How Do We Examine The Self?

Because I have been bedridden the past few days with fever, sore throat and sinus infection which I do not recall ever having it so bad. I had time to think about my life and where I went wrong in my Christian walk. I know I was heavy handed by God. In my Blog I mostly mentioned the good things that came out of my encounter with Him, and all the experiences. But I know if I was to talk about how specifically He led me there, it would be depressive to anyone reading.

I was growing slowly, but I was also drifting in this life mainly because of what I have been taught and because of what was around me. No one ever helped me understand how important it was to examine myself.  I mean by that examining yourself according to the Holy Spirit’s way not your own way. I have to say while they did not find it important to teach us this doctrine but we had the type of mentality where we check our spiritual pulse by checking how well we have the basic Christian behaviour down pat according to those “don’ts” of the Bible. If we could put a check mark for attending Church regularly, we were okay. There was also how much you get engaged in serving in the Church as well as doing evangelism. Another one was how often do we pray and donating the 10% that we ought to.

Well, I passed all these spiritual check marks with flying colors but they did not help me understand where I was hindering God’s work in me. They did not help me walk in the Spirit or live out God’s plan for my life. In these areas I was failing miserably and clueless like everyone in the Church.

But, over time, I learned that examining self goes so much deeper than that, way much deeper. When we examine self, it is more important to examine the depth of our obedience to His Word and our relationship with Him before we even bother asking ourselves the hard personal questions we do not want to touch. We have to make sure we know that we are growing steadily with Him so ask: are you growing spiritually? And if you do not know what it is, here is your answer. Some of us tend to think just because we have accumulated more head knowledge of the Bible, we can discuss more doctrines, we are growing spiritually but that is a big lie of the devil.  

You should also ask yourself questions like: are you aware of the improvement of your relationship with the Holy Spirit? How long has it been since you heard Him talking to your heart? How committed are you to this Christian life? Don’t answer that one just because you fulfill some obligation.  Your commitment should come from love and gratitude for what Christ had done for you. It should be because you have such a burning desire to know Him. You reach the height of your commitment to Him when you can say with everything that you are, take all of me and I will follow you wherever you lead.

You should know if you have been trying to use excuses not to go forward with Him? Are you taking His Word for granted? Are you taking Him for granted? How many times you pray during the day? How many times do you think of Him during the day? Are you living a life focused on Him? If not what are you focusing on? Are you sure you are walking in His will for your life? Don’t be so sure because of what you are doing seem so good in the eyes of others, is pleasing to Him. And don’t think because you are helping others you are probably living out His plan for you. These are just a few examples of the questions you should ask yourself if you are truly looking into learning to examine yourself properly. I am still asking myself those questions all the time, even now. They will never go out of style as long as you are living in this earthly form.

It makes sense, if people in my Church knew how important it was to examine yourself with the Holy Spirit leading they would not have been a Pharisee style type of Church. It is the role of a pastor to teach from the pews and to insist, and reinforce some doctrines that we cannot escape and will not escape no matter how much we want to.  These doctrines matters to God and we better have them down pat by the time we die. Such doctrines like Holiness, the salvation of the soul, surrender, the examination of self etc. I know if I had ever heard sermons from the pew of my Church, I would know how important they were. Since there was never a sermon on them, I assumed they were equally not as important in this Christian life. But, I will never stop saying this “we can only lead others as far as we have been with God for ourselves”

There are some doctrines in the Bible, you can never bluff your way through them and if you have not been there, your sermons sound empty and it   shows what you are doing is repeating what you read. A lot of people can see it’s just a head knowledge. Some go as far as advancing their own opinion from their carnal life, on the doctrine they know nothing of. But to those who possess the real McCoy they will always know it was just that –opinion of the natural mind. You failed to feed God’s sheep.

We ought to examine ourselves even if we start slowly and we are not good at it yet. But we have to keep the habit of going to God with an open heart and ask Him to not only teach us how to examine ourselves in His light but to bring us to a place where we can do it with a willingness to see the hard things we do not want to touch, change or see. I do not believe as Christians we should be caught up with so many self-help books like the unbelievers world. We do not need self help books to teach us how to examine the self. What we need is to learn to obey and consecrate ourselves to Him. Any self help book that does not promote consecration and obedience to God first, and foremost, misses the mark. Through total obedience and true devotion of the heart to Him, everything else falls into play.

What do you know? I found out, it was also the job of the Holy Spirit to teach us how to examine the self, so your relationship with Him is of the utmost importance. Seek the Kingdom of God first. 

Christian Progress - Part 7

John A James, 1853

2. Distress is sometimes felt in consequence of mistaking a clearer view and deeper sense of depravity, for an actual increase of sin. This is by no means an uncommon case. The young Christian seems sometimes to himself to be growing worse, when in fact it is only that he sees more clearly what in fact he really is. In the early stages of true religion we have usually but a slender acquaintance with the evil of our sin or the depravity of our heart. The mind is so much taken up with pardon and eternal life, and even, indeed, with the transition from death to life, that it is but imperfectly acquainted with those depths of deceit and wickedness which lie hidden in itself. And the young convert is almost surprised to hear older and more experienced Christians talk of the corruptions of their nature. It is almost one of the first things one would suppose they would feel, yet it is one of the last they effectually learn, that true religion is a constant conflict in man's heart—between sin and holiness.


At first they seem to feel as if the serpent were killed—but they soon find that he was only asleep—for by the warmth of some fiery temptation, he is revived and hisses at them again, so as to require renewed blows for his destruction. Nothing astonishes an inexperienced believer more than the discoveries he is continually making of the evils of his heart. Corruptions which he never dreamt to be in him, are brought out by some new circumstances into which he is brought. It is like turning up the soil, which brings out worms and insects that did not appear upon the surface. Or to vary the illustration, his increasing knowledge of God's holy nature, of the perfect law, and the example of Christ, is like opening the shutters, and letting light into a dark room, the filth of which the inhabitant did not see until the sunbeams disclosed it to him.


