How to Align Your Soul with the Spirit: Discerning God's Voice from your Inner Voice

I remember early on as a Christian I had a dream. I had listening to different ministries and churches and I was just learning the faith. I remember having a dream one night that I was at this church, big, with many people.

But it all felt dead, empty, and I left the building. Outside the building I saw this beautiful river down in this valley. And I felt drawn to the river. I saw in the river people swimming in the river. And I did the same and began swimming in the river. And it was joyous. And I found purpose in that river. A path to guide me.

I never knew what that dream meant until recently I was thinking about it as a I prepared this message. Most of the modern church is not really led by the Spirit. They are led by the soul. They do what they want to do, and call it Christian. But to be truly Christian is to be led by the Spirit, not by the soul of man. The church today must learn to swim the river of the leading of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise we will never know the power of God and the path of His will. 

Have you ever had an experience where you knew that God was telling you to do something? Go pray with that person. Send that person an encouraging message. Pray for this person right now. Go and visit that friend and help them.

But part of you resists the leading of God. And you ask yourself, “Did God really say that? Or am I just making that up in my own mind?”

So you begin to wrestle back and forth, should I do it, should I not do it? What do I do? You feel the conviction of the Spirit more and more. And eventually hopefully you decide, alright, I’m going to do that. And you go do it.

What was happening there? You were wrestling within between your soul and your spirit. Your spirit received instructions from God and told you what you needed to do. But your soul got in the way and started questioning and resisting the leading of the Spirit of God.

This has happened to me many, many times! I’m sure it has for you. Now how about this one, have you ever been super excited and felt that you needed to go minister to this person, but then it went really bad and it was clear after, that it wasn’t God at all, but your own self? Again, the soul got in the way, and attempted to speak for the spirit.

But before we go further let’s talk about the structure of you as a human being.

Did you know that God reveals himself to us in three ways, as God the Father, as Jesus Christ the son of God, and as the Holy Spirit, the indwelling presence of God.

That’s interesting isn’t it?

You also are made up of different parts, you have a soul, your spirit, and your physical body.

That’s our first point today, you are soul, spirit, and body, as one.

Your physical body is just that, your body, your flesh and blood, and cells and organs and your five senses.

Your soul is you, the word for soul in the Greek actually means “breath.” Because it says in Genesis 2:7 that God breathed the breath of life into the man, he gave man a soul.

When a woman gets pregnant, the child is born as flesh, as a baby, but God puts a soul into that body.

So your soul is you. A puff of air you might say. Breathed out by God.

You also have your spirit. Your spirit is your higher self, your intuition, your inner light, your desire for something greater, your connection to God.

Before becoming a Christian, all three were very broken, soul, body, spirit. The soul was darkened and sinful. The spirit was focused on earthly things, broken, unable to connect with God, and the body was cursed and subject to physical death.

But once becoming a Christian, the soul begins a process of change, the body hopes for the promised resurrection after death, and the spirit is filled with the Holy Spirit and learns to be in connection to God.

Second point, even as a Christian we still battle between the Spirit and the self. The Spirit within calls us to live for God, but the flesh within wants us to focus on ourselves and our own needs.

The soul wants to go it’s own way. I battle that myself from time to time. I want to do what I want to do. But the Lord guides us to die to self, and live by the Spirit’s leading.

That happens every time I’m in conflict within between what my soul wants and what my spirit wants. And when I let the spirit lead the way, the soul comes into alignment with the spirit and they act as one.

That’s really the topic and goal for today: How do we bring our Soul into alignment with our spirit?

Secondarily, we are also looking at how this brings peace to our souls.

Jeanne Guyon gets into this topic of soul vs. Spirit in chapter 21 of her book. She says, “You see, when your soul is active on its own-that is, active apart from the activity of the Spirit-then by it’s very nature its activity is forced and strained! The soul’s effort in prayer is always that of anxiety and striving. This is actually to your advantage! You can easily distinguish when the soul is functioning.” -Jeanne Guyon, chapter 21, p. 94-95.

Third point, In prayer align the soul with the Spirit’s lead.

I can tell when I’m praying from the soul because it’s forced and awkward. But sometimes it’s necessary to start there. Then, at some point in the prayer as I begin to focus on the Spirit, the Spirit takes over, and the prayer suddenly becomes very natural.

“When the soul is responding to the Spirit, the action is free, easy and natural. It will seem that you are putting forth almost no effort at all.” -Jeanne Guyon, p. 95

So you’re probably wondering, when I pray, how do I let the Spirit lead? Honestly I think the best way is simply inviting Him, say, “Holy Spirit please guide these prayers.” And He will. God wants to be invited in. Other times though, you may not need to ask, it will happen naturally as you think about the Spirit, or as you simply draw near to God in your heart. It will come together beautifully.

Fourth point, hold your soul at peace. The soul will want to engage in strenuous effort and activity. Instead, hold the soul at peace.

Be still in the presence of the Lord, as the song says. Quiet the soul, and let the Spirit lead.

(2 slides – illustrations of soul led vs spirit led)

The soul will tend toward stress, anxiety, activity. Quiet that down, and draw near to God. And God will draw you. And you’ll find yourself drifting toward Him in your heart.

Quiet the soul, bring the soul to peace, which is stillness before God. Passiveness, simply wanting what God wants without any reservations.

Then, with the soul quiet, the goal is to operate from the spirit, and hear God’s Spirit and follow Him. But how do we do that?

As Jeanne Guyon wrote, “The Lord speaks to your spirit; He calls you to follow Him by drawing your center where there is only Himself. So your spirit is attracted first. You, in turn, follow the attraction of the center. You do so by turning your attention and all the powers of your soul on Him…” -Jeanne Guyon, Ch. 21, p. 97

How can I tell the difference between my internal voice and God’s leading? I’ve gotten myself into trouble a few times by thinking my internal voice was actually God’s voice.

So how do I tell the difference?

Fifth point, changes brought by God’s word will separate the voice of soul and spirit, so we can discern God’s voice from our own.

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

The word of God is alive and active and able to divide between the soul and the spirit, to help you discern which is which.

As the word of God changes you, as you study it, learn it, and apply it your life, you will naturally know the voice of God from your own inner voice.

It’s a journey though. So if you aren’t there yet, don’t worry. Continue to diligently study God’s word, and God’s word will change you. Your own inner voice will grow more and more submissive to God’s leading.

The trouble occurs in the soul. The soul wants things to go a certain way. I want this outcome in this situation. So I will get in there and speak for God with my soul to try to manipulate what’s happening.

But I’ve noticed more and more as my reverence for God increases and my fear of the Lord increases, my own inner voices becomes more quiet. And I simply listen for the leading of God.

I’m not there yet myself. I still want my own way in situations. I’m desperate for a particular outcome. But from where I was two years ago, to today, it’s a world of difference. I misread God a lot less today.

