June 2026
#71 Spiritual or spiritual 6/7/2026
Please consider:
In the Bible, God is capitalized and Spirit is capitalized. When we are saved and as we are Sanctified by the Spirit of God, we become progressively new creations in Christ. We evidence ever greater freedom in the Spirit and of the Spirit. We evidence ever greater fruit of the Spirit and Gifts of the Spirit. In essence, we evidence an ever-greater character and disposition of God in whose image and likeness we were created.
So, it is as Jesus Christ proclaimed, Matt 7:16 By their fruit you will recognize them. To the degree that we are mature Christians, we are fruitful. Our character and dispositions are Godly. We are loving, forgiving, not judging, not cursing. Any spirits (character or disposition) that does not conform to these standards are unclean spirits or perhaps even evil spirits. So, there is a simple distinction between that which is Spiritual and that which is spiritual.
Even seemingly benign dispositions, such as team spirit, can become hurtful, hateful, and hostile.
If we don't recognize and acknowledge the difference, we suffer the consequences. If we recognize the difference and don't deal with it in God's ways, we remain in captivity.
Eph 6:12For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.
It seems to me that many in our Cristian culture have not acknowledged these flaws of character and disposition and when they have, they have been remiss in seeking Godly resolve.
Gal 3:3Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?
It seems to me to be important, as a Christian culture, to cultivate an ever-greater discernment of these spirits and the Godly means of dealing with them.
#72 So That I Might Live for God 6/14/2026
Please consider:
We are not the Apostle Paul, however we are called to a higher standard as we mature in our Faith, not by the power of our fleshly ways (mind or body). We are called to live by the Inspiration and Power of the Spirit of God. Paul set a high standard and yet it is the call to all Christians.
Apostle Paul
Gal 2:19 "For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!"
As we mature in our Faith, we have ever greater freedom in the Spirit and of the Spirit to emulate the character of God, in whose image we have been made.
There are numerous "subtle" learned behaviors and conditioned responses that can hold us captive. They are inclusive of but limited to all that is characterized as "isms". Webster's dictionary defines "isms" as follows:
Ism
noun
1: a distinctive doctrine, cause, or theory
2: an oppressive and especially discriminatory attitude or belief
noun suffix
1a: act: practice: process
criticism
plagiarism
b: manner of action or behavior characteristic of a (specified) person or thing
animalism
c: prejudice or discrimination on the basis of a (specified) attribute
racism
sexism
2a: state: condition:property
barbarianism
b abnormal state or condition resulting from excess of a (specified) thing
alcoholism
3a: doctrine:theory: religion
Buddhism
b: adherence to a system or a class of principles
stoicism
4: characteristic or peculiar feature or trait
colloquialism
And, I might add
Liberalism
Conservatism
Protestantism
Prayerfully, we can discern and eliminate these bondages from our lives.
#73 Reminders in the Midst of Turmoil 6/21/2026
Please consider:
Are we praying amiss? Are our motives pure? If not, we reap turmoil.
Turmoil is a noun that means a state of extreme confusion, disorder, disturbance, or agitation.
To the degree that we individually or collectively are praying amiss, we suffer the consequences. This is true in every arena of personal, social, political, economic or world affairs.
Jas 4:1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.
Here again, I believe that we, as a Christian culture, may have been remiss in not providing for interdenominational dialogue to do as we have been encouraged.
Heb 10:23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
It seems appropriate to move beyond the potential traps of denominational limitations of comparing.
2 Cor 10:12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.
#74 The Bible as a Roadmap 06/28/2026
The Bible is an awesome roadmap; however, unlike many, I perceive that God's written Word is primarily to guide us to "the mystery hidden for ages and generations" which is Christ within, our hope of glory (Col 1:27).
This is God's Living Word. As we mature in our Faith, we may rely less on the Written Word because we know God intimately as the Good Shepherd. We become new creations in Christ and may do as Jesus proclaimed.
Jn 14:10 The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. 12 Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Jn 8:27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." 30 Even as he spoke, many believed in him.