Heavenly ISP

I need to have a better ISP connection with heaven. Oh, you don't know what an ISP is? Well, if you are reading this on the internet you most likely would know what ISP means. But then again you might be a little suspicious since the ISP's that you use can't get you a connection all the way to heaven.

What I am realizing is that my connection to God may have a great deal of similarities to my connection to the internet. Ideally it would be nice to be able to look at things first-hand without even having to use an electronic link. I would much rather see and associate with friends in person than to just look at images on a screen and translate graphics shaped into letters and words to “listen” to what they want to communicate to me. An awful lot is lost is these very simplified forms of communication, but it is much better than no communication. So I am willing to use these means until the time when we can dispense or bypass them for the real thing.

You can probably get a feel for where this is going by now. I wish that I could physically just crawl up in God's lap and tangibly feel His arms around me and literally look into His eyes and experience His overwhelming love firsthand. But I understand that is far too intense for me to even survive right now and there are other extenuating circumstances that have to be resolved before I will be able to enjoy that kind of personal proximity to God.

So in the meantime He has set up an ISP for me to communicate with Him using words and pictures etc. But just like my computer's ISP connection, I have some issues and problems that need to be addressed.

Right now I am using one of the slowest and most frustrating connections in the world of internet connections. I have to use a dial-up modem connection to send or receive anything from my computer since we live so far out in the boondocks that the phone company doesn't want to run better wires this far. At the prices they are already gouging us with I would hate to see what they would demand for even better connections. Then to add to that, the modem in my laptop computer is evidently not designed for such a slow connection so it tends to limit it to an even slower speed than what my main computer can do. That is only because when I learned that newer modems run much slower in these circumstances than older modems I installed an older modem into my main computer so it would run slightly faster. But either way, I am limited to some of the slowest baud rates that most people can tolerate.

It would be very nice to have a broadband connection or even better yet a satellite link so I could access the internet world on nearly a realtime basis. But as you know the prices for those luxury options are what I consider obscene. So I have to just practice lots of patience and restrict my activities to what is feasible under the circumstances.

But what does all that have to do with my ISP with heaven? Well, I think it has a lot of parallels when I stop to think about it. It occurred to me as I have gotten into studying Romans 8, that maybe a lot of my problems with my spiritual growth is my severely restricted connection line just like my frustrating home ISP situation.

My heavenly ISP (In Spirit Power) may have such a small connection with my heart that the enormous blessings and resources available “out there” simply can't get through the bottleneck of my slow and stymied heart portal. The modem in my heart that is supposed to receive and send information, emotions and passion is so seriously miswired that I am fortunate that anything at all is actually getting through. I am about to take an in-depth examination of Romans 8 and what it means to live according to the spirit and to be led by the Spirit of God. I am realizing that I am not experiencing the full freedom of access to God's heart that I desire and that is very frustrating for me. But I also know the problem is not on God's end so it must be addressed at this end.

Of course the problem is also that I am not an electronics engineer, either in this mortal life or in spiritual life. I don't have a clue as to how to rearrange the wiring to improve my connections, either in my computer, my phone lines or my heavenly ISP connection. That is completely out of my skills and abilities and I am at the mercy of those who have those skills as well as their relationship and attitudes toward me.

For my home ISP connection I suspect, based on the worldly way of doing things, I would have to shell out a great deal of money that I would have to first earn somewhere, to induce some big, heartless company to set up some new equipment or wiring or whatever to make a faster connection possible. Then on top of that they would expect me to continue to bribe them each month with extravagant amounts of hard-earned money to continue to provide me with this connection or they would quickly cut it off and leave me disconnected completely from all the resources available to others on the internet.

I don't believe that God has that kind of attitude toward those who want to get set up with a broadband connection with Him. However, there must be some kind of arrangements that need to be made for me to enjoy a fuller and fast connection with Him than what I am now experiencing. It is not something that just falls into place just for the wishing or I would already be enjoying it. I don't yet have all the answers to this question, but I hope to uncover them soon as I continue to study Romans 8 where there are all kinds of exciting revelations about having a high-speed connection through the dedicated ISP of heaven.

Isn't it interesting that Paul used the words he did with no clue that the acronyms would work perfectly thousands of years later with technology that couldn't even be imagined in his day. I see that sort of “coincidence” repeatedly and believe that it is sometimes a revelation of the humor of God. I can almost see the little smile playing on His face when someone comes upon one of these little surprises and is startled by the instant fit that some illustration has to spiritual realities. It is just like Him to do those kinds of things.

Questions for Definitions

Romans 8

1 Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.

3 For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,

4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.

6 For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,

7 because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,

8 and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

I want to look at more definitions and descriptions to help clear things in my mind. There is definitely a number of opposites here but I also know that they are not usually understood very well.

What are the things that are done for us – in spite of us – to us?

Opposite that, what part do we have – what choices can and do we need to make in this situation?

Most of the time I think we confuse the two areas and work very hard on producing the results that can only come out of God's part, that will occur naturally after He does something inside of us. At the same time, we may be neglecting to do the things/choices that God will not do for us and in neglecting those choices or decisions we hold up progress and thwart God's intentions for our lives. I know I feel like that is my own condition right now, though I feel like I am in the dark about what it is I am neglecting.

Just what is involved in living in the flesh – living according to the flesh – as described here?

Opposite that, what is needed for us to live in the spirit – live according to the spirit?

The answers to these questions are crucial to understand because the results of living one way or the other (there is no other options) are either death or life ultimately. Whether we believe that we have a choice or not, or whether we make a deliberate decision to look at the options head-on or not, does not take us to any other options. We can ignore, deny, argue, rationalize or anything else – we will still make our choice whether by default or intentionally. The unavoidable reality is that we are either living each day according to the flesh or we are living according to the spirit with the end results of those two options being formed in our hearts to be realized sooner or later.

Again, I believe the answers can be found in the context and I would like to spend some time taking these questions back like a big magnet and seeing what they pull out of the previous passages that will help define what they mean. I would certainly enjoy doing this with more people than just myself, but at this point I will have to be content to continue discussing these things as a monologue. The Spirit is always eager to share and reveal truths to my mind, but I know that He is even more eager to apply what I am learning to my heart. I want Him to do that at a much deeper level and more pervasively than what has happened so far.

God, reveal Yourself to me in Your word more clearly. Also help me to be more open and less resistant to all of the channels You want to use to affect my healing and training and shaping. Show me Your face as I learn and experience more deeply what it really means to live according to the spirit.

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