Tag Archives: spiritual maturity

Do You Practice “Spiritual Cramming”?

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Do You Practice Spiritual Cramming?

Do You Practice “Spiritual Cramming”?

“And He said to them, Be careful what you are hearing. The measure [of thought and study] you give [to the truth you hear] will be the measure [of virtue and knowledge] that comes back to you–and more [besides] will be given to you who hear.” Mark 4:24 (AMP)

“spiritual cramming”  /’spir-i-choo-uh l kram-ing/ VERB 1. The act of attempting to pray and/or to study hastily or learn biblical information in a short period of time and at the last minute due to an impending test, trial, struggle, problem, or hard time. Cramming is often discouraged because the hurried coverage of material tends to result in poor long-term retention of material.

It seems like most Christians know that we should read our Bible.  Most also probably realize that it should be done on a regular, daily basis.  The problem is, most don’t do it.  Maybe it’s because we think it’s hard to understand.  Sometimes it’s because we think it’s boring or that we don’t have time.  Maybe we think getting “Bible” on Sundays or in church is enough.  Any additional study we pursue is frequently just “spiritual cramming”.

I had the same problem.  Being raised in church my entire life, I heard the children’s church teachers, youth ministers, and pastors consistently say “read your Bible”.  I just never did—except for when I was in church on Sundays or Wednesdays.  Regular, daily Bible reading was not a habit of mine until about 15ish years ago (with the exception of a short stint in college).

Until then I was just a spiritual baby even though I was a grown adult with children of my own and even though I had a decent amount of knowledge from the Bible.  I was spiritually immature and had an underdeveloped understanding of spiritual life.  I expected everyone else to “feed” me, and any independent study often consisted of spiritual cramming.

“Dear brothers and sisters, when I was with you I couldn’t talk to you as I would to spiritual people. I had to talk as though you belonged to this world or as though you were infants in the Christian life. I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready” 1 Corinthians 3:1-2 (NLT)

It’s like college students…

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Spiritual Alignment

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Spiritual Alignment title image

Spiritual Alignment

I had to go to the chiropractor not long ago for some minor problems I was having with my back and neck. With a few adjustments the chiropractor was able to get my spine back into alignment, eliminating my symptoms of pain and numbness. It made me think about how we can get out of alignment spiritually as well.

We might not be exactly where we need to be in our relationship with God, or perhaps we aren’t completely lined up with his instructions or teachings. Sometimes we’ll seem to notice that things feel just a little bit off or not right (like my back and neck did). We may even notice that we have drifted away slightly or don’t feel as passionate as we used to. There might be a sense of dryness or just going through the motions. We may feel spiritually unproductive or unfruitful.

When we are spiritually misaligned we can become spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physically depleted. These may all be symptoms of spiritual misalignment just as my pain and numbness were symptoms of physical misalignment.

Staying connected to Jesus to maintain spiritual alignment

Around that same time that I went to the chiropractor, I had spent some time reading John 15 and noticed how it shows us one way we can stay IN spiritual alignment by abiding or remaining in Jesus and his love and by God’s word abiding in us.

Pastor Tony Evans said, “John 15 says that if you will abide in Him and His Word, and He abides in you, you can do anything. You can overcome anything. Your prayers will be answered because your prayers will be aligned to Him. Jesus doesn’t want you to just learn about Him, study some stories, post some Scripture and throw up some prayers. He wants a relationship with YOU. That’s the kingdom encounter you need to pursue. It’s called: abiding.”[1]

“1I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more. 3You have already been pruned and purified by the message I have given you. 4Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.

5“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

9“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. 

16You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.” John 15:1-17 (NLT)

Another analogy: Tires

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Are You Flowing or Stagnant?

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Are You Flowing or Stagnant?

Are You Flowing or Stagnant?

We’ve had an insane amount of water lately due to all the rain in our area. Unfortunately, heavy rains and debris caused our culvert at the end of our drive to get clogged. Subsequently, this caused water to back up and become stagnant in a ditch/creek bed in our yard. After a while, the stagnant water started to smell and accumulate algae, mosquitos, and even a moderately-sized alligator snapping turtle. We could see that it was going to be a major problem if we didn’t get the water flowing again soon.

Looking back through my old journal entries, I saw a page where I that I had labeled “Flowing not Stagnant” at the top. On the page I had written myself a note of how I should be like a river of living water flowing and not stagnant, stale, or still. I had then listed some of the problems with stagnant water.

Thinking back, I remember that when I wrote that I was kind of in a state of sitting around and not doing much spiritually…not a lot of growth, not a lot forward motion or of stepping out of my current comfort zone. Honestly, I was in a place of sitting still, stewing, and complaining. I was starting to get kind of nasty and gross, a lot like stagnant water. I felt that God was impressing upon me that I needed to get moving and stop sitting spiritually idle.

Flowing not stagnant

Stagnant water, stagnant spirituality, and the effects

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