Spiritually dried; Who is responsible?

As I was reflecting on my relationship with God I humbly accepted that there are many areas in my life in which I needed to grow. It is good to hear and feel that one is growing spiritually. In fact spiritual growth is a lifelong process. The persistent call of scripture is for all of us to be lifelong learners. We never in this life arrive at absolute perfection until we reach heaven. There are many examples of this attitude in scripture. Caleb was still growing and going at the age of 85. “Give me this mountain!” he cried, then he assumed the most difficult military task the land of Canaan because “he wholly followed the Lord his God.” (Josh.14:12a, 14)

Many have written many things on spiritual growth. They give so many tips on “How to grow Spiritually?” But something caused me seriously to think when a believer while talking to me expressed himself by saying, “I lost my spiritual life.” Well, this can be testimony of many believers but not all of them accept it. In book of Corinthian Paul talks about natural, physical and spiritual ones. To say “I lost my spiritual life” puts a person either in natural or physical category. As we cannot imagine sun without light, in the same way without spirituality a person cannot be spiritual. Without light sun is not sun but something else in the same way without spirituality a person is not spiritual but something else.

Bible reminds us that God is the “source” for spiritual growth. We are grafted into God’s source of strength, sustenance and root system. In I Cor.3:6 Paul reminds us that it is God who causes spiritual growth. But there is a great part that believers have to do in growing spiritually. Jesus taught his disciples in the allegory of the vine and the branches that he as the vine is the source of growth for the branches (Jn.15:1-8). The key to that relationship and growth is our “ABIDING” (having closeness and connection with) in Him. That is the only way we can grow to maturity. Paul states in his letter to the Colossians, “so then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him, “rooted” and “built-up” in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught and overflowing with thankfulness.’ (Col.2: 6,7)

Here three key words reflect growing to completeness –

§ A tree roots into the ground and grows to maturity

§ A building is built-up and is completed

§ People who are strengthened/ established are seen as complete, mature, whole Christians.

Elsewhere Paul tells that it is our responsibility to build on a foundation of salvation in Jesus Christ. We need to be as a “wise master builder”, to build on that foundation with “gold, silver and precious stones” not “hay, wood, straw” (I Cor.3:10-17).

Our abiding in Christ means that as humans we are grafted into God’s source of strength, sustenance, and his root system. This gives us the ability to minister as necessary in a very needy world and not to be destroyed when the struggles of life are all around us. As growth is hundred percent God’s part, “abiding” is hundred percent the part of believers. We don’t have to be affected so much with the situation around that we start feeling that “I have lost” my spiritual life. For loosing the spiritual life one cannot blame the situation, people or God, but himself. To me it sounds “he lost” because he was not serious or not attentive for his spiritual life. He was not much concerned for spiritual life and it was not precious for him. If spiritual life would have been precious for him he would have done the things which will help him to grow spiritually rather doing the things which caused him to loose. Certainly his relation as “grafted, rooted and abiding has to be questioned.

Problems are the devils lie but God’s opportunity. If you are in the state of spiritually drying up, feel that you are the one responsible for it. And need not forget that you can gain what you lost with your effort (in abiding). Trust that God who is the real source of spiritual growth will help you to grow.

Remember when God is with you and you are abiding in Him you don’t have any other option than to grow spiritually and be blessed.

May God Bless Us.

 

Rakesh Paul

Ranchi, India 

Racial Barriers: Are you the victim?

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross by which he put to death their hostility.” (Eph. 2:13-16)  

Eph.2 is giving a very clear picture of the two different groups of the people namely Jews and Gentiles. The chapter begins with the state of people without Christ and in the following verses Paul talks about that people who now known as believers are made alive. When we come to vs.11 Paul talks more clearly about Jews and Gentile and says that how gentiles were foreigners to God. They were far away but through the blood of Christ now brought near. We know that in synagogue gentiles were having a place where they could come; it was outer ring of the synagogue. They were not allowed to come to the place of worship where Jews used to stand. If knowingly or unknowingly any gentile comes in that place where only Jews are supposed to come he would be punished and it would cause his life.

Jews used to take pride and even underestimate gentiles since they were ‘circumcised’ or separated of God and gentiles were called uncircumcised. Vs.12 says they were “excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise.

