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The Path toward Maturity in Christ(Click on appropriate link
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31 Days
toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Day 1
IntroductionBeginning the Journey
You're being invited to take the journey of a lifetime! In fact, it’s intended to be a journey that will occupy the rest of your lifetime. The invitation comes from the One who made you, who knew before the creation of the universe that you’d be living your earthly lifetime here and now on planet Earth. It's the journey of becoming all you were meant to be!
Because God is spirit, it’s essentially a spiritual journey. This journey toward spiritual maturity isn’t complicated. It's not easy, but it's not very difficult to plot out. We're going to describe this journey as a road made of five layers. Most good roads have several layers; you've seen those layers as you drive along the interstate, watching another lane being built or re-built. Let's look at those five layers.
ACCEPTANCE — God meets us where we are, loving us in spite of ourselves. He shows us His grace and mercy, being willing to forgive our sins. All we have to do is accept His willingness to accept us! He comes to meet us! MEETING CHRIST is the first step in our journey toward spiritual maturity.
CALLING — We each have a calling in life: to follow Christ and His will for our lives. He wants us to give Him leadership of our lives. We’re meant to live for Him! FOLLOWING CHRIST is the second step in our journey toward spiritual maturity.
DISCOVERY — We must be willing to take directions while we’re on God's journey for us. We’re supposed to be teachable! We must make a commitment to learn about God and His ways and to read His Word: the Bible. LEARNING FROM CHRIST is the third step in our journey toward spiritual maturity.
TRANSFORMATION — We can't stay where we are if we want to be on the journey that God has planned for us. We must be willing to change, to move on, to become more who He wants us to be! Christ invites us to draw near Him, becoming more and more like Him. BECOMING LIKE CHRIST is the fourth step in our journey toward spiritual maturity.
INFLUENCE — We’re meant to live for Christ, carrying out His purposes for us. We’re called to influence the world around us the way He would if He were personally present. He seeks to work through us! SERVING WITH CHRIST is the fifth step in our journey toward spiritual maturity.
We’ll spend five days focusing on each level of the road, then an additional five days pulling it all together. Let's begin the journey! “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” (Psalm 84:5)
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Meeting Christ
Day 2
Accepting That We're Accepted
We all yearn to be accepted; we try hard to fit in. We like to wear clothes that are at least somewhat in style. When we walk into a room of people we hope that someone notices us and comes over to talk to us. We try to hide our weaknesses, and we're tempted to pretend that we're better than we are. We do all of this out of a deep need to be accepted.
The good news (and that's literally what the word “gospel” means) is that God accepts us where we are and loves us as we are! The historical record of Jesus states, “While Jesus was having dinner at Levi's house, many tax collectors and 'sinners' were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.” (Mark 2:15) Jesus didn't mind associating with those whom most people would consider not worthy of being in the presence of a holy man. In fact, Jesus' opponents, the religious leaders of His day, criticized Him for being “a friend of tax collectors [much hated in those days] and 'sinners.'” (Luke 7:34)
Christ loves us in spite of ourselves! He shows us grace and mercy, forgiving us for our sins through what He did for us on His cross. The apostle Paul commented on what Christ has done for you and me: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:6-8)
The first of the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous states, “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol . . . .” The road to recovery for an alcoholic begins with a first step: admitting powerlessness in the face of alcoholism. The journey to God's best for us — the journey toward maturity in Christ — begins with acknowledging that we’re powerless to do anything by ourselves. We can't go to God; He has to first come to us. Are we willing to accept the fact that He’s willing to accept us?
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Meeting ChristDay 3
Jesus Finds His Disciples
Jesus went hunting for His disciples. He didn't wait for them to find Him; He went to them. In one instance He found four of the twelve at one time; they were fishermen. He found them along the lakeshore, mending their nets. They were two sets of brothers: Peter and Andrew, and James and John. Apparently they had some kind of fishing partnership. The crowd following Jesus was large, and pressing Him. He needed to get some distance so they could all see and hear Him, so He climbed into one of the boats belonging to the foursome and asked Peter (here called Simon) to push out into the lake. From this vantage point Jesus delivered His message.
When Jesus finished He said to Peter, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” (Luke 5:4) A carpenter turned itinerant preacher was giving instructions about fishing to a professional fisherman! Peter replied, “Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” (Luke 5:5) They had fished during the best time to fish and had caught nothing. Now Jesus was suggesting that they go fishing at the worst time possible. Nevertheless, Peter humored Jesus. The result was a catch of fish so big that their nets nearly broke! Peter and Andrew signaled for James and John to bring their boat to help bring the catch to shore.
Here was a miracle specifically designed for its recipients: a fish miracle for fishermen. The historical record states, “When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus' knees and said, 'Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’” (Luke 5:8) He knew that he wasn’t worthy to be in the company of such a holy person. However, Jesus wasn’t so easily put off. He replied, “Don't be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” (Luke 5:10) In other words, Jesus had plans for Peter!
Peter felt unworthy to be around Jesus, let alone be of use to Him. Jesus met Peter, Andrew, James, and John where they were; He also meets us where we are. He doesn’t meet us where we ought to be; He meets us where He finds us!
Today the term “spiritual seeker” is popular. It's accurate in that it's descriptive of how people feel: they're in search of spiritual truth and a deeper spiritual reality. It's inaccurate in that God is always seeking us out; He's the ultimate spiritual seeker! On another occasion Jesus said to His disciples — and I believe that what He said is meant for us as well — “You did not choose me, but I chose you . . . .” (John 15:16)
It's appropriate that a net is the image that represents what we're grappling with in this message. A fish doesn’t find the net; the net finds the fish! We don't look for and take hold of God; God “nets” us!
Recently when I was shaking hands with people as they left a worship service, a man said to me, “I'm so glad Christ found me!” I commented, “Most people say they found Christ. You have it right: He finds us!” Are we willing to be found?
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Meeting ChristDay 4
Accepted by God's Grace
When we talk about Christ’s accepting us, we shouldn't misunderstand and assume that He finds us acceptable! In reality we’re sinful people and are inherently unacceptable to such a holy God. The Bible states this clearly: “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23). Fortunately, the statement doesn’t end there. The text continues, “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Romans 3:24) God finds us acceptable only because He paid the price and penalty for our sinful, fallen nature by having His own Son Jesus take the fall for us.
One of the most wonderful words in the Bible is “grace,” which literally means “unmerited favor.” God shows us His favor, which we don't deserve: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourself, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)
Down deep, we all want to feel that we earn what we’re given. When it comes to being right with God, however, there’s no way to earn our salvation. Sometimes people will say, “I hope I'm good enough to be accepted by God, to go to heaven someday.” The fact is that no one is ever “good enough” to be acceptable to God! No amount of going to church, doing random acts of kindness, or effort on our part will make us right with God. Don't misunderstand; these things are good to do, but they're not good enough to make us right with God. It's only by His grace, expressed through what He did in Jesus on the cross for us, that we’re acceptable to Him.
This means that no amount of religious ritual or any amount of following some set of rules will ever make us right with God. We can't earn our way into God's good graces. We simply have to depend on His grace!
