There is a misconception widespread that becoming a disciple whose life is filled with the character of Jesus Christ is something that just sort of happens if you happen to be fortunate (blessed?) enough to have the right kind of parents and the right kind of church. Then, too, we seem to believe that failure and moral collapse results from some kind of bad luck, too. We speak of someone 'falling into sin' as though we have no idea how or why it happened, as though it is a a fluke of fate. You can become a great Christian, or you can hang around sin until you fall. It's your choice!
Some of you are saying, "Wait a minute, Jerry, you sound like you're suggesting we can save ourselves." No, I'm not! God, the Holy Spirit, is our life and Christ Jesus the One who has reconciled us to our Heavenly Father. My point is that we are not passive, waiting around for the character of Christ to emerge in us. We are called to be active in a process of spiritual formation, that is practicing the disciplines of life that allow the character of Christ to grow in us replacing the power of sin over us. Richard Foster and Dallas Willard have taught at length on this subject. Willard writes, "Spiritual formation does not aim at controlling action." (The Great Omission, 2006, Harper Row) He goes on to point out that Christianity is not a 12 step group where we rehearse our failures and try to do better. Nor are we rigid rule-keepers that force a veneer of spirituality into place over a heart full of ugly sins and lusts. We enter joyfully into a process of transformation by loving Jesus Christ actively and change from the inside out.
God gives us the tools required for change. First among them, the Scripture's Truth. "Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do." (Joshua 1:8, NLT) Want to know why so many disciples are so wobbly weak, so inconsistent, so unreliable? They are on a spiritual starvation diet! They know the TV schedule better than they know the Bible. They can recite sports stats with passion but have no working knowledge of the Scripture or what it means! That word, "meditate" is very instructive when we explore the Hebrew root for it. It is alternately translated with these words: "growl, utter, muse, and mutter!" The Scripture needs to be so woven into our mind, so tangled in the thoughts of our heart, that every situation that arises causes us to mutter a passage in ourselves. When we find ourselves ready to judge, our spirit mutters, "Judge not!" When we find ourselves lusting after sex or material possessions, our spirit mutters "Flee youth lusts. Love not the things of this world."
Those who own the Scripture, need not haul out their Bible at every moment, for the Truth is at work within them. "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. ... Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path." (Psalm 119:11,105, NIV)
Read the Gospels with an open heart and you will find much in the words of our Lord Jesus about intentionality.
"Choose to love right things," He says. "Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:20-21, NIV)
"Live in humility and serve another," He says. "When he had finished washing their feet, he put on his clothes and returned to his place. "Do you understand what I have done for you?" he asked them. "You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet." (John 13:12-14, NIV) Do you see the importance of daily choices? A great Christian becomes so not by accident but by pursuit of the Holy One, by pressing to stand near to His Lord, and putting the sinful nature to death by the power of God. A Christian who 'falls into sin' does so because the rot in his heart finally works through to the surface. Jesus says it clearly: "You are a bunch of evil snakes, so how can you say anything good? Your words show what is in your hearts. Good people bring good things out of their hearts, but evil people bring evil things out of their hearts." (Matthew 12:34-35, CEV)
So, we present ourselves to God. We learn the Truth and the Spirit reveals it to us. We engage with Him, letting Self die and the Spirit rule. We choose to learn, to serve, to pray, to love, to forgive, to give ... whatever He asks ... and we do so without complaint. That is the process by which God grows great Christians, and others seeing the quality of our lives give Him praise.
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I am Thine O Lord; I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me.
But I long to rise in the arms of faith,
And be closer drawn to Thee.
Consecrate me now to Thy service Lord,
By the power of grace divine.
Let my soul look up with a steadfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.
Draw me nearer, nearer blessed Lord,
To the cross where Thou hast died.
Draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord.
To Thy precious bleeding side.
Oh the pure delight of a single hour
That before Thy throne I spend,
When I kneel in prayer and with Thee my God,
I commune as friend with friend!
There are depths of love that I cannot know
Till I cross the narrow sea;
There are heights of joy that I may not reach
Till I rest in peace with Thee.
I Am Thine, O Lord
Fanny J. Crosby © Public Domain
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