The old...passes away!

 "Jacob’s Ladder’ is a weekly Sunday post, and the blog history is at dreliatjacobsladder.blogpost.com

This is a Fellowship of the Spirit. It is not a church construct and incurs neither mission, fund raising, nor religious participation. God desires our participation in all of life, and not via the false gospel of corporate and culture formatted selectiveness. This effort pursues Christian growth as human growth. It completes Social Holiness and moves into Personal Holiness. God wills community for all of us. And Jacob’s Ladder will keep on growing.

2 Cor 5:167, continued…… ‘the old is passing away’

Dearly beloved,

Remember last week? If needed, read it again; lots of good stuff - in a nutshell! And if you have a sense of what newness amounts to, then the question is ‘how do we phase out the old?’ It doesn’t disappear by itself. Indeed, it’s a lifelong process! If we do it right, it keeps getting better. Like an onion, we keep peeling old layers off; and then we keep growing new ones! Quite amazing! So, for me the “I’m old and set in my ways’ and ‘I’m old now it doesn’t matter anymore’ makes little sense. Those notions do not apply. I’ll just keep on being myself and living as I always have. Some things will change. Then you move with the times and your times and adjust accordingly. Instead of varying bits of paper, these days I’ve got everything on a cellphone when I travel. Neat and easy. Life is always changing, and human beings are built to be flexible, so we can do this. just remember…

 

1.do not frame i.e. think of, God’s power as being supportive of earthly goals like property, possessions, wealth, or looks. These are all transitional in this frame. God is not involved in any of them, though many would like us to think otherwise. Do not be misled. They will pass because we are passing through the frame. It begins and it ends, from birth to death. But the limits can change when the Kingdom intervenes. It depends. That is something to adventure into and learn how to manage! You can stretch the frame as needed, not as wanted. As Jesus says, build up treasure in heaven. It will be there for you. The rest you cannot take with you. But manage it well. Better to have enough than to suffer insufficiency. But there are too many reasons for this in our world today and too many people are blamed unfairly for being weak or poor when too many Governments fail to distribute justice and wealth equally. No need to say more. We can see it for what it is. How to fix it is always the struggle, for power controllers don’t give up easily and there is always greed and the desire for wealth involved.

2.control your emotions; they are often the greatest cause of human sorrow; this is about keeping your feelings in balance so they cause no harm. It is doable, but takes discipline and practice. Jesus died for you and bled for you. His blood shed for you is the value of your life. Keep that value. Take care of it. When others fail, they fail. They must deal with their choices and improve on them. Hard at times, but we cause harm to ourselves if we intervene when we should not. Growth comes of itself. But if your helping carries no vested interest, then it can be good. Often this can mean coming across differently, but if you do it well, you can point out a flaw in how an issue is handled without making it personal.

3.Set eradication goals. Some things you can fix first time around, you never really liked them, and succumbed to someone else’s push. Or pull. Others may be more difficult. Then you have to work at them incrementally. Just be consistent, it does not matter how long it takes you, as everyone is different. But all habits can be managed. It is always a matter of exercising your will. Great opportunity to practice strength of will, a critical key to every good thing happening in your life. Work at it.

4. Do your hard thinking over issues that you have too easily accepted as ‘the new norm’, another trick of the world in deceiving us! Read Jim Wallis’ False White Gospel. It’s important. Culture influences religious thinking in more ways than we realize. We need to separate ourselves from that to find the real essentials. Think about scripture like ‘wives should be submissive to husbands’ and ask yourself if it makes any sense at all today. We are not hunters and gatherers anymore. K and I max our joint ability. Think about single mothers and ask why there are so few single fathers! Obvious, isn’t it? Nah, there’s a lot in the Bible that we have to figure out, and God has given us both the intelligence and the strength of will to realize what is just and what is fair; and we have the strength of will to make the needed adjustments. The time for non-involvement is past, and we must work to make a better world and a better life for our children and our children’s children. Instead of listening to idiots talking about TFR like women are a bunch of cows. Honestly! Cows would be offended!

5. Work on the body temple. Change diets. Cut the oil, the carbs, the fast food, the processed food. Freak out once in a while, with durians, big breakfasts and the like. Teach the children. They’ll thank you when there is no diabetes, no weight issues that strain bone structure, and the engine is running smoothly because its well cared for. Be wary of oversimplified answers, like ‘it’s in your genes so you’re stuck with it’. Nope. Medicine is limited. Has always been. But within those limits a lot can be done if you’re working with it and doing your part. Use it well. Don’t rely on it. It does not have the answers by a long shot.

6. Be kind to yourself. Your conscience is not your enemy but a God given ally. Never waste time on guilt. Fix the cause. Be flexible, be fluid. Fixed attitudes kill creativity. There are very few ‘musts’ in our world, not counting the uncountable idiosyncrasies we impose upon ourselves. Be free of them. The stars still belong to everyone. Allow Lent to shape the rest of your year, dump the stuff that’s a waste of time and energy.

7.Everyone likes to say ‘time flies’ but it does not. It moves steadily, slowly, incrementally; it is the turtle in all our lives. And it almost always wins the race. If we realize this is not a race, we win. Remember Jesus and Mary and Martha at Lazarus’ house. One is listening, the other is busy doing this, that and the other. No end is in sight, just frustration. Finally, a complaint; and Jesus says, ah but you know, she chose the best part; no one is constraining you. Choose wisely. Discover new ability of will, new energy and power, new life In Jesus. It is here. And it waits for you. But it comes out of a combo that you must learn to live with and use. Treat everyday as a gift, and you yourself as you are, a being that is precious in the sight of the Lord. Walk accordingly. Grace and peace in Jesus unto thee and thy household. G.