Most of us have traveled stormy winter highways and have seen vehicles in the ditch. They're unable to get themselves unstuck; they need a tow truck. In and of themselves those drivers are helpless in their situation. No amount of rocking back and forth or spinning of tires will help. They need outside help; they need to be rescued.
We need rescuing, too! We're stuck in our sinfulness, and we need help from outside ourselves: we need Christ. Jesus said, referring to Himself as the Son of Man, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” (Luke 19:10) Christ, as our Savior, is willing to rescue us. Are we willing to be rescued?
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Meeting Christ
Day 5
Jesus: the Only Way
Some things are just the way they are, even if someone wishes that they were different. Such is the case when it comes to finding a way to God. There's only one way to God — and Jesus is it! As humor writer Dave Barry is fond of saying, “I am not making this up!”
We live in a pluralistic age (actually, I think that every age has had multiple belief systems; it's just that with our increased communication we're now much more aware of diversity). If there's one common belief, it's that it doesn't matter what you believe as long as you're sincere. A sobering truth, however, is that in the real world you can be sincerely wrong! The fact is that not all religions can be equally right. People believe differently about what happens after death, and those beliefs can't all be right. Atheists believe that we cease to exist; Hindus believe that we're reincarnated. Some people believe in heaven but don't believe in hell, and some people believe in both. All of them can’t be right, because those are mutually exclusive views.
Following different religious founders/leaders can't be equally right. Let's cut to the chase: Jesus claimed to be the totally unique, pre-existent — living eternally before being born as a baby in a stable in Bethlehem — Son of God: “'I tell you the truth,' Jesus answered, 'before Abraham was born, I am!'” (John 8:58) Jesus also said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.” (John 14:6-7) Either Jesus is the unique Son of God or He isn’t, in which case He was either lying or was a legend in His own mind!
The apostle Peter knew Jesus very well, having lived with Him for three years. Peter made a bold statement in a speech he delivered in Jerusalem after Jesus' ascension to heaven: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) The apostle Paul made much the same statement in a letter he wrote to a young man named Timothy: “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men — . . .” (1 Timothy 2:5-6a) If we want to be connected to God, now and forever, Jesus is the way!
While I was watching the movie The Passion of Christ I tried to absorb what it must have been like for Jesus to be nearly beaten to a pulp and then crucified. I realized that if there were many other ways to God, Jesus wouldn’t have put Himself through all of that; He could have just suggested that people take some other way, through another religion or through following religious ritual or a set of rules and regulations. Jesus did what He did because there was no other way for us to get right with God. Are we willing to accept Him as our one and only Savior?
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Meeting Christ
Day 6
Helping Others Meet Christ
The good news — that God has come to us and that He accepts us through what He had Jesus do for us — is too good to keep to ourselves! Imagine that you were at a convention where everyone came down with food poisoning and was going to die. Imagine that you happened to drink a beverage from the vending machine that, amazingly, was the perfect antidote. Wouldn’t you make a great effort to convince everyone else of your find? Wouldn’t you be morally obligated to do so? You might face some resistance by those who weren’t convinced: “You're so narrow-minded,” some people might say; “You think you have the only way to get well.” However, if you knew that you had come upon the only way for people to get well, wouldn’t you continue to try to convince them? You wouldn't cram it down their throats; you'd respect their right to reject the truth, but you’d do your best to convince them.
This is what we’re compelled to do with Jesus! If He’s truly the way to God, as individuals and as a church one of our major goals should be to convince others to turn to Him.
It's not that followers of Jesus think we’re any better or smarter than anyone else. As someone has said, we're just one beggar telling another beggar where to find food.
Remember the story about Jesus’ coming to Simon Peter, his brother Andrew, and their two fishermen friends and doing the miracle of the big catch of fish for them? That wasn’t the first time that Peter met Jesus. His brother Andrew had encountered Jesus on a previous occasion and had spent the day with Him. We read, “The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, 'We have found the Messiah (that is the Christ).’ And he brought him to Jesus.” (John 1:41-42) Just as Jesus has come to us, sometimes through the witness of someone else, we can be used to bring Him to others!
The apostle Paul declared, “We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though Christ were making his appeal through us. . . .” (2 Corinthians 5:20) Jesus often talked about bringing His kingdom into this world. We even pray His prayer: “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” An ambassador is a person of one kingdom or nation who’s a representative in another country or kingdom. We’re part of God's kingdom in this fallen world, and we’re supposed to be ambassadors for Christ here. It was said of Andrew, Peter's brother, “And he brought him to Jesus.” Are we willing to bring people to Jesus?
The first step on our spiritual journey isn’t actually a step that we take. We simply ACCEPT. We need to accept what Christ has done for us. He comes to us to save us; He wants to be our Savior. He comes to us, meeting us where we are. Meeting Christ — accepting the fact that we can be accepted by Him — is the only way to begin our spiritual journey. We must be willing to be found by Him so that we can begin the journey with Him from where we are, and we’re supposed to help other people do the same thing!
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Following Christ
Day 7
The Call to Follow Christ
Did you know that you have a calling? Not only did God know before He brought the universe into existence that you would exist now, He knew who He wanted you to be and what He wanted you to do! You have a calling placed on your life!
If you study the lives of Jesus' original disciples, you’ll see that they were called. Jesus took the business of calling them so seriously that He stayed up all night praying before He called them the next day: “One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles:” (Luke 6:12-13). The gospel writer Luke recorded five incidents when Jesus said to someone, “Follow me.” (Luke 5:27, 9:23, 9:59, 14:27, 18:22)
Jesus extends the same call to us. The primary emphasis of our calling in life is to follow Jesus Christ. Following someone means that you can't go where you want to go; you go where the one you're following wants to go. “Follow me,” someone says to us when we don't know how to get to a certain destination. We follow the other person's car closely, trying to get through on the same green traffic lights that he gets through, turning left or right when he does. We don't go where we want to go; we go where our friend is going.
Following Jesus means that we seek to live His way instead of following our own whims and desires. This is the way of discipleship. We decide to live exclusively for Him: not for ourselves, not for others, and not for any other cause.
There used to be a popular bumper sticker that read, “God is my co-pilot.” I’m sure that it was dreamed up by someone with good intentions. However, more and more people have come to realize that it should read, “I am God's co-pilot!” Being a Christian is more than inviting the Lord into our lives so that we can have His help and benefit, though He offers that, too. Being Christians means that we accept His invitation to follow Him, fulfilling His call upon our lives. He should have lordship over our lives. We’re supposed to live with the attitude that Jesus Himself had in relationship to His Heavenly Father, which was expressed in His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane. It should be our prayer to Jesus even as it was His prayer to the Father: “yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42)
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Following Christ
Day 8
The Gratitude of Following Christ
One of the best motivations for doing anything is gratitude. We can do something out of a sense of obligation or duty, under threat, or for payment. Doing something out of a sense of gratitude, however, is one of the most powerful — and certainly pleasant — reasons to be motivated.
One of the primary reasons for following Christ is gratitude to Him. There was a time early in His relationship with four of His twelve disciples when He went out in one of their fishing boats with them. It was Jesus' suggestion to go out, though it was not by a professional fisherman's estimation the best time to fish. Miraculously, the disciples' net was filled with fish! How did the disciples respond to Jesus' gracious, miraculous acting in their lives? “So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.” (Luke 5:11) It was at least partly out of gratitude that those four men followed Him.