3. Sometimes the young convert is discouraged, because he does not increase as fast as he expected; and supposes because he does not accomplish all, and as speedily as he looked for, that he does not advance at all. The expectations of young Christians are sometimes as irrational as the child's who sowed his seed in the morning, and went out in the evening to see if it was above ground. The recent convert sometimes imagines that sanctification is easy to work. He imagines that advance is a thing to be accomplished by a succession of strides, if not, indeed, by one bound after another. But the remains of old Adam within him soon prove too strong to allow this unimpeded course of Christian progression. 

He knew he had difficulties to surmount—but he calculated on getting over them with ease—that he had enemies to conflict with—but then he hoped to go on by rapid victories from conquering to conquer. He is disappointed—and now imagines he makes no way at all. But why should he so hastily decide against himself? All growth is slow, and that is slowest of all which is to last the longest. The mushroom springs up in a night—so did Jonah's gourd—and in a night it perished! The oak requires centuries for its coming to perfection.


4. Some mistake by supposing they do not advance at all because they do not get on so fast as some others. We would by no means encourage neglect, indifference, or contentment with small measures of grace. On the contrary, we urge the greatest diligence. We say go on unto perfection. They who are contented with what grace they suppose they have, give fearful evidence that they have none at all. To be self-satisfied is to be self-deceived. Still, as in nature so in grace, all do not grow with equal rapidity, or advance to equal strength and stature. I

t is so with flowers in a garden; trees in a plantation; children in a family; boys at school; ships at sea; or travelers upon the land. There is progress in all—but in different degrees. Yet of which of all these can it be said, they make no advance because they do not advance as fast as the foremost. The use we should make of the superior attainments of the more eminent of God's servants is neither to envy them, nor to discourage our hearts—but to find in them a stimulus and an encouragement to seek larger measures of faith and holiness for ourselves.

Christian Progress - Part 6

John A James, 1853

1. Some are fearful that they are not making progress because their feelings are not so vividly excited in religious matters as they formerly were. They are not easily and powerfully wrought upon either in the way of joy and sorrow, hope and fear, as they once were. They have not those lively and ecstatic states of mind which they formerly experienced when they began the divine life.

Here we must just glance at the constitution of our nature. True religion exerts its influence over all the faculties of the soul—it calls into exercise the understanding, engages the determination of the will, moves the affections, and quickens the conscience. The same differences of natural constitution will be observable in some degree in the new or spiritual nature as existed in the old or physical one. A person of great sensibility in ordinary things, will, after conversion, be so in spiritual ones; while they of little emotion in the former will exhibit the same phase of mind in the latter. The sensibility or emotional state of the mind depends very much therefore on our physical organization. Now it is a very wrong criterion of the reality and degree of our true religion to judge of it only by the exercise of the affections. Some people of excitable natures are easily moved to joy and sorrow, hope and fear. The power of poetry or eloquence, of sights of distress or raptures—over their feelings is irresistible; while at the same time their judgments are not proportionately employed, their wills not in the same measure engaged, and their conscience but little moved. 

Take, for instance, the sentimental readers of novels, how by fits they are melted to tears, or excited to ecstasies. Yet how idle and unemployed are all the other faculties of the soul. There is no virtue in all this. It is mere sentimental emotion. Now look at the philanthropist. He may not be a man of tears, or of strong and vivid emotions of any kind—but he is a man of principle. His understanding comprehends the circumstances of some case of deep distress, and he judges it is right to pity and relieve it. His heart, though not wrought up to extreme anguish, so as to fill his eyes with tears, and his mouth with loud lamentations, feels for the miserable object; his will resolutely determines at once to help the sufferer; and his conscience, which would condemn him if he did not, approves the determination. You will particularly notice what constituted the virtue of the good man; not wholly the emotional excitement, for there was very little—but the dictates of the judgment, the determination of the will, and the action which was performed under these conjoint powers.

So it is in true religion, which consists partly of the exercise of all the faculties—but chiefly of the judgment, will, and conscience. The heart is of course, engaged, for we must love God and hate sin—we must delight in Christ and fear the wrath to come; but the amount of vivid emotion is of little consequence, compared with an enlightened judgment, showing us clearly what is right and wrong; a determined will to avoid the evil and perform the good; and a tender conscience shrinking from the least sin. Emotion is, to a certain extent, instinctive, involuntary, and irrepressible. Not so with judgment, will, and conscience. It is not, therefore, the amount of feeling—but of willing and doing, and approving or condemning, that determines the state of true religion.

There is such a thing I know—and, alas, it is a very common one—as losing "first love," and it is marked by our Lord with his disapprobation in his address to the church at Ephesus; but many distress themselves on this account who have no need to do so. Their ardor perhaps, at first was in some measure the excitement of animal feeling, which will soon die away of course, though their real practical love may not be diminished—but may be growing stronger. When a son returns home after a long absence, especially if he be a reclaimed prodigal, and meets his parents, brothers, and sisters, there is a glow of feeling, a joyousness of emotion, which cannot be expected to continue always, and which he may never be able to recall again, though he may be ever growing in real attachment to his friends and his home.

From all this it will be seen that the emotional part of true godliness may be, and is by many, overestimated. The question is not merely what we can feel—but what we can do, for Christ; not how many tears we can shed—but how many sins we can mortify; not what raptures we can experience—but what self-denial we can practice; not what happy frames we can enjoy—but what holy duties we can perform; not simply how much we can luxuriate at sermon or at sacrament—but how much we can exhibit of the mind of Jesus in our communion with our fellow-men; not only how far above earth we can rise to the bliss of heaven—but how much of the love and purity of heaven we can bring down to earth—in short, not how much of rapt feeling we can indulge—but how much of godly principle we can bring to bear on our whole conduct.

It is evident, therefore, there may be progress where there is a fear that there has been declension. The vividness of feeling may have subsided—but if the firmness of principle has been strengthened, it is only like the decadence of the blossom when the fruit has set. The joy might not be so great—but it may be more intelligent, more solid, and more sober. Just as the exuberant delight of the child, when it passes off, leaves the pleasure of the youth less noisy—but more rational. The frames and feelings may be less rapturous—but they may at the same time be less idolized, less depended upon, less put in the place of Christ. The growing Christian is less pleased with self—but sees more of the glory of the Savior—his own righteousness appears more imperfect and defiled, and is therefore less loved—but the righteousness of the Savior comes out before him more beautiful, glorious, and necessary.