I think in the end, we will at some point come to a mindset where we can really say, “I just want whatever God wants to happen.”

We allow God’s word to slowly separate the voice of the soul from the voice of the spirit, and then we submit the soul to the spirit.

It’s tough right. It’s surrender, total surrender of our will to God. “I just want whatever God wants.” What is the purpose of this molding and surrender?

Sixth point, the purpose in all this is restorative. Prep school for paradise.

Originally in the Garden of Eden, had the fall never taken place, we would naturally live every moment by the Spirit’s leading. Our souls would be entirely united with God in our spirit.

But because of the fall, man lost the ability to contain the life of God (p. 99). We became worldly minded, focused on jobs, bills, family, pride, stuff, ball games, and new tech. The soul, like Adam and Eve did, began to try to play god apart from god. And that doesn’t work.

Jesus Christ within, the Holy Spirit at work through us, all of this is training us, and getting us ready for life in heaven. A entirely new, permanent lifestyle of walking in union with God. That’s pleasure beyond imagining, exciting, creative, and joyous. It’s a state of joy. And the joys of heaven are new every day, each day it just keeps getting better. It’s not boring, it’s more exciting and wonderful than you could imagine.

You’ll live a day in the New Jerusalem and it will feel so balmy and perfect and beautiful, but you’ll know, tomorrow is going to be even better. Because it’s an adventure with God, that just keeps getting better and more amazing and wondrous and exciting each day.

The purpose of learning to align your soul with the Spirit is an instruction manual for living in heaven.

Point number seven, in allowing your soul to follow the Spirit, you will come into union with God.

Jeanne Guyon writes, “Now we have come to the final, deepest experience with God – the ultimate Christian experience. It is union with God.”

“The experience of union begins very simply when there is born in you a desire for God. And when is that? When the soul begins to turn inward to the life of the Spirit; when the soul begins to fall under the powerful, magnetic attraction of the Spirit. At this point, an earnest desire for union with God is born! Once your soul has begun to turn within to the Spirit, it moves nearer and nearer to God. This is the progress toward union.

Finally the soul is one spirit with Him. It is here at last that the soul, which has wandered so far away from God, returns again to the place for which it was created! You must enter this realm. Why? Because this is the purpose of all God’s working in you.” -Jeanne Guyon, Ch.21, p.102-103

Do you get it? It’s a journey. As a Christian you go from not being led by the Spirit really very much at all. To slowly desiring to follow God. To chasing after the Spirit more and more, slowly aligning your soul’s will with the Spirit’s lead. Finally, you’re one in spirit with the Lord. And you find yourself at the place where you were made to dwell, one with God, one with His leading. One with His purposes.

All God’s work in your, forgiveness of sins, the new birth, sanctification, spiritual growth, spiritual warfare, temptations, trials, joys and triumphs, all of it has this one purpose: To bring you into union with God, in a way that you follow His leading without any hesitation. Your soul is submitted to the Spirit, and it’s perfect. You go from stress and struggle in the soul, fighting against God’s leading, until we surrender, and surrender again, day by day, year by year, chasing the magnetic pull of the Spirit, until we find ourselves at one with the Spirit.

And who is this Spirit? It is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We find ourselves at one with our savior Jesus Christ, and in alignment with the Father in Heaven ultimately.

Review of Main Points:
1. You are soul, spirit, and body, as one.

2. Even as Christians we still battle between the soul & spirit.

3. Align the soul with the Spirit’s lead in Prayer

4. Hold your soul at peace, work from the spirit

5. Changes brought by God’s word will separate the voice of soul and spirit, so we can discern God’s voice from our own.

6. The purpose in all this is restorative, Prep school for paradise

7. In allowing your soul to follow your spirit, you will come into alignment with God, which is called “Union with God”

Change is Hard: God's Authority over Transitions in our Lives

There is one constant in life, it’s change. Everything changes over time. I’ve experienced numerous changes over my life. Change is often hard and awkward at first. But it can also be something that brings a lot of positives.

But it never feels comfortable at the time. I remember when I first started my internship in Escanaba, Mi I was so nervous. I didn’t have any idea what I was doing. But more than that I felt sorrowful. I felt actual grief. Just because things were so different.

I had moved away from my hometown, I was in a completely new area, and I didn’t know anyone. It was hard.

But early on I didn’t give up. Each day at work it felt awkward, but I kept reminding myself, you’re going to find your rhythm. Your going to find the beat.

And sure enough that’s exactly what happened. But it took a few months to get there. I slowly found a pattern that was comfortable for me, and I was so excited when it came together for me there.

In situations of change, the future is a giant question mark. It’s like being blindfolded and trying to go somewhere. You don’t know what to expect. You have to walk by faith.

It’s traumatic. It’s painful. And its in those times that we need to cling to the Master, Jesus, and listen to His words very carefully.

In hard times in your life, run to the word of God. Train yourself to do that. Open your Bible in the dark time. And let it speak into your situation.

Transitions occur in life. Transitions occur in America. Transitions occur in your own personal life. And transitions occur in the church. Not only that, transitions occur in the Bible.

So I want to draw your attention today to a situation where the disciples didn’t know what to expect next.

It comes from John chapter 14. Jesus has gathered his disciples for a special occasion, they are celebrating the Passover, but Jesus has revealed to them that things are about to change.

So Jesus gives them this encouraging word from John 14:1-2, ““Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”

Our first point today is that Jesus reminds them that there is a future. He reminds them of their faith. Keep believing Jesus says.

He reminds them, that the Father’s house has many rooms. And there is a place for each of them in heaven.

There is a future beyond transitions and change. When the dust settles, when the mysteries come forth, realize there is a future.

We can’t see it directly. We believe in God. We know he will continue to guide us. He will continue to guide this church. But it takes faith.

Faith in a future.

Now imagine if the disciples, after Jesus said this, got up and said well I don’t like that change, so I’m going to leave. And they stormed out the door. They would’ve missed everything.

But Jesus reminds them, control your emotions, don’t let your hearts be troubled.

When a traumatic change takes place we start to wonder if there is any future. We start to think well it’s all over. Well I might as well just give up. But Jesus reminds us, the future is bright, even in traumatic change.

Next, in verses 5-7: “Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Point number two, crisis brings questioning.

Lord, why is this happening? Lord, where are you? Lord, what should I do? Lord, I can’t stand how I feel right now.

There have been a handful of times in my life when I really was up against a wall and needed an answer. I just needed some word of encouragement from God. I felt such pressure, such concern, that it seemed impossible.

Like Thomas who asks Jesus the question, we ask God, “What do I do? I don’t know the way!”

It reminds me of a time I was on the trash detail at training college. And we had to maneuver the dumpsters to different locations, hook them up to trash depositors, pull the dumpsters with a pickup truck, and for some reason I felt intimidated by this process. I couldn’t quite figure it out. It was hitting some pressure point in me, that I felt inadequate.

