pride, humility or both

Humility does not mean we can not (or are not allowed to) find satisfaction ("take pride") in completing a task or playing a part in the production of something valuable. Humility is knowing the energy that drives us and the resources we utilize to do so are all gifts; they come from outside of us, not from us i.e. they may be gifts we possess within our person but they are not created or generated by us.

To "take pride" in accomplishment can simply mean we recognize we are God's appointed means (the instrument and conduit) by which things are accomplished and are grateful and humbled by being that instrument to bring about His purposes.

In fact, when we clearly understand our role (as stewards entrusted to use the gifts He gives for His glory) we can be "proud" (in this sense) and humbled at the same time. 

To be recognized for doing something well is truly humbling when we properly understand how this comes about and who we truly are... Broken, rebellious, yet fully redeemed, Spirit-infused and empowered, infinitely cherished, totally loved and embraced image bearers and children of God used to accomplish His purposes. 

God honors/values/takes pride in our accomplishments done for his honor:

"For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away. He who had received the five talents went at once and traded with them, and he made five talents more. So also he who had the two talents made two talents more. But he who had received the one talent went and dug in the ground and hid his master's money. 

Now after a long time the master of those servants came and settled accounts with them. And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.'  

His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.' 

And he also who had the two talents came forward, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me two talents; here I have made two talents more.' 

His master said to him,  'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.'  - Jesus Mat 25:14 -23 

For a discussion on the importance of great effort click here. 

For a discussion on the humility of God click here. 

worry vs care

Having a burden for those things God cares about is not worry; it is concern. God is always caring. He never worries.

Worry is all about us. 

Care is all about others.

In caring, we are never alone. 

In worry, we are always alone.

Never expect or demand others to share your worry. 

Always hope others will help shoulder your care.

Worry is never legitimate. 

Caring is always legitimate. 

Worry is inward-focused on "me"

Care is outward-focused on others.

Worry tends to lock us up and shut us down

Care energizes and moves us to action

We are called to always care, never to worry.

Most of us don't just worry or care only. We are usually a mixture of both, but should always seek to embrace care and abandon worry. The good news is because of Christ, he loves us the same either way. 

Cast all your cares on him because he cares for you.

C.S. LEWIS TALKS TO A DOG ABOUT LUST

C.S. LEWIS TALKS TO A DOG ABOUT LUST

·                                                     

The following is a reproduction of the original article found here. 

____________________________________________________________

People sometimes think of Christian morality as a straitjacket—as if God has given us arbitrary commands that we must keep in order to prove our devotion to him. Following God’s instructions (especially in matters related to sexuality) requires us to sacrifice what we truly want, or to squelch our desires, in order to show God how much we love him. We are to give up what we want and obey him instead.

Reading through the collected letters of C. S. Lewis this year, I came across this gem in a letter from Lewis to his lifelong friend, Arthur Greeves, on September 12, 1933. Lewis was no stranger to lust and sexual temptation, and neither was Greeves, who experienced same-sex attraction.

But Lewis believed that the “Christian morality is arbitrary” perspective doesn’t go deep enough. It doesn’t consider what we really want. Neither does it deal with what God really wants. He uses his dog as an example:

“Supposing you are taking a dog on a lead through a turnstile or past a post. You know what happens (apart from his usual ceremonies in passing a post!). He tries to go to the wrong side and gets his head looped round the post. You see that he can’t do it, and therefore pull him back. You pull him back because you want to enable him to go forward. He wants exactly the same thing—namely to go forward: for that very reason he resists your pull back, or, if he is an obedient dog, yields to it reluctantly as a matter of duty which seems to him to be quite in opposition to his own will: though in fact it is only by yielding to you that he will ever succeed in getting where he wants.”

I wish I’d come across this illustration sooner, because I would have included it in This Is Our Time as an example of one of my book’s main points—that underneath the myths we believe and the actions we perform are both longings and lies.

The dog believes the lie that the only way forward, the only way to get what it wants, is to push ahead. Lewis, the dog-owner, affirms the longing of the dog to go forward, but he must pull the dog back in order for it to actually make any progress.

Lewis Talks to His Dog

Next, Lewis explains what he would say to his dog, if suddenly it became a theologian and was frustrated by the owner’s thwarting of its will:

‘My dear dog, if by your will you mean what you really want to do, viz. to get forward along the road, I not only understand this desire but share it. Forward is exactly where I want you to go.

