Integration is a positive psychological and spiritual development that indicates true maturity.
You are welcome to listen to our podcast dedicated to the same theme:
We are defining integration as internal harmony, peace.
Integration is spiritual alignment, soul rest. It is not perfection.
We are to integrate at the core of who we are, our spirit, heart, will; with His Spirit.
Psalms 51 says, “God desires truth in the inward part.” We are called by God to love the truth, to thirst for God in a dry and weary land where there is no water.” Ps.63:1
When we integrate with the Spirit of Truth at our core, the Apostle John says, “out of your innermost being will flow rivers of living water!” Wow, what Christian would not want that? Don’t we all? Why is this not always the case? Why do we feel all too often the pain of insecurity, fear and anxiety? Where can we turn to find fullness and spiritual satisfaction?
I would like to share some of my spiritual journey that will help illustrate our challenges to be satisfied deeply:
God called me to come to Him. My heart heard the call and felt the love and truth of God at the deepest levels of my being. I experienced deep integration with God’s presence.
Spiritual challenges (doubts, anxieties and fear) have come to hinder my sense of alignment with God’s Spirit.
My prayers have been to clear away the blockages that cloud my vision and experience God’s love and truth at the deepest levels.
As I have prayed God has reminded me that I was drawn to Jesus by His calling me, wooing me to come. When the Father connected me to Jesus, we formed a covenant and He came into me and I into Him in the Spirit.
A covenant of spiritual intimacy was created. It is explained in Ephesians 5 as like the covenant of marriage and that it is a “deep mystery.” We are connected to Jesus spiritually at the deepest part of our being.
In John 17 Jesus prayed, “I in them and you in me that they may be perfected in unity, that the world will know how much you love them, even as much as you love me.”
He also said in John 17:3 that eternal life was “to know God and Jesus Christ His Son.” To know is the same word used for the intimacy of husband and wife.
In Ephesians 5 we are commanded to “be filled with the Spirit.” Man’s design from the beginning was “God breathed into man the breath, or Spirit of Life.”
Man was created to be connected to God. To be satisfied with intimacy of communion with God’s Spirit. God desires intimacy with us.
Idols in our lives block our ability to hear God and our intimacy. Idols wrap themselves around the axle of our lives. They become a crutch enabling us to lurch through life when we are called to walk in the power of the Spirit. Typical idols: Money, sex, power, hoarding, greed, performance, etc..
I believe that a key source of addictions (where Idols form) are deep emotional/spiritual pains that only God’s Spirit can heal. I found myself attempting to deal with the emotional pain of insecurity by performing in sports. When that time frame ended I moved toward the accumulation of money. I wanted to feel secure. Money gave me an immediate and cheap substitute.
So idols prevent us from going deeper with God. The last verse of I John says: “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”
To go deeper we need first, a deep desire to know the truth. The Psalms says that, “God desires truth in our innermost being.”
To know the truth is to be intimate and to integrate with it. It is not just knowing about something, it is an intimate relationship with a person. Jesus said, “He is the truth.” The person of Jesus, the one who came to save and heal the world from the ravages of sin, destruction and disintegration.
The Apostle John said, “Jesus came into the world that we would know the truth, that we are in Him who is true.” Notice, “we are in Him who is true.” We are inside a intimate covenant relationship with Him that meets are deepest needs through His Spirit and ours that become fused together.
Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount said, “poverty of spirit is a blessing and those would be satisfied.” His Spirit would fill the empty spaces of our soul with peace, rest and satisfaction.
Jesus said, “come to me all you are weary and heavy laden I will give you rest. Take my yoke(learning mantle of a disciple) on you and learn from me and you will find rest for your souls.”
The Apostle Paul has a powerful prayer in Ephesians 3:14-17. I believe this prayer is a great summary on our topic of integration.
He prays that we would be strengthened with power in the inner man. That Jesus would dwell in our hearts through faith and that we, who have been rooted and grounded in love would be able to comprehend all the dimensions of His love and to be filled to all the fullness of God.
Wow, what a prayer! What satisfaction! What spiritual power! To be filled with the fullness of God! Imagine having roots so deep in His love and experiencing it in ways that cannot be intellectually comprehended!
Lord Jesus, that is our prayer! So integrate us!
Challenge Questions:
- Where are you at regarding a life of integration?
- Do you feel like you are finding the rest your soul craves?
- What is your plan to integrate with God’s Spirit on a deeper level?
Finally, please let us know your thoughts on this blog and share with your friends who desire to go deeper.
Jeff Hagen
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