Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Feeling Stronger Everyday.......... (Play this so you can read while listening)


When I was growing up, Chicago was one of my favorite groups and had most of their albums. This is one of my favorite songs and I love listening to this whenever I get the chance. When younger, I didn't understand the words and we didn't have resources to get the lyrics. Now I can see the lyrics and can understand better.
Feelin' Stronger Everyday (Chicago)
I do believe in you
And I know you believe in me
Oh yeah
Oh yeah

And now we realize
Love's not all that it's supposed to be
Oh yeah
Oh yeah

And knowing that you would have wanted it this way
I do believe I'm feelin' stronger every day

I know we really tried
Together we had a love inside
Oh yeah
Oh yeah

So now the time has come
For both of us to live on the run
Oh yeah
Oh yeah

And knowing that you would have wanted it this way
I do believe I'm feelin' stronger every day
Yeah, yeah, yeah

After what you've meant to me
Ooh baby now
I can make it easily
Yeah, yeah, yeah
I know that we both agree
The best thing to happen to you
Is the best thing that happened to me
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Feelin' stronger every day
Feelin' stronger every day
Feelin' stronger every day
(You know I'm alright now)
Feelin' stronger every day
(You know I'm alright now)
Feelin' stronger every day
(You know I'm alright now)
Feelin' stronger every day
(You know I'm alright now)
Feelin' stronger every day
(You know I'm alright now)
Feelin' stronger every day
(You know I'm alright now)
Feelin' stronger every day
(You know I'm alright now)
Feelin' stronger every day
(You know I'm alright now)

I'm not cured by any means but I am feeling much stronger spiritually strong and learning to grow through my human weaknesses. Back during the days of Adam, Noah and others in the book of Genesis, they were living too long; so long that they didn’t appreciate their mortality. Most of them lived between 600 and 969 years. The Bible says that the world was a better place before the Flood, and that people back then lived much longer than we do. The Bible documents the long lifetimes of people before the Flood, and the progressively shorter lifetimes of people after the Flood. The clear message of the Bible is that life on earth was very different from now.

After 100 years of building, he finished. Noah was 500 years old when he started building the boat. God send the animals and Noah was penning them up as they were showing up at the Ark. Rain was not part of the pre-Flood ecology. Something radical must have happened to disrupt the environment and rain clouds came. Noah had the opportunity to share the Lord's warnings and invite people to be saved however none of Noah's friends and neighbors were aboard the Ark. So, why didn't they come? Because, the problem was sin because they love it while God hates it. God love everything that He has created but He hated what Satan has corrupted.

Today, even if people avoid all fatal diseases, humans will generally die of old age before they reach much past 100. Even the very exceptional cases don’t make it much past 120 years. Looking at the drop in lifespans after the Flood, it is natural to think that it must be related to the world having changed so drastically. Since then, continuing decline, lasting for centuries that Isaac lived to 180, Moses 120, King David only 71 years.

Why? Creationists are saying genetic loss and harmful mutations were the reason for the decline in lifespans. Scholars and Pastors are translating those meanings to "sin". Our earthly body is susceptible to decay (corruption) that in whatever ways our appearance or health has been altered as a result of sin in which we inherited from Adam (Romans 5:12). A Christian believer with an "inner man", like all believers who are still physically alive, possesses a mortal body which deteriorates daily eternal life, who will eventually set free from their sin-contaminated, decaying fleshly bodies with with new, immortal, perfect ones with righteous natures (I Cor 15:50-54). Christ gave us a different kind warning which is the same but different from Noah's warnings. Jesus is saying that He cannot do our repenting for us. He died for our sins, now it is up to us to pick up the cross.

When a Christian who is saved by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, this Christian is living in a new Creature with holy conscience rather than sinful conscience. As a Christian, I still can have sinful desires, foolish desires, proud desires and at the same time, have godly desires. I know I will never be perfect as long as I live in my sinful body which is why David is my role model, who was never perfect but God announced that David was always after God's heart. God hates sin and David knew that. My concience is what I follow. Learning from David's experiences, God meets us in our heart rather than our mind therefore we need to focus on the "heart of the matter". "David son of Jesse is a man after my own heart, for he will do everything I want him to do." Acts 13:22 & 1 Samuel 13:14 (NLT). Learning from David, I have learned that God loves but He also hates. Psalm 97:10 "Ye who love the LORD, hate evil." Reading Psalms, I have learned that David used six synonyms to describe Scripture: law, testimony, precepts, commandment, fear, and judgments.

We will never be perfect but we can be filled. The Greek word for "dwells" is okv (oike), which means "I inhabit." "If Christ is in us, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness" (Romans 8:10). "My temorary body is decaying at the same time, my inner being is being renewed day by day" (2 Cor 4:16). It is God's will that we submit to the Holy Spirit and keep on filling (Ephesians 5:18). Like an athlete when training, we should always keep drinking water so that we won't be dehydrated and feeling weak. With that thought in mind, we should always keep filling the Holy Spirit so that we are able to act and react any given situations. "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Cor. 12:9).

No comments: