Spirit Starved or Spirit Led...

Romans 8:6 - The mind governed by the flesh is death, but mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

First I want to start out by saying that this blog is strictly about things I'm learning on this journey called life.  I never want anyone to feel like I'm casting judgement or shame.  I am literally writing what I myself am learning from day to day.  I am passionate about the people of God discovering their fullest potential and complete freedom in Christ.  

With that said last night the Lord started speaking to me about life in the Spirit and what it should look like.  It wasn't a full thought just a little mini download that started me thinking that it would probably be my next blog post.  A few hours later I came and sat outside with my husband, who is not known for being much of a talker.  But last night while I sat in silence, which is something I'm not known for being, lol,  he just started talking to me about a starved Spirit.  I knew this was just a confirmation of what the Lord had started revealing to me.

Here's what I'm thinking about.  We do so much on a regular basis to take care of our fleshly body.  We feed it when it's hungry.  Bathe it when it's dirty.  Sleep when it's tired.  Vacation when it needs rest.  We lose ourselves in games or tv when we need to decompress.  Throw in a little bit of shopping therapy to make us feel better.  We'll even bungie jump to feel a sense of being alive again.  We do what we need to do to make sure our fleshly body feels good and is not deprived.  We live a life where our brain and common sense is in control, but what about a spirit controlled mind?  What would that look like?  Maybe that's why some of us in Christ feel lost or have no direction.  Who's been doing the leading?

Have we forgotten the fact that we are a spirit first before a fleshly body?  Just think about that for a second.  You ARE a spirit in a fleshly body. I just wonder if we actually got this and the power that is in that truth how much would it impact our lives.  What if we lived spirit first?  What if it was more of a priority to take care of our spirit first over our fleshly man? What would that look like?  I know for me just this thought alone has already given me a different perspective on how I live this life from day to day.  I think if we got this right the things that we do for our fleshly body would even improve beyond what we are currently doing.  

But even beyond that.  For the Kingdom of God.  What if we lived the way we were suppose to, spirit first.  What would that look like for the kingdom?  Maybe less of a desire to take care of ourselves first and more of a desire to help our fellow man.  Maybe a deeper love for God, family, ourselves and friends than we ever thought possible.  Maybe a more satisfied life, because I think a lot of us right now are not satisfied with our current life and are trying things to make our bodies and minds feel better while our spirit continues to starve.  Maybe then when we say God may you increase and I decrease, we could truly mean it and live it.

I have a feeling I'll be writing about this some more, because this has really changed mine and Roger's perspective on so much.  Maybe we are just late and everyone else has perfected a truly spirit led life.  But I don't think that's the case.  I think if we really thought long and hard about us as a spirit it would revolutionize our entire thought process and how we live from day to day.  So I'm going to leave you with this.  Here are 2 verses among many that give us an idea of what a spirit led life should look like. 

Colossians 3:1-2 - Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  Set your minds on things above, not earthly things.

1 Corinthians 2:14-16 - But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.  But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly-judged by no one.  For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?  But we have the mind of Christ.

Just think about it and answer these question for yourself.  What does your life look like if you saw yourself as a spirit first in a fleshly body as opposed to a body with a spirit?  What is your spirit in need of?  You've now been informed that it is the priority, not your fleshly man.  So you now know it is of utmost importance to take care of yourself...Spirit!  Has it been starving or has it been leading?  Who's really been in charge? It's time to stop neglecting who we truly are.

Be Spirit Led not Spirit Starved...