The Discipline of Spiritual Perseverance - Part 1

 

When I was waiting for God in the wilderness, the Holy Spirit impressed on my heart how important that I learn to wait patiently and learn to persevere and endure through the pain. I knew through it I had to take it all in, trust Him for the outcome and trust His timing however long He decided. This was a very hard lesson, one that He kept unfolding day by day. At times, I have to admit it was a hard pill to swallow. I was waiting for answers that never came, yet I needed these answers to even survive. I was miserable because I knew if He does not answer or act right away, the consequences would be disastrous for my life. 

In times, I had to learn to not only persevere which meant to carry on through the hardship I was going through. He made it clear to me that depression and self-pity was not part of the agenda and if I was to give in to them, then that would defeat the purpose.

While trying my best to persevere through the hardships I found every single day was an adjustment to what had become my life. Several months after, I finally realized even though my life was crumbling all around me and there was nothing left, it was strange to see how God was not in a hurry helping me to pick up the pieces.

I needed to make a decision to come to terms with all of it. This sober realization was more devastating than when I started the road. No time frame can be put on Him, no assumptions as to how He will get to me, and no expectations should be cultivated on my part either. What was more devastating to my soul, I found I had to make a choice to believe in Him while I was adjusting to the new crumbling life. I knew in my soul, I had to learn to believe His promises are true and He will not fail me, but the timing belongs to Him. It is very easy to wait for God’s timing when you do not have a crucial matter that requires his attention NOW! TODAY!

When the worst that I feared happened, what was left was to work it out in my soul. Strangely, I also realize while there was nothing else left to lose, I realized not taking a stand and the right one; I stood to lose the most important thing of all. At that time, it meant choosing Him. Make no mistake it is hard to choose to walk with Him when things seemed from the outside that He does not care what is happening to you.

I had to fight to put my humanity aside, I had to move beyond the pain of all my loss and what my life became, to say to Him, “so be it, let’s do it your way Lord”. To my surprise the saying in Hebrews 11:1 came alive in my heart. I had no idea that the impartation of this verse was so hard, so painful and had to be acquired personally. It meant to come to terms with the fact that you have to have assurance in something you cannot see and you might never see it in your lifetime, yet you KNOW because God cannot lie, it will happen in His own time. I remember saying to myself wow! Christianity is deep. Who would have thought those simple words would have become my personal tragedy?

I remember thinking how the whole thing did not make sense for my life if I did not get to enjoy His promises while I am alive. As I was thinking these things as if the Holy Spirit could not hear me, He replied to me “ I understand what you are thinking and it makes sense to you, but what I need from you child is for you to come to a place where you are alright with it and it has to be well with your soul.” Just because He said so, it became important to me. I struggled and prayed hard for a few days to really make my heart accept the outcome as He sees it, not according to my expectations and my understanding.

This was my big lesson from God in terms of spiritual perseverance and endurance and I found, if you can go pass that stage, than the rest of your Christian life is easier to persevere and endure the other daily challenges that come your way. 

Christian Progress - Part 3

Written by John A. James, in 1853


4. In some people there is a growing knowledge of their CORRUPTIONS, and perhaps, an increase of lamentation over them, unattended by any disposition or effort to mortify them—and yet this growing light into the depravity of their nature, and this real vexation, for so it may be called, rather than godly sorrow, leads to no proportionate mortification of sin. There can be little doubt that many do know more and more of the plague of their own hearts, and are made continually more sorrowful by it, who content themselves with venting their unavailing regrets, and make no progress in removing the evils they deplore, and yet conclude that this growing self-knowledge is an evidence of growing piety. 

So it would be if it were followed up by 'amendment of life'. "Godly sorrow works repentance," that is reformation. And that sorrow is not godly sorrow, however pungent it may be, and however miserable it may make the man—which does not produce reformation. Many a holy Christian is made more and more holy with less of misery on account of sin, just because his grief, whether greater or less, leads to amendment; than he who, whatever may be his mortification of feeling, does not carry it on to a mortification of sin.
What would we say of a housewife who made herself continually miserable about the disorder and uncleanness of her house—but who took no pains to rectify the confusion and to cleanse the filth? 

It is to be greatly feared that very many professors of religion satisfy themselves with being made unhappy by the knowledge and experience of their sins. They are loud in their lamentations, ample in their confessions, and seemingly profound in their humiliations. But there the matter ends. They who heard their self-abasing acknowledgments yesterday—see them no better today. They are like some chronic invalids, whose diseases arise, in great measure, from their own self-indulgence , who are ever complaining of their ailments, and ever lamenting, as well as continuing, their harmful habits—but who will never exercise that self-denial which is the only way to restoration, and who yet imagine it is a sign of growing attention to their health, because there is an increasing disposition to lament their sickness and to confess their imprudence.

5. A very common error is to mistake a growth of SECTARIANISM, for an increase of grace. Perhaps there is no delusion more common than this. Ecclesiastical polity and sacramental observances, as matters of divine revelation, are both of some importance; yet it is perfectly clear, from the testimony of Scripture, that they are of less consequence in the divine life, than faith, hope, and love. "The kingdom of God is not food and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit." Rom. 14:17. "In Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which works by love." Gal. 5:6. 

If these passages mean anything, they teach us the entire subordination of what is ceremonial—to what is spiritual. To see a person more interested in, and more zealous for, some ritual observance, than the cultivation of charity—attaching more importance, both as matter of experience and controversy, to baptism and the external form of the church, than to the doctrines of justification, regeneration, and sanctification—marks a state of mind very different from that which is inculcated by the precepts, and manifested in the conduct, of the sacred writers. 

The great object of the apostles was to cherish in their converts the spirit of faith and the practice of holiness. Yet we very often see a different line of conduct, both in the teachers and professors of religion in the present day, by many of whom an extraordinary zeal is manifested for either established or unestablished churches, as the case might be; and for a more elaborate or a more simple ceremonial, while little concern is felt or expressed to inculcate "the fruits of the Spirit, which are love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." Gal. 5:22.

