Are you a spiritual person? I can't imagine anyone who would want to say no to that question. But what does it mean to be a spiritual person? Is it an openness to spiritual ideas? Is it a willingness to discuss deep subjects?
Those things may be true of spiritual people, but they are not what make us spiritual. What makes us spiritual, according to Jesus, is the Holy Spirit living in us! The Spirit is given to all who have experienced salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, at the time of our salvation (see Romans 8:1-11). But, the question is, do we have a role to play in our spiritual growth? The answer: Yes! Paul makes this absolutely clear in Galatians 5:25 when he writes, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Paul says, “Let us keep in step.” But how do you "keep in step with the Spirit"? That's what spiritual disciplines or spiritual habits are all about. Daily time in God’s Word and prayer, weekly time in worship with God’s people, fasting, serving, even simple obedience are all activities that help us to keep in step with the Spirit. At the beginning of a new year, it is natural to think of resolutions, changes we would like to make in our lives for the good. But of all the resolutions a Christian could make this new year, I am hard pressed to imagine any more significant than those which would effect greater spiritual growth. And foundational to all spiritual growth, subsequent to saving faith, is daily time in the Word and prayer. Do you have set apart time every day to be alone in His presence? Luke 5:16 tells us, "Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed." If Jesus needs regular, set apart time to be alone in the presence of the Father, so do we! This is certainly the place to start...meaningful set apart time each day to be in the Word and to pray. That time in the Word, at the start, may be fairly basic. Many churches, like ours, supply the "Our Daily Bread" booklet as a resource for daily time in the Word* (one which can also be found on-line). For more substantial time in the Word, it's great to always be reading through books of the Bible. The book of Mark is a great place to start, maybe a chapter or two a day. Bible study, digging deeper into individual passages, is also of immeasurable value to spiritual growth, especially when it culminates in sharing the fruits of your study with others in a Sunday School class or small group. Finally, one of the most powerful means of Bible intake is through the preached Word in a local gathering of God's people. Certainly, it is important that the Word that is preached is derived from the Bible itself! Yet equally important is the person in the pew...that they practice attentive, discerning listening and faithful church attendance which allows the Word to build upon itself from one week to the next. But whether in daily Bible reading or in weekly worship, regular intake of God's Word is as necessary to the nourishment of the soul as food is for the nourishment of the body. If the Bible is God's primary means of speaking to us, prayer is our primary means of responding back to Him. In truth, one of the most effective ways to grow a prayer life is by allowing meaningful time in the Word to be the launching point for our time of talking with God. Talking with God, in prayer, can be done silently, but it is so much more meaningful for daily prayer time when it is expressed either aloud, through the spoken word, or in writing, through the written word. To those who are so inclined, writing prayers in a prayer journal can be a great means of growing a prayer life. Of course, meaningful spiritual growth is meant to thrive in the context of committed, faithful worship together with God's people. As we read in Hebrews 10:25, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." What day is that? The day of the Lord's return. Jesus is coming back. In view of this glorious hope, may spiritual growth be priority for all of us in 2019!!! *Good devotional books are Scripture-saturated and drive us to actually open our Bibles!
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
June 2022
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