Growth And Identity

“I an the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing,” – John 15:5 ESV

God uses our trials and suffering  to produce character in our lives. Our response should be to draw near to him during  these times. Many of us were excited when we first started our journey with Jesus. But life’s disappointments caused us to give up on our faith prematurely. Gods’ desire is that we would find our identity in Jesus, and that our lives be hidden in Christ. Spiritual growth and our identity comes from abiding in, or staying close to Jesus.

Spiritual growth doesn’t just happen by osmosis. The Christian life is all about the grace of God from start to finish, but if we want to grow spiritually, it will be because we actively  pursue him. Our growth happens as we  receive our identity as sons of God, and both male and female are considered  sons (which has to do with inheritance) of the Father, in the Bible. The study and meditation of Scripture  and prayer  is the food  our inner man (soul /spirit) needs. We receive instruction and find out who we are in Christ in the Bible. If we don’t perceive accurately who we are in Jesus, we will have a distorted view of reality. This allows Satan to lie  to us about our identity, and the result  will be what the Bible calls, strongholds. The darkness can actually get a stronghold on your personalities.

The only way to break free form wrong thinking is through beholding the glory of God in the Scriptures, and agreeing with God on how we should live, while leaving behind (with God’s help) our former lives. And change is progressive. We can’t fully  discover who God has created us to be without spending time with other believers, both privately and in corporate Church meetings. Much of the  identity crises that most of us experience comes from the lack of genuine  Christian community. And we all need community.

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The Radiance Of The Son

“For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us.” (2 Corinthians 4:6-7, ESV)

When we feel the sun beaming down on our faces, we experience the physical reality of it’s radiance and heat. So in the same way we can enjoy times of unhindered communion with the Triune God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). During those times we embrace the radiance of His countenance. In our pursuit of God we see his glory in the face of Jesus Christ. This experience of spiritually seeing God, happens as we pursue His presence through Scripture meditation, and prayer.

Those who answer the call to be sons and daughters of God are brought into his family through the Spirit of adoption. As adopted children we have the unique privilege of experiencing and feeling his affection for us. We are God’s temple and his holy habitation.  Life inside the Trinity is family life. If you are in Christ you can partake of this family life in God. The invitation to come into His presence is available everyday.

The Truth Sets Us Apart

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14, ESV)

But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. (John 17:13-19, ESV)

God has called us to experience fullness of joy. And we can only attain this joy from knowing Jesus and being in His presence. Some might feel that spending time in deep meditation, on the truth of God’s word is too difficult, and it does take a certain amount of discipline. To be honest we have to war against the distractions of the information age we live in. But the reward of meditation is the contemplation of God himself. Once we’ve experienced God’s presence in this way we will become hungry for more.

Truth has a sanctifying effect on our souls. We are transformed by it. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, so thinking deeply on truth connects us to the truth himself, Jesus. Jesus is the word made into human flesh and  we connect with the Father through him. As we take in the living powerful words of the Bible, we experience being set apart for God’s purposes and begin to see life from God’s perspective. This process of change is a life long endeavor.

Our goal is to experience spiritual transformation and have fellowship with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Joy is found as you enter into their world. And we have access to the life of God only through Jesus. We must submit to his absolute Lordship, and simply follow him. Salvation happens the moment we believe and trust, that Jesus is God’s son who came to take our sins and give us new life and the power to turn from sin. While salvation happens instantly, sanctification is a life long process.

God Is A Very Present Help

God is our refuge and strength a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling.     Selah (Psalm 46:1-3 ESV)

When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles.The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. (Psalm 34:17-18, ESV)

God alone is our place of safety in these times of uncertainty. He is our refuge and defense against the dark forces of evil in our world today. This present evil age is characterized by anxiety, fear, and doubt. But God is a very present help to those who know him. He reveals himself to those who seek him with all their hearts. Our God is not an impersonal force. He is all powerful and all knowing and yet he comes near to the humble and broken-hearted. God is not detached and unable to meet with those that are hurting as some religions teach. He doesn’t always eliminate suffering but he is available to those who are in the midst of it. The God of the Bible is a father that can be approached by his children.

The veil between us and the presence of God has been removed by the death of his Son. Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead removes all barriers between us and God.

Our complete trust in Jesus as Lord, God, and King and our turning from our own idolatrous self reliance is the way into eternal life. This all powerful God chooses to relate to us in the most intimate ways. His Spirit teaches us through his revealed word, the Bible, and he still speaks to us today in a still small voice. He desires our friendship, not because he is lonely, but because he loves us. He is perfectly content and happy within himself, but he desires our transformation into the likeness of his Son, Jesus.  Spiritual Transformation changes our perspective on how we view the world around us. After we encounter Jesus we begin to see life as a journey with God – our refuge and strength.

