Blogger Idol Week 14-Spirituality

What is spirituality? Excuse me while I borrow something from Mr. Harmless

Spirituality: The state, quality, manner, or fact of being spiritual.

ok, but what does that mean? What does being spiritual look like? And who defines what is spiritual? Can someone wake up one morning and instantly decide to be spiritual?

Romans 12:1, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” So our spiritual service is to present ourselves to God, as sacrifices. That certaintly wasn’t the first thing that came to my mind. I was thinking more along the lines of those people that know every verse in the bible and seem to be above sin. But God doesn’t define spirituality that way. It is something that is obtained through a sacrifice of ourselves and a pledging of our whole bodies to Christ.

I Cor 15: 46 “However, the spiritual is not first, but the natural; then the spiritual” We are not inately spiritual beings. We are born into sin and have no capability of being spiritual. We may do right things, but only after we accept Christ are we changed into being spiritual. TO BE CONTINUED>>>

Some verses…

Psalm 73

1 Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

2 But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold.

3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

4 They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.

5 They are free from burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills.

6 Therefore pride is their necklace; they clothe themselves with violence.

7 From their callous hearts comes iniquity; the evil conceits of their minds know no limits.

8 They scoff, and speak with malice; in their arrogance they threaten oppression.

9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take pssession of the earth.

10 Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance.

11 They say, “How can God know? Does the Most High have knowledge?”

12 This is what the wicked are like– always carefree, they increase in wealth.

13 Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence.

14 All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning.

15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,” I would have betrayed your children.

16 When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me

17 till I ENTERED the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny.

18 Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them to ruin.

19 How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!

20 As a dream when one awakes, so when you arise, O Lord, you will despise them as fantasies.

21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,

22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.

23 Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand.

24 You guide my with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory.

25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has NOTHING I desire besides you.

26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

27 Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.

28 But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.

Sunday School Answers

*A discussion in my sunday school class prompted this post*

Most of us have grown up in church and have gone to Christian schools at some point. So we all know what to say and how to act. When posed with questions, we can give answers that sound very biblical and Godly without a second thought. We all know how to make people think we’re super-Godly and we know a lot. (I’m not saying everyone is like this all the time..so don’t think that:)) But I have a challenge for you all.. Dig deeper. Figure out what you believe, why you believe that and what you are going to do as a result of it. It will take work, it will be hard..but it will be the most rewarding thing if you let it. When people ask questions, answer them honestly..even if your answer is not necessarily the one you think is most biblically correct. If we are honest, we can get help and see areas we need to grow in. Jeremiah talks about how the heart is deceitfully wicked. We can very quickly believe we are ok, when really we are struggling to even open our bibles. Instead of complaining about the school rules or decisions, search the bible-find out what it says on the subject. Set up standards based on what you read, and get set in stone what you believe..not what your school, or church believes. Reality is, we are all going to grow up..move on, and someday we may not be at Faith or at our current churches..how are you going to know what to do or where to go if your whole life you only believed or did things because of your school or church. This is one thing I have been working on and it has perhaps made the biggest impact on my life. I know I believe what I believe because I know that’s what the bible says..thankfully, a lot of it matches up with my church and school, but some of it does not. I mean, it’s not anything huge-just things like music, movie standards, praise and worship-things that are more liberties then foundations of faith. But I believe and do what I do because that’s what I believe that bible has called me to do. Do you have a reason for the things you do? Do you really know what you believe? Are you truely honest with yourself when asked hard questions? Someday some of us may be placed in positions where we have to stand up and speak out about our faith..are we prepared to do that? Are we ready always to give an answer for the hope that lies within us? Are you excited about the message of the gospel because you truly believe it and see the changes its made in your life? I know I just asked you a million questions, but they are things to think about. God wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. He wants us to seek Him first, and to dig into His word. 2 Peter 1:3 tells us that the word has given us all that we need pertaining to life and godliness. It’s time we start to take some ownership in our faith. It’s time we can say, I believe because the bible says so. It’s time for us to get serious in our walks..because for a lot of us sometime in the next 3 years we’re going to be heading off to college and we are going to have to start making our own decisions. And living with the consequences, whether good or bad.

Potential vs. Potency

“You have great potential!” Have you ever had someone tell you those words? I’m sure most of us have at some point or another. I was at Cedarville this past weekend and we sat through one of their chapels. The president of their SGA from last year came back and was talking about this. It got me thinking. How long do you have potential? Can one ever reach one’s potential. There has to be a point where we go from being people with great potential to being potent people. People so on fire for God, nothing can shake us. People willing to take risks. Have you ever heard this quote, “The safest place to be is in the middle of God’s will.” I know I have, but the speaker brought up an interesting point..He said, actually being in the middle of God’s will is actually a dangerous place to be. Think about David-do you think he felt safe when he was against an army twice the size of his? Or Moses standing in front of a burning bush being commanded to go speak out to Pharoh? I’m guessing neither of them felt too safe, but they trusted God and were willing to take risks and be potent people. They were going to stop listening to people telling them they had great potential, and start living up to the potential. But how do you make this change? I know it’s not easy..but as he put, you have to go up to the edge of the cliff and say, “Ok, God-what do you want me to do?” No, your not going to feel safe..but as long as your in the will of God your going to be fine. I want people to look at me and see Christ. I want to be a potent person, a person who overflows with love for God. Granted, I may not always feel safe. It may mean getting out of my comfort zone and stepping out to the edge. It may mean making some radical changes-but who wants to get to age 50 and have someone tell you, “Man, you have great potential.” I know I don’t want to live like that.

The only way to become a potent person is to seek God more then anything. To search for Him like so many of us search for boyfriends/girlfriends, money, new clothes, or good grades. To let our lives be mirrors that reflect Christ. He’s not going to deny our prayers to have a hunger for Him. He’s waiting..He’s longing..He wants us to live for Him alone and to become people of potency not just people with potential.