Picked up this book, The Transformation of the Inner Man, by John and Paula Sanford, from my supply a couple days ago. Started reading it and it is a very slow read because there is so much rich information. It is detailed information about faith and the healing journey. As well, it is about praying for others to be healed from the hurts and wounds from the past.
For me, this is important. Life coaching, the part of the helping industry that I am now directed in, is about helping others. To make a long story a little short, this book highlights what that means. The inner man needs a lot of help today. Faith and healing go hand in hand. God through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit being the way. Surrender is what is called for. The pain and the unforgiveness held towards those that hurt us has to be surrendered to God. This is necessary and non-negotiable. This information revealed how these two emotions, in particular, keep us from healing.
Harboring that bitterness creates issues spiritually and physically. First, being in sin and second, harboring that bitterness creates aches and pains no man-made medicine cures. “See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled. ~ Hebrews 12:15
I have prayed for God to open my eyes to deeper spiritual knowledge and He surely does that by the Holy Spirit. It brought back to mind the vision I had of tug-o- war. There is a tug-o-war between the flesh and the spirit. Which side is winning when you look at your life? The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. It reminded me how truly rebellious the sin nature is against God. We can look at the inner man and our childhood trauma. Once we have reconciled our childhood trauma, we are left with that pesky sin nature. Sometimes it may certainly boil down to just that.
Bottom line is that we are in spiritual warfare. The spirit man and the flesh are in opposition. Each day presents a choice. “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ~ Matthew 26:41
“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…” ~ Colossians 1:9
In the grand scheme of things, when we think of demonic activity, we picture the red devil with the pitchfork. In my absence from posting, I have been reading quite a bit and praying. I hadn’t realized that I was under such a great attack. This post is about the victory of knowing that we do have the power of God in us: the Holy Spirit and the Word of God, the sword of the spirit to combat his attacks. I am talking about our thought life and the emotions that the devil uses to a great extent to keep us from walking in that power. He knows that when we truly get a hold of using the knowledge and power together, many will be saved. The Word says that the harvest is plenty but the workers are few. Why? Because many of us are fighting our own personal battles instead of standing in the gap for others. I have to say that I did feel the prayers of those who did pray for me. It makes me more sensitive to the fact that we should be praying even more so for our brothers and sisters in Christ, as well as the unsaved. 
My thoughts are a bit rambled. But here I go nonetheless. It has been a rough week. The challenges keep coming and I am doing my best to stand on God’s Word. That He will never leave us nor forsake us. When I committed to my writing in January, little did I know what I would have to write about. I knew that I would be writing about God’s Word and how it applies to my life. I knew I would be writing about some of the challenges I face. But I am truly in a hard place. Working three part-time driving jobs here in Vegas and still being virtually homeless is not where I saw I would be. I was hopeful for the hours so I could pay my bills and get caught up. The trickling in keeps me behind and living in a weekly keeps me in a cycle that is just a little bit crazy.
The cacophony of sounds was overwhelming. The constant whirring of the air conditioner and the microwave vent was very loud and constant but over that she could also hear the X-box game, the TV from the bedroom as well as the conversations of the other people in the confined space. Her appreciation of quiet was never more desired or needed than in this moment of time. Deeply inhaling a breath and releasing it helped her to focus on her breathing. She realized as she took another deep breath that she could at least ward off the irritation that wanted to take control of her emotions and body. The value of silence is now recognized as necessary. She thought about how God felt when He wanted to get her attention and the noise was blocking His whisper. The sounds of the world calling for the attention that was due Him.
The sounds from the television were evaluated. Reality shows that did not feed anything but the frivolous and shallow cares of a world that refused to recognize that the quality of what you feed the mind affects the quality of the results. She seemed to grasp in this thought process that many of the people calling for help in the world today may need to change what they fuel themselves with in order to realize a change. What would she be willing to change? Even though television had lost a great deal of the consumption of her time because of the financial costs, the other options used were still grabbing at the consumption wheel. Netflix and other options of choice were still available. She thought about the purging process of removing the things that were taking away from the intimacy with God. This was a part of that process.
Family and friends are very significant and valuable to our lives. However, in the moment of recognition that silence is also a necessary fuel to maintaining strength and sanity, she realized that she would need to make sure to find that time and place to feel the silence; to relish the moment when the only thing she could hear would be her own breathing. She also realized that the intimacy of her relationship with God would grow exponentially if she could practice even her own silence. This epiphany moment of realizing that silence is a necessary food for the soul brought a quiet inside of her that she truly appreciated.
Today I would like to say that God is glorified in so much that we see all around us in nature. I do not worship nature, I worship God. I do enjoy nature very much, though. Moments when you have to stop and catch your breath. I appreciate His glory when I see images like the photo added here. I was working and after delivering food to the customer saw this image and had to take it. I look forward to the new camera because I will be able to take different aspects of the same image. A different image in depth of field or a telephoto shot will make different statements, I’m sure.
This review is on 
