In 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 thesis declaring salvation by grace through faith. Today the church desperately needs a second reformation of sanctification by grace. Christians are chained to a treadmill of trying to please God by their behavior, of trying harder and sinning less. If they can just discipline themselves enough and be determined enough, they are deceived into thinking they can become righteous and holy and be close to God and He will be pleased. Grace tells us that our relationship and intimacy with our Father in heaven is no longer dependent upon our behavior...or lack there of. Grace tells us we no longer have to strive to become righteous, because He has given us a new nature that is righteous. Grace tells us that it is the only thing powerful enough to deal with our sin. Grace tells us that God is already head-over-heels in love with us and nothing we do can change that. Welcome to "Formed by Grace."

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

The Spiritual Disciplines: Going Someplace (22 seconds)

Henri Nouwen writes, "Here we see what discipline in the spiritual life means.  It is a gradual process of coming home to where we belong and listening there to the voice which desires our attention."

So here is my thought.  What if the spiritual disciplines are not practices or things we do, rather they are the practice of going someplace to be with someone...someone who is crazy about us and loves us more than we will ever know and who longs for our company.
Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)