Connecting With God, Part 6
(To read Part 1, click here)
These Connecting with God posts aren’t very sexy. But they may be the most important I’ll ever write. Because prayer, as un-sexy as it is, is the most important thing anyone can do. Period. Real prayer—not empty ritual—is nothing less than communicating with the One who created us, who alone knows the purpose of our existence.
And that’s less important than…?
Jesus said over and over again that knowing God was literally a matter of life and death. You are dying. You might die while reading this post, or fifty years from now, but you are dying. And to wait until death is imminent to truly connect with God is like waiting until your fuel gauge pings empty before deciding where to land your plane. At that point the destination has already been decided for you.
“But everyone who hears these words of mine and is acting upon them,” Jesus said, “is like a wise man who built his house upon a rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the wind blew and beat against that house. But it stands because it is founded upon rock.” Matthew 7:24-25
So what’s this “house” he speaks of?
Us. It’s who we are and who we are becoming. We tend to build our lives with haphazard materials: wants, likes, hobbies, things we stumble upon, things that fill our time and then pass away in time. But when no time is left, those mortal things disintegrate. If we hold them in proper perspective as “just things,” fine, but if we allow them to become the substance of our lives, our “house” will crumble, because it its founded upon the broken fragments of reality, rather than Reality itself.
If your god is mortal (money, career, sex, fame, pride…) it will die with you. But if your God is immortal, you will live with Him.
Not long after stumbling upon (or more accurately being led to) the idea of reinventing my prayer life by not just reading but memorizing and meditating upon Scripture, I realized Jesus’ house metaphor provided the perfect framework. So I divided My Verses into three sections:
Foundation, walls, and roof.
Next: In A New Foundation for Your Life I’ll talk about the specific verses that have enabled me to begin rebuilding–from the ground up–the house of my life!
Blessing till it hurts!
~Mitch
Mitch Teemley 
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I think it is really imporant that we differ between our spirit and the “house” (in this case I use the metaphor differently) we live in. Our God is where our spirit comes from and our house is for the use in this physical lifetime. But the house is perishable which the spirit never is. Maybe that doesn’t go along with your post, but it just came to my mind while reading. I love your post.
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The “house” Jesus is calling us to build upon his Word, in this case, is not our physical bodies but our lives and character, who we become. Glad you enjoyed the post, Erika!
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Oh, I totally got ya, Mitch. That’s why I said my commend doesn’t go along with the meaning of house you stated. I just came to my mind because I also call our body home for our soul. Yes, I did like your post 🙂
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“But the house is perishable which the spirit never is.” Incredibly well thought! Thanks, Erika.
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Thank you very much! I am humbled. 😊
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well said!
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Thank you, Warren! (And good to meet you, btw.)
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Looking forward to more details about the foundation, walls, and roof of your spiritual life-house. Sounds intriguing, for sure!
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I’ve never really thought about the connection between porn and the word “sexy” before — not until I read this post (so thank you). Thinking of patterns of language use that I’ve heard, I’m not sure porn should be described as “sexy” any more than a cheap (and empty-calorie-filled) knockoff astronaut nutrition bar should be described as “cuisine”. (One is what one eats.) Kate Blanchett is sexy; a porn star can only aspire to be “hot”. Words live within life-worlds, and it is no surprise that “hot” has become the preferred term of the crasser forms and nests of lower-brow life, whilst the word “sexy” has been largely –and quietly– abandoned by them, or else collapsed into the meaning this sub-community invests in the word “hot”. (There is a reason why sleek and attractive phones and cars are described as “sexy”, and never really “hot” in the sense above.)
I like building metaphors. Not only do they touch on a perennial theme (humans shall always _dwell_, and dwell in buildings of some sort — I cannot think of an exception), but there is a corresponding motif within the scriptures, one that is connected to the tabernacle and temple, and which is very dear to me. Temples always have rituals, however, and these canal the attention, aiding it to its object. Please do be more gentle on ritual. 😀
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Thank your for your thoughtful response, Gregory. The term “sexy” has many shades of meaning. In advertising it’s used to mean anything that effectively grabs a reader-viewer’s attention. Since I’m not sure everyone knows that use, I threw in an explanation (in retrospect, I probably didn’t need to). I Googled the word “sexy” just now (oops!) and most of the websites that came up featured nudity, semi-nudity, or porn, so I think the term still evokes “sexually oriented” for many people. I do prefer your definition, but it’s clearly one of many.
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Here’s to hoping –I think it is a reasonable hope, but I might be deluding myself– that the results of a Google search don’t reflect customs of usage. 😀
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Reblogged this on Mitch Teemley and commented:
The most important thing you’ll ever do.
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Jeez, not like you want to get away from it all, eh?
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I assume you’re referring to the photo? ;>)
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You betcha!!!
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Waterfront property has always appealed to me. You point to a wonderful plan to the best kind of life. A firmer foundation.
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If your god is mortal (money, career, sex, fame, pride…) it will die with you. But if your God is immortal, you will live with Him.- I love the way you phrased it
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Thank you, Rose!
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“1 Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth.” Ecclesiastes 12
My prayer this morning, and I open your post and read this! Thanks! Our Lord is really awesome!
Have an amazing day and weekend!
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Thank you, Mirellen! It’s not a coincidence, I think, that today I begin serializing my narrative poem Fool’s Odyssey–which is based on the book of Ecclesiastes and prominently features that verse!
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Cannot wait to read it! 🙂
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Fool’s Odyssey begins here: https://mitchteemley.com/2016/02/26/fools-odyssey-1/
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Thanks! 🙂
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Your insights are truly inspired Mitch. I’m glad you visited my blog. I will revisit my prayer life and open my Bible with fresh eyes and heart, God willing x
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