Down here and not up there!

One of the thoughts that keep coming back to me is regarding how much we need to understand our role here on earth after we are saved. Somehow there is this sense that I need to disengage from the world to have any meaningful relationship with the Lord. I try to push myself into thinking 'heavenly' thoughts and not really succeeding. I feel that maybe I should stop thinking about things down here and have an ascetic mindset. I do not see that Jesus warns us about having worrying thoughts about life, and did not tell us to stop thinking with a clear mind. Pushing away certain thoughts doesn't help too much. What is more important is to replace worrying with trusting. We need to remove fears and start believing. Emptying our mind doesn't work. What should work is meditating on the greatness of God and finding out what He wants to do in my life and through my life. Down here.

What is new in us?

Before we were saved, our spirit consisted of essentially our deadened heart and our defiled conscience. We were spiritually dead because our heart was unresponsive to the things of God even though it could hear the voice of the conscience. The conscience by itself could not lead a person to God but it brought guilt and a sense of defilement within. 

After being born again, the Holy Spirit united us with Christ. Our spirit is now alive because of this work of the Holy Spirit in our heart and it is now responsive to God. It is called a new heart because it is now a heart of flesh and we say we have a new spirit because of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us and connecting our heart and conscience to God. God did not place a new spirit inside us when we received the new birth. Our spirit which was dead because it lost its connection to God has been made alive. Let us not think that we received some new thing apart from God. It is His life that made everything new. 

The Blood of Jesus!

Many of us understand the power of the blood and what the shed blood has wrought for us. The sprinkling of the blood over the heart cleanses us from an evil conscience and gives us the boldness to approach His throne of grace. However 1st Peter also talks about the sprinkling in the present tense, meaning that its work also has to be appropriated. There are few who actually claim the efficacy of the blood into their lives in a more active way. The reason is twofold. First of all, we do not fully trust in the work of God for our sanctification but rely more on our abilities and strengths to please God. Secondly, we do not see how powerful is the blood of Jesus in cleansing our hearts and restoring us back to God. We do not how much importance the Father gives to the blood of His Son. Every time we fall or defile ourselves, if only we knew that the blood is the reason why the Spirit of God is ever willing to purify. We do not look at our eagerness to change or our desire to be renewed. Instead we see how the sprinkling of the blood is necessary to bring change and we eagerly claim its power.