"Principles of Spiritual Growth" by Miles J. Stanford

Principles of Spiritual Growth

by Miles J. Stanford

    The aim of this book is to carefully bring out some of the more important principles of spiritual growth in order to help build on a sound biblical foundation in Christ.

    The aim of this paper, in two parts, is to take each chapter and give just one paragraph to entice the reader to explore the book and the subject further.

Faith-true faith must be based solely on scriptural facts. Unless our faith is established on facts, it is no more than conjecture, superstition, speculation or presumption. Faith is dependence upon God. And this God-dependence only begins when self-dependence ends.

Time-It takes time to get to know ourselves; it takes time and eternity to get to know our infinite Lord Jesus Christ. When God wants to make an oak, He takes a hundred years, but when He wants to make a squash, He takes six months. Rest in God’s time not mine.

Acceptance-There are two questions that every believer must settle as soon as possible. The one is, Does God fully accept me? And the second, If so, upon what basis does He do so? Every believer is accepted by the Father, in Christ (Rom. 5:1). The peace is God’s toward us, through His beloved Son-on this our peace is to be based. God is able to be at peace with us through our Lord Jesus Christ (Col. 1:20). And we must never forget that His peace is founded solely on the work of the cross, totally apart from anything whatsoever in or from us (Rom. 5:8).

Purpose-God’s purpose of making man in His image is for communion, fellowship and cooperation (Rom. 8:28, 29). God has a natural law in force to the effect that we are conformed to that on which we center our interest and love. If we are attracted to this present evil world, we become increasingly worldly; if we pamper and live for self, we become more and more self-centered; but when we look to Jesus Christ, we become more and more like Him.  “For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure: (Phil. 2:13)(see II Cor. 4:11; Phil. 1:21 and John 12:20, 21).

Preparation-God’s basic ingredient for growth is need. Without personal needs, we would get nowhere in our Christian life. The reason our Father creates and allows needs in our lives is to turn us from all that is outside of Christ, centering us in Him alone (Gal. 2:20). The true value of anything is known only when it is wanted. Watchman Nee puts first things first in saying, “God does not set us here first of all to preach or to do any work for Him. The first thing for which He sets us here is to create in others a hunger for Himself…No true work will ever begin in a life without first of all a sense of need being created…”

Complete in Him-Since we are complete in our Lord Jesus, it will not do to try and add to that finished work. It is now a matter of walking by faith and receiving, or appropriating from the ever-abundant source within. Our part is not production but reception of our life in Christ. This entails Bible-based fact-finding, explicit faith in Him and His purpose for us in Christ and patient trust while He takes us through the necessary processing involved.

Appropriation-In order to appropriate something for our daily walk in Christ, there are two essentials: to see what is already ours in Christ; and to be aware of our need for it.

Identification-see Romans 6; Gal. 2:20 Nothing more needs to be written.

the Holiness of God

   “To the glory of God, I now know that ‘there is no demand made on my life, which is not a demand on the life of Christ in me.’ The Lord Jesus Christ is totally adequate. It is not Jesus plus; it is Jesus period! Everything is in Jesus, and Jesus is everything! We must go and tell a church of defeated Christians that there is victory in Jesus! The Highway of Holiness is mapped out for every one of us, and the signposts are clearly visible. Let us tread the pathway with disciplined obedience ‘til we see our Savior face to face. Paul, the apostle, said it long ago: ‘As you have…received Christ Jesus the Lord, SO WALK IN HIM’ (Col. 2:6)”

This is the last paragraph from the author, Stephen F. Olford.

The Signpost of Christ-Centeredness

Galatians 2:20-3:7

  “The greatest moment in my life was when I discovered that God expects nothing more or less of Stephen Olford than abject failure! And, even more importantly, only one Person can live the Christian life, and that is Christ Himself; and only as I trust Him to live His life in me, can I possibly live the quality of life that satisfies the heart of God and challenges the world in which I witness…”

   Dr. Olford goes on to write about the termination of the self-life,…

Oh, to be saved from myself, dear Lord,

Oh, to be lost in Thee;

Oh, that it may be no more I,

But Christ that lives in me.

A.A. Whiddington

and  the substitution of the Christ-life,…

Moment by moment I’m kept in His love,

Moment by moment I’ve life from above;

Looking to Jesus till glory does shine,

Moment by moment, O Lord, I am Thine.

Daniel W. Whittle

   ‘Without me,’ said Jesus, ‘you can do nothing’ (John 15:5). But by His indwelling, through the power of the Holy Spirit, He is adequate. Only one Person in the whole world lived the Christian life, and that was Jesus. There is only one Person who can live the Christian life now, and that is Jesus. Therefore, exchange all your strivings and defeats in the flesh for His life in you. Make your motto and motivation, ‘not I, but Christ.’ This is Christ-centeredness!”

At the end of each section there are questions for further study. A few of the questions for this section are:

•   Who alone can live the Christian life? How does that truth affect your efforts to live as a Christian? Be practical and specific.
•   In what sense did you die with Christ on the cross? How does this fact affect the way you approach temptations? (see Rom. 6:11)
•   What are some characteristics of the new life we have in Christ? (See 2 Peter 1:4; Heb. 12:14; Rom. 8:37.) How do we get these qualities?
•   How do we appropriate the Christ-life? (See Gal. 2:20) How does this work? If you can, give an example from your own life.

Other Signposts to Guide Us included in this book are:

•   The Signpost of Sinfulness James 4:13-17, Galatians 5:16:23
•   The Signpost of Forgiveness 1 John 1:5-2:2
•   The Signpost of Holiness 1 Peter 1:13-15
•  The Signpost of Yieldedness Romans 14:1-12
•   The Signpost of Spirit-fullness Ephesians 5:15-21
•   The Signpost of Usefulness John 9:1-7
•   The Signpost of Readiness Luke 21:20-36

"Tired of Trying to measure Up" by Jeff VanVonderen

    Tired of Trying to Measure Up by Jeff VanVonderen Part One was introduced last week. Part Two has so many great thoughts that I decided to continue instead of cutting too much out.

