Spiritual Drift. Fight this with the Holy Spirit Characteristic of Steadfastness

Hello again.  It seems ages since I have had the opportunity to share my thoughts here.  But, I had to spend my writing time preparing other lessons of late.  In fact, as I return here, I would like to share a portion of this work this week.  I would like to discuss an issue we all have confronted, but didn't know what to call it.  So, get your coffee, settle in, and let's see where this goes.  The lesson started like this; 

 

There is a buzzword that I’ve heard recently. It’s “spiritual drift”. The meaning is self-evident in that the concept of a drift is an object that moves left or right due to an external force of some kind.  Of course this is a metaphor I speak of.  The object is that part of us that is of a more sensative nature, our ability to choose, comprehend, embrace and hold dear...or not!  It is our spiritual being.

 

Pertaining to “spiritual drift” the issue may be one or many; complacency, displacement of values, changes in behavior, a significant loss, changes in circumstances without a good Godly grounding. Sometimes drift may be from simply being tired.

 

The point is as we live our lives, any number of things may draw us away from God. Once recognized, many times a Christian has no real answers as to why they drifted in their lives happened; they just know that God is not prevalent or powerfully witnessed any longer. So, the question often asked is what now. 

 

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.  Philippians 1:27 

 

The Holy Spirit characteristic of steadfastness can help here.  Consider Jesus during His 40 day fast, one strength Christ had was He was in one mind with God His father. See, God wants us to be of "one mind". What's that mean really? Does it mean that all Christians need to be of the same denomination, or of the same "creed" so to speak? Does it mean that I must believe the same as my parents, or my pastor at church? Simply put, to be of one mind is to think as Christ thinks! We are told that he had the mind of God, so we should have the mind of Christ!

 

 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. Colossians 2:8-9

 

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Philippians 2:5

 

The second point is we must be willing to continue in God's will.  Again, notice how Christ communicates to His Father in the garden not far from the upper room He and his disciples had the last supper.  As life happens, we have the tendency to allow external forces push us, bend us, sway us from our point of center to near our breaking point.  But, notice how Christ communicates with God.

 

And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. , And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.  And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.  Luke 22:41-44 

 

Some of us actually do break and we find ourselves loose in the sea of life with no apparent safe harbor to seek shelter for repairs. It is at these times when our faith can be irrevocably damaged if it weren't for God's loving grace to send to us a help mate, and fill us with Steadfastness.  Steadfastness can be thought of as our mooring to God.  It keeps us!

 

Third;  study God's Word.  To have the mind of Christ is to know what He knew.  We covered this aspect in the Workmanship and Knowledge studies previously.  How far would a Soldier get if the Drill instructors just handed them a weapon and said, "go kill the bad guys"?  How would they know who the bad guys are, where they are, what tactics they use?  How would the new Soldier fight before he or she was trained in warfare, weapons and tactics?  To be successful in anything, we must first put our minds to it, be sold out, and focused.  We must learn, train, understand!
 

Our anchor is Christ! His Word should be our moorings, and His Spirit is; our strength, our hope, our faith, assurance, this will build resolve, and embolden Godly steadfastness. Strong's Concordance defines steadfastness as to set, to fix as in to place or keep from moving, to establish. The picture is that sense of firmness in what we stand for. Our countenance, our demeanor is established in a firm resolve to draw the line in the sand, to not be moved. It seems to me that the characteristic of steadfastness is the backbone of commitment. You can hear it in Joshua's tone, feel it as you read his words...

 

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that [were] on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.  Joshua 24:15

 

You see, Spiritual Drift may seem to be a new term, but the concept is not new at all.  Even Joshua had to battle this issue.  Even after all that God had shown the Israelites from the time of captivity in Egypt to the occupation of the promised land, Joshua still had to draw the line in the sand for himself, and for those he led.  It is no small task, and not to be considered just another cliche. This is what the Christian talking heads are call being intentional in your walk with Christ.  

 

But Bob, that's the problem, I am in a spiritual drift situation!  I need help to make a course correction.  ABSOLUTELY correct!  The answer is much simpler that maybe we want to hear.  It's just getting back to basics; re-dedication, prayer and study.  That's it.  Spiritual drift is, in a nutshell, a motivational thing, a mental thing.  We made bad choices, we gave up, we forgot, we, we, we!  Stop focusing on the bad stuff and remember the good stuff!  Ask forgiveness, and get back to the basics!