We've identified the first step of our journey toward spiritual maturity in Christ as ACCEPTANCE. In Meeting Christ we find Him to be full of grace and mercy and eagerly willing to forgive us, accepting us as He finds us! Gratitude should well up within us when we come to realize this profound truth. Why would we not want to follow Him after all He's done for us by loving us and forgiving us?
The apostle Paul wrote, “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again.” (2 Corinthians 5:15) If He died for me, I should live for Him out of the deepest, most profound sense of gratitude!
The apostle John, one of the twelve disciples who spent three years following Jesus, later wrote, “This is love for God: to obey his commands.” (1 John 5:3) How can you love someone and not want to do what would please that person? Our obedience to Jesus should be due to the fact that we really love Him. Because we love Him, we should want to show Him our love by wanting to please Him and serve Him.
The apostle Paul put it this way: “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — . . .” (Romans 12:1) In view of the mercy, acceptance, forgiveness, and love we experience in Meeting Christ, we should sacrifice living our way and instead live Christ's way, thus pleasing Him! Follow Him out of gratitude for all you mean to Him and all that He's done for you!
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Following Christ
Day 9
The Cost of Following Christ
Following Jesus doesn’t come without a price! Establishing a relationship with Christ costs us nothing, because He paid the price for our free gift of forgiveness. However, living a life of gratitude toward Him will cost us something.
Jesus put the cost of our call in the most vivid image possible during His own time. Executions were very public then. The Romans made a person carry the crossbeam of his own cross and then hung the person on his cross until he was dead. When Jesus spoke the following words about His own death on a cross, His listeners didn’t know that He would be crucified. However, they certainly understood the level of cost involved in following Him: “Then he said to them all: 'If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.'” (Luke 9:23) Later Jesus stated, “And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:27)
The great German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed in a Nazi concentration camp by hanging for being obedient to Christ's call on his life. Amazingly, he had written a book which is now a Christian classic called The Cost of Discipleship. In it he stated, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” (p. 99)
This means that we don't say “It's my life,” because it's not: it's Christ's. We don't say “It's my money,” because it's not: it's Christ's. We don't say “I've have to look out for myself first,” because we've made a commitment to look out for Christ’s best interests first. This is very different from the way we normally look at life!
Jesus stands in stark contrast to the world around us, like light in darkness. When we decide to follow Him we’ll find that we, too, must live in contrast to the world, like light in darkness. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) The apostle Paul admonished us, “For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the world. Live as children of light.” (Ephesians 5:8)
The fallen world, however, isn’t just around us; it’s in us, too! This is why we must practice self-denial. As the apostle Paul put it, it’s dying to self: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) Following Christ means that we won’t be able to follow our own desires or the ways of the world. That’s the price we must pay for following Him.
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Following Christ
Day 10
The Benefits of Following Christ
Whenever we talk about what's involved in pursuing a certain course of action, we want to know the costs and benefits. We've considered some of the costs of following Christ; what about the benefits?
Jesus put it this way: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.” (Luke 9:23-24a) Life is sort of like grasping a handful of sand: the tighter you grasp it, the more quickly it seems to flow from your grasp. Ironically, people who try to hold on to their own lives — who try to control things themselves and try to look out for their own best interests first — end up on the short end of things. Jesus, in essence, is saying that when we look out for Him first, He looks out for us. When we give our lives to Him, He gives us our lives back — and in fact we get back more than we give.
Here's an object lesson I've used in the past. I take a container, an assortment of small rocks, and one larger rock. First I pour all of the small rocks into the container and then I try to fit the large rock in — but it doesn't fit because there's not enough room for it. Then I dump out all the rocks and start over again. This time I put in the big rock FIRST and then I pour in the smaller rocks. Amazingly, all the rocks fit — and most important, the big rock is in there, too! My point is that when you start with all of the other aspects of life, focusing on them first and giving them most of your time and effort, there's very little room for Christ. However, if you put Christ first in your life, there will be room for everything that there should be room for!
Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) Christ loves us and wants the best for us. Yielding our lives to His control is ultimately not a sacrifice, because He has our best interests at heart.
When we take a commercial flight we don't insist on flying the plane ourselves, though we paid a hefty price for the ticket! We leave the complex flying of the aircraft to the pilot. When we give control to him we can fly safely, because he knows how to fly the plane and we don't. God has made us and our lives, and He knows far better than we do how our lives should be lived! That’s why we should give control to Him.
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Following Christ
Day 11
The New Perspective of Following Christ
Life takes on a whole new perspective when you believe that you’re called! Seeing your life as a calling from God is the best way to live. Life is best when you live for something bigger than yourself — and there’s nothing bigger than God! The apostle Paul described this new perspective on how to live: “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” (1 Corinthians 10:31)
Imagine a child playing on a playground, out on the little league field, or on stage at a music or dance recital with his parents watching. As the child plays or performs, he often glances toward his watching parents. How different it would be, how much less meaningful and enjoyable for the child, if the parents weren’t there! In a real sense the child is doing whatever he’s doing for his parents’ benefit. This is the perspective we should have toward life: we’re “playing” our lives to an audience of One! We want to live to please Him.
Sometimes “practicing the presence” of God means that we know He's watching when we're tempted to live in a way that would displease Him. This awareness of His watchful eye is good! It’s often for the better that we don't do things the way our passions, appetites, and fallen nature would lead us. We think it’s a big price to pay to do what He wants — or to not do what He doesn't want us to do — but ultimately it’s more costly to do things our way instead of His way!
Following Christ is a daily, ongoing experience. It should color the way we view everything and do everything.
In the Toledo Blade newspaper there's a regular column in which various people are asked what book they're reading. Jim Spengler, the director of the Metroparks of Toledo, was recently featured in the column. He said that he was reading When the Game Is Over, It All Goes Back in the Box, by John Ortberg. He described how Ortberg used the example of the game of Monopoly and how, when the game is over, all the pieces, including the properties and money, are put back into the box. Spengler said, “This is contrasted with the game of life, where we often misplace our values on property, possessions, and positions. The most important point of life is how you better the lives of those around you and your relationship with God.” (The Blade, January 6, 2008)
Jesus Christ invented the game called LIFE. We’re wise if we follow His way of playing the game!
We experience God's gift of acceptance and forgiveness when we’re truly open to Meeting Christ. However, we can't stop at meeting Him; we must accept His call to follow Him!
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Learning from Christ
Day 12
We Need Spiritual Input
Short Circuit was a cute movie released in 1986 which starred an endearing robot named Unit #5. By some freak accident Unit #5 became conscious and self-aware. He delighted in being alive and had a hunger to learn. He kept saying, “I need more input.” He'd fan the pages of a book, speed-reading it in a matter of seconds. He was new to life, and he knew he had much to learn.
When we let ourselves be found and forgiven by Jesus Christ and we accept His invitation to follow Him (the first two phases of spiritual growth that we've just covered), we enter a life with Christ. We’re alive as we've never been alive before! Unlike Unit #5, we’re more than self-aware: we’re God-aware! In this new life with Christ we need more input from Him.