‘If by your will, on the other hand, you mean your will to pull against the collar and try to force yourself forward in a direction which is no use—why I understand it of course: but just because I understand it (and the whole situation, which you don’t understand) I cannot possibly share it. In fact the more I sympathize with your real wish—that is, the wish to get on—the less can I sympathize (in the sense of ‘share’ or ‘agree with’) your resistance to the collar: for I see that this is actually rendering the attainment of your real wish impossible.’

God Shares Our Ultimate Desire

Lewis applies this parable to our own situation. As human beings, we long for happiness, yet believe the lies that lead to evil actions:

God not only understands but shares the desire which is at the root of all my evil—the desire for complete and ecstatic happiness. He made me for no other purpose than to enjoy it. But He knows, and I do not, how it can be really and permanently attained. He knows that most of my personal attempts to reach it are actually putting it further and further out of my reach. With these therefore He cannot sympathize or ‘agree’: His sympathy with my real will makes that impossible. (He may pity my misdirected struggles, but that is another matter.)

So, over against the person who says, “I must squelch my desires, out of duty to God” Lewis says, No, God actually shares your ultimate desire. He is redirecting your path so you can actually find that joy you long for.

And over against the person who says, “God affirms me as I am and sympathizes with all my desires,” Lewis would say, No. Because God affirms your ultimate desire, he must categorically reject your sinful actions and desires, for they will forever keep you from what you really want.

The Longing for Joy and the Lie of Sin

What’s the takeaway? First, Lewis says we can look back at our history and see there is a God-given longing behind many of our sinful actions.

“I may always feel looking back on any past sin that in the very heart of my evil passion there was something that God approves and wants me to feel not less but more. Take a sin of Lust. The overwhelming thirst for rapture was good and even divine: it has not got to be unsaid (so to speak) and recanted.”

But now Lewis exposes the lie: the idea that giving into your sinful, illicit lust will fulfill that longing:

“But [the thirst] will never be quenched as I tried to quench it. If I refrain—if I submit to the collar and come round the right side of the lamp-post—God will be guiding me quickly as He can to where I shall get what I really wanted all the time.”

The Gracious, Ruthless God

Second, Lewis says this parable applies to future temptation, and helps us understand why we should expect God to be ruthless in condemning our sin:

“When we are thinking of a sin in the future, i.e. when we are tempted, we must remember that just because God wants for us what we really want and knows the only way to get it, therefore He must, in a sense, be quite ruthless towards sin.

“He is not like a human authority who can be begged off or caught in an indulgent mood. The more He loves you the more determined He must be to pull you back from your way which leads nowhere into His way which leads you where you want to God. Hence MacDonald’s words ‘The all-punishing, all-pardoning Father’.”

It is impossible to appeal to God’s “love” in order to affirm you in your lusts. God cannot and will not affirm your sinful desires and actions because to do so would make it impossible for you to know true joy.

So what should you do when you fall into sin? Ask for forgiveness and redirection.

“You may go the wrong way again, and again He may forgive you: as the dog’s master may extricate the dog after he has tied the whole lead round the lamp-post. But there is no hope in the end of getting where you want to go except by going God’s way.”

Longings and Lies in Our Lust

This parable about the dog helps us see both the longings and the lies in the world’s understanding of sexuality, and it smashes the idea that God wants to kill our joy or obliterate all our desires. Far from it! Instead, Lewis believes that God pulls back the collar precisely because He wants us to find the delight we crave, in Him:

“I think one may be quite rid of the old haunting suspicion—which raises its head in every temptation—that there is something else than God, some other country into which He forbids us to trespass—some kind of delight which He ‘doesn’t appreciate’ or just chooses to forbid, but which would be real delight if only we were allowed to get it. The thing just isn’t there. Whatever we desire is either what God is trying to give us as quickly as He can, or else a false picture of what He is trying to give us—a false picture which would not attract us for a moment if we saw the real thing.

“God knows what we want, even in our vilest acts. He is longing to give it to us. He is not looking on from the outside at some new ‘taste’ or ‘separate desire of our own.’ Only because he has laid up real goods for us to desire are we able to go wrong by snatching at them in greedy, misdirected ways. . . . 