We not infrequently see young professors, when their first concern about religion is over, taking up with the ardor of eager novices these secondary matters, and becoming zealots for supporting, defending and propagating them. This is sometimes especially apparent in those who have lately transferred themselves from one section of the universal church to another. Proselytes, as if to prove the sincerity of their conviction, and reconcile themselves to their new party, usually, in supporting their novel opinions, excel in zeal those by whom these notions have been long held. 

A change of this kind has, in some cases, effected a complete transformation of character, and they who were before all torpor, are now all activity and energy; not, indeed, for the great fundamental truths on which all Christians agree—but for those minor matters on which they differ. Churchmen, that as such were dull and lethargic, have, on becoming dissenters, been all life and energy, not so much for faith, love, and holiness—but for nonconformity. While on the other hand dissenters, who, while such, were supine and inert, on entering the established church, have become the zealous advocates and propagators of perhaps even high-church principles.

Let not people of this description mistake such sectarianism for advancement in the divine life. This holy vitality has reference rather to the principles on which all are agreed, than to those minor matters on which they differ. A mighty furor for religious forms, or a most impassioned zeal for religious establishments, may comport with very little vital godliness; yes, the former may go far to enfeeble the latter. Instead therefore of such a state of mind indicating progress, it manifests a retrogression. 

The man has become more of a dissenter or churchman—but perhaps less of a spiritual, humble, and simple-minded Christian. It is the human element in their religion, not the divine, that has strengthened; the shell that has thickened, not the kernel that has enlarged. There has been motion—but it is a lateral one from the straight line, not a progress in the right direction. It is a going backwards—from primary to secondary matters. A disfiguring growth has swelled upon the tree—but the tree itself has been hindered and not helped in its advance.

Christian Progress - Part 2

Written by John A. James, in 1853

Ah, this is just calculating spiritual progress by time, rather than by distance. Be it known to you, that a professed Christian may be long, very long, in standing; yes, and after all, it is but standing without going. A dead stick, however long it may be in the ground, will not grow. Sign-posts stand for ages, and measure distances for travelers—but never advance an inch. Do not conclude, then, that because your conversion is supposed to have taken place long since, that, therefore, your sanctification must be far advanced. It is a pitiable sound, and argues an imbecile mind, as well as a diminutive body, to hear a poor dwarfed cripple say, "I must be growing for I am ten years old." Everybody else sees that the poor child's stature never increases an inch!

Let the Christian not think of the years he has professed—but the actual attainments he has made. The length of his profession ought to be attended by an advance in all that constitutes vital godliness, proportionate to the advantages he has enjoyed, and the time he has had them; but alas, alas, how rarely is this the case? In the orchard or vineyard, young trees may be growing when they bear no fruit, and a stranger may be ready to say they make no progress—but the skilled gardener says, "Give them time and they will grow fruit." And when they do bear fruit, it is in proportion to their age. In the garden of the Lord young plants ought to bear some fruit immediately, and the fruits of righteousness should be also in proportion to their age. But is it so? How many whose eye shall read these pages will blush, if they have any holy shame, to compare the date of their planting in the courts of the Lord, and the fruit they produce!

3. There may be an increase of theoretic KNOWLEDGE, and of ability to talk with fluency upon the subjects of religion, and to defend the truth against gainsayers—without any corresponding advance in spiritual feeling and holy conduct. There is a great deal of very interesting matter in the Bible, apart from its spiritual and vital power as God's instrument of sanctification. Its history, its poetry, its sublimity, its chronology, its eloquence, its prophecies, its pathos—all may become subjects of study, and even of delightful study—without faith in its doctrines, or obedience to its precepts. Thousands and thousands of volumes have been written on religion by men whose hearts were never under its power. Some of the noblest productions of theology have issued from the pens of those to whom, it is to be feared, it was all mere theory. Like brilliant lamps, they lighted others on their way to heaven—but never moved themselves! Or to raise still higher the metaphor, they were like lighthouses, which directed ships on their course—but were stationary themselves!

In more private life, and less important attainments, how many have made themselves acquainted with the theory of divine truth, as taught in books, sermons, articles, creeds and catechisms, so as to be able to explain the orthodox system of doctrine, and to argue for it—whose hearts have never been sanctified by the truth! And even where it may be hoped the great change has been wrought, and a start made for salvation and eternal life, there may be a growth in 'knowledge' without a proportionate growth in 'grace'. Many young people are now happily engaged in Sunday-school teaching, the distribution of religious tracts, and various other operations of religious zeal—which give them of necessity a growing acquaintance with the system of religious truth. They can talk with more fluency and correctness on divine things. History, doctrine, and precept, are all more familiar to them, and at the same time their thoughts are more drawn to the subject of 'religion generally' as the matter of their teaching. Hence, there may seem to be to themselves, a perceptible progress. And so there is—in theory. 

But if at the same time there is no advance in holiness, Christian charity, conscientiousness, self-denial, and humility—these signs of advance may be, and are—all deceptive. Their knowledge has been collected, not as the materials of personal sanctity—but of activity. Such acquisitions may be only the "knowledge which puffs up," but not "the love that edifies."

There are people whose acquaintance with Scripture is surprising, and yet who, though they could quote most aptly from nearly all parts of the Bible, give too convincing proof that their knowledge is of the letter only, and not of the spirit. I knew a person who was so intimately acquainted with the Scriptures, that if you gave him any chapter or verse in most of the books of either the Old or New Testaments, he would immediately repeat the words—and yet he was altogether an unconverted man! And I was acquainted with another who was so fond of the study of prophecy that he became more conversant with the predictions of the books of Daniel and of the Apocalypse than anyone I ever knew—yet he was at the same time, entirely a man of the world.

