Beneath My Rib - Trail Mix for Your Spiritual Journey

Courage is the greatest of all the virtues because all the other virtues stand on one's courage. C.S. Lewis God commands us to be courageous and delineates the penalty for not being courageous. Kathleen asks the question in this podcast; WHY?  Why is it a command and one that carries a penalty for not complying. It is very clear from the scriptures that complying with that command  elicits great rewards. What are those?  If we knew the rewards of courage, why wouldn't we choose it?  Fear is the answer. That may seem like an obvious binary choice; however, Kathleen digs deep into the ‘living' effects that the virtue of courage has on the human brain. Understanding this makes  fear vs. courage much more nuanced and less obviously binary. This discussion lays out how the neural plasticity of the human brain mirrors this plasticity in the ‘ Mind of Christ'.  The mind of Christ is the spiritual character of Christ described in the scripture as the Spirit of Wisdom, Spirit of Understanding, Spirit of Knowledge, Spirit of Counsel, Spirit of courage, might and power and the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. It is a gift to us who desire to be formed in the image of Jesus. It is the Holy Spirit within us. We are told that we are transformed into the likeness of Christ by the renewing of our mind - even the Mind of Christ. Therefore, the neural  plastique process which is on-going in the organ of our brain is first demonstrated in the Mind of Christ as we freely take on this gracious gift offered to us by our Father God and are transformed into the likeness of Christ.

And God saith, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, and let them have governance over fish of the sea, and over fowl of the heavens, and over cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that is creeping on the earth.' Gen.1:26 Our greatest gift from God after HE gave us life was the gift of our free will. Free will gives us authority. We have authority when we own something and are able to  make a free will decision what we will do with what we own. What happens if we voluntarily give up our free will little by little until we own nothing and have no authority to freely decide the crucial choices of our life?   Does our eternal salvation depend on the strength and endurance of our free will? Humanism and its partner transhumanism has spawned the fastest growing new religious movement in history. It is aimed at  creating a God through AI (artificial intelligence) development in which all of humanity will willing surrender its divine mandate to govern all of creation in exchange for  the illusion of safety, provision, inclusion and security offered by humanism.  As the high tech industry mushrooms they openly admit they are selling ‘digital resurrection'. All you have to do is abdicate your mandate to govern God's creation in unity with HIs will. The choice is yours.

The body of believers who follow the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God and our redeemer from sin by virtue of His crucifixion and resurrection are often call ‘the Universal Church’. Jesus defines His body of believing saints as both a Family and as an Ecclesia. These two limbs of the body of believers, just like our arms and the legs, both belong to the body, but have two different functions which contribute to the whole body’s productive behavior.  The church has been diligently applying themselves to the structure of the Family in recent history and trying to perfect family dynamics while losing completely the power of the Ecclesia to govern the earthly creation, an assignment which God mandated to man in Genesis 1:26-28. We need to understand the power and the function of the Ecclesia and then apply our mouth to it so we can vote.  If we ignore and prevaricate about our responsibility to be authentic citizens of God’s Kingdom and govern His creation we will have to live under the laws, mores and cultural dominance of a foreign government.   The Family of God is an environment which shepherds family relationships, healing, education, counsel and leadership so that believers can function with maximum effectiveness in the Ecclesia, serve the Kingdom of God and fulfill your unique assignment.

  In times of great turmoil we find the body suffering from the cracks of stress;  anxiety, depression and reaching out for substances to ingest in hope of quelling the weakened and challenged physical condition.  Is there a healing essential oil - a balm in Gilead- available for us? Yes, it is the essential oil of the Spirit, PURITY. Why is Purity, a condition of body, soul and Spirit, a value that we should be enamored of or solicited to acquire an ambition for its acquisition.  Because there is a reward and restorative healing favored upon us as we strive for it. We are intentioned for intimacy with our Creator - to be a pure, chaste bride in order to co-govern His creation with Him. And, the purity we are called to is a call to great indivisible strength, producing courage and thus, to know peace and be led forth in hope. An absence of the pursuit of purity is spiritual castration resulting in psychological and mental confusion, as well as a weakened physicality, which is  susceptible to divisible threats from illness, addiction and loss of prowess However, His favor is on us to push us toward the functional heart of His design for us, which is purity. .                  

