The Pharisees read the Bible daily and  memorize large portions it. But when the Lamb of God stood right in front of them they didn’t recognize Him.

We have a tendency to judge our Christian walk by how much time we spend reading the Bible. Feeling guilty for not studying it every day.

Down deep we often believe God is upset because we are not reading it more. This performance based  legalistic view of the Bible reading that leads more to guilt and even resentment instead of love, joy and peace.

The life of Jesus in us is what matters most.  We can’t equate “Bible smarts” with spiritual maturity.  They’re certainly not the same.

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me,  yet you refuse to come to me to have life. John 5:39-40

Our goal should be to have a relationship with God, to bring glory to Him by the way we live our lives, by how we relate to Him and others (Matt. 22:37-39; Mark 12:29-31).

The Bible is Our Map

God’s Word is the map to guide us on our journey and the light to show us the way. “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalms 119:105

The Free Believers podcast used an analogy of the Bible being a map to Disney World.

If you are planning a trip to Disney Word you can go to Google Maps and print out a map.

You use the map to find your way to Disney. But when you get there you do  not side  beside the Dumbo ride reading the map. You ride the rides.

This is exactly what the Christian world looks like today. It’s a day at Disneyland were thousands of people have filled the park. However, all the rides are empty, there are no lines at the restaurants, no one is paying attention to the characters walking around and the light parade goes unnoticed. Why? Because everyone is sitting around in clusters studying the map and going over how they got there.~Darin Hufford, Christians and the Bible

The Destination is Not the Map

We know how fundamental the Bible is to daily living and to daily learning. How often, however, do we get so tied up in completing a number of pages the main focus gets lost.

My  daughter Rebecca, teaches her five children Bible study every morning. Recently she said the wisest thing I ever heard from any homeschool mother:

“Teaching Bible is a priority in our home, but  our children are more influenced by watching mom respond to the everyday trials of life than the hour spent each morning instructing them on Biblical truths. Their thinking, immediate reactions and responses seem to mirror my own more than they do the missionaries or patriarchs of the faith we have read about. The old adage is true, more is caught than taught.” ~Rebecca Keliher, Home Educating Family Magazine

How Do We Change this Mentality?

Jesus says we haven’t a hope of hea­ven unless our righ­teous­ness “sur­pas­ses that of the Pha­ri­sees” (Matt. 5:20). We can read the Bible every day, attend church every time the doors are open,  and it be nothing but hypoc­risy and pride.

Our cha­rac­ter is deter­mi­ned by our moti­ves, and motive is always a mat­ter of the heart. Man looks at the out­ward appea­rance, but God looks at the heart. God doesn’t judge us by the amount of time we spend on our knees or in His Word,  he jud­ges us by our hearts.

How do we renew our mind? We need to ask God to lead us. We must stay in prayer and have faith that the God that created the universe, that knows the number of hairs on our head will show us what we need to train our children for Him.

God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  (James 4:6-8)

We can either be “spiritually minded”  or we can be “carnally minded,” Give God permission to work through us allowing His love to flow through us,  daily.  Moment-by-moment  ffer ourselves to God and to allow His Holy Spirit to expose what He wants us to do and say.

We can trust Him and rely upon Him no matter what  the circumstances.

Jesus taught that all the commandments in the Bible can be summarized in two precepts: loving God and loving others (Matthew 22:37-40). These should be our goals not the number a number of Bible pages.

What is your motivation for Bible time? What are your goals?  Do you feel guilt or shame because you don’t read enough?

How is it that we fret over the number of pages read in our Bible and count the number of minutes on our knees but ignore  our brothers and sisters in Christ deep emotional needs?

Love comes from God. The love in us flows directly from Him.

Judgmental Christians

It is said the Christian army is the only one to shoot its wounded. Instead of trying to understand we condemn and criticize. The results of the superior and judgmental attitudes .

Sad to say there is more condemnation inside the church than outside. There is a history of Christians seeing specks in others eyes and ignoring the logs in their own eyes.

