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Here's where I start to veer away from the coarse just a bit here and there, to keep things as simple for everyone as I can - Jesus kept it simple, he was teaching fishermen, and ordinary people, I will try to follow his example.
Following a "salvation" experience, you go through a Honeymoon phase. The world is different, you notice things more, especially the beauty of nature, colors are brighter, you see small miracles and answered prayers, every day. You live on a new level of awareness and slowly it becomes your new normal. Join a good Church, get a Bible, start reading it every morning, because, your day actually works better when you spend those few minutes with Jesus at the beginning of it. But like every woman who has ever been on a diet could tell you - you start strong and can lose a bit of weight - but then eventually you reach a plateau where the weight loss slows and you struggle and the stubborn fat just won't go. That also can happen in your Spiritual life.
Then what I like to call the "Lake concept" comes into play. Think of yourself as a deep lake, The surface can experience daily chaos, storms, wild weather (external events), while the profound depths can be untouched and peaceful. On good days, it can look pristine and perfect on the outside, but what if for years people have been throwing garbage in that lake? Poison hidden under the surface, slowly polluting the depth's. It's like what Jesus said about the Pharisee's - he called them "whitewashed tombs" all perfect and performance on the outside, making themselves look righteous and holy when inside are dead men's bones, rot and corruption. What is hiding in the depths? When you become a Christian the Holy Spirit moves in to that lake and He starts cleaning it up, layer by layer, bringing to the surface the issues that he wants to work on: anger, fear, perfectionism, judging of others, prejudice, self-criticism, deep hurts, trauma and the unforgiveness related to it, anxiety, attachments and all the deeply ingrained habits of sin, and generational curses and patterns of living and thinking that may have been handed down through your family for generations.
At this point all the habits that you have learned or grown up knowing, going to church on Sunday, reading your Bible every morning and tithing, while all good, may not be enough! Add the stress of the world, work, struggling to pay the bills, adult responsibilities inside and outside of your family, and you could find that instead of becoming more loving, joyful, peaceful and patient you are becoming more irritable, anxious, impatient and exhausted.
Have you ever noticed that those successful in making major life turn arounds, don't do it alone! Addicts trying to turn their lives around and beat the enemy within, do so as a community, going to AA and NA meetings (Church), and having a one to one sponsor or mentor that understands the battle, helps them and holds them accountable. If you are struggling don't try to do it alone. The most successful Mega-churches, break up into small home-based groups that meet maybe once a week, that share a Bible study together and even more importantly hold each other up in prayer. Jesus did this, He preached to crowds of thousands of people (Church), but then retreated with his small group of disciples, explaining things more deeply to them, he reduced it further at times to the core group of Peter, James and John. So this could for you be just one or two other people. Fellowship, the Word and Prayer, wherever 2 or 3 gather in His name - He is THERE! If you need even greater help there are Christian counselors. I pray each of you reading this is able to this week find a prayer partner if you don't already have one!