And the two guys on it with me, the maintenance guys were getting more and more upset as I couldn’t figure it out. Finally one of the guys blew up at me and said, “You should’ve been able to figure this out by now, what’s wrong with you?” And he just really ripped into me. I got super upset and stormed out. And I felt so upset and angry and disturbed.

I felt inadequate. I felt anxious. I felt like I wanted to just up and quit the whole thing.

But it all got worked out. I finished the detail that semester. But did different things related to it.
But I blew up at the training principle, and got sent to counseling, and I remember the guy who I had had the fight with, as I was getting in the vehicle to drive to the counselor, he would come out and just look at me and laugh.

I had tried to get him in trouble, which was terrible of me, but I couldn’t’ believe how rudely he’d treated me.

It became this extremely tense and disturbing situation. And eventually I went to him and apologized for what I did. He never apologized. But it didn’t matter.

It was one of those situations where you just don’t know what to do. And you ask God why? Why this?

As a result God gives answers. Honestly, God gives answers. Sometimes he will be silent, it’s true. I think we think of God like that. He’s not gonna give us an answer. The answer is just faith it up more.

But that’s honestly not my experience. God has come to me in those high stress times and has given me such tender encouragement from His word. He’s given me so many nudges toward the truth.

And Jesus does the same for Thomas here, he says, I am the way.

In our problems, in our transitions, in change, Jesus is the way. Trust in Jesus.

Cling to Jesus. When everything is out of control, cling to Jesus even tighter. Run to the Father. Run to Jesus. Hug Him tighter.

Next, John 14:10-11, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.”

Jesus reminds his disciples that all things that are happening, all the changes are not random. It’s not some evil scheme. It’s not out of control. It’s not chaos. The change that is happening is in fact God’s perfect will.

If you can remember that during a transition then you will prosper.

But it’s when we start to think, “this isn’t fair” “this is wrong” “this is bad” that we start to get into trouble. We try to take control away from God. We try to take control. We try to claim some sort of conspiracy. But it’s not a conspiracy. It’s not an evil plot. It’s God’s perfect plan.

The best example I can give is the Salvation Army moves system. Every 3-5 years The Salvation Army moves officers from one place to another. Many will assume that the moves are done according to the will of man. But it’s not true. The moves are done according to the will of God.

Chelsey and I aren’t moving because we got married. We aren’t moving because Chelsey needs to be trained. We aren’t moving because its been x number of years. We’re moving because it’s God’s perfect will for the universe and planet Earth for us to move.

If we can understand God’s authority in these situations, we can be at peace. We can accept the change. We can prosper in change.

Whether I went to Escanaba, or Chicago, or St. Charles, or Albert Lea, St. Louis or Rochester, MN, or Owosso, Mi, I always knew that it was God’s perfect will for me to be there.

Did I wrestle in those times? Sure. Did I argue with God? I did from time to time. But did God always help me to accept His will? Yes He did.

Lastly, we see in verses 12-14, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Jesus tells His disciples that he has trained them to do great things, to do mighty works, to ask God for things and God will do them.

Point number four today, Change brings opportunities for great victories

The changes and transitions God brings are almost always intended to bring about greater ministry opportunities and greater victories for the future.

I remember going from Wausau, wi to Escanaba, Mi and wondering why God would bring this sort of change. But I quickly found myself excited with the ministry opportunities I had after the move.

Major Ralph there allowed me to preach half time and I was so excited. I had longed for years to preach sermons, and finally, finally, I got to get into the pulpit and preach a sermon from the word of God.

I was so excited. I got to preach sermons, I got to do weekly bible studies at the nursing home nearby, I got to assist with kids activities. I got to lead and plan a vacation bible school. I got to coordinate kettles. It was amazing. But God had to bring me through the storms of transition to get me there.

God will as well bring you through the storms of change, and you’ll go from sorrowful and upset, to excited and hopeful. But you have to let yourself walk through the difficulties of change to get to the blessings of change.

In conclusion, we must allow God in times of change, to hold us by the hand through the change. We must not run away, which may be our instinct. We should allow ourselves to grieve and wrestle with questions. But we should bring it all to God in prayer. We must remember God is in control in the confusion. We must believe that change can bring new blessings despite the pain.

On any journey, in any shift in our lives, we must remember that there is a way through it successfully. Its by way of Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus himself is the way through.

Though we may be tempted to give up, to run for the hills, to get bitter, to throw all our progress away, instead, in the difficulty we must turn our eyes to Jesus, and cling to him even tighter than ever.

Review:
1. There is a future in change – though we can’t the future we can believe God is with us in the transitions

2. Crisis brings questioning – we can bring our questions to God, and God encourages us through it all

3. God’s authority rests over transitions – we must learn to see change as coming directly from the throne of God, he is sovereign

4. Change brings opportunities for great victories – our sorrow will turn to rejoicing as we see what God does in transitional times

Guard your Heart: Block the Evil, Bring in the Gold

Have you ever had a conversation or experience, or a moment in your life that you took to heart?

You took it to heart. It impacted you so deeply that it stayed with you through your whole life.

I remember numerous experiences in my life that I took to heart. It affected me in a way that it went deep down inside me. It went into my heart and changed my life forever.

There are also terrible negative experiences that I unfortunately “took to heart” as well and they damaged my heart. I'm sure the same is true for you.

But God can redeem anything. He can take something meant to hurt us and turn it into a testimony.

The goal every Sunday is that you would, during the service, take things to heart, whether it’s something said in a prayer, or a line from one of the worship songs, or a word during the sermon.

The goal is you would notice a nugget of truth throughout the service, and stop on it, and say: "That is something I’m going to take to heart."

So you see something very beautiful with growing Christians. They’ve gathered all these gold nuggets of truth, and fashioned them into beautiful things, and they are a tree decorated with hundreds of gold nuggets of biblical truth.

They’ve carefully listened to allow the word of God to really change their hearts over time.

I think we naturally have things that go into our mind from the message. That’s a good thing, we want knowledge for the mind, but something powerful happens when it hits the heart. Something in the message we "get." We realize how profound it is, and we allow it to sink into our heart.

Or not. 

That’s why you’ll see people who have gone to church for 30, 40, 50 years but they are still unsaved. It’s all gone in the mind. And it’s never gone into the heart. And so they’ve been in church for 40 years but they’ve never been changed by the message. They’ve never allowed it to go in.

There’s a scripture from Proverbs chapter 4 that helps us understand the heart.

It a prescription you might say, for a young believer, a prescription for good heart health.

What does your doctor say when you’re having heart issues? They give you a prescription. They give you a list of foods to eat, foods to not eat.

This is a prescription from God about how to minister to our hearts.

It says this, Proverbs 4:20-23, “My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.”

The first point today is that only God can really change your heart. If you don’t have Jesus in your heart today, then there’s no point in studying about how to keep your heart healthy or how to guard it or anything else, your heart is not able to do anything truly useful apart from Christ.

