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| Thanks For All The Birthday Wishes! |
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Wow! I am overwhelmed by all the wonderful messages I received today. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It's great to hear from the ones you love on your birthday. And you, the members of MyChurch, I truly love. You have all made me feel extremely accepted and for that I am grateful!
Ephesians 1:3-6 (NJKV)
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.
You know, according to my birth certificate, I was born on this day exactly 44 years ago. But I have to tell you that the man that is mentioned on that certificate died. He is no longer with us, Praise God!
My second birth, or Spiritual Birth, took place on December 24, 2004. Truth is, I am really only about 37 months old. While I appreciate the fact that several of you sent birthday wishes my way, please understand that it is no longer I that live, but Christ who lives through me.
Today I also want to talk to you about another matter. The matter of Spirit, Soul & Body. As some of you are quite aware, it has been quite some time since I have posted a blog, or even participated on other blogs. I have been asking myself why. Why I have been neglecting my online family? Why have I not been given any new messages to share? Well, I believe the answer to that question lies within the Spiritual principle of Spirit, Soul, and Body. Let me try to explain:
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NLT)
Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
This verse makes it quite obvious that we consist of three parts. Our Spirit, our Soul, which I believe consists of our mind, will, and emotions, and our bodies, or our physical being.
Our Spirit, if we have been born again, is made brand new. It has been made in perfection and true righteousness. It has been sealed until the day of redemption. Our Spirit is as saved as it ever will be. Our Spirit, is who we are when God sees us. God is Spirit. (John 4:24). When he looks at us, he looks at us in the Spirit and what he sees is someone pure, Holy, and blameless. That's great news!
Then we have our soulish realm. Our thoughts, desires, emotions, etc. Often it is hard for us to feel perfect, pure, and Holy when we look entirely upon this part of ourselves. We still have old habits. We still have immoral thoughts. We still get depressed and angry. We are still the same people that our birth certificate says we are. But the Good News here is that we can be transformed. We can get our mind in-line with our Spirit each day by renewing our minds to the Word of God.
I know, that for the most part, I am preaching to the choir here, but there is a point that I am trying to make and will eventually get there.....
The we have our physical bodies. Our bodies really don't have any control over us. When our mind lines up with the Word of God, our Spirit (John 6:63), then it's two against one. Our bodies have to fall in line. We can command our bodies to follow. I believe this is the key to receiving healing by the way. But the point I am trying to make in all this is:
For weeks now I have been focusing extremely hard on my body. Not necessarily on my own will either. God has been speaking to me for months and reminding me that my body is the temple and I am obligated to take care of it. This was part of the very reason for my end-of-the-year ten day fast. Since breaking that fast, I have been in the gym almost everyday. I am on a health food kick big-time. I am taking very good multi-vitamins and following a very strict regiment of exercise, diet, and rest. I have to say that I feel great. My muscles are growing each day, my body fat level is dropping, I have dropped caffeine entirely and I am sleeping quite peacefully. I am being obedient to God's commands, or so I thought.
What I have concluded is that while I have been taking very good care of my body, I have been neglecting the other God-given parts of me. I have not been praying like I should. I have not been studying the Word to the degree I would like to, and I have not been fellowshipping with other believers. And in that area, I feel bad. Forgive me Father.
Balance. The problem is that I am currently out of balance. I fully believe that balance between Spirit, Soul, and Body is one of the major keys in living this Christian life. Balance is definitely something that I need to improve on. I have always been a all-or-nothing kind of guy. I do things to the extreme. The old me, or the man on my birth certificate, served the devil wholeheartedly. But the new me, the born-again, Spirit filled, tongue talking, 37 month old me, wants to serve God with even greater enthusiasm.
Lord, reveal to me your perfect plan for balance in my life. I ask you this in that all-powerful, precious name of Jesus!
Brothers and sisters, thank you! Thank you for loving even the imperfect parts of me. And thank you for thinking of me on this day that my birth certificate says I was born. But I want to also say Thank You Jesus for becoming the very womb that allowed me to become born again. Thank you for my new life! Thank you for the greatest birthday present anyone could ever receive, another day of being showered by your love!
Peace,
Michael |
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Now you will have to change your username to MichaelATL44! lol We learned in ministry school about the 3 parts of us, and about having an "alignment". Spirit should be first, then below is soul, then body. We had a diagram we drew. Soooo, anyhow, you feed your spirit and the rest will follow, I guess. well, sounds like you have repented, so move on with God. We all get off track (some longer than others like myself), but no more condemnation when we choose to walk in the Spirit again. Water under the bridge. Your presence on here is needed and wanted, and is an asset. We need you as much as you need us! Get it? Got it? Good! |
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| Wonderful message Michael. Good to hear from ya, you have been AWOL that is for sure!!! But you were forgiven even before you asked! :-) I hope the Lord leads you to achieve that somewhat elusive balance that we all so deperately seek while her in this life. Again, happy bday! ~mike |
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Deb |
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January 21, 2008 at 12:38pm |
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| Good to hear from you again. It sounds as though the Lord and you are a work in progress, which I think we all are. Just stay close to Him and He will reveal what He wants you to know or learn. |
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Joey |
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January 21, 2008 at 1:40pm |
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| Michael, we love you, and we've missed you very much. Happy Birthday, my friend. Enjoy this special day when you gasped your first breath. Amazing and awesome, how our God works! |
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Joey |
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January 21, 2008 at 1:41pm |
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| Oh, and it's just... balance, Michael. |
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| I think I will shift to my spiritual age...at least I will sound a lot younger...I like that idea! Have a great one Michael!! |
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Thanks family!
I appreciate each and every one of you. Great comments here. I would take the time to address each one of you individually, but, I have to get some rest. Gotta hit the gym first thing in the morning, ya know?
But to Lara, I will say, you inspire me my friend. Especially when you said this:
"Your presence on here is needed and wanted, and is an asset. We need you as much as you need us! Get it? Got it? Good! "
I got it! Thanks,
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Jen |
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January 22, 2008 at 2:21pm |
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Hey, Michael! You've been missed! Happy belated birthday!! I understand your desire to take care of the body as well as the rest of you. Balance is the key, as you've figured out. Keep at it and keep putting God first and it'll all work out.
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Jenily |
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January 22, 2008 at 5:33pm |
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| I'm happy to know that according to your math I'm 14 years old!!! :-) |
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Libia |
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January 22, 2008 at 6:47pm |
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What a revelation! Now i'm 15 years old!!!!!!!!!! And I'm not only feel great ...I also look FANTASTIC! LOL
The birth certificate that you mention doesn't affect my looking! hahahhahahahahahaha.... Well as Andrew Womack says "you are not the only one in this situation" Many are taking care of their temples and doing other things in perfect balance. Just remember do not get cought in the performance, Do it as an act of worship and you'll see bigger results! |
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Cheryl |
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January 22, 2008 at 6:52pm |
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| Wow, I am glad you are ALOT older than me!!! (oops, did I say that using my out loud voice!!!LOL) Happy Birthday! Hey and welcome back home! |
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Cheryl |
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April 03, 2008 at 8:47pm |
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How funny! I forgot I wrote THAT!!!! hehehe
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| Cheryl, oh Cheryl. Have you not heard? A day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day! |
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