What Kind of Person Are You? Things to Ponder...

Hi everyone. Hope you all are enjoying your weekend. Things here are good. We are preparing to move into mom and dad's on Monday and then the real packing must begin. We heard back from the apartments and it seems we have one ready to move in on Novemeber 1st. We are waiting until that day to view it and then sign the lease (they don't show the apartments while someone is still living in them) so we will be able to inspect it and make sure it is what we want. So, keep that in your prayers...that God will grant us with the perfect apartment for us, that we would have friendly and safe neighbors, etc.

On to the title of today's post...What Kind of Person Are You?
I was doing my quiet time this morning (which wasn't so quiet with the girls playing blocks..building them up and knocking them down and squealing with delight), but they were entertained and left me uninterrupted. Gracie is learning that when Mommy is reading her Bible she needs to do something else...sometimes she sits quietly next to me and "reads" too which I love. Anyways, I am currently in a Beth Moore study with our chuch, "Living Beyond Yourself: Exploring the Fruit of the Spirit." I LOVED today's lesson. The Apostle Paul addressed three different groups of people throughout several passage, and every single person alive can be placed into one of the groups. So, read below and see what group you belong to and what group you would like to belong to:

1) The Natural Man (unredeemed/unsaved man)
Romans 8:9- "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ." This person has not personally accepted Christ as their Savior, has not entered into relationship with Jesus. This person cannot discern the spiritual things of God. Do you fall in this category? Have you acccepted Christ's sacrifice for you and entered into relationship with Him? I pray you have. But, maybe you haven't. Maybe you know ABOUT God but don't know Him personally. Maybe you have never accepted God's great gift to you...the gift of His Son's sacrifice on the cross. Maybe you have wanted nothing to do with God because of things that have happened in your life. Maybe you just don't understand why God would give YOU eternal life...for surely you aren't worthy of such a gift...If He knew all of the terrible things you have done, he surely would want nothing to do with you. GOOD NEWS: It's not too late! Rest assured, God knows every little thing you have ever done, every thought you have ever had, and ever word you have ever said...and He still wants you! He still wants you to receive Jesus! Isn't that wonderful?! If you see yourself in this category, please please please open your heart to Him, talk to someone you know who is a Christian and ask all of the questions of your heart. It is the most important decision you will ever face.

2) The Carnal Man (the worldly man)
When I hear the word "worldly" I think of the unsaved. However, Paul calls the "infants in Christ" worldly in 1 Corinthians 3. And "infants" has nothing to do with how long you have been a Christian. It has everything to do with how one lives. The Carnal Man just does what comes naturally to him from his old nature. Paul asks the Corinthians, "Are you not acting like mere men?" Have you accepted Christ as your Savior but not really changed the way you are living? Do you still long to fit in with the world? In my mind, Paul's question could be reworded as, "Why can't I tell a difference between you and those who have not accepted Christ?" All of us who have accepted Christ fall into this category sometimes and in some situations. Our flesh is weak and we so desperately want to fit in with the world sometimes don't we?

3) The Spiritual Man
I am going to write some specific quotes from Beth's study to describe this kind of person:
-a person in which the mind of Christ is activated
-lives and thinks in a capacity far beyond that of a "mere man"
-daily and moment to moment yields to the Holy Spirit----Yieldedmess is always the reult of a deliberate choice...it doens't come naturally...examples: you surrender yourself to the Holy Spirit and pray for someone who has hurt you even though your nature struggles to; you do what you know to be right even if you are the only one doing it.

Beth points out that being spiritual is a daily choice...we can be spiritual one and day and not the next...it all has to do with surrender. I love this sentence: "We are spiritual when we are out of control and the Holy Spirit is in control."

So, where are you today? Too often, I would fall into the category of the 'carnal man,' knowing God but not always yielding my day to Him. Today's quiet time left me wanting to fall into the 'spiritual' category. Surrendering is hard though isn't it? I think that is why we must continually pray for strength to do so...to deliberately make decisions throughout the day to follow the Holy Spirit's guidance.

I was just so convicted this morning and thought this message was so great that I just had to share it with y'all. Hope it meant something to you too.