So what you’ve got to do is give your heart to Jesus right now, and invite God to change your heart.

As the scripture says, Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

That’s the cry of the psalmist, and it finds it’s completion in Jesus Christ.

It say again in Ezekiel 36:26 ESV, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

So if you have a stone heart today, but you feel Jesus tugging at your heart, invite Him in today, become born again, and then you’ll be able to consider the next steps.

The second point for today is that we want to “keep the word of God in our hearts.”

Now that Jesus has given us a new heart, our job is to continue to feed the word of our God into our hearts.

We do this by studying the word, praying the scriptures, listening to the word read aloud, and by listening to sermons and messages.

We allow the word to affect our hearts. Or we block it from our heart, and it all goes into the mind, and that knowledge puffs us up with pride. But we never change. That's dangerous. Don't block the word, let it in! 

The third point for today is to “guard your heart with all diligence, for all you do flows from it.”

There are many influences in the world. I often see Christians who are young in their faith and they get stuck. They get stuck in sins. They get stuck in their walk. They stop growing.

And often what I see is that they’ve got a spout, a faucet running into the heart, and what’s coming from that faucet is filth and slime. And it’s pouring like a mighty river into their heart. And then they are shocked that they aren’t growing and are living double-minded and trapped in sin.

Turn off that spout! What is that spout? It’s the influences of the world that are being poured into your heart from television, movies, news media, radio, billboards, wrong friendships, wrong relationships, and worldly influences. You’ve got to turn off those sources and replace them all with Christian content, Christian movies, Christian sermons, Christian radio, Christian friendships, and Christian influences.

And as you do, you turn off the bad spigot and you turn on the pure spigot, and instead of filth, pure living water of God’s word is flowing into your heart and pretty soon you begin to grow in your faith once again.

Guard your heart. That’s the goal. Don’t let those things into your heart. Because once something gets control of your affections it’s very hard to get rid of, only Jesus can remove it once it’s there.

I’ll give you an example, at one point in my life, I let drugs into my heart. I really loved drugs. And once it’s there, something loved and cherished, it’s very hard to get rid of. I had to go to treatment, detox, and pray, and seek God, and it was a whole ordeal to get rid of it.

Another example, is you’ll see a woman who falls in love with a guy and she lets him into her heart. This is a beautiful thing when it’s done in marriage and happens in God’s will. But sex traffickers have discovered, that if they can get a woman to fall in love with them, they can then control that woman later, and turn them into a prostitute, and force them to work for them.

That’s the power of what we let into our hearts.

Next point, God can set you free even if it’s in your heart. So if you’ve allowed something into your heart that has control, surrender it to God, he can set you free. You may need treatment though. You may a need a bit of detox. You may need to go deep with a counselor or pastor. But don’t give up hope. You can be free.

So to review, let God’s word go deep into the heart.

At the same time guard your heart, because sin is knocking at the door, trying to get us addicted.

But there’s more to that scripture in Proverbs 4, in verses 24-27 it says, “Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”

Have you ever seen an old castle from the medieval era? There’s the main keep, and surrounding the keep is a wall, but then there is another longer wall along the outside, sort of a second line of defense.

Your heart is the keep. And you must guard it with the inner wall.

But there is a second level of defense, an outer wall, and here we see what the outer wall is. It's your senses. And there are gates where your senses take in information along the wall. We must guard these gates carefully. 

First, we need to guard the mouth gate.

Guard what you speak. I know this one from experience. I’ve been free from cussing for a while now. But there’s been a few times over the years where I got very upset and let a cuss out.

And it’s amazing how hard it was to get it gone again. Once you start cussing, or slandering others, or gossiping, it’s very hard to stop.

The word says the tongue is, "set on fire by hell." Once hell sets it afire, only a cold splash of the Holy Spirit can put it out. Without God's help, it just goes, burns and burns, like a blazing fire.

Guard what you say. Guard the mouth gate. Because once the mouth is uttering garbage, it’s hard to get it to stop, and that gate can lead to the inner gate, the heart.

It also says guard your eyes. “25 Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.”

Watch what you look at! That’s another pathway for the enemy to get bad things into your heart.

Guard the eye gate.

Watch what you look at. Watch what movies you view. Watch what you focus on. Keep your focus on the goal, which is Jesus Christ, and the gospel message.

I watched a movie recently, very popular, but I knew there was a nude scene in it somewhere. But I really wanted to see the movie, it was historical and interesting. So I carefully watched the movie trying to guard against the nude scene, but sure enough, it came on so quickly I couldn't block it, and even to this day that image remains in my mind of that scene. How terrible! We can't unsee the things we see. We can be forgiven. But our mind remembers. 

Lastly, guard your pathways, the place you go.

It says Proverbs 4:26-27, “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”

You know what they say, if you hang out at the barber shop long enough you’ll end up getting a haircut.

Guard the Foot gate.

Don’t hang out with the wrong people. Don’t hang out in the wrong places. Follow God’s leading for your life. You’ll know if you aren’t in the right place. You’ll know because God will tell you. You will sense it, "something isn't right here."

Don’t turn to the left or right, keep walking the path God has for you. That is the challenge in life.

Don’t get distracted. Keep walking God’s pathway. That’s another gate, where you go, where you walk, where you step, a gate that you must guard.

Guard the outer gates, your senses. Guard the inner gate, your heart. Allow in the right content, block the wrong content, and you will be stable as Christian. You'll gain victory over double-mindedness. You'll become a single-minded Christian. But if you allow in the filth along with the pure, you'll always find yourself double-minded and as a consequence, unstable in your walk with Christ. 

Review of Main Points:

1. Only God can truly change your heart (through Jesus Christ)

2. Keep the Word of God in your heart (Let the message affect your heart)

3. Guard your heart with all diligence (Block the filth from your heart)

4. God can remove something bad from your heart (Surrender it to Him)

5. Guard the Mouth Gate (Speak life, guard against evil speech)

6. Guard the Eye Gate (Look at what is good, avoid what is evil)

7. Guard the Foot Gate (Follow God’s path, avoid dangerous situations)

14 Stages of the Pilgrimage Journey of the Christian

Growing up my mother’s favorite New Year’s Eve tradition was to start and finish a puzzle. The puzzles were big and difficult. We would race against the clock, trying to complete it by midnight. Even though we were all working together, the puzzle would take hours to finish.

We watched the clock turning as we fought against time to get done before midnight. The picture would slowly take form, from appearing as nothing more than a random assortment of colors, to slowly resembling something detailed and real. 

As the clock approached midnight, sometimes we wouldn't get done until minutes before midnight, and we'd all celebrate, and gaze at the beautiful picture that the puzzle created. We couldn't see it at first, but we kept working diligently, and finally near midnight, we saw how it all fit together. 

