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Are Should I ask how whole are we?
Why? For those who know me well but love me anyway, know that I struggle with living a balance life.
Not that that is a bad thing just ironic because I am sitting here writing this blog to you and at times my life feels as if it is spinning out of control.
Could it be like Rev. Ray Stedman says in his sermon on wholeness “The reason we are so broken is because we are involved in a broken race, our attitudes are wrong. Our vision of life is twisted and distorted. We are following phantoms and fantasies and delusions. We believe the illusions and take them to be facts and THEN ACT UPON THEM“. Amen, Brother!! This sermon was written in 1962, boy he had no idea how much more broken we would become by 2009.
This is what I believe, God wants us to be whole, not necessarily happily swinging from the chandeliers but whole. He couldn't possible want us to be decieved, could He ??
So here’s the deal
The word wholeness has the power to awaken us within but it is God who must separate us. “You shall be holy (whole) unto me; I the Lord am holy (whole) and have separated you from the peoples, that you should be mine”. (lev. 20:26). He has to shake loose all that binds us and keeps us from being whole, He has to break us from conformity and set our hearts and minds right. That means that we must stop chasing phantoms and delusions that are being feed to us daily by the world, the media, our elected officials, the medical and pharamasudical companies, consumer marketing strategist and that’s just naming a few.
It’s funny but as I am writing this letter and reflecting on this point, cloning comes to mind. Now they are talking of cloning our meat. Talking about chasing phantoms and illusions. Have we become so arrogant as to believe that we can just re-do God’s plan? Yes, at times I believe so. That just FREAKS me out !! Most people will just sit back and just roll with whatever but I can’t do that. God has be relentless with me and this message. Co Creators wasn’t my idea, actually, my dreams are quite large and I mean no disrespect I was just dreaming and thinking much bigger than an Organic Co-op. Now I am writing about something I don’t know that much about (Wholeness) and shopping around for milking goats. Wow!!
Then again, maybe that makes me a good candidate for this job. I desperately want a more balanced and whole life. I do truly want to be whole and or holy. After reading this sermon
on wholeness, I most certainly do.
We all know what wholeness means, but if you want to get at the true meaning of this word, you must go back to it’s original root. The word holy is derived from the same root as the English word wholeness, being complete. It amazed me to know that if you read wholeness in place of holiness everywhere you find it in the bible, you can clearly see and understand what the writers truly meant. Wholeness -To have all the parts which were intended to be there and to have them functioning as they were intended to function. Could this be what God is talking about when He says to His people “You shall be whole”. Our dear Rev.Ray Stedman said it simply yet beautifully, “ God is whole, He is complete. He lives in wholeness and he looks at us in our brokenness and says to us, You, too shall be whole”.. We long to be whole people. Don’t you want to be what God created you to be, with all the ingredients of your personality expressed in balance? Isn’t this what the bible is about? That is what brought me to this message, I went on a word search for the biblical meaning of wholeness and eventually came to this sermon. God gave me exactly what I was looking for and more.
My writing was to be on Happiness vs. Wholeness. It strikes me as odd that we live in a society that is so focused on being happy, yet let’s face it.. we aren’t very happy people.
Instant gratification…..
The medical community is prescribing anti-depressants at an alarming rate (sounds like witchcraft to me, lol ). Seriously, our society is more sick now than ever, yet doctors (whom are sleeping in the bed with the pharmaceutical companies, I might add. Most of them are, that’s just my opinion) are prescribing medication hand over fist. Come on, let’s think about this for a minute. The madness involving man made medicines. Listen, I am not saying that all medicines are bad or that they don't serve us at all. What I am saying is that they often times don’t deal with the core issue like why are you sick to begin with. What is actually causing the dis-ease in your body. Medicine often simply deals with symptoms and often times gives the illusion of being well. Please I want to re-inerate again, that I don't mean to imply that medicine should not be used in correlation with natural whole foods to give the body what it needs to heal it’s self. Always use your OWN common sense. God knew what He was doing when He designed our bodies, that is why we have an immune system. These authoritive influences (doctors, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, government and elected officials) are making mass fortunes because of our ignorance or because we choose to hide our heads in the sand. Some of you are getting offended right now but it is absolute ignorance and or laziness to not be accountable for what is happening to our health and or the quality of our lives.
Is it just me or is this truly CRAZY! Why are we allowing this? Maybe this statement says it best,
Because “ man has lost his way”. T.S. Eliot says,
All our knowledge brings us only closer to our ignorance’
And our ignorance brings us closer to death.
But closeness to death does not bring us closer to God.
Where is the life we have lost in living?
Wow. That’s heavy. But isn’t that the question so many millions are asking today? Where is the life I have lost in trying to live? Why are there so many depressed and troubled people? Why are we so sick? Why are we so broken
Seriously, I do believe that by being obedient to His call, He will give me my dreams (AKA His plan) and much more. He cares so much. He wants YOU WHOLE. Not just living a life of mediocrity but a life of Blessed Wholeness.
How do we do that? Rev. Stedman says it best,
“He won’t force us and It can only happen when we trust Him enough to respond to His love. How can we respond to God? Voluntarily”. Do we really trust Him? Do our lives reflect that trust? Let’s not forget the ability to trust ourselves, also. Start by making health and whole choices for yourself and your life. Strive to be Whole (Holy). Trust in yourself and make YOUR own choices and stand up for your life. Choices based on your personal belief’s. Don’t settle for anything less that what God has for you. Don’t let man, fame, power, greed or the world rob from you what God has intended for you. A BLESSED AND WHOLE LIFE.
Shayna Langston May 2009
*Sermon Title: The way to Wholeness
*Rev. Ray C. Stedman
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