HOW to Get unSTUCK from a Spiritual Rut- Part 3

Did you stop accelerating and assess God?

Hopefully, through taking your foot off the accelerator you have regained ground in areas in which you were missing the freedom found in knowing and following Christ. Sometimes we trap ourselves into doing so much that we forget that our doing should only be a reflection of our being. This also should remind us that what we are doing with our time, money and energy does have a reflection on who we are.

Are you feeling strengthened after assessing God? I love how discovering and responding to truths about God can literally give strength to your mind, body and soul. It is the supernatural working of the Spirit breathing strength into every aspect of our lives. Regardless of how deep the rut you’re in, He can renew you with His truth.

If you haven’t had a chance to reflect on Psalm 46 and assess God, I encourage you to go back and read Part 1 and Part 2 before moving to Part 3 today. They provide vital parts of the process of HOW to get unstuck from a spiritual rut.

I’ve been anxiously waiting to share this next step with you all. I took some time to meditate on it myself before sharing it with you.

HOW do you get out of a spiritual “rut?”:

                —STUDY THE OWNER’S MANUAL and ACCESS POWER

In the first post of this series we learned from 1 Peter 1:3 that God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness. How do we access God divine power? According to 1 Peter 1:3, it has been made available to us through the knowledge of Him who called us. The primary way we gain this knowledge is through His word, our owner’s manual.

Why do we need to study the owner’s manual?

1.       To access the power to enjoy the value of life and godliness

2.       To access the power to glorify God

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who has called us by his own glory and goodness.” 2 Peter 1:3 (NIV)

Too often we try to enjoy something before we read the manual. Reasons why we may not read the manual include: 1. Take’s too much time 2. We think it may not offer any added benefit 3. We think we already know how it works and 4. We think our way is a better way.

One of the main complaints from customer service agents for products is people calling in to ask for help with their product when the only thing wrong with it was they simply needed to plug the product into a power source. Sounds silly, but what if that is why we end up in spiritual ruts.

Failing to access the power of the knowledge of God will result in spiritual ruts. When we study God’s word we access the power to enjoy the life and godliness He has provided for us. It is also the means by which we glorify Him, our creator and redeemer.

Accessing Power

According to our owner’s manual for life and godliness, we access God’s divine power through the knowledge of Him who called us.

“Through the knowledge of Him who called us”

The word through is an important word in scripture. It comes from the Greek word Dia. It literally means the ground or reason why something is or is not done. The reason this word through is so important is because it links us to our HOW. I explained in the first post I would be using the illustration of a vehicle equipped with a winch to demonstrate how we have been given everything we need to get out of any spiritual rut. In order to get out of the rut, we need to know the power (pulling capability) of our cable. If you’re cable is too weak, it won’t pull you out of the rut.

Over the next few days we will be studying our owner’s manual to find out how powerful our cable is that links us to Christ.

How powerful is our cable to Christ?

The power of our cable to Christ is based on three components:

1.       Blood of Christ (Ephesians 1:7)

2.       Resurrection of Christ

3.       Spirit of Christ

These three components make our cable to Christ incomparable and indestructible. We will use the words incomparable and indestructible to help us understand the power of our cable to Christ.

The word incomparable means unequaled in quality and impossible to compare.

A few words that describe Indestructible are: imperishable, reinforced, and eternal.

Today we will look at the first of three incomparable and indestructible components: the blood of Christ.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace.” Ephesians 1:7

Why does the blood of Christ make our cable incomparable and indestructible?

A Comparison of Cables: Old and New

—The Old Cable

In John 6:53—58, we find some of the most difficult words that Jesus ever spoke. He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.” This word that Jesus spoke was so difficult that some of His followers literally turned away from following Him. The word “blood” does strange things to us. Some people get queasy at just the mention of the word. Even worse, the sight of blood can cause the strongest of men to become weak at the knees. Blood is powerful. There is no substitute for blood. Blood is vital to life.

