It’s time to start taking new territory!

“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count my self to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 3: 12-14

You cannot grow and mature if you’re constantly fighting to take back the same ground you lost last week.

I am writing to myself more than anyone else right now. If you keep up with my website, you can obviously see that nothing has been posted here in months. Many many months. The very idea of composing a blog for the site has been a frustrating and guilt-laden concept. It’s not that I’ve been having writer’s block or lack of inspiration; it’s been more serious than that. I’ve been spiritually lazy, and I have felt like I am not worthy to encourage anyone because my own life isn’t measuring up to what I think it should.

I’ve been continuing to go to church. I’ve been reading my Bible every day. I’ve been serving when I can. However, my spiritual life has been affected more than I care to admit over the past 15 months or so. My friend from the UK calls this time period “the great unpleasantness” and he isn’t wrong. I wish I could blame my spiritual apathy on the pandemic and its fallout, but COVID-19 has little to do with it.

My local church had been building some serious momentum before the lock-down, and when COVID extinguished that spark, I felt a little discouraged, but that did not result in my season of indifference. No, that was all laziness. I let myself get passive. I no longer sought after God the way I used to seek Him. I let old habits that I had conquered in my past become part of my present again. My prayer life was extremely limited. I’m sure I still looked the part on the outside, but inside I was slowly fading away from the fire and zeal that had kept me headed in the right direction. Hobbies became more of a priority. Family relationships started to be strained. Non-pandemic financial situations started cropping up more often. I just wasn’t where I needed to be in my walk with God.

When I came to that realization, I also realized why so many people struggle with growing in Christ or maturing in their spiritual life. It is the same reason that I have been struggling to grow. I am now fighting to regain my previous level of spiritual discipline instead of building upon what was there already. The author of Hebrews writes this in chapter 2 and verses one and two: “Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.” When he says “perfection” he does not mean flawless, but rather completeness.

We cannot expect to be effective in our spiritual life if we must keep scratching and clawing just to hold our current position. Even in our secular lives, we cannot expect to be promoted if we can barely tread water in our current position. In war, a defensive strategy is a strategy of last resort. Wars are won by people taking new ground. If we are to be effective for Jesus, we must take new ground. So how can we take new ground when we can barely maintain our current position?

If it were true that we are narrowly holding on to our location, then we would indeed be in peril. However, it is not true. God has been showing me that it is only a trick of the enemy to persuade us that we’re barely making it. The enemy is so good at wearing us out, both mentally and physically, that we believe we are on the precipice of failure. Good news folks, we aren’t. Deception by the enemy and poor choices on our end creates quite the desperate looking illusion, but that’s all it is; an illusion.

We get this idea that we can’t be aggressive about the Gospel when we can’t seem to get our own issues under control. I’ll just let you know that God isn’t the one feeding that line to us. The enemy will do anything he can to keep us from sharing Jesus and showing love. And this strategy is one of his go-to plans that works often. If he can keep us riddled with guilt and self-consciousness, we will never go after God’s plan to take us to the next level. God says we’re righteous right now. It’s hard to reconcile that because we know how disobedient and foolish we are sometimes, but it’s true. In II Corinthians 5:21 Paul writes, “For He made Him who know no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

Now we certainly have our part to play as well. We need to make wise choices. Hobbies, sports, and recreation are there for our relaxation and amusement, but they are not meant to take priority. (The same needs to be said about our kids’ hobbies, sports, and recreation, but I don’t feel like stepping on toes right now. Maybe a later post will open that can of worms) We need to prioritize God and God’s house. Exodus 20:3 reads, “You shall have no other gods before Me.” What are other gods? Anything that gets prioritized above God. Since March of 2020 I had prioritized a lot of things incorrectly. God isn’t looking for perfection, just people who are willing to put Him first!

Let’s not let the enemy’s lies keep us on the defensive any longer! Think back on the time that you felt the best about your walk with God. Guess what? You’re still there. God doesn’t send you back three spaces or make you start things all over.

Let’s continue where we left off and start taking new ground from the enemy!

Let’s mature!

Let’s grow!