Revelation of Dec. 22

the Lord has blessed me with such an enriching night of truth and encouragement. i got to talking to several friends just about the desire that constantly stirs in me to experience something so different. so rare. something outside of the social and cultural norms. something that is raw to the extent that nothing the world or media has poured into us can taint this fresh and real feeling or understanding. whether you think about it or not the world and media have sculpted our minds into these machines that like and dislike very much of the same things. all types of connitations are inferred by pretty much every single person, place, or thing. we are even told what feelings and in what quantity are appropriate and at what time they are so. sit back. stop thinking. stop thinking what you are told to think. ask hard questions. get to the core. why. why. why. why. why. ask it over and over. everyone is searching frantically for something raw. something that the primer and the paint have been removed from. its truth. truth embedded throughout scripture that life flows so freely from. these words and feelings that i have been so hungry for. the freedom i blog about because there is a craving of such intensity. this freedom is the word. its the only truth we have. it is the only thing that has not been tainted by a world of pain. i constantly search for truth in people, in my own thoughts and feelings. but truth isnt there. it cant be entirely there apart from the word. apart from Christ. he is truth and without him there is no truth and therefore no reason to live. i cant even think about wanting to live without him. no joy? no thank you.

another thing i learned tonight is that it is important to establish what is truth and alter feelings around that. not the other way around. so many times i act based off of my feelings rather than truth and feelings are fickle and deceiving a lot of the time. we have control over feelings. more so than we might think. definitely more so than i thought. feelings dont dictate circumstances. circumstances evoke feeling and our response is a choice. satan tries to tell us that we are full time sinners and that we have no choice but to sin. the catch is that CHAINS ARE GONE. we are no longer captive to that identity. we become co-heirs. the church teaches powerless faith. we feel we constantly have to belittle ourselves. but we are not our own. we have taken on the identity of Christ. Chris craves to empower us.

gosh a lot of this is new to me because i constantly harp on all the sin in my life- but really that only leads me to continue to sin because i act like i have and only will experience defeat. victory is the Lord's. and victory is ours.

Romans 8:9-17

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

¹⁴ For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba,Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.