He who says he is in the light, & hates his brother is in darkness until now. He who loves his brother abides in the light & there is no cause for stumbling in him. 1 John 2:9-10

The absence of love is evidence that a person does not know God. Since God is love, intimate acquaintance with Him will produce love. Love is intrinsic to the character and nature of God, God’s love is not a feeling but action.

God knows our deepest hurts and secret shame and accepts us because of His Son. Shouldn’t Christians do likewise?

If we claim to be part of the family of God and derive or source from Him we must express the love of God.

Jesus Understood and Loved

The Samaritan Woman

The Samaritan woman felt worthless, abandoned, and unloved after five husbands. Jesus knew and understood. He offered her forgiveness and love in a nonjudgmental way. Jesus understood what she needed—to feel loved, valued, and accepted. And He knew a relationship with Him would fulfill that need.

Mary’s Perfume

Mary’s act of love anointing Christ with perfume was not understood and criticized by the disciples, But when his disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? …

But Jesus understood! When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. Jesus demonstrated a beautiful, wonderful, faith, hope, and love.

Only through Jesus and God’s Spirit can we have the faith to change a selfish heart into a heart of love that gives a blessed hope for the future.

Second Greatest Command

As a tree bears fruit and grows in size, so the gospel produces spiritual “fruit” in believers. When we take the time to listen and understand we can help bring healing and restoration to others and fulfill the second greatest command, love one another.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:7

Someone you know has a need to feel loved, valued, and accepted. Listen to them this week. Be the one to listen, hear, understand and love.

Love them where they are as  God loves us where we are.

Watch a clip by clicking the preview button below:

That’s the story of Ashley, a somewhat typical college senior–loving life, partying hard and trying to balance it all with success in the classroom.

Disengaged from God and turned off by most Christians she knew, unexpected events turned Ashley’s world upside down and brought a new roommate for her final semester at the University of Florida.

In the DVD Louie reads entries from Ashley  jorunal. She was living with her long time boyfriend, when he suddenly broke up with her and moved out of their shared apartment. Ahsley searched for a new  roommate and found a quiet Christian girl.  

Ahsley’s relationship with Christians and church people was peretty typical–lots of judgmental attitudes–and so she nicknamed her new roomate “Fruitcake.”

The journal tells of Ahsley’s skeptism and journey to accepting Christ after many conversations  over ice cream with Fruitcake. Ashley usually truned away from anything “Christian” however she was open to Fruitcake “Jesus stories”  because “Fruitcake never looked down her nose at me.”

Ashley lived the rest of her short life for Christ. She gave up her partying, living for herself, and dug deeply into her new relationship with God. Her life on earth ended a short time later in a horrible car accident.

This is a must see DVD. Get it , grab the tissues, watch it and pass it on!

FruitCake and Ice Cream

There are two types of “fear” in Scripture.

1. Terrified Dread: In Isaiah 2:10, 19 and 21, rev 5:15 is about the fear of an unrepentant sinner before the justice of God. The original Hebrew word is pachad, which indicates a terrified dread.
2. Reverence: Fear of the Lord is a reverential awe of God; a reverence for His power and glory,.designation of true piety (Prov. 1:7; Job 28:28; Ps. 19:9). It is a fear conjoined with love and hope, and is therefore not a slavish dread, but rather filial (relationship) reverence.

The Wrath of God?

Spiritually abusive churches use the fear of the Lord term to intimate people.We get left with an idea we have to work harder to earn God’s love.

They portray God with a nasty temper; looking down on his inferiors always ready to remind us of our mistakes focusing on our faults and weaknesses; just sitting around waiting to whack you for disobeying him.

This break my heart!

Do You Want Your Children to Fear You?

If you are a parent, do you want your children to be afraid of you? Do you want your children to do their chores because they love you or because they are afraid of a spanking?

Do you think God wants to bully us into obedience? God wants us to obey Him because we love Him.

Jesus points out over and over our motivation to obey should be love:

• “If you love me, obey my commandments.(John 14:15)
• “When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love”.(John 15:10)
• “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him (John 8:19)

This is why Jesus told the Pharisees to wash the inside of the cup. (Matthew 23:25). People with the wrong type fear of God are focused on the outside of the cup– fearful obedience- not loving obedience

Hebrews 8:10 says I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.

