A Moment of Spiritual Growth Assessment
Today, this very day, is an ideal day to willfully trust Jesus for the forgiveness of your sins and in return receive His gift of eternal life. In the moment of doing so you can start a lifelong faith walk with Him. After doing so it is expedient to identify with the faith community for a spiritual support system. They have all done what you have done, asked for the forgiveness of their sins, so they can identify with you and will welcome you.
You who have embraced Jesus as Savior, this is a good time to take a spiritual inventory. Remember when the very citizenship of your soul changed kingdoms? Remember the pure, almost sacred, feeling you had when you embraced Jesus as Savior. The paradise of your first love is a state that needs to be cultivated and allowed to grow. The emotion may fade, but the relationship can and must be allowed to grow in intimacy. As we grow spiritually and feelings change, facts don’t.
Sensation must be stabilized by study.
Ecstasy must be embraced by experience.
Passion must be predicated on principles.
Persons don’t take giant steps out of close fellowship with the Lord. Their steps out of fellowship are most often small, almost unnoticed. Devotion often fades like a flower so slowly it is imperceptible.
Believers are exhorted in Revelation 2: 1 – 5 to remember their first love, their first and foremost love. This is an appeal to shake the ashes off your rusty altar and rekindle the fires of devotion. The passage gives an appeal to “remember,” indicating something had been forgotten.
The drift out of fellowship usually begins with a few slight indulgences that formerly would not have been tolerated. A casual brief venture into enemy territory may result in alienation from your first love.
In the early hours of this new year plan and designate a day when you will engage in spiritual renewal. If not a day, at least a time. Turn off the phone, put aside your high tech devices, and spend time alone with the Lord when you read Scripture, pray, meditate, and in general renew your commitment to the Lord. If your interest wanes in doing one of those things, switch to another. Many have the good fortune of family responsibilities, keep your family involved to the minimum.
Now, considering that not all people can have a day for a personal renewal retreat, try this. Be an Adam. Scripture speaks of God walking with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day. (Genesis 3:8) To walk with them, did not mean literally, it simply means He had fellowship with them daily at a designated time. You, too, can designate a time to fellowship with the Lord. Say you don’t have time? Well, make time by setting your alarm 15 minutes earlier than normal.
Regardless of the time you devote to this exercise, the purpose is renewal or enhancement of your spiritual life. Thereby you will be preparing for whatever is ahead.
The uncertainty of this hour looms like a storm cloud on our personal and national horizon. Now is the time to prepare yourself for this uncharted journey. Get a grip on your faith in case circumstances shake your foundation.
Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.