The Spirit's Training

But solid food is for the mature-- for those whose senses have been trained to distinguish between good and evil. Hebrews 5:14

Many of us have these ideas of what we expect from someone who is spiritually mature, but I wonder how often those expectations align with God's word. This verse tells us that spiritual maturity is ultimately about the development of our spiritual senses, providing us with the ability to distinguish good from evil and the real truth from all the lies. And this being the case, this isn't something we can learn in isolation. Of course, the Holy Spirit alone can teach us everything effectively, but community is the ground upon which God matures us, the place where teaching becomes training. 

Training goes one step farther than mere teaching and adds practical application to the mix. It's more than the mere teaching of information. Training offers opportunities to practice what we know. If we don't practice what we know, our knowledge is useless. In this case, we must practice using our spiritual senses, such as discernment and understanding. These senses are ones that can only be utilized with an attitude of teachability, humility and vulnerability. In other words, we must keep our hearts open since it is not with human eyes that we see spiritual matters. 

This isn't something we can do on our own. It's crucial that we connect with the Lord to examine everything at a deeper level. Since the flesh sees with a superficial sight, our natural tendency is to see one another as enemies and harden our hearts in an effort to be strong. But spiritual training teaches us to look deeper. It is then that we learn that we're all on the same side with one common enemy. We learn that real strength lies in an attitude of vulnerability and tenderness because it is then that God's strength works most abundantly. Hard heartedness only desensitizes the spirit's senses and refuses the very help we need. Lean in to Jesus with an open heart. 

The Starting Line

Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children. And walk in love, as the Messiah also loved us and gave Himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God. Ephesians 5:1-2

The first sentence here really struck me as profound. Yes, we're called to imitate our Creator, but notice the stipulation that we're to do it as the loved children of God we are. That means we aren't asked to do it with our own ability, but with the ability given to us supernaturally when we accept the love God has for us individually. This is an important step if we're going to do it the right way, His way. It's been my experience that we cannot imitate God without believing Him.  If we don't take God at His every word, we're incapable of following in His footsteps. 

There is something precious about having God's love poured into you. His love, when it is taken at face value, is like CPR to the soul. Without acceptance of this love He has spoken over you and me, our spirits function like an oxygen-deprived body. And we live in defeat because of it. We can't truly love others or accept love from them without doing this with God first. His love is foundational to each of our purposes on Earth. His love will bring us to our knees in adoration of Him. 

None of us are in any condition to love our neighbor or our enemy until we let God's love fill us first. Until then, we're handicapped both emotionally and spiritually. Other people can't help us and we can't heal ourselves- there are no shortcuts. We must we willing to receive from God before we can give to others, therefore, the starting line consists of people who are so humble and desperate that they hold high their empty, wide-open hands to Him to receive what only He gives. No one passes "Go" until this crucial step is complete. Only God's perfect, unconditional and enduring love can break us free from our destructive hearts. Until we're truly free, we can't even begin the race. 

Freedom To Think Like Christ

We demolish arguments and every high-minded thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

Do you believe God more than the thoughts that enter your mind? This is a good question for each of us to ask ourselves if we're carrying the label of "Christian". For if we say we serve Christ, yet will not allow His truth to change our minds, our words are just a meaningless vapor. We cannot serve Him without full surrender; Our surrender is the best gift we can give Him. Believing God goes hand-in-hand with surrendering and it is a requirement for all true Christ-followers. But in all honesty, it took me forever to realize that.

"Now without faith it is impossible to please God..." Hebrews 11:6

I have had more unhealthy thought patterns than I can count. Do you know how God revealed them to me, how He got around my walled-in mind? He led me to scripture that exposed it. When He did, I heard myself say, " No matter what God says here, I am going to believe what I believe." I heard myself blatantly refuse to believe God.  I realized that I was so tied to my thoughts that I held them to the same level of His truth. I was guilty of withholding my thought patterns from the God I had claimed to believe in. And that bothered me. It didn't change overnight, but little-by-liitle, as I surrendered my thoughts, I began to think like a new person. 

It's not just me. We all have a tendency to put our thoughts in front of the truths of God. We have this idea that if we think it, it must be true. But our thoughts are nowhere near truth in comparison to God's. Those thoughts we continually hold up as truth regardless of what God says are called strongholds. They give us the illusion that we're in control, when instead they hold us in bondage. They keep us from growing and being more like Christ.

Our minds are the hardest things to surrender. This doesn't mean we're called to stop using our brains, but to test everything we think against God's Word. It means God's truth reigns in our minds over any untruthful thought we have.  But it's a conscious and consistent requirement on our parts. Our minds can slip and fall into any ol' mess. We must continually make the choice to believe Him above anything or anyone else. It's the path to true freedom. Pursue God with endless surrender and He will set you free. 

Ministries in the Mundane

Therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not give up.

2 Corinthians 4:1

Every single one of us who believe in Jesus Christ and follow Him as King have a ministry. Scripture doesn't say we need to be on TV, write books, be famous or be a preacher in order to have a ministry. Every believer has a ministry right where they are at this time. That means, you, yes you, have a place in ministry right now. 

It has more to do with your God than your abilities. But rest assured that there is a need for someone who is willing to share God's love in every place on Earth. You have connections who need good influences and encouraging messages. You have a unique influence and a message for the here and now. You were created for such a time as this and He has given you a heart and a passion for something specific. The question therein lies, "Are you using your influence to help others?"

The enemy would rather you believe that you have no impact, influence or message that's of use to others. Why? Because then you'll quit helping others and you'll stop contributing your value community-wide. When you stop believing God on any matter, your motivation to do what is right, your ability to see the unseen and your message of love all seem pointless and daunting. 

