SPIRITUAL REALITIES

.....God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe."
I Corinthians 1:21

Difficult to understand and even more difficult to explain from a human vantage point is the spiritual plane God calls us to.   The message of the cross for so many at this time of year is Easter eggs, new clothes, a trip to church, and out quick to beat the long lines at the restaurant.  More bizarre in comparison is the real story.

A loving Father sends His Son and saves us from our greatest fears:  inadequacy, rejection, and dying.  He rescues us and covers for us taking into account our weakness and inability to win over the very real enemy in Satan.  Our worst fears in Satan and death are defeated.  Christ is given as the anti-toxin to Satan.  Even in the grips of death in the last second Christ offers the vile of forgiveness that when injected directly into the heart, reverses the poison and certain death of my sin.  He has saved us and rescued us before that moment is faced.  We have already won!   God has made a way for us through a sacrificed Son, not based on our doing.   Adopting us and changing us to be like him to live in His kingdom: royal sons and daughters safe, forgiven, valued, and loved forever. This sounds like foolishness and fairy tails to the majority who hear it.

Yet for the few willing to take the risk and buy into this journey, unimaginable, wonderful things are revealed. Though bodies weaken, skin sags, hair grays, vision blurs, and hearing fades our spirits are getting stronger. We learn to trust God's promises transitioning away from a physical emphasis to a Spirit-filled follower catching clearer glimpses of where we are going.    We grow in our love for God living holy, righteous lives demonstrating spiritual wisdom and deeper love for those around us.  The grandest step in our journey is that first moment, the first realization that being with Him is better than life itself, and we see Him for who He really is.  We begin to long more and more to be with Him.  This may not seem realistic and this spiritual reality may seem impossible to attain, yet God calls to us over and over again to believe it and embrace it.

Once we accept He'll do the rest.  It is a journey of faith rewarded in ways beyond comprehension for those crazy enough to leave the crowd and follow Him.

"Our physical body is becoming older and weaker, but our spirit inside us is made new every day....We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing.  No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.  This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words." (2 Corin- thians 4:16; 1 Corinthians 2:6,7,13)

Father in heaven the mystery of the cross makes no sense to this world.  We ask for Your Holy Spirit to grant us the wisdom and vision to understand this incredible gift of Jesus dying for us.  In Jesus name.

Scotty Elston
Shallowater, Texas