Monday, November 1, 2010

HEALTHY SPIRITUALITY - LESSON 5: Beginning Transformation to the Deep Places


Last week we discussed the final symptoms of unhealthy spirituality and started the beginnings of bringing transformation to the deep places in our lives.  I recently finished reading through the Bible – The Message paraphrase and I marked a page that I wanted to go back to.  It is the introduction that Eugene Peterson wrote to the book of Jude in the Bible.  It says this: ‘Our spiritual communities are as susceptible to disease as our physical bodies.  But it is easier to detect whatever is wrong in our stomachs and lungs than to our worship and witness.  When our physical bodies are sick or damaged, the pain calls our attention to this, and we hopefully do something about it.  But a dangerous, even deadly, virus in our spiritual communities can go undetected for a long time.  As much as we need physicians for our bodies, we have even greater need for diagnosticians and healers of the [emotions] and the spirit.”
So true… my prayer is that as a result of the time we have and are spending in identifying unhealthy spirituality, it will enable us to diagnosis ourselves and our communities we are worshiping in so we can be a help to others.

So.. what makes it so difficult to follow Jesus today and become spiritually healthy?  Besides our unhealthiness in all the parts of who we are, what prevents us from becoming all God intends?
Os Guiness says it has a lot to do with our culture.  “The global culture is the beast that threatens to swallow us up in these days.  The core values in the twenty-first century scream at us from computers, billboards, televisions, DVDs, music, schools, newspapers, magazines and iPods.”  We have lost a Biblical worldview…   

Our worldview comes from what the world tells us:
·        Happiness is found in having things  
·        You should get all you can for yourself, as quickly as you can
·        Security is found in money, power, status, and good health

Matthew 6:32-34 (New International Version)

32For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

·        Above all, you should seek all the pleasure, convenience and comfort you can
·        God is irrelevant to everyday life
·        Christianity if just one of many alternative spiritualities
·        There are no moral absolutes; whatever is true for you is what is true
John 14:6
Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
·        You’re not responsible for anyone but yourself
Galatians 6:1
[ Doing Good to All ] Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
and..
·        This life on earth is all there is

All of these feed our fears, mistrust, fierce self-will, stubbornness and rebellion.

The apostle Paul had the courage to look within as we read in Romans 7:21-24 (New International Version)

 21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Do we have that same courage?  

--A person can grow emotionally healthy without Christ. 
--A person can grow physically healthy without Christ or mentally for that matter.  You can all probably think of people who are non-Christian that are more loving, balanced and civil than many in our churches. 
At the same time, we can find people who are deeply committed to contemplative prayer/ spirituality like a monk perhaps that is emotionally unaware, out of tune with themselves and socially maladjusted.   How can this be? 

Very few people integrate working towards emotional health and contemplative spirituality.   
Let’s break the 2 down (from Emotionally Healthy Spirituality):
Emotional Health is concerned with such things as:

·        Naming, recognizing, and managing our own feelings
·        Identifying with and having active compassion for others (discuss personality and gifting differences here - DISC, True Colors) Even though our personality has natural bents, this cannot be an excuse for not developing mercy, care, compassion - we are all called to become like Christ.
·        Initiating and maintaining close and meaningful friendships
·        Breaking free from self-destructive patterns and habits (we are all sin addicts - what has a hold of you? controlling you? - if anything other that Christ is, you have some work to do to remove idols in your life)
·        Being aware of how our past impacts our present
·        Developing the capacity to express our thoughts and feelings clearly, both verbally and non verbally
·        Respecting and loving others without having to change them (acceptance/ live &; let live – discuss honoring parents that we can’t respect)
·        Asking for what we need, want, or prefer clearly, directly and respectfully
·        Accurately self-assessing our strengths, limits and weaknesses and freely sharing them with others
·        Learning the capacity to resolve conflict maturely and negotiate solutions that consider the perspectives of others
·        Distinguishing and appropriately expressing our sexuality and sensuality, and,
·        Grieving well  (why do you think this is on the list? - most believers do not 'encourage' grieving.. they try to put a band-aid on it)

Let’s go back and discuss the area of ‘needs’ briefly.  ·  Philippians 4:19
And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.  

