Gregg's Rest Stop (The Much More of Guidance)

Published: Mon, 04/25/11

GREGG'S REST STOP   April 25, 2011


  » The Much More of Guidance
Jesus said
"The Spirit will guide you
into all truth. 
He will glorify Me."
(John 16:13-14)
 
Beholding as in a mirror
the glory of the Lord,
we are being transformed
into the same image
from glory to glory,
by the Spirit of the Lord.
(2 Corinthians 3:17-18)
 The closeness of the Shepherd
 
This past year has been the most challenging year of my life.  One year ago, I saw the shocking loss of my  31-year job as a blessing.  It was the culmination of over 10 years of my seeking the opportunity to minister Christ to others as a full-time vocation.
 
In my transition as a missionary with Journey in Christ, there is so much now to consider that I have never had to consider before.  Although I know the Lord is guiding me and my wife Joy, I am realizing through this profound transition that His guidance is much more than what many of us presume His guidance to be.
 
  THE SHEPHERD OF MY SOUL
Christ is indeed our Good Shepherd.  However, there is a perception of guidance that tempts us to view ourselves as separate from God.  This view is of God as speaking to us on the outside and expecting us to follow Him as closely as possible.  So, even obedience can be viewed as something we do in response to, but still separate from, God.
 
However, in a personal relationship with Christ through His cross and resurrection, each of us are united with Christ, never ever to be separated again from Him!  Oh we must cling to this truth!
 
2 Peter 2:25 beautifully refers to Christ as "The Shepherd of our souls."  Christ now indwells my spirit from where He shepherds the mind, will, and emotions of my soul.  It is no longer Christ outside me guiding me, but Christ inside me transforming me!
 
Mind  He is renewing my mind by exposing subtle lies of self-sufficiency and by revealing truths of His sufficiency in me and His love for me.  Jesus promises "The Spirit will guide you into all truth" (John 16:13).  This Rest Stop is a testimony of this renewal.
 
Will  He is moving my will to make challenging decisions to provide for Joy and me.  He is molding my will to grow with the staff and ministry partners of Journey in Christ.
 
Emotions Christ is the gentle Healer of my emotions when I experience feelings of loneliness and doubt in my transition.  He reminds me of my joy and delight in knowing and ministering Him.
 
Through the cross and resurrection, God has fulfilled His promise in Ezekiel 36:27, "I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes."  This is the promise of Christ in my spirit causing me to live.  And this is the much more of guidance!
 
THE WORD ON MY HEART
In the Old Testament, God wrote His words on external tablets of stone for people to live up to.  In the New Testament, God writes His words on internal hearts of people to live out of! 
 
God's promise in Jeremiah 31:33 is fulfilled in Hebrews 8:10, "I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts.  I will be their God, they shall be My people." 
 
Christ, the Word of God, is written on our hearts...our identity is in Him.  The Holy Spirit enlivens the Word in our hearts.  This is the much more of guidance!
 
CLOSING
God guides us through Christ alone, and not through guidance alone!  The former is a personal relationship, the latter would be impersonal requirements.
 
This past year, I have often found myself closing my eyes often, sometimes for long periods of time.  At first, this seemed to be how I was coping with the challenges of my transition separate from God.  However, I now believe it is God guiding me to pray and to behold the reality and hope of Christ in me! 
 
And beholding Christ is the only way to be transformed.  This is indeed the much more of guidance!
 
    
 
PS, I hope you enjoy the article written by J.R. Miller over 100 years ago entitled "Transformed by Beholding."  Also, attached is a letter I sent out in early April that provides a little more detail on my transition.  I cherish your prayers and partnership!
 
Little lambs beholding
the Lamb of God
 
  » About this ministry
 
Gregg Gibbons is
a missionary with
a non-profit, non-denominational
discipleship counseling
and training ministry.
 
 
 
 The High Calling of Discipleship
 
Testimonies by Gregg and friends including Bobby Richardson, former NY Yankee ballplayer.
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
TRANSFORMED
BY BEHOLDING
 
 
J.R. Miller
(1840-1912)
 
James Russel Miller was 21 years old when he started serving as one of 5,000 volunteers with the United States Christian Commission (USCC).   USCC was formed by the YMCA to minister to the spiritual welfare of all Civil War troops.
 
The USCC was whole-heartedly endorsed by President Abraham Lincoln.  Although relatively unknown today, the USCC is one of the greatest stories of heroism and courage in modern history. 
 
J.R. Miller later served as a pastor and as Editorial Superintendent with the Presbyterian Board of Publication.  He authored over 80 Christian books and booklets, with a circulation to over 2 million souls.
 
I love his wording in the following excerpts from his article entitled, "Transformed by Beholding."  
 
As we behold the glory of the Lord in His Word -- we are changed into His glorious image. 
 
The familiar scenes and circumstances amid which we live and move are in a very real sense photographed upon our souls.  Refinement outside us tends to the refining of our spirits.  The same is true of evil influences.  Thus, even of human lives about us it is true that, beholding them, we shall be transformed into the same image.
 
"Beholding, we are changed."  The verb is passive.  We cannot change ourselves into the image of Christ's glory; we are changed.  The work is wrought in us by the divine Spirit.  We simply look upon the image of the Christ, and its blessed light streams in upon us and prints its own radiant glory upon our hearts.
 
At first there are but dimmest glimmmerings of the likeness of Christ. We cannot in a single day learn all the long, hard lessons of patience, meekness, unselfishness, humility, joy, and peace.  Little by little the glory flows into our lives from the radiant face of the Master, and flows out through our lives transforming others.
 
God honors our yearning and striving, and while we sit in the shadows of weariness, dis-heartened with our failures, He carries on the work within us, and with His own hands, produces the divine beauty in our souls.
 
 
 
 
 
  


926 NE Main Street  Suite F-155   Simpsonville, SC 29681
(864) 483-3201 (Gregg cell)   gregg@journeyinChrist.org