Spiritual Awareness

As God proves His Faithfulness to us, our intimacy with Him grows. We feel safe and we trust Him with every aspect of our life. This makes it easier to submit to His will (Ephesians 2:10). 

We spend time in prayer, Bible reading, fellowshipping with His Saints and continually seeking Him. We also develop a confident intimacy with our Father God, which deepens over the years.

Spending time with God increases our spiritual awareness. We learn His ways, and He transforms our nature by His Spirit into His fruit and divine nature (Galatians 5:22-23; 2 Peter 1:4). 

His Spirit illuminates His Word for us. He gives us discernment to make good judgments (John 7:24). Living in His presence brings us total satisfaction as we joyfully die to our flesh and to this sin-filled world (Romans 8:13). 

Eventually, our union with Christ takes priority over everything else in our life (Colossians 3:3-4). We are a better mate, employee, friend, child, parent, employer, etc because of our relationship with Him. 

Since He dwells within us, we live a fuller and more fulfilled life. We come to realize that He is our all in all (Ephesians 4:6; Ephesians 2:8-9). We can do nothing without Him (Philippians 4:13). 

God is our high tower. We run to Him and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). Under His wings we trust (Psalm 91:1,4; Proverbs 29:25). He is our Rock, stronghold and deliverer in whom we take refuge (Psalm 61:3; 91:2; 144:2). 

He is our shield and the horn of our salvation (Psalm 18:2). Our love and respect for the Lord provide our children and us with a secure future (Proverbs 14:26; Deuteronomy 5:10, 7:9; Exodus 20:6).

Prayer:

Father God, lead us by Your Spirit into a richer relationship with You. You promised that everyone who believes in and trusts in You will enter Your eternal life (Hebrews 4:1-11; John 3:16-18).

Bring us to the end of our striving and allow us to enter into the rest You already prepared for us (Matthew 11:28-30). It is only then that we can experience an intimate relationship with You and enjoy a keener spiritual awareness.

Thought for the Day:

God calls us to be still before Him and to patiently wait on Him. - Psalm 37:7

Flexing Our Wings

“Our life is hidden with Christ in God.” - Colossians 3:3

In the various stages of a butterfly, we can see a beautiful analogy of our death, burial and resurrection in Christ. Our growth in spiritual awareness finds an interesting parallel in the metamorphosis of the caterpillar into a butterfly. We come into this world selfishly devouring everything this civilization has to offer. Even if we codependently care for the needs of everyone we meet, we trust in our goodness rather than in Christ’s sacrifice (Ephesians 2:8-10). We continue in this meager existence until we realize our depraved state and call out to God for Salvation.

Many of us repent of our willful disobedience; but then, in the flesh we vow to spend the rest of our life in strict adherence to God’s law in a regimen of self-effort. We encase our self in the silken threads of our chrysalis of scriptural mandates. Forsaking the gift of grace, which God so freely bestowed on us at salvation, we seek to reach perfection through the Law (Galatians 3:1-3; 5:3). We feel the restriction of the shackles that we spin, but we continue to wrap the glossy threads of legalism around our life until we are completely bound up in the dark.

Fears and anxieties, which we successfully evaded in the past, begin to haunt us day and night. We feel changes taking place within our innermost being that we do not understand. Imagine being a caterpillar. Your score of chubby, little legs change into six long, skinny ones. Your round supple body shrinks to a fraction of it normal size. Suddenly wings protrude from your back. They seem to be useless appendages that will only be an extra burden to carry through life – if indeed there will be life after this dreadfully dark time of confinement.

We cry out to God in desperation, but He seems beyond our reach and unable to hear our muffled cries from within the chrysalis of the law and dead works that surrounds us. In actuality, He does hear us, but it is not time for Him to intervene. Our nature is quite changed by the power of Christ’s blood, but we do not yet appreciate this fact (2 Corinthians 3:18). The chrysalis of dead works is our prison (Hebrews 9:14). However, it also provides a certain sense of security, which we are loath to surrender.

Eventually we get fed up with our imprisonment, and we start the struggle for spiritual freedom. Slowly, we see daylight as we methodically emerge from the chrysalis of bondage to the Law and works (Galatians 5:1; Hebrews 6:1). Our personal struggle to free our self from these dead works equips us for our existence outside of our chrysalis. It is a vital part of the spiritual process. The exertion brings us to the ultimate realization of our utter helplessness and desperate need for Christ to live in and through us. We hesitate, poised on the edge of His new world. (To be continued :)

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for opening Your arms and welcoming us to come to You. We find rest in You, freedom in You and abundant life in You. We realize that this life of faith does not entirely exclude works (James 2:18). However, we only work in obedience to the promptings of Your Spirit within us (Romans 8:2). You set us free from the law of sin and death, so that we can live in constant victory through the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, as your ambassadors in this world (2 Corinthians 5:20).

Thought for the Day:
As we look at where we came from and remember our bondage to the Law and self-effort from which God freed us, we find peace and joy unspeakable and full of glory. – 1 Peter 1:8