Engage #19: Life In the Spirit

You do not learn to live this life in Jesus by wrapping your head around a different set of principles. You actually grow to understand this life as you respond to the Spirit guiding you into his truth. Over time the draw of the Spirit will become more powerful than the pull of the world or our religious training. Then, instead of seeking certainty, we will be at rest with him in our uncertainties.

Engage is our unfolding video series designed to equip and encourage people to explore their own relationship with God. We are adding a new video every two weeks on Wednesday. Of course the most important part of this process is not the videos, but the time and focus you’ll give between them to learn the joy of letting God show you how he wants to build a relationship with you. Living loved is not a matter of embracing a different set of principles about God.

Living loved is the fruit of growing in the “knowing” of God, learning to sense his presence in our life and to cultivate an ongoing conversation with him about what’s going on in your life. As that unfolds, or if you have specific questions you’d like to ask, feel free to share using the comment section of this blog.

2 thoughts on “Engage #19: Life In the Spirit”

  1. I really appreciate these videos. I am still just learning to listen or hear in my heart these little nudgings. At least they seem to be getting more easy to recognize in every day life. One of my daughters and I are planning to get together today, just to explore how God loves us and how  we learn to recognize his voice in our life.I have been thinking about the best way to start, and I think that watching these videos are a good way for us to start the conversation, so thanks again. This is something that I think God put in my heart, so my community seems to be starting with my own family. 

    One of my obstacles has been that I still really struggle with a “Father” image, due to being horribly abused as a child, but the idea of Jesus as an older brother and friend seem to be easier for me to identify with and safer. Still when I pray the word “Father” gets stuck in my throat and feels so strange to say it to the point of feeling sick, as I could never trust my earthly father. I would have hoped by now being on this journey for a few years that I would be able to overcome this, but I guess in time…… I have been reading “Abba’s Child” by Brennan Manning and I think his insight into how we live our life as an “imposter” to the  point that we don’t even realize we are hiding is very relevant to me. Up until right now I hadn’t realized that I have been hiding, hiding because of feeling so guilty over my perception that the abuse was my fault, convinced that if anyone knew the truth, especially my mother, I would not be loved at all. Subconsciously during my entire childhood I hid those dark secrets for fear of not being loved if anyone found out. I am amazed as a child how maladaptively I learned to live this sort of “double life”, which was a huge burden for such a small girl.  I feel as though I must be making progress by the the fact I am coming to understand these painful realities about myself. I am very slowly learning to trust  that leaning on my real Abba is a safe place to rest. One step at a time…..

    Thanks again.

     

  2. I really appreciate these videos. I am still just learning to listen or hear in my heart these little nudgings. At least they seem to be getting more easy to recognize in every day life. One of my daughters and I are planning to get together today, just to explore how God loves us and how  we learn to recognize his voice in our life.I have been thinking about the best way to start, and I think that watching these videos are a good way for us to start the conversation, so thanks again. This is something that I think God put in my heart, so my community seems to be starting with my own family. 

    One of my obstacles has been that I still really struggle with a “Father” image, due to being horribly abused as a child, but the idea of Jesus as an older brother and friend seem to be easier for me to identify with and safer. Still when I pray the word “Father” gets stuck in my throat and feels so strange to say it to the point of feeling sick, as I could never trust my earthly father. I would have hoped by now being on this journey for a few years that I would be able to overcome this, but I guess in time…… I have been reading “Abba’s Child” by Brennan Manning and I think his insight into how we live our life as an “imposter” to the  point that we don’t even realize we are hiding is very relevant to me. Up until right now I hadn’t realized that I have been hiding, hiding because of feeling so guilty over my perception that the abuse was my fault, convinced that if anyone knew the truth, especially my mother, I would not be loved at all. Subconsciously during my entire childhood I hid those dark secrets for fear of not being loved if anyone found out. I am amazed as a child how maladaptively I learned to live this sort of “double life”, which was a huge burden for such a small girl.  I feel as though I must be making progress by the the fact I am coming to understand these painful realities about myself. I am very slowly learning to trust  that leaning on my real Abba is a safe place to rest. One step at a time…..

    Thanks again.

     

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