I’ve never been closer yet felt further from God.
Shocking?
Maybe.
What I’ve discovered is that the closer I come to the fullness of God in Christ, the more I become aware of the sin nature I am being redeemed from. Each step closer to His glory reveals another facet of me that must either die or be changed.
This is the walk of sanctification, am I right?
There were moments, many years ago, that I thought, “Wow. I’m really doing great. I’ve never been in a better position in my life.” Only to later come to the next level that God wanted to dig out of my heart.
Here I sit years later and hopefully wiser and I realize that humility paves the way forward.
Grace is held by the humble. Opposition crowns the prideful.
In leaning into my weakness, I stumble upon the strength of God almighty.
I once avoided my weaknesses, now I hand them directly to God and ask for His help.
No more fear or shame covers me. Now I boldly approach the throne of grace because I’ve learned the great and deep riches found there. Only accessed by those willing to surrender to it’s need.
I’ve been around and involved in church leaderships that were unwilling to admit their need. What this facilitates is a God complex. They slowly and surely usurp the need for Jesus because they are the answer for everyone. I always wondered about this. Grieved over it. Walked away from it.
Any leader who is unwilling to admit to being wrong or admit when they have a problem, isn’t a real leader…they’ve grown into a desire to be the head.
Leaders should lead others to Christ. Christ is the head.
If we each want to live in the fullness of God that is in Christ Jesus, then we must always remember our position and stand in reverence and awe of His.
Christ is the head of the church. Not just one denomination, but all believers.
Anyone teaching otherwise is a liar. Teaching high-sounding nonsense that comes from human thinking.
Read your Bible. Know the Truth for yourself. Walk with Jesus. Be complete in Him.
This is the way.
Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ. For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body. So, you also are complete through your union with Christ, Who is the head over every ruler and authority. When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision- the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, Who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, He disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by His victory over them on the cross. So don’t let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. For these rules are only a shadow of the reality yet to come. And Christ Himself is that reality. Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. Their sinful minds have made them proud, and they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For He holds the whole body together with its joints and ligaments, and it grows as God nourishes it. You have died with Christ, and He has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world, such as, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!”? Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires. Colossians 2:8-23
365 Days in the Presence 