Yet there are many who regard this increasing acquaintance with the text of the Bible, as an evidence of growth in grace. While, therefore, we would urge every young convert to make a longer and larger acquaintance with the Word of God, assuring them that there can be no growth in grace without some advance in knowledge, and that the more knowledge of it they have the more they are prepared to be useful, happy, and holy—provided they couple with it other things. Yet that at the same time there may be large increase of Biblical knowledge, without any growth in grace. Ask yourselves then the solemn question, and ask it solemnly too—whether in proportion as you store your minds with biblical texts and biblical ideas, you all the while are seeking to have your heart filled with biblical feelings, and your life with biblical actions? Is your advancing light attended with increasing warmth?

As you grow in acquaintance with the character of God—do you reverence him more? As your ideas brighten on the person of Christ—do you love him more? As you become more acquainted with the perfection and spirituality of God's Word—do you delight in it more and more after the inward man? As you see more clearly the evil of sin—do you hate it with a more intense hatred? As your Biblical knowledge widens—do you become more profoundly humble, more tenderly conscientious, more gentle, more spiritual? Unless this be the case you are in a fatal mistake by supposing you are making progress in the divine life, merely because you are advancing in biblical knowledge.

Spiritual Plateau Part 2

On Tuesday December 11, 2012, I wrote a post title spiritual plateau. Today, as I was reading Oswald Chambers January 15, 2013, I knew all along one the main ingredients to avoid spiritual plateau is to know the meaning in the depth of your soul, what it means to have gone to your own funeral and learn to walk in white.

The reasons I did not want to elaborate on the post further is because it was already long enough and the second reason is that this very subject will be included in one of my upcoming books and the title will be a good indication to you. So, today I felt led by the Spirit to finish what I started.

The end result of not going to your own spiritual funeral will cause this spiritual plateau where the Holy Spirit cannot move an inch in us anymore because, the next step that is needed to continue the work has not been taken by us. God always brings us to places where, not choosing to embrace our own funeral causes us to be in our depth in disobedience. We do have the right to take other paths, but it remains exactly what it is in the eyes of God. We are forced to build on the religion of man or like the Israelites we live like those who never made it out of the wilderness because they never apprehended more of God according to His standards.

Sometimes we have refused the path He presented to us on so many occasions that we do not even realize anymore that we are not walking with Him and we have left Him behind to do our own things. As we live this life, we ought to examine ourselves and if we keep moving sideways, no matter how good it feels and look, know that something is wrong because true Christianity, and a true child of His keeps going forward. 

One of the ways to know you are moving sideways: the depth of spiritual things and intimacy with God evade you. They remain things you read through other people!

Do You Walk In White?

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15

2013

We were buried with Him . . . that just as Christ was raised from the dead . . . even so we also should walk in newness of life —Romans 6:4

No one experiences complete sanctification without going through a “white funeral”-the burial of the old life. If there has never been this crucial moment of change through death, sanctification will never be more than an elusive dream. There must be a “white funeral,” a death with only one resurrection-a resurrection into the life of Jesus Christ. Nothing can defeat a life like this. It has oneness with God for only one purpose— to be a witness for Him.

Have you really come to your last days? You have often come to them in your mind, but have you really experienced them? You cannot die or go to your funeral in a mood of excitement. Death means you stop being. You must agree with God and stop being the intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. We avoid the cemetery and continually refuse our own death. It will not happen by striving, but by yielding to death. It is dying— being “baptized into His death” (Romans 6:3).

Have you had your “white funeral,” or are you piously deceiving your own soul? Has there been a point in your life which you now mark as your last day? Is there a place in your life to which you go back in memory with humility and overwhelming gratitude, so that you can honestly proclaim, “Yes, it was then, at my ’white funeral,’ that I made an agreement with God.”

“This is the will of God, your sanctification . . .” (1 Thessalonians 4:3). Once you truly realize this is God’s will, you will enter into the process of sanctification as a natural response. Are you willing to experience that “white funeral” now? Will you agree with Him that this is your last day on earth? The moment of agreement depends on you.

Courtesy of: http://utmost.org/

Don't Worry About How You Mature……..Really?

There is a saying out there so unscriptural, that it gives me great concerns. If I have to sit one more time in front of a pastor who tells his congregation “ don’t worry about how you grow” or “everybody grow at their own pace” or when you worry whether you are growing or not it is because Satan is playing games with you, I am going to pull my hair out!

One leader of the Church I used to go to went as far as telling me that whatever needs to be done right before we die, Christ will put us right before presenting us to God.  For instance, if you die and you are not holy yet, it does not matter what post you occupied in the Church, you simply won’t see God. As I get to know God for myself, I found out there is only a partial truth to this interpretation. I found out the Holy Spirit wants us to worry about how we grow. The Holy Spirit taught me that my spiritual growth is not concerned with my pace but should be the Holy Spirit pace and it is my duty to keep up with Him. Guess what? The Holy Spirit’s interpretation is actually biblical. Our major problem is making God’s word fit our interpretation of Salvation.

As I explained in my book “Apprehended & Apprehending” God does not show us how far the spiritual road we have to travel. As you mature spiritually, you find out, you see as much road your spiritual knowledge of God and your maturity will allow you to see. You walk with Him so much and grow so much that it feels you have reached the end of the road and bang, all of the sudden, in the blink of an eye you realize there is so much more distance to travel. It is as if there was a wall there, now the wall disappears. I come to understand that God is putting us back to the way things used to be with Adam and Eve before the lost their spiritual sight. This work starts right here on earth. The wall that I used to see, I come to understand is the spiritual veil that was imposed on us after the fall.

God had to get me to the end of the wall at least on four occasions until I learned to give up and stop putting my own understanding of spiritual growth forth. Once I stopped doing that, amazingly I came to see the spiritual growth is like travelling on a highway where you can see as far as your eyes would take you. But, if I have let’s say 100 miles to travel, and I can only see a few miles ahead of me, this does not mean it is the end of my journey. I have come to understand as well, how much road is left is not up to me or anyone else to know it. 

Prior to the Holy Spirit teaching me all these things in the wilderness, I was so confident that what my spiritual blindness and ignorance allowed me to see was just that, because I did not know I was spiritually blind. I was ignorant of the fact that the amount of work that has to be done is nothing that our feeble human mind could grasp. Some of you might say well, Paul already compared this life to a race, so I should have known that. I venture to say that even though we repeat those words, the majority of the Church does not know what they truly mean from God’s point of view, unless He explains things to you.

