Category Archives: Maturity

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Community is Indispensable


IMG_8089“It is a matter of experience that we cannot go on indefinitely, nor can we witness effectively, without fellowship, God often brings the most spiritually mature people up against a blank wall in order to teach them this. They reach an impasse, something they cannot deal with alone. Then they discover the absolute necessity of fellowship with others in Christ, and learn the practical values of the corporate life. But when once this is known there is a new fruitfulness.” (Watchman Nee. Changed Into His Likeness. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1967, 1978, p. 55)

Think about places in your journey where you may have felt stuck, frustrated, or less fruitful than you had hoped. How might this be a place where God is inviting you to enter more deeply into supportive community and a more shared work of God? Why not take a few moments to talk this over with the Lord?

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Giving Up Too Soon


The caves of Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were first found.

“One of the greatest tragedies of a divorce is that just when the pain of the clarifying process is most acute, when both unconsciously know that they must mutate or perish, the work is stopped and the partnership breaks off. Instead of the painful breaking through to the deeper level of understanding and responsibility for each other which may be within reach, they make their escape and have to start all over again if they enter marriage with another.” (Steere, Douglas. Work & Contemplation. New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, p. 139).

To the tragedy of divorce, one could add so many others—lost faith, abandoned ministry or mission, left churches. If we don’t learn to stay with hard things for at least a while, we’ll never grow past a rather juvenile view of the world that must always feel good to me. “It isn’t meeting my needs” is usually a precursor to a restart that takes us back to the starting line. I wonder how many times I’ve given up on something, not realizing a finish line was just around the next corner.

Suffering can be a means of gaining clearer, simpler perspective. Breaking through to deeper places of faithfulness and fruitfulness rarely occurs without some hard digging into deeper soil. Starting over at a new church, ministry, marriage (or fill in the blank) is exactly that—starting back at the beginning. There is no long and challenging obedience in the same direction that takes us far. We end up doing little loops around the same familiar little territory and wonder why we haven’t made much progress over time.

For Reflection:

  • Where is one hard place in your life where you are tempted to call it quits and start over elsewhere? How might God be encouraging you to stay a little longer?

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Community is Indispensible


IMG_8089“It is a matter of experience that we cannot go on indefinitely, nor can we witness effectively, without fellowship, God often brings the most spiritually mature people up against a blank wall in order to teach them this. They reach an impasse, something they cannot deal with alone. Then they discover the absolute necessity of fellowship with others in Christ, and learn the practical values of the corporate life. But when once this is known there is a new fruitfulness.” (Watchman Nee. Changed Into His Likeness. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1967, 1978, p. 55)

Think about places in your journey where you may have felt stuck, frustrated, or less fruitful than you had hoped. How might this be a place where God is inviting you to enter more deeply into supportive community and a more shared work of God? Why not take a few moments to talk this over with the Lord?

(A repost from November 2009)

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An Upside to Monotony?


I read the following in Dennis Okholm’s Monk Habits for Everyday People:

“[quoting Michael Casey] The purpose of the relentless sameness of the monastic round is to create a climate in which hidden aspects of the personality become manifest. External monotony is an invitation to inner change, whereas novelty and constant variety short-circuit the process of going deeper.’

We will discover our true selves as we patiently simmer in communities and relationships to which God has called us. And we will find God there as well, because if we cannot find God where we are, we will not find him elsewhere. Except for those extreme or abusive cases, if you haven’t seen God in your marriage, in your present employment, in your neighborhood, or in your church fellowship, then chances are you won’t see God in your next marriage, job, neighborhood, or church.” (p. 96-97.)

Reflection questions:

  • What is your hunger level for variety? In what ways is this a reflection of God’s great creativity and “new every morning”-ness? In what ways might it be a way of escaping the rhythms, rituals and habits that might be a place of maturing for you?
  • To what degree are you tempted to leave a place you’ve been for a while? How much “the grass is greener over there” is moving you?
  • In what ways might God be inviting you to stay put rather than start over?

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Looking Back: Wholeness and Holiness


In May 2009, I posted some reflections from Philippians 3:17 that were part of my preparations for an upcoming Streams of Grace retreat:

Philippians 3:17, “Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do.”

I suggested, “We need to notice those among us who have walked a little further or a little longer than we have. Maturing is the fruit of long training in grace. We need to see what faithfulness in the face of great hardship actually looks like in the life of a more seasoned follower of Jesus. This is what the Philippians had in Paul.”

Click to read more “Wholeness and Holiness”

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Looking Back: Marks of a Good Spiritual Director


On this day after Thanksgiving, our family will be driving up into the foothills above Sacramento (near Placerville) for our annual visit to a Christmas tree farm. Gem’s allergic, so we won’t be buying a tree, but we’ll enjoy the crisp mountain air, hot chocolate/cider/coffee, fresh baked goodies, walking through the forest and almost always having the surprise of seeing an old Sacramento area friend or two. It’s a tradition I love. (And my brother, Dan, and his family are there with us in spirit since they started the tradition. It would be a long commute from Beijing, China).

Today, I’m pointing you back to a post from two years ago about five marks of a wise, trustworthy spiritual mentor. It is my prayer that we are becoming these sort of people.