Excluded ones are those who are not counted in one particular group and foreigner simply means “does not belong to”. Now there was a huge gap between these two groups of the people. One belongs to the covenants of the promise and other doesn’t belong to it. One belongs to the Christ and others separated from Christ. This separation caused the Jews to think, since gentiles don’t belong to the God we should have separation in all the ways possible. Not only that these two groups of the people were hostile to one another (vs.14) and there were barriers between them, which were stopping them to come closer. That is why Paul says in vs.14 “for He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility.” How can a person be peace? Paul says in vs.17, He came and preached peace to you who were far way and peace to those who were near. And again we have in vs.15 that the purpose of Christ was to “create in Himself ‘ONE NEW MAN’ out of the two. This is what I want to discuss in this article- ‘ONE NEW MAN’. If you are the victim of the racial barriers while being a part in the body of Christ you need to check yourself are you the New Man or the same old one which Christ doesn’t like. Let me go one step further and ask, if you think that you are a New Man then what is your definition of New Man? It is very important for each and every Christian to understand New Man as Christ understands.

One of the deepest yearnings of the human soul is to belong. We instinctively draw circles that include ourselves, giving us the coveted feeling of being a part of group. And for others we consider them as gentiles who could come only upto the outer ring of the synagogue. We also need outsiders who desire to come within the circles. Yet another thing we do is to exclude. So the n we draw circles that excludes others, giving us the coveted sensation of being superior. According to C.S.Lewis, “ there can be no ‘inner ring’, without the despised outsiders. When we become the victims of the racial barrier the first thing we feel that is superiority complex. We start thinking that what we think is right; what we say are the words of wisdom; and what we decide is the best decision.

We may be living in the country were not many Jews are living but within the body of Christ we have made many group of Jews and many of gentiles. One still thinks of superior and another feels excluded. Many times we cheat ourselves thinking I am not the victim of a racial barrier but we are failed to give due respect to the culture, language, feelings of the group of the people to whom we kept in outer ring. Is this what Christ’s conception of New Man? We preach that on cross Christ has destroyed the barriers and the dividing walls but we have made it one more time and want to carry it since we love barriers and dividing walls more than even Christ.

It is shameful to say that there is still caste-system found within the body of Christ in India. And because of that churches are broken, divided and some closed down. A New Man has only one caste i.e., “Jesus-caste.” If all the believers accept this “Jesus-caste” there is no question of superiority.

As somebody said, the cheapest way to exalt you is humiliate somebody. We do not see the greatest things, which we all have in common are Jesus and 30,000 promise of God found in the Bible. Instead of seeing what we have in common we try to find what we don’t have in common and our dealing with people changes.  We shouldn’t forget that we are baptized by ‘One Spirit’ and all of us have come from the same background of sinful nature. And we have only ‘One Jesus’ to come to the Father. So why to be so much separated from one another? Even though Jews and gentiles were so different groups but in vs.14 we find “Christ is” the “Peace” for these groups. They now agree to compromise at one point that is Jesus Christ. They agree to respect opposite party, their culture, and languages at the meeting point Christ. Or in other words all the wrong conceptions, ill thinking, making others inferior etc of these two groups were cleansed through the blood of Christ. Now together they can enjoy the fellowship and be stepping stone for one another. They could come out from the bondage of racial barriers because of two things. First, they were willing for change; Secondly, they believed that “blood of Christ”, vs.13 which expresses the violent death of Christ as He poured out His life blood as a sacrifice for them, is able to break the bondage of dividing wall of hostility and the bondage of racial barriers.

Now the question stands before us do we realize that we are the victim of Racial Barriers?   if we do take the first step that is be willing to come out from the bondage and then trust in the blood of Jesus as it is able to break the bondage. I am sure that there is always a need of improvement in each Christian life. Let us be the New Man as Jesus thinks of New Man. Ask God to remove the circle which we have drawn around us and because of that we are not able to enjoy the fellowship of the believers in fullness.

Remember this as somebody said, “if a person is sleeping, it is easy to wake him up. If he is not sleeping there is no need to wake him. But if he is not sleeping and he thinks he is sleeping, no power can wake him up”.

It can be true for many of us that we may be victims of racial barriers but we think we are all right and we are not the victims. In this case we are neglecting the effort of Jesus as He wants us to be New Man. Let us be open for a change.

May God Bless Us.

Rakesh Paul

Ranchi, India