on the light, it "drops the barrier", closing the circuit and allowing the tremendous power to flow. You burn with a bright light and heat of God's own Passion!
Drop your barriers.
Love can energize you at any time and any place - and will.
But let music be the "carrier" of divine energy.
The emotion in a movie is in the sound track.
My van has a great sound system, and a tiny little screen.
I'd rather watch a good movie in that van than with a "big screen" if the sound system is weak.
God will give YOU a SPECIAL sound track for your movie!
Listen to Susan Ashton's "Here In My Heart" or "Stand". Such songs open a door that help you to see just how amazingly beautiful your calling truly is.
Such GLORY makes "self control" a "done deed". You're ALIVE! You're FREE! It's a NEW DAY! Rise and Live - really LIVE for a change! And end your day in a timeless quiet meditation that makes each day seem eternal. You've ridden on The Wings Of The Wind! Now rest in perfect peace and be one with Your Lord - and with all the blessed ones who are one with you in the Same Spirit!
God makes your "mortal body" ALIVE. That's why we don't boast. God provides the will to obey, the path to walk, and the power to live it.
We are forgiven by his shed blood.
But how are we saved???
BY HIS LIFE!!
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