Beholding or Behaving?

What are effective "quiet times" or "devotions" but this -

Glory-beholding

Delight-building times that transform our hearts 

Beholding Jesus, seeking Him, by remembering All that he is, All that he's done, and why that is so amazing.

It's not just remembering facts so that they're straight in my head: "Yep, I've got the Gospel down, and I'll keep it at the center of my life, because I'm supposed to!"  NO!  it's pursing and pondering the One who is so very lovely and strong and kind and powerful and wise, and who KNOWS me, all the way deep down, and doesn't ever want to reject me or get fed up with me.  He gave up his life, his comfort, and endured Hell-on-earth for me including having his Father turn his back on him because he was carrying MY sin to that horrible Cross.  But he triumphed!! He is the Victor! He vanquished sin (mine!), death and satan for me, in my place, so I could be with him.  He wants me to be with him.  How can I grow my delight in him? Help me LORD!! Jesus is so worthy of ALL MY HEART.

Interact with God the Holy Spirit as I read the Bible.  Listen to God speak to me in his Word - as I read a passage, ask him and look to him, wait on him and listen. Interact with him, because he is IN YOU. "Speak Lord, for your servant is listening."  As Jared C. Wilson says in The Imperfect Disciple, “This, too, is good news: the Spirit who authors our faith will perfect it. The Spirit who justifies us will sanctify us, and the Spirit who sanctifies us will glorify us. ¶The Spirit who empowers our conversion will empower our discipleship.” And this a bit further on in the same chapter (4): “The way we tend to approach God’s Word is by looking for a purely informational exchange—to learn something. And the Bible has the wisdom of God in it, enough knowledge for a hundred lifetimes! But the primary reason to read the Bible is not to learn stuff but to BE stuff. Transformation is the primary reason the written Word of God exists.”

Dwell in God's Word (abide), meditate on it, chew on it, and savor it.  

And from the Beholding is Better Than Behaving chapter (3), this: do this (the above) JUST TO BEHOLD JESUS.  Just BE in his presence. Don't read scripture to get the information so you'll know what you're supposed to do or think or feel or whatever, just focus on meeting with Jesus as you read what He says to you.  Pray. Read. Journal. Meditate.  But don't worry about DOING anything yet.  Do it again the next time.  And the next.  Save the "doing" for later.  Just be WITH JESUS for a few times of Bible reading and see what happens.

Ask the relationship questions: Jesus how does this reveal you, or God the Father, or the Spirit to me? How does this tell me who I am or what my sin is, and how you're the Redeemer for that. If it's OT stuff, how does this reveal or foreshadow YOU in this passage? How does it show me MY predicament and God's character, his provision? His faithfulness. Etc.

Jesus, show me YOU and how you're the answer to everything.

“So long as we are living in the bittersweet limbo of Romans 7 through 8—simul justus et peccator, as the Reformers so nerdily put it in the Latin (righteous and at the same time a sinner)—we will be struggling to see the glory. We will always be fighting this battle. When I say it is better to behold than to behave, I do not mean that we are to be lazy Christians, ambivalent about personal holiness or about actively following Jesus. I just mean that our ability to actively and persistently follow Jesus will be centrally driven by our comprehension of his glory.

Beholding Christ’s glory is the number-one directive for following Jesus. And, in fact, it’s sometimes the only effort we lousy disciples can muster up.”

“. . .our obedience is not the grounds of our relationship but the overflow of it!  Again, discipleship is not about not obeying God. I am only trying to suggest that our motivation for obeying God is often off biblical center, and thus our efforts to stay close to God begin to feel more like work than worship”

Excerpt From: Jared C. Wilson. “The Imperfect Disciple.” Baker Publishing Group, 2017-03-15. iBooks.  This material /may be protected by copyright.  Check out this book on the iBooks Store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-imperfect-disciple/id1195150255?mt=11