Journey of Spiritual Formation and Divine Relationship

Devotional

Day 1: Creation as the Foundation of Redemption

Understanding our identity as created beings is essential to grasping the full scope of redemption. Redemption is not just about being saved from sin but returning to our original purpose as God's creation. This perspective shifts our focus from mere justification to a holistic view of our spiritual journey. By recognizing that our spiritual journey begins with creation, we can appreciate the depth of God's plan for us, which is to restore us to our intended purpose. This understanding invites us to see redemption as a journey back to the wholeness and purpose for which we were created. [01:03]

"For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him." (Colossians 1:16, ESV)

Reflection: How does viewing your spiritual journey as a return to your original purpose change your perspective on daily life and decisions?

Day 2: Interactive Knowledge with God

Biblical knowledge is not just intellectual but relational. It involves an ongoing, interactive relationship with God, where we grow in grace and knowledge. This growth requires active participation, as we put on the virtues of Christ in our daily lives. Engaging with God in this way transforms our understanding from mere information to a living relationship that shapes our character and actions. As we actively participate in this relationship, we are called to embody the virtues of Christ, such as kindness, humility, and love, which are choices we make daily. [04:14]

"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent." (John 17:3, ESV)

Reflection: In what ways can you actively engage in your relationship with God today to grow in grace and knowledge?

Day 3: Perseverance Through Tribulations

Tribulations are opportunities to witness God's work in our lives. They develop our character and deepen our hope, which is not static but evolves as we trust in God's love. This process strengthens our faith and reliance on God, as we learn to see challenges as moments for growth and transformation. By persevering through difficulties, we allow God to shape our character and deepen our hope, which becomes a dynamic force in our spiritual journey. [09:52]

"Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope." (Romans 5:3-4, ESV)

Reflection: Think of a current challenge you are facing. How can you view it as an opportunity for God to develop your character and deepen your hope?

Day 4: The Role of the Will in Spiritual Formation

The will is central to our spiritual journey, but it must be aligned with our thoughts, emotions, and actions. Surrendering our will to God is crucial for true transformation, allowing us to align our lives with His purposes. While willpower alone is insufficient, aligning our will with God's enables us to experience genuine change. This surrender is not passive but an active choice to let God guide our decisions and actions, leading to a life that reflects His purposes. [43:28]

"For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." (Philippians 2:13, ESV)

Reflection: What is one area of your life where you find yourself holding back from surrendering to God? What would surrendering this area to Him actually look like in terms of daily habits?

Day 5: The Church's Role in Spiritual Growth

Churches should support believers at every stage of their spiritual journey, encouraging growth in grace and knowledge. This involves nurturing a community that teaches, exemplifies, and supports the love of Christ, helping individuals grow from new believers to mature disciples. The church is a vital environment for spiritual growth, providing the support and encouragement needed for believers to flourish. By fostering a community that embodies Christ's love, the church plays a crucial role in guiding individuals through their spiritual journey. [22:19]

"And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." (Hebrews 10:24-25, ESV)

Reflection: How can you contribute to your church community to help others grow in their spiritual journey? What specific actions can you take this week?

Sermon Summary

In today's message, we explored the profound journey of spiritual formation and the role of the will in our relationship with God. We began by understanding that our spiritual journey does not start with justification but with creation. This foundational understanding helps us grasp the full scope of redemption, which is a return to our original purpose as created beings. Justification by faith brings peace with God, but it is not merely about forgiveness; it is about entering into a dynamic, interactive relationship with God, where grace is not just a one-time event but a continuous interaction with the divine.

We delved into the concept of knowledge in the biblical sense, which is not just intellectual understanding but an interactive relationship with God. This relationship is what enables us to grow in grace and knowledge, as instructed in 2 Peter 3:18. This growth is an active process, requiring our participation and effort. We are called to put on the virtues of Christ, such as kindness, humility, and love, which are not passive attributes but active choices we make in our daily lives.

The journey of spiritual growth involves perseverance, especially through tribulations. These challenges are opportunities to witness God's hand in our lives, developing our character and deepening our hope. This hope is not static but evolves as we continue to trust in God's love, which is poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit.

We also discussed the importance of the will in spiritual formation. The will is the executive center of our being, where we make decisions and initiate actions. However, willpower alone is insufficient for spiritual growth. It must be aligned with our thoughts, emotions, and actions, all of which are transformed through our relationship with God. The surrender of our will to God is crucial, as it allows us to align our lives with His purposes and experience true transformation.

Finally, we emphasized the role of the church in supporting believers at every stage of their spiritual journey. Churches should be places where individuals are encouraged to grow in grace and knowledge, from new believers to those in their later years. This growth is facilitated by a community that nurtures, teaches, and exemplifies the love of Christ.

Key Takeaways

1. 9GmLF-s50&t=63s'>[01:03]
2. Interactive Knowledge with God: Biblical knowledge is not just intellectual but relational. It involves an ongoing, interactive relationship with God, where we grow in grace and knowledge. This growth requires active participation, as we put on the virtues of Christ in our daily lives.

3. Perseverance Through Tribulations: Tribulations are opportunities to witness God's work in our lives. They develop our character and deepen our hope, which is not static but evolves as we trust in God's love. This process strengthens our faith and reliance on God.