If we’re going to follow Christ, we must learn all about Him: the way He works, His purposes, and His will for us. We should never be satisfied with what we know or understand. The fact is that we can never know enough!
If we were to take a serious interest in a sport or hobby that we hadn’t previously been involved with, we’d automatically assume that we needed to learn some things about it. We'd realize that we couldn't be satisfied with knowing just a little bit.
When I purchase a complex piece of electronic equipment such as a video camera, I consult the owner's manual. (As a man I don't like to confess to consulting the owner's manual, but I do. I've learned through painful experience that it’s a wise thing for me to do!)
The Bible has been called God's instruction book, and so it is. It could also be described as the manual we’re given by the creator of all life about how our lives are supposed to function. We should be willing to say to the Lord, “I need input; I need more input!”
If we’re going to journey with Christ through life we should be open to taking directions from Him. We need to let Him lead the way, and we’re going to have to be open to His input if that's going to happen! “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Learning from Christ
Day 13
Input for a Man Named John
We've all found ourselves in frustrating, difficult, painful, or confusing circumstances. I doubt, however, that we’ve had things as difficult as John did. John was known as John the Baptizer; we call him John the Baptist. He was the forerunner of Jesus, pointing Jesus out to people as the Messiah. However, there came a day when John had doubts. He was imprisoned for saying what God wanted him to say as a prophet. In fact, he knew that there was a good chance that he’d be executed, which is what eventually happened to him. Sitting in the dark, damp dungeon, he apparently began to question whether Jesus was indeed the Messiah. He sent a couple of his disciples to ask Jesus point-blank if He really was the Messiah.
Jesus answered, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me.” (Luke 7:22-23)
Jesus told John's followers to go back and report on what they'd seen Him do and what they'd heard Him preach. John would know that Jesus was asking him to recall all he read in the holy Scriptures (our Old Testament) about what the Messiah was to say and do. Jesus' self-description made obvious allusions to prophecies, particularly those of Isaiah. John's knowledge of the Scriptures should have confirmed to him that Jesus was the Messiah.
This is a great example of how important knowledge can be. John the Baptist was to find confidence and comfort in what he knew about the Messiah from Scripture and from what he knew about Jesus from observation.
You and I probably won't find ourselves in a dungeon, but life's a challenge nonetheless. Trying to live right — trying to live the way our Lord wants us to — is no easy task. We need more than good intentions: we need to know what we should think, do, and say. God hasn’t left us without direction on this journey of life!
It was Jesus' intention that John the Baptist would find help from what he knew. It was good that he knew so much of God's Word! We’d do well to follow John's example. The fact is that we all can still learn a lot about God and His ways!
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Learning from Christ
Day 14
Directions for the Journey
God can give us directions for our journey toward spiritual maturity. There are five general ways that He does it.
Creation: God reveals Himself through creation. This is called general revelation because it’s not specific. “For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” (Romans 1:20) We can learn some things about God and His ways from His creation, though this has its limits.
Circumstances: God sometimes guides us by opening some doors of opportunity and closing others. While he was on one of his missionary journeys, the apostle Paul had a change of plans forced on him by changing circumstances: “Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.” (Acts 20:3b) Sometimes when circumstances are beyond our control, God is using those circumstances to guide and control us.
People: God can speak through the example or words of other people. Sometimes He even speaks to us through their wrong actions or words! The words of others that God uses can be encouraging, affirming, or wise counsel; other times they may be criticism that we’re supposed to hear. The apostle Paul wrote about the time he was used by the Lord to speak such words to the apostle Peter: “When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong.” (Galatians 2:11)
The Holy Spirit: The Lord also gives us input and guides us through the inner prompting of the Holy Spirit. We may feel a tug pulling us a certain way or a sense of being checked that gives us pause about pursuing a certain course of action. We may feel convinced or convicted by the Holy Spirit. It was said of Jesus that He was “led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil.” (Matthew 4:1)
The Bible: The Bible contains many examples and stories of God's working in this world, much teaching about how to live, and prayers that can be a guide to our own praying: “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17) Of the five ways that God gives us input, the Bible is the most specific and detailed.
On this journey toward spiritual maturity God provides us with needed direction. We aren't really in control of creation, circumstances, people, or the Holy Spirit, but we are in control of how much we open ourselves up to input from God's Word through our reading and study of it.
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Learning from Christ
Day 15
Directions That Are True
How do we know that the Bible is true and that it really speaks God's Word to us? Let me share with you why I have supreme confidence that the Bible is God's true Word.
Most people would agree that what Jesus taught was true. We have no good reason to doubt the gospel accounts of what Jesus said and did. The authors reported that they wrote with the intention of being historically accurate. Luke wrote, “I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account . . .” (Luke 1:3) The apostle Peter wrote, “We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.” (2 Peter 1:16) The New Testament writers were clear in their insistence that they stuck to historical facts when they spoke or wrote about Jesus.
What did they record that Jesus taught about Scripture? First, we have a record that Jesus believed that the Old Testament (which He knew as the Hebrew Scriptures) was God's Word. Each of the three times Jesus was tempted, He said, “It is written.” (Matthew 4:4,7,10) He considered the Hebrew Scriptures to be authoritative.
Second, Jesus said that His own words were from God the Father. On one occasion Jesus prayed to the Father, “For I gave them the words you gave me . . .” (John 17:8a) He also indicated that His followers would be able to accurately recall His words through the Holy Spirit's working. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit “will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26) This authenticates the four gospels as being accurate.
Third, Jesus authenticated the rest of the New Testament that would be written by the apostles. Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would build and add to the teaching He had given them: “I have much more to say to you, more than you
can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears and he will tell you what is yet to come.” (John 16:12-13)
There's no good reason to doubt the authenticity and truthfulness of the Bible. It offers the best input for direction on the journey toward becoming spiritually mature, becoming all that God intends us to be.
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Learning from Christ
Day 16
Enroll in the School of Discipleship
A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing! Just a little knowledge about golf won’t make you look like a pro on the golf course; you’ll look like a fool. Just a little knowledge about flying a plane will likely lead to a crash if you choose to pilot the aircraft yourself. Just a little knowledge about anything is almost never as good as having more knowledge about it!
There’s a temptation on the spiritual journey to neglect learning more. We can become satisfied with what we already know and understand. The apostle Paul warned the Christians at Corinth of this: “I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.” (1 Corinthians 3:2) Apparently the Christians to whom the author of Hebrews wrote had become complacent about learning and growing: “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food.” (Hebrews 5:12)
Picture a ten-year-old child still drinking milk from a bottle instead of eating solid food; something’s very wrong with that picture! We should be just as shocked and dismayed when we realize that we're not growing in our knowledge and understanding of the Lord.
The journey toward spiritual maturity requires that we be willing to learn! The word “disciple” means “student.” If we want to be disciples of Jesus Christ we must be His students, allowing Him to be our mentor.
This means that we need to take an active role as Jesus’ students. We should be involved in some kind of small group setting where we can have “study buddies” in God's Word. We ought to be reading our Bibles on our own. Pastor Bill Hybels said that we should be “self-feeding.” Too often people complain that they aren't being fed in their churches. Like any child who's outgrown a highchair, we ought to be feeding ourselves!
