But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith . . . —Jude 20
There was nothing of the nature of impulsive or thoughtless action about our Lord, but only a calm strength that never got into a panic. Most of us develop our Christianity along the lines of our own nature, not along the lines of God’s nature. Impulsiveness is a trait of the natural life, and our Lord always ignores it, because it hinders the development of the life of a disciple. Watch how the Spirit of God gives a sense of restraint to impulsiveness, suddenly bringing us a feeling of self-conscious foolishness, which makes us instantly want to vindicate ourselves. Impulsiveness is all right in a child, but is disastrous in a man or woman—an impulsive adult is always a spoiled person. Impulsiveness needs to be trained into intuition through discipline.
Discipleship is built entirely on the supernatural grace of God. Walking on water is easy to someone with impulsive boldness, but walking on dry land as a disciple of Jesus Christ is something altogether different. Peter walked on the water to go to Jesus, but he “followed Him at a distance” on dry land (Mark 14:54). We do not need the grace of God to withstand crises—human nature and pride are sufficient for us to face the stress and strain magnificently. But it does require the supernatural grace of God to live twenty-four hours of every day as a saint, going through drudgery, and living an ordinary, unnoticed, and ignored existence as a disciple of Jesus. It is ingrained in us that we have to do exceptional things for God—but we do not. We have to be exceptional in the ordinary things of life, and holy on the ordinary streets, among ordinary people—and this is not learned in five minutes.
Journal DJR
Good Morning Lord,
Today it’s pointed out that surviving crisis can be handled with pride and ego, impetuousness and individuality. Adrenaline can get us through a lot of the crises that we face regardless of the quality of our connection with you. But when the adrenaline fades and it’s time to walk through the mundane and drudgery of everyday common events … and exude Christlikeness in the process … That takes a good connection with Christ. An academic understanding of theology won’t do.
You get 24 hours each day to practice this. Punctuated by some crisis type of stressors. You should evaluate yourself in both the mundane and in crisis. I will be there with you in both types as I have been with my children in all lands and all centuries. If you are unhappy with what you see as you evaluate … the answer is in tightening the connection with me. Start the day with connection on purpose. Then ask yourself a few times a day how you are doing. You will probably find it harder to flow my life thru your mundane circumstances than your crises. So practice it more, and dont expect perfection in a week. I give you all of your days to practice this. And know that I see you and cherish every move you make toward Christlikeness, especially in the mundane circumstances of life.
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