After a long conversation with an unusual lady about spiritual matters that blew my mind last night, this morning I had an epiphany that I decided I should write down before I forget it.
Multiple concepts came to mind, I think I will just address them as they come back:
Multiple concepts came to mind, I think I will just address them as they come back:
The difference between Karma and the law of sowing and reaping
In the law of sowing and reaping, that which you sow you reap. The law of Karma is a perverted form of this law. In the law of Karma you offset the bad with the good. Thus if your life has more good than bad actions you will reap good things. But in the law of sowing and reaping ANY evil sowed opens you up to reaping evil. Without Christ to pay the debt we are eternally underwater with a single sin. Christ can and will forgive sin but the consequences of that sin still continue. That is because even Christ does not cancel the law of sowing and reaping. Christ also requires confession and repentance to obtain His forgiveness, we can't just play games and keep on sinning willingly and expect to be covered.
When we sin we open up ourselves to the forces God made to keep the universe balanced. This includes the spiritual realm. We have several layers of armor to protect us from these forces and sin opens up this armor and makes us vulnerable. The strong can stop, in may cases, the repercussions of man but they cannot keep out the spiritual forces that will bring in the consequences of his sin. This is why it is advantageous to be humble. The humble will suffer quickly any retributions because they do not defend themselves in their own strength. Thus they will learn faster than the proud. The proud will fight for their way and often appear to win, only to sow more seeds of sin that will eventually catch up with them in the spiritual realm. This is what happened to the rich man in the story of Lazarus. The rich man was completely victorious over men in this world and had riches and power but in the next he was helpless in hell.
Often we can see smart or powerful people appearing victorious in this life while being miserable inside. They are reaping from the spiritual realm that which they have sown
When we sin we open up ourselves to the forces God made to keep the universe balanced. This includes the spiritual realm. We have several layers of armor to protect us from these forces and sin opens up this armor and makes us vulnerable. The strong can stop, in may cases, the repercussions of man but they cannot keep out the spiritual forces that will bring in the consequences of his sin. This is why it is advantageous to be humble. The humble will suffer quickly any retributions because they do not defend themselves in their own strength. Thus they will learn faster than the proud. The proud will fight for their way and often appear to win, only to sow more seeds of sin that will eventually catch up with them in the spiritual realm. This is what happened to the rich man in the story of Lazarus. The rich man was completely victorious over men in this world and had riches and power but in the next he was helpless in hell.
Often we can see smart or powerful people appearing victorious in this life while being miserable inside. They are reaping from the spiritual realm that which they have sown
Layers of Armor
Every creature is blessed with defense mechanisms, many are even automatic such as our immune system. Our armor has layers to it and if we understand this we can better use it.
The innermost layer is our thoughts. Taking every thought captive protects us from many subtle attacks of the enemy and from our own flesh. It is the most tight-knit and inner part of our armor. Few people master this layer of armor - but it is the core that will protect you from almost all else.
The next layer of our defense mechanism is control of our tongue. Peter emphasized this in his writings. If we can control that layer we can prevent much sin and error and keep ourselves from reaping bad things.
The next layer out is our choices. We have choices to make all the time, some under circumstances that force a choice and many under no pressure at all. Imagine two mice in a maze. One is thoughtful and remembers at each intersection what he had tried in the past and will rapidly get where he wants to go. The other is choosing randomly at each intersection with no thought at all. He will make progress only with luck. The more thoughtful our choices the better and what better thoughts can we have than the mind of Christ? If we pray for discernment and wisdom we gain time to think and apply the word of God to the situation and we gain guidance from the Holy Spirit that will help us make even better choices than we could make on our own.
The next layer of our armor is our actions. These are usually direct consequences of our choices but sometimes they can be forced or influenced by spiritual powers we are not aware of. In the physical realm, our actions are what are seen, judged, and effective but in the spiritual realm we need our inner armor more than we need physical power to influence and enforce our will.
An of course our super outer armor is Christ and his angels. They protect us divinely in a way we have no direct control over, but the law of sowing and reaping very much effects this layer as do our prayers.
The innermost layer is our thoughts. Taking every thought captive protects us from many subtle attacks of the enemy and from our own flesh. It is the most tight-knit and inner part of our armor. Few people master this layer of armor - but it is the core that will protect you from almost all else.
The next layer of our defense mechanism is control of our tongue. Peter emphasized this in his writings. If we can control that layer we can prevent much sin and error and keep ourselves from reaping bad things.
The next layer out is our choices. We have choices to make all the time, some under circumstances that force a choice and many under no pressure at all. Imagine two mice in a maze. One is thoughtful and remembers at each intersection what he had tried in the past and will rapidly get where he wants to go. The other is choosing randomly at each intersection with no thought at all. He will make progress only with luck. The more thoughtful our choices the better and what better thoughts can we have than the mind of Christ? If we pray for discernment and wisdom we gain time to think and apply the word of God to the situation and we gain guidance from the Holy Spirit that will help us make even better choices than we could make on our own.