A good suggestion is to read just one section, under one bold heading (usually less than a chapter's worth) in our Bibles every day. After you read it, ask the Lord to help you see why He had you read that passage that day.
While I was visiting my mother recently I happened to pick up my late father’s Bible. In the back were the usual couple of blank pages — except that they were filled with his notes of favorite verses and comments about various Bible passages. He was a real student of the Word! I want to be the same. If you truly want to move along the road of spiritual maturity, I invite you to seek more and more input from God’s Word!
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Becoming like Christ
Day 17
From the Parking Lot to the Road
I recall an episode of the old Gunsmoke TV series. The story involved a preacher who dressed in black and was always preaching about righteousness. He also consistently wore a stern look on his face, as if he regularly used prune juice in his Communion services. He was a husband (and maybe a father, too; I don't remember). He treated his wife harshly, and it was quite a contrast. He was supposed to be a man of God — a preacher — yet he was making life miserable for his wife. What’s wrong with that picture? What’s wrong is that the preacher wasn’t very Christ-like. (Of course being Christ-like isn’t limited to preachers. We’re all meant to become more and more like Him!)
We start our spiritual journey rejoicing that we’re accepted as we are by Christ and forgiven by Him, if that's what we want. However, Christ doesn't want to leave us as He finds us!
Parking lots are meant for cars, but cars aren’t really meant for parking lots. Cars are meant for roads! People don't buy a car to leave it permanently parked; a car is meant to take you places. Our faith isn’t supposed to be a parking-lot faith; we’re supposed to take it on the road!
In the previous step we focused on how we’re to LEARN FROM CHRIST. However, we're not supposed to stop there: we’re to apply what we know. One day when Jesus was surrounded by people who were listening to Him, someone told Him that His mother and brothers wanted to see Him. Jesus used that as a teachable moment: He said, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice.” (Luke 8:21) In other words, the people Jesus is close to are those who are not only willing to hear what He says, they apply it to their lives.
The writer James in the New Testament used the analogy of looking in a mirror. Who looks in a mirror but then doesn't do anything to correct whatever doesn't look very good? James wrote, “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (James 1:22)
When we take God's instruction book — the Bible — seriously, we’ll find that it changes us to be more like the One whose book it is. The apostle Paul wrote about the Heavenly Father that we’re supposed “to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, . . .” (Romans 8:29) Ravi Zacharias, a best-selling Christian author and a defender of the Christian faith, wrote, “The ultimate calling upon the follower of Christ is to live a life reflecting who he is . . .” (Beyond Opinion, p. xii)
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Becoming like Christ
Day 18
Nine Characteristics of Being Christ-like
One Sunday I was greeting people after our traditional-style worship service. I was still in my robe when a little boy came up to me and asked, “Are you Jesus?” (I wish that it would only take a robe for me to be like Jesus; I'd wear one all the time!) What does it mean for us to be like Jesus — to be Christ-like? I suspect that the question could be answered a variety of ways, but there’s probably no better list of the characteristics Christ possessed — and that we should possess — than the fruit of the Spirit listed in Paul's letter to the Galatians: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23) Fruit is a good image to use to illustrate the transformation that should happen in our lives in BECOMING LIKE CHRIST.
Consider the nine expressions of the fruitfulness of His presence. Look at each one separately and think about how it makes us like Christ and how we should be exhibiting them in our lives as His followers.
LOVE: the person of love has the capacity to express unconditional concern for the best interests of others.
JOY: the person of joy has optimistic confidence that in every situation God has an agenda of ultimate good.
PEACE: the person of peace has the capacity to return good for evil and gives up the right to hold a grudge.
PATIENCE: the person of patience is willing to leave the timetable of change in the hands of God.
KINDNESS: the person of kindness treats others as if every day were their birthday.
GOODNESS: the person of goodness says and does that which brings a little bit of heaven into the lives of others.
FAITHFULNESS: the person of faithfulness remains unswervingly loyal to another person even when doing so results in personal cost.
GENTLENESS: the person of gentleness treats people with tenderness, knowing that personhood is fragile.
SELF-CONTROL: the person who possesses self-control looks within for the discipline and motivation to do what's right.
A story has often been told about a man who was rushing to catch a train. He inadvertently bumped into a fruit stand, spilling a neat pile of apples onto the ground. The young boy who operated the stand began to pick up the apples. The hurrying man stopped, returned to the mess he had created, and helped the boy pick up the apples, wiping each one off as he placed them back onto the table. When the apples had all been picked up, cleaned, and returned to their place, the boy asked, “Are you Jesus?” The man is reported to have replied, “No, but I'm trying to be like Him.”
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Becoming like Christ
Day 19
Spiritual Disciplines That Help
Not much gets done without some measure of discipline. You don't usually get a job done without being disciplined about doing some things that aren’t easy, fun, or immediately rewarding. You don't usually complete a long journey without the discipline of sticking to the right road and keeping on.
Being Jesus’ disciple requires discipline (note the similarity of the words). Throughout the history of people’s attempts to follow Jesus, there have been various disciplines identified which help that process: they're called spiritual disciplines. In Celebration of Discipline, his classic book on the spiritual disciplines, Richard Foster gives a suggested list: meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration.
We can’t simply “will” ourselves to be more like Jesus; we need God's help to be who God wants us to be! However, we can position ourselves to allow God to do His work of transformation in us. Foster wrote, “God has given us the disciplines of the spiritual life as a means of receiving His grace.” (Spiritual Disciplines, p.7)
You and I can’t make a garden grow; only God can do that. A gardener, however, has a crucial role to play. He digs up the soil, fertilizes it, plants the seeds, waters the garden regularly, and weeds it. God makes the garden grow, but a gardener has a part in it, too! Similarly, God's Holy Spirit brings to us the characteristics of Jesus that are to bear fruit in our lives, and we can help or hinder that process. We help the process along when we discipline ourselves to meditate, pray, fast, study, live simply, spend time alone with God, submit to Him and others, serve others, confess regularly, worship the Lord, seek guidance, and celebrate the blessings from God.
Becoming more like Christ is a choice. We can work with the Holy Spirit, cooperating with Him to become more like Christ, or we can resist Him. The apostle Paul wrote, playing off the imagery of the Holy Spirit being like fire, “Do not put out the Spirit's fire;” (1 Thessalonians 5:19). We can blow out a fire, and we can put out the Holy Spirit in our lives. In another place Paul stated the same thought in a positive way: “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” (Galatians 5:16)
The spiritual disciplines cause us to act in ways that are conducive to the Spirit’s working in our lives so that we become more like Jesus. Author Terry Wardle wrote, “He has given you the right to choose the level of involvement He is to have in your spiritual development.” (Outrageous Love, Transforming Power, p.85)
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Becoming like Christ
Day 20
Influenced by His Closeness
Jesus rubs off on us! When we seek to truly follow Him in obedience and to “practice the presence,” as Brother Lawrence put it, we’ll find ourselves being influenced in positive ways by Him. We’ll become more like Him!