The Trauma Of Sin

…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,(Romans 3:23-24, ESV)

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. 
(1 Corinthians 15:22, ESV)

Living a sinful, disobedient life has never worked out for me or for anyone else for that matter. Sin is living life, contrary to Gods’ revealed will. Sin is ultimately about living a self-centered life. We were designed by our Creator to live in his presence. And through man made religious works, mankind is trying to find its way back into His presence. As a result of our first parents sin, Adam and Eve, we all are born with a rebellious nature.

The Bible is clear that we are born sinners. We are all broken people that need a physician. Jesus came to restore us back to health. He is the healer of our troubled souls. And that is truly good news! You see our situation is quite desperate, even though those who have trusted and believed on Jesus have been brought back into God’s family, we still deal with the effects of our sinful ways of living. When we dwell on sinful, negative thoughts, it ruins or damages our souls. Our souls/spirits were designed to be inhabited by God’s Spirit. A life of habitual disobedience takes our peace from us and is destructive to all our  relationships.

The self-absorbed sinful life actually causes trauma to our souls. The answer to our dilemma is a daily, hourly, moment by moment, surrender to Jesus. As we grow in grace and seek to renew our minds in the Scripture, we begin to experience spiritual growth. Those negative thought patterns take time to overcome, but walking in the truth brings freedom. Prayer, meditation on truth, contemplation of the God who created us, and the fellowship of of the community of believers, are all means of grace that God uses to restore our souls.

Abiding In The Vine – The Weaned Soul

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are cleanbecause of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:1-5, ESV)

Those who abide in the vine have a rock solid faith. Their faith is demonstrated through loving God and loving others. They get their spiritual nourishment from the Son of God himself. They can say of Jesus what the apostle Thomas said, “my Lord and my God.” Discipleship is simply following and obeying Jesus. The disciple is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and desires to be holy like God. Seeking to follow Jesus in our own power produces bad fruit, like, frustration, guilt, shame, and legalism.

Without the abiding presence of the Paraclete (Holy Spirit) we can do nothing.  While salvation is a free gift, the life of overcoming power promised by Jesus, is only given to those who are intentional in their obedience. Abiding and obeying go hand and hand. A deep sense of joy is available to those who obey God. (John 15:11) Jesus did not only come to take us to heaven when we die, but to give us fullness of joy now, even as we experience tribulation in this world. The Father prunes those who belong to him. So that we can stay spiritual healthy and connected to Jesus who is the life giving Vine.

The Weaned Soul

“O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.
 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child is my soul within me.” – Psalms 131:1-2

I really believe many Christians (including myself) suffer from, Spiritual Attention Deficit Disorder. We have untamed souls (mind, will, and emotions) and have not been weaned from the cares and distractions of this world. Waiting upon the Lord is a lost art to many in our generation. The practices of silence and solitude have almost become extinct in our culture. It  takes God’s power to wean our souls from the anxiety caused by a steady stream of information and images we internalize everyday. Spiritual growth cannot be achieved through busyness or religious activities. Some religious activity can actually become a substitute for God.

The weaned soul is a God saturated soul. A soul that has been weaned from excessive preoccupation with the cares of this world. The worldly or unregenerate mind is not focused on spiritual reality. This weaned soul is not easily distracted by things of lesser importance. It is unselfish and has learned the secret of contentment.

What we need most, is time alone with God while not neglecting active involvement with other believers. It’s important to find a quiet place with a Bible, pen, and journal in hand.  Try meditating on Scripture and while praying over passages, write down your thoughts. Having a soul that has been weaned from the anxiety filled information age is a process. We must be intentional about, “One Thing” and that’s seeking the face of the Lord, which is his presence.

 

 

Loving God Just Because He Is God

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits,

who forgives all your iniquity,

who heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit,

who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,

who satisfies you with good

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. (Psalm 103:2-5, ESV)

In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:6-7 NIV)

“The Greek word here for “suffer” is a form of lupeo, which means “severe mental or emotional distress.” – Tim Keller

God is a healing God and we should pursue healing. But while the psalmist tells us not to forget the benefits of following God, most of us tend to focus on what we can get from him more than simply trusting him. When we learn to trust God in the mist of darkness without a sense of his presence, we are starting to grow into spiritual maturity. I’m not there yet but I have experienced enough darkness to know that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Loving God just because he is God is my goal. Some say Christians aren’t suppose to suffer or that many of our problems are caused by a lack of faith. But the Bible is clear that all of God’s children experience suffering in one form or another.

Emotional suffering is unavoidable in this life. Relationships can be difficult with those love ones that don’t embrace the same biblical worldview that you believe. If you are seeking to follow Jesus you will be misunderstood. Some people that you try to help, will think you are against them, when in fact all you want is God’s best for them. You will be seen as judgmental, even if you have a heart of compassion. The question is, will we love God even if  our broken relationships are never healed? Or, what if physical healing is denied in this life? Or, what if we never get the job we want? The only way to grow closer to God is to trust him even when he seems distant. In the end we will see that God alone is wise and he will ultimately make all things work for our good. 