The opposite of life is death. In Romans 5:12-14, we learn that death entered the world through the sin of Adam. As a result, we all have sinned and deserve death. In the Old Testament, we see a requirement that God made so that His people could still enter His presence. Every year, on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter the tabernacle and offer sacrifices for his sin and the sin of the people. (Exodus 30:10; Leviticus 16-17;-For more background, I encourage you to read these passages) The sacrifice that God required was the blood of a bull, ram and goat. (Leviticus 16:3) When you read these passages about the required sacrifice for sin, you learn how serious God is about sin. The process was not only very specific, but incredibly involved. It could be compared to a “hand-crank winch.”

Why was God so serious about sin? He is holy. He can’t be in the presence of sin. God hates sin. If we minimize the seriousness of God’s hatred of sin, we will not enjoy the pleasures of His presence. God wanted to enjoy the presence of his people. Sacrifices became the requirement by which God would enjoy the presence of His people and the way through which His people would enjoy His presence.

In Hebrews we learn that God had a plan to abolish the way of the former sacrifices to offer an incomparable and indestructible sacrifice for sin. This sacrifice would come through the death of His only son, Jesus Christ.

—The New Cable

An Incomparable Cable

The word incomparable means unequaled in quality and impossible to compare.

What makes Christ unequaled in quality?

He was divinely God

                “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high;” Hebrews 1:3

He was humanly man

                “Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.” Hebrews 2:17

He was perfect

                “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

An Indestructible Cable

A few words that describe Indestructible are:  imperishable, reinforced, and eternal.

Imperishable

                “knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with (through) precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.” 1 Peter 1:18-19

Reinforced

                “so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.” Hebrews 7:22

Eternal

                “and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” Hebrews 9:12                                                        

How can we enter His presence through the blood of Christ?

1.       Enter with Confidence (Hebrews 10:19)

                    — You have an incomparable cable in the blood of Christ

o   No one and nothing can bring you into the presence of God- except His blood

The beauty of the blood of Christ is it did away with the need for a mediator (old cable) between us and God. I find it strange that at times we are more comfortable with a mediator than entering His presence ourselves. We depend on a friend, teacher or pastor to be our way to God. We even try to earn our way with good works. Our confidence can’t be in a person or in a good work—our confidence is His blood.

Living out of the rut means living in the fullness of His presence- Enter with confidence. I promise…If He can handle me, He can handle you!

2.       Draw Near with a Sincere Heart  (Hebrews 10:22)

—You have an indestructible cable in the blood of Christ

A sincere heart is genuine and cannot lie. He wants us to draw near to Him just as we are, rut and all. His blood is more than sufficient to cover any rut you are in, have ever been in or will ever be in. It’s already been covered! Remember His blood is imperishable, reinforced and eternal.

o   No Matter How Deep the Rut

You may have thought that the sin or the depth of despair that you have been in is too much for God to cover. (Hebrews 9:14) His blood reaches to the deepest pit and crevice.

o   No Matter How Long You’ve Been in the Rut

His blood is eternally working for you, even in the rut. (Hebrews 7:25)

o   No Matter How Complicated and Messy the Rut

His blood has overcome the greatest evil. (Hebrews 2:14) You may think your situation is too messed up for even God. He shed His blood for complicated and messed up lives.  

Whether you’re down in a rut, feel your feet slipping into one or you just want to stay out of the rut, the blood of Christ offers more than enough power to pull you out and keep you out of the rut and put you on solid ground. The solid ground represents the place where we enjoy the power of His presence and the pleasures of bringing glory to Him.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

I encourage you to meditate on the knowledge of the blood of Christ that we discovered in the word today. You’ll be amazed by the power that is available to you through meditating and responding to these truths.

I would love to hear from you on: What specific truth about His blood has encouraged you to come out of the rut and into His presence?

Next, we will look at the resurrection of Christ and how it relates to the power of our cable to Christ. Exicting...I can't wait!!

I thank the Lord for you all for sharing this journey with me. Please share your comments. We all need the encouragement!

Love, Tammy