The Belly

“…they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus, but their own belly…” Rom 16:18

“…they are enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things” Phil 3:18, 19

“…who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator”

Rom 1:25

     What a harsh indictment!  If you have not accepted Christ into your heart, then your god is your belly, you serve the creature more than the Creator.  Does this sound like you?  Does your belly, the seat of man’s lower primordial nature, control you?  For if your heart has not yet been touched by Love, then your belly is your god, a consuming black hole preoccupied with food, sex, and sensual stimuli.  You live for pleasure because you have no purpose.  You trust your instinct because you do not know your intuition.  And you have no relationship with God, because you are spiritually dead, not even aware of yourself.

     Such is the state of the natural man, the self, the fleshly body.  We are born into sin, the soul fused into the Adamic nature.  Mystics speak of seven chakras, the chi or mysterious life-force energies that pervade through the body.  The lower chakras between the genitals and solar plexus—literally in the belly—are associated with the fleshly sin nature.  They control our biological drives and carnal appetites.  But Christ knocks on the door of the heart, inviting you into a covenant relationship and promising a new spiritual identity in Him.

     Upon receiving Christ, the black hole energies in the pit of the belly implode, giving rise to the opening of the lotus flower, the birth of a super nova in the heart:

“I Jesus… am the bright and morning star”

Rev 22:16

“… until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts”

1 Pet 1:19

“… unto you that fear my name the Sun of righteousness shall arise with healing in his wings”

Mal 4:2

     Through a humble faith and a childlike trust in Christ, God quickens to life a new spiritual identity in the heart of the individual (Eph 2:5).  The soul is liberated from its bondage to the Adamic nature and placed into the collective body of Christ.  Christ, meanwhile, awakens the heart and permanently indwells the believer’s body as His temple (1 Cor. 6:19; 1 Cor 3:16).  One’s capacity for Love, empathy, and compassion increases in the regenerated person as he/she grows in a communal relationship with the Lord.

     The believer becomes a witness and ambassador for Christ on earth, giving testimony to their relationship and all the miracles wrought through them.  This is the victorious Christian life, where the believer shines as a light for others.  The belly, which was once served as “god,” becomes a wellspring of spiritual nourishment, the roots of the tree of life that pulsates Love and healing through the believer’s Christ-heart:

“He that believeth on me… out of his belly shall flow rivers of living waters (the Holy Spirit)”

John 7:38

     The Kingdom of God is within the heart.  Unfortunately, there are few that ever experience the victorious Christian life.  There are few that let their Christ-heart shine.  There are few that allow the Spirit of the Living God to work miracles through them.  For even most of us—we who have placed faith in Christ, experienced the Power of His  Resurrection, and borne the day star in the heart—fail  to attain the potential of the Spirit-filled life.  We easily revert back to the sin nature, its indulgences and the pleasures of the flesh.  Or we pursue a path of self-righteous living, failing to realize that morality is the result of spirituality, not the means to it.  Having been set free by the Truth, we become like the Israelites who would rather return to their bondage than enter into the promised land.  We become like that dog that happily returns to its own vomit (Prov 26:11).

     Part of the reason there is such difficulty living the victorious Christian life is that once a soul is converted for Christ, all hell breaks loose!  Demonic forces converge to wage war.  The old Adamic nature wrestles against the new spiritual identity.  Understanding just who it is that lives inside you and the Power He wields is the key to victory.

     People revert to their Adamic nature because they are more familiar with self than the Spirit of God.  They are pacified by pleasures (carnality) or puffed up with pride (self-righteousness).  But God calls us to die to self daily (1 Cor. 15:31).  We must deny that which we are most familiar with and stand in the battle fray.  We stand and we wait for the Lord to move; we stand, we wait, we show courage, and are not to flinch or blink.  We breathe slowly and deeply from the bottom of our belly and we speak from the center of the Christ-heart.  Forces of darkness are powerless against the shield of faith. Perfect Love casts out fear.

     Yield to the Power within you… Trust in His name.  Do not think about it; just commit yourself into his hands in total surrender.  Then, the Spirit of God will move through you, speak through you, and empower you to overcome.

“who is he overcomes but he who believes Jesus Christ is the Son of God”

1 John 4:4

     May the Love of God touch your heart and reveal the mystery and Power of His resurrection.  And, may your belly become that fountain of living waters, a wellspring of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

                                                                                                                                Larry Word