We are convicted of sin because we know the Word of God. We know that there are consequences to our actions. We know that sin is displeasing to God. Jewish New Testament Commentary explains Romans:

To stress the priority of deeds over head-knowledge of the Torah or status as a Jew, Sha’ul [Paul} pointedly speaks of Gentiles, who by definition don’t have Torah but nevertheless do naturally what the Torah requires, as being for themselves already Torah because their lives show that the conduct the Torah dictates is “written in their hearts.” The quotation from Jeremiah 31:32(33) speaks of the “new covenant” which Adonai is to make with Israel, when he says, “I will put my Torah in their inward parts and write it in their hearts”

Jesus Explains God’s Character

Jesus told the Parable of the Prodigal Son for us to see how much God loves us –while we were yet sinners!

Jesus’ parable is about who God is and what God is actually like, about the way God thinks and God acts towards us. It is about the Father’s heart and joy. Baxter Kruger explains in Parable of the Dancing God:

Jesus paints a picture of God standing on the balcony of heaven, watching, searching the horizon for the least inkling of a shadow of His son’s return. And once He sees him, this son, Jesus has the Father running and embracing him and commanding a great party to be thrown on his behalf.

What a picture of God! I tell you there is no greater statement about God in he whole Bible than verse 20:

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed and kissed and kissed him”. He was absolutely thrilled to see him.

Father God, YWHW is not abusive father or a paranoid leader. He is a loving God described by 1 Corinthians 13.

The reverent fear of God comes from the knowledge of God. In Proverbs 9 the writer writes about wisdom and the importance of knowing God. The wisdom is the knowledge of and relationship with God. As we grow in our relationship with God, we stand in awesome respect of His power and majesty.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding (Proverbs 9:10).

Why Fear the Shepherd?

We are sheep, we have a wonderful Shepherd ready, willing, and able to lead us. However, some sheep focus so much on the fences or the wolf they ignore the loving shepherd who only wants the best for them.

Fear and faith are opposites. We cannot operate in a spirit of faith and a spirit of fear at the same time. Fear paralyzes, but love will free you to come to him, even in the midst of your worst failures, knowing that he loves you enough to change you.  John said:

There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. (1 John 4:18)

Fear makes you work harder to prove your worth to him (outside of the cup); love teaches you to trust his work in you (inside of the cup). Worry and fear exhaust the power. God’s Word says:

1. Fret not—He loves you (John 13:1)
2. Faint not—He holds you (Psalm 139:10)
3. Fear not—He keeps you (Psalm 121:5)

Fear Podcast

Ed Rothman from Seed of Abraham Messianic Congregation, discusses the fear of the Lord in this Podcast

Summary

The bottom line: if you don’t love God, you should fear him. Once, however, you learn what it really is to love him, and understand Jesus paid it all– you respect Him and want to honor Him in obedience because He first loved us. He has written His law on our hearts.

You don’t need to question God’s love nor whether you’ve done enough to earn his affection. You can rest in his love.

Key Points

• God is a loving God described by 1 Corinthians 13.
• God is sensitive to you needs, feelings, fears (Matthew 18:10 and Colossians 3:21.)
• As we grow in our relationship with God, we stand in awesome respect of His power and majesty.
• Focus on the loving Shepherd–not the fences or the wolves.
• Quit worrying about the outside of the cup and allow God to clean the inside, then the outside also will be clean.
• Nothing in all the universe can separate you from the love of God. Nothing!

Do you fear God? Are you recovering from fearing God?  Tell me your experience.

In Matthew Jesus reminds us God cares about the little things, not a sparrow can fall to the ground without His knowledge, nor yet any harm befall His people:

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.   So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (Mt 10:29-31).

Creation Reveals God

I use the beauty and  creatures  from Creation  to remind my children of God. When we see a sunset, sunrise, a deer, bluebird, rabbit, new flower, grasshopper, etc.  I say “Look, is God talking to us!”

