Maturity

Receptivity to Grace is the secret to Maturity.E. Stanley Jones

Life wills maturity.E. Stanley Jones

Divine discontent is a part of our salvation, a prompting towards maturity.E. Stanley Jones

Hello Lars. I read your posts on the dark night thread and then I came to your quotes on maturity. lwpray wrote:Receptivity to Grace is the secret to Maturity.E. Stanley JonesThis is what I've been wondering about right here. Grace. I feel like I'm standing in front of a rock wall looking for an opening and I can't find it. You know, like in the old movies where folks are looking for a secret passageway. They are pulling books off of bookshelves looking for the button or lever that will turn them around on some turnstill into another room. You also Tozer who said, "You're as holy as you want to be". I don't know if that's true. Perhaps it is, but I keep meditating on the rich young ruler. Jesus told him to go and sell all that he had and give it to the poor and come and follow him. He went away sad. I've tried to put myself in his shoes. I guess, in a sense, we are all in his shoes. I don't think I could do it, either. It seems impossible to me right now, so my prayer has become: "God, do whatever it takes to bring me to the place of being able to do this." And I know that people who are reading this probably wonder what "this" is. I don't know either. I don't know what it is that Jesus is asking me to do, exactly. I just know that I've still got my life. I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't know what me with a laid down life is supposed to look like. Will I still be working the same job? Will I still be wearing the same clothes? Will I still have the same friends? I know that maturing is a process. Is laying down our lives a process? Or is it a buzz saw effect every morning? Can someone say I'm as holy as I want to be as if it's my fault I'm not there yet? Maybe I'm not there yet because God hasn't given me the grace yet. I don't know.

Life and living is indeed a process. Maturity is coming in as a process. Laying down ones life is an activity to be repeated.Sanctification is a process. Holiness is brought in as a process. Salvation is constantly brought to all of us as a continuous process.All this which belongs to salvation is brought to us through Christ.All this comes from above, from God, through the act of God.All this is ours because of God and His grace, to be obtained, received, thankfully, joyfully received.Salvation, holiness and maturity is not attained to but obtained, received – something to open up for, to pursue, to seek and long for. It is Him we are pursuing, not an "it".If there is anything required by us, it would be expressed in one single word: Availability.Allow Him to order your way and your future according to His thought – no passivity, no mystical posturing, but through a practical relying on Him who is ahead in time and in planning.Lars

Hey Lars. I just thought of something that I read yesterday in Matthew 21:28. Jesus said, "What do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go work today in the vineyard.' And he answered, 'I will not': but afterward regretted it and went. The man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered 'I will, Sir'; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" I'm wondering how much of our willingness is God's grace extended to us. You know? Jesus said no man can come to him unless the Spirit draws him. I'm just begging for mercy now. Do you think that desire that would make me a beggar is what God's looking for?

Dear Dian,Availability is not defined in certain categories. “If I am doing it like he did, or like those men did at that particular time, or like that missionary did when. . .”Availability is plain availability. Availability your way, availability of the special kind that only you can come up with at this moment when God is there calling you to relax and respond.Lars

Dian, I sense maybe that you are trying to hang on. That you are continuing to struggle between "ok, God, go ahead and take it all, I willingly give it" and I'm not so sure yet. Please correct me if I am wrong. Maybe i am assuming. And if this is the case, please forgive me. But I have been at this place where you are before and I know all the things I said to myself and to God. I know all of the fleshly struggles and the ways the flesh will want to bend things a little here and there."There will likely be a time in our Christian journeys when, like Jacob, we will wrestle with God all night long... But there must eventually come a dawn when we say, "OK, God, You win... Not My will but Thine be done." I really sense that maybe this is where you are. In a struggle as Jacob was before he came out with a new name and a limp. :) I can see that you want to be obedient, and if this is the case then there is nothing to do except lay it all down and put your hands in the air and say "I surrender". Once this complete surrender of the will is done, the biggest fight is over. But are you ready? I remember these exact moments in my walk a few years ago. I remember the inner turmoil, the fight against my flesh. I literally had to pray against it- that i would not listen to my flesh and that the Lord would make me obedient for His glory. I pray that the Lord's will is done in your life and that He will give you the strength to go through brokenness. Let him break your heart. Let him shatter you and devastate you- so that He can rebuild you on His own foundation according to His image. I am still asking Him to do this with me weekly (should be daily). You have many here who I am sure are holding you up in prayer and asking the Lord to keep you to Himself.In His perfect love, Chanin

