He grew in the knowledge of God, by obeying what he already knew!

I have been hearing a lot recently about actually obeying what I know to do! I was reading some excerpts from "The Imitation of Christ" book and the author said this "Whoever wishes to understand fully the words of Christ must try to pattern his whole life on that of Christ. What good does it do to speak learnedly about the Trinity if, lacking humility, you displease the Trinity? Indeed it is not learning that makes a man holy and just, but a virtuous life makes him pleasing to God. I would rather feel contrition than know how to define it. For what would it profit us to know the whole Bible by heart and the principles of all the philosophers if we live without grace and the love of God? Vanity of vanities and all is vanity, except to love God and serve Him alone." Ok...so that was more than slightly convicting! So often I can get caught up with trying to gain head knowledge that I don't even have the heart passion to actually do it! Anyways, I had been thinking a lot about this recently and was listening to a missionary message on the life of John Owens and was reminded of it again! I love how God brings different circumstances, situations, and lessons into our lives until we get the point that He is trying to tell us something! This is what Piper said... (Notice the words in bold)... "When the heart is cast indeed into the mould of the doctrine that the mind embraceth,—when the evidence and necessity of the truth abides in us,—when not the sense of the words only is in our heads, but the sense of the thing abides in our hearts—when we have communion with God in the doctrine we contend for—then shall we be garrisoned by the grace of God" Head knowledge can make me sound very spiritual, but until I actually apply it, my life will not be changed to be more like my Saviors, nor will it be effective for Him. The missionary John Owens led an incredible life for the Lord. To give you a little bit of his background….He had 11 children. Ten of them died as children and the 11th one died as a young adult. That’s an average of one of his children dying every 3 years of his life! And yet…He continued to trust God. Owens was a pastor, a dean of a school, involved with parliament, wrote in-depth books that have lasted for over 300 years, and all during that time his children were dying! Owens led a busy and full life. Yet he always managed to draw those around him to His God. Owens had a way of sharing with others about his daily experiences with God. Instead of talking about what he had done for God, he would tell others what God had been teaching and sharing with him. In a letter to one of his friends, Owens said "Christ is our best friend and ere long will be our ONLY friend. I pray God with all my heart that I may be weary of anything else but converse and communion with Him!" (Man! I wish I had that kind of heart attitude!) Something else that Piper said in his message about John Owens also really stuck out to me and this is what he said "One great hindrance to holiness in the preaching of the word, is that we are prone to preach and write without actually pressing into the things we say and making them real to our own souls. Over the years, words begin to come easy and we find we can speak of mysteries without standing in awe; we can speak of purity without feeling pure; we can speak of zeal without spiritual passion; we can speak of God's holiness without trembling; we can speak of sin without sorrow, etc. And the result is a terrible hardening of the spiritual life. Owens found, and we must find, a way to only share what he was actually learning and experiencing! Our happiness consisteth not in the "knowing" of the things of the gospel, but in the "doing" of them." Once again I was convicted. Owens grew in the knowledge of his God, by obeying what he already knew! I need to stop worrying about trying to gain the head knowledge in order to look and sound more smart and spiritual and concentrate on actually DOING what I am learning! Any prayers that you all would make for me about this would be much appreciated! God has been teaching me a lot, but I need His strength and courage to actually obey it!

Ok, now that I am officially finished with my ranting, I am going to bed. ;)
Chrystal