4. Release what is good! *

Conversations that energize the tired battered soul. That stir up the flickering embers of life.

For most conversations however they are a mix of ‘try harder’, ‘fix what is wrong’ and ‘get more’. All requiring me to do or be something which is impossible in my own strength.

Encouragement is oxygen to the soul George M. Adams

When we ask Jesus into our lives he actually does come in. He doesn’t just come and go, waiting for more effort on our behalf, to get things right, to desire him more. He is living within us.

We are a new creation, we have Spirit living within us. We have a new heart.Because of Christ, and his unfathomable love for us, we now have a New Purity, New Identity, New Power and a New Disposition. I will cover these more in later blogs.

To nourish and cause this new life in me to grow and mature I need others around me to speak encouragement in my soul. This is true connecting. Conversations where I can look bad in the face of love.

Where I am welcomed, warts and all. Where there is no pressure to change, but there is an invite to journey with a few safe others.I have a friend who has been dubbed ‘The Computer Whisperer’. He seems to have this incredible ability to bring dead and dying computers back to life. He listens to them, whispers some deep wisdom into their hard drives, and brings them back to life.

Spiritual Transformation is not that hard. It requires a few close safe friends, where you can be honest, vulnerable, authentic and held. They pour life into you and then you pour life into them. They tap into the ‘good’ that Jesus has placed in you and draw it out like the Living Water Jesus promised to give us. They bring it to the surface and enjoy. Then you do the same for them. A release of what is good.

Spirit dances a jig. Jesus, in his divine humanness, is worshiped, Papa throws a party. All are welcome to dance!

Barry Pearman
*In this 4 part series I will be looking at Four approaches to Spiritual Transformation from Connecting by Dr. Larry Crabb and Revolution Within by Dwight Edwards.