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A Good Word: Community is Indispensible


IMG_8089“It is a matter of experience that we cannot go on indefinitely, nor can we witness effectively, without fellowship, God often brings the most spiritually mature people up against a blank wall in order to teach them this. They reach an impasse, something they cannot deal with alone. Then they discover the absolute necessity of fellowship with others in Christ, and learn the practical values of the corporate life. But when once this is known there is a new fruitfulness.” (Watchman Nee. Changed Into His Likeness. Wheaton: Tyndale House Publishers, 1967, 1978, p. 55)

Think about places in your journey where you may have felt stuck, frustrated, or less fruitful than you had hoped. How might this be a place where God is inviting you to enter more deeply into supportive community and a more shared work of God? Why not take a few moments to talk this over with the Lord?

Buy a copy of Changed Into His Likeness on Amazon.com

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Paul’s Idea of Maturity (Part Two)


by Jeanne Davis

by Jeanne Davis

Continued from Part One:

Why not take a moment again to read Philippians 3:7-17 slowly and reflectively. Here are a few further insights I recently enjoyed about maturity.

We grow more mature in Christ as…

We acknowledge that the Christian life is an ongoing journey we are all still on (12-14). When we measure ourselves by outward advantages or achievements, we can end up either puffed up or beaten down. Either way, our lives can become more about our successes and failures than about Christ’s life and our living and walking in Him. The Christian life is always a journey. Maturity realizes this.

We recognize the primacy of God’s initiative and action in our spiritual lives (12, 15). Whatever it is that I am striving to take hold of in my journey with Christ, I come to more and more acknowledge that He has taken hold of me first. Whatever progress I may make in my journey with Him is a fruit of His calling and His teaching me. If there is anything in my thinking that isn’t in keeping with God’s thoughts or God’s ways, He is graciously committed to making that clear to me. If I am willing to be guided, He is more willing to guide me.

We remember that no one becomes whole and holy alone (17). All of the counsel we’re reading in Philippians 3 is written to a church, not just one Christian. Each of us can gain a great deal of individual benefit from what Paul says, but he’s ultimately talking to a community living a way of life together. We need to see those who have walked a little further than we have. We need to see what faithfulness in the face of great hardship actually looks like in the real life of a more seasoned follower of Jesus. This is what the Philippians had in Paul.

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Paul’s Idea of Maturity (Part One)


350px-Sequoia-yosemite-iLast Spring, Philippians 3 was a core passage for our Streams of Grace retreat in Malibu. (There are still a few spaces for next month’s retreat). Each insight finishes the phrase:

Take a moment to read Philippians 3:7-17 slowly and reflectively. The insights that follow will make more sense…

We grow more mature in Christ as…

He Himself fills more and more of the horizon of my life (7-8). Paul looks at the advantages of his Hebrew heritage, his religious family, his zeal for God and the rest, and increasingly sees it as nothing next to the “everything” of Christ Himself. First, gains are seen as losses (7). Then, everything is seen as loss (8a). Finally, he sees everything he once treasured apart from Christ as filthy garbage next to the overwhelming treasure of being in communion with Christ (8b). Everything that catches my eye in God’s creation becomes a little less captivating in the golden light of Christ’s radiant presence. Paul’s “knowing” Christ Jesus his Lord is more than “Jesus data,” but interactive, conversational, faithful relationship.

We see righteousness increasingly as relational more than religious (9). This is the essence of Paul’s contrast of the righteousness-by-the-rules he sought before Christ, and the righteousness-in-trusting-Christ that grew to be his settled perspective. He no longer compared himself favorably (or unfavorably) with others, but saw himself as a beneficiary of Christ’s own love and generosity. Rather than focusing on “to do’s” and “to don’ts,” spiritual maturity comes to focus on the life, the work, the person of Jesus Christ, and learning to live and work in Him.

Evidenced in a willingness to share in Christ’s sufferings as well as in His resurrection (8, 10-11). Spiritual children are happy to follow Jesus when they like what He’s doing and where He’s going. They like His blessings, but they don’t want much to do being close to Him in his hardships, losses or sacrifices. They don’t want to have the same attitude as Jesus in Philippians 2:5-8. Mature faith is able to endure when faith doesn’t feel immediately rewarded

LINK: “Paul’s Ideas of Maturity (Part Two)“

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A Good Word: Abiding, Abiding, Abiding


“Let me listen and believe, until my whole being cries out, ‘Jesus is indeed to me the True Vine, bearing me, nourishing me, supplying me, using me, and filling me to the full to make me bring forth fruit abundantly.’ Then shall I not fear to say, ‘I am indeed a branch to Jesus, the True Vine, abiding in Him, resting on Him, waiting for Him, serving Him, and living only that through me, too, He may show forth the riches of His grace, and give His fruit to a perishing world.’” (Murray, Andrew. Abide in Christ. Fort Washington: Christian Literature Crusade, 1968, p. 30.)

Murray invites us into the John 15 imagery of Christ as Vine and ourselves as branches. Take time to envision in your mind and heart how this kind of connection might be deepened in this season between you and Jesus.

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