After Jesus' ascension to heaven His disciples went around preaching and healing people. There's a historical notation in the book of Acts in the Bible about what other people observed and concluded about two of Jesus' disciples. It says, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (Acts 4:13) Those people found Peter and John to be amazing, yet they knew they were ordinary men. It was then that the people took note that Peter and John had been with Jesus. Jesus had “rubbed off” on them!
A little brother often follows his big brother around and tries to do whatever he does, trying to act the way his big brother acts. Christ is meant to be our “big brother,” and we’re supposed to follow Him, attempting to copy His behavior and to be like Him. We do this in a practical way by simply trying to remain conscious of Him as much of the time as we can. Brother Lawrence wrote, “At all times, every hour, every minute, even at my busiest times, I drove away from my mind everything that was capable of interrupting my thought of God.” (Devotional Classics, Richard Foster, p.82)
Consistent reflection on Christ can change us. The apostle Paul wrote, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Christ invites us to draw near to Him in the most personal of all relationships! True Christianity isn’t just a certain belief system, though it is that. Christianity isn’t just a set of rules, though there are things we say yes or no to when we seek to follow Christ instead of yielding to our own whims and wills. The basis of Christianity is Jesus Christ and our relationship to Him! The closer to Christ we seek to be, the more we’ll find ourselves influenced by Him and the more we’ll be like Him!
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Becoming like Christ
Day 21
Reflecting Christ Naturally
If we do a good deed for someone we really care about and we're thanked by that person, we respond, “Aw, it was nothing,” or “It was my pleasure,” or “I enjoyed doing it for you,” or “It was no trouble.” It wasn’t a duty; it was a delight.
BECOMING LIKE CHRIST isn’t easy; it takes sacrifice, work, and discipline. On the other hand, if we really come to the point where we love Christ, it’s no longer a duty; it’s a delight! The apostle John, who loved Jesus, wrote, “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, . . .” (1 John 5:3) The amazing truth of the Christian faith is that ultimately it’s not a burden or a sacrifice to want to be like Christ, because we love Him! His will becomes more and more our own will. This is hinted at in what Jesus told us about making prayer requests: “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.” (John 15:7) If we're really committed to Jesus and His Word, we're going to want what He wants. Our requests will essentially be the same requests that He’d make if He were in our situation — and of course He's going to grant those kinds of requests!
Dallas Willard, one of my favorite authors, is an expert on the subject of spirituality. He wrote, “The intention of God for each of us is that we should become the kind of person He can empower to do what we want.” (Preaching Today audio recording of an interview) That’s right: God wants us to be people who can do what we want, and that will happen when we become so much like Christ that we want what He wants!
Obedience to Christ is burdensome only when we keep insisting on having our own way when it’s clearly not His way for us. Our lives will be filled with many fewer personal hassles and much more joy and peace when our desire to be near Christ and to be like Him is greater than our desire for anything else! No wonder Jesus said, “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:30)
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Serving with Christ
Day 22
Serving Like Christ
What was Jesus like? I suppose that question could be answered in many ways, but there’s one description of Jesus that ranks at the top. Let's allow Jesus to tell us in His own words how He saw Himself: “But I am among you as one who serves.” (Luke 22:27). He said that He was a servant.
The previous level of the road to maturity involved BECOMING LIKE CHRIST. One of the key ways of becoming like Him takes us to the next level of the road toward spiritual maturity: we’re supposed to be servants, like He was.
Serving others is the key to success in the business world. “Service is our business” is the spoken or unspoken motto of many companies. Any business that provides bad service won’t be in business for long, and this is especially true of those companies called “service industries.” When we decide to follow Christ, we buy into His “company” called the Kingdom of God. It’s the ultimate service industry!
As important as serving is in order to be a success in business, and in life in general, it still isn’t a very attractive way for most people to live. People often want to exert power, to be in charge of other people. As followers of Jesus, we're not supposed to give in to this tendency. Jesus said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25)
No one in the history of humanity has had greater influence than Jesus. A significant factor in His incomparable influence is that He came to Earth to serve. If we want to be people of influence, we must be servants like He was.
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Serving with Christ
Day 23
Serving Jesus by Serving Others
Probably the best image to use to show what it means to serve others is a bowl with a towel. Jesus used a bowl of water and a towel to remind His first followers how important it was for them to serve each other — and other people, too — just as He served them.
Toward the end of Jesus' ministry on earth He shared the Last Supper with His disciples in what we call the upper room. It was a rented room, so there was no host, who normally fulfilled — or whose servant fulfilled — the social custom of washing the guests’ feet. In those days people wore sandals, and with the dusty roads, dirty feet were a constant problem.
None of the disciples jumped to the task, but Jesus did! The apostle John, who was there and wrote this account, stated that Jesus “got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples' feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.” (John 13:4-5) After He was finished He said to them, “Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” (John 13:14-15)
We’re supposed to serve others as Christ has served us! Obviously Jesus wasn't primarily referring to washing each other's feet; He meant that we should look for all kinds of opportunities and ways to serve the needs of the people He's placed around us.
Let me tell you how Katie and Joe, one of the young couples in our church, became engaged. Joe made sure that Katie's parents were with her. Katie was sitting on a couch, and Joe went up to her with a bowl of water and a towel. He asked her to marry him and then asked for permission to wash her feet. While he washed her feet, he quoted from memory Ephesians 5:25-30. Part of it reads, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.” (Ephesians 5:25-27)
Joe did two things in that unique proposal. First, he put all the rest of us men to shame: how can the way we proposed ever measure up to that? Second, and more seriously, Joe's washing of Katie's feet reminds us that we’re supposed to serve each of the people God puts around us, whether it’s a mate, a friend, a co-worker, a neighbor, a relative, or whoever!
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Serving with Christ
Day 24
The Cost of Serving
It costs something to serve people, because when we do that we're putting the wants and needs of others before our own wants and needs. Serving is a personal sacrifice. Jesus' role of servant was the ultimate example of this: He served us by dying on a cross for us! It cost Him everything.
Following Jesus means following His example: sacrificing for others. The apostle Paul wrote, “Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” (Philippians 2:4)
Serving is costly because we have to be willing to take risks. When you decide to serve others, you're putting yourself out on a limb. In fact, Jesus often required His first followers — His disciples — to do that.
Jesus sent out His twelve disciples, two by two, to the surrounding villages to preach His message. As if this wasn't a scary enough challenge, He said to them, “Take nothing for the journey – no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic.” (Luke 9:3) They were to depend on the hospitality of the people they spoke to for their needs to be met. Jesus certainly wasn’t going to allow them to remain in their comfort zone!
After the disciples returned from their speaking tour, they went with Jesus to an out-of-the-way place. The problem was that a huge crowd of people followed them! Late in the afternoon, after Jesus had preached and taught for most of the day, the disciples, who were probably exhausted from their own trips and from dealing with the crowd, said to Him, “Send the crowd away so they can go to the surrounding villages and countryside and find food and lodging, because we are in a remote place here.” (Luke 9:12)
Jesus replied, “You give them something to eat.” (Luke 9:13) Put yourself in the disciples’ place. There were about 5,000 men there; if you allow for a significant number of women and children, it's not improbable that the crowd totaled 9,000 people. (That's the number of people that can fit into Fifth Third Field here in Toledo to watch the Mud Hens play baseball!)
