MBG – 017: Transformation: Out Of The Weeds

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Transformation: Out Of The Weeds

Drinking Deeply
Sometimes I get off the straight path and begin to wander into the weeds. The following thoughts have been helpful to return my focus.

My Indestructible Life is the prize.
My Creator has designed life to be a process with a definite destination. I have pondered long and hard concerning the potential reality of there being something more to this life than living and dying.

If there is a way to grasp an indestructible, forever life, then I am all in. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life – sometimes perhaps to much. Jesus posed many interesting questions, one of which was “what does it profit a man if he (or she) gains the whole world but loses his (or her) own soul?” A fair answer is to place extremely high value on the promised prize of eternal life.

Authenticity is strength.
If one is going to prevail in the quest to find authentic meaning, it will come as we reason in three different arenas. Philosophy helps us to ask good questions so I can learn from my human experience. Science helps me to weigh and reason regarding the abundant information which is flowing around me. Theology allows me to sift deeply through my convictions and their impact upon my world view. All three: philosophy, science, and theology – give me a backdrop to discover authentic strength in conviction. As Isaiah the prophet said, “Come now, let us reason together.” There is a distance difference between asking God questions and questioning God.

Finding my First Things First vision.
Every man or woman has a world view. The challenge is to engage a world view built upon visionary presuppositions. What do you know to be true? What are your convictions concerning truth, true success, meaningful relationships, and how you are making your life count. To find a satisfied mind we must give some careful attention to our current and evolving view of ourselves and the world around us.

Finding myself in Knowing God.
It seems our view of God has much to do with finding ourselves. The God Story tells us we were made to know God – in fact – to enjoy a friendship with our Maker. By drawing close to God we find ourselves. As our “friendship”with God unfolds we exchange futility for rewardbelonging for disconnection, and lasting substance for fleeting gratification.  Jesus said that “he who wishes to find himself must lose himself.” Talk about turning the human experience inside-out!

Reasons to Believe
Eventually we owe it to ourselves to answer the question “what is truth?” Implicit in the answer is a search to see if there is a God, and if there is, has He spoken? And how has He spoken? I love reading about the great religions of the world. It is breathtaking how Kingdom Spirituality (not religion) eclipses every other religion, including historic christianity. Jesus is the singular figure in history and has revealed Himself in specific, historic, and supernatural ways. Among these are the cosmos itself, micro studies to the smallest known particles, all the sciences, and a consideration of all the places in history where God has “shown up.” After all, if my soul is in the balance, is there any stone I should leave unturned?

Fine Tuning is extremely helpful.
If God has revealed Himself in an eternal agreement between Himself and His Son, how do we extract something authentic from the suspect history of even the Christian faith itself? With so many interpreters and interpretations, how can we find authentic representation of Who God is (not to mention: what He wants from us). This is why it is SO important for me to have my own convictions, and to not regurgitate pieced-together ideologies to form the foundation for my life, and the life to come. Just saying.

What Jesus Wants: Spirit-filled men and women of God
If there is no supernatural component to life and death then there is nothing other than ordinary in the human experience. But our Creator carefully tells us there is a Spirit dimension to our lives, and that the very essence of Who He is reflects this supernatural component. And so God calls us not merely to a life of self-denial and good works. He has carefully planned our lives to include our own journey recipes as well as supernatural ingredients to build our faith.

What is the Kingdom?
This leads to a huge pivot. We must see our faith as something eclipsing mere religion and directly responsive to our King. His Kingdom is our passion because it is all about living a Kingdom life. This turns the human paradigm upside down and inverts our spiritual journey to what it was meant to be in the first place: first King – then Kingdom – then church. The Kingdom is our key to unlocking the door to spiritual freedom, and ultimately – peace!

So…
The prize of an indestructible life, authenticity in spirituality and personal vision, knowing God as He has revealed Himself, embracing conviction in what I believe, fine-tuning what God has revealed, setting my course to become a man or woman of God, and engaging Kingdom spirituality over and above religion – all of these avenues help me to achieve a satisfied mind on my road to  hearing the words “well done” flow to me from my Master’s lips.

This is allot, but it is why I embrace spiritual transformation in the dance of life 🙂

– Dave

Transformation
Video link: https://engagegod.com/spiritual-transformation/

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