By nature, I am an introvert. Some may find that hard to believe, but it’s true. I am most inclined to withdraw into myself and avoid connections. It is only through years of practice that I have learned how to engage with others in meaningful and beneficial ways. I have learned to express myself as an extrovert, but even so, there are times when I much prefer the company of a book over anything — or anyone — else.
I often wrestle with myself because of my nature. If God designed us to be in community, why do I have the personality that would prefer solitude over crowds? If it is not good to be alone, and we need one another, why do I withdraw into myself as a protective instinct in order to prevent the pain that comes with relationships and interactions with people? How do I reconcile these warring sides of my own self?
Because of my nature, I have had a hard time really opening myself up to others fully. It seems that when I do, it frequently leads to feelings of betrayal, rejection, frustration, and pain. The knee-jerk reaction is to simply say, “No. I just won’t open myself up to others.” But that’s not the way. That’s not how we are called to live as Christians.
We are called and created to be in community with one another. We are called to invest in one another, and journey with one another as we discover who God wants us to be, and as we journey toward that goal. Simply put, community exists when we connect with others in an authentic way, in order to love, serve, encourage, and support one another as we grow in Christ. This requires that I set aside my introverted nature and become open and transparent with others as I seek to be conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29).
Over the years, I have written several times about the need to develop spiritual disciplines and habits that help with spiritual formation. This is one of the key areas of my own life, and it forms the foundation for spiritual growth.
Developing spiritual practices that transform us is a critically important part of our spiritual growth. Such disciplines, or habits, help us maintain our growth as a priority, and can be a helpful tool for gaining deeper growth and maturity. I have several core disciplines that I have built into my daily routines, or at other frequent intervals. Many of those I have written about in the past here. They have been good companions, old friends even, that have helped me keep my focus on Jesus as I seek to become more and more like him.
For most of my life, I assumed that there were only a few of these disciplines, maybe a couple of dozen, at best. However, I have recently discovered that there are far more such habits that can help me grow than I ever imagined. As I have discovered some new ways of incorporating growth into my life, I have stretched myself by trying some of these new disciplines. Some of them have helped me tremendously; others have not been as beneficial for my life, at the point I am at right now. But who knows? They may be more helpful at a later point in my spiritual journey.
Growing my faith, my relationship with God, is my top priority. Above all else, my relationship with Christ must come first. Everything else in my life hinges upon this. But in order to do that, you have to develop a series of disciplines that will help you grow and mature in your faith.
As a minister, all too often, I have conversations that center around how to grow and mature in our faith. I have discovered that most people have no idea what to do to deepen their faith. Most of the people I have these conversations with want to deepen their faith, they just aren’t sure how to go about doing that.
As a result, I’ve decided to write a series of posts about spiritual disciplines. These are habits that I believe are necessary to grow in our faith. These are habits that are either prominent in Scripture, or have been proven through the lives of other, spiritually mature believers.
Not everyone grows in the same fashion or speed. What might be a breeze to one person may be a difficult discipline to master for another. But I firmly believe that each of these disciplines play a part in our becoming who God has created us to be.
Over the course of the next few weeks and months, I will be writing a series of posts about these disciplines. Each post (or posts, maybe) will define each discipline, and give some practical ideas on how to implement this effectively in our lives.
Ephesians is a theologically rich letter, filled with glimpses of core doctrine as well as deeper explorations of the main tenets of Christianity. And in Ephesians 3, Paul offers a prayer for the Ephesian Christians that God will do three things in their lives. In Paul’s prayer, he outlines the reality of the Trinity. His prayer petitions God in three ways: as the Spirit, as Christ, and then as the Father.
This three-fold prayer is powerful just as it’s written in this letter. Paul is seeking strength, love, and fullness for the Ephesian Christians, but when we factor in the Trinity, this takes on an ever deeper and richer significance.
In this Random Rambling, we’ll see take a brief look at what Paul prays, and what it means for the Ephesians, and for us as well.
About Random Ramblings:
Random Ramblings are just that: they are random, and I’ll probably ramble. It’s an opportunity to share a little about what’s going on in my mind, primarily about what I’ve gained from my study of Scripture. I hope these ramblings can be an encouraging and helpful part of your day. These brief videos will be shared here and on my YouTube channel. You can jump over there to subscribe for only video updates, or subscribe here to be notified of posts of all kinds.
Links:
Theology Matters. And I found a t-shirt to prove it. You can find it on Amazon.com.
The time of the book of Judges was a very dark period of Israel’s history. The people of Israel were in a cycle of sin and oppression. God would send a deliverer, and they would have peace for a time, and then the cycle would repeat, getting progressively worse. However, there are a few bright spots to be found during this time. One of them is the example of a man named Manoah.
One of those bright spots is the example of a man named Manoah and his wife, found in Judges 13. God reveals to Manoah what he is about to do for his people, and Manoah’s response is one that we can follow as an example of faith and obedience.
In this Random Rambling, we’ll see four characteristics that Manoah displays, characteristics we should develop in our own life as well.
About Random Ramblings:
Random Ramblings are just that: they are random, and I’ll probably ramble. It’s an opportunity to share a little about what’s going on in my mind, primarily about what I’ve gained from my study of Scripture. I hope these ramblings can be an encouraging and helpful part of your day. These brief videos will be shared here and on my YouTube channel. You can jump over there to subscribe for only video updates, or subscribe here to be notified of posts of all kinds.
Links:
That sweet mug is handmade by THrō Ceramics. I received it as part of my Mugbox subscription. Check them out!
Most of us long for personal growth and spiritual growth. Often, those two areas can overlap. If we want to grow, there are a few areas of life where we need to invest time and effort to make growth possible.
Luke’s Gospel gives us a brief glimpse into the childhood of Jesus when he tells of Jesus in the Temple at the age of 12. It’s an interesting snapshot of the childhood of Jesus, and helps us understand his purpose here on earth. But then Luke makes a brief statement that we can kind of overlook as just a summary of Jesus’ early life. If we look closer, this statement actually gives us four key areas in which Jesus was intentional about his growth, and we can follow that example in our own lives.
In Luke 2:52, we read, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”
In one sense, that is exactly what we assume it to be: a summary of the life of Jesus between the age of twelve and the start of his public ministry. But a deeper look shows us four key areas of growth that we can pursue in our own lives, just as Jesus did. When we invest in these four areas, growth will follow.
The first area that Luke highlights is the area of wisdom. This is a critically important investment in our lives. And one that we need to be very intentional about pursuing.
After much consideration and planning, I have decided to shift my focus a little concerning the approach I take with Random Ramblings. I am renewing my attempts to create and share short videos to encourage and inspire others. Going forward, these will be focused on something I have gained and gleaned from my study of the Bible.
In Ephesians 3:6, Paul explains the mystery of God’s inclusion of the Gentiles in with his chosen nation of Israel. Paul uses three words to describe this, all with the same prefix. In English, it would be “co,” and in Greek, it’s “syn.”
In this Random Rambling, we’ll take a look at these three words. In fact, he seems to coin one of them for his own purposes in describing what “together” looks like.
This passage from Ephesians is a great example of what it looks like for the body of Christ to be together, and it’s one of my favorite passages in this little letter.
About Random Ramblings:
Random Ramblings are just that: they are random, and I’ll probably ramble. It’s an opportunity to share a little about what’s going on in my mind, primarily about what I’ve gained from my study of Scripture. I hope these ramblings can be an encouraging and helpful part of your day. These brief videos will be shared here and on my YouTube channel. You can jump over there to subscribe for only video updates, or subscribe here to be notified of posts of all kinds.
Links:
No links available for this episode.