4. The Role of the Will in Spiritual Formation: The will is central to our spiritual journey, but it must be aligned with our thoughts, emotions, and actions. Surrendering our will to God is crucial for true transformation, allowing us to align our lives with His purposes.

5. The Church's Role in Spiritual Growth: Churches should support believers at every stage of their spiritual journey, encouraging growth in grace and knowledge. This involves nurturing a community that teaches, exemplifies, and supports the love of Christ, helping individuals grow from new believers to mature disciples.

** [01:03]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:24] - Understanding Justification and Creation
[01:51] - Justification and Peace with God
[03:06] - The Grace We Stand In
[04:14] - Biblical Knowledge as Interaction
[05:46] - Growing in Grace and Knowledge
[07:27] - Hope and Tribulations
[09:52] - Perseverance and Character
[11:22] - Active Participation in Faith
[13:21] - The Whole Person in Spiritual Growth
[15:38] - Holiness in Everyday Life
[19:10] - Character and the Will
[22:19] - The Church's Role in Growth
[25:20] - Prayer and Giving in the Kingdom
[29:17] - Trusting in God's Goodness

Sermon Clips

"Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ now notice it didn't say through his death it didn't even say through his resurrection as Paul says there is one God and one mediator between God and man the man Christ Jesus that's what we're living with is the risen Christ the person the whole person and one way of thinking about salvation is to say it is being caught up in what Christ is doing today on earth." [00:01:54]

"Grace wherein you stand is not just forgiveness it is interaction constant interaction with God that's what knowledge is knowledge biblically is not what we call head knowledge it's interactive relationship so when the Prophet says to Israel on behalf of God you only have I known of all the nations of the earth okay now try to get the idea here God is not saying I don't know anything about the Nubians or the Eskimos you're the only people I have any knowledge of obviously he's not saying that right he knows about all of them." [00:03:50]

"Grow in the Grace and the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I'm going to challenge you to write that verse in your words utilizing the notion of knowledge and grace that I try to get you can you do it second Peter 3:18 grow now you will notice that that is in the imperative that means it's something for us to do that is the human part of holiness." [00:06:01]

"Hope is anticipation of good hope is anticipation of good hope is never what you're hoping for he's never here yet when he gets here then it's no longer hope but it's anticipation of good fear is anticipation of evil that's what fear is so hope pushes fear out the anticipation of good well not only this but we also jump up and down in our tribulations we're so happy we exalt in tribulation why do we do that because we say now is another occasion in which I get to see the hand of God in my life." [00:07:44]

"Perseverance is a long word for sticking with it staying with it it's very hard to persevere without hope and if you have hope then when troubles come you have something to rely on that enables you to stay with it to stay with what is good stay with what is right and then that develops character you see how that works here in the passage now we're just taking here one of the New Testament analyses of what goes on in the spiritual life of one who is following trusting Jesus." [00:09:58]

"Put on therefore as the beloved of the elect of God holy and beloved put on bowels those are guts God says where your life runs from in the ancient world is still true in our language when we get on the foot beer football field or someplace don't you have any guts what kind of gods have you well Paul tells the Colossians put on guts now most of your translations can't stand that do you have to go back the old King James so they say something like heart but heart is not in the right place for what it's saying." [00:11:35]

"Churches should be set up to encourage and help people at all the stages where they are from the time when they have just been converted and they're full of joy but they're also full of a lot of other stuff from that point don't you come down to old age retirement what do you do at that point in terms of growth see churches should be set up to help people at all of those stages to continue to grow in the Grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." [00:22:12]

"Willpower is a myth I ask for power to make available to you a couple of selections from William James his briefer psychology on habit and will because one of the things I'm hoping to do with you is to work through an give you a way of thinking about habit and its place in life and then the will but willpower is the surefire way to fail willpower is so small that it's almost non-existent and about the only place you have much is in how you direct your thoughts and in most cases you don't have much there or maybe none." [00:40:33]

"The surrender of the will to God is the single most important thing that you can do to begin the journey that's why as I talked earlier about the cross that's why the cross is so central and we have to be careful and understand it rightly because the cross is not your neighbor with a barking dog the cross is not what troubles you the cross is what sets aside your will as the ultimate guide to life that's the cross it sets aside your will as your ultimate guide to life it says know God's will is the ultimate guide to life." [00:43:28]

"The will is the executive center of the self it's the executive center of the cell it is the place where you uniquely you initiate processes events and bring things into existence it is the most precious part of you and God respects it so much so that he will allow people who do not want to be with him to be away from him he will allow that he will not override well that's why one of the hardest things to pray for is a relative for many reasons but one of the things that we wind up praying for is the overriding of their will and he doesn't do that." [00:45:07]

"Spiritual formation is a word for the process through which people go in taking on the character of Christ in all the dimensions of their personality and those are the ones that are mentioned in the great commandment love the Lord your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your mind with all your strength and your neighbor is yourself they've got your will and now we're going to have to talk about these each individually that's your will that's your mind which includes your thoughts and your emotions or feelings that's your body at your social context and it's your soul." [00:59:09]

"Faith is not knowledge but it's ideas and feelings and they disposed you to trust God and then trusting God you stand in Hope and grace and that moves on so as the proverb says the path of the just is like donning light that shines brighter and brighter until the perfect day see that's it's the process see and we want that's why we want to understand that the will was surrendered to God engages the process and in part it engages the process of changing the mind all right so you remember Romans 12 don't be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." [01:08:05]

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