Image via WikipediaTrue SpiritualityOn the cross Jesus exclaimed, "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit" (Luke 23:46). In life and in death our Lord is the ultimate expression of true spirituality. And to those who confess his name he says, "Follow me."
The word sin is an important word in the Bible, the only word that describes the basic spiritual nature of persons outside the reality and presence of God's grace. It alone describes the inability of humans to let God be God, the inability of humans to fulfill God's moral law of love by perfectly loving God, oneself, and others, the inability to heal our own brokenness or remove our human limitation.
The good news is "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son; that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). The next verse is also essential: "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him" (v17). Saving is the personal activity of a God, full of grace, a God of unconditional love. And his name is Jesus, the name above every name. Jesus if the Lord, full of grace.
The gospel of God's grace revealed in Christ is indeed a simple message. Christ himself said, "...anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Mark 10:15). Not childishness, but childlikeness is essential in believing and living the gospel of our Lord. Faith is not so much a matter of knowing as it is believing, trusting, risking, and following.
Matthew 10:12-13 starts on the search for these answers: "As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it...". One of the answers Christ has offered us is that the concept of discipleship enter in to our bodies, minds and emotions. And the second part of this is that these areas be deserving.
Webster’s New World Dictionary defines discipleship as "a pupil or follower of any teacher or school." One of the first thing that each teacher or school demands of their disciples is the area of trust. Without this both the "disciple" and the school/teacher would be wasting each others time. Christ also demanded this of his disciples as he stated in Matthew 10:29-31.
(Matthew 10:28-31)"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of God, who can destroy both body and soul in hell. For only a penny you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. As for you, even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth much more than many sparrows."
The word sin is an important word in the Bible, the only word that describes the basic spiritual nature of persons outside the reality and presence of God's grace. It alone describes the inability of humans to let God be God, the inability of humans to fulfill God's moral law of love by perfectly loving God, oneself, and others, the inability to heal our own brokenness or remove our human limitation.
The good news is "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son; that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). The next verse is also essential: "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him" (v17). Saving is the personal activity of a God, full of grace, a God of unconditional love. And his name is Jesus, the name above every name. Jesus if the Lord, full of grace.
The gospel of God's grace revealed in Christ is indeed a simple message. Christ himself said, "...anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it." (Mark 10:15). Not childishness, but childlikeness is essential in believing and living the gospel of our Lord. Faith is not so much a matter of knowing as it is believing, trusting, risking, and following.
Matthew 10:12-13 starts on the search for these answers: "As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it...". One of the answers Christ has offered us is that the concept of discipleship enter in to our bodies, minds and emotions. And the second part of this is that these areas be deserving.
Webster’s New World Dictionary defines discipleship as "a pupil or follower of any teacher or school." One of the first thing that each teacher or school demands of their disciples is the area of trust. Without this both the "disciple" and the school/teacher would be wasting each others time. Christ also demanded this of his disciples as he stated in Matthew 10:29-31.
(Matthew 10:28-31)"Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of God, who can destroy both body and soul in hell. For only a penny you can buy two sparrows, yet not one sparrow falls to the ground without your Father's consent. As for you, even the hairs of your head have all been counted. So do not be afraid; you are worth much more than many sparrows."
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