I will go one step further, if indeed we already knew on a spiritual basis what Paul meant when he compared the Christian life to a race, then we would all stampede forward and stop using excuses. The Church would flourish because spiritual growth would be at an all time high. Christians would be truly walking as the light of the world. The truth is, when we don't see with our spiritual eyes, in our human mind, we see a somewhat short distance as if it was not a big deal. We see a journey of ten thousand steps when in reality, through growing with Him, after we travel ten million steps, we find, there is still an infinite amount of steps left to take. It’s not for nothing those who are going forward with Him spiritually see their lives as being apprehended by Him and we keep apprehending as we charge forward with Him.

Part of God helping us to preserve in this walk is to always examine ourselves to see if we are still walking in His will for us. You will find out the more you grow, the more God makes sure you understand that there is so much to be done that you can never measure up. This is to tell you that I am aware of the ugliness that is still in my heart, I am aware of my desperate need for Him and I am aware that I cannot do anything without Him. However, it seems as you walk with Him, you have some sort of regulator within that propels you to check to make sure you are where you need to be. This is the Holy Spirit’s work. I find that if I spend a few weeks without being aware that I am growing at all, I have a need to talk to the Holy Spirit about it.

Understand that I am not talking about outward growth like learning the Bible. It is a given if I you are in the Word all the time, you are going to learn it. However, I need to examine myself to make sure even if I do not feel I am growing spiritually, I am still in His will for me. I am still walking in accordance with His schedule for my life. My routine is that I examine myself to see how long ago I have experienced some sort of spiritual growth. If I find out it has been a while, then I pray to the Holy Spirit to guide me in a better understanding. Sometimes He takes a week or two before letting me know that I am fine and He always gives me a glimpse of things. It’s almost like an unspoken arrangement. Sometimes, I find out that I have sin in my heart that I was not aware of, for various reasons. And sometimes He shows me a full blown picture of how much I have grown.

The moral of the story, it is our job to keep up with Him, not the other way around. Our lack of spiritual growth could be because we are not walking in His will. We are not walking in the Spirit, not abiding and perhaps our hearts are plagued with sin that we have gotten comfortable with. The inward spiritual maturity takes us from the baby stage as we slowly become someone like the apostle Paul, or John, or maybe someone like Spurgeon, or Moody or John Edwards, or Oswald Chambers etc. We come to resemble these people in their knowledge of Him and His Word. I insist on saying inward spiritual maturity because there is a practice out there, as soon as we have some activities under our belts, we have been Christians for a few years and are able to understand few Bible verses whether through our own interpretation or through a little growth, we tend to put ourselves above others and all of the sudden we get ourselves an “apostle” title after our names where we are nowhere near one of them, inwardly.

Ironically, the more you grow spiritually, the more you know God, the more you understand spiritual things, the more you are not interested in those titles. Perhaps because I come from a family that is so vain, so shallow, so caught up in money and status where everything is about displaying the outside beauty, God, through His grace is watching me so closely. In fact, He made clear to me that I have to do His work in the shadows where the glory will be all His. I conquered with Him because I know I am a corrupted being with vanity in my heart. Even though I know Him so well it is easy for vanity to take over and before we know it, we steal His glory as we put the focus on us. 

2 Peter 3:17-18 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position.¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.

Claim The Christian Life Through His Grace!

Having been part of a Church where I was taught to learn to mimic godly behavior and I was also taught to pray for this Christian life, I could not reconcile what was going on in my life when God decided to move in and suddenly, inwardly, this life had become such a dynamic life. I was conscious of the fact that I had something alive in me; something was new inside of me. If it was not for the incomparable gentleness of the Holy Spirit, I would have been more apprehensive thinking that I was on my way of becoming schizophrenic. I simply could not understand why I was living literally with someone inside me.

It was only after I stumbled on A.W.Tozer book, “The Pursuit of God” that this Christian life made sense to me. Through it, I understood the realness of this life. I also understood, having surrendered my life completely, with no conditions and no reservations, few months back meant that I stopped praying for this life to happen to me. Instead I moved in to claim it through believing so that I could become part of it. Through reading Tozer’s book it felt as if my Christian life thus far was like I was holding onto half a dozen pieces of a puzzle, then someone came and said here is the box with all the other pieces. When I opened the box to put the half a dozen pieces I was holding onto, I found the puzzle was so big with millions of pieces. While the half a dozen pieces I was holding onto were important to complete the puzzle, but I would have never known what this puzzle was about with my few pieces.

You would make a mistake to think that this is no longer Salvation by grace. Because while I was sitting in the pews, learning to put into practice some sort of man made Christianity, I had never heard a sermon on surrendering to God, I had no idea that Christians could surrender to God either. I knew nothing of God, yet He stirred my heart. He provoked something in me that demanded an answer. In fact, I was so far from Him that even His stirring seemed unreal.  What God provoked in me was so faint I was still looking for help to understand, so, I talked to pastors and elders. In every case I was dismissed. Only one of the elder dared to say something and it would have been better not to have said anything at all because the answer I received was to make fun of me with my surrendering idea.

When I share with you how spiritually blinded people in my Church was and how stupid I was, I do not do it because I take pleasure in it. Not that I want to belittle people that I love dearly. I share because it is not about me or them. I top the cake when it comes to stupidity. In fact, when I examine myself and see how deep I was in my stupidity, and how deep the depth of my spiritual darkness was, I cannot help but being grateful that He got hold of me in spite of me. When God delivers us from certain situations, He intends for us to share the blessings. At the end of the day, it is not about me or the ego of the leaders of the Church I used to attend. It is about Him!

Through going with Him and living my life in Him, I have learned, each step I took in surrender, claiming the holy life to make it my own, claiming oneness with Him, learning to be a disciple, beholding the truth, grow in spiritual maturity etc, are all One Blessed  Continuous String of Grace. All the after effect of Salvation that I have received and continue to receive from Him, are the product of the work Christ has done on the cross. I was not aware of them, nor that I knew how to get anyone of these blessings to be inwardly mine. When we say “the old has passed away and behold everything new” this newness of life is deeper than we can possibly imagine and it continues daily throughout our earthly pilgrimage. 

