"And said, Verily I say to you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." - Matthew 18:3
It is very important that the foundation upon which we stand is "The Rock," our Lord Jesus Christ, and that our life is hidden "in Christ." If our spiritual experience is resting on sand, that is, if we are trusting our own abilities, we will fail when the pressures of life increase.
We can walk in stability and confidence with Him if we hold to the potential that rests within us before the Lord in simple child-like trust -- we will be enabled to rise above the limitations that we place upon ourselves, and enter into all that He has made available for us.
When difficulties affect us and we begin to lose our spiritual direction, if we will become quiet and look to the Lord, we will recognize that beneath our vacillations is a layer of spiritual strength and hope that had been deposited within us through our identification with Jesus in His death and resurrection -- which was confirmed in the peace that came when He took up His abode within us.
We need only to realize that we are a new creation - that old things have passed away and our life is hidden in Jesus, and that our strength comes from Him. With David, we should be able to say, "The Lord is my light and my salvation..." (Psalm 27:1). If we will meditate on the past victories that we gained by placing our lives in His hands, this will become personally real to us.
Paul said, "I press toward the mark..." (Philippians 3:14). This "mark" is our CALLING in Christ. We look past our vacillations to see there is within us a deep inner determination to press through to the place where our responses no longer emerge from our Adamic nature, but from the new creation that we have become.
It is very important that the foundation upon which we stand is "The Rock," our Lord Jesus Christ, and that our life is hidden "in Christ." If our spiritual experience is resting on sand, that is, if we are trusting our own abilities, we will fail when the pressures of life increase.
We can walk in stability and confidence with Him if we hold to the potential that rests within us before the Lord in simple child-like trust -- we will be enabled to rise above the limitations that we place upon ourselves, and enter into all that He has made available for us.
When difficulties affect us and we begin to lose our spiritual direction, if we will become quiet and look to the Lord, we will recognize that beneath our vacillations is a layer of spiritual strength and hope that had been deposited within us through our identification with Jesus in His death and resurrection -- which was confirmed in the peace that came when He took up His abode within us.
We need only to realize that we are a new creation - that old things have passed away and our life is hidden in Jesus, and that our strength comes from Him. With David, we should be able to say, "The Lord is my light and my salvation..." (Psalm 27:1). If we will meditate on the past victories that we gained by placing our lives in His hands, this will become personally real to us.
Paul said, "I press toward the mark..." (Philippians 3:14). This "mark" is our CALLING in Christ. We look past our vacillations to see there is within us a deep inner determination to press through to the place where our responses no longer emerge from our Adamic nature, but from the new creation that we have become.