“Thus you may well feel that God understands our temptations—understands them a great deal more than we do. But don’t forget MacDonald again—’Only God understands evil and hates it.’ Only the dog’s master knows how useless it is to try to get on with the lead knotted around the lamppost. This is why we must be prepared to find God implacably and immovably forbidding what may seem to us very small and trivial things.”

God understands our temptations. He knows our hearts better than we do. He sympathizes with our ignorant attempts to find joy apart from him. But in his great love, he refuses to affirm us in our misdirected ways. To do so would be to abandon us to the leash and lamppost, where we would strangle ourselves.

the most valuable values us

Our value is reflected (indicated) by the value of the one who values us i.e. the value of the one who values us, says something about our value. 

For example, our being valued by our pet, that is totally dependent on us, is completely different - and far less significant - than being highly regarded (valued) by an extremely important, successful, well know and highly sought after leader of a high profile organization who needs nothing at all from us. The more influential this leader is, the more significant their regard for us is and becomes.

To say it another way, if the one who values us is of great value, doesn't that also say something very significant about our value? I would suggest, the more important or significant the one is who values us, the more significant our value must be.  

Now, what if the one who values us is the most valuable being in the universe? A being that all other things and beings are totally dependent on for their very existence and sustenance. And not only does this all-powerful and all-sufficient being value us, they value us to such an extent they actually gave up something they valued most so that we might have a relationship with them and share in all they are and have.

The more it costs someone to engage or take part in something, the more they value it. i.e. we are only willing to pay a high price for something we place a high value on. We simply would not be willing to give or sacrifice a lot for something we valued little. 

If the value of something is determined by the price paid for it, how valuable we must be in the eyes of God who gave up His infinitely cherished Son to have us. 

31  "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son (i.e. that which is most valuable to the Father) but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" Rom 8

Joh 3:16  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

"Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped (clung to), but (let it go and) made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross."  Php 2:5-8

"For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich."  2Co 8:9  

For further discussions on our value click 

• Created for glory 

• Worthless, rotten sinners? 

• Does God value us? 

services offered

In the 49 years, I have been walking with the Lord, one of my biggest passions has been spiritual formation i.e. how does God change us. What are the essential realities/truths we must learn, first about God, then about ourselves, for this change to occur? 

To say it another way, why do we do what we do, how can we be freed from those things we wish we didn't do and released to flourish and do the things we were created to do. What is it we need to see about God and ourselves so we can increasingly become more the person God designed us to be for his greatest glory and our greatest joy? 

Only God can change you (though you certainly play a vital part). To help facilitate this spiritual change/formation for others, I offer the following.

· "Life skills"coaching/mentoring: 
click for details

·  Preaching: 
click for details

·  Teaching: 
click for details

Ministry/Leadership Experience:

click for details

God speed
Jim
thotsaboutGod@gmail.com 

ministry/leadership experience

Ministry Experience: 

DOB: 12/1953   

                                                                    

Teaching and preaching (starting from the most recent):

    

   ·   Coached a men's group (cohort) with the Austin Stone's 2018 leadership development program (MWDP).

 

   ·      Led/facilitated several home group fellowships over the last 30 years. I also led men's weekly mentoring/discipleship groups. Both from 2016 to 2017.

·      Led a weekly bible study/discussion for a substance abuse support recovery group. We also helped provide one on one support and help facilitate sponsorship. 

·      Went through Galatians with our most recent men's group and II Peter with another. I also mentored several men one on one. Some of my past classes are recorded and available upon request. Donations for recorded material are appreciated but not required. 

   ·      Taught an adult Sunday school class at my former church from the fall of 2003 until May of 2015 when I relocated. 

Classes taught: 

Job, Romans twice, Daniel, Revelation, Survey of the Bible, Genesis, Hebrews, I John (tag teamed), The commands of Christ. The person of Christ: Who he is, what he did, and why he did it (covered in John 13-17), II Corinthians. Galatians (tag teamed).

·      Have been blogging here at http://thotsaboutgod.blogspot.com since 2010. 

·     Wrote and anticipate publishing "HOW WELL DO I KNOW GOD.” (Subtitled “KNOWING GOD, THE ONLY FOUNDATION AND FOUNTAIN OF LASTING FULFILLMENT”). Included in this work is a commentary of Romans 6-8. I plan to edit and publish once sufficient funding is available. Some excerpts from the book are available on this blog.

