No Spiritual DMZ

On Friday I quoted Thad Cardine’s statement from Substack, “You can’t form a godly soul with a godless habit loop.”  That line has been rumbling through my mind and especially as I’ve tried to learn to walk with God, not so much step by step, but thought-by-thought.  

There are no neutral activities in our life.  None.  Whatever we think, say, or do reflects my desire to be holy or my desire to be in the flesh, or as Caridine said, “It is either forming me or deforming me.

So, the battle is not really in what we do or don’t do.  That was the lie I was fed most of my life.  While the preachers and teachers would reject the legalism of the Pharisees, they all seemed to buy into their view of dos and don’ts.  It always seems one do better, try more, and work harder.

The action will always follow the thought, the choice will always reflect the nature, and our passions will always reflect our heart’s true love.  We can’t explain that away…there is no line of demarcation for the child of God when it comes to Spirit and flesh.

The zone between North Korea and South Korea is known as the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).  It is a 2.5-mile buffer strip that is basically a no man’s land with significant military presence.  

There is no DMZ in the spiritual battle we fight.  Even if we want to excuse what we watch, read, or even daydream about…it is either forming us into the image of Jesus or it is fortifying the flesh and sinful nature.  It all starts in the mind.  That’s the Battle Ground and I think the reason the Church in the West is so powerless is that we seem to have no plan and no desire to train ourselves to be godly and to live a holy life and don’t we even think it is odd that we don’t.

I just want to get you to thinking about this today…tomorrow we will start looking at how to battle for godliness.