Re:Verse reading–1 Samuel 7 (day two)
Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the Lord with all your heart, remove the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your hearts to the Lord and serve Him alone; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.” vs. 3 (emphasis added)
Repentance can be exhausting. Particularly if you have traveled so far from the Lord that your life bears little resemblance to the place he had called you. We build walls, make excuses, take shortcuts and then wonder why he has removed his blessing from us. When you finally clean house it takes a LOT of effort, but effort for the Lord is never mis-spent. God did hear and deliver Israel, and he will do the same for you. There is not amount of distance that repentance cannot bridge.
I am a strong believer in building bridges and not walls and that God cares for our spiritual well-being and for physical well-being! An example of this is Jesus fed those who came to His church before He gave His sermons. Whatever we do, it is important to build “bridges” as they help us connect, live peacefully among one another and work together effectively; and our good connection gives us the opportunity to advance God’s plan for the earth and to build effective inter-relationships for long lasting peace. Wherever we might be, at work, at play or at church, we should remember to build bridges and not walls, especially if we are followers of Christ. God is the “bridges” builder, not the “walls” builder. Walls isolate us; bridges connect us! God is the builder of the universe and of all things! We follow Him in this building “bridges” work!
We need to build bridges with God for spiritual health and well-being and with others for physical health and well-being. Repentance is the mechanism for us to change the direction of our hearts, from building walls to building bridges, from breaking walls to connecting bridges. The change of heart should help break any walls that have been a barrier in our relationship with God and others.
From my perspective, spiritual well-being and physical well-being go hand-in-hand. I define physical well-being in terms of physical, mental, social and economic foundation. We need both for our overall physical and spiritual health and for a happy and healthy life. While humans’ efforts to build “bridges” and not “walls” with each other are to eliminate the feeling of physical, mental and social isolation and to strengthen communication and interrelationships so we all can live among one another peacefully and work together effectively to maintain and to sustain God’s creations and possessions on earth and to advance God’s plan for mankind, efforts to build “bridges” with God are to help us stay away from Satan’s evil influences, stay on track with God’s demands expectations as the stewards of His resources and to establish personal relationship with God for eternity!
This blog helps raise self-awareness and self-evaluation. Where are we in our relationship with God and others? Are there more walls than bridges? Are we building “bridges” with God and with other humans on a daily basis as an obligation? Do we make decisions based on God’s directions or Satan’s directions? Who has more influences in our daily life?
Repentance is the change in attitudes, a change of heart, and is a mechanism for us to break walls and to build bridges so we can eliminate physical, mental and social isolation and be closer to God and to others for carrying out God’s plan and for safeguarding God’s resources. Change is inevitable and is a business and personal necessity. Repentance is for spiritual well-being; continuous improvement is for physical well-being! Embrace change; embrace repentance! It is a healthy application!
Do you believe that spiritual and physical well-being go hand-in-hand for a joyful, healthy and happy life? Do you believe that repentance will lead to inner peace with God and others and to a healthy spiritual and physical life? Do you believe that without or lack of spiritual foundation we will doom? Do you believe that turning to God for guidance in day-to-day troubles and operations will give you peace of mind? I do!!