The next layer of our armor is our actions. These are usually direct consequences of our choices but sometimes they can be forced or influenced by spiritual powers we are not aware of. In the physical realm, our actions are what are seen, judged, and effective but in the spiritual realm we need our inner armor more than we need physical power to influence and enforce our will.
An of course our super outer armor is Christ and his angels. They protect us divinely in a way we have no direct control over, but the law of sowing and reaping very much effects this layer as do our prayers.
Generational Reaping
We may have a life of mistakes and sin that we eventually repent of and get covered by Christ's blood. Our reaping may become better because we have successfully resisted the enemy and overcome our sin. This was exactly what God told Cain to do in Genesis - Sin is crouching at your door and its desire is for you but YOU must master it.
However, there are still consequences that will come down to our progeny. These are the inherited weaknesses we have which is caused by the law of sowing and reaping working down to the third and fourth generation. If you had demonically possessed parents, you are likely to have problems with demonic influences in your life. You will have to shore up this area of your armor more to compensate for this. We've all seen those poor souls tormented by bad habits, addictions, or even bouts of insanity because of their upbringing and the sins of their parents or grand parents or even way back up the line in areas we don't even know about. Prayer is of course the best defense against this especially with the assistance of others or with fasting and serious attention. The great thing is, even adversity we have no control over, God can fix. God is in the business of magnifying himself and His mighty works in our lives does just that. He loves to give his children good gifts!
However, there are still consequences that will come down to our progeny. These are the inherited weaknesses we have which is caused by the law of sowing and reaping working down to the third and fourth generation. If you had demonically possessed parents, you are likely to have problems with demonic influences in your life. You will have to shore up this area of your armor more to compensate for this. We've all seen those poor souls tormented by bad habits, addictions, or even bouts of insanity because of their upbringing and the sins of their parents or grand parents or even way back up the line in areas we don't even know about. Prayer is of course the best defense against this especially with the assistance of others or with fasting and serious attention. The great thing is, even adversity we have no control over, God can fix. God is in the business of magnifying himself and His mighty works in our lives does just that. He loves to give his children good gifts!
Effectual and powerful prayer
A righteous man has effectual prayers. Why? Because he has learned to use his armor to protect himself from the enemy and he has sown good things to make the law of sowing and reaping work for him instead of against him. He can concentrate fully on God and God will listen.
You may meet people with great faith that know they will receive what they pray for. They will declare their intentions and desires and they have faith to know that God will respond accordingly. But is this a faith with wisdom? Are we praying for His will or ours? Christ was ultimately wise and even though He was God in human form, he did not ask God to take the cross from him with stubborn pride and faith. He differed to the Father - not my will but thy will be done. God respects himself as we should respect ourselves. In respecting himself He, as the Son of God, differed to the will of the Father even though he could have willed 10,000 angels to come to his assistance.
The new age idea of "The Secret" is that we can command the universe with our thought-forms and impose our will on anything with enough faith. Faith is the currency of heaven and does move mountains but the ultimate effect of our actions is governed by the law of sowing and reaping. We may gain the whole world and yet lose our soul.
Thus the wise prayer is always in His will and then by faith.
You may meet people with great faith that know they will receive what they pray for. They will declare their intentions and desires and they have faith to know that God will respond accordingly. But is this a faith with wisdom? Are we praying for His will or ours? Christ was ultimately wise and even though He was God in human form, he did not ask God to take the cross from him with stubborn pride and faith. He differed to the Father - not my will but thy will be done. God respects himself as we should respect ourselves. In respecting himself He, as the Son of God, differed to the will of the Father even though he could have willed 10,000 angels to come to his assistance.
The new age idea of "The Secret" is that we can command the universe with our thought-forms and impose our will on anything with enough faith. Faith is the currency of heaven and does move mountains but the ultimate effect of our actions is governed by the law of sowing and reaping. We may gain the whole world and yet lose our soul.
Thus the wise prayer is always in His will and then by faith.
Victory though meekness
By being meek - which I define as deferring to God in all things - we are both protected by God and empowered and rewarded by God. In our strength we may feel safer, we may feel in control, we may feel stronger but we can do nothing on our own. All things work to the good of those in Christ Jesus. This means as we follow His still quiet voice we come into the places He has for us and reap His bounty. We fulfill our destiny and role as we yield to His perfect will and find ourselves right where we were designed to operate.
God, in is infinite wisdom has made everyone different and unique. Each path is different but all are conformed to His will. The stubborn and prideful fall into the ditch and either repent and get out or dig themselves deeper. Even the most evil people and spirits end up doing God's will - so why be proud? We be pushing your way on others? Be meek and you will find yourself in the best places - right where God want's you.
God, in is infinite wisdom has made everyone different and unique. Each path is different but all are conformed to His will. The stubborn and prideful fall into the ditch and either repent and get out or dig themselves deeper. Even the most evil people and spirits end up doing God's will - so why be proud? We be pushing your way on others? Be meek and you will find yourself in the best places - right where God want's you.
Conclusion
Once stated, these things become obvious yet they are still hard to implement. I hope my restatements will be of service to others.
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