Living Condemned

Chasing the Wind

Have you ever wondered why so many Christians live condemned, could it be as simple as mistaking the seismic shift of being re-birthed, that glorious event of being saved as something that removes them from the process that it actually is.

I was listening to a couple of guys talking about this the other day; the one went on to say that in spite of his born again experience much if not most of his life seemed pretty much the same, dealing with the same struggles and stuff that was there before his experience, so, does this negate the reality of his, our re-birthing?

Many people suffer in this matter because they try to understand our life in this world in terms of an event rather than the process it actually is. Consequently, it is felt by many people that once we are saved we should be somehow perfect. When this does not occur at all levels of our living we shift to seeking the “right event” to make us perfect. We are deceived into believing that we can be made perfect by the baptism of the Holy Spirit or by attaining the right knowledge or by some other event. This results in Christians chasing after the right seminar, the right healing or the right miracle. However the reality of our living is that as we go from event to event we carry the same root problems along with is.

It is because of the process nature of going on with God that we see uneven behaviour in our lives as Christians. As children grow physically, they display changing levels of maturity. Anyone who has raised children through infancy, childhood and adolescence can tell you that these changes do not happen smoothly. A child in transition will at one moment show a wisdom and maturity beyond their years. In the next instant they show a level of childishness that you thought they were done with. This dynamic is also evident with us in our spiritual growth.

Our spiritual growth differs fundamentally from salvation because our spiritual growth is a process and salvation is an event. In the working of this process we experience an ongoing change. The process we are speaking of here occurs over our entire earthly life. What takes place in this process is the progressive subjection of the independent self and the ever-growing operation of the individual self. Through this dynamic we are brought along from being spiritual infants to become full-grown children of God.

In an age that highly values speed and instant results we find the idea of an immediate transformation very alluring. Our Father is not so enamored with the instant however. It is God’s good will and pleasure to have us mature spiritually by a growth process. This is an ongoing work of the Father that we must voluntarily submit to undergo. That submission is a moment-by-moment series of decisions on our part.

Rich

How Does a No Turn Into a Yes

Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."


Jesus said, "You're not listening. Let me say it again. Unless a person submits to this original creation—the 'wind-hovering-over-the-water' creation, the invisible moving the visible, a baptism into a new life—it's not possible to enter God's kingdom. When you look at a baby, it's just that: a body you can look at and touch. But the person who takes shape within is formed by something you can't see and touch—the Spirit—and becomes a living spirit.

There’s a story Jesus told of a father having two sons, and went to each of them asking of them to work in his vineyard, the first said, I will not, but later did, the other said yes, but changed his mind and didn’t.
Which of the two Jesus asked, did the will of the father?

Pondering on this story, I think it might be possible to come to a conclusion based upon a religious math that has no power to change ones heart.
In this story it appears that perhaps this all unfolded within a day, maybe so, but then again, let’s put that aside for now.
How often does it have to be repeated, the miracle of grace, the blowing of the wind-His breath, moving invisibly touching us in ways imperceptible to our senses, and yet there He is doing the impossible.
Putting myself in this story which really is not that hard to imagine, I am heading in one direction, adamantly fixed in doing my own thing, wanting to have nothing to do with God, and BAMM, out of nowhere, I somehow find myself going in a direction, in a way, that seems to be not of my choosing.
What’s that all about?

The bible talks about the mystery of godliness, and in a nut shell, I think this touches upon this story. When, where, how long was it before the son sensed a change in course, something totally unknown and yet powerful, like a small rudder turning a huge ship effortlessly in a new direction?
The sheer beauty of this staggers the imagination, yet man always wants to boil down what only God can do, into a formula, or steps, to follow.
Like time-lapse photography, God sees the beginning from the end. What seems to us to be a tortuously long process is but an instant in his eyes, and it’s all beautiful (see link below). Unfortunately, there is no way to escape that tortuous process.

Rich