Beloved, at one point, we have to stop praying this life in us, stop hiding behind excuses, stop blaming our leaders, and stop trying to corner God to make Salvation fit into our neat little boxes. I can tell you without a doubt that God will not hold our religions against us. But, He will certainly hold against us the fact that we have not found Him was not His fault but our sins of pride, stubbornness and laziness.  BELIEVE! This is the difference between the first “follow me” Christ said to Peter in Mathew 4:19 and the other “follow Me” in John 21:19. You cannot deny that Peter had become a new man to the point He was given to the Master completely and followed boldly His footsteps with no fear for his own life. He was not perfect, but work in progress.

It is all Salvation by grace through faith. We are saved! We are being saved! We will be saved! Oh! The beauty of it all. – I cannot wait to see Him!

The Life & Power to Follow!

I was reading this devotion today and I realize I ought to include it in today's post for various reasons. If you are a true Christian stucked in a rut never knowing the power of true Christianity, trying to guess whether you are holy or not, wondering why some people seems to talk about things that beyond your understanding. You need to read an Oswald Chambers devotion today with special attention. If you do not feel the Spirit talking to you, then put it aside and keep coming back to it until you are convicted.

The second “follow me” is brutal, it is painful, it is real, it is for all of us Christians and brings power, spirituality, authority and spiritual maturity. In short, it transforms us. It is the narrow gate that separates mediocre Christians strong in lip service and those prepared for heaven’s businesses.

 Once you read it, pray that God would help you see when He brings you to this point of the second follow me through the circumstances in your life, you do not miss out on it. In your prayer ask Him to give you strength and the courage to choose Him inspite of the uncertainties and the pain of choosing to go with Him. Remember, within a few months only Peter was transformed from a man who could not own up to the simple fact that he was his follower before the rooster crowed three times (Mark 14:66-72) to a man with boldness and with no fear for his life after Christ ascended into heaven.

Be blessed and be a blessing to others around you!

In His Agape love,

M.J Andre

The Life of Power to Follow

Jan

05

2013

Jesus answered him, ’Where I am going you cannot follow Me now, but you shall follow Me afterward’ —John 13:36

“And when He had spoken this, He said to him, ’Follow Me’ ” (John 21:19). Three years earlier Jesus had said, “Follow Me” (Matthew 4:19), and Peter followed with no hesitation. The irresistible attraction of Jesus was upon him and he did not need the Holy Spirit to help him do it. Later he came to the place where he denied Jesus, and his heart broke. Then he received the Holy Spirit and Jesus said again, “Follow Me” (John 21:19). Now no one is in front of Peter except the Lord Jesus Christ. The first “Follow Me” was nothing mysterious; it was an external following. Jesus is now asking for an internal sacrifice and yielding (see John 21:18).

Between these two times Peter denied Jesus with oaths and curses (see Matthew 26:69-75). But then he came completely to the end of himself and all of his self-sufficiency. There was no part of himself he would ever rely on again. In his state of destitution, he was finally ready to receive all that the risen Lord had for him. “. . . He breathed on them, and said to them, ’Receive the Holy Spirit’ ” (John 20:22). No matter what changes God has performed in you, never rely on them. Build only on a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and on the Spirit He gives.

All our promises and resolutions end in denial because we have no power to accomplish them. When we come to the end of ourselves, not just mentally but completely, we are able to “receive the Holy Spirit.” “Receive the Holy Spirit “— the idea is that of invasion. There is now only One who directs the course of your life, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Courtesy of http://utmost.org/

The MEANS of religious growth - Part 5

The means of religious growth continued..... last of the series

Now I believe that no man will ever grow in grace who does not know something experimentally of the habit of communion. We must not be content with a general orthodox knowledge that Christ is the Mediator between God and man, and that justification is by faith and not by works, and that we put our trust in Christ. We must go further than this. We must seek to have personal intimacy with the Lord Jesus and to deal with Him as a man deals with a loving friend. We must realize what it is to turn to Him first in every need, to talk to Him about every difficulty, to consult Him about every step, to spread before Him all our sorrows, to get Him to share in all our joys, to do all as in His sight, and to go through every day leaning on and looking to Him. 

This is the way that Paul lived "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God." "To me to live is Christ" (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 1:21). It is ignorance of this way of living that makes so many see no beauty in the book of Canticles. But it is the man who lives in this way, who keeps up constant communion with Christ—this is the man, I say emphatically, whose soul will grow.

Although much more could be said on this weighty subject, let us now turn to some practical applications, keeping in mind its tremendous importance.

The School Of Obedience 

1. This text may fall into the hands of some who know nothing whatever about growth in grace. They have little or no concern about religion. A little proper Sunday church–going or chapel–going makes up the sum and substance of their Christianity. They are without spiritual life, and of course they cannot at present grow. Are you one of these people? If you are, you are in a pitiable condition.

Years are slipping away and time is flying. Graveyards are filling up and families are thinning. Death and judgment are getting nearer to us all. And yet you live like one asleep about your soul! What madness! What folly! What suicide can be worse than this?
Awake before it is too late; awake, and arise from the dead, and live to God. Turn to Him who is sitting at the right hand of God, to be your Savior and Friend. Turn to Christ, and cry mightily to Him about your soul. There is yet hope! He that called Lazarus from the grave is not changed. He that commanded the widow’s son at Nain to arise from his bier can do miracles yet for your soul. Seek Him at once: seek Christ, if you would not be lost forever. Do not stand still talking and meaning and intending and wishing and hoping. Seek Christ that you may live, and that living you may grow.

2. This text may fall into the hands of some who should know something of growth in grace but at present know nothing at all. They have made little or no progress since they were first converted. They seem to have "settled on their lees" (Zeph. 1:12). They go on from year to year content with old grace, old experience, old knowledge, old faith, old measure of attainment, old religious expressions, old set phrases. Like the Gibeonites, their bread is always moldy and their shoes are patched and clouted. They never appear to get on. Are you one of these people? If you are, you are living far below your privileges and responsibilities. It is high time to examine yourself.

