Devotions from John Ortberg’s book, The Me I Want to Be

What do you do that makes you feel fully alive? I think we will find that it is different for everyone…like taking a long walk, reading a great book, watching a movie, fellowshipping with close friends etc.  “A spiritual discipline is simply an activity you engage in to be made more fully alive by the Spirit of Life”.   Every moment is a chance to live in the flow of the Spirit.  What makes an activity spiritual is not the activity itself but whether or not I do it with and through the Spirit.  We all have spiritual pathways that help us experience the presence of God.  Naturalist finds God in nature. An ascetic is drawn to disciplines. The activist comes alive spiritually in a great cause. A traditionalist loves historical liturgies.  A caregiver meets God in serving. A Sensate senses God through the five senses. An enthusiast loves to grow through people. The contemplative is drawn to solitary reflection and prayer. An Intellectual loves God by learning.  How do we learn…Visual? Auditory? Tactile? Oral? Social? Logical? imaginative?  We all have a style for learning as well. Even knowing our sin patterns can help remove barriers to living in the flow of the Spirit. When I am aware of my signature sins, I am less vulnerable to them.  How we grow also depends on the season of our spiritual life.  When we are young in faith, structure seems important but may not later in life.

 Freedom is the goal of growth.  We are free to find the path that helps us best. Let us not look at anyone else but to our creator. “Spiritual growth is hand-crafted, not mass-produced. God does not do ‘one-size-fits-all”. He has a plan for each of us.