No one will ever reach spiritual perfection in this life, but we are called to pursue it. Don’t wait for your pastor or church elders to say it’s time to do this. God works one-on-one with each of His children. We are all unique so our paths to the way of the cross may differ somewhat, but Christ will be the center of each of those ways and they will all be in the shadow of the cross.
11 When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child. When I became a man, I did away with childish things. 1 Corinthians 13:11 (LSB)
When the Lord circumcised my heart in August 2004, I was truly amazed at the level of spiritual discernment that came with that blessing. Leading up to this, God had drawn me ever deeper into our relationship. I had been in a deep, close, intimate walk with Him over a period of several weeks. I was fasting from anything that distracted me from my devotion to Him. I was praying, worshipping, studying my Bible, and researching doctrine, all in obedience to His drawing me to Him. Just a few days before Labor Day in 2004 I woke up one morning and knew that everything had changed. It was probably the most joyous and humbling experience I have ever had. I realized right then that I no longer cared for anything except to do His will. His glory was paramount. For someone who was had been in bondage to self-focused, flesh oriented, desperate pursuits for self-gratification for over 50 years, this was a genuinely miraculous thing.
My level of spiritual discernment was beyond any previous experience I have ever had up to that time. I would be right in the middle of a conversation with my pastor and realize that he was completely blind to what I was trying to convey to him. There were a few others at our church who seemed to be on the same path as me. They did understand what I was talking about. There was no fear of the unknown in our little group. We were all terribly excited about the daily changes God was doing in our hearts. The problem was that this little group of sold-out believers was seen as radical and trouble makers at our church. The leadership just could not understand, refusing to believe the truths we were sharing with them were from God. I had one of the men there tell me that I was just excited and would eventually get over it.
There are some common denominators that I have noticed with all of the believers I have encountered who are on this narrow path. Each of us are committed to God’s glory. Each of us see man-focused religiosity as a complete waste of time. Each of us see spiritual maturity as key. Christlikeness is far more important than being part of a huge growing church. We all have a deep desire to see the Church repent, become pure and 100% focused on God as it obeys the Great Commission. Also, those whom God has awakened to this level of walking blameless before Him, have spiritual discernment that is completely outside of their own abilities. It is supernatural to be able to see the spiritual blindness in most professing believers. I can listen to someone speak on things spiritual or read what they write and know within a very short period whether that person is tenderhearted towards God and, therefore, not spiritually blind, or he or she is hardhearted towards God and, therefore, spiritually blind as a bat.
Does this mean that I can strut around showing everyone how spiritual I am. Oh, my Lord no! May it never be! Quite the opposite in fact. The closer I get to God the more I see how utterly helpless I am without Him. Any spiritual advances I have made are really His work. All I have done is obey Him and remain faithful as I abide in my Lord. Without Him I can do nothing. Humility is the marker of all who walk this narrow way of the cross.
What are the markers of those who are not walking this walk by Faith? Well, only the humble can do it consistently. That means that the prideful cannot do it at all.
