Welcome to the ULC Minister's Network

Keisha Merchant

Transformed Life

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    “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” Romans 8:6

    What is spiritually minded? And, what is carnally minded?

    http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Carnally

    http://www.thefreedictionary.com/spiritual

    car·nal (kär http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/prime.gifn http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/schwa.gifl)

    adj.

    1. Relating to the physical and especially sexual appetites: carnal desire.

    2. Worldly or earthly; temporal: the carnal world.

    3. Of or relating to the body or flesh; bodily: carnal remains.

    spir·i·tu·al (sp http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/ibreve.gifr http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/prime.gif http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/ibreve.gif-ch http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/oomacr.gif- http://img.tfd.com/hm/GIF/schwa.gifl)

    adj.

    1. Of, relating to, consisting of, or having the nature of spirit; not tangible or material. See Synonyms at immaterial.

    2. Of, concerned with, or affecting the soul.

    3. Of, from, or relating to God; deific.

    4. Of or belonging to a church or religion; sacred.

    5. Relating to or having the nature of spirits or a spirit; supernatural.

     

    Okay let’s begin today’s reflection on what does this verse mean in the perspective of my own life experiences and reflections.  I have developed this saying of what goes up must come down.  It is the acknowledgement that we are not just citizens of eaters of bread, but also we eat the word of God.  What does that mean?  We cannot live on our carnal lives, the life we do see, but what happens to the life we do not see?  What is that life, and how does that life affect us?  Yes, sex, food, shelter, clothing and government is part of our society, culture, and belief system of the sciences, but biology is not enough in the dual life we share with our spirit side.  Some of us do not believe that we have a two sided fence.

    I find that one side of our lives is the one we have on the public, everyone sees, even in the mirror, we see it.  Then there’s the other side of the fence, our life we see in our mind.  Our mind plays out the lifestyle we have in our spirit side.  Some of us are thinking man, oh, man; my life is not different from the mind and from the reality.  Some of us are rich in our mind, and rich in our lives.  What does that mean when we play out our lives in both arenas?  Well, it is said that it is a mystery the life we have in the spirit.  It is only in time it plays out in spirit, we walk in the spirit, but we are influenced by the flesh.  What does the spirit do while we partaking in the flesh, carnal life?  It is keeping up with the things of the spirit. 

    There is evidence that we have two lives that is shared in one breathe.  In the bible, they have shown in the life of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they all said; return my spirit, as Jesus done as well.  Many great leaders have said this as their last statement.  Is there ever a question what in the world are they talking about?  It is found that many authorities and teachers are bound by two lives, and somehow they are truly aware of these lives.  Now do the common good of all know about their two sided life?  Of course not, it is another case that most mental disorders arrive from a double sided personality that some finds it fearful to speak about two lives in one. It is rare that you find a common man speaking about the two lives that share the one breathe.  Now do these two lives ever become one as a married couple, or some would call, a unified, whole self?  Now these lives, the carnal self and the spiritual self, had a life of war, some would say the impact of being divided, is not a good show to see, a man in war within himself or herself, but it happens.  Now some would say, girlfriend, this is not what these scriptures meant.  I would say in return, yes some make lemonade out of lemons, our what am I suppose to do with a well rounded life?  I find that scriptures are taken by the beholder and their own lens.  It is what I have deemed worthy to chat about today. It could completely change as the lemons change into strawberry lemonade and lemon pie, and so forth.  It is within our mastery that we create these scriptures and shape them for our own lives, but the ultimate reason for these scriptures is to birth life and life more abundantly.  It is done. 

    Now continue on with the reflection for today, the chat is that carnal mind leads to death, why would Paul say such things?   Now if the question is do we die?  Now Paul brings up very strong points that we fail to realize that this element is just one component of many parts to a complete self.  It is an awareness that people cannot live on bread alone.  People cannot live on carnal mental framework alone, but by every word of God, that solidify the necessary sealing of spirit and flesh.  What in the world, yes, I said it, later Paul discusses the transformation of our tents, or should I say, the life saved by grace in salvation, the resurrection or redemption of our souls.  It is not a surprise, we have here in this verse that he is describing the traits of the spirit and the traits of the carnal, but both components were made to create the living soul.  In the beginning God created male and female, with the materials of body, flesh and spirit, breathe.  It is now that we as practitioners of the living soul, we announce the reason for both of these networks to function as one because we surely die.

