Gaging Spiritual Health…
As Christians we talk a lot about our spiritual health. We love to throw out terms like, “I’ve been growing” or we’ll look at someone and say, “he/she must be backsliding”. But honestly when we take a look inside ourselves and assess our own spiritual health, how do we gage that?
A typical answer is, how much do you read your Bible and pray?
I’m not really satisfied with that answer. Although those could be indicators when diagnosing your spiritual health holistically, those should definitely not be the only things you look at.
It is truly so much more than just how much we read and pray.
We unfortunately all know many people who are great at talking the talk but do not walk the walk. People can be very disciplined but still spiteful and proud.
John Ortberg asked a wise man, ” How do you assess the well-being of your soul?” He immediately said, “I ask myself two questions”:
- Am I growing more easily discouraged these days?
- Am I growing more easily irritated these days?
At the core of a flourishing soul are the love of God and the peace of God. If peace is growing in me, I am less easily discouraged. If love is growing, I am less easily irritated. It was a brilliantly helpful diagnostic to assess the health of my soul.
I like these answers. It shouldn’t just be about a quantitative assessment of things, but the quality as well.
So, I am curious, how do you assess and gage spiritual health in your life?
Who Are You?…
You are a child of God.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” John 1:12
You are a new creation.
“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
You are chosen.
“For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.” Ephesians 1:4
You have boldness.
“Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold.” 2 Corinthians 3:12
You have a spirit of power.
“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
You were created to do great things.
“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” Ephesians 2:10
You were created wonderfully with and for a purpose.
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:13-16
You have a purpose, you have a calling…go live it! Have a great weekend!
{pictures via tumblr}
God Is Faithful…
God is faithful…
Think about that statement. God is faithful. He can not not be faithful, he is it. Even though we are not, he is.
“If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is.” 2 Timothy 2:13
We are in the 2nd week of Crosspoint’s series, This is our God. This is a powerful series that helps us understand the God that we serve. To a person like me who has been a Christian for a very long time, this series is such a great reminder and kick in the bottom to remember the God that I serve is truly incredible.
Some of the great things about God’s faithfulness is that:
- We can trust that our past is in our past
In 1 John it says that if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us…
- We can trust him with our present trouble
Matthew 11:28 says come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest…
- We can trust him with our future plans
God faithfulness is such an incredible thing. The things and people we love the most will fail us in this life. Our friends, siblings, husbands and wives, pastors, worship leaders, coaches, are all ill-equipt to be faithful to us like God can be.
God is faithful always! Think about it…
When was last time you reflected on God faithfulness in your life?
Pursued…
“Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.” ~Psalm 23:6 (NLT)
This is one of my favorite verses. Whenever I’m feeling a little empty, time and time again I’m reminded of this verse. It brings me peace, hope, and comfort.
We go through life with our own agendas, our own goals, and hopes of what we want to accomplish. Most of the time though it doesn’t always work out the way we wanted it to.
But that’s ok. . . we are being pursued.
When my plans fail, when my strength fails, when life throws a curve ball. . . I’m know I’m being pursued by His love and goodness.
This can serve as a reminder that we don’t need to have it all figured out. Our busyness and constant pursuit of our own plans can cloud the fact that sometimes we need to stop. We need to stop moving; stop the noise and busyness and allow His grace, mercy, love, and peace to run into us.
I love what A.W. Tozer says, “Our pursuit of God is successful just because He is forever seeking to manifest Himself to us.”
God actively pursues us a whole lot more than we pursue Him. So as much as we are trying to pursue our own plans, let’s find comfort in our plan B’s, C’s, or D’s.
The truth is we are being pursued.
“Your beauty and love chase after me everyday of my life…” ~Psalm 23:6 (MSG)
Nice moves…
aww, the kitty has a belly…
Love hugs…Letting Go…
“I like control. I like to know where God is going, exactly what he is doing, the exact route of how we are getting there, and exactly when we will arrive. I also like to remind God of his need to behave in ways that fit with my clear ideas of him. For example, God is merciful, good, wise, loving. The problem, then, is that God is beyond the grasp of ever concept I have of him. He is utterly incomprehensible.” Peter Scazzero
The greatest of all illusions is the illusion of control.
The other day I went to a river with my cousin and we swam in it for a few hours. One thing we noticed was that the current was quite strong in some areas to the point that it made it difficult to hold on the rocks around us or even stand. As we were making our way across the river, we kept slipping due to the current and we would lose our progress. At one point my cousin said something to extent of
“It’s a weird feeling when you let go of the rocks and your have absolutely no control of where you are going.”
This got me thinking. . . How often in life do we actually think we have control of things? Whether it be our finances, our jobs, or our relationships? We get comfortable where we are and actually begin to think we can change circumstances.
The scariest part is the letting go.
We need to realize that we never had control in the first place; but we serve a God who is in control and who has our best interests in mind.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29.11
The truth is, is that the more control we give back to God, the more freedom and peace we experience.
New Tunes…(Hillsong)
I love this new album from Hillsong. It’s a change of pace from there usual albums. The songs are rearranged to be more intimate (acoustic style), this project is perfect for smaller gatherings and is also ideal for your own personal devotional. Here’s the link.
What Comes to Mind?…
“What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” A W Tozer
What an incredible statement. What comes to your mind when you think about God?
Our perceptions of other people, frames our relationship with them and our actions toward them.
It’s important for us to not just intellectually understand who God really is, but to allow His attributes to fully infiltrate our lives and change who we are. Our misconceptions are God can have huge and lasting consequences.
Unfortunately everything we experience shapes our perceptions of others and God. Bad childhood experiences, poor home environment, questionable church services…all those end up shaping our view of God. It’s vital that we seek to find out the truth about who God is to us. His unending love. Undeserved grace. Everlasting goodness.
“For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right.” Psalm 84:11
So what comes to mind to when you think about God? It is the most important thing about us.
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