Post by tomdurst on Nov 15, 2018 11:30:45 GMT -5
TRUE SELF--FALSE SELF
Our true self is who we are in Christ. In Him we are perfect, entire and wanting nothing. He is our All-in-All and we no longer live for ourselves but rather in dependence upon the One who loved us and gave His life for us (Galatians 2:20). Our false self is our unbelieving, ego centered self who lives apart from Christ, doing our own thing and going our own way (Isaiah 53:6). When we live for the false self we mistreat others and put them down instead of loving them. We often are found exalting ourselves in some way and in the process many precious people get run roughshod. We often seek to control others and judge them. The “I” is supreme and the governing factor in our life. There is probably nothing more deceptive than the "religious false self” which ever seeks to persuade others to its ways of thinking often under very pious appearances. We do not find our true self by looking to ourself or to any human resources but rather by looking to Jesus Who verily was God in human flesh, lived a perfect life for us, died for our sins, ascended, and now is at the right hand of the Father as our Redeemer, Intercessor, Substitute and Righteousness.
My times of Silence are not focused on “getting into myself” which is the dominant concept in popular spirituality. They are rather times in which I choose to set aside all of my own “thinkingness” for a period of time and find rest in receiving the Mind of Christ instead of always depending upon what I think about anything and everything, no matter how good these thoughts may be. I’ve been a diligent student of the Scriptures now since 1951 and have been blessed beyond words in my times of pondering the deep things of God. In such times I sense a flow of life permeating my whole being—body, soul, and spirit. But having times of “Sabbath rest” in Silence before God is a HUGE blessing. My experience has been that such times open my mind to see even more when I’m in the Scriptures. I have continued to recommend times of Silence to others since I have been so blessed by following this simple practice now for many years.
For additional thoughts read NO LONGER I on the link below. This is part of a three part series on Galatians 2:20:
NO LONGER I