Vision. Intention. Means
As we look at Spiritual formation, these are the three topics of consideration as we look into the future. Vision is about an ever-growing awareness of what it means to be part of God’s Kingdom and being Ambassadors for Him. “God’s name and God’s fame is the desire of my heart.” Isaiah 26:8
Intention: Growth is a byproduct of active engagement in the process. No one learned how to speak Portuguese by not finding time or resources to accomplish said goal. Passive positive growth is rarely a thing.
Means: Arranging our lives differently. One of the easiest ways for me to explain this is by going to an unpopular topic. Don’t get so hung up on the topic that you can’t engage in the story of the challenge. Ready… now promise to hear me out…
Take the topic of tithing… see you’re already tuning out, stay with me. I won’t even go into specifics but if I were to give a sermon and convince of God’s view of finances, unless you are already doing it, my guess is that most people could not simply jump into a full version of making it work. Society convinces us to financially strap ourselves so that generosity is a bit of a challenge. At the end of a sermon you still have the mortgage you have, the car payments you have, the credit card debt you have, and the monthly installments you have. For many, there is very little wiggle room after that. At this point of conviction all of those payments don’t change. This is where the definition above helps us, “Arranging our lives differently.” It does take time to rearrange our priorities.
The real goal is for us to grow in our vision of how God sees things by being in His word, recognizing a new way that God wants to bring in our lives, and through the strength that God provides us, engage taking a bite sized piece and bringing Him glory. Celebrating the good moments of victory and living in God’s grace for the ways we fall short and allowing the kindness of God to lead us to repentance.
The end of the chapter lists some suggestions of spiritual disciplines that are a help to discover what it is God is asking of us and ways to live in some implementation of living out the fruits of the Spirit we talked about yesterday. How can I demonstrate God’s love today? When will I have a moment to live in patience for God to work out His way instead of me making my way happen.
Truth, Grace, and Time 