The second day in a row woke up early. My physician told me to double-up on a medication he prescribed. I had hesitated because I knew I would be up before the chickens. I have some dear friends that do this quite regularly, that is, get up before dawn. I have been known to tell them to find a healing line at a church and get prayer. My wife and I are up late and most often sleep late. My son, Mark, texted me this morning and said, “You are up too early.” Then added, “Good morning.” He writes books. He was my forerunner in the authoring business. But, his text messages are short and to the point.
Or maybe the Lord awakened me. Both mornings I seemed He had something He was putting in my mind. Tanya, my wife, and I frequently ask the Lord by His Spirit to fill our minds with His thoughts. That’s from the scripture, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus,” Philippians 4:5. Since the Apostle Paul wrote so much of the New Testament, that seems good advice. Don’t you agree?
This morning I was teaching in my dreams. That is when I realized I was wide awake, and the thoughts continued. As the day went by, everything I was reading reflected the ideas that came during my last hours of the morning in bed. I know you’re saying it was the effects of the medication. I don’t think so.
Last night at prayer time at Church, a small group of us reflected on several concerns within our society. One item was, “To get the CoVid vaccine or not.” This triggered in my mind many reflections about disagreements in our culture. A few minutes ago, Tanya read about a well-known personality of strong opinions who had all their shots and the booster and still contracted CoVid. They didn’t understand. I was reading about someone who had strongly objected to getting the vaccine (has the decision been made that it really is a “vaccine?”), and they died of CoVid. I don’t know an easy answer. And perhaps, many of you reading this, I’m sure, have strong opinions.
This post is my wanderings in Spiritual matters. So, how does the previous paragraph address Spiritual issues? In this way – our discussion last night led to commitments that we make. There are, for example, a great many professing Christians who are lukewarm in their relationship with Spiritual matters. You’ll find this addressed by the Lord Himself in Revelation 3:15-16 “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Somewhere, long ago, I read that the Laodicean Church that Jesus is speaking to was noted for having mineral waters. You can drink mineral waters, I’m told, hot or cold. However, if you drink mineral waters lukewarm, it will make you throw-up, or be spewed out of the mouth. Yes, I did look up a synonym that would be the least offensive.
So, Jesus says there are those because they are neither hot nor cold, but just lukewarm, that makes Him sick to the Stomach. Well, think about it! I read another post this afternoon that showed the Church, rather than a bride, has become a prostitute. Here, I’ll let you read the first of the post for yourself;
LOVER OR PROSTITUTE? The Question that Changed My Life by David Ryser.
A number of years ago, I had the privilege of teaching at a school of ministry. My students were hungry for God, and I was constantly searching for ways to challenge them to fall more in love with Jesus and become voices for revival in the Church. I came across a quote attributed most often to Rev. Sam Pascoe. It is a short version of the history of Christianity, and it goes like this: “️Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution; it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an enterprise.” Some of the students were only 18 or 19 years old, and I wanted them to understand and appreciate the importance of the last line, so I clarified it by adding: “An enterprise. That’s a business.” After a few moments, Martha, the youngest student in the class, raised her hand. I could not imagine what her question might be. I thought the little vignette was self-explanatory and that I had performed it brilliantly.
Nevertheless, I acknowledged Martha’s raised hand, “Yes, Martha.” She asked such a simple question: “A business? But isn’t it supposed to be a body?” I could not envision where this line of questioning was going, and the only response I could think of was “Yes.” She continued: “But when a body becomes a business, isn’t that a prostitute?”
I know a lot of controversial thoughts in my writings today. Perhaps this is why I didn’t immediately write down my thoughts when I awakened early this morning. So, let’s do this; I will stop for now and continue this tomorrow or very soon.
Think about these things.
My Spiritual-Wanderings.
Spiritual Wanderings 