GROWTH STAGES OF THE DISCIPLE #5
(The gift, brokenness, and a
living sacrifice)
Now
that one has experienced a good amount of growth: what next? Some have grown in the faith to a point they
have found a real closeness to their Master. The experience of praying, reading
the word, building relationships and perhaps even the skills to lead someone to
Christ, has given a sense of satisfaction and confidence. Perhaps it has even given a sense of false
pride. That can be a dangerous state to
be in.
As
stated in the last article, Satan is not going to give up on you. He will fight harder than ever to throw the
new disciple off track, and try to prevent progress. He will use every tactic to get anyone to
fall, through the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of
life. All of this is tough on the rookie
follower. Pride, ego, and the carnal
mind can easily fool us into believing we are invincible. Temptations may begin to get the best of us.
Just because we have memorized a few verses, and may even be able to lead
someone to Christ does not mean we have arrived. Not at all, my friend, we are only
beginning.
Things
may begin to get a little tough. Now is
the time that the rubber meets the road. We must be ready to step up to the
plate, and lay it all on the line. We
must make that total commitment. And
just about the time we feel we are ready, is often when things begin falling
apart at the seams. But we have a grave responsibility to keep up the good
fight.
Therefore,
I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of
worship. Romans 12:1
What does this mean? Let’s take a glance at some scenarios, and
see what a living sacrifice really looks like.
Maybe because of the growth we have experienced by now, we are thinking
all is well. But one must ask himself
how he will be able to hold up under the stresses blows and woundedness that
life sometimes brings our way. Sickness,
early loss of a family member or friend, separation, divorce, loss of home; all
of these are only the beginning of a myriad of traumas that could overtake us.
How would that affect our spiritual journey?
This is not to leave the impression that these things won’t happen long
before during or after our commitment to Christ, but the question is, how will
we respond to such events? These things
often begin once someone has made a commitment to follow the Master.
Christ
wants a committed servant. He wants and needs people who are
alive and vibrant. He believes this is
just a reasonable act of worship for the committed believer. It is our belief that when one is truly committed
as a living sacrifice it is then his spiritual gift will begin to become
apparent. Until one makes such a
commitment, it is doubtful that he will really understand spiritual
growth. At least he will not understand
it to the depths.
We all have a gift and are required
to use it. (See Ephesians 4:11-13) If we are faithful in the use of our gift, He
may add others. But usually there is at
lest one that we will discover in this phase of our journey. Gifts and giftedness can change with seasons
of life, but the commitment of the living sacrifice remains.
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is
in you through the laying on of hands. I
Timothy 1:6.
Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others,
faithfully administering God’s Grace in its various forms. I Peter 4:10.
We will end this series with one
more written account, which is to follow soon. But for now
if we have made the attempt at true commitment, or being the living sacrifice, we
will move into the next circle which is demonstrated on our graph to be about
the size of a softball. It is believed
we have to reach this circle of commitment and brokenness, before we will
understand our giftedness, and perhaps before we will truly understand the
working of the spirit. But once again, even with this growth and commitment, it
must be said again, “WE STILL HAVE NOT ARRIVED.” When will we ever get there?
Dock
Caton 01/13/13
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