Jesus said there is only one
way to develop and grow spiritually, and that is through focusing and
concentrating on God. In essence, Jesus was saying, “Do not worry about being
of use to others; simply believe on Me.” In other words, pay attention to the Source,
and out of you “will flow rivers of living water” (John 7:38). We
cannot discover the source of our natural life through common sense and
reasoning, and Jesus is teaching here that growth in our spiritual life comes
not from focusing directly on it, but from concentrating on our Father in
heaven. CHAMBERS
Have you ever had someone tell you that you are
trying too hard? Maybe you were learning
how to do something and you were so focused .. so tense and anxious that try as
you might you could not do it? As I was
typing this I thought about Mr. Riley.
He was my primary flight instructor when I was learning to fly
helicopters in the Army. He was trying
to teach me to hover the helicopter. As
you might imagine there are a lot of things going in in a helicopter … I was so
tense … every muscle in my body was tense as I thought about the fact that I
was about to leave terra firm in a machine that didn’t want to fly. He saw that and said “Relax …” I said “I am
relaxed” .. but in truth only my right wrist and hand were relaxed … everything
else was tight as a guitar string. But I listened and learned to hover. But I had to focus on the teacher and listen
to what He told me.
In
a similar way, our spiritual growth is dependent upon the strength of our relationship
with the Father. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse
your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James
4:8)
Did you notice the second half of that verse? James says that you should not draw near to
God until your heart is right … your hands are clean … When you pray, do you
think about that? Or do you approach God
with ‘unclean hands’? We must not have a
casual attitude toward God … like it doesn’t matter what is going on in my life
… I can just give God a call anytime. We
have that attitude because we are not really focused on God but are focused on
ourselves.
'THESE PEOPLE DRAW NEAR TO ME WITH THEIR MOUTH, AND HONOR
ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME. AND IN VAIN THEY WORSHIP
ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.' [sic] (Matthew 15:8-9)
“For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it;
You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken
spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-- These, O God, You will not despise.” (Psalms
51:16-17)
You see, it’s about the condition of our
heart. When the High Priest entered the
Holy of Holies, he had to offer sacrifices for sin .. the nations and his own
.. We can approach God because of Jesus .. the veil was torn from top to bottom
… Mark 15:38 … giving us entrance … but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to wash
our feet before we enter.
The key to growing close to God and reflecting
Jesus in our life is spending time with God … seems like a no-brainer … but it’s
not …
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
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