BRRR.... IT'S COLD IN HERE!  THERE MUST BE A CHANGE IN THE ATMOSPHERE!

Woman rising from the ashes of her former self, like a phoenix

In case you haven't noticed by now, I use alot of visuals in my head to enable me to capture the essence of some thought, idea or "revelation" that I am getting.  As usual, I was lying in bed this morning allowing thoughts to meander here and yonder thru my head.  Suddenly one zipped through that I had to write about. 

As soon as I decided to write about it, the cheer (see below) from the movie "Bring It On" popped into my mind.  I can picture a group of us women chanting "BRRR.... It's cold in here!  There MUST be a change in the atmosphere!"  (the chant says "Clovers" but my point here is about "change".) We women must make a change in the atmosphere of our Christian walk if we want to walk in warmth, light, and freedom.

My thoughts this morning were drifting around a friend that seems to be strong in the knowledge of God but weak in the love of God.  I've been there myself, and as I am learning more about His love, I start to see the signs in someone that they may as yet be a toddler in that area.  My thoughts were about how this person seems caught in doing what they should and how these things appear to weigh him down with heavy burdens.  

To me that is an indication of one of two things. Either you are taking upon yourself what God hasn't asked you to do and He's not in it, which results in you struggling and straining to accomplish it yourself.  OR He is in it but you've grabbed onto it and are trying to make it happen yourself.  

When He's in it and I am relying on HIM to make it happen, not my own efforts, there is a feeling of peace and often, enjoyment. I can shrug and say "Oh well... it's up to you, God, to make it happen.  I've done my best, which isn't much, so it's up to you to breath life into it if you choose too."

For me, I notice when am able to just go with the flow and say "God, if this is of you, you'll have to make it happen", things don't seem heavy and unpleasant.  I say to God "I'm showing up.... I'll do my part.... but your grace will have to take what comes OUT of me and turn it into Your truth that flows INTO others."  

For the most part, I'm starting to relax and be comfortable with failing. I can't say that I LIKE failing but I know if I'm stepping out and doing what I feel He is gently prompting me to do, then He'll make it happen.  If I'm wrong and it's not of Him, then I ask Him to enable me to be OK with failing and to use my mistake to teach me.   I believe a huge part of how we come to be able to sense the difference between HIS leading and our own agenda is by risking failure and being OK with failing.   That is how I am learning.

My friend loves to study the old testament much more than the new. That's ok but could he be missing out on learning about what I believe is the paradigm shift that happened from the old to the new testament?  

Yes, we serve the same God as we did in the old testament.  However, instead of us trying in our own strength to live a life that God wants to bless us with, we now have the Holy Spirit to TEACH us and to do it in us. 

Also, instead of us making sacrifices for our sins, God made the ultimate sacrifice for us: Jesus.  This one sacrifice totally anihilated the need for us to make sacrifices for our sins.  Instead of the practice of sacrificing, we practice repenting.  

In other words, Instead of sacrificing an animal to pay for our sins, the Holy Spirit lovingly prompts our heart to recognize "Hey, I messed up here" and we feel the desire to apologize; we feel the desire to allow that bad behavior to be changed.  A paradigm shift has happened.

A paradigm is our perception of reality, our view. It is our interpretation of events based on previous 

teaching we have received.  A paradigm shift means to have a change in perception, a change in point of view, of how you see things.  

I feel that my friend has not had that shift from old to new testament thinking.  I believe they feels that they must be punished for wrong choices, that they must continue to live with those wrong choices because " they made they bed now they must lie in it".   

When we get into that kind of thinking, we take on burdens that are our perception, our view, of what God would have us do.   We don't know the freedom in living in a life guided by God's love.  We haven'tt had the shift from living under God as a dictator, to living life with our God who is yearning to have us share His life with Him.  

A life that is lived based on how well you look or behave as a Christian usually becomes dull, lifeless, cold.  We HAVE to have a change in how we view Christianity if we want to experience what He truly created life to be.  We must have a change in the atmosphere of Christianity.  Like the phoenix we must move from a cold dark way of going thru the motions to a fiery, passionate, abundant way of living!  

I believe that life with God is an adventure He wants to share with us.  Once we understand that... once we understand His love and His heart of boundless compassion toward us.... then even the most mundane, boring of tasks will take on a life of it's own.  

Once we can have a paradigm shift in the way we view or walk with God, moving from one where our focus is morality based to one that is steeped in the glory and freedom of God's love, THEN we really begin to live!

Let me explain what I mean when I say moving from morality focused to love focused.  When I first began to hear teaching about this concept my immediate thought was that my life would quickly erode into sin filled chaos if I did not judge everything I did with my moral compass.  

However, just like the teachings I began hearing assured me, my devotion to God did not allow this to happen.  My heart truly hungers to do the right thing.  Just because I have began to stop focusing on where I mess up does not lessen that hunger one bit.  As a matter of fact, it has increased that hunger.

It has also abundantly increased my peace, my joy, my enthusiasm for life and for God, and my desire to draw close and come to intimately know the heart of God...  Wow.... as I wrote this sentence what came to me was the verse John 10:10 "....I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it ^[a]overflows). Amplified Version  and in other words "....I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. Message Version"

Ladies, that is what life with God is all about.  Matthew 11:30 "For My yoke is wholesome (useful, good—not harsh, hard, sharp, or pressing, but comfortable, gracious, and pleasant), and My burden is light and easy to be borne. Amplified Version,       Comfortable... gracious..... pleasant.....  

 Yessss.... that is what it is becoming for me.....  

Very VERY often God uses the very circumstances we are in to change us.  Not because we are not good enough but because we have to change to be able to recognize what true freedom in Him feels like.  

In your marriage, or any circumstance,  it is not about being perfect but about being the best you, that you can be. God will know if that can be accomplished best inside of your marriage or outside of it.  No one else but Him can guide you here.  

Just quit thrashing in whatever circumstances you are in right now, whether they are a result of your choices or not, let yourself float calmly on your back and begin to quietly cheer and chant 'Brrrr.... it's cold in here.  There MUST be some change in the atmosphere..." 

 

“A Small handful among us have discovered what the rest of us would pay dearly to know: How can we bring real, living excitement into this life?”                    Pastor David Jeremiah

A Paradigm Shift as a change from one way of thinking to another. It's a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. - See more at: http://www.chacha.com/question/what-does-paradigm-shift-mean#sthash.xhIWAwh6.dpuf

A Paradigm Shift as a change from one way of thinking to another. It's a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. - See more at: http://www.chacha.com/question/what-does-paradigm-shift-mean#sthash.i1g7fVth.dpuf

A Paradigm Shift as a change from one way of thinking to another. It's a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. - See more at: http://www.chacha.com/question/what-does-paradigm-shift-mean#sthash.i1g7fVth.dpuf