Of course they replied that there was no way that they could feed them. All they had was what they had observed one boy carrying: his own lunch, consisting of five small loaves of bread and two little dried fish. We'll finish this story later; suffice it to say now that Jesus calls us to serve others, and doing that is rarely going to be easy!
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Serving with Christ
Day 25
The Benefits of Serving Christ
We've looked at some of the costs of serving as Jesus served (self-sacrifice and risk-taking); what about the benefits? Because our Lord is a loving Lord, we can assume that anything He asks of us is ultimately going to be good for us.
Let's start with the very practical. Serving others is the best way to feel that our lives are significant. We can have a positive influence on the people we serve. We end up feeling needed, and sometimes (though not always) we’re appreciated. Billy Graham said that the smallest package is a person all wrapped up in himself. We can't expect people to reach out and care about us if we haven’t reached out and cared about them! We can't expect people to miss us when we're temporarily out of their lives if we weren't investing in their lives when we were with them. We can choose to make ourselves important to others. An adage says that to have a friend, you must be a friend, and one of the best ways that we show friendship is by serving.
However, the greatest benefit of being like Jesus and serving as He served is that it pleases Him! The ultimate reason that a follower of Jesus should serve others is that we serve Christ by serving them! The apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, “I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. . . . It is the Lord who judges me. . . . He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.” (1 Corinthians 4:3-5)
We can serve others in order to be liked by them or to have them think well of us; neither is the best motive! The best motive for serving others is that it pleases the One whom we seek to follow. We look forward to someday hearing from Jesus, “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (Matthew 25:21)
We’re useful to the Lord! We’re supposed to be His hands and feet, His smile, His very presence to the people who need Him — which includes everyone! We serve Him wherever He calls us and places us. We serve Him in His family, the church, by using our spiritual gifts designated in such passages as Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4. When we servants of the Lord serve Him by serving others, we have a positive influence in this world and we delight Him! That sense of personal significance can't be beaten!
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Serving with Christ
Day 26
The Help of Jesus
The wonderful thing about serving Christ is that it’s serving with Christ: we don't do it alone. As it has often been said, the Lord doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called!
Jesus’ sending His twelve disciples to preach and teach on His behalf must have been scary for them, especially since they were to take no provisions. However, Jesus didn't send them out empty-handed! “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.” (Luke 9:1-2) He provided them with the resources they needed to serve Him!
Jesus’ telling the disciples to feed the huge crowd was an impossible task from their point of view. However, Jesus only asked them to do two things. They were to organize the crowd: “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” (Luke 9:14) (They were to play maitre d’.) After He gave thanks for the five loaves and two fish, He had them hand out the food: “Then he gave them to the disciples to set before the people.” (Luke 9:16) (They were to be waiters.) The rest is famous history: the feeding of over five thousand people with a boy's lunch! Jesus did the miracle, with just a little assistance from the disciples. He works the same way today, calling us to do what seems difficult, if not impossible, in serving Him — and then He helps us do it!
Last summer while our mission group was in Mexico at Refuge Ranch, we gathered in a circle to pray. Julie and Victor need to add to the basement of the new house they’re building for orphans. The problem was that there was a small mountain of rock and dirt in the way. We prayed that the Lord would somehow move that mountain. I have to admit that as I prayed, part of my prayer was “Lord, I have faith, but help my lack of faith.” It seemed to be an impossible request.
Just a few weeks ago a mission group came from Pennsylvania. One member of that group was a man named Dave who owns his own earth-moving company. He made arrangements in Mexico with Volvo, a company that builds such equipment, to have two big machines brought on semi-trailers to Refuge Ranch. When he got there he used those two BIG machines to move that mountain! “. . . you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20-21)
We’re supposed to serve Christ. However, let's remember that He calls us to serve with Him — and that makes all the difference in the world!
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Living the Journey with Christ
Day 27
It’s Not a Place; It’s a Path
Most of life has a purpose. No matter what kind of job a person holds, the company or organization for which he works usually has a clearly-defined goal. A person working in a factory knows the purpose for being there: to turn out a product at the end of the production line that will be sold to a happy customer. A store wants to move products from the shelves and racks out the door with satisfied customers. The goal of a hospital is to make people well, moving the worst of the patients from critical condition to serious, then to fair, and then to good condition. The goal of a school is the education of its students, moving them through the grades.
In almost all of our endeavors there’s a clear path that everyone follows, and everything must be in place along that path. Why isn’t it the same with our Christian faith?
The historical account in the Gospel of Luke of Jesus’ walking with two of His disciples to the town of Emmaus illustrates, with powerful imagery, the idea that the Christian faith isn’t a place; it’s a path. It reminds us that we’re meant to be taking a walk with Jesus, going somewhere with Him.
After Jesus' resurrection from the dead, two of His followers were taking the seven-mile hike from Jerusalem to the village of Emmaus. They were despondent over the death of Jesus. They had heard rumors that some people had seen Him alive, but apparently they thought that they were just that: rumors.
The historical text says that “Jesus himself came up and walked along with them;” (Luke 24:15), but His followers didn't recognize Him. He began to ask them questions: “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” (Luke 24:17) They were amazed that the stranger hadn’t heard about what had happened to Jesus, so they explained it all. Then Jesus began talking to them about the Messiah, quoting from the beginning to the end of the Hebrew Scriptures (our Old Testament). He was invited to stay with them later that day, and when He broke the bread that they were going to eat they immediately recognized who He was. Then Jesus disappeared from them, and they rushed the seven miles back to Jerusalem to tell the others that they had just been with Jesus. Their lives were changed forever!
In a sense, we're all meant to be on an ongoing Emmaus walk, moving ahead in our faith in Christ. Our faith in Christ isn’t supposed to be a place where we find ourselves; it’s meant to be a path we're traveling on.
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Living the Journey with Christ
Day 28
The Road of Five Layers
The Christian faith often lacks clear focus and direction. It can be the ultimate example of aiming at nothing — and hitting it!
In an effort to lay out a simple-to-understand path of discipleship, we've suggested that the road is made of five layers — five levels or stages — that we must move along. They're all necessary if we want to be maturing in our relationship with Christ.
The first thing that happens on this road is MEETING CHRIST. We don't have to find Him; we just have to let ourselves be found! He meets us where we are, and He’s willing to forgive us as He finds us. We experience acceptance by Him. We could never be good enough to be accepted by such a holy One as He is: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) Christ comes to us and offers us forgiveness. He's already done all the work by dying for our sins on the cross; we just need to accept Him as our very own Savior.
FOLLOWING CHRIST is the next step on our spiritual journey. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) We live for ourselves and also live for Him. We’re supposed to give Him leadership of our lives. We’re not supposed to follow our own whims; we’re meant to follow His will! We experience a calling on our lives. There’s no higher purpose than living for Him!
The third level we’re to step up to is LEARNING FROM CHRIST. Throughout the gospels Jesus was called “teacher,” and He still is that! “You call me 'teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for this is what I am.” (John 13:13) We’re His disciples; the term “disciple” means “student,” and we should always be learning from Him. Jesus endorsed every part of the Bible, from the books of Moses (the first five books of the Bible) to the law and the prophets, and on to what His own followers would someday write that would make up our New Testament. We’re His students, and it’s all meant to be our textbook.
