And since this conversation is overlapping one on a closed, caucus thread – I’m pinging a few there here so that it can be more freely discussed.
The relevant comments from the other thread begin at post 153. By no coincidence I’m sure, that post was made far ahead of the remarks made by kosta50 on this thread to which I agreed. I also do not see it as a coincidence that both sidebars on the two threads have arrived at the very same point!
First the other thread [the subject was leaving our prayers at the Cross, trusting Him, that worrying is akin to saying “I don’t believe you” to God] – the underline was added for emphasis here:
You see, my particular “cross-eyed bears” are pride, ego, vanity and evil thoughts that seem to crop up through word or image associations as the day goes by. It could be something as simple as seeing a character portrayed in a movie who reminds me of someone I know (and thus I become judgmental) – or things sinister that happen in life.
At any rate, once I sense the presence of pride, ego, vanity or an evil thought (which happens much more often than I’d like) – I immediately repent of it and reboot my prayer vigil in the hopes of destroying the wrong before it becomes part of what I say, my facial expressions or actions and actually hurts someone else.
The prayer vigil begins with the “no strings attached” plea: Thy name be hallowed, Thy will be done, Thy kingdom come.
Then comes the pause and meditation that this is truly all that is important, i.e. not family, not friends, not enemies, not nations, not powers, not me – nothing.
Then I turn the prayer inward and pray first for help to keep my priorities straight, i.e. to love God absolutely and as a distant second, to love my neighbor unconditionally.
That’s when I lift up my “neighbors” in prayer for His blessing, peace and guidance. I pray generally and specifically for family, friends, associates and enemies. Then I lift up Christians and Jews, Jerusalem, the United States, Israel, our President and administration, and our service men and women. This lifting up is a continuance of specific prayers for specific people, e.g. healing or whatever.
Then, if I have forgotten any specific prayer request, I raise it at that time and try my very best to leave it there only to be revisited as a “lifting up.” Then I pause again and meditate on how insignificant I am in the face of all of this and reboot my background (always running) prayer.
That one is self-serving as I pray like a toddler, “up papaw, pweese” – asking Him to keep me transparent in Him so that His Light can shine unobstructed by me. And so it continues until I stumble over one of my “cross-eyed bears” again and become an obstruction by having a prideful, egotistical, vain or evil thought – and it all starts over.
Whew! Any hoot, I don’t know whether this personal prayer principle is of any use to you, but I just had to reveal it. You know how that goes. LOL!
Kosta50: One must guard against spiritual pride. Only those who empty themselves of all pride become temples for Spirit's indwelling.
Like glass, the light of God shines through them, yet they have become invisible, never drawing attention to themselves, so that all we see is God's light through them.
Far and few inbetween are such temples.
The Spirit is not effectual when that happens and thus the temple is not effectual either.
Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and [of] the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. – John 3:5-6
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. – Romans 8:9
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost [which is] in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? – I Cor 6:19
Some of us are like rubies, others like emeralds, others like sapphires. And some of us are merely translucent such that His Light shines “off” of us rather than through us. Sadly, some of us are like the onyx. Nevertheless, we are still all Christian (Thomas was not like Peter who was not like John, etc.)
My Spiritual objective and running background prayer is to become and remain transparent in Him. I’m shooting for a diamond but am liable to end up an amethyst because of my "cross-eyed bears." LOL!
But truly, as Kosta50 has said, and to which I agree – it takes humility. Lots of it. And few of us will ever be ‘diamonds.’
Moses was the most humble man on earth. Mary was humble. Peter was humbled as was Paul.
Jeepers, Jesus Himself was humble! (Phillipians 2)
Moses was the most humble man on earth. Mary was humble. Peter was humbled as was Paul.
Jeepers, Jesus Himself was humble! (Phillipians 2)"
Ponder this from Archimandite Sophrony, of blessed memory:
"The Holy Spirit comes when we are receptive. He does not compel. He approaches so meekly that we may not even notice. If we would know the Holy Spirit we need to examine ourselves in the light of the Gospel teaching, to detect any other presence which may prevent the Holy Spirit from entering into our souls. We must not wait for God to force Himself on us without our consent. God respects and does not constrain man. It is amazing how God humbles Himself before us. He loves us with a tender love, not haughtily, not with condescension. And when we open our hearts to Him we are overwhelmed by the conviction that He is indeed our Father. The soul then worships in love."
