Quest For Spirituality_Advent
Passage: Jeremiah 29:10-14
Sections, Scripture Passages, Quotes
Quest for Spirituality
…the Christian story is that human beings have been so seriously damaged by evil that what they need isn’t simply better self-knowledge, or better social conditions, but help, and indeed rescue, from outside themselves. We should expect that in the quest for spiritual life many people will embrace options that are…less than what would actually be best for them. People who have been starved of water for a long time will drink anything, even if it is polluted…Thus by itself “spirituality” may appear to be part of the problem as well as part of the solution. – N.T. Wright, Simply Christian
I. All are on a quest (29:10)
All the officers of the priests and the people likewise were exceedingly unfaithful, following all the abominations of the nations. – 2 Chronicles 36:14
“the young man who rings the bell at the brothel is unconsciously looking for God.” – The World the Flesh and Father Smith
“In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never have enough, never feel you have enough. It’s the truth. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly. Worship your intellect, being seen as smart, you will end up feeling stupid, a fraud, always on the verge of being found out. But the insidious thing about these forms of worship is not that they’re evil or sinful, it’s that they’re unconscious. They are default settings. They’re the kind of worship you just gradually slip into, day after day, getting more and more selective about what you see and how you measure value without ever being fully aware that that’s what you’re doing.” – David Foster Wallace
ii True Spirituality (29:11-13)
(13) Turning to & seeking God with “all your heart”
(v/10) Believing God and His promises
(v/11) living in light of and according to God’s plans & trusting that pursuing God & his ways will result in welfare
(12) calling upon, coming to and praying with God
spirituality includes—but transcends—the human spirit, and involves the pursuit of God and the things of God, through Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit in accordance with God’s self-revelation (that is, the Bible). Donald Whitney
…he has appeared once for all at the end of time to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself…so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him… For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, “This is my covenant that I will make with them after those days declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds….I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more – Hebrews 9:26, 28; 10:9, 15-21
iii. The Pursuit
Ask for the Spirit
Ask-will be given; seek-you will find; knock-it will be opened…If you then who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him! – Luke 11:10-13
Live by the Spirit – – If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit – Galatians 5:25 … be filled with the Spirit – Ephesians 5:18
(Through intake of Scripture and prayer) pursue intimacy with Christ and conformity (both inward and outward) to Christ. To put it more succinctly, by means of the biblical spiritual disciplines seek to be with Jesus and like Jesus…. Through them, learn from, gaze upon, and enjoy Jesus—who he is and what he has done. Let your soul be restored by the truths of the gospel.- Donald Whitney
Be empowered by the Spirit to seek & bring:
Beauty
Flourishing Relationships
True Spirituality
Justice