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"What Is True Spirituality?"

March 21, 2004
Pastor Cliffe Knechtle (36:49)

True spirituality is knowing Jesus Christ intimately and responding to people and circumstances as He would.  There are six choices we have to make in order to grow towards true spirituality:

1.       Choose to be honest with God.  We all have doubts.  In Mark 9:24, a man who asked Jesus to heal his son cried to Him ?I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!?  The writers of the Psalms frequently exclaimed their honest feelings to God: ?How long will you hide your face from me.? Psalm 88 is an example of how the Psalmist felt very low and disturbed, questioning God, but then, as he realized that God?s love picks us up and puts us back on our feet, the Psalm ends with joy and happiness.

Pastor Cliffe Knechtle
2.       Choose to obey God.  As we put our faith in God, we are yielding and submitting to Him and He will grow the fruits of the Spirit in our lives (Galatians 5:22 ).  The Holy Spirit will fill us with the power to say no to temptation and say yes to Christ.  That is how we will come to a more intimate knowledge of Christ.

3.       Choose to make our friendship with Christ a top priority in our lives.  The writer of Psalm 42 (versus 1 and 2) pants and thirsts for God. We choose how intimate we are going to be with Christ.  In Philippians 3:10, Paul says ?I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.? 

4.       Choose to worship God with our intellect, emotions, will, and conscience.  Worship is our spirit connecting with Christ, with the Holy Spirit.  Our intellect tells us that we are accepting His revelations to us of Himself.  Worship involves truth, getting caught up with His magnificence, and realizing that He is the God who really exists.  He is the creator, the judge of heaven and earth.  He is loving, forgiving, merciful, faithful and loyal.  When we truly understand Him, we begin to truly worship Him. 

5.       Choose to trust God.  In Galatians 2:20, Paul says ?I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.  The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.?  Matthew 8:8 tells of a Centurion whose servant was paralyzed and with great faith he said to Jesus ?Just say the word and my servant will be healed.? He understood that there?s power in Jesus? words and that, ultimately, all authority belongs to Him.

6.       Choose to put your hope in God and His promises.  When misery is unbearable, we must remember Romans 8:28.  ?And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.?   For those who love God, He is good enough, big enough and wise enough to make good out of the messes we?ve made of our lives.  We must look to Him to guide us through the discouraging times in our lives.  We have hope in the resurrection and eternal life, an anchor for our souls, because Jesus promised to us that He is the resurrection and the life and that whoever believes in Him will live, even though he dies (John 11:25).


Summary submitted by Karen Walsh