Category Archives: Christian Life

Posted on

THE KNOWING: The First Stage of Spiritual Life

SPIRITUAL LIFE STAGE 1

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

CHRISTIAN LIFE could be summed up in three groups: The Knowing, The Loving, The Living. These three groups cover three stages of development, a metamorphosis of sorts. We will consider here the three developmental stages of a butterfly for our examples. Like a butterfly, you can’t have full maturity without going through all three stages, the same goes for spiritual living, although with spiritual living you can stay locked in a stage and never advance to the next level.

THE KNOWING:

THE BEGINNING STAGE –  THE CATERPILLAR

Your spiritual life begins at salvation, when you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, his death, burial, and resurrection, and you are repentant of your sins. With your heart, and in your own way, ask Jesus to be your Savior. At this point you have gone from death to spiritual life and have a new life in Christ, what Christians call being born again or being saved. You now are in a relationship with Christ–God the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit.

Like that egg that became a caterpillar and now has an appetite, in this beginning stage you feed and feed, take in and take in, you consume the nourishment you crave and need in your spiritual life. One area builds on another:

  1. You Believe in Christ
  2. You Feed on Scripture and Spiritual material
  3. You Grow Spiritually

What happens in the knowing of Christ is an apprehending of a body of new knowledge and spiritual experiences as in acquiring, receiving, impressions, becoming and so forth. You have a new identity in Christ; it’s not something you take on but simply are. Christ lives in you. He is your hope.

To the unbeliever, the belief of a believer doesn’t make any sense. They don’t understand the inner transformation the believer has undergone. The way of faith is a deep, penetrating, life-changing, redemptive journey.

  • God loves-those who follow him KNOW his love.
  • God forgives-those who follow him KNOW his forgiveness.
  • God enlivens the soul-those who follow him KNOW his quickening as beloved new creatures.

Real spiritual life has its beginnings in faith intermixed with belief that says, I believe, truly believe in God and his Son, the crucified, risen, Jesus Christ, and have placed my trust in him. This belief travels from the mind to the heart where one’s belief connects with soul and being. This knowledge becomes part of their spiritual understanding and also spiritual being.

THE KNOWING goes two ways: Human and Divine: The believer is “knowing” more and more in his or her spiritual life. The believer is being “known” by his or her spiritual Father, Son, and Spirit in increasing ways. The relationship is forming into a “living” relationship. Knowing and being known are essentials being developed in this stage. Prayer is a vital part of this.

In conclusion, this is the “In Christ” stage. The individual is redeemed and changed. I would call this a time of “head knowledge,” where they are learning and constructing their biblically sound spiritual roots. (It involves the heart too) He or she is learning to pray, learning to study God’s Word, learning how to live a righteous life, and developing their spiritual walk to become a healthy, well-versed, spiritual Christian.

There are additional markers of faith within this stage but they will not be addressed here.

. . .

Stage 2– THE LOVING: The Second Stage of Spiritual Life

Photo Credit: Maggie Wernet, Unsplash

Posted on

WHAT IF?

WHAT IF you could change the world by doing your little bit?

Did you tighten up? Not me. I can’t do that, you reacted, that would be scary! That’s my natural instinct, too. I don’t believe in myself. I like to control my options. I like everything safe and secure.

I get that. To be realistic, you can’t change the world, either. But you can change you. Absolutely, yes! What changes you for the better–then influences your associations. Substantial change develops love, notices positives, overcomes hate, empowers you, and invites opportunities for God’s grace to shine through you.

We can be thankful. We can speak praises to God. We can voice gratitude. We can reach out to others in genuine kindness. We can be supportive, affirming, and helpful. There is so much we can do if we just care enough to do it. Loving God with our heart, mind, and soul spills out by loving others with what we have.

Christians get a little extra help from the Holy Spirit. All they have to do is ask and then the opportunities present themselves. God knows who means it and helps them accomplish the undertaking. I believe it takes a willingness to take action when the Spirit prompts. This happens by listening for the prompting. It’s then a decision, to act or to not act. Will we or won’t we? Often the battle is won or lost before the situation presents itself.

We can predetermine our response by promising in advance to follow God’s lead. Then we can’t go wrong.

This breeds on-going replication, which over time reproduces in kind. I love being around people who live close to the center, where Christ is in command of the person. They are quite sensitive to the Spirit’s prompts. One friend gives financially when the Spirit says to whom she should give, and she has very humble circumstances. I have watched her do it. Often her needs are greater than the person she’s giving to,”God told me to give you this $60,” she says. Her obedience is a witness to living faith. Another friend helps people out, even offering them a place to live for a while. She and her husband amaze me.

We can’t hold anything too tightly.

Some of us have a hard time with that. It’s hard to let go. Whatever you give to others you cannot keep for yourself. We do get from this; though it’s not like the prosperity gospel theme. This is how we live the abundant life. The widow with the mite gave her everything. God counted her gift as more than the rich that gave greater amounts. God sees the heart. He understands the motive. He proffers the blessing accordingly.

Change you and you help make the world into a better place.

What are you changing? What am I changing? We are changing our attitudes about our time, resources, abilities, and capabilities. By choosing to be salt and light to the world, we allow God to use us without conditions, and without our reserving some areas for only ourselves and off limits to God. Do life God’s way. Let him consecrate what you have and do. Give it to him. I don’t believe you will regret it if you do.

You don’t have to be well-off to be a servant of God and to have a servant’s heart. As the old lyrics say, “Little is much when God is in it.”

No one is unable to follow the Master.  Follow Christ. Be blessed.