Riding the Wind of the Spirit (#806)
How do people learn to live inside of God's reality, sensitive to what the Spirit is doing around them instead of being left to their own wisdom or a set of ineffective religious platitudes? A letter from a struggling listener opens up a wide-ranging conversation about how we grow in our sensitivity to the nudges of the Spirit in the real circumstances we confront every day. Kyle and Wayne explore themes of discipleship, sensitivity to the Spirit, and of those who use, "God told me to...", as an excuse for their own selfishness and to end any further conversation.
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Great discussion. topic. I’m reminded of apostle Paul about his reproof to churches that they left the simplicity of Christ for methods, traditions and the way the law taught them. Also reminded recently through the book “The Misunderstood God” by Darrin Hufford. He makes the great point of God. Is. Love. And to interpret and gain insight of everything we go through, through His divine love, which was revealed to us on the cross. Stop looking for Him through the next teaching or miraculous or thrilling event, but rather stepping into Christ presence and let His love mature in us to love others more genuinely regardless of the person or circumstances in our life at a given time. I think we do more pushing God away because we want Him to do things with flashing miracles than allowing Him to show Himself through 1 Cor. 13 description of God’s love through us. It’s more challenging but also more rewarding and revealing of Himself in the end.
Thanx again for stepping into this great topic.
Dave
You’re welcome, Dave. I’m glad it resonated with you and you took some time here to make these comments. May God continue to lead s all in the purity and simplicity of being devoted to Christ…
i lost one of the greatest disciplers last fall, and not only wanted to honor him in this but also thought this might help shed light on discipleship…written september 26, 2020:
this afternoon a very special person died from cover-19. i knew him as Fish. i didn’t spend a lot of time with Fish, in fact, about the only time i saw him was at my niece’s kids’ birthday parties. the strange thing is that we had what seemed to be a very deep appreciation for each other. i have rarely felt loved like i felt when i was together with this man. my heart always came out of the experience bigger than before it. yet, we never talked about spiritual things…there was never a need. i will miss Fish because in my life there is one less person that can teach me to love others the way i appreciated Fish doing. his legacy is that i am a better lover of persons than i’d have been without knowing him…it doesn’t get any better than that. so, here’s to you my friend…may you dwell in the eternal light of love that you exemplified to me so well. your friend and disciple.
I’m sorry you lost such a great friend but glad to hear his passions have impacted your life so that you can impact others as well. That’s how God’s life gets passed on in the world. Blessings to you…
I’ve heard it said that students become like the teachers they follow, this should be also be true of Christians who are followers of Jesus, just like in Biblical days when a talmid was following and studying the teachings of their rabbi, it wasn’t just for them to gain a head knowledge of their rabbi’s teachings, but their end goal was to become just like the rabbi himself.
Jesus tells us how we can become like him, in John 15:5 he said, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit”. What kind of fruit was he referring to, in Galatians 5:22-23, we read that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control;”.
In John 10:30 Jesus tells us, “I and the Father are one.”, and we know that “God is Love”. (1 John 4:8) — here are some of the attributes of God’s love; “Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails;” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)
Love is an attribute of God. Love is a core aspect of God’s character, His Person. Jesus is God, and as Christians follow him they should bear the fruit of the Spirit and share the attributes of God’s love as they relate to everyone around them.
Sadly in recent years I have seen many Christians who have committed to following someone else other than Jesus, someone who actions, words and attitude bear fruit that is in exact opposition to what we see with the fruit of the Spirit and the attributes of God’s love.
Just like the talmid becomes like the rabbi they follow, and Christians who follow Jesus become like him, I have seen these Christians become less like Christ, and more like the man they are following. I am truly heartbroken by what I see, and pray daily that they will wake up and return to their “first love”. (Revelation 2:4)