At the heart of man’s instinctual response to life is an insistent, nagging, impulse to bring all uncertainty under control. We need to keep a lid on the explosive threat that uncertainty poses to becoming fear-dominated. Uncertainty keeps us from putting our hands on tools to wrestle down unwieldy circumstances. Uncertainty becomes a breeding womb for negative and frightening non-stop tapes and films occupying the real estate of our brain and soul day and night. Uncertainty eats at our peace and robs us of vision for the future. If man’s unsuccessful attempt to muscle control over uncertainty persist, he cries out for a sovereign. One who will take over and give him peace. But first, he will have to reconcile his resistance to relinquishing any part of his self-governance.  Kathleen’s podcast probes this antagonistic dualism in man and inquires as to how man can arrive onto the path of peace, as well as accomplish successful self-governance.

Man is desperate for a sense of relevance in his life. We need to know our life 'counts' for something. We envision goals which we believe will mark our life as 'being worth living'. The psychological  sciences  tell us that man fears two things above all others; death and irrelevance. We often move through our life with a sense of being hidden - out of view - anonymous. This can lead to us feeling worthless, even a failure, mis-understood, lacking motivation and questioning our callings. But, as a Christian, God gives us understanding, wisdom and can transform how we experience these attitudes. Kathleen talks about five rationals which gives some understanding why we experience being hidden and where we find true satisfaction for the committed, faithful works we do to bring the good news to the world.   Isa 52:7    How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news…  

Living through the pandemic experience of the Coronavirus and its imposing confining protocols can bring with it serious physical, emotional and mental consequences. But God's Word tells us: Lev 26:6  And I will give peace in the land, and you shall lie down and none shall make you afraid. This podcast is an integrated experience of spiritual teaching and physical instruction on how to stand firmly in peace and  the strength of Christ both spiritually and in our body and soul. Considering the defensive posture which our body and soul takes on when faced with the trauma of grief, uncertainty and loss of liberty, Kathleen seeks to re-balance the spiritual elements of the promised 'peace beyond understanding' give to us in God's Word with the actual reactions of the soul and the physical body. Kathleen moves through the major body parts and explores their destructive responses to a defensive posture and how those responses integrate with the elements of our soul. We can find a harmonious agreement between our body and soul  with our spirit and God's promise for peace if we re-balance the body, soul and spirit so they are understood as a single unit.

Being Christian doesn’t mean being exempt from suffering, but it does mean we have the opportunity to suffer differently from the world. Since suffering is definitely a part of our life in this world, we need to know how to help others and ourselves. If we trust God, suffering has redemptive qualities which God uses to bring glory(a manifestation of God’s character), maturity, compassion, understanding and faith into a believer’s life.  2Co 4:17  This light, temporary nature of our suffering is producing for us an everlasting weight of glory, far beyond any comparison. Jesus invites us to join Him and share His sufferings. Mat 16:24  Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone wants to follow me, he must deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow me continually. But, how do we get through it? Kathleen talks about how we can be assured that God knows intimately our personal suffering and that He intensely cares. She explores the power of grace to propel us through suffering and how we can be a conduit for that grace to others suffering.  

Guilt is a reaction to unrepentant sin and it is a crippling burden Jesus said. So if we don’t want to recognize this guilt as being in us because our world view denies the existence of a universal moral law, does this eliminate guilt in us -No. How does man unburden himself from this onerous weight of guilt?  How does man think about moral guilt in our contemporary postmodern world’s view? The postmodern  world view nullifies the concept of moral guilt. Postmodernism embraces secular determinism stating that man's behavior is a result of reacting instinctively to the natural laws of pain and pleasure rather than from a free moral choice.    People today,  do not want objective, transcendent absolutes - such as the 10 commandment - whose authority comes from God because it demands a burden of accountability. Nevertheless guilt still persists within us. And, in spite of our denial, a conscience sensitized to the moral law which God has written on our hearts exists in us and cannot be removed.  Man cannot eliminate the conscience by choice. But man tries - How? The body, soul and spirit speaks out. Denied guilt isn’t silent. There are consequences to silencing the conscience. Guilt and shame is the opposite of the joy and freedom we experience in living in obedience to God. The gift of our conscience keeps us ever mindful and instructive that our freedom from the pain of guilt and shame is found in the eternal grace of our Lord Jesus Christ whose sacrifice on that cross paid our debt.  