BECOMING LIKE CHRIST is the fourth level of the spiritual road we’re to be traveling on. Following the gospel record of His example, we’re supposed to be like Him. We're supposed to be close to Jesus, because the closer we walk with Him the more we put ourselves under His influence! We’re also meant to take what He teaches and put it into practice: “I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. . . . Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.” (John 13:15,17)
SERVING WITH CHRIST is the fifth level of the road of our spiritual journey. He has a purpose for our being here! We have a calling from Jesus to serve Him by serving the people He puts around us. Thankfully, we don't have to do this by our own strength; He comes beside us and helps us. Jesus used the imagery of a yoke, the wooden apparatus that’s placed over two oxen and to which a plow or wagon is attached. “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29-30) He doesn’t invite us to work for Him; He invites us to work with Him!
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Living the Journey with Christ
Day 29
Step by Step with Jesus
We can't know where we should be going on a journey if we don't know where we already are! You can't get from here to there unless you know where “here” is. Where are we on the journey of becoming who God wants us to be? Where are we in our walk with Christ? Let's look at each of the five levels of the spiritual road we're meant to be on and ask ourselves whether we're traveling with a firm footing on each of the levels.
Have we experienced MEETING CHRIST? Do we think that our acceptance by Christ is based on our being good enough? Do we feel that we've messed things up too badly to be called Christian? If our answer to this kind of question is “yes,” we haven’t grasped the most important fact about a spiritual journey with Christ: we start the Christian walk by accepting His forgiveness. We can't be on much of a spiritual pilgrimage until we do that. It is He who saves us, not we ourselves. Have we ever actually, consciously, accepted Him as our Savior?
Are we committed to FOLLOWING CHRIST? Are we led by what we want to do or by what circumstances seem to dictate? Is our day-to-day living much different from that of someone who doesn't think that God is important? The real question is whether or not we've made a once-and-for-all commitment to living His way instead of our own way. Have we ever accepted Him as the Lord of our lives?
Are we regularly LEARNING FROM CHRIST? Do we read our Bibles at least several times a week? Do we regularly participate in some kind of class or small group that has a focus on Christ? How much do we really know about the Bible? Can we quickly find a book in it? Can we list even three of Jesus' disciples by name? If these are easy questions for us, let's not be smug; there are always harder questions! There's always more to learn from God's Word.
Are we really BECOMING LIKE CHRIST? Would the people who are closest to us say that we're more spiritually mature than we were a year ago? How are we doing when it comes to exhibiting the “fruit of the Spirit” found in the book of Galatians? Are we exhibiting more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control than we did a year ago?
When it comes to SERVING WITH CHRIST, how are we doing? Are we regularly sacrificing time, effort, and money to do something we wouldn't be doing if we weren't following Christ? If we feel we are doing something significant, do we ever do it primarily by our own strength, fussing and complaining? Do we do it out of duty rather than delight?
These are hard questions, but they deserve some serious reflection. Whenever we travel — and it's as true for our spiritual journey as it is for any other journey — we need to ask ourselves, “Where am I?”
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Living the Journey with Christ
Day 30
A Missing Layer of the Road
A road is built with layers, and it must be done in the right order. We've been suggesting that there are five key layers of the road of discipleship. Unfortunately, it’s possible to skip a layer or two — and that can cause all kinds of problems.
For instance, people can try SERVING WITH CHRIST when they've never really experienced MEETING CHRIST. They may work diligently in a church and think that being in church, working in the church, and doing nice things for Jesus make you acceptable to Him. They're operating on salvation by good works, which is against everything the gospel of Jesus stands for! They aren't actually serving with Christ; they’re working for Christ, because they don't know Him personally. You have to experience MEETING CHRIST as Savior if you want to know Him personally.
People can try SERVING WITH CHRIST without following Him. They act religious in church but act differently behind closed doors at home or in the workplace. They’ve never really made Christ the Lord of their lives.
People can try SERVING WITH CHRIST without LEARNING FROM CHRIST. They’re so busy doing things in the church that they never have time to take a class or join a small group. This is a sure formula for burn-out!
People who try SERVING WITH CHRIST without giving attention to BECOMING LIKE CHRIST will eventually get their feelings hurt and walk away or get angry and lash out. That happens because they're trying to do Christ's work without making an effort to be more like Him! Without the first four levels — MEETING CHRIST, FOLLOWING CHRIST, LEARNING FROM CHRIST, and BECOMING LIKE CHRIST — it's won’t work to try SERVING WITH CHRIST.
We could take any one of the other levels of the road and show what happens when it’s missing. For instance, people who have experienced MEETING CHRIST but haven’t yielded to FOLLOWING CHRIST are what some people call “carnal Christians”: they have the Lord's forgiveness but they don't want to live for Him. They're taking advantage of God's grace, which Dietrich Bonhoffer called “cheap grace.”
Someone can be LEARNING FROM CHRIST but not move on to BECOMING LIKE CHRIST. They have head knowledge of what's in the Bible but have never let it travel the eighteen inches to their hearts, letting it transform them.
The five levels of the road to spiritual maturity in Christ must all be laid. We need them all to continue the journey successfully.
31 Days toward Spiritual Maturity in Christ
Living the Journey with Christ
Day 31
Roadwork Ahead
We hate to see a sign saying “Road Work Ahead” — but it's a reality of travel. Even when we've walked with Christ long enough that we're on all five layers of the road, we still have work to do! There's always a layer that's neglected. (Actually, none of the levels is in perfect shape for any of us, but it's often best to identify the one that needs the most work.)
For instance, when we're SERVING WITH CHRIST and become frustrated and judgmental of others, we need to go back to the very first level. We need to be MEETING CHRIST all over again, realizing that we still depend on God's grace and mercy and that we stand in constant need of His forgiveness. Our lack of grace toward others is a sure sign that we're missing it in our own lives!
We can focus on BECOMING LIKE CHRIST, reading all the right materials on spiritual formation, but if we never lift a finger to help the needy or serve in Christ's church, we're not SERVING WITH CHRIST. We're unbalanced Christians, trying to travel with Jesus without applying the last layer of the road. We can focus on BECOMING LIKE CHRIST, but if we're not also LEARNING FROM CHRIST we may end up with a false spirituality that doesn't conform to the truth of Scripture — or have faith that's a mile wide but just an inch deep.
Journeying with Jesus requires that regular attention be given to all five layers of the road we travel on. The road of our spiritual journey needs regular maintenance!
We should give attention to all five levels of the spiritual road not only as individuals, but also as churches. Everything a church does should be geared to helping people build or maintain one or more of the five levels of the road toward spiritual maturity. In their book Simple Church Thom Rainer and Eric Geiger stated that “Churches with a simple process for reaching and maturing people are expanding the kingdom.” (p.14)
Jesus invites us to join Him on the journey of a lifetime! The psalmist declared, “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” (Psalm 84:5) May we set our hearts on following Jesus completely, ever moving toward maturity in Him!
