Category: Level: Intermediate

We all love to feel the presence of God. We love times when we feel his love or joy welling up inside us. We feel free and light or just tremendous peace. But what about the rest of the time when we don’t feel God’s presence or power? Do we find ourselves making every effort to reclaim the spiritual sweetness we had? Seeking spiritual sweetness is okay to an extent. God wants us to feel good and he wants us to feel joy and peace. He wants to be with us as much as we want to be with Him. But there are some things that are more important than spiritual sweetness in the Christian life. Two come to mind. First, submission to God’s will. If we truly want to be in Christ then we should find ourselves seeking God’s will more than seeking spiritual sweetness. God may not want to Continue Reading →

Over the centuries many Christian teachers have outlined what it looks like to become a mature Christian. These outlines, or guides, are helpful because they help us see what we are “aiming” for in our Christian life. In other words, they tell us what it means to become a mature Christian. The New Testament speaks many times about what it means to be “mature” or “complete” (sometimes the word “perfect” is used but it means complete in Greek.) This idea that Christians grow spiritually and that we can describe what this looks like along the way is referred to as “stages of growth”. We could also refer to these stages as phases or processes. These stages are supposed to encourage us because they describe the good that is ahead for us. In other words, they help us know what to look forward to. The clearest descriptions in Scripture of some Continue Reading →

The directive to actively pursue purification is one of the most prevalent themes in the New Testament. We can think of pursuing holiness as wiping the mud out of our eyes so we can see God clearly. It is the restoration of our original Adamic image of God which includes freedom from the dirt and grime that robbed us of the vital and peaceful Spiritual life that God desires for us. Holiness becomes increasingly sweeter as we mature because we feel more of the peace and joy that comes with participating in the nature of God. As we grow in holiness we will feel ourselves becoming more at one with our bridegroom. We experience the beauty of holiness and a foretaste of our future marital bliss. So we pursue holiness out of love. Receiving God’s beauty produces delight. When someone finds a gold nugget in the ground it doesn’t look Continue Reading →

I enjoy tennis. And I want to continually improve because it brings some joy to hit the ball well instead of hitting it over the fence. Also, playing well allows me to compete with others without being embarrassed and enjoy the competition. So, I am motivated to improve, and I am willing to sacrifice for it. A while ago, I wanted to improve my forehand stroke by practicing with a ball machine. When I finally had time I checked the weather – it wasn’t good. It was cold and windy, which is not good weather for standing and hitting balls from a ball machine. Should I go? I debated briefly, but I decided to go. I was willing to sacrifice comfort for the sake of improving my forehand. When I got there, it was cold and miserable, and I spent about 20 minutes of my 60 minutes setting up and Continue Reading →