I was listening to an old ministry tape recently 'cos I felt in need of a bit of inspiration about celibacy and this tape was some ministry which was a big influence in me becoming a celibate, so I tend to return to it from time to time.
The thing that really struck me about it on this occasion was not particularly about celibacy.
The brother was speaking about the bit where Jesus says we are to worship “in spirit and in truth”.
He explained that we are made of body (the world aware bit), soul (the self aware bit) and spirit (the God aware bit).
The medium God uses to speak to us is by the spirit, the way we connect to God is through our spirits.
The thing that struck me is that we cannot get to God through our soul or through our body 'cos He is spirit and we are to worship in spirit.
This means that I cannot do anything physically to get nearer to God.
This means I cannot eat anything special to get nearer to God.
This means there are no special clothes or charms that will get me nearer to God.
This means I cannot get closer to God by looking at something special
I know there is a place for meditation, and there is inspiration to be found in things like going for a walk in the country. BUT these things only lead us to God if they feed our spirit, if they cause our spirit to be awakened.
There is a danger in trying frantically try to DO something to make us feel nearer to God, but we just end up feeding our soul, our emotions.
There is a danger in trying to repeat an experience we have had, or in practising religious routine to get nearer to God. We just end up in a rut or self-righteous.
The only way to God is through our spirit, and He has put His spirit in us to help us in that.
Even when we don't have a clue what to do the Holy Spirit intercedes for us and at the times we can only groan or sigh the Holy Spirit carries our prayers to God
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