Pretty extraordinary, isn't it, that God would humble Himself before us?!
Good and candid remarks.. I'm not sure any of us deserve such an open and honest peek into your heart.. but its appreciated..
What an honor it is to even be a precious stone in the metaphorical hierarchy.. if there is one.. In my studies of precious stones.. they are what they are.. If all were diamonds we would all be the losers.. They are precious because they just are precious.. The difference between them makes them even more precious..
Is a diamond more precious than a topaz?..
Its like comparing apples and oranges.. I know you agree but its fun even talking about this.. I'm amazed and delighted at Alexandrite, a particular rare precious stone.. It is one color in artificial light and another tint of color in natural/sunlight.. All precious stones are unique to what they are because of their crystalline structure.. The crystals that they are made of are unique.. Even the frequencies of light they absorb are unique to what kind of stone it is..
Even each stone is individually unique.. and if cut/faceted it becomes even more unique(the parts).. Crystallography is quite a study.. Iron with one crystalline structure is not magnetic but with another crystalline structure IS MAGNETIC(same stuff, element).. YES, even metals have crystalline structure.. Amazing crystals are..
Prayer might be the flow of light from precious stones..
What a wonderful metaphor of humanity precious stones are..
A polished stone is beautiful.. even granite polished is beautiful.. as some kitchen counters boast.. I am remembering the vision of a crystalline planet in the Book of Worms.. A planet composed of crystals mainly.. with a sun lighting it up like kaleidoscope.. Hope to visit a place like that some day.. There is much to learn about precious stones.. polished and buffed they are all magnificent works of art.. Reflectors and transducers of light..
You are much appreciated in that way..
Your crystals are unique.. ;)
I agree entirely with what you said.
Transparency for HIS LIGHT is a crucial part of the mark of the High Calling.
AND
[not but or however but AND]
He did not make us clear glass pipe robots. He could have. He chose not to--clearly--for a reason--at least one.
He delights in the personalities HE gave us. He delights in the fellowship with those personalities.
He could have made cookie-cutter/cloned/glass pipes. He did not. He chose NOT to.
There is abundant merit and wisdom in MORE OF HIM AND LESS OF ME.
However, as my teen pastor said--if you kill self--who's going to worship God?
Yes, we die to self daily; take up our crosses daily etc. . . . all good and crucial Biblical truths.
There can be, though, a kind of mindless jumping off the deep end with such which is akin to eastern religion where the MASTER obliterates the personalities of his robotized serfs to the demonic forces manipulating them all.
THAT is NOT CHRISTIANITY. Christianity is wholesale different--not just in window dressing.
I don't think there's a pat answer or a stationary line to avoid crossing.
The line is something Holy Spirit has to speak to us each individually about moment by moment. Today, doing X behavior might cross the line. Next week in a different context with different people and different motivation, it might not. Doesn't mean Christianity is relative chaos; slippery, ends justify means at all. No!
But God is also obviously not an idiot. Clones and robots are not very interesting. We may have various levels of addiction to sitting in front of TV's or computer screens but we really don't FELLOWSHIP, dialogue mentally, emotionally, spiritually--intimately with machines.
I think, Angel-Gal, you know all this. I'm not sure, however, if you agree with all of it! LOL.
I'm not sure therefore what . . . I just kind of cringe when it sounds like folks are saying or about to say . . .
I'M JUST A GLASS PIPE FOR JESUS.
I want to say something like WELL TRADE YOURSELF IN, He didn't make you a glass pipe--go find your personality and let HIM CONFORM !THAT! TO THE IMAGE OF HIS SON POURED AND ENLIVENED THROUGH HOW HE CREATED YOU.
Then you will be the suitable variety fit & particularly and specifically designed for HIS bouquet.
I do know how that goes indeed. Thank you so much for this inspired sharing on prayer in Christ Jesus, the Head from whom all the body, nourished and knit together by joints and ligaments, grows with the increase that is from God (Col. 2:19), amen.
Bookmarked for ease of retrieval -- for I'll be revisiting this wonderful essay/post in future....