The Human Church

          What is the "Church"???
When you hear this question, what do you think of...a building, a steeple, a denomination? Unfortunately the word "Church" has negative meaning to many people. My hope is that people come to realize that the Church is just...people. Every person who believes in Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior is "the Church". People make mistakes and so unfortunately, the church will make mistakes.
          We are human beings as well as spiritual beings who live in a physical body, with a soul (mind, will, and emotions). Each one of us has our own personal baggage to overcome and our journey to being more "Christ-like" is plagued by our own afflictions. It is our job to figure out the difference between who God wants us to be, and who the enemy wants us to be.
          Why do I think the way I do? Why do I feel the way I do? Why do I react the way I do? God created us with gifts and abilities and personality traits needed to accomplish our mission here on earth. The enemy (Satan) has also been at work causing pain and wounds in us that change how we see ourselves and the world around us. The great deceiver melds his lies into our perceptions of ourselves and others so to derail the work of God in us! It is very difficult for the love of Jesus to shine through our pain. More often the pain over shadows the light in us. Hurting people tend to hurt people so if the Church (as a whole) exists to change the world for the better, then the church (people of God) must be healed before we can heal a broken world!
          Stop saying "we are only human" as an excuse for our bad behavior and realize that we are human beings who are to be filled with the Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives in us! That means, through Jesus we have the power to overcome, not only the pain and bondage in our own lives but also to overcome the power of the enemy in this dark world! How are we supposed to undo the plans and schemes of the enemy in the world around us if we cannot overcome his plans and schemes in our own lives?
         Pray and ask God to reveal the lies of the enemy in your life and then pay attention to what happens. Our feelings are generated by our thoughts and beliefs. We have a thought, then a feeling, then an action, and a result. Take captive every thought. Renew your mind daily. If the results you are getting are un-Christ-like, change your thinking. Examine the origins of those thoughts and replace them with truth. Choose to surrender to the will of God in everything. Choose to forgive. Choose to walk in freedom and victory. The victories won in our own lives give us authority in the lives of others with the same struggles. We are the human church, but we were created for supernatural works!