The Power of Christ
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This week’s Bible study post – an entry from my personal journal – is the one journal entry that, as I was writing it, I thought to myself, “I’m not sharing this one on my blog. It’s too personal.”
Well, here is it.
photo credit jolene on flickr
Scripture: “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.” – 2 Timothy 3:1-5
Observation: That sounds like a pretty accurate description of today’s culture.
Application: I see myself in so much of that description. I am definitely a lover of self (self-centered). I can be a lover of money (or, at least, of the stuff money can buy), boastful, abusive (well, grumpy and sarcastic, anyway), and unforgiving.
(Ouch. See why I wasn’t going to post this one?)
The worst thing I see in myself on that list, however, is “having a form of godliness, but denying its power.” Ouch, again. I believe in Christ. I call myself a Christian. I go to church, read my Bible, try to live a godly lifestyle, pray, blog about my faith, and try to raise my children as Christians.
But, do I know Christ?
I’m not sure I even know what an intimate relationship with Christ looks like. I know that seeking His will or calling on His power is often an afterthought with me. I so very often make my own decisions and do my own thing only to wonder later if that was His will.
I don’t want to have a form of godliness while denying the full power of God. I want to experience the full power of Christ in me.
Prayer: Lord God, I don’t want to go through the motions of being a Christian. I want to know you. I want to know and experience the fullness of the power of Christ in me. I want to serve You.
I don’t want to sit on the sidelines and be a spectator. I want to experience the power of Your Holy Spirit living in me and changing me, making me more like you. I want to be the hands of feet of Jesus with the Holy Spirit guiding my steps and my actions. I want to truly experience You. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
How’s that for painfully honest? Be gentle. What has Christ been showing you lately?
Kris Bales is a newly-retired homeschool mom and the quirky, Christ-following, painfully honest founder (and former owner) of Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers. She has a pretty serious addiction to sweet tea and Words with Friends. Kris and her husband of over 30 years are parents to three amazing homeschool grads. They share their home with three dogs, two cats, a ball python, a bearded dragon, and seven birds.
Good post. Vulnerability is how we learn from each other. Thanks for your honesty.
God has been talking to me about similar concepts. We've been reading the New Testament parable of the sower…and I've been wondering what a seed that lands in good soil is REALLY supposed to look like. It is supposed to be producing a CROP of 30,60 or 100 times what was sown.
I'm in the middle of writing a blog about it myself. 🙂
Press On my fellow teacher, we can do all things through CHRIST.
Becky
I thought this was a great post. One thing us christian ladies are good at is pretending everything is ok. We pretend with others and with even ourself. One thing God is showing me is that it is much better to lay our weakness and pain out there for the world to see because sin loves to hide in darkness. It doesn't show up as well . When we add light to our sin and expose it, it is easier to get rid of. Blessings, Erin
Thank you for sharing. 🙂
Yesterday at my Bible study the leader compared not living to our full potential in Christ (walking with Him and receiving all the spiritual blessings He offers) is like collecting gift cards every birthday and Christmas without ever spending them. She said it's like walking around acting poor when you're not.
I'm with you. I'm not interested in being a spectator. I want to be in His plan.
Great analogy!
Thanks for the encouragement, Becky. I'd be interested in reading your post about the sower. That's one of my favorite parables.
You are so right, Erin. It's so common and so easy to put on a front rather than allow ourselves to be vulnerable to each other, but it's in vulnerability that we learn and grow. That doesn't make it easy. 😉
I can relate…unfortunately a little too much. Thank you for sharing…I obviously needed a reality check. I'm glad that you had the courage to share it because I'm sure that I'm not the only one that God wanted to read it. Blessings to you on your journey to fulfill the will of God.
I found your blog recently and I love it. ( I see my pic in your "members" sidebar.) I printed this post and shared it with my kids during our Bible class. This past week we've been talking about what it means to follow Jesus. Wait, I've been throwing out the question, but I haven't had a lot of replies from my kids. I guess I even had trouble answering it myself. Thanks for sharing from your personal journal.
Sue
https://journeying-sue.blogspot.com/
https://journeying-sue.blogspot.com/
I'm not sure if my comment posted so hopefully this won't be a repeat.
Thanks for sharing from your personal journal. I found your blog recently (and I see my pic in your "follower" sidebar). I printed this post and used it during our Bible study in school this week. We've been talking about what it means to follow Jesus. Well, I've been asking the question but none of seem to have much to share…yet.
Sue
https://journeying-sue.blogspot.com/
Thanks, Sue. Sometimes that's a harder question to answer than it seems…or harder than it should be.