Part Two is titled Healed by Grace. The title of Chapter Nine reads, “God Says You Don’t Have to Live in Shame.”

Sin and Death: Worse Than We Thought

  “At this point, there are several things we all need to grasp about sin. First of all, in my opinion, you and I do not sin because we want to make life worse for ourselves. Rather, we sin because we believe it will make life better. We indulge in a negative behavior because we believe it will improve our situation. And we perform positive behaviors for the same reason.

   Second, anyone or anything from which you and I try to acquire life, value and meaning-outside of the true God-is a false god. Therefore, those positive behaviors aimed at generating life and acceptability for us are sins. So even though what we do may be right, the reason why we do it is idolatrous.

   Third, because you and I lack life and are helpless, no amount of negative or positive external behavior is capable of producing an internal transformation.” Continuing in this chapter the author writes about the problem, about the solution, about the enemy and about the battle.

   In Ephesians 6:10-12, we read about the spiritual battle. Scripture further describes the nature of our battle: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh.” (2 Corinthians 10:3,4) We are not in a flesh-and-blood battle.

   In order to fight the right battle, we need to understand how to renew our mind. (see Romans 12:2) The author writes, notice that Paul does not say, “Be transformed by trying hard to be a good Christian.”

   “This instruction is so simple. “Be transformed,” in the Greek, is the same word as metamorphosis in English. It means to change from the inside out. But in the Greek it is passive-that is, transformed is something done to us, not by us. Transformation is not our job. It happens as a result of the renewing of our minds.”

   Next Jeff VanVonderen describes the three distinct roles in which God relates to people. God the Father relates as our Source, we are His created children; God the Son relates with compassion as a teacher and sacrifice. The Son did it all on the Cross. (Luke 4:17-21; Hebrews 10:10); God the Holy Spirit relates with his indwelling the believer. (John 14:16, 18) “I will never fail you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5b)

   The book has many more references and more depth on all of these topics. As we read starting in Chapter Eleven “God’s Solution to Shame: A New Creation”

   “The Christian life is a process of learning to live consistently with who we already are in Christ…The gospel’s Good News is that, on the basis of God’s grace and because of Christ’s performance on the cross, we are brand new creations…A Christian is someone who get his life from God. “And I will put My Spirit within you, and you shall live…” (Ezekiel 27:14)

   “Apart From Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) Real life comes from continuing to depend upon, draw life from, receive our value and acceptance from the Spirit. It comes from learning that what is natural, whether good or bad, is dead and has no real life to offer…Another reminder, “For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:13) God is right now doing the work in you to change you. It’s an inside job.

Tired of Trying to Measure Up by Jeff VanVonderen

rest: how to rest

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and overburdened, and I will give you rest!” (Matt. 11:28)

 

Jesus’ response to tired people is rest.

   If Christianity is supposed to be a life filled with joy and meaning, why do I always feel as if I’m, struggling and tired of it? Why do I feel so guilty? Why is it so hard for me to rest, even when I need to? Why can’t I stop all of my religious activity, even though it long ago ceased to be a joy? Why do I find myself repeating patterns I vowed I never would?

    When we ask, “What’s wrong with me?” Jeff VanVonderen has listed what he describes as some common traits and their definitions for a “shame- based” identity. For more information please read pages 19 to 28 of Tired of Trying to Measure Up. His final answer to “What’s wrong with you? Nothing. You’re normal. Wounded, but normal.

   Books offer knowledge, which is important; what we do with the knowledge, is more important; yet our focus on Jesus Christ is most important.

  Books give incite, relationships offer practice to what we have learned. God reveals to each of us our misperceptions of events. God created each one of us unique and exactly as He wanted us. Focusing on Jesus Christ allows Him to flow and change our misconceptions. We are to cease striving to be like… It is OK for you to be you and me to be me.

   Part One of this book instructs on how shame may begin in many of our lives. For example, in chapter five, we are instructed on the shame meaning and message for topics such as personal behavior, divorce, addiction, abusiveness and suicide.

   Read on and on, Part Two explains how to be healed by Grace. “By learning to look through a ‘grace-grid’ we’ll learn how to fight a different kind of battle than the one we’ve been trying to win through our own self effort…

   What’s so wonderful, is that we can be loved, accepted, capable, and worthwhile for free-because, in love, God purchased our eternal state of ‘acceptedness’ with the blood of His own Son, Jesus Christ. That’s the real Good News of the gospel!”

   “God’s gift absolutely and irrevocably contradicts and obliterates everything in the message that says that you and I are defective and unworthy of any attention or love. Instead of the old, shaming sources, He becomes our new Source of messages about ourselves. God’s stance toward wounded, tired people is one of compassion, grace and forgiveness. As our Father, He is our healer and provider…we have a Father who has chosen us, just as we are. As the Holy Spirit, He is our Comforter and Helper. We are never alone because of His continuing and indwelling presence. He is the proof of God’s settled acceptance of you and me. As the flesh-and-blood Son, God demonstrated His love and compassion through both His life and death. Through the cross, the penalty of all our guilt was paid once and for all, and we have been rescued from death and destruction and shame.

   Now there are new messages about ourselves to consider. We are loved, accepted, lovable and acceptable-and not because of any laws we’ve kept or spiritual merit badges we’ve earned. We are brand new creations-clean, innocent, blameless-no longer under indictment. We are His heirs.”

Tired of Trying to Measure Up by Jeff VanVonderen