I ask them “What do you think He is saying today?” That He loves us? that  He is watching over us? that He never slumbers or sleeps? that He created this beauty for us?

Also in Matthew Jesus uses birds to teach us never have to worry about what to eat, or wear:

“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.

Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. (Mt 6:25-7:1)

I received an email this morning with photographs of a bird mourning the death of it’s mate (see photos below) which reminded me of the song, “His Eye is on the Sparrow.”

Bird Mourns Death of Mate

Received via email marked http://abunawf.com/

A flock of birds had stopped on a highway (somewhere in the Ukraine) perhaps just taking a rest or maybe they had spotted a bit of food. A vehicle passed by and one of the birds was injured and unable to move from the roadway. Here, his mate injured and the condition was fatal.

Her mate lingers nearby offering solace and eventually he brings food to her. On one of his return trips he finds his mate dead and seems to try to shake her awake and attended to her with love and compassion.

Aware that she is lost to him he cries out in obvious anguish. Every time a car passes, the bird flies off for a moment but then returns to mourn, his heart clearly broken. Shocked at her death, he tried to move her.

Eventually the photographer, concerned for the safety of the living bird, put down his camera, picked up the bird and removed it from the road. The grieving bird lingered in a nearby tree, “crying” out loud with adoring love and reluctant to move on.

No one knew how long he stood beside her and cried. Devastated by the loss.

There he stood beside her lifeless body with sadness and sorrow.

I don’t know what species of bird this is, but I think it could truly be considered a “love bird.”

_____________________________________

Do not worry… your heavenly Father knows what you need. Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow.

Just three little words that represent the colossal sum and substance of all of God’s eternal wisdom, causing even the angelic hosts to be transfixed by the heart and mind of their creator.

Just three little words that transformed a murderous Pharisee named Saul into a life-affirming apostle named Paul.

Just three little words that represent humanity’s only hope, and the destroyer’s gravest fear.

Just three little words that define the immeasurable gulf between some religious puppet animated by strings, and a life breathed unto eternity in the power and presence of the Eternal God.

Just three little words that enliven and fulfill the whole intent and beauty of God’s Holy law, bringing heaven within reach of those who are dust.

Just three little words that neutralize the flesh in man and the spirit of Adam and anti-christ that pervades the world.
Just three little words that explain how the Divine Shepherd will make this world His foot stool in and through His sheep.

To whom God would make known what [is] the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col 1:27)

“Christ in you” – three of the most powerful and earth-shattering little words ever conceived and transacted in all the created universe. Three little words that most churches and supposed teachers negate by their practice, if not their teaching. Three little words that mark that immeasurable and eternal chasm between heaven and hell, truth and the lie, Christ and anti-christ, holy and reprobate, heresy and light, doing and being, religion and the hope of glory.

But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ [be] in you, the body [is] dead because of sin; but the Spirit [is] life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you. (Rom 8:9-11)

And so… are you so confident that this describes you? You had better be. For many false and fruitless years I thought it did for me. I foolishly listened to and followed many who thought they had a better way; that there was somehow more to it; that it wasn’t that simple.

Oh how we have strayed dear saints. Oh how we have betrayed the beauty and wonder of the resurrected Christ. How we have so readily fallen for that first and vicious lie of the improved man, the transformed man, the actualized man. Where then is the power and the quickening to life? In steps, in programs, in ministry, in might or method or determination or discipline? In good and pure thoughts? In redemptive sacrifice?

Oh what fools we are, and blind! He told us didn’t He? He told us it was better that He returned to the Father; that He would write His laws in our hearts and minds; that we would once and for all find rest in Him? That He was the Bread from Heaven? That He was the staff raised by Moses? That unless we eat of His flesh and drink of His blood, we are as good as dead already?

Yet for 2000 years men have reared themselves up and convinced us that we need them; that we need mediators and priests and shepherds and rites and practices, etc, etc. And now apparently we need humanism, and psychology, and methods and programs and all that Babylon offers.

Rubbish I say!