No earthly parent could be content to have a child who refused to grow up. The parents’ joy is in development, in growth, in going on to maturity. God cannot otherwise and still be God, our Father. So the disturbances we feel in our immaturities are seldom signs of His anger, but a manifestation of His love. He loves us too much to let us settle down in halfwayness.E. Stanley Jones

Sorry, I forgot to add this about your comments.Don't be afraid. Trust is the biggest issue here with surrendering everything over. You can trust God that He will take care of everything. I know I doubted and said "what if". Not trusting God kept me from giving it all over for quite along time. You can trust Him. He alone knows what is best and will take care of everything. You are His child and He will keep you in His care. Trust Him with every area of your life. If there is anything that we still want to keep a hold of ourselves, He is just waiting for us to hand it over to Him and show Him we do trust Him. I think maybe you know what it is inside that needs to be handed over. Let Him speak to you about that. Let Him be honest with your heart and receive that.(Lars, sorry to interupt your thread :-o )In His perfect love, Chanin

Hey ya'll. Is it ok for me to be baring my soul here in front of everybody? I mean, I don't care, but I don't want to hog the focus of this discussion. Anyway, Chanin, to address some of your comments,you said you think I probably know what it is that the Lord wants me to hand over. I think what is clouding the issue for me is how long I have lived according to this world. I'm trying, like you said, to imagine the what if's. And it ain't pretty! I'm scared. So, ok, you're right. I guess it's just like trying to jump off of something high. You just have to shut-up and jump! I need to quit whining. This is scary. I'm likely to lose my reputation. :-o Then I would have no one but God who knows what's really in my heart. Oh man! I feel stupid. Love Ya'll, Dian.

Hi Dian,I hear ya! I can sympathize (maybe it's empathize?) with you. Yes, we have to be willing to risk it all even our reputations. Jesus did this for us. We follow in His footsteps. We lay our lives down, pick up our cross and follow after our precious Lord.Please don't feel stupid. This whole thing is the best thing that can be happening to you! The worst thing would be for you to go back on what you already know. God will give you the grace to go through whatever He wants you to go through. As I look back now, sometimes I would have rather died than thought i would have had to give up control of certain areas of my life. But I didn't want to hurt God anymore. I didn't want to tarnish His name and the name of "Christian". You know, something in me made me be aware that I HAD to go through with it. When the Lord is calling you, HE IS CALLING YOU! :-) He is saying "come up here! Come up higher, walk this higher road that you know you are capable of. Glorify me in all that you do." He wouldn't be calling if He thought you weren't capable of going the full length of the journey. With His hand in your hand, walk on with Him. Let him lead you wherever He may lead. It may be a little rough for a bit, but you will never regret it! :-) He is jealous for you. Be in awe of that! He wants you to Himself to lovingly mold and shape. Then, after a while He can hold you up and say "see, this is My child, a reflection of me".Get in the quiet with Him. Ask Him what He wants of you. Listen and obey. There is no other way. :)Many blessings to you,Dian!In His perfect love, Chanin

You're not alone. Who hasn't been where you've been? For me, the thing I've had to let go of time and time again were people. My goodness, it's heart wrenchingly hard sometimes! It's really easy to focus more on what you "think" you're going to lose, then on the GREAT fulfilling plans God has for your future if you just obey Him. I can testify that EVERY time I let go of what He asked me to, I was blessed and glad I did. There is nothing more rewarding than doing the will of the Father, though it's not easy and takes willingness."You may never know that JESUS is all you need, until JESUS is all you have." - Corrie Ten Boom"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot "Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength." - Corrie Ten Boom"But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." - Matthew 6:33

in Him we live and move and have our being...we look for our city whose Builder and Maker is our God...You were in Him from before the foundation of the world...Come on home, child!Love, Carolyn