Spiritual formation is not a singular event or moment. It is a continuous cycle of growth that is predicated on foundational beliefs. However, though there may be a platform of understanding, it does not indicate a desire to build upon it. Throughout the course of spiritual formation, I have learned that there is so much to learn from the daily practices and petitions to God that may be deemed religious. It is more so the posture of spirit and heart that determine the effectiveness of the perspective we bring. All the while, the Spirit is wooing us into the view of God’s grace, mercy, justice, and faithfulness to name a few. I have been introduced not to a new set of activities I get to do with the Lord, but a new way to see and commune with the Lord in a wide range of practices. Therefore, I want to backtrack to exactly where I was before I began to embark on this journey with the Lord.
Before the race, and really before considering spritual formation, I thought of Christianity having a basic set of beliefs with different outworkings. I believe this could be seen in denominations and scpritual biases, particularly in the area of salvation. All the more, each person exhibits a specific realtionship with God that is unique to them. On the other hand, I never realized that there acutally is a commonality through all the differences, even in practice. The belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who rose again on the third day, defeating sin and death, as the perfect sacrafice for restoration between man and God for His glory. With that truth in place, I have found that God has also intended there to be a truth in creation of “spirituality.” It’s not whether the building you attend is adorned by a steeple or strobe lights. Or that you raise your hand in worship or dance. Or that certain secrets are shared in small group or in your house. I believe that God’s purpose was that in each difference, there would be a consistency of purpose and passion driving it. For me, I only saw the physical acts, not the internal postures.
The generational divide (my grandparents then to my parents then to me), that I think still stands today, left a lot of practices up for change by the new wave of (Western) Christians. Both are not perfect by any means and each have struggled with American influence in tactics of reaching each other. I knew that my grandparents would speak more about being a Christian, my parents more about what it is to be a Christian and for our generation, what it feels like to be one. Regardless of these difference, I still believe there has always been an underlying consistency God intended for His people. It is seen in the men and women who lived in the Old Testament; primarily before the Messiah had come. But before I answer the question of what the consistency acutally is, I think that the beginning of spritual formation must begin with the Bible. Scriptural integrity and the practice of exegetical study will leave us with the correct foundation to live on.
Jesus Christ of Nazareth will be who He was recorded and written about, not my interpretation of Him. As I read, God’s character will be discovered as the Rightoues Judge and Compassioante Father He is. I will build my life on what God has set it up to be, not what I would rather see or prefer from what He has written for me to live by. Honestly, why would I want anything less than what God is saying by His word. “So then faith comes by hearing, hearing through the Word of Christ” (Romans 10:17) I think that it is a builtiful truth to set all my hope, dreams, and reality on the fact nothing comes from me. It’s not in my interpretation but from His Word. It is not of my preference, but from what He commanded. That’s true freedom, especially in the radical shadow of the torn veil. I not only have the opportunity to give my life over to what He has to say, but I get to know Him and discover Him through intimacy.
For the longest time, I never really knew intimacy. When I was sixteen, I sat down for the first time with pen and notbook and read the Bible for the first time. I had heard it my whole life, but sitting down with the Lord gave way for His voice to be heard in my throughts and heart. The next year of my life were difinitly not for Him, but the Lord was still gracious to give me memories with Him. Moments where I can only attribute to Him giving me knowledge and wisdom to speak. That, I believe, is the true gift we experience in the Word of God. We are able to learn about God through our God. The experience of who He is, is in the Truth of who He is. As Christians, we have the opournity for the rest of our lives to get to know God. Not only His love for us in seasons of laughing, but His faithfulness in seasons of tears. With the Word of God, we discover God and begin the greatest realtionship of reality. That is what truly begins to form us, and change the perceptions that creep in around us.