Three little words dash all of this to pieces! Three little words are all you need to know to send every one of these lies back to the hell from whence they came!

Christ in you!

Here, let me say it again….

Christ in you!

Did you get that in the back row?

Christ in you!

Here alone is the wonder of the Christian life. Here alone is the power over every unclean and unwanted thing in our hearts and lives! Here is the power and the glory – the power to be, to resist, to walk, to stand, to live and love and learn all that the Father intends for us in His Beloved Son! Here is the beginning and the end, the hope of heaven and the hope of glory that no man nor devil shall ever snatch away from us! Here is the tree of life forsaken by Adam in that distant garden, yet offered to you and me!

So utterly and indescribably simple it seems. So hopeful and affirming to every creature in need of redemption and life!

And yet what have our churches and theologians and gurus done, my brethren? To what have they added to this divine simplicity? Have they not taught every single one of us in so many sordid and sophisticated ways that IT IS NOT ENOUGH!!!

That we need to eat also from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; that it is in ourselves to be acceptable to the Holy and awesome Creator who will not suffer the ungodliness of His creation?

I must confess before all of you that I am positively grieved to the very core of my soul that so many of His little ones have fallen for this first and only lie; that so many continue to support churches and teachers who would add or subtract from the divine sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ inhabiting His people.

This is the mystery and hope of the gospel is it not? Is this not what Paul taught and what every true Christian since has embraced as the ultimate essential?

My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you…(Gal 4:19)

Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform [it] until the day of Jesus Christ. (Phil 1:6)

Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom [be] glory for ever and ever. Amen. (Heb 13:21)

So then…

Is He in you my brother? Is He in you my sister? Why then are you still so dependent and needy, groping for every new thing to come along that tickles your ears? Why then are there more priests and heretics today than ever before, with fat bellies and thousands following behind them like dumb beasts? Why so many supplements and additions and books and theories and theologies all supplanting that essential and exclusive reality that He in us is all we have and ever will need?

Time is short my brethren, and this is no small point of doctrine that we can hold loosely! In truth, this is the only doctrine, as absolutely everything promised by our Lord hinges upon Him being the way and the life; the holy and quintessential power abiding within us. Now, at the end of this age, is the time to examine ourselves to determine just who and what is inside us…

Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates? (2Cr 13:5)

And don’t take this too lightly either. It matters not if you consider yourself a religious or spiritual person, a person of faith even; a church-goer, steeped in the traditional tenets of the faith. The only way He will really and truly know you is if He lives in you; If He has claimed you as His dwelling place.

Did you accept Him into your life once? Great, but is He inside you at this very moment – your way and life and truth? Or do you trust in another?

Did you pour your heart out to Him once, in bloody anguish of soul and repentance? Terrific, but what spirit compels you on a moment-by-moment basis now. Is He alone your breathing in and breathing out; your standing up and sitting down?

This is not a game to be played, or a suit of clothes to take on and off! This is life and death and the criteria is profoundly clear – Either He abides in you and is Lord of Your life or He isn’t. Either you have chosen life or you have chosen death! What will it be?

My friends, the devil himself and all his demons are not intimidated in the least by your religious exertion, or the self-life rising up in the name of Jesus Christ. There is in truth only one reality that fills them with fear and dread, and that is the one fact in the universe that is divinely positioned to restore all of the dominion currently under demonic control back to the Most High God. Consider therefore, who and what compels you. If you blindly believe you can sit on the fence while all of hell rises us to be judged, then you may just find yourself among them.

• Will you not rather withdraw once and for all that He might advance?
• Will you then stop pretending to be and start being in Him?
• Will you allow yourself to be emptied that He alone may fill you and encompass you?
• Will you be reduced that He alone might be increased in you?
• will you be sidelined that He – with all His power and ability – may enter the game?
• Will you stop asserting and presenting yourself that He alone might be manifest and revealed?

