thunder.willow wrote:

one may suppose that God is not
overly preoccupied with getting
and keeping food and clothing
and safe housing,

and so, -if- anyone happens to -be-
preoccupied so, with such things,
that person and God may not have
a great deal in common, initially,

but that sort of includes everyone, at first.

the flowers wear pretty clothes etc...

thunder.willow wrote:

the Deity has existence of God's own aside from -us-

and so, we speak of an 'indwelling' which is not
a matter of initial physical birth,

but comes after birth in the flesh.

and then there's this bit;

==
you weren't created to walk under
the dictates of a forced hand.

you were created
to walk in a manner befitting
the children of God, of your
own volition.

you were created to be a
stone in the Temple of God.

not speculating from a great distance.

baby sitters crutches and braces
are -not- the dictator. these things
are to assist you in walking in a
manner befitting your potential
until time when you are able to
walk in such a manner without
such assistance.

you really end up in a whirlwind.

you have this place in you where you like
being told what to do, you take comfort
in being shown the way and led by the hand,

but you don't like being forced,
because this is unpleasant to you.

so, you have the existing conditions,
you and your surroundings, which are
really forcing your hand and dictating
policy to you,

but you don't _recognize_ -that-
as a "burdensome overlord"

you take on 'prima facia' evidence that
the babby sitters, crutches and braces
are the "burdensome overlord."

...i like 'prima facia' it means
'at first glance,'.. thought i'd like
to fit it into a sentence...

but see, it's the crutches and
baby sitters that will support
you until you can walk amidst the
"burdensome overlord" and not have
your unique identity crushed
in to the dust.

you -think-, that if you can only walk
'freely' as the existing conditions
would have you walk, that you will
be 'free' and unencumbered by
a 'burdensome overlord.'

little realizing that it is the
existing conditions that -becomes-
the 'burdensome overlord.'

you -think- that the baby sitter and
the crutches are burdensome to you
and restrictive to your 'freedom'

little realizing that you -need-
them to free you up from the whimsical
dictates of the existing conditions.

all we say is that before Christ,

this clarity of vision is confused by
your mistrust and disbelief of anything
that seems to run contrary to your first
glance and subsequent pronouncement of
God and God's baby sitters and crutches
as the burdensome overlord,

and now, after Christ, you can see
more clearly who and what becomes the
burdensome overlord and more effectively
use the crutches as an assist without
these bringing you a great discomfort.

a discomfort you associate with
getting and or not getting
what you want.

where your 'wants' are manipulated
by the burdensome overlord, which
-are- the existing conditions.

of course, the creation is good,
in fact, the stuff itself is -not-
conscious, and so, one cannot attribute
an 'evilness' to the composition.

it's when you seem to choose to follow -its-
dictates that you will recognize how unforgiving
and merciless an unconscious blade of grass can be.

it doesn't care one little bit -why-

it's going to pull you into a potential energy well.

the gaping unquenchable jaws of the grave.

our olde friend sheol.

and look, plain and simple,

ONLY God has the ability to memorialize
your temporal existance.

-you- will not lift your self out of the grave.

you -can- die.
you -will- die.

if there be any hope for your continuance,
it lies in the hands of God and none other.

and Christ is our mediation
thru the veil of the flesh.

cuz guess what?

that is why you are created.

to Live

in God with God and as God.

all the cupcakes in the world don't
add up to the dust beneath one fingernail.

not even close.

which is all part of the punchline;

cuz like, most of us die with
a zero balance in our account
with the Almighty.

perhaps even in debt.

so, what exactly is there to perpetuate?

an anihilated nothingness?

which is redundant, but
just plain nowhere,.. man.

and even those of us who would
lay claim to -some- positive
balance with God,

-our- -only- hope -remains- in God.

in Christ and the Power
of his resurrection.

that is -our- hope for those
who have -any- hope at all.

for those whose treasures are
the meaningless baubles which
excite the temporal man,

we go trite and say;

that didn't purchase the breath
it takes to tally its value.

no, there's nothing wrong with nice things,

just imagine you spent your entire
life perfecting a pair of wings
to glide from housetop to housetop

and felt you had them down pat,

and then a great big jet flies
past you and you sit there, stunned,

"wow, my whole life's work doesn't
even remotely compare to that thing."

well, just consider that your potential
Spirit Man is like an intergalactic Starship

and you're up there piddling
with your crop duster.

and you -think- your crop duster
is the measure of all things.

see what i mean?

and then some quick witted
smart aleck might pipe up and say;

"well, the crop duster is best suited
for -its- task while the Starship may
be better suited for some other task."

sure, but certainly, first, the crop
duster is -not- the measure of all things,

before you get all stranged
out on spaceships, you can't
string a plumb line across God.
that wuz just an example.

and whose task?

and then you may also consider
that showing yourself faithful
in a very small thing leads to
be trusted as faithful in
larger things.

and you can see how your stewardship
of your own body is -important-,
albeit, not the measure of all things.

and you are the 'God' of your own body
while God creates that new person in
-you- that is the Image of God.

you discipline the flesh as God
leads you in to the discipline
of your spirit.

and, with some diligence,
you make -those- two as one.

and so, you don't present
a conflicted image to God,
yourself or the world.

and then you can say
you've learned something.

and so, you can learn things,
by direct example in the flesh,
that -are- 'spiritual virtues'
and of significant value for
your embryonic Spirit Man
planted within you.

and you're still just beginning
to scratch the surface.

and this 'learning' is not just that
you claim to know these things, but
that you do these things in
actual practice.