Happy New Year! As I write this, we southeast Texans are having a real, live snow day—which thankfully is not accompanied by terrible wind and widespread power outages, and is just a beautiful, wintry day. Of course, very few of us know how to drive in this blizzard (we have about .5 inches on the ground, meaning all of you from elsewhere with real winters would laugh at us!) so most of us are staying in to drink coffee and cocoa all day long. It provides a great day for reflection, and I'd like to propose that something meaningful to think about is what it means to be spiritually mature. This is a great theme of the New Testament which bears serious study and effort from each of us who follow Christ. What does it mean and what does it look like in everyday life to be a healthy, whole, redeemed, restored son or daughter of God? Of course we are in the world, even as we are not of the world, but how might our lives actually be different, and how can our lives impact the people around us and help them draw closer to their Father? I intend to spend the next few months of this blog ruminating upon this idea of spiritual maturity. The world desperately needs more Christians who have taken the time and pains not to remain spiritual infants for a lifetime, but actually to grow up in the faith, actively inviting and permitting the Holy Spirit do His beautiful work of conforming us into the image of Christ. There are so many parts of our lives that will be impacted as we follow Jesus, perhaps none more so than our ongoing conversation with God, also known as prayer. Mature believers spend more and more time in prayer as they grow. Let's look into this together for a few moments today. I have a new personal trainer, and it is awesome! I used to be a top-shelf athlete, but something seems to have happened, and now I’m more-than-middle aged and, well, diminishing. I can no longer rely on the muscle development I put so much effort into as a young person, and need to put some effort in today if I want to remain active in the next years of my life. The best part of the whole thing is that my new trainer just happens to be my younger daughter, so I know she really loves and cares for me and wants me to be healthy and whole. She is just like me in so many ways, and therefore knows a lot about what I can and can't do, and what I need to do to grow and be stronger right now. So Kory has helped me design a workout rotation that targets all of the main muscle groups in turn, keeping me from doing too much, too fast lest I hurt myself, or too little which would prevent growth and leave me to further diminishment. It's pretty amazing to have a personal trainer who knows me so intimately, and who loves me and cares so much about my future. Perhaps you can guess where I'm going with this! God is the greatest coach in the universe. He lovingly created each of us, and knows exactly what we are actually capable of doing and becoming. He is deeply invested in providing everything we need for life and godliness, and cares about our health and futures so much more than we do. Will you trust Him to set your daily workouts? Recently we read and discussed Luke 11:1-4 at church, which is the passage where the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray. Matthew also includes this amazing teaching in the Sermon on the Mount in chapter 6 of his gospel. The disciples had been spending a lot of time with Jesus, and had watched Him doing and saying all kinds of wonderful, amazing things. He healed people, set them free, and raised the dead to life! They had already realized Who He was—the Son of God—and knew that He was teaching them and training them to do and say the kinds of things He did and said. More than that, they lived in such close proximity with Him through those years that they saw the way He actually lived. They knew Him, and they watched Him, which means they saw how often He withdrew from them and everyone else to spend time with His Father in prayer. These disciples might have been regular guys without a lot of formal education, but they weren't dumb. They recognized that Jesus really was a man just like them, but that He also was tapped into a tremendous and powerful connection with the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe. And when they asked Jesus to teach them to pray like He did, this is what He said... Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. The prayer is so short and simple, a daily recognition of Who He is, and how much we need Him. Of all the things we might have guessed Jesus would say about how to pray, this almost seems too simple. But this is what Jesus said about it, so we should take a closer look. The Greatest Coach in the world, Who was also the greatest and only perfect human to ever live, is giving some great advice on a healthy daily habit that will help us grow up spiritually! When you pray, say... Our Father - You are our maker, our protector, our guide, and the giver of our identity and purpose—not just for me, but for my neighbor, too. Holy is your name! - God, You are other, higher, sinless, all good, all love, all power. Let your kingdom come and Your will be done, here on earth like it is there in heaven. We trust that You really are working everything together for Your highest good and ours, and we will do what you say. Daily workout: Get some reps in each day of putting your mind and heart on God. Stop, pause, recenter, and reflect on Who He is and what He is doing, and get your heart back in tune with that. Have you just spent a chunk of time in a death scroll, or in a difficult place at home or work? Refocus on God and His big picture. Have you been surrounded by people and immersed in the daily grind? Step back for a moment and purposefully confess with your mouth that He is your Holy Father, and that He has a wonderful plan unfolding. Has He told you to do something but you haven't yet? Thank Him for His care and obey His good instructions. Give us today our daily bread - I trust you to give me what I need, and to withhold what I don’t need. Daily workout: Each day, remember where everything comes from: it isn't from ourselves, or from our abilities or disabilities, or from anyone or anywhere except from God. Further, He knows that sometimes what we think we need would actually be bad or dangerous for us in some way. He is the Giver of all things, and it is so healthy to remember this each day, several times a day. This will keep our pride and envy in check, and will help us to remain full of gratitude. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors - this is a big one! The Father will forgive me with the same measure I use to forgive others, so God please help me to have a generous, graceful, and merciful heart. Daily Workout: This is the spiritual equivalent of leg day, every day—it is really hard every single time, and is just going to hurt since all self-sacrifice is costly. Start small and be consistent so that you can get strong enough to work up to the big stuff on this exercise. This is actually the revolutionary part of our faith! If we really want to change the world, we'll grow spiritually mature and become people who forgive others like Jesus forgives us. -forgive and forgive and forgive, as often as it takes (Jesus said once you have done it for one person 490 times, maybe at that point you can ask Him about it again!) -choose to overlook offense -go the extra mile to help people, even when they've been awful to you -consider others as highly as you consider yourself -keep no record of wrongs against one another -choose to believe the best about one another -refuse to take vengeance on one another, as that is God's territory alone (He's the only One wise and good enough to wield that weapon) -pray for everyone else, even your enemies Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one - I recognize that the enemy of my soul, the entire world structure, and every cell of my own flesh is pretty much constantly trying to deceive and defeat me, and ask for daily help to withstand and overcome all three. Daily workout: Jesus showed us the way here: He resisted the enemy, the world, and His own human flesh with truth, and always leaned into God. He always asked God to help Him, and instructs us to do the same. We would be very foolish not to follow this wonderful advice! The disciples were slowly coming to the realization that Jesus’ plan to let everyone in the world know the Good News of the Kingdom was THEM. They trusted Him more each day to get them in shape for the task. Will we trust Him? God wants us to grow into spiritually mature sons and daughters, filled with grace and wisely using the gifts He has given us in helping Him accomplish His redemptive and restorative work. Jesus has taught us all how to pray, and now it is our prerogative to take His advice and engage in a beautiful, daily conversation with our good Father. How amazing it is that He wants to speak to us that way! This year, let prayer be the foundation of your spiritual workout regimen, and may your life be filled with healthy growth in the grace and knowledge of God. I know we're all praying for the people whose lives have been so impacted by the devastating wildfires in California. If you do not already have a preferred charity, may I recommend an organization that does much good relief work... Comments are closed.
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Hi! I'm Mary - mother to two wonderful grown daughters, wife to an incredible husband, and loving our life in the piney woods of Texas... (read more!)
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January 2025
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