This is our prayer for you, and it is truly the only one that matters. Oh that the world and everyone in it would see the Lord Jesus Christ enlarged and revealed in His holy people. Oh that they would stop seeing only “christians” and start seeing Christ Himself in all His holiness and Glory! Oh that they would no longer be touched by some good-hearted church ministry to the filling of their belly or self-esteem, and be touched by the Lord Himself to the redeeming and claiming of their soul.

Here my beloved is the place where the Spirit touches bone; where we live in Him, and move in Him and have our very being in Him…solely because He is in us, and all that we are is being appropriated for Himself and His Heavenly Father.

Christ in you – just three little words. But my beloved this is all we will ever need. Go to Him now if you have never let Him in, or if lately you are shutting Him out. And stop your ears from all those trying to convince you that you need anything or anyone else. If coming to Him to receive Him means departing from something or someone else, then do it gladly and do it quickly, and don’t look back. You won’t ever be the same again, I promise you.

Oh Mighty and Munificent Father in Heaven – We pray for all of your little ones, that no longer will we try to please you in the power of our own life. We invite the Lord Jesus Christ into our lives to reign from within us, to lead us onward as the captain and navigator of our souls. Oh Righteous Father, that He alone would be magnified and You also for granting Him to us, and us to Him. Let all of the unbelievers and the world see him Lord and not some form of improved or dressed up man; not us. Help us to know and understand that He alone is all we really need; that in Him alone the victory is ours to claim, and that no created thing can prevail against Him and the one in whom He dwells. We thank You Father and love You, for in granting us Your Holy Son we have been made whole.

In Jesus’ Glorious Name, we pray. Amen.

by W.E. Smith

W.E. Smith, British by birth, resides in the Midwest USA. Read more about Smith here. Visit  his encouraging blog at LivingWalk.com for inspirational articles and to read about his soon to be published book The Real Thing: An Exhortation for the Authentic Christian Life

Jesus Our Shepherd

A good shepherd can tell the sheep apart–often because of their defects and peculiar traits. A man who was tending a large flock explained this to a Christian friend who expressed surprise at his familiarity with each animal.

“See that sheep over there?” he asked. “Notice how it toes in a little. The one behind it has a squint; the next one has a patch of wool off its back; ahead is one with a distinguishing black mark, while the one closest to us has a small piece torn out of its ear.”

Observing all of them, the believer thought about Christ, the Chief Shepherd, who also knows the individual weaknesses and failings of His flock and watches over the members with discerning love and sympathetic understanding. With infinite concern He notes the doubts, fears, trials, conflicts, and defeats that disturb their peace, and He swiftly comes to their aid.)

Jesus knows everything there is to know about you. He knows every strength and every weakness. He knows every joy and every burden. He knows every mountain and every valley. He knows every victory and every battle and He stands ready to help you in your times of need,

He is your Good Shepherd and He will look after you – Psa. 23:1-6.

Song Lyrics

This topic really made me think and question myself.

Darin explains spiritual growth and emotional healing is involuntary like physical growth and physical healing. We don’t control it.

He uses the term involuntary spirituality in reference to involuntary physical actions like breathing, heart pumping, etc. Just as we don’t try to control involuntary physical actions, we shouldn’t try to regulate or control involuntary spirituality.

Healing Analogy

Darin gives a cut finger analogy:

When you cut your finger, you wash it out and put a band-aid on it. Once that simple act is completed do you sit around and try to figure out ways to get it to heal? Of course not. Nothing you do beyond those initial first few steps will make any difference in the healing process. You won’t speed it up or slow it down. You can read books on cut-healing and go to cut-healing conferences, but in the end, all that energy is a waste of time because your cut will heal itself with or without your help.

God created this healing capacity within each and every one of us. We don’t do silly things like read books and call experts when we scrape or cut ourselves. We don’t squint our eyes and grit our teeth trying as hard as we can for a healing because we know that healing was created within us and it happens on its own…

The cut band-aid analogy makes sense. God does the healing.

What About Our Responsibility?

But what about our responsibility to wash and protect the cut? Is asking this question just another example of me reverting to a “fix it” mentality? Do I focus too much on what I need to do instead of waiting on God?  I have spent years on the performance treadmill trying to earn God’s love. Am I am still in the recovery process of thinking the answers to everything is to “try harder”?