There are two tables offered to us at which we can dine. What we eat there will either strengthen us and cause us to  flourish or will poisonous us and diminish our life giving properties. One is the table of the Lord and the other is the table of toxic delights. The table of toxic delights presents tempting delicacies to our emotional appetite in times of stress.  Their addicting and ultimately lethal effects on our life is hidden from our view as we indulge ourselves at the forbidden table. However, another table has been freely set before us with a constant and eternal invitation open to us. It is a kingly table, with unimaginable treats which promises renewed life and glorious pleasure. What do we choose and why do we choose it?

I Sam. 14:6 Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by few or by many. Too many of us don’t feel inspired, courageous, successful or totally trusting in God as we face the challenges which obstruct the pathway to our destiny.We instead are often intimidated, fearful and hopeless in trying to overcome the resistances which threaten our forward movement toward our goal.  Why would God choose to save ‘by few’ ? If He has strength and power, why not use it? King David, Gideon and King Jehoshaphat all discovered the answer to that question and were richer for it. We can learn the same thing and appropriate that spiritual knowledge into our everyday lives as we study their experience of being rescued 'by few'.

Around two years of age, we, as human beings, start to discover that we are a 'self' and we begin our journey to identify that new self. However, the psychological sciences tell us we are not capable of being objective and unable to self-identify. We are rather invisible to our self. We are dependent on the reflexion of our self coming from other's eyes. But, our friends, family, community, culture and the world at large does not see us in a wholly integrated, complete or accurate way.  We therefore suffer an ontological anoui as we feel like we are not truly understood. We experience alienation, loneliness, futility and lack of motivation to journey on with sense of  self-confidence, peace and fulfillment. But, if we turn our face to God who created us as unique individuals with value and worth to Him and gave us a destiny and then empowered us to achieve it, we will be known and thoroughly seen. Seeing our reflexion in the face of God makes the invisible visible to us...suddenly everything makes sense.

The radical scandal of grace means that we have the freedom to  choose to live in a kingdom of superlatives - unspeakable joy, unmeasurable love, incomprehensible peace, unfathomable intimacy with Christ and infalliable justice. Part II of Living in the Humility of Grace explores the spiritual trail we need to walk  in order to leave behind the shackles our removed offenses and find our entrance to Wonderland - the land of Christ's grace.  Our companions will be Faith and Meekness who hold our spiritual weapons of Awe and Praise. Bliss and ecstasy await us. Heb 12:15 (ISV) See to it that no one misses the grace of God and no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many...

Kathleen Ann Thompson shines light on the understanding that the offenses we hold onto are often hidden out of our awareness. Through denial, suppression, resistance and lack of introspection these offenses live like trolls in our life. They padlock the gate to 'Wonderland', the land of grace which Christ brought back from the grave for our inhabitance. These offenses enslave us and create habitual and addictive behaviors which feed them until they completely own us. Letting go of our held offenses frees us like opening a bird cage to let the singing canary fly free. Wonderland holds a land of superlatives for us - our inheritance from Christ's redeeming work on the cross.  Learn how to embrace your freedom from offense and enter the bliss and ecstasy of Wonderland.

 Where are you God?  This question dogs much of our spiritual queries as we travel our challenge-packed journey through life. Is it possible that we are missing his ever-present personal involvement in  our daily lives?  Kathleen Ann Thompson engages the listener in a supposition that if we change the perceptions of our mind so they perceive the world as God designed it to be seen and experienced, he would readily be discovered by us, Immanuel, God with us.

Before the beautiful—no, not really before but within the beautiful—the whole person quivers. He not only 'finds' the beautiful moving; rather, he experiences himself as being moved and possessed by it.  Balthasar  We were made by God for ecstasy. Beauty triggers our wonder and yearning for something beyond this life - something inexpressible. Beauty is divining, empowering, transforming and exalting. Learn how to bring beauty into your life everyday and radicalize your relationship with God. Cynicism, pessimism and disillusionment is a debilitating psychological state which surpasses your creativity, dampens your hope, constricts your vision, blinds you to beauty and weakens your entire being.  King David understood this when he wrote Psalm 27. At that time in his life he was in extreme danger and vulnerable to being killed.  He desired just one thing - to gaze on the beauty of the Lord - because he knew it would lead him to enquire after the full nature of his Lord. It would be the full divine character of God which would set his feet on a secure rock with his head above his enemies. Psalm 27 One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the Lord Whoever rejects genuine beauty “can no longer pray and soon will no longer be able to love. Balthasar