I hope to publish my first book in 2024

·      Taught one year at a private Christian Hi School near Boston, Massachusetts, in 1992-93. I taught biology and psychology. I was also an assistant to the principal, bus driver, and basketball coach. (I was only there the second year of operation and taught one year as the school did not reopen the year after due to lack of funding)

·      Gave the Sunday morning message twice a month at the Bolton, Massachusetts Pre-release Prison for approximately 2½ years, from 1990 to 1993. Delivered two messages per visit (due to separate services for men and women). I shared this responsibility with my pastor and another lay minister in my church.

·      I co-led one of the men’s discipleship programs at my former church in San Diego from 2007 until I moved in 2015. I met with 5 to 7 men weekly for discipleship.

·      Mentored several men one on one in my previous church who are all now in leadership roles within their respective churches.

·      I have led different home groups as a lay pastor for approximately 30 years. 

·      I was a residential counselor in the mental health field for 10 years. 

·      I was a summer intern at Kittanning Reformed Church, Kittanning, PA., the summer of 1977 as part of my college graduation requirement. This involved being an assistant to the Pastor with some pulpit duties, youth director, and teaching an adult Sunday School Class 

 

·      Received a B.A. in biblical studies with a minor emphasis in philosophy and psychology from Columbia Bible College (now Columbia International University). Graduated in 1978. I also love history, particularly church history and anything to do with "spiritual formation" - which is most of what my blog is about.

·      I have never been in "full-time" or "vocational" ministry, but always in business. I am glad to share the story of why I went to Bible College yet landed in business if interested. 

I also offer business coaching and consulting on training, building, working, and motivating a company's sales team, therefore the following is a history of my business experience as well.

Business leadership experience:

July 2022 to present: Sales manager, helping expand an international brick-and-mortar cryptocurrency exchange.  

June 2021 to present: Sales Manager for a provider of a patented, proprietary nano glutathione product.

 

June 2020 to present: Sales Manager for a provider of a patented, proprietary stem cell activation therapy.

Aug 2015 to 2017, Kiosk Prepaid: Distributor. A startup company offering an array of financial services (ATM, bill paying, payroll check cashing, wiring of funds, debit card, gift card purchase, and redemption, phone top off) through a one-stop financial kiosk. Also was offered to be the assistant to the National Sales Director once the company fully launched.

Sept 2010 to 2020, Karatbars International: They offered a simple precious metals (primarily gold) savings account. The company opened in the USA on June 6^th, 2010. Started part-time. Built a team of affiliates with approximately 12000 affiliates in over 15 countries.

Dec 2009 to Jan 2011, Advisors Choice Network: A financial services marketing business. Promoted to "Vice President" March of 2010. Built a sales team of 150 reps in 32 states during our time there but the company ran into challenges and dissolved in 2011.

1998 to 2009, F F Associates: Asset protection, estate planning. Began as a sales rep, promoted to sales manager within a year. Became a full partner after 2 years. Took over the direction of the business with a new partner in 2000 when the original owner retired. Was responsible for a weekly conference call, developing and training sales reps, designing and writing the business website and membership area, setting up, coordinating, and running our national workshops once a quarter. I also did some of the trustee work. Phased the business down in 2008 and closed in 2009. Still, do some one on one support work for some select existing customers. 

1988 to 1998, The Commonwealth of Massachusetts: Worked in mental health and mental disability part-time as a residential counselor.

1980-1991, A. L. Williams and Associates:  A financial service marketing company. Started part-time and reached the position of "Regional Vice President" in 12 months. Eventually became a Senior Vice President with 13 Regional Vice Presidents total on our team. Opened two separate offices, the first in Virginia, and the second in Massachusetts, building a sales team from scratch out of each office. We also ran our weekly presentation for new potential recruits and our quarterly Fast Start School. 

What I offer that is most valuable is what I have learned from my mistakes more than my successes. The most important things we learn are learned best when our independent efforts - i.e. those things done in our natural strength - do not work.

Godspeed

Jim Deal

email: thotsaboutGod@gmail.com  

In the 50+ years I have been walking with the Lord, one of my biggest passions has been spiritual formation i.e. how God changes us. What are the essential realities/truths we must learn, first about God, then about ourselves, for this change to occur? 