“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, ESV)

Wisdom, Knowledge, And Revelation

“For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him…” – Ephesians 1:15-17
(ESV)

God has called us to follow His son Jesus and cultivate a friendship with him. In order to follow Him and become who Scripture says we are, we must continually have our minds renewed. The more time we spend with God in the Scriptures and in His presence, the more we discover the mind of Christ. If we want God to give us the desires of our hearts, our hearts must change from being selfish to God glorifying, and change comes from agreeing with Him. Our desires are slowly changed into his desires – which after all are much better than anything we would want for ourselves.

The desire of my heart is to have a greater revelation and knowledge of Christ. All wisdom and knowledge is found in Him. If you are in Christ there are no barriers between you and the Father. The cross of Christ has removed all that formerly alienated us from Him!

Anxiety, despair, depression, and hopelessness have been defeated. If you have trusted Christ as absolute sovereign Lord and Savior, and changed your mind(repented) and now agree with God about your sin you are in right standing with Him – you are part of the new creation.

Now that we have access to the mind of Christ and the ability to walk in the Spirit by putting off the works of darkness we have access to knowledge and wisdom that those outside of Christ do not have. This life in the Spirit that has been made available to us, helps us to walk in holiness – which pleases God.

 

Counterfeit Spirituality

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made.He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” – (Genesis 3:1-7 ESV)

Jesus is the ultimate treasure and the only true path to God. The people that have rejected Jesus and genuine Christian spirituality have failed to see the real Jesus. They have seen a mass-marketed Christianity that is a poor substitute for a relationship with God.

America was founded on a Judeo-Christian worldview. But  in  the 1960’s a  spiritual door was opened through  rejection of authority and eastern mysticism. This opened our culture up to spiritual darkness which flooded  this country in an unprecedented manner.The New Age movement says that you are your own God.  Sexuality, religion, psychology, politics, environmentalism,  and economics are all affected by this movement. This “new spirituality” has filled a void in the lives of people who have rejected God ordained authority and moral absolutes.

People were created to worship God and live within the moral boundaries that he has established.  Satan corrupted our first parents, Adam and Eve who bought into the lie of the serpent,  that they could be like God through forbidden knowledge. That was the beginning of counterfeit spirituality.

The  New Age is not new.  It is an illegitimate way to experience spirituality without a commitment to living a life that God desires us to live and empowers us to live by grace. Real enlightenment  and freedom will come when we place ourselves under the rule and reign of Jesus Christ.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
(Ephesians 6:10-18 ESV)

Those who have been hidden in Christ are eternally safe in him ( Colossians 3:3.) Darkness seems to have the upper hand in our culture but for those of us that follow Jesus, even death can’t separate us from, the love of God. Many in our society have taken on a secular worldview and only seek answers from science and psychology. Medication and counseling can be helpful in many cases but evil can’t be medicated.

In the new secular America, Christians are seen as ignorant, irrational and irrelevant people, but genuine followers of Jesus have biblical insight about the current dilemma we find ourselves in. We are all made in the image of God but we have a fallen and depraved nature. We lack the ability to change human nature apart from divine intervention from God.

We need to take a long hard look at our moral decline as a nation. I believe we have allowed  great darkness in through our insistence on removing God from our lives. Light overcomes the darkness and we need to let the Light back in.

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:37-39 ESV)

Renovation Of The Heart

“Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25 ESV)

“Subdue in me the love of sin,
  let me know the need of renovation as well as
  of forgiveness,
  in order to serve and enjoy thee for ever.” – The Valley Of Vision

Forgiveness of sin is the result of God’s grace and mercy to us when we respond to the gospel. When Jesus calls us to follow him, it is a call to abandon our self-centered way of life and embrace him as King. Salvation is the way of surrender and of absolute trust in the person of Jesus Christ. He took our sins in his body on the cross, died, and rose from the dead and forgave us. But God has done more than forgive our sins. He came to deliver us from being dominated by sinful actions and desires.

When the Holy Spirit inhabits us, or takes up residence in our bodies, the process of becoming holy begins. Which means we have been set apart for God. We no longer belong to ourselves, but we belong to the Lord. We give up the right to live our lives the way we want to. Jesus died to bring us back to his Father so that we can enjoy him forever.

As we behold the beauty of Jesus, the Father renovates our hearts and conforms us into the likeness of his Son. This renovation project is what theologians call sanctification. Heart renovation only comes to those who posture themselves to receive from the Holy Spirit. As we seek God through the Scripture and prayer, we have our minds influenced by His. A renovated heart has been calmed and has assurance of acceptance with the Father.