Psalm 143:10 (NIV)
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
CONSIDER THIS
It is a wonderful thing to know that because of the ascension of Christ we are “seated in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:6). Our reality is such that we are here, living out our days and nights on earth, and we are simultaneously there, living out our days and nights seated with Christ in heaven and learning what it is to be “like him” in this world (1 John 4:17).
The Holy Spirit, according to Paul, is the Spirit of God’s Son (Gal. 4:6; Phil. 1:19), and Jesus is at work in us daily—teaching us, instructing us, leading us—to become an awakened human being.
I have many family members and friends who are teachers. They instruct children, teenagers, and adults how to do something. The best of them teach those same children, teenagers, and adults not only how to do something, but how to become someone of character in the process.
The movement of the Christian life is into an ever-deepening learning process; we are learning at the core of our being to think like Jesus, feel like Jesus, respond like Jesus, and become like Jesus in the world. There is no more essential definition of a Christian than this: someone who is becoming like Jesus. That is the highest compliment you or I could ever receive. That is what discipleship is all about. If discipleship becomes about anything else it will ultimately miss the mark and miss the point of why the Spirit indwells us in the first place.
At the same time we are learning, we are not starting this amazing transformation from scratch. We are filled with the Spirit of Jesus that we might have our heavenly classroom and our Teacher within—always available to us for a lesson or three!
When the psalmist wrote, “Teach me to do your will,” and “May your good Spirit lead me on level ground,” a powerful connection was being made with Jesus’ words in John 16:13a, “But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”
Awakened people are those who have come to see Jesus not only as he is, but also as he is—and wants to be—in us. It is Christ’s power at work in us that is energizing us (Col. 1:28-29), to become mature in Christ ourselves, and to turn and help others become mature in Christ as we go.
The Spirit is a good and benevolent teacher, coach, mentor, helping us make both decisions and disciples that lead to a Church that evidences the love of Jesus to a love-hungry world.
THE PRAYER
Jesus, I receive your Holy Spirit. As a learner, with open hands and an open heart, I welcome you to instruct me in the ways of Christ. Come, Holy Spirit, train me to have the same compassion, wisdom, discernment, and confidence as my Lord. I pray in Jesus’ name, amen.
THE QUESTION
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Who helped you understand how to become like Jesus in your own discipleship journey? In what ways are you helping others along that same path?
For the Awakening,
Dan Wilt
One Response
I can’t really name just one person who helped me to understand how to become like Jesus in my discipleship journey. I believe the Spirit has led me to research the Missio Dei and as a result of that research I’ve read several authors who have stressed the importance of incarnational ministry. This has led me to seek out those who have written about spiritual formation, becoming more Christ-like in our daily living.