The focus is on the Holy Spirit transforming us and how that brings about the Spiritual relationship, in which all believers should be overwhelmed by. It all flows into this relationship that is pictured as us being the bride in the ultimate marriage that is rich enough to be enjoyed by all for all eternity. But we lose the focus and instead of trying to navigate our way to the relationship, we instead focus on squeezing much more then we should out of letters and parables in the Bible. Parables are parables because they are used to express a single point that just a few words could not. This same language barrier we have today between the spiritual and the physical world. The world labels things, feelings, and actions in the world around us, but when you have things, feelings, and actions that are not like the world then we have no worlds to represent them. You have to experience it to label it. So putting words into the speakers mouth or writer of letters to support your own Spiritual ideas is wrong, but our Christian culture supports taking such liberties. I wonder what Paul thinks of what we have done with his letters. How we have let our logic create our own flavor of legalism.
The road for believers is by way of identifying distractions and turn away towards that which is Spiritual. Distractions for one may not be a distraction for others and will change over time. I find Paul writing to churches about issues that are a stumbling block, but that does not mean it is a stumbling block for all times. But more importantly if reading the Bible and applying it to your relationship does not significantly deepen then something is wrong. We have replaced what should be unending desire for the relationship with a love for Theology. Our love for Theology is only a way to put ourselves on the thrown. This is all part of our church coulter and is supported by our Christian training system and honored by those who excel. We do not look up to those who have developed a deep relationship but those who have some logical incite to the Bible. We are on the same path as the Pharisees of Paul's time. While the law of the New Testament, that we have created, is not as stringent as the Pharisee's law its' affect is the same on Christians. It shuts down the spiritual and fuels the mind.
The purpose is to seek Christ in others and grow together into His bride. While home churchs and open churchs has some good points, the meeting is not the main issue.
Inheritance
I leave my hopes for tomorrow at your feet,
and my worries and fears I let fade into yesterday.
Lord, these things have been my clothing.
I find myself becoming more exposed to you.
Wondering without my desires and fears,
Will you come clothe me with Your Spirit and Your Bride,
Will you protect me from the harsh worldly elements.
Lord you have been my clothing in the past.
I have faith that you will continue.
Lord you have not only clothed me
But you have turned that which once enslaved me,
That which I feared and had hoped to change.
You have made that very thing Your tool to set me free.
You have made my captor take part in my release.
Lord you have given me a forethought of You,
My inheritance in the eternal.
You have prepared me through all of this for a richer taste
The purest taste on earth is found in Your bride.
There I inherit the experience of You,
There I taste of You.
You become stronger in me.
You inherit me.
You inherit the Bride
You marry The Bride.
I leave my hopes for tomorrow at your feet,
and my worries and fears I let fade in to yesterday
and my worries and fears I let fade into yesterday.
Lord, these things have been my clothing.
I find myself becoming more exposed to you.
Wondering without my desires and fears,
Will you come clothe me with Your Spirit and Your Bride,
Will you protect me from the harsh worldly elements.
Lord you have been my clothing in the past.
I have faith that you will continue.
Lord you have not only clothed me
But you have turned that which once enslaved me,
That which I feared and had hoped to change.
You have made that very thing Your tool to set me free.
You have made my captor take part in my release.
Lord you have given me a forethought of You,
My inheritance in the eternal.
You have prepared me through all of this for a richer taste
The purest taste on earth is found in Your bride.
There I inherit the experience of You,
There I taste of You.
You become stronger in me.
You inherit me.
You inherit the Bride
You marry The Bride.
I leave my hopes for tomorrow at your feet,
and my worries and fears I let fade in to yesterday
The Parade
As I go down this spiritual river there is a parade of people that pass me by. Some I enjoy some I don't, some I love, some I fight, and some I share the Lord with. But there is one that never leaves, that is the Lord. His face may change, but the spirit is the same. Relationships are to restrictive for the Lord to restrict Himself to just one. He is bringing me in and out of many, each one showing me a different piece of Him. Not to let the Lord move us on to other relationships is not allowing Christ to continue giving us His riches. The Lord has too many fascists, like a diamond you can't just look at one spot, even though that spot may look wonderful, your must turn it to see it's full wonder. The Lord has put spiritual people in my life to show me Himself. I must stand and let the parade pass me by to see all of His wonders and not try to walk with the group I like the best. The Lord takes us from one part of Himself to show use another part of Himself.
Neglect the Key to Spirituality
The tree of knowledge of evil that Adam and Eve ate from was also the tree of the knowledge of good. We need to see that the desire for knowledge was the first sin. Satan made them think that knowledge was what made God who he is. But it's like saying emotions make me smart and if I become more emotional I will be smarter, while the opposite is true. Knowledge itself is its’ own aphrodisiac and can distract from a spiritual relationship and puts self in the driver seat. So why do we think that knowledge of scriptures or “good” is the answer. Adam and Eve needed to just walk with God and neglect the tree. Think of your mind as a large glass of water with a small drip hole. Your experiences and thoughts are poured in the glass hour by hour and mixed with the past and slowly dripped out. So as new thoughts are poured in the old ones are diluted unless they are refreshed by dwelling on them. I try to have some good thoughts ready for the times when bad thoughts come back to help me neglect them. Deal with the issues at hand and the past, then neglect them and let the riches that God gives you drown it out. You may have to neglect it hourly at first and you will probably fail many times. You just can’t fight it or beat yourself up over your failures to neglect as that empowers sin. You just set it aside and push on with your neglect. God wants to free you from the chains of sin and help you overcome the addiction.