1 John 4:4 You, dear
children, are
from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater
than the one who is in the world.
It was within the twelve step community
that I came to more fully experience the power of God, his grace and love. It is also where my spirituality
matured. I am not sure how one would
separate the spiritual aspect of life; I am one who sees all of life as
spiritual. So within my life I reference
those same twelve steps and traditions for guidance. For those of you who are
not familiar with the twelve steps it is a guide to living life on a
spiritual basis - what I hope we as Christians are up to. I think it is one of the most profound guides
to a life of faith. It teaches how to
live with ourselves, each other, the world outside our door and God.
One of the interesting steps is the
twelfth step - Having had a spiritual awakening we sought to carry this message
to others and to practice these principles in all our affairs. The intriguing aspect of this step is that we
are told wait to spread the good news - to the carry message until we have more
fully experienced the grace and power of God.
I was listening to an interview of Jim
Douglas a man who has lived a life of radical faith. The interview is accessible
at this link:
http://www.beyondtheboxpodcast.com/2014/07/jim-douglass-a-life-of-peace-and-resistance/
When
asked what he saw as a first step towards living a life of radical faith his
answer was this - that we first experience the depth of the grace and love of God. That this experiencing of God is a basking in
his love. There is no rush to do anything
else but relish his love for you.
I
came to faith long before I got clean and sober. Yet my faith did not result in my salvation
from drugs and alcohol. Regardless of
how hard I prayed and pled I remained lost.
While part of this was my not understanding my addiction, the other part
lies with being too quick to picking up my cross to follow him. I was not alone in that rush. No sooner I was saved, then I was told to get
busy working out my salvation.
It was only when I focused on my well-being
that I became of use to God. It was only
when I took the time to go through my life and all the warts and wrinkles that
I found salvation. It was only when I
truly opened life to God that I became healed that I was able to stand as
example. Yes, I was of service, I set up
tables and chairs and made coffee and cleaned up - I was of service, but my
primary focus was on being healed.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world,
but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test
and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Romans 12:2
Romans 12:2
We are called to be in the word. All it takes a short drive to somewhere, anywhere,
and one realizes how ugly, angry and brutal this world can be. Everywhere it seems there is an invitation to
join in this ugliness.
But
we are called to put ourselves last; to forgive those who have slighted us; to
pray for our enemies; and this for me is a tall order. To do so, on my own, whether it be to the
glory of God or not, only serves to be even more frustrating. But in Romans we
are called first to the renewing of our minds.
I
need to daily, sometimes more often, and regularly spend time in prayer. Though I believe I am constantly in the
presence of God, I need to stop what I am doing and be aware of how much God
loves me. It is through doing this,
basking in the love of God, that I am renewed of spirit.
If
I am to be the light of the world, then I cannot simply be another angry
person. As Paul said, “What if I speak
in the most elegant languages of people or in the exotic languages of the
heavenly messengers, but I live without love? Well then, anything I say is like
the clanging of brass or a crashing cymbal.”
Over
the next several posts I will discuss how I think we are called to be in the
world. But it all begins with knowing
the love of God.
No comments:
Post a Comment