Once intimacy with God has begun, the fruit of living in the Spirit is so beautifully put on display. Everything changes when the desires of our hearts begin to yearn for Jesus Christ. We live a life full of “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control: against such things there s no law. “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:23-24) This is image of Christ, and we get to experience it. I have found Him to be so loving, faithful, gentle, and good to me in my life. Now, he gives me the ability to rebound all that to those around me. This is a gift and changes everything about the reality that we live in. It is the consistency I believe the Lord has called all Christians to. That is, the purposeful act of knowing God more and more through sacrificial service to others for the Glory of God. We have the priveldge of joy and suffering. We have the priveldge of trial and hope. These all flow from the same God that loves us and has prepared us different ways to experience Him.
Those experiences are seen in prayer, confession, worship, and fasting. These are elements of our spiritual formation that the Lord has given us to experience Him. Prayer no longer is the obligatory pronunciation of a supernatural “paragraph.” It is now conversation with God that calls to the light what no man could ponder. It is now the oppourtunity to feel the presence of God in our secret place. It is now the oppourtunity to lift people in our lives to God. It is now an oppourtunity to sacrafice our flesh and praise God as the all-deserving Creator He is.
Fasting changes from a sacrafice of food to the sacrafice of our flesh. It is no longer about the hunger pains and the agony they carry, it is about suffering for Jesus Christ. It is about creating a dependency on God that yells in the face of our most basic human nature and desire; to survive. Fasting is an oppourtunity to feel the overwhelming presence of the Lord satisfy you beyond what is known even by the body.
Confession changes from an expulsion of our deepest secrets to a place of sitting with the Father. He wants us to meet with Him so that we can talk to Him about the areas we fail. One of the greatest impediemtns that can keep us from God is us. We lie that we aren’t good enough or that maybe living in the dark will keep the reality we desire in the flesh afloat. However, we need the renewed mercy of God every day in our lives. We need His presence, His love, His compassion, His forgiveness, His breath. It is no longer our act, but is one by God, in which, He fills us with light and calls out the darkness in us to scatter. For a while we will feel conviction, but the Lord will be a light to us. (Micha 7:8-9).
Worship changes from an outward expression into an inward cry. We no longer have to compare ourselves to the world around us, but the internal reality of the Holy Spirit. We position our hearts for worship. We position our flesh to be sacrificed so that we may be able to glorify the Father. We rejoice in the season of tears and laughing so that we might glorify the God of our salvation and THAT is worship. It no longer is about arrangement or your voice. It’s about the realtionship you carry throughout your life and onto the alter. Ultimately, as we carry each of these practices out for the Glory of God, we begin to see more and more of Him flow out of us.
After realizing that spiritual formation defines itself through a variety of avenues, I can’t help but compare it to our sanctifcation. Our continual pursuit for that, which is, Jesus. As we run to Him, we become more like Him. But we leave our idenitity and desires and life behind, and that hurts. Therefore, “For me to live is Christ, and die is gain.” (Phillipians 1:21) The Kingdom of Heaven is calling for us and how wonderful it will be, however; living our lives now is for Christ. It is for His glory. It is for His magnification to others. That’s why I plan to implement and integrate these newfound perspectives of intimacy, prayer, confession, worship, and fasting. I commit to fast in times of complacency and indulgence. I commit to confess before the Most High God when I have failed upon conviction’s presence. I commit to worship from my soul’s posture rather than my hands or feet. I commmit to pray with the Lord as my God and Father. I commit to run to the Lord as the most satisfying thing in this reality BECAUSE HE IS. I commit to let The Bible guide me and direct me in my life. I commit that The Word of God is where I would define and confide in His character. I commit my life is of no value without Christ Jesus my savior.
I promise you, God will never let you live as you have if you let Him in. When you taste Him, there will be no other experience, relationship, or thing that will compare. But He requires your life and I write this to tell you its worth it. Every secret buried inside of your heart, every memory locked away, every haunting insecurity, and everyone that hurt you in your life; He will provide redemption, resotration, identity, foregiveness and “an inexpressible joy that is filled with glory.” (1 Peter 1:8)
