The Spiritual Journey 2024 - Day 22: The view of a caterpillar is very different from that of a butterfly.

”"O afflicted one, storm-tossed and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones. All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you. If anyone stirs up strife, it is not from me; whoever stirs up strife with you shall fall because of you. Behold, I have created the smith who blows the fire of coals and produces a weapon for its purpose. I have also created the ravager to destroy; no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord."“

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭54‬:‭11‬-‭17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

We have been talking about the three aspects of my spiritual journey. As I have said, a few days after the spiritual journey was over, and I was recovering from the severe illness, the Lord directed me to my altar where He spoke to me concerning the PURPOSE of the spiritual journey, the PIVOT in the spiritual journey, and the resulting PARADIGM shift.

Today we will turn to the third of those three aspects: the PARADIGM shift associated with the spiritual journey.

One thing we all have to become aware of is that we are viewing things, analyzing things, perceiving things, through a framework. This framework through which we make sense of our lives, is also referenced as a PARADIGM.

The Bible is full of examples of people—through their interaction with the Lord—having a paradigm shift.

For Job, it happened when he saw God in the fullness of His glory, and himself in the fullness of his ignorance, as a result of the Lord challenging him concerning his questioning of God’s justice.

”Then Job replied to the Lord: “I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you. You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’ It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about, things far too wonderful for me. You said, ‘Listen and I will speak! I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’ I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”“

‭‭Job‬ ‭42‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

For the prodigal son, the paradigm shift came in a pigpen.

”The younger son told his father, ‘I want my share of your estate now before you die.’ So his father agreed to divide his wealth between his sons. “A few days later this younger son packed all his belongings and moved to a distant land, and there he wasted all his money in wild living. About the time his money ran out, a great famine swept over the land, and he began to starve. He persuaded a local farmer to hire him, and the man sent him into his fields to feed the pigs. The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son. Please take me on as a hired servant.”’“

‭‭Luke‬ ‭15‬:‭12‬-‭19‬ ‭NLT‬‬

In the pigpen, the prodigal developed humility. He now could approach his father humbly, remorsefully, and respectfully. And, as we know, the once-prodigal son was met with the father’s open arms.

King David had somehow white-washed what he had done concerning Uriah and Bathsheba. But, when the prophet Nathan came to him, and spoke in a parable, David could rightly see the severity of what he had done.

”Then Nathan said to David, “You are that man! The Lord, the God of Israel, says: I anointed you king of Israel and saved you from the power of Saul. I gave you your master’s house and his wives and the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. And if that had not been enough, I would have given you much, much more. Why, then, have you despised the word of the Lord and done this horrible deed? For you have murdered Uriah the Hittite with the sword of the Ammonites and stolen his wife. From this time on, your family will live by the sword because you have despised me by taking Uriah’s wife to be your own. “This is what the Lord says: Because of what you have done, I will cause your own household to rebel against you. I will give your wives to another man before your very eyes, and he will go to bed with them in public view. You did it secretly, but I will make this happen to you openly in the sight of all Israel.” Then David confessed to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” Nathan replied, “Yes, but the Lord has forgiven you, and you won’t die for this sin.“

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭12‬:‭7‬-‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The apostle Paul urged the believers in Rome to not allow their context, their circumstances, to determine how they thought. Rather, they were to consider their lives as a sacrifice before the Lord, and by focusing on God‘s way of being and doing, be transformed in their minds!

”Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational (logical, intelligent) act of worship. And do not be conformed to this world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you].“

‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭AMP‬‬

In the spiritual journey, the Lord took me through a process that brought me to a place of opportunity to renounce those things I needed to renounce, and to ask forgiveness for any association I had had with that which displeased Him.

Now, I can’t fully explain to you exactly what changed in my heart and my mind, but once the spiritual journey was over, I literally felt some block was removed, some area of darkness was illuminated, some access closed off to me was opened! I thank God for the opportunity to be able to have this paradigm shift, this point of release from the weapons that had been formed against me.

In our opening scripture we see the Lord speaking to Israel and promising how things would be for them when they were brought back into alignment with His will. Notice the last verse referencing the fact that the Lord would render all weapons formed against them useless. Yes, and that takes us full-circle back to the purpose of the spiritual journey.

Friend, we must all humbly seek the Lord, asking Him to fully transform us, fully sever from us the residue of darkness. Only then will we be able to fully share His heart, think His thoughts, and do His will.

Remember, the pain of the journey dims in comparison to the benefit of knowing there is nothing the enemy can use against you, nothing between your soul and your Savior!

We’ll reflect more on the spiritual journey tomorrow.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!

#thespiritualjourney2024