Life Ministries

Continued…

God uses three primary catalysts for conforming us, other than His Word, but only one of the three is under our control:  The first is other people. Proverb 27:17 says “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” God may use our friends, our family, our co-workers, our pastor, our Sunday School teacher, He may even use people we don’t like, to file away our rough edges.

    The second way God conforms us is through circumstances. Romans 8:28 says “We know in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.” Whether financial pressures, physical conditions, or even the weather itself, in Divine hands, “all things” can be used to conform us. Think of the story of the Disciples in the storm.  God was conforming them through a simple lesson in faith.
    When God changes or conforms us through people or circumstances, the process works from the outside-in. However, the third catalyst is found within ourselves. You see, we have little control over the way people or circumstances affect our lives, but we make the decision whether or not we will attend church or Bible study. We decide whether or not we will read or study God’s Word during the week, or spend each morning in devotions and prayer. It’s our will that changes or conforms us from the inside-out. As it concerns our will, it always makes me think of the street in an area where we used to live back in Wisconsin called “Lackawanna”!
    All three of these are channels by which God’s grace and power and knowledge and wisdom flow to us and through us to conform our will. Think about this; Most often it is the conforming of our will that is the least painful and the most rewarding in life if we would only change our “wanna”.
    Sometimes being a pastor is a lot like the way Tom Landry - once coach of the Dallas Cowboys - described his job; “The job of a coach is to make men do what they don’t want to do in order to help them to become what they really want to be!” And that requires discipline.
    Whether it’s playing the guitar, playing football, becoming an expert carpenter, a successful business man, or a master mom, we can decide that it’s just too much work and not worth the effort or we can forget what we are, think about what we shall become, and discipline ourselves to do what it takes to get there!
    You see, discipline without direction is drudgery. Remember Kevin? His daily practice takes on a whole new spirit once he realized what he could become! If your vision of a disciplined Christian life is a grim, tight-lipped, joyless, half-robot, mixture of lemon and prunes kind of person, you’ve missed the point! That kind of person is more like pepper rather than salt in the world!
    2 Peter 1:3-12 says - “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” Now, notice the progression of growth here; “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness knowledge; and to knowledge self-control; and to self-control perseverance; and to perseverance godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness love. For if you possess these things in increasing measure; they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”   
    Notice also that we can lose sight of what we shall become; “But, if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things you will never fall, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. So, I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.”  Sometimes we need spiritual reminders. We need to take a look at our spiritual walk and ask ourselves, “Where can I grow from here?”… Discipline!