Similarly, we as Christians slowly study the word of God, the parables of Jesus, the Old Testament heroes, the proverbs, the psalms, the prophets, the four gospels, the I am statements of Jesus, the teachings of the Apostle Paul, Peter, John, and others, and we find ourselves with all sorts of puzzle pieces. 

Over the years we begin to sort these puzzle pieces and bring them together, one by one, and more and more, we begin to see a big picture of how Christianity actually works. 

Over the last three months we’ve gone through a series called "Shapes of Faith" and we’ve looked at different scriptures in a visual format. We’ve learned a lot about the journey of life for a Christian, but now we’re going to put it all together.

We’re going to piece together the different pictures we created into a depiction of the Christian life from the moment we first find salvation in Jesus, to the moment we pass into the next life.

1. The Gray Fish

We start off at the gray fish, unsaved, and headed in the wrong direction.

But at some point in our lives we came to saving faith in Jesus Christ and we repented, we changed directions and began moving in the a new direction.

2. The Blue Fish

This began life in the Spirit, which we talked about from Romans 8:9-11, “You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.”

3. Square Shape

This led us into the square shape, where we as Christians come to be taught in the truth (Ephesians 4:21). We find fellowship with other Christians in faithful churches, we’re taught the truth, and in so doing we learn to put on the new self, and put off the old self.

4. Triangle Shape

As we grow and learn we become more and more in tune with the Holy Spirit within, and we grow into the peace of Christ which guards our hearts and minds.

We change our thought life and make allowance for each other’s faults. We practice self-examination, and in all this we become ambassadors for Christ in the world, spreading the gospel for Him.

5. The Two Towers

As we continue our journey with Christ, we really learn that it’s about sowing. If we sow to the Spirit, we will reap eternal life through the Spirit, if we sow to the flesh, we will reap destruction from the flesh.

If we plant seeds that build a holy life, we’ll walk the path of life, if we plant seeds of sin, we’ll reap disaster.

6. The House Built Up in Fullness

As we grow in Christ more and more, we eventually reach a point where we come into spiritual maturity. We’ve grown into maturity. And we become more and more conformed in the likeness of Jesus Christ.

As it says in Ephesians 4:13, “…until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…”

This is the way of unveiling perfect love.

7. The Heart

So, in maturity in Christ, we come to a place where we can say, "Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast."

We’ve seen God clear away negative things from our hearts and make our hearts truly pure and full of the love of God.

The whole process of being led by the Spirit, crucifying the flesh, resisting the flesh, practicing faithful behavior, was all for the purpose of developing a heart of love.

As it says in 1st Cor 13:4-7, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

8. The Road

Yet we know this Christian life is a lifelong journey, a journey down a long road from Earth towards heaven.

As we travel the road, we know we must forget the past, and press on toward the goal, knowing that already today we are citizens of heaven, and we are on a pilgrimage through this world, toward the next.

We set aside everything else and press on toward the goal.

As it says in Philippians 3, verses 8-11, “Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!”

And we know the enemy is gunning for us on the journey, so we always remember to put on the armor of God.

9. Star of David

We learned to put on the armor of God daily in our pilgrimage journey toward heaven. We know we have an adversary who is seeking to harm us. But God is with us, and protects us, as we wear His armor.

And as we apply the armor each day, with faith, hope, peace, and discernment, we find ourselves in a spiritual place of readiness called “Strong in the Lord.”

10. The Eagle

We know though, that in the battles of life, the difficulties and problems we face, we go through cycles with the Lord, where we begin to lose hope, and grow weary. Then we start to clutch the branch, and we sometimes forget how to fly. But God comes in those times where we’ve given up and lost hope. He restores our hope, heals us, and helps us to hope again. Then he brings us up and teaches us to soar on the winds again. This cycle occurs many times in life. It’s a process of molding and shaping us as His beloved children.

11. The Butterflies

As we go through the trials and tribulations of life, the low spots and pains, God brings us through transformations in the Christian life.

We learn to surrender to God and His will, we learn to find liberty from sins, we learn humility, we learn spiritual warfare, and we experience encounters with God, mountaintop experiences, and in all this we learn death to self, to really allow God to reign in us.

As it says in 2nd Cor 3:17-18 “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”

12. Body of Christ

As we grow and learn and develop, we find our place in the body of Christ as a servant, using our spiritual gifts to bless each other, build each other up, and spread the gospel to the unsaved.

We learn that we’re part of a large whole, and that we have a part to play. We learn to use our gifts, we learn to serve, to give, to encourage one another, to show mercy, to prophesy, and to teach.

13. The Hour-Glass

But as the years go by and we get closer to heaven, more and more we begin to focus our attention on heaven. We long to be united with Christ. We long to be with Him in heaven. We long to be free from the flesh.

2nd Cor 5:1-3 says “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked.”

We long for heaven, we long to have our new clothing, the clothing of heaven. We long to no longer be in the flesh, because we fear being found unfaithful, so we long for the time when Jesus returns, so we may be found faithful.

We’re tired of battling the flesh. We’re tired of the struggles of life. More and more we long for the heavenly dwelling.

14. The Sun

Yet always shining above us is the sun in our sky, our great hope, of the return of Jesus Christ, when all things will be made right. We long for that moment. We cry out for that moment. We dream of that moment.

We know Jesus our savior lived a perfect life, that he died a substitutionary death for us on the cross, and that he rose from the grave and is alive right now!

We know Jesus Christ will return to reign on the earth. We know that we must be awake and sober watching for the return of Jesus.

We know that the dead in Christ will rise again from the dead and live forever with Him. We know God will judge the living and the dead, when Jesus returns.

What an amazing adventure! Are you on the journey? What stage are you at? Which area do you need to focus in on? Spend some time in prayer and ask God to speak to you about which phase of the journey you're currently in. 

Let’s Review our Main Points today:

1. The Gray Fish – We lived in the realm of the flesh, until we came into a crisis moment when we encountered the gospel of Jesus Christ (lostness)

2. The Blue Fish - Once we move from the flesh to the Spirit through the salvation in Jesus Christ, we begin a journey of being led by the Spirit of Christ (salvation)

3. The Square – We’ve been taught in the truth and the truth changes us (sanctification)

4. The Triangle – As we grow we become ambassadors for Christ (representatives of God’s kingdom)

5. The Tower Towers – As we sow to the Spirit more and more we reap spiritual growth, but the flesh attempts to pull us back (Fruits of the Spirit develop)

6. The House – the five fold ministry helps build us up into the fullness of Jesus Christ (We find spiritual maturity)

7. The Heart – spiritual maturity manifests as total change in our hearts (We learn to really love people from a pure heart)

8. The Road – we travel day by day through this life pressing on toward the goal (we travel the pilgrim road as citizens of heaven)

9. Star of David – the enemy attacks us on the way, so we put on the armor of God (we learn faithful mindset for spiritual battles)

10. The Eagle – when we face weariness, we wait on God and God restores our hope and causes us to soar (we learn to persevere through dark times)

11. The Butterfly – in our Christian life we experience different transformations, where God changes us through sanctification (Spiritual growth continues from glory to glory)

12. Body of Christ – we serve in the body of Christ as part of a larger whole (We learn to be part of a larger mission and use the gifts God gave us)

13. The Hour Glass – as we travel through this world we long for heaven (Our focus becomes more and more on heaven in this world)

14. The Sun – the final victory comes when Jesus Christ returns to Earth (Our Salvation is made manifest in the return of Jesus)

Consumed with God: The Pursuit of God

My wife tells me that I sometimes become nearly obsessed with certain things. I get so focused on something it consumes me. I fall into the pool after staring into it too long. Are you like that?