Am I still trying to be in control of my own emotional healing and spiritual growth by insisting we have a part in this process?

Another Healing Analogy

Lets go beyond a simple cut. For the last four years I have been treated for internal bleeding and heart disease. I have seen medical doctors and recently a nutritionist.

• The medical doctor’s treat the symptoms with medications or surgery.
• The nutritionist finds and  removes the problem so the body can heal itself.

I had open heart surgery four years ago followed by several heart medications and less extensive surgeries.  I almost died several times from hemorrhaging.

In September, I learned the twelve blood transfusions and ten hospitalizations I had last year were a direct result of heart medication I was given (only needed 3 months but doctors kept me on them for 2 years). In this case the medical solution was the problem not the answer.

I’m currently working with a nutritionist to remove the problem (wash and bandage the cut). I’ve been diagnosed a celiac disease and need to stop eating foods with gluten . With my problem removed (gluten) my body is able to received the nutrition necessary to heal itself.

God Does the Spiritual Healing

Darin explained, life is set up by God Himself in a way that naturally brings forth things like inner healing, growth and maturity.

I believe I am too quick to try to force the healing myself.

More from Darrin’s blog:

Many Christians feel like they’re waiting in line for an emotional healing that they probably won’t ever find. They become like the chronic overweight person who has tried everything from low-carb diets to overnight miracle pills, and after being let down half a million times, they finally collapse into a world of utter hopelessness. The mere mention of emotional healing catapults them into a world of self-loathing depression.

They forgave every person they could remember being mad at. They’ve visited their inner child more times than they care to remember. They’ve quoted all the formula prayers, stood on all the right scriptures, and even had the in-house deliverance expert walk them towards the light, but come Monday morning they found themselves right back where they started.

…We talk obsessively about growing in the Lord. We ask each other what they’re doing to grow in the Lord. We tell people that if they aren’t growing they need to be doing this and thus. We pride ourselves in saying that spiritual growth is the number one thing our church or ministry cares about..

…Christianity is known for taking the things that happen naturally in the course of life and claiming authority over them. Then, when what would have happened on its own, happens; we claim responsibility and call ourselves powerful.

If we would just learn to keep our noses out of the areas in life where we are not needed, we might find that Christianity is amazingly easy. I have come to believe that 90% of the stress and difficulty in the modern day Christian life, is self induced. We are praying about things that don’t need prayer. We’re claiming authority over things that don’t need our authority and leadership. We spend our time asking God for things that aren’t even on the menu and we spend all our faith on things that happen naturally.

Again, I agree with Darin.

I’d like to add (and I think Darin would agree) we need to find all the potential causative factors to the problem, remove them, to allow God to repair the spirit. i.e. get rid sin such as unforgiveness. Unforgiveness causes deep pain and leads to hideous bondage resulting in bitterness, rage, anger, and with malice (Ephesians 4:31).

However, even our part–in this example,  forgiving–is impossible without God. He is love, he puts the love in us. Only through resting in Him can forgiveness flow through us. We can’t work out our way to get a healing. God does it all.

What Would Jesus Do?

Much of Jesus’ teaching were directed at the religious Pharisees focused on their performance treadmill. Jesus summed up all the commands in two: love God and love others.

If we focus on these two commands- enjoying a relationship with God and others it would allow growth and healing happen.

It’s Up to God; Not Us

Darrin’s point is “Growing isn’t up to us; it’s up to God.” We need to stop striving, live life and enjoy in a relationship with God. He says,

…Christianity is NOT about changing and getting better. It’s about experiencing life. If you just get on the train of life and enjoy the ride, God will take care of everything else. This literally changes the entire landscape of Christianity as most people know it today.

If you need an inner healing, just know in your heart that it’s happening. You can’t make it happen any faster than you can heal your finger if you cut it. YOU WILL HEAL! Know that and live life. YOU WILL GROW! Nothing you do will make yourself grow any faster. Growing isn’t up to us; it’s up to God.