To say it another way, why do we do what we do, how can we be freed from those things we wish we didn't do and released to flourish and do the things we were created to do. What is it we need to see about God and ourselves so we can increasingly become more the person God designed us to be for his greatest glory and our greatest joy. 

Only God can change you (though you certainly play a vital part). To help facilitate this spiritual change/formation for others, I offer the following.

· "Life skills"coaching/mentoring: 
click for details

·  Preaching: 
click for details

·  Teaching: 
click for details

preaching/teaching

· Preaching:

I can do a one time message or both a morning and evening message or a weekend retreat at the venue of your choice. This can be at your church, retreats, campus ministries, etc.


· Teaching:

I offer a workshop on the essentials of spiritual formation. Depending on your needs and schedule. This can run anywhere from 6 hours of class time to 12 hours (or longer if desired). We cover the same essential material regardless of the length of a workshop but break it down into greater detail in the more extended presentation.

Though I don't charge for speaking time itself, I ask that all expenses related to any travel be covered in advance. An offering is always helpful and appreciated but is not required for me to come. Gifts however do free me to spend more time in continuing to support others and post new articles to our blog. 

You can reach me by email at: thotsaboutGod@gmail.com 

· "Life skills"coaching/mentoring: 

click for details 

Ministry/Leadership Experience:

click for details

God speed
Jim
thotsaboutGod@gmail.com 

coaching/mentoring

Why do we do what we do, how can we be freed from those things we wish we didn't do and released to flourish and do the things we were created to do? 

What are the essential realities/truths we must learn, first about God, then about ourselves, for change to occur? 

What do we need to see about God and ourselves to become increasingly more the person God designed us to be for his greatest glory and our greatest joy? 

Only God can change you (though you certainly play a vital part). To help facilitate this spiritual change/formation, I offer:

· "Life skills" coaching/mentoring:

During our time together we will assess, identify and discuss areas of greatest challenge and seek to determine those things about God and yourself that need greater clarification to help resolve those challenges. 

These sessions are available for as long or as often as desired. I recommend each session be an hour for maximum benefit. But I also offer half-hour sessions.

Though there is no required payment, I do accept donations and leave it up to you as to what value you feel they were for you. I suggest $90 per hour ($60 for a half-hour session and $30 for any subsequent 30 minutes e.g. requested donation for a 90-minute session would be $120) but it is not a requirement.

Donations allow me to focus more of my time and energies in providing this kind of support to as many as possible. No one will be turned away for financial hardship. Though I do retain the option to offer only 4 one hour sessions without donations.

Before I begin work with anyone, I do an initial session (from 30 minutes to an hour) to assess your needs and goals and answer any questions you may have of me or the coaching process. No donations are accepted for this initial session. 

We can do all our calls through the app "Zoom," or if you prefer a more secure means "Telegram" is also an excellent means of communicating. Both apps are free.  

You can download Telegram here. 

To download Zoom, click here. 

We also will accept gifts in the form of gold, silver or cryptocurrency either in the form of USDT, ETH, or BTC. I am open to barter as well if you offer services or products I need or may be interested in.

You can reach me by email at: thoughtsaboutGod@pm.me

· Preaching/Teaching: 
click for details

Ministry/Leadership Experience:

click for details

Godspeed
Jim

The empowering of the Spirit

How does the Spirit empower us? He awakens ⁶our spirit by revealing to us the beauty, majesty, and glory of God, which arouses in us affections/love/longing for God. This grows over time as we see more and more of his glory (2Co 3:18). The more clearly we see Him in all His glory, the greater our love, trust and obedience i.e. the more we are moved/empowered by the Spirit of God's infinite love to pursue and follow Him. 

Why does our beholding God in his glory arouse affection?

Because God is all glorious and we are in His image, created to see and experience His glory and our own in seeing His. This in large part means we are relational beings just like God, who from all eternity past has exchanged honor, adoration, and love between the Father and Son in, by, through the ¹Spirit.

But what does this have to do with our capacity for affection? To answer this we must first know what God is like. 

We are told God is love. This begs the question of what exactly is love and why is God this way.

Let's break it down.

Love is essentially valuing something to such an extent it stirs up affection for that which is valued. We are attracted to what we value/adore/cherish most. The reason affections are stirred is that the object of our love/affections matches up with and meets in us our desire and need for being valued and loved. 

To be able to value something (God) we must have the capacity to value it (Him). There must be a corresponding quality in us that enables us to enjoy his infinite glory/value i.e. our own sense of glory/value as bearers of His image - likeness. 

This is true of us because it is true of God first and we are in His image i.e. it all starts with God. We are the way we are because God is the way he is.

God is the most valuable, worthy, glorious, beautiful being over and above all other beings/things. In fact, everything beautiful comes from and is sustained by Him. Nothing is without God, including - and especially - you and I. 

The Son who emanates from this most beautiful God and Father is the Father's express (exact) image, Heb 1:3; Col 1:15; John 14:6-10. i.e. His only begotten -- eternally imaged forth -- Son. Throughout eternity there has always been the Father and the perfect imaging forth of the Father's beauty, majesty, and worth - i.e. the Son - and the perfect affection of the Father for the Son and the Son for the Father, issuing forth as the Spirit. 

This means the Son is equally valuable, worthy, glorious, and beautiful as the exact representation and perfect image of this all-beautiful God who is also Father. To say it succinctly, Christ is God the Son. 

  

Now as the Father beholds this exact and ¹perfect image of himself, He gazes upon and delights in this image - i.e. His Son - and values Him above all else -- since God is most valuable and values Himself about all things -- there is no one else more beautiful, majestic and worth adoring than the majestic and glorious God, resulting in affections for His perfect image of Himself (i.e. Christ) who is equally most valuable, worthy, glorious, beautiful and equally God. 

God being most valuable and worthy of adoration, loves the perfect image of himself, his only begotten Son, resulting in praise, adoration, joy, and happiness in the Father for His Son as He beholds His Son's beauty, majesty, and glory. 

His Son, in turn, responds back to the Father, who is the most valuable, worthy, glorious, beautiful source of love and life, reflecting this love back to him.  

This is referred to by many past (and some present) theologians as God's beatific vision i.e. a vision of delight in loving/valuing the most lovely/beautiful. This creates affections of joy, delight, pleasure, bliss, and happiness in beholding that which is most valuable/beautiful/ glorious, etc. Just think of the first time you "fell in love" except it only grows with time and a greater beholding. 

This beatific vision is so passionate and "solid" that it issues forth into the distinct, separate, and eternal person of the Spirit (the eternal passion/love/affection) of God (Jonathan Edwards addresses this possibly more than other past theologians). Each of these persons - Father, Son, and Spirit - is one in essence (i.e. one God), yet ²distinct in their function/role. 

The Spirit of God is the very Spirit of passion and love expressed between the Father and Son as they gaze upon and behold the beauty of the other. The Spirit of God is the manifestation (passion) of this beholding and the very heart of who God is. God is Spirit and He is love i.e. both. These characteristics or qualities are the very essence of God and inseparably connected, if not synonymous (though they are distinct and separate at the same time, as mentioned above). God is Spirit and the Spirit is God.

For us to behold and enjoy this beautiful God, we too had to be like God with the ability to behold and enjoy him in all his glory in the same way the Father and the Son behold, love, and value each other. As God's created image-bearers (vs His Son who is the eternally begotten image-bearer), our sense of perfect value, worth, and glory is bound up in and dependent on beholding and participating in God's perfect value, glory, majesty, etc. In this way we are exactly like God i.e. we are beings whose very essence is to partake of, experience, and enjoy perfect, infinite love i.e. God Himself.

Yet, we have a problem

Because we are designed for the infinite, all-glorious God, when we turned away in the garden -- and still do -- and stepped out in rebellious independence from God, we disconnected (broke away) from him, the very Source of life and love. This left an infinite void or vacuum within each of us. We died spiritually i.e. our beholding, receiving, participating in, and responding to the God of infinite love and beauty was severed and lost. It was not God who rejected us. We rejected him (and still do) thereby cutting ourselves off from Him and our partaking of his infinite love, life, and beauty. We no longer experience the joy and bliss of participating in the unobstructed ³love and life of God. Our connection (relationship) was severed -- or more correctly we pulled away and severed it (broke it...we died spiritually) by pulling away from God in rebellious independence -- attempting to be our own god -- our own self-sustainer if you will. 

