Hello Holy Spirit,

Circle up P. Anonymous.

You're anxious, I am too.

You're disappointed in yourself, me too.

You're mentally exhausted, I'm worse!

With school, with work, with ministry, with relationships, with boredom, with meaning, with physical edginess, with the unknowable future, with the regrettable past, with all of it! 

Yes, with fear and doubt, anger and apathy, worry and exhaustion.  All of it, comes piling in me, compressing my soul, but what do we have to combat what is there...destroying us?

Perhaps we are so overwhelmed we cannot even formulate a sentence, and can do little aside from close our eyes, take a deep breath, and groan inwardly, perhaps tears will drip down and take with it some of our angst.  Let it be.

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words."(Romans 8:26 ESV)

And what if we are so heavy laden in the thickness of our suffering?  The body becomes cumbersome with all it's desires, the mind is restless with overlapping thoughts and unanswered questions, the soul is but a weak and frail anchor hanging by a seamstress's loose thread. 

Yes!  Indeed we are afraid that our souls be detached from ourselves, and we be labeled the careless seamstress, but the very thing we fear is that which we should rejoice in for the soul longs to be rid of the body for a home in the heavenly body! 

"For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling,"

(2 Corinthians 5:2 ESV)

So groan and cry, kick and scream, look straight into the face of that despicable liar.  

Let the words of truth clothe you in righteousness, and don't be so cruel to our loving Savior as to ignore the sacrifice He made.  He died to give us Himself, his perfection, the blessed Spirit of God that invites us to be as He is.

"But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires."

 (Romans 13:14 ESV)

Yes, it is frustrating, and we feel ill equipped at first.  We are forgetful of the power indwelling us!  This is not some psychological maneuver, though some will refuse to believe otherwise, let them remain in their own turmoil, why join them when we know for certain of the freedom we have in Christ Jesus?  

Why do I sound like a 16th century rhetorician?  Haha.  I don't know, that's just how the words formulate in my mind.  

But beloved ones,

"It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed." 

(Hebrews 12:7, 11-13 ESV)

Stop thinking about the guilt from what you did, and instead use that to recognize the love of Him who bore all of it.  Yes you sin, and we know that sin's only path is destruction and death, a downward spiral...but then do we try to control sin?  Do you see what you are attempting to do when you don't consult and call upon the Spirit to forgive and transform you?  And how many times before the Spirit in us is fed up?  Because if you're like me, sin bites me in the ass everyday.  (I never use cuss words haha but it was what I was thinking).

"If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. 

(1 John 1:6, 8-10 ESV)

So we are never without sin, and we are never without His presence in us to forgive and transform us.

It is endless grace, simultaneously sinner and justified.  

How so?!  How is it that we are justified but still sinning?  Only by His Holy Spirit! 

Who is that? Haha well, that's a start.  He is alive and dwells in every believer.  I talk to Him, walk with Him, and He is why I can approach the throne of God as perfectly holy.  He is the blessing, he is the helper, he is the counselor for decisions, He is perfect.  And then the most magnificent truth is that He is with me wherever I am in whatever I do, inviting me back into perfection.  Right now.  What?!

I know. 

This was a perfectionist anonymous circling, but instead of getting rid of wanting perfection, we are invited to supersede our desire for it, past the frills and thrills of fake perfection, the lopsided perfection, in favor of the real thing, have it fully! 

Desire perfection for it is attainable. 

"You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."(Matthew 5:48 ESV)

I love the truth! 

Let me again emphasize that there is nothing we cannot face and overcome with the Holy Spirit.  It is NOT an instance of mind over matter, if you ignore the issue it will only rise again when it comes back to mind!  No, call on the Holy Spirit who has the power to heal you!  He is real. 

Hello Holy Spirit.

Jmegrey.