…As Christians we have a responsibility to LIVE LIFE. Our life is set up by God Himself in a way that naturally brings forth things like inner healing, growth and maturity. These things are the responsibility of God; NOT US. I honestly believe that we’ve driven ourselves crazy because in our own arrogance and unwillingness to enter into life, we’ve hijacked God’s responsibilities and have foolishly depended upon ourselves to carry them through.”

What do you think?

What do you think? Does this rock your beliefs?  Is spiritual growth, like physical growth involuntary? Do we have a part? If so what? Jesus said that He came that we might have life, and life to the fullest. Could it be that in the course enjoying life, and loving one another things like growth and healing happen on their own?

Looking forward to hearing your perspective.

• You can listen to Darin’s podcast here. Scoll down to and click on Involuntary Spiritually  
• Read blog post Involuntary Spirituality here

The following is adapted from articles from BodyLife

Love is often considered an emotion, but for God, it’s a commitment and a commandment!

Everyone alive want to be loved. Its a hole within each of us. Many of us don’t find it–not even in church. We felt disconnected. Sitting in rooms full of strangers on Sunday morning watching the same stage does not build the relationships among believers we desire.

Jesus died on the cross so that he could reconcile all things to himself (2 Corinthians 5). Those who grasp that purpose will also share his passion to see the family brought together in him, not divided by institutions or differences in how we view church. We have had enough broken relationships, enough division, enough of those who worry more about defining their distinctions than sharing the life we hold in common.

Jesus only asked us to love, one day at a time, whoever is before us in whatever circumstance we meet them. Everything else he wants to do will flow from that simple reality.

Unless Jesus is our focus and passion we’ll never discover what life can be like between believers who are sharing that passion together. Here are ways you can connect with the church Jesus is building around the world.

You don’t find life in Jesus by finding the right group; you are connected with the family out of your relationship to the Head, Jesus. Isn’t it sad that people who have ‘attended church’ for 20, 30 or 40 years, have no idea how to listen to Jesus and do what he wants. We have so equipped them to live by principles that they have never learned to follow his voice.

Learn to live in him. Discover how secure you are in his love and how much you can trust his work in you. Read the Scriptures so you will learn to think like he thinks and recognize his voice.

As you grow secure in Father’s love you will find yourself loving others in the same way, and not just Christians but people in the world, too. You’ll come to recognize that God works primarily through relationships

Who has God put around you that you can open up your life to? It may be one person or a handful. They may live across town or work across the hall. Find a way to share God’s life together.

Learning to live as the church Jesus is building will challenge long-held paradigms. Most of us have been taught to be passive learners. If we need something, someone else will tell us what it is. Growth in this kingdom doesn’t happen that way. Those who find life are not afraid to knock, to ask, or to seek.

It may require you to think outside the box, but learning to live in the church Jesus is building is worth every moment of the journey.

I am more convinced than ever that every thing God wants to do in the world will flow from us learning to live in his love and listening to him as we walk through life. This allows the opportunities in our lives to grow organically, rather than through the artificial means of organizing, promoting, and manipulating others. That may be why he told us his new command would simply be to love like we’ve been loved.

For God is my witness, how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment,so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ; having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

If you enjoyed this post you will love Wayne Jacobsen’s books– offered free here

Free Life Changing Books by Wayne Jacobsen from LifeStream.org publishers of The Shack

• The Naked Church
• So You Don’t Want to Go to Church
• He Loves Me

The Naked Church Audio Book written by Wayne Jacobsen, Podcast by Greg McAbee

• Chapter 1
• Chapter 2
• Chapter 3
• Chapter 4
• Chapter 5
• Chapter 6
• Chapter 7
• Chapter 8
• Chapter 9
• Chapter 10
• Chapter 11
• Chapter 12
• Chapter 13
• Chapter 14
• Chapter 15
• Chapter 16
• Chapter 17
• Chapter 18
• Chapter 19
• Chapter 20
• Chapter 21

Also see

• BodyLife Newsletter Archive (Wayne Jacobsen’s Newsletter)
• The God Journey Podcast (Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings