Enter by the Narrow Gate

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few."
Matthew 7:13-14

February 28, 2014

Sailing Along!



My husband and I have been in a course called “Forming” that is truly life changing.  It’s not the course that is changing our lives, but the way we are learning to connect with God’s power to change.  He is the one who changes us, but most of us feel obligated to help Him to a greater or lesser degree.  God never meant for us to work hard at being alive in Christ, but many of us are never taught the alternative.
(sorry-used before -- taken from Staten Island Ferry)

The simple analogy for Forming’s approach to Christian transformation is the comparison of rowing and sailing.  The rowing method of life change is descriptive of the work we do to live up to the commands of scripture.  We study the Bible to understand the principles God lays out and to copy the methods of others whose story exhibits how this works, or whose encouragement cheers us on with promises and instruction.  We see examples of the life God wants for us and we try to get there.  We even pray to get there.  And we even make progress because God is so good.

The sailing method of life change is about entering into such a close and honest relationship with God that we are able to hear what He is revealing to us uniquely about where we are and where He is taking us in our walk with Him.  The effort we make is to commune with God and then what we hear and see from Him transforms us from the heart outward.  Change becomes joyful and feels so natural as our sails catch the wind of the Holy Spirit and we are carried forward.  We stand amazed and enthralled with the ride we are on with God.

I spent a lot of time rowing before I came into a closer relationship with the Holy Spirit, but my husband readily confesses that he was not a rower – or a sailor.  He says he was a drifter.  He was in a boat (had received salvation and saw God’s grace in his life) but he was just drifting along -- wherever.  After a few weeks of Forming class he was hearing that God had MUCH more for him if he would purposely and regularly engage with Him.  In other words, if he would put up the sail in his boat and operate the tiller, he would catch the wind!  Now Dan is enjoying morning quiet times with God and enthralled with being on his own journey.

One thing we talked about in class is spiritual disciplines.  Take that quiet time for instance.  A person can row through his quiet time by doing it as a requirement (as law).  And there may be benefit to this.  Quiet times are good.  But if it is a time of aligning your sails for the day, it can radically change your life.  Aligning your sail can look like this:  You find a scripture (or you are in a circumstance) that is speaking to you; arousing something in your heart.  It could be something very pleasant like awareness of a wonderful promise or hope or just God’s care for you.  It could something negative like worry that you don’t measure up to this scripture, or anger at someone that is getting in the way of your peace.  Maybe you are challenged by the scripture, maybe you are blessed and encouraged.  Either way, it is an invitation to come to God honestly and engage in a conversation with Him about it. 
 
God keeps us safe on this journey (Hatteras lighthouse)
If you have issues with the idea or the practice of hearing from God then the book, the class, and the exercises will help.  I, personally, discovered awhile ago and to my delight, that God does speak to me during prayer and journaling.  I have been to retreats and conferences and Bible Studies and several Christian counselors through the years and each one helped me in the way I needed it at the time.  I am so grateful for each one!  But when I met my Wonderful Counselor and began “seeing him” all the time, I was never the same.  Things that held me back were forever healed in my soul.  That was before “Forming” but I am now learning more about how and why this relationship is God’s plan for every single child.  I just thought I was lucky!

Truly, the idea of having this blog and sharing what I have learned about life in Christ came out of the wonder and joy of relating to God under grace.  Grace became my way of growing up in faith and that is why I see so much beyond the narrow gate of salvation by faith in the Cross.  We do not enter into a life of trying to measure up to a higher standard (with promised higher rewards at the end).  We enter into a fantastic relationship with our Father, our Brother and our Helper.  

Forming is the work of David Takle and I hope you will look into it if you think you might be tired of rowing.  Blessings to you in the wonderful name of Jesus!

February 7, 2014

Be blessed to know you are holy.

Listen to God's Word in Leviticus 20:8. "I am the Lord, who makes you holy."
(source unknown)
  
     God's holiness is not what he does. Holy is who he is, the Holy One. He is without spot or blemish. His eyes are too pure to look on sin. Yet his plan of redemption called for Jesus to take our sins on himself and die to make us holy in him. We cannot make ourselves holy, no matter how hard we try or how perfectly we live. Our perfection is not holiness. Jesus was the only perfect one. The Hebrew word qadhash implies being pure, devoted to God, set apart for a special task or the worship of God.

For that definition we qualify, for God has chosen us and set us apart for a special purpose in life and to worship Him.  Jesus makes us pure and calls us to devotion.  Our response to this determines how much we get to enjoy who God is and what he has done on our behalf.  From our God-given position we can live the life we were created for.
 
      Beloved one, be blessed with knowing your holy Father. Be blessed with knowing how the holiness of Jesus is counted to your credit in his death on the cross. Nothing you ever do can make him love you less or love you more. Be free from your perfectionism and the perfectionism of others, because through your Father's eyes he sees you as perfect in his perfect and beloved Son. Be blessed with joy in God's holiness and your own. Our culture does not associate joy with holiness, but God says that our joyful shouting and singing is a celebration who he is!

Does it seem farfetched to also celebrate that the beauty of his holiness extends to you through Jesus Christ?  I believe that it is receiving this new position and identity that enables us to advance in holy conduct.  All the trying harder in the world gains us nothing because no matter how much we want to we can never live the life that Jesus lived, and that life is the standard.  But when all our guilt and fear is relieved by the holiness of Jesus in us, we can draw near and allow him to transform us from the inside out.

(Pipestem State Park, WV 2013)
While conduct is how we tend to judge, God looks at the heart.  When he sees a heart that trusts Jesus he is pleased.  A change of heart is a miraculous thing accomplished by the Holy Spirit.  All we have to do is give him permission and abide securely in a relationship of trust.  There may be layers of false beliefs to be removed, wounds to be healed, but a heart put into the hands of God in the Holy Spirit will be changed and the whole person will end up looking more and more like Jesus.  Don't be afraid to own the holiness that God ascribes to us.  It will lead to the transformation you have been hoping for.  That's God's promise.