Saturday, April 24, 2010

Spiritual Truths found in the Physical World

I love that God placed us in a physical world.  All around me I see spiritual applications in the physical world that gives me hope and helps me to stay grounded in reality.

 

The bible uses "light" and "darkness" to manifest the spiritual reality of living with God in Christ and with out Him.  It uses "water" to talk about the Holy Spirit.  I can also see others that are not actually identified in the bible but have spiritual application all the same.  There is gravity, and eating food, and many others.  Let me take just a moment to expand on what I am talking about.

 

Light.  Jesus claims to be the Light of the World.  Have you ever just watched the light?  I have.  If you have a closet say, in the hallway of your home.  Your sitting adjacent to that closet in the room.  Your brother comes by to grab his jacket out of the closet and opens the door.  When he opens the door the light from the room you are in floods into the closet space and the darkness that was there is pushed out.  Notice that the light invades the darkness.  The darkness never invades the lighted space.  This is a physical truth that demonstrates a Spiritual Truth.  Jesus came as the light of the world.  At the time that He came the darkness ruled.  Jesus gave Himself as the perfect lamb of sacrifice to over come that darkness and death that was ruling.  No longer does darkness rule but Jesus, the Light, has overcome the darkness.  He has invaded the space that the darkness used to rule.  Where ever Jesus is allowed to enter the light takes over and the darkness must be pushed back.  It cannot do anything but to be pushed out and overtaken by the Light.  

 

Continuing on that thought just a bit.  The door also represents our free will.  When we shut out Jesus out of our life by our choices, He will not come in and over come that darkness with His marvelous light.  Only when we willingly turn to Him and ask Him to come in will He enter and overcome the darkness in our lives with His light.  Just like that closet door had to be opened before the light could do what it is made to do, invade the darkness.  

 

Water.  In the bible the Holy Spirit is likened to Living Water.  I find it quite ironic that our bodies are made of something like 93% water.  If we give up food we can live for days and weeks but give up water and in 3 to 4 days time we will die.  What a marvelous physical demonstration of our need for the Holy Spirit in our lives.  With out physical water my body will physically die and my soul and spirit are connected to my body so I die completely.  Without the Holy Spirit in my life I cannot live.  I am a slave to my flesh and Satan.  Only in my life with Jesus do I receive the Living Water that gives to me abundant life, here and now, and also eternal life.  The bible says in Revelation that the river of living water of life, clear as crystal, comes from the throne of God and of the Lamb.  

 

Eating.  When I think of how I need to eat food it reminds me of how I need to be in continual communion with Jesus through the spiritual disciplines of reading the bible, praying, fasting, etc.  I do not function well when I miss a meal or let my life get so crazy that I am not only not eating continually but the proper things as well.  All this helps me to remember that there is a spiritual truth there, helping me to remain aware of it.  Just like when I skip meals and eat the wrong things I must also continually be in the bible and in prayer to keep my relationship with my Heavenly Father strong.  Particularly in prayer.  I just cannot go long and do well in my life without being in His presence through prayer.  Talking with Him listening to Him.  Like food I can go for a time without talking to Jesus and my life will not get derailed but going to long and pretty soon I'm losing strength, purpose, focus, etc.  So, like I fuel my body well, I also need to fuel my Spirit well.  That involves being in the presence of the One who made me.

 

Gravity.  I love the law of gravity.  To me it speaks so loudly of the reality of Truth and it's absoluteness.  When my sisters and I were growing up, my older sister had a friend who wanted to fly.  One time while partying, he decided to demonstrate his belief that he could fly.  He went to the top of a second story building and attempted to fly.  He lost his life on that day.  Gravity can be over come for a time but you cannot ignore the physical truth that gravity is there and effects your life.  Look what it takes to over come gravity for a time.  It takes a concerted effort with lots of extra energy to make a plane fly.  It can fly for a time but comes back to the earth to refuel and maintenance the plane.  You cannot over come gravity for long.  Even birds and gliders can use the natural winds and currents to fly for a time but there time in the air is also continually eroded by the law of gravity.  They can start out high but slowly come back to earth.  Even a space rocket has it limitations.  By great power a rocket can actually get out of our atmosphere and move into space.  While a rocket can over come gravity it cannot remain out there forever, it must reenter to maintain life.  If a rocket carries livings things those things need unlimited supplies of food, water, shelter, etc.  The rocket will not be able to carry those things so for life to continue it must come back into the place where gravity exists.    It the same way, to live without Truth for a time can be done but to do it for long periods of time cost you your very life.  I can know that absolute Truth exists and impacts my life because the law of gravity speaks loudly to that reality.

 

These are where my thoughts have been today.  I love the Lord and am not able to express enough my gratitude for His pursuit of me and my life.  To Jesus be the glory on the earth and forever.  Amen.

 

Posted via web from jenniferthorne's posterous

Tuesday, April 6, 2010