Saints, we won’t just morph
into spiritual maturity, rather, just as an athlete trains the various
attributes of their sport to become proficient, we develop spiritually through
disciplined training. Spiritual maturity – growing into Christlikeness -- takes
effort and discipline. Repetition is the mother of skill, and discipline is a
habit formed from doing. It takes focused effort driven by fierce desire to change
fleshly lumps of coal into radiant diamonds, jewels fit for the Father’s crown.
The key attributes of spiritual discipleship are *study of God’s word, *pray,
*seeking God, *worship, and *submission to the Lordship of Christ.
God’s word is how God
communicates His will to us, the primary tool of the Holy Spirit to teach,
lead, guide and direct our pathway. We simply must taste of God’s word – gorge
ourselves with it -- if we are to understand His will for us and know that He
is good to us.
Prayer in its most basic form
is asking God to do what He wants to do, understanding gained from His word.
Prayer has an element of self-centeredness for we are and will always be
dependent children needing provisions... our daily bread. But prayer will also
demonstrate our love as we ask for the spiritual and physical needs of others,
and as we ask for the desires of God’s heart, for His Kingdom to come and His
will to be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
We must pursue the one pursuing
us to find God... to be found by Him. Much as an earthly father plays hide and
seek with his child, leaving an elbow or foot exposed to help the child’s
search, so our Heavenly Father ensures that we find Him when we seek Him. He
pursues us through thick and thin, using everything of life to turn us ever
Godward... ever home to Him. As we will
for God to have us… He does, invading our heart... working in us to will and do
of His good pleasure.
In worship we willfully submit our body (position) and our
soul and spirit (attitude) to
our loving Father, bring Him worth and openly declaring His value. We become
like the “god” we worship: Worship is important for worship determines what we
will become, chooses what image we will be made into.
Submission to the Lordship of
Christ which, of necessity, includes death to Self -- the pretender to the
throne of our heart -- is the only way to fulfill God’s grand plan for us. Our divine purpose is not to be imitators of
Christ, but partakers in Christ, bone of His Bone, and flesh of His Flesh. In
short, we must be willing to forsake our life for the matchless treasure of
having His, as our life becomes His life lived through us as our life.
If we give ourselves to these
five essential attributes of the Christian life we will bring to fruition the
deep yearning of the Apostle Paul’s heart, “Christ in me, my only hope of
glory.”
“IT IS NO LONGER I WHO LIVE,
BUT CHRIST LIVES IN ME”!
