In Pursuit of Purity

Pastor Noel Jones preached at the 2nd service on the Sunday after The Experience and i felt inspired and was determined to catch up on his writings. I stumbled on a book he wrote called "The Battle for the Mind" at Laterna Ventures and it was a fantastic read. The 1st chapter was full of insights which i would like to share with everyone:

"The mind is the seat of all spiritual and carnal conflict"

"Whenever someone responds to the internal motivation of the Word and comes to God, while at the same time ceases to react to the external stimulus of the world, he will encounter resistance and turmoil"


"The only altar you can lay your troubles is the altar within you. If God is in you, then He is the one who introduces the conflict in order that when you meet God at the place of surrender (the altar),He can begin to replace those things that have always caused conflict between your carnal or sinful desires and the will of the spirit."

"It is important to understand that your battle is not with the devil; it is with God, for God has set you up, through the introduction of conflict into your life, in order to bring you to a place of maturity"


"...indeed, man's depravity make his helpless evil behaviour prerequisite for the grace of God. It is his powerlessness to change himself that qualifies him to receive empowering presence that we call grace"

My last post of 2008 spoke of my desire for purity. This is my desire for this year. To make significant progress in the battle between my spiritual and carnal self. I have already found out in the first few days of this year that this is not going to be a sissy fight but an all out war. Believe me. I now fully understand the verse "The Kingdom of God suffereth violence and the violent take it by force". My deliverance from my carnal self is not going to be easy. I have accepted this and have braced myself for what lies ahead.

I wish everyone a fantastic 2009.

Easy