Desire a Desire to Desire God (above ‘self’)

Our ‘title theme’ (in #33 mode) is about “What we ‘really really really’ Desire” (in life).

And, the ‘context’ for our ‘search for understanding’ is: “Launch out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). “Yes”, “Yes” and “Yes” again – we’re seeking ‘hidden treasure’ / ‘deep truth’ –

“Christ desires truth in our inward part”

“In our hidden part he lets us know wisdom”

(Psalm 51:4)

Ok, (at this early stage of our ‘exploration’) – to avoid causing excessive palpitations – i’ll let you in on a ‘secret’: ‘the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart’. But, therein ‘lies’ the ‘deep deep deep’ conundrum of ‘life itself’ – the layers of “garbage” in the inner depths our being.

So, where do we turn for ‘guidance’? We turn to the Bible (2 Thessalonians 2:13)): “we are bound to give thanks to God, because He has chosen us as first fruits to be saved through the sanctifying work of The Spirit and belief in The Truth”. God wants to ‘strip’ (down) the strongholds of darkness in our inner beings and make us completely His so that we can be ‘set free’.

Here’s the “catch” – ‘all kinds of everything’ ::: sometimes we think we are serving God,

but, in the ‘depths’ of our being there is anger, resentment, self-centredness, bitterness, confusion and bondage. God wants to go down into the ‘core of our soul’ (the ‘roots of our personality’) and “clean it up” –

“Sin, has caused all manner of evil Desire”

(Romans 7:8)

“Desire the best Gift and I’ll show The Way”

(i Corinthians 12:31)

‘Real Love’: “to live is Christ: to die is Gain”

(Philippians 1:21)

Yes, ‘Real Love’ (“agape”) is ‘Unconditional Love’ (ie Jesus the Christ) which God has for the world. God wants us to love with an “agape” kind of love that comes from ‘choosing with our will’ to let the Holy Spirit love through us – “for the love of God has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5). So, what God wants is ::: ‘undefeatable benevolence and unconquerable goodwill’ ::: ‘always seeking the highest good’ ::: ‘self-giving without asking anything in return’. In sum: “agape” love is ‘love by choice’ (not ‘love by chance’) – it refers to the ‘will’ (not to the ‘emotion’) – so, there is ‘no room’ for ‘small / stingy / self’ in God’s Family.

Once we accept Jesus the Christ into our lives ‘through faith’ (ie by way of ‘decision’ rather than of ‘feeling’) a basic reality goes to work – our ‘old nature’ begins to ‘die’ and our ‘new nature’ begins to ‘rise’. Note: even though it is a ‘spiritual reality’ that we are ‘dead’ to sin, we must – moment by moment – ‘activate’ that reality ‘through faith’ ::: choose to be ‘dead’ to those things, in daily life, that are displeasing to God.

As you are ‘only too well’ aware ‘inner conflict’ is part of the ‘human condition’. There is a ‘war going on’ in the ‘inner being’ between ‘sin nature’ and the ‘new person’ (“in Christ”) who delights to do God’s Will. So, the ‘key message’ here is: even though the ‘sin nature’ has been crucified with Christ, it is our very own ‘personal responsibility’ to draw on this ‘new reality’ by putting to death this ‘sin nature’ through the power of the Holy Spirit. The ‘inner conflict’ will continue until we ‘finally’ make a ‘decision’ to ‘surrender our will’ to Jesus the Christ and allow God to ‘rule’ all areas of life.

The ‘secret’ of the ‘overcoming Christian life’ is to ‘keep your mind on’ the things of the Spirit and to ‘keep your mind off’ the things of the ‘flesh’. This ‘battle’ can be quite ‘demanding’ and ‘difficult to navigate’. The ‘flesh’ wants its ‘daily diet’ of anger, lust, strife, jealousy, intrigue, gossip, moodiness etc. However, if we are ‘led by the Spirit’ we will be ‘set free’ with ‘Spirit Fruits’ – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

Finally: God knows the desires of our hearts – if our greatest desire is anything less than God, then we are in idolatry.

Daniel (www.konect-1-2-1.com) 11/3/19