God wants you to be courageous and to endure. He has a purpose for you, even in the mundane. You make a difference in the Body of Christ. We all need you. We all need the piece of the puzzle you bring to the mix. We can learn from you and you can learn from us. Don't let the gifts you've been given go to waste; leave your mark. 

Holding the Flashlight

Don't participate in the fruitless works of darkness, but instead, expose them....Everything exposed by the light is made clear, for what makes everything clear is light.

Ephesians 5:11,13

We all have something that we don't like to talk about because it makes us uncomfortable. Maybe we don't want to stir up controversy. Maybe we just don't want anyone knowing how much we struggle with a particular issue for fear of judgment. Perhaps the issue reminds us of just how little we know. When we overcome our fears, hang-ups and dislikes for the Kingdom of God, we are fulfilling our most basic duty as warriors of light. It's rather simple, yet rather complicated; Every believer's duty, first and foremost, is to fight the urge to enable anything to hide in the dark. And since we carry Christ's light in us, all we really have to do is be willing to speak into everything we see. 

We, as the body of Christ, have a duty to expose the darkness. And since we are "the light of the world," this wouldn't be so hard if we would stay awake and pay attention to matters of the spirit. But you and I both know that there are many issues in our society that we don't like to talk about. Basically, these unaddressed issues are mere "elephants" in the room. We feel overwhelmed at the thought of tackling them because somehow we have it in our minds that it's our job to fix them, but it's not. We may not have all the answers, but according to scripture, we simply need to bring them out of the secrecy of darkness. God will do the rest.

While we're shining our light, it's important to remember that the flesh is not our enemies. Other people may appear as enemies or barriers in what we feel necessary to accomplish, but they are not the real enemy. They, just like us, wrestle with the same powers of darkness as we do. Just flip right over into the next chapter of Ephesians and you'll see that Paul felt it was crucial to add this aspect to this very conversation. 

In Ephesians 6:12 he said, "For our battle is not against flesh and blood, but against rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens."  

Shining our light is a big task. But as we do so, we can easily do damage if we treat fellow soldiers or bystanders as enemies. We're all in this together, with a very sneaky and divisive Enemy. He wants us to be short-sighted enough to mistreat our own. He wants us to cause more damage to those who are already hurting so that he can continue to skew the truth. Let’s focus on shining our lights and make it a point to remember who the real enemy is here as we really are smack dab in the middle of in a war.

Pride's Illusions

For who makes you superior? What do you have that you didn't receive? If, in fact, you did receive it, why do you boast as if you hadn't received it? Already you are full! 1 Corinthians 4:7-8

"I earned everything I have." I've heard it a lot in my life and have even said it. Little did I know that I really couldn't have done it on my own. I was able to work because of God's blessing of health. I had the job because of God's blessing of favor with the employer. I was able to fulfill my job duties because of the abilities God gave me. I didn't muster up this stuff and I couldn't have. My life very well could have gone differently even with the same amount of effort I applied. Knowing the brokenness of this world, every single thing I tried could have been twarted, and even then I couldn't cry out injustice against God. 

This pride we have deep within us poses a problem. It allows us to cling to our opinions and our "abilities" as idols. It allows us to set ourselves in places where we don't belong and it keeps us far from our Creator, the one, true God. We have this idea that we are really the biggest deal since sliced bread, but that's because we've been listening to our enemy. Satan doesn't give us a healthy self worth; he gives us the illusion of power and control. 

I'm not talking self hate. I don't want to cause anyone shame; shame is not of God. I'm speaking of the importance of knowing our proper places, abilities and value. If any of these things come from our own desires or opinions, not from who we are in Jesus, we must repent and begin to agree with what God says over what we think. Yes, He values us. He loves us. He strategically places us when we are humble enough to listen. But those things come from who God is and not how good we are. Otherwise, grace would be a moot point. 

Your Own Backyard

If we were properly evaluating ourselves, we would not be judged, but when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord, so that we may not be condemned with the world. 

1 Corinthians 11:31-32

It's much easier to take notice of the sins and issues of others than to see them in ourselves, isn't it? And even when we do see our own junk, it's much easier to ignore it than to try to do anything about it. It hurts to stare our junk in the eyes - no matter how humble we are. In fact, I have to say that seeing myself for what's really deep inside is the hardest part of being human and the part that requires the most courage as a follower of Christ. But it's the most important since God looks at the heart, not just at the surface of the heart, but deep into it's recesses. And we can't do anything about anyone else's but our own. 

It takes more intention, courage and a closer walk with Jesus in order to evaluate ourselves as Jesus' followers are called to do. But have you ever noticed that when we're not focused on self evaluation, we have a tendency to evaluate everyone else? And when we spend more time evaluating others than ourselves, we tend to forget how fallible we are and our heart becomes dirtied up with pride and self righteousness. There is a consequence for not taking heed to the ways of God above our own desires. That consequence is the deterioration of our walk with Jesus, the ability to see Him working, believe Him, hear His voice and pray. 

Do you find yourself struggling in any of these areas? If so, it's not too late to turn back and ask for help. You aren't the first one to do so and you won't be the last. You see, one good thing about being human is that there are billions of others to relate to. Even better, God so dearly loves every single one of us as if we were His only one. Beloved, Jesus doesn't want to condemn you by exposing your heart; He wants to make a stronger and healthier you. He wants to prepare you for your purpose, one that only He knows. Once you believe that, the hard stuff becomes much more bearable.