But our capacity for enjoying love and life was not lost. In other words, we still are designed for, desire, and need infinite love. This is who we are; these desires/needs did not disappear. They still exist and are fully intact. This is evident by our constant effort to replace this missing love and fill it with something, usually anything "within our reach" other than God. Why? We can't control God -- He is God after all -- but we think we can control the creation, which includes our fellow creatures. We try to use the wonderful gifts of God to sustain ourselves and our independence from God. We are rebels to Him and his original design of our being gloriously dependent on Him and in perfect union with Him. 

We can not operate without a sense of value, love, relationship, meaning, purpose, etc. We are made for love (i.e. God) and therefore must have love. It is hard-wired into our makeup by God himself. To use a biblical description we are made in his image...we are like God - who is the "first cause" who gives and receives love and extends it to others who are like Him i.e. us. So much so that when someone feels totally worthless or loses ⁴hope of experiencing a sense of value/meaning/love, they seek to end their life. 

Absent the true and lasting source of life and love, we now seek to meet that desire in or through created things instead of the Creator of those things - we reject the Creator and no longer directly (consciously) receive love and life from the only One who is the true and only Source of love, life, and all created things. We go for the next best thing, ⁵his creation (Rom 1:20-23). 

We now have an infinite (insatiable) void from the absence of infinite love i.e. God himself -- which explains why we are ever seeking to fill it. All our efforts are now an attempt to replace the Source of this infinite love, now absent/missing (and missed), with whatever we can "get our hands on" i.e. creation including other image bearers. Not just creation externally, but the gifts we have within us; our skills and talents, as well as the capacity (our 5 senses) to experience and enjoy the external joys and beauties of the creation all around us. We attempt to use anything and everything in creation, within and without, to fill the void of God's absence. 

Our longing for love is infinite because our capacity for love is infinite. And our capacity is infinite because the source - i.e. God - of that capacity who is designed to fill it (and did at one time) is infinite. 

So back to the original question. How does the Spirit empower us? 

When the infinite love of God comes to dwell within us again as His Spirit, he reveals to us the beauty of God -- demonstrated in and through Christ, awakening and stirring up our love (affections) for Him again. We are fully and perfectly restored back to His infinite love through the work and the grace of Christ. The more the Spirit reveals God's beauty, the more we are stirred up and attracted to him. The more we are attracted, the more we desire him and are moved (empowered) to pursue him in faithful obedience causing us to experience Him in his infinite love even more. This increases more and more as we draw nearer in increasingly greater faithful pursuit of him i.e. in loving, trusting obedience. And this, in turn, fills us - i.e. his love/Spirit fill us - so we desire others to have what we have i.e. that love we all seek. We want others to know this God and his infinite love too. This too is part of being in his image...the desire to pour forth love in the same way God does -- which we also do when we are filled with love - His Spirit - from the source i.e. God. 

 

In short, the love of God poured out in us by the Spirit of God moves (empowers) our faithful pursuit of God who calls us to share this with his other image-bearers as well as all of creation. 

 

For a discussion on being transformed by God's glory, click here. 

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¹ i.e. in, by, and through Love. God is Spirit and He is love. This is who He is, not what he does. We could say God is passionate - spirited - love. 

 

²We too are in God's image. However, unlike Christ, who is the perfect and eternal image of God, we are created image-bearers. Nevertheless just as God values the image of himself in Christ, so too he equally values his image in us. 

³So much so I would argue distinct in their understanding and will (awareness of self as a distinct being and in their awareness of the others). Not having different or opposing wills and understanding but simply their own. They are in perfect harmony regarding what they will because they are one and the same God. 

⁴Some argue that the life of God is the love of God and vice versa i.e. That which enlivens and moves God in all He is and does is his love. God's life consists of the love between the Father and Son, expressed and bound together by the Holy Spirit (the Holy Passion of God). 

This is also suggested in Christ's prayer in John 17 and particularly verses 1-5; glory being the manifest display of this love and life. 

⁵For a further discussion on hope click here. 

⁶This includes our own created, God-given internal abilities to secure and utilize the external creation all around us in an effort to fill the void left by God's absence.

⁶What is the essence of our spirit? Our sense of value dignity and worth as God's image bearers. When we experience these we come to life i.e. Our spirit is revived.