I have a bit of an obsessive, addictive personality. I want it and I want more. I want to learn more. I want to go all in. If I go I want to touch the bottom.

For many years, my obsession was self-destruction. I slowly destroyed myself in the grips of addiction. I was all in for self destruction. I loved it. I got off on it. I thought it was funny. Desperate laughter. And my punishment was waiting for me in the next life.

Once I became a Christian, a follower of Jesus, I put away self destruction. I chose life, to live and build a new life around a new banner. The banner of God’s kingdom.

It starts by plunging in. You have to cry out to Jesus Christ, believing that he really can change your heart. You go from there to church to learn the gospel, forgiveness of sins and what it all means but it starts with crying out in prayer

Then begins a slow take over of your heart by God. The journey of faith goes on for years, of slow growth.

But I think at some point, we want to move toward going all in for God.

We are consumed by God completely… while our obsession used to be selfishness and self destruction and we were very excited about that, we now pursue knowing God with abandon.

That’s our first point today, pursue God with abandon. Can you do that? Can you learn to love doing that?

I used to love to sit down to drink and smoke weed, and we had our little rituals, places, times, and we went all in for that.

It reminds me of the parable of the treasure in a field, the man finds out this treasure is in this field, so he sells everything he owns to buy the field. He goes all in for this new thing.

There is something exciting and freeing and liberating about going a bit crazy for God.

Early on I said to myself, "I’m going to go all in for this Christian thing." I’m going to do things like pray for an hour at a time or more. I’m going to listen to worship music all day. I’m going to fast for days.

You hit the ground running. I did that 11 years ago and I never looked back. It became my new mission.

I always do things 100%, when it was self destruction, it was destroying myself with all my might. Today it’s chasing God with 100% effort.

Luke 9:23 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Yet very quickly as I began my relentless pursuit of God, knowing God, knowing His word, I found things in the way in my life, things that we call sins.

I knew it said in the word Romans 6:1l, “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”

Point number two today, to pursue God means to break free from sins.

So I began surrendering my sins to God, and repenting of them. Sometimes they went quickly, other times it took longer to be free. Addictions were challenging to be free from, but with support groups like Celebrate Recovery and other twelve step fellowships, there was hope. Same thing with sexual sin, also very difficult to break free from.

Galatians 5:24 “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

The flesh had to be crucified, my old ways to acting, my old sin patterns, they had to change, and slowly God changed my thinking to fix what was once broken.

Slowly but surely that began to take place. I really didn’t want to leave behind my old selfish ways. But God helped me to see there was a better way.

Yet I knew it would take more than that to be truly in pursuit of God, truly consumed in God.

It would take surrendering my will to God.

That’s our third point today, let God’s will be done in your daily life.

I would need to begin to let God lead my life in a very practical way. Lord, what’s next? Lord where do you want me? God will direct every step of your life. He will make your crooked places straight, if you let Him.

As it says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

And again in John 3:30, John the Baptizer said about Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

All of this occurs dear friends not by strenuous effort, though as we surrender things to God he may give us footwork to do. But no, all of this is done very paradoxically.

It’s done by coming to God over and over and more and more deeply.

We come to God over and over in the power of love, His love for us, our love for Him, and this love melts us. 

That’s our fourth point, let God’s love and power melt you.

Here we find it extremely useful to be a maniac like myself who is obsessive about the things he puts effort into. If I do something, I go all in, so with God, I go all in. I pursue God relentlessly. 

And I fear God. That’s my secret weapon. I really honestly fear God. Not just reverence. But honestly fear, terror even. Is that bad? No. It’s good. It’s so good. It’s victory. It’s the fear of the Lord, which is the beginning of wisdom (Proverb 1:7, 2 Cor 7:1).

But just as much, I love God and the love of God convinces me to want to do right. 

So with the fear of the Lord and the love of the Lord, I find victory within, through two motivations guiding me toward the right, fear and love. 

In all this, I strive to get as close to God as possible. And by getting closer and closer to God, the self falls away. Melts away.

Two factors are at work causing the melting, the fear of the Lord melts self away from one angle of trembling and fear and concern to want to do God’s will. Just as love, the hot powerful love of God melts me away. Then, in the boldness of a child who knows he is loved, I'm able to strike out from a place of strength. These two things burn away the dross and I become the man I was always meant to be. 

This occurs practically in long prayer times, in times of silence, in times of meditation on the word of God, and deep study of the word. But primarily this relationship is drawn into through prayer.

“What is prayer? Prayer is a certain warmth of love. Ah, but more! Prayer is a melting! Prayer is a dissolving and an uplifting of the soul. This warmth of love, this melting, this dissolving and uplifting causes the soul to ascend to God. As the soul is melted, sweet fragrances begin to rise from it. These fragrances pour forth from a consuming fire of love ... and that love is in you. It is a consuming fire of love in your inmost being, a fire of love for God.” -Jeanne Guyon

The love of god, the fear of the Lord, these things get us ready for the final point today, which is to forsake self and be lost in God.

Point number five, annihilation of self brings a void which God fills in you. In this you pass into God, you are consumed by Him, and He becomes your all.

“But how do you pass into God? By forsaking your self that you may be lost in Him! You can be lost in Him only by the annihilation of the self. And what has that to do with prayer? The annihilation of self is the true prayer of worship! It is a prayer you must learn—learn in all the totality of its deepest possible meaning. This is the experience that renders to God, and to God alone, all "blessing, honor, glory, and power, forever and ever." -Jeanne Guyon

Jeanne Guyon calls this a prayer of worship, to allow your fleshly self, your lower nature, to be completely annihilated by God.

It’s either all or nothing. In fact scripture very much speaks in those kinds of terms. God must have all of you. Love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. There is no partial, its all or nothing. Jesus said you’re either with me or against me. There is no middle position.

Jeanne Guyon continues… 

“Dear reader, there are, in fact, only two truths: the All and the Nothing. Everything else is a lie. God is All; you are nothing. The only way you can pay due honor to God is by your own annihilation. As soon as this wonderful work is done, God moves in.” -Jeanne Guyon

When you allow God to completely take over, you draw so near to Him that the fleshly self is no longer in control, but truly crucified, as the scriptures tell us it must be, then God moves in and reigns in us.