I think that often we read this scripture and we don’t realize the conditions that go with it.  Let’s look at the requirements that the Lord has established as boundaries around His promise to supply our needs:

OBEDIENCE – We cannot live in sin and disobedience and expect God to give us everything we request – including our needs.  Psalm 84:11

 11 For the LORD God is a sun and shield;
       the LORD bestows favor and honor;
       no good thing does he withhold
       from those who walk uprightly

This does not mean those who are sinless.. the focus is the intent of the heart – those whose hearts are bent toward the Lord and they want to please Him.  God assumes full responsibility for meeting the needs of those who obey Him and remember His word says “those who love me, obey me” – obedience is a byproduct of fully loving and being devoted to God.
Sometimes God will cause us to do without in order to bring us back to Himself (Luke 15:11-24).

ASK -  Just like what we learned healthy spirituality consists of:  Asking for what we need, want, or prefer clearly, directly and respectfully.  We have to be willing to first of all ask God to supply what we lack.  What is your first response when an unexpected problem arises?  Immediately bring it to the Lord or do you resort to worry, maneuvering, manipulating, figuring out how to handle it yourself?  We are told repeatedly in God’s word to come to Him with our requests (Phil 4:6).  Asking God for help and asking Him to meet our needs shows that our attitude is one of humble dependence on Him and not prideful self-reliance. Even if we have the resources and smarts to take care of ourselves, we should still recognize that all of it comes from HIM!

BELIEVE – When we ask.. we must ask with faith/ belief.  Mark 11:24 (New International Version)

24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
Jesus wants us to be confident in the Father’s promises.  Caution: don’t use verses such as this in an attempt to get what you want.  Prayer must always be initiated with pure motives, or it is worthless.   Like it says in

James 4:3 (New International Version)

3When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

PARTICIPATE – God is not going to do anything for you that He has already equipped YOU to do.  For example:  what if I was simply trusting God to provide the lesson for next week and I did nothing to prepare for it?  Do you think the Lord would just drop a message in my head next Thursday? (hmmm.. maybe I’ll try that – NOT!).  No, He expects me to prepare and pray.  My laziness would not merit the blessing of God.  

WAIT – God not only knows  WHAT we need but WHEN we need it.  Some of the things we have asked for have already been granted by God, He is just waiting the ordained time to deliver it.  He always knows the best time to grant our petitions.   If you get impatient and try to rush ahead by doing things on your own in your own way, you’ll miss all he originally planned to give you… so…. Try to be patient as you wait and trust..

ACCEPT – God’s way of meeting our needs may not be what you envisioned or hoped.  Have you ever prayed and asked God for something and then proceeded to tell him HOW to He should intervene?  We must be open to whatever way He chooses to provide.

PRIORITIZE – Keep your eyes on the Lord; not on your needs!   And remember.. our greatest needs are not the most obvious ones, but those that have to do with the development of godly character; renewed minds, surrendered wills.  That’s what we should be seeking and asking the Lord to produce in us.


Contemplative spirituality focuses on practices such as:
·        Awakening and surrendering to God’s love in any and every situation
·        Positioning ourselves to hear God and remember His presence in all we do
·        Communing with God, allowing Him to fully indwell the depth of our being
·        Practicing silence, solitude, and a life of unceasing prayer (Apostle Paul – explain praying without ceasing)
·        Resting attentively in the presence of God
·        Understanding our earthly life as a journey of transformation toward ever-increasing union with God
·        Finding the true essence of who we are in God
·        Loving others out of a life of love for God  Romans 5:5
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
·        Developing a balanced, harmonious rhythm of life that enables us to be aware of the sacred in all of life
·        Adapting historic practices of spirituality that are applicable today
·        Allowing our Christian lives to be shaped by the rhythms of the Christian calendar rather than culture (Sabbath/ discuss Lord’s day, etc) and,
·        Living in committed community that passionately loves Jesus above all else!

Together – emotional health and contemplative spirituality unleash the Holy Spirit in us in order that we might know experientially the power of an authentic life in Christ!



GROUP WORK - HEALTHY SPIRITUALITY - LESSON 5
BEGINNING TO BRING TRANSFORMATION TO THE DEEP PLACES
1.      Discuss your discipleship experience.  Did it include Contemplative spirituality as discussed this evening?

2.      Discuss your worldview.  How has it been shaped or is currently being shaped in your life?

3.      Discuss the conditions of God ‘meeting needs’.  Of the conditions, which do you find the most difficult for you:
Ask, BELIEVE, PARTICIPATE, WAIT, ACCEPT, PRIORITIZE 

4.       Of the list of contemplative spirituality focuses and practices, which are you currently doing and which were new thoughts/ practices you never considered?  Any that were a surprise?

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