If you have reason to hope that you are a true believer and yet do not grow in grace, there must be a fault, and a serious fault somewhere. It cannot be the will of God that your soul should stand still. "He gives more grace." He takes "pleasure in the prosperity of His servants" (James 4:6; Ps. 35:27). It cannot be for your own happiness or usefulness that your soul should stand still. Without growth you will never rejoice in the Lord (Phil. 4:4). Without growth you will never do good to others. Surely this want of growth is a serious matter! It should raise in you great searchings of heart. There must be some "secret thing" (Job 15:11). There must be some cause.

Take the advice I give you. Resolve this very day that you will find out the reason of your standstill condition. Probe with a faithful and firm hand every corner of your soul. Search from one end of the camp to the other, until you find out the Achan who is weakening your hands. Begin with an application to the Lord Jesus Christ, the great Physician of souls, and ask Him to heal the secret ailment within you, whatever it may be. Begin as if you had never applied to Him before, and ask for grace to cut off the right hand and pluck out the right eye. But never, never be content if your soul does not grow. For your peace’s sake, for your usefulness’ sake, for the honor of your Maker’s cause, resolve to find out the reason why.

3. This message may fall into the hands of some who are really growing in grace but are not aware of it and will not allow it. Their very growth is the reason why they do not see their growth! Their continual increase in humility prevents them feeling that they get on. Like Moses, when he came down from the mount from communing with God, their faces shine. And yet, like Moses, they are not aware of it (Ex. 34:29). Such Christians, I grant freely, are not common. But here and there such are to be found. Like angels’ visits, they are few and far between. Happy is the neighborhood where such growing Christians live! To meet them and see them and be in their company is like meeting and seeing a bit of "heaven upon earth."

Now what shall I say to such people? What can I say? What ought I to say? Shall I bid them awake to a consciousness of their own growth and be pleased with it? I will do nothing of the kind. Shall I tell them to plume themselves on their own attainments and look at their own superiority to others? God forbid! I will do nothing of the kind. To tell them such things would do them no good. To tell them such things, above all, would be a useless waste of time. If there is any one feature about a growing soul which specially marks him, it is his deep sense of his own unworthiness. 

Happy Holidays!

He never sees anything to be praised in himself. He only feels that he is an unprofitable servant and the chief of sinners. It is the righteous, in the picture of the judgment day, who say, "Lord, when saw we You an hungry, and fed You?" (Matt. 25:37). Extremes do indeed meet strangely sometimes. The conscience–hardened sinner and the eminent saint are in one respect singularly alike. Neither of them fully realizes his own condition. The one does not see his own sin, nor the other his own grace!
But shall I say nothing to growing Christians? Is there no word of counsel I can address to them? The sum and substance of all that I can say is to be found in two sentences "Go forward!" "Go on!"

We can never have too much humility, too much faith in Christ, too much holiness, too much spirituality of mind, too much charity, too much zeal in doing good to others. Then let us be continually forgetting the things behind, and reaching forth unto the things before (Phil. 3:13). The best of Christians in these matters is infinitely below the perfect pattern of his Lord. Whatever the world may please to say, we may be sure there is no danger of any of us becoming "too good."

Let us cast to the winds as idle talk the common notion that it is possible to be "extreme" and go "too far" in religion. This is a favorite lie of the devil and one which he circulates with vast industry. No doubt there are enthusiasts and fanatics to be found who bring an evil report upon Christianity by their extravagances and follies. But if anyone means to say that a mortal man can be too humble, too charitable, too holy or too diligent in doing good, he must either be an infidel or a fool. In serving pleasure and money, it is easy to go too far. But in following the things which make up true religion and in serving Christ, there can be no extreme.

Let us never measure our religion by that of others and think we are doing enough if we have gone beyond our neighbors. This is another snare of the devil. Let us mind our own business. "What is that to you?" said our Master on a certain occasion, "Follow you Me" (John 21:22). Let us follow on, aiming at nothing short of perfection. Let us follow on, making Christ’s life and character our only pattern and example. Let us follow on, remembering daily that at our best we are miserable sinners. Let us follow on, and never forget that it signifies nothing whether we are better than others or not. At our very best we are far worse than we ought to be. 

There will always be room for improvement in us. We shall be debtors to Christ’s mercy and grace to the very last. Then let us leave off looking at others and comparing ourselves with others. We shall find enough to do if we look at our own hearts. Last, but not least, if we know anything of growth in grace and desire to know more, let us not be surprised if we have to go through much trial and affliction in this world. I firmly believe it is the experience of nearly all the most eminent saints. Like their blessed Master, they have been men of sorrows, acquainted with grief, and perfected through sufferings (Isa. 53:3; Heb. 2:10). 

It is a striking saying of our Lord, "Every branch in Me that bears fruit [my Father] purges it, that it may bring forth more fruit" (John 15:2). It is a melancholy fact, that constant temporal prosperity, as a general rule, is injurious to a believer’s soul. We cannot stand it. Sicknesses and losses and crosses and anxieties and disappointments seem absolutely needful to keep us humble, watchful and spiritual–minded. They are as needful as the pruning knife to the vine and the refiner’s furnace to the gold. They are not pleasant to flesh and blood. We do not like them and often do not see their meaning. "No chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness" (Heb. 12:11). We shall find that all worked for our good when we reach heaven. 

Let these thoughts abide in our minds, if we love growth in grace. When days of darkness come upon us, let us not count it a strange thing. Rather let us remember that lessons are learned on such days, which would never have been learned in sunshine. Let us say to ourselves, "This also is for my profit, that I may be a partaker of God’s holiness. It is sent in love. I am in God’s best school. Correction is instruction. This is meant to make me grow."

I leave the subject of growth in grace here. I trust I have said enough to set some readers thinking about it. All things are growing older: the world is growing old; we ourselves are growing older. A few more summers, a few more winters, a few more sicknesses, a few more sorrows, a few more weddings, a few more funerals, a few more meetings and a few more partings, and then—what? Why, the grass will be growing over our graves!

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