We’ve all met those rare Christians who are really led by the Spirit of God. They are really living crucified lives. And it's beautiful.

I often wonder what that looks like, how do I have that? How do I know I’m living that? It means I’m really totally given over to God’s leading in my life. Nothing resists Him in me any longer.

As Jeanne Guyon says…

“It is true first when God becomes the Master and Lord within you so completely that nothing in you resists His dominion. It is then that your inner being, your spirit, is His kingdom. That is when God possesses you.” – Jeanne Guyon

As Jesus said, “the Kingdom of God is within you.” When we are really crucified with Christ, and we no longer live, but Christ lives in us, God really possesses us. We really are Christians, disciples in the world, following the leading of our Master.

Does that seem too tall of an order? I’m sure that’s what you're thinking. Certainly that can’t be possible, can it? Can we really be consumed by God, totally surrendered to Him, truly “dead to self” and ‘alive to Christ”?

It is true. It is also truly a miracle from God when it happens. But you must strike out in bold belief that can God and will do it in you. Just believe that. Don’t argue with it. Don’t stress over it. Don’t ring your hands over it. Don’t doubt. Just simply believe that God can do anything in you.

Then it’s not just possible, but it will certainly happen if you pursue it. Like a wild man, a bit obsessive, doggedly. 

I want all of Jesus, or I want none. I will not go half way. Have the same attitude. All of this. It’s much more fun that way friends. Honestly, when you start getting deep into Christianity, into the supernatural elements, the healing, the dreams, the visions, the gospel spreading revivals, the spiritual gifts, the fasting, angels and demons, spiritual warfare, this is exciting stuff! It’s not boring. It’s when you hang out on the fence and go lukewarm that it’s boring and pointless. When you go all in, it’s an amazing adventure beyond description.

In all this, the purpose is to enjoy God by allowing God to have all of us. That is our destiny, what we were made for, to enjoy God forever!

“…in His kingdom there is fulness of joy. Our ultimate purpose is to enjoy God ... in this life. To enjoy God! This is the very purpose for which we were created.” -Jeanne Guyon

Let’s Review our Main Points:

1. Pursue God with abandon

2. Pursuing God means breaking free from sin

3. Let God will be done in your life

4. Self melts away as we seek God in prayer in fear and love

5. Annihilation of self/flesh brings God’s presence within, which is His kingdom come, and enjoyment of God

Being Transformed from Glory to Glory: 7 Transitions in the Christian Life

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 But we all, with unveiled faces, looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” -2nd Cor 3:17-18

We as Christians are being transformed from one degree of glory to another, from glory to glory.

God has given us many things in nature to tell us about himself. Outer space tells us about his infinite power and how deep God truly is. The four seasons tell us about the cycle of fall, sin, rebirth and renewal. The laws of the universe, gravity, time, the golden ratio, tell us we live in a universe of fixed laws and structures. The word even tells us to "look to the ant" for wisdom. 

Similarly, I think God gave us the caterpillar and the butterfly to tell us about ourselves. To tell us that we need a transformation to become all we’re meant to be.

We start off life as a caterpillar. We move close to the ground, like the caterpillar, six legs, six eyes, close to the ground, focused on earthly things.

Many never make it past this point in their lives. They live and die as a caterpillar, having never experienced the amazing transformation that God can do in their lives.

But today I want to talk about the power of God’s transformations in our lives. So we’re going to talk about a series of transformations that take place in the life of the Christian.

The first transformation is the transformation of salvation.

The unsaved person, the caterpillar is faced with a crisis. It’s the chief crisis for every human being on planet Earth.

It’s the crisis around our own sinfulness, our own inability, our own failures, our own inadequacy.

The crisis is brutal when we realize that our sins are leading us to disaster. We get angry. We get sad. We argue with ourselves about it. We try self help books. We try meditation. We try drinking it away. We try acting out. We try therapy or medications. Nothing touches that empty feeling within.

1. The Transformation of Salvation - lost to born again
We go into a cocoon at this point. If we really embrace the struggle, instead of denying it, and hiding from it, and running from it, if we face the question head on, we go into a cocoon.

We wrestle with the God idea. We wrestle with the pain of sin. We wrestle with ourselves. And as we wrestle and wrestle over, weeks, months, years, eventually, in the sorrow and loneliness and pain, we begin to see a light on the horizon, a hope, in one name, the name of Jesus Christ, and at rock bottom in the deep darkness of the cocoon we cry out to the name of Jesus, and suddenly, we burst forth out of that cocoon as a new creation, a beautiful butterfly, made new, transformed, different than we used to be.

As it says in the word, “2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

That is the first transformation, the transformation of salvation. We go from lost, to saved, sinful to pure, broken to made whole. But that isn’t the end. It’s only just the beginning.

2. Transformation of Surrender - letting God control your life
The second transformation, is the transformation of surrender. This is the moment in every Christian’s life usually maybe a year or a few years after they get saved, that they realize, through a crisis, or conviction, or pain, or sin, that they can’t run their own lives anymore.

They’ve got to let God practically guide the course of their life. They can’t be in the drivers seat anymore, the Lord Jesus must be.

In a moment of surrender, the believer submits themselves to God. They turn their will (choices) over to God, and acknowledge God in all their ways. And God makes their paths right.

As it says in Luke 9:23-24 And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”

It also says in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”

We go into another cocoon, as we know something is wrong with our walk with God. We’re still trying to run our own lives. We’re still trying to be in control. We go into that cocoon, we wrestle with God, we wrestle with ourselves, and argue inside, but I want to run my own life, I want to have a say, I don’t want to go some place I don’t want to go, but in the end, we wrestle through, we get on our knees, realizing God is right and will lead us perfectly, and we surrender our will to God. God, run my life from now on, it’s yours.

We come out of the cocoon, an even more beautiful butterfly.

3. Transformation of Liberty – freedom from sins of the flesh
Next, we consider the transformation of liberty.

The word of God says, “where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

I saw in my life as a Christian that I was living in active sins. I was living in gossip. I was living in masturbation. I was living in theft. In lust. I was living in different sins of the flesh.

I kept trying to convince myself that it was OK to sin every day. Christians sin all the time, come on it’s ok! But over and over in prayer it was clear, you must repent of these sins. You can have freedom, because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

So I went into another cocoon. I wrestled within. It doesn’t matter if I sin I’m already saved. It doesn’t matter. God understands. I kept trying to justify it. But the Lord just kept speaking to me about freedom. Real freedom.

And in that dark cocoon I slowly began to believe that Christian can really be free from sin. They really can repent of sins and live pure as He is pure. Not by our own efforts, but by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit within us.

Where the Spirit of the Lord, there is not slavery to sin, there is freedom.

Galatians 5:24, “And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

Over the next few years began a process of victories over various sins in my life. The Lord would convict me of a sin, I would ask forgiveness, repent, and God would help me to find sustained freedom from it. One by one, he peeled the layers of the onion shell away.

