A mentor-friend recently lent me a copy of Miles Stanford's "The Green Letters", aka "Principles of Spiritual Growth". I'd never heard of Stanford till now, but really appreciate his sage advice on the process of Spiritual development. Stanford is a deep writer, reminding me of AW Tozer. Of particular interest, I enjoyed his reminder of what we have already been given through the work of Christ on the cross.
"God is not trusted, not honored, in our continually asking Him for help. In the face of 'my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Phil. 4:19), how can we beg for help? Our responsibility is to see in the Word all that is ours in Christ and then thank and trust Him fo that which we need."
Later, quoting from Watchmen Nee, "God's way of deliverance is altogether different from man's way. Mans' way is to try to suppress sin by seeking to overcome it; God's way is to remove the sinner. Many Christians mourn over their weakness, thinking that if only they were stronger all would be well."
In reading this, I'm convicted of the times I've tried to conquer sin by "trying harder", excercising my strength, my understanding, my plan toward freedom. All the while, Stanford contends, Christ tells us that freedom lies not in our exersion of strength, but in realizing how helpless we really are. Only our submission to Him will bring the power we need. As another mentor of mine, Mark Driscoll would say, "We take ourselves too seriously and don't take God seriously enough"
