More About: www.spiritualrenovation.info.
Spiritual renovation is the process of being renovated, renewed, re-created, by the love and presence of God-With-Us. It’s more of a story to enter into than a definition really – it’s God’s story and we’re being written into the pages. Our debut is the forgiveness we have been given through Jesus Christ and the story unfolds as the Lord continues to work on our souls, renewing our character, setting us free from the old addictions that plague us.
The process of being renovated spiritually is the work of God, but it’s also something that God calls us into, like an invitation we receive. The mystery inside the invitation process is that somehow, behind any kind of awareness of our own, God is at work on our souls even before we consider his invitation to new life, renovated life. God does this behind-the-scenes work through his Story.
God’s Story of Life enters our sphere of living in a lot of different ways. The way most experienced is when Christians who are being reformed tell their story, which is intermingled into God’s Story. Story telling always invites participation – our imaginations picture ourselves as participants in the stories we hear. We begin to experience the Love of God right in the seat of our imaginations! (And while it’s in our imagination, the reality of the story is all about us. Imagination doesn’t necessarily mean fiction – it means participation.)
When we find ourselves in the middle of God’s Story, we begin to see him at work, calling us constantly to new life, processes of renovation. All of this takes place on the foundation of us knowing that we are unconditionally loved because of Jesus Christ. Jesus, the main figure in God’s Story (God Himself as a Human), came to earth, suffered, died, and rose again to assure all people of the whole world that God is Love and that any and all seperation from God (sin) is deleted and no longer counted as a division between God and humanity.
This takes us right back to the process of renovation. We, the people God has saved, also find ourselves as people who God is continually saving from the power of sin and death. It’s an ongoing process of renewal that God is always calling us into. This process is like building a house on a strong foundation – the foundation being Jesus Christ, everything he is, said, and has accomplished, especially our forgiveness. God brings us in on his renovation project of our souls. He’ll invite us into certain rooms in our lives and invite us into the participation of renovating our souls, hearts, minds, wills, everything about us. This invitation often takes the form of what are called “Spiritual Disciplines” that have been intermingled within our Christian Heritage since the beginning — even in the life of Christ storied in the Gospels.
Spiritual Disciplines are practices that God invites us into that operate as actions we express but that God works through to renovate our souls. It’s the process of God showing me that my life is kind of cluttered and distracted and even fragmented. He says, “Let’s fix that,” and invites me into an area of renovation that focuses on one area of my life that is experiencing decay, destruction, or non-life (because God and the Jesus Way are the essence of life now and forever). The renovation process might take the form of God inviting me into a time of fasting and prayer. The process is used by God to show me that he is all-sufficient and the one who bridges and fits all things of Life together. Over time, God is working through me and in me, renovating, transforming. I’m not buying this renovation from God through any kind of discipline, the discipline is the cultivation of the soul that God uses and does to cultivate so that my soul might grow and flourish in the Eternal Life of God. God is at work. God invites me into his work. God accomplishes the good. I am both participant and receipient. God’s love does not invade, it embraces.
Spiritual formation is often categorized in various disciplines found in the lives of people we read about in Scripture. A comprehensive list is nearly impossible, but a good start is from Richard Foster’s book Celebration of Discipline:
Prayer – Meditation – Fasting – Study
Simplicity – Solitude – Submission – Service
Confession – Worship – Guidance – Celebration
It’s a helpful reminder that the end-goal isn’t an ability to perfectly “do” these disciplines all in perfection; instead, the point is to be shaped and prepared to love others with the love we’ve been loved by in Jesus Christ.
It’s another helpful note to realize that it’s not really us that does the transforming. The beauty of it all is that we’re being transformed and regenerated by the Spirit of God (however slowly). The “disciplines” are mere ways of life that are like children’s hands in a candy store saying, “gimmie all you got.” …it’s like hearing an invitation to come see the sunset.
So, from the posts of Vine and Branches, our goal as a community is to support one another in growth. Sometimes this will look like conversations of encouragement or accountability, other times will look like simply sharing ideas. Whatever it looks like, we’re here for one another – encouraging each other as we’re all shaped more and more finely to the look of Christ, by the mysterious and wonderful power of the Holy Spirit.
God is with us, constantly teaching us. His voice will never stray from his Story and the ways he has always spoken. We have the pages of Scripture to check back on to know his voice in history so that we may constantly recognize his voice among us today.
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