I’m not saying I’m perfect today, there I days I have to go before God and repent, but today I fundamentally live in victory, in liberty from sin, because where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

So we come out the cocoon a new and beautiful butterfly.

4. Transformation of Humiliation – humbling experience that keeps us close to the ground
In all this transformation we can soon become prideful at our glory and beauty, as God transforms us from one degree of glory to the next.

So God will give us the gift of humiliation, to keep us humble. We experience painful events, we’re shown that we aren’t super human. We become sick, or deathly ill. We experience mental health problems. We have a friend turn against us. We expect to achieve so much at work, but instead our work is pretty average.

These experiences keep us humble. They strip away pride.

Proverbs 29:23 ESV “One's pride will bring him low, but he who is lowly in spirit will obtain honor.”

And Jesus said, “Whoever makes himself great will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be made great.” -Matthew 23:12 GNT

So we go into another cocoon, we want to feel great, we don’t want to be humbled, we don’t want to think of others before ourselves. But God is humbling us. God is humiliating us, it seems like. We wrestle with it. We argue against it. We get mad at God because we feel humiliated. But in the end, by God’s grace, we allow God to humble us, and we learn to keep ourselves humble, by the Spirit’s leading.

5. The Transformation of Battle - spiritual warfare
Fifthly, we consider the transformation of battle.

1st Peter 5:8, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.”

The enemy, demons, Satan, the evil one attacks us. This happens to Christians from time to time. We come under attack. The enemy uses a situation to attack you. The enemy whispers lies to you. The enemy attacks you in your dreams. The enemy messes with your family or friends.

This experience brings us all running to God the Father. It keeps us close to God. We pray through it. We dive into the word of God. We overcome and defeat the enemy by resisting the enemy. We don’t fear the enemy. The enemy learns to fear us. Because we cast him out.

But again, this brings us into a cocoon. Why is God allowing this? Why does the enemy have access to me? He must have God’s permission, just like with Satan with Job. He couldn’t do anything to Job without God’s permission.

But eventually in that cocoon we realize God is allowing these spiritual battles because he loves us and wants to train us to fight and win these battles. And we come out again, having found victory over the enemy, stronger, braver, bolder, and mightier in spiritual combat.

You come out of the battle scarred, wearied, but you can feel your spiritual muscles have grown stronger. I’ve felt it many times.

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen. -1st Peter 5:10-11

6. Transformation of Transfiguration – an experience with God that changes us (brings us higher up)
You can really never be the same after the transformation of transfiguration. This is one of those experiences that Christians call a mountain top experience, like Elijah at mount Horeb when God showed him his glory. Or when Moses saw the glory of God and his face was shining as he came down from mount Sinai. Or when Peter, James and John saw Jesus transfigured on Mount Tabor.

This kind of experience will bring a new awe for God. We become more amazed at God’s power and infinite nature. We learn a new level of God’s love.

This experience also very often is accompanied by the fear of the Lord. Moses was afraid. Elijah was terrified and covered his face in his cloak. God’s presence brings the fear of God.

And this often brings us into cocoon. We’re so overcome by the fear of the Lord, it changes us. We become much more devoted to God. We become much more amazed at God. But we’re also keenly aware of just how small we are and just how big God is. It can be very unsettling. When you see into the spiritual realm even for a moment it can shock you. There are things at play in the universe, in humanity, in the fall, that simply make you want to sob uncontrollably.

So we wrestle in that cocoon. But as we allow ourselves to embrace this new, higher view of God, this new reverence, this new love, this new fear of the Lord, it changes us.

Of all these experiences I think the change found in transfiguration, the mountain experience is the most intense.

It almost feels as if you’ve been sandblasted, as if God were so close you feel seared on the edges, a bit burnt on the sides by the experience. It’s amazing. And a bit scary.

From Matthew 17, “After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light. 3 Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.

4 Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”

5 While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

6 When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. 7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.”

7. The Transformation of Death (to self) - death to self, and final physical death, which is glorification

Lastly, we consider the transformation of death, or glorification.

The transformation of (Death) Glory is when we die to self in some way. This happens all the time. You could call it the journey of sanctification. Over your life you’re slowly conformed into the same image of Jesus Christ, from one degree of glory to the next, step by step, death to self, death to self, death to self, and these changes, which are sometimes quite difficult, make you more and more like Jesus.

God is constantly chipping away at your character and will and emotions and soul, changing you and building you up in Christ.

This is accomplished through the Holy Spirit at work within you, though I assume the whole Trinity is at work on you in different ways, the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit all working on you.

All of this comes to a point of what we Wesleyans call entire sanctification. We come to a state of spiritual maturity. We no longer live in constant sin and selfishness. We still face temptations. We still make mistakes. But we find ourselves mature in Christ. We are no longer swept along by every random thought and idea, we are firm, grounded in Christ, with a heart of love, and able to serve in many blessed ways.

This occurs throughout all the stages of transformation we’ve talked about today, but I saved it for last because the goal is to reach a place of general maturity.

As it says in Hebrews 5:12-14 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.”

The Greek word there is teleios which implies completeness, maturity, wholeness, perfect, finished.

Colossians 1:28 says, “He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ.”

Additionally, death to self, through this process, finds it’s final completion in physical death itself. This is the final death to self. It’s the final transformation, on this journey of glorious transformations from one degree of glory to the next, the final transformation is physical death itself.

You come to the end of yourself. You come to the end of your ability to live. If you’re lucky and blessed you get to die for Jesus. But, in any case, we all die.

And we go into the final cocoon. This cocoon we wrestle in. I don’t want to die. I’m not ready to die. Yet you can feel death coming. You know it’s here. And I think in the end, we accept our fate, we accept that we will die, and then we simply allow it to happen, at the right moment, by God’s leading.

And the final test of our faith in the cocoon, which we’ve used time and again, in oall our transformations, is to believe and know, that this final cocoon is not fatal, because we will wake up in a new place. And we will be transformed at last, completely, glorification.

We will receive a new body, our sin nature will be gone, and we will be perfect as Christ is perfect. And the ultimate victory is won.

Philippians 3:20-21, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

Let’s Review our Main Points:
1. Initially we were all the caterpillar (unsaved)

2. God brought us to a cocoon that brought change (crisis)

3. We emerged as a butterfly (salvation)

4. The first transformation is the moment of salvation (born again experience)

5. Transformation of surrender (Letting God run our lives practically)

6. Transformation of liberty (God delivers us from sins of the flesh)

7. Transformation of humiliation (God brings victory over pride)

8. Transformation of battle (Spiritual warfare makes us stronger)

9. Transformation of transfiguration (Mt top experiences reveal who God is to us)

10. Transformation of death to self (sanctification brings us to spiritual maturity)

11. The ultimate death to self is physical death (the final cocoon)

12. The final crisis of death brings us to glorification (where we receive new bodies from Christ fitted for heaven)