Staying Spiritual

On February 15th, 2012, Gary Anderson made a presentation to the Senior Managers subgroup of Between Jobs Ministries at Northwest Bible Church in Spring, Texas. The following are some thoughts I had on the topic as a result of his talk.

We are spiritual beings. Our spirits were created by God for a special relationship with God. Ron Hutchcraft puts it well when he says:
   "You were created for a relationship: that you do not have, that you can have, that you must choose." (Yours For Life) That choice to enter into a relationship with God allows him to bring us from being spiritually dead to spiritually alive.

When we make that choice, God recreates us into a new creation In Christ. Neil Anderson has put together a great reminder of all that we are as a result of who we are in Christ. These truths help us win the battle for acceptance, significance, and security we all fight each day.

Faith is the foundation of our new life in Christ. Oz Guiness in his book "The Call" gives a good outline of the two aspects of faith: Calling & Context. There is one part of our faith that never changes; our calling. There is, however, another part of our faith that is in constant flux; the context of our calling. Here is the difference between calling and context and the importance of differentiating the two:
  1. Calling: I have been invited by God to come to God to be used for God's purposes. This calling will never change. That we are called by God helps us understand that he is the initiator and we are the responders. God has not called us to be a trophy that sits on a shelf but rather he has called us into a relationship. That relationship comes with significant work he has prepared for us to do on his behalf. We are, therefore, called by God, to God, and for God.
  2. Context: Our calling is played out in an ever changing world. The context of our calling is to go any where, at any time, to any one he chooses. As time marches on the location of our context, the people of our context, and the work assignments of our context will always be changing. When we lose a loved one, our calling has not changed - our context has and all that goes with it. When we turn that dreaded 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, etc., our calling has not changed - our context has and all that goes with it. When we lose a job or make a landing, our calling has not changed - our context has and all that goes with it.
  3. Importance of Differentiating: We can be severely rocked when we view the context of our calling as our calling. The foundation of our faith must rest in the unchangeable truth of our calling. Our faith is played out, however, within the constant changing of our context. We must remind ourselves of the difference between an unchangeable calling and fluctuating context, and be willing to accept the changes that regularly occur within context; assured of the certainty of the unchangeableness of calling itself.
With that all said, how then do I go about "Staying Spiritual?" By maintaining a healthy spiritual diet and participating in spiritual communities.

Maintaining a Healthy Spiritual Diet:
  • Eat regularly from the Psalms and Proverbs. Start each day by reading 5 Psalms a day and 1 Proverb a day, this will allow your spirit to properly express your emotions and mentally inform your mind with God's wisdom.
  • Eat regularly from the Gospels. By reading 5 chapters a week from Matthew, Mark, John, or Luke-Acts, you will begin to know and understand the One you were created to imitate. To become like Christ we need to know Christ. The Bible has given us a great autobiography of Jesus.
  • Eat regularly from the New Testament Epistles. By reading 5 chapters a week from the writings of the apostles (apart from the Gospels and Acts) you will gain insight in the disciplines that need to be incorporated into your daily living. These practical, step-by-step, remove this and do that, instructions will put muscle and skin on your spiritual skeleton.
  • Eat regularly from the Old Testament. By reading 5 chapters a week from the Old Testament (apart from the Psalms and Proverbs) you will begin to understand where you come from. The Old Testament is filled with stories and lessons about what our adopted family did and what they learned along the way. It is a great way to connect with our spiritual heritage.
Participating in Spiritual Communities:
  • One-on-One conversations with God. Go for a walk, watch a sunset/sunrise, just sit and be still and listen daily to God. Tell him what you think, yell at him for what angers you, laugh with him at what tickles you, cry to him with what hurts and seems will never be resolved, and then just sit and be quiet and LISTEN. God cannot become real to us until we are first ready to become real with him.
  • Accountability Partners. Find one or two other same gendered people that you will be willing to see everything about you, and will help you make plans to grow and stick with them. Neil Cole wrote a book titled, "Search and Rescue" a few years ago. In it he outlines what he calls "Life Transformation Groups." Take a look at this idea and try to get involved in one as soon as you can.
  • Small Group. Find a multi-generational, multi-gendered group with whom you can do life. Maybe this is a Bible study group, house church, or a Job Search Work Team. Whatever it is, it needs to be a group of people dedicated to five important things: reading God's word daily, discussing what you have read, sharing what has happened since you last met, serving the needs of the people inside your group, and committing to praying for one another until you meet again.
  • Large Group Celebration. Find a place where you can let your spirit free to worship God spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally. A place where you can empty yourself completely to God and then be filled with his presence and his truth.
  • Missions. Connect with others that want to regularly and intentionally offer themselves and their resources of time, talents, and treasures, for the good of others around them and around the world. Serving those in need feeds the very heart and soul of who God made us. There is nothing more satisfying and nothing more rewarding than reaching out to help those in need; it is a part of what we were designed to do. This should be done at least once a year and optimally once a quarter. The ultimate goal would be to include new people in your current small group or help birth and/or support a new small group.
I know I have probably left some things out that needed to be included. I did not intend this to be all inclusive. I do hope, however, it can give you a starting place at becoming all that God intended you to be before he created this world and you in it.

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