    Abraham, Isaac and Jacob made the comments you may return, as Jesus.  Who return what?  It was their spirit that they released of duty.  It was obvious that their spirit was independent of the flesh, carnal body, but it was obvious as well that these men had to give permission to let go of their spirit in order for their bodies to die. On the other hand, we find many not making any announcements, but their bodies die without any awareness of their spirit leaving without their permission as though, their spirit had left them as a divorce.  What is that all about?  The permission versus the separation of the carnal and the spirit is not complex but as a simple child discussing her friendship with her friend.  She left me.  It is another sense we have that the supernatural is nothing in comparison to the natural, but this is the comparison I would like to challenge.  The comparison that the spirit is independent of the carnal and the carnal is independent of the spirit.  How could that truly affect our lives and daily functions in the human society and culture of life and realism?

    I find that Einstein and many great thinkers of our age figured the speed of light for a reason. It was in their best mind to figure out light and the existence of light to explain our own existence of atomic connectivity but man was not alone in the matter of knowing that is God.  In this connectivity God was, is and always will be light, but what is spirit within us?  It is the embodiment of particles of light?  Now this has gone way too deep sister, you may say, but let us entertain this scripture one last chance for today.  This chat comes to the conclusion that love is not just carnal connectivity but also spiritual connectivity. Now in that connection we have the network of light in life.  The organization of life is the productivity of cells, tissues, and so forth, but biologically the complexity of that network and corporation of this complete organization function on a command center that neurologically give us life.  Now with that cognitive realism we find that the carnal life is nothing more than a few elements that give us life that is nutrition, resources, and breathe, among other things, chemicals and connection to those chemicals.  This is the relationship we depend on unconsciously because it is an automatic system that functions without our permission.  Now here comes the doses that will trip the depth of this one sentence in the light loaded of spirit and hope, in the fact spirit is beyond the natural, it is part of our lives with the authority of God that sent it within us to give us more than just a singular motion life.  It is the dual life that stems us into a potential life existence that goes beyond the carnal that we master as we care for the spirit.  It is just a babe as we are a babe.  It is a child as we are a child. It is matured as we matured, but as we become a plural being it is life within our life that we store in our own storehouse of life. 

    Now what is this chatterbox saying, bring it to a wrap, what is my point, Jesus said it many times, man can forgive sins.  What does that mean?  What is that?  In the beginning God told humanity to rule the earth.  What is that all about?  It was in the beginning before the curse, the so have you, learning how to disobey against our own bodies, we found death not due to knowledge, or knowing Good and Evil, but knowing how to destroy our own selves, this is the death that God, Jesus and all the great thinkers were chatting about, it was the spirit that lived in us becoming separated from our carnal life.  It was the kudos that left our works.  It is how the doctor would say; it was the man’s last breath.  It was the idea that stole immortality and infinity from us.  Yes, the idea.  It was the thought that separated our spirit from our carnal.  It was the divorce papers being signed from our own life.  It had nothing to do with being aware of nakedness, what simple love. It was the complexity of love in its simplicity.  It was the idea that greed would deter us from loving what made us content.  It was self divorcing the spirit in self. 

    Whew, now that was a mouthful.  Paul was chatting about on the right hand you have carnal leading to death, a temporary life without the spirit which is true, when the breath stops life stops.  Then you have on the left hand the spirit leading to peace and life.  Wait a minute, so what does that mean?  Is this life a character?  Is it a personality without a body?  Well, Jesus said, these words I speak are spirit and life.  What does he mean then?  Could the spirit in us that give us "breath" is actual ideas, words and those words of God give us life?   Now how could those words divorce us, or ideology leave us, in a spirit form?  What gives?  Where is the grounding, solidarity of spirit in us?  The spirit is willing and the flesh is weak?  What in earth?  It is the last segment of my reflection today, the chat that Elijah and Elisha had experienced.  The Elijah left in a chariot, taking his body.  He left nothing on earth, no one digged him a grave, nor did Elisha try to.  Why is that?  Some would say this story had to be a figment of our imagination, but let’s say this is true?  The conversation Elijah said with God was that I am your only one, but God responded no, I have thousands hidden.  Now what does this mean, do we have immortality among us?  Do we have angels among us, and what in the world does that look like?

    Now I am getting deep and far fetch, but let us speak about supernatural for the last segment.  If God is for us who can be against us, right?  Now that we are done with this reflection chat, I had to send a prayer that those who needed understanding would have understanding, and like a babe understand the mysteries of God, so therefore we may find life and life more abundantly.  It was shared in the ancient of times that spirit is the word of God, but the Word of God became flesh, now what?  Well, off to the drawing boards, if it has to do with the affairs of immortality and infinity, I am showing up to class,  because it is within us that the kingdom of God is near, so close we can taste it, should I say think it, the affairs of God.  Your  Girlfriend, Keisha