When Your Spiritual Life is Dry

All Christians experience spiritual dry spells. There are no exceptions. We will go through periods where God seems distant, prayer is difficult, Bible-reading feels dead, worship doesn’t excite, and a sense of purposelessness descends on us.

When you run into a spiritual desert, what do you do? I want to suggest ten strategies for dealing with a spiritual dry spell. I am not advocating that you try all nine, but rather that you try several of them in order to help regain your focus and experience the joy of your walk with the Lord again.

Remember the Gospel

Read on: https://scottslayton.net/2018/04/25/spiritual-life-dry/

Advertisements

How the Gospel Teaches Us to Say No to Sin

https://churchleaders.com/pastors/videos-for-pastors/164322-how-the-gospel-teaches-us-to-say-no-to-sin.html

Does God Care About My Happiness?

The Simple Reason Why So Many Christians are Miserable

  View in browser  

Strange teachings

~ J.C. Ryle, 1816-1900

Could have been written today:

“Do not be led astray by all kinds of strange teachings!” Hebrews 13:9

Many things combine to make the present inroad of false doctrine peculiarly dangerous.

There is an undeniable zeal in some of the teachers of error–and their ‘earnestness’ makes many think they must be right.

There is a great appearance of learning and theological knowledge–and many imagine that such clever and intellectual men must surely be safe guides.

There is a general tendency to free thought in these latter days–many like to prove their independence of judgment, by believing novelties.

There is a wide-spread desire to appear tolerant and liberal-minded–many seem half ashamed of saying that anybody can be in the wrong.

There is a quantity of half-truth taught by the modern false teachers–they are incessantly using Scriptural terms and phrases in an unscriptural sense.

There is a morbid craving in the public mind for the more sensational and showy–men are impatient of inward, invisible heart-work.

There is a silly readiness in every direction to believe everybody who talks cleverly and earnestly–and a determination to forget that Satan is often “transformed into an angel of light.” 2 Corinthians 2:14

There is a wide-spread ‘gullibility’ among professing Christians–every heretic who tells his story plausibly, is sure to be believed. Anyone who questions him, is called a bigot and a narrow-minded man.

All these things are peculiar symptoms of our times. I defy any observing man to deny them. They tend to make the assaults of false doctrine in our day peculiarly dangerous. They make it more than ever needful to cry aloud, “Do not be led astray by all kinds of strange teachings!”

An ignorant laity will always be the bane of a Church! A Bible-reading laity may save a Church from ruin.

Let us read the Bible regularly, daily, and with fervent prayer, and become familiar with its contents.

Let us receive nothing, believe nothing, follow nothing–which is not in the Bible, nor can be proved by the Bible.

Let our rule of faith, our touchstone of all teaching–be the written Word of God!

“To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word–it is because there is no light in them!” Isaiah 8:20

Bible reading…

by Thomas Brooks–

“Remember that it is not hasty reading, but serious meditation on holy and heavenly truths, that makes them prove sweet and profitable to the soul.

It is not the mere touching of the flower by the bee that gathers honey, but her abiding for a time on the flower that draws out the sweet.

It is not he that reads most, but he that meditates most, that will prove to be the choicest, sweetest, wisest, and strongest Christian.”

Enjoy Christ’s Riches in 3 Aspects Every Day

To be clear, we’re not talking about physical or material riches. It’s the wealth in Christ Himself that God intends for us to receive, experience and enjoy (Eph. 1:3).

I began to consider these riches in my daily Bible study.  As I was reading through Ephesians 3 in the Recovery Version, I discovered that there are three aspects of Christ’s riches.

Ephesians 3:8 says,

“To me, less than the least of all saints, was this grace given to announce to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ as the gospel.”

Footnote 3 on this verse in the Recovery Version says:

“The apostle announced not doctrines but the riches of Christ. The riches of Christ are what Christ is to us, such as light, life, righteousness, and holiness, what He has for us, and what He accomplished, attained, and obtained for us. These riches of Christ are unsearchable and untraceable.”

Here are three aspects of Christ’s riches for us to enjoy:  1) the riches of what Christ is to us, 2) what Christ has for us and 3) what He accomplished, attained, and obtained for us.

Now let us consider these three aspects of Christ’s riches and how we can appreciate, experience, and enjoy them in our daily Christian life.

3 Aspects of Christ’s riches for us to enjoy every day

First, Christ’s riches are what He is to us

As the footnote above mentions, Christ’s riches are first what He is to us–including life, light, righteousness and holiness…and much more.

John 1:4 says, “In Him was life and the life was the light of men.” In 1 Corinthians 1:30 Paul says, “But of Him [God] you are in Christ Jesus, who became wisdom to us from God: both righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”

Life

Do you need life? Christ is the eternal, divine life of God (John 14:6). Without receiving Him as life we would all perish (3:16).  But when we believe into God’s Son, Jesus Christ, we have this eternal life (1 John 5:12). You can receive the eternal life which is Jesus Christ…right now! Just cry out and say, “Lord Jesus I believe into You. I receive You!”

Light

Do you need light? Christ is the light of life (8:12). Without light we have no way to go on, no way to grow spiritually, no direction for our living. Christ is not only the light of world generally but the light that shines in our hearts personally (2 Cor. 4:6).

Holiness and righteousness

How about holiness and righteousness? None of us can be holy as God is holy and none of us can be perfectly righteous. Yet Christ is both. He is absolutely holy and perfectly righteous—even called “Jesus Christ, the righteous” (1 John 2:1).

Calling on the Lord enables us to enjoy His riches

Simply contact the Lord Jesus with your spirit by calling on His name, “Lord Jesus!” He’ll become so rich to you.

In Romans 10:12b Paul says,

“For the same Lord is Lord of all and rich to all who call upon Him.”

The note on Romans 10:12 tells us that the secret to the enjoyment of Christ’s riches is to call on His name. Try it!

When we call, “Lord Jesus!” He is like a blank check to which we can fill in the amount. We’re not, but He is! He meets our need with what He is as life, light, holiness and righteousness.

Second,  Christ’s riches are what He has for us

Read more: http://holdingtotruth.com/2018/03/01/enjoy-christs-riches/twitter_0fea4c4249/