Loneliness or Aloneness

The Bible speaks of being alone in two different ways. One denotes loneliness and the other refers to living al-one with our Father God (John 16:32). We can experience both at the same time, or one without the other.

God realized that loneliness had an adverse effect on the human soul (Genesis 2:18). He created us for companionship. Have you ever tried to scratch an itch in the middle of your back? We need each other. 

Even in a crowd of people, we can suffer loneliness, because it is a state of mind, rather than a physical issue. It is a aching void deep within our soul.

Loneliness causes us to feel isolated, dejected, abandoned, unimportant, unloved and even hopeless. We want to hide under the covers, ignore our responsibilities and vegetate.

Loneliness affects us mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically. We actually believe that no one cares about what happens to us, unless we realize that God continually cares for us (1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 55:22).

Aloneness is quite different than loneliness. We all need time to be alone. This helps us to get in touch with our inner self, to ascertain our needs, to get to the root of any negative emotions and to maintain our union with Christ (Colossians 1:27, 3:3-4; Galatians 2:20; Hebrews 3:14).

In times of solitude, we recharge our psychological, physical and spiritual batteries to have the energy to continue to minister for the Lord as His Spirit directs (Ephesians 2:10).

Times of solitude refresh us and prepare us to hear from God each moment of the day (Psalm 95:7; Hebrews 3:7-8). Al-one times require quiet, private and peaceful surroundings.

We listen with our spiritual ears (Matthew 11:15; Mark 4:9). The presence of God infiltrates our spirit, soul and body. We are one with God and enjoy His companionable silence (John 10:27-28).

Once we enter God's sanctuary within our spirit, we realize the futility of our temporal existence and begin to pursue eternal endeavors instead (Psalm 73). Al-one times help us to maintain a spiritual focus throughout our life.

Prayer:

Father God, our disheartened soul takes comfort in Your continual presence within. We meditate on Your Word and follow Your precepts each step of our life. Thank You for Your blessings and abundant provision of all of our needs.

We trust that You will continue to perfect us until Christ returns (Philippians 1:6). We have abundant assurance that You will keep all of Your promises to Your Saints (Romans 4:21). Teach us that loneliness is our choice. Remind us to spend al-one times with You, and we will never experience debilitating isolation, but restful solitude instead.

Thought for the Day:

As we traverse the moments of each day and face the issues of life, we function from our spirit, rather than our soul. This enables us to continually meditate on the goodness of God and the Truth of His Word, as we follow His Spirit's direction to accomplish His will.

The Divine Nature of God in Us

The trauma, inconsistencies and callous aspects of life, wear on our human soul, which intensifies over the years of our lifetime. Since conception, the abuse, injustice and deprivation turn us from skeptics to raging maniacs. We shut down emotionally or we allow negative habits to rule our behavior. We over-react to situations through our habitual self-defense mechanisms.

God is love. (1 John 4:8). His love for and in us removes our reasons to fear, which is the root of all of our negative emotions (1 John 4:8; Romans 13:10). As we surrender to His love, God’s Spirit fills us with more and more of His divine nature. Love banishes our selfishness, envy, pride, and rebellion, and fills up our soul – our mind, will and emotions (1 John 4:20). God displays His love through us to the world around us (1 John 4:12).

We cannot achieve this love in our own power or effort, but only as a gift from God through His perfecting power (Romans 5:5). God’s Spirit within us sanctifies us, and gradually gives us the divine nature of our Father God (Philippians 2:12-13; Ephesians 2:10). This results in a mind, which is set on holy and spiritual thoughts and desires (Colossians 3:2). God’s Spirit does not change our carnality overnight.

God’s Spirit imparts one aspect of God’s divine nature to us at a time. He peels away our sin nature one layer after another, replacing each earthly characteristic with His fruit (2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22-23). He exchanges our carnal tendencies with a display of spiritual fruit. He reveals them in our behavior each time we allow Him to do so. The entire gamut of spiritual fruit, the nature of God, is in Christ in us.

Therefore, we already have each of these fruit resident within our soul through the abiding Holy Spirit. God replaces hatred with love, depression with true joy, discontentment with peace, irritation with patience, criticism with gentleness, backbiting with goodness, pride with meekness, excess with self-control, and worry with the faith of God as we are controlled and guided by His Spirit. The closer we walk in God’s will, the more holiness and spirituality we exhibit.

Prayer:

Father God, the perfect triangle of Your love for us, our love for You and our subsequent love for one another is a witness to the world of Your power (John 13:34-35). Heal our wounded hearts and remove any lies in our soul, which Satan planted in our subconscious mind. Share with us Your Truth about the trauma we experienced in this sin-filled world, and pluck Satan’s lies right out of our belief system. Allow us to view our self as You see us...as perfected in Christ.

Thought for the Day:

God’s divine nature in us is not something we use for personal gain or reputation, like so many people in this modern society, but for the glory of God and to further His Kingdom in the earth.

 

Continual Peace and Security

Many people rely on their heart to lead them, but they can end up making foolish decisions that hurt them in the long run (Proverbs 28:26). Too often our soul causes us to fall into trouble. We give into all sorts of impurity, greed and idolatry when our soul – our thoughts and feelings - guides us (Colossians 3:5-7). We may futilely plan our goals and decisions from our heart, but the Lord ultimately determines our steps (Proverbs 16:9).

Only the counsel from the Lord through our spirit will help us to prosper (Proverbs 19:21). As we commit our life to the Lord, He establishes our plans, and they will succeed (Proverbs 16:3). We have a strong fortress within our spirit, when we trust Christ with our life. We can take refuge within us through every trial and temptation, because our Divine Comforter is there. We retreat there and find continual peace and security (Psalm 91:1-2).

There is no need to cry out to God, to long for Him, or to desire more of Him, because the complete triune God dwells within us from the moment of our salvation. The problem is not that God is not close to us, but that we have moved away from Him. Our body is the temple of God; our spirit is the throne of God. We can continually rest in Him, if we will relinquish control of our life to God and enter into His divine rest (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Hebrews 4:10).

Our physical senses and human soul will lead us astray. The spirit of God will we lead us in peace and certainty, because the Lord fights our battles (2 Chronicles 20:15). We do not add the divine nature of God to our human nature when we get saved (2 Peter 1:4). Christ in us is our new identity. God’s divine nature replaces our human nature. God regenerates our spirit and we are Born Again. We leave the kingdom of darkness and live life in the Kingdom of Light (Ephesians 5:7-14).

If we use our five senses to indulge in the flesh, we will remain spiritual pigmies; but as we neglect sin and dwell in the Spirit, we grow stronger in our spiritual life. We can still choose to walk according to the flesh; but we are no longer in the flesh, but in the Spirit (Romans 8:9). As we walk in the Spirit, we no longer want to fulfill the desires of our flesh (Galatians 5:16, 25). We hunger after righteousness and despise the flesh (Romans 8:1-2).

Prayer:

Father God, You chose us in You before the creation of the world, to live blameless and holy in Your sight. Through Your foreknowledge, it pleased You to predestine us to be adopted as Your children through Christ (Romans 8:29; Ephesians 1:4-5). We are Your workmanship, created in Christ to do good works, which You prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). We are now children of light. Sin and darkness have no allure for us anymore (1 Thessalonians 5:5). Our citizenship is now in Heaven and we are heirs with our Lord Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:20; Romans 8:17).

Thought for the Day:

As children of our Abba Father, God gave us His Spirit to lead and protect us each moment of the day. - Romans 8:14-15, Galatians 4:6-7