Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. I woke up this morning with lots of things on my mind, and I hit the ground running right after prayer time on the front porch. I opened His Word. I prayed for Wisdom. I asked what He had for me on this new day of a new week, but I was attempting to rush things along with the Living God! He Knows my Heart for Him, and He Knows how to get me to slow down and pay attention, that’s for sure. As soon as He Knew He had my full Attention, He took me to the Spiritual Woodshed for (as they say in the south) a little Talkin’ to. One minute I was Praising Him and placing my Requests before His Throne, and the next minute I’m hanging my head in shame over some things in my Heart that need to be made right. We are more precious than gold to the Author and Perfecter of our Faith, and the only way for those Heart issues to ever be made right is if we are willing to spend time with the Refiner and we’re willing to endure His fire. When He reveals these things to us, He’s ready to take us “by the right hand and Lead” us, and He’s ready, willing, and able to Forgive whatever it is. So, off to the Spiritual Woodshed I went, and I’m more Pleasing in His eyes now because of it. Isn’t that the way it works in your Journey of Faith, too?

I think it’s pretty sad that most people of Faith either don’t believe Refining is necessary for them, OR they refuse to talk about the Woodshed for fear of anybody else knowing they aren’t quite as perfect as their world thinks they are. As long as the Heart is content with things “just the way they are”, and as long as we refuse to strive to be ALL that we can be for Him, we can’t expect to grow into all that He Created us to be. He shapes and molds AND Refines those He loves, so the Woodshed is a necessary step to Transform our Lives into something that He will use to Glorify Himself. “No pain…no gain” is more true for our Spiritual fitness than it is for our physical fitness, but it’s hard for some to Believe that God allows a little pain for His own gain…But he does. The closer we draw to Him, the hotter the fire to Refine us becomes because He wants His “Gold” to be pure and as close to Perfect as it can be. I don’t like going to the Spiritual Woodshed, and it would make me a whole lot happier if I never needed to, but I sure do like to Know that He loves me enough to Refine me and that I’m more Pleasing to Him after my Visit. This is the key to Spiritual growth.

It’s a dangerous thing when Christians say “Nobody’s perfect,” “Everybody sins,” or “God loves me anyway”. All these things are TRUE, but they’re more of a Spiritual cop-out than anything else. It somehow makes those guys feel better about their Flaws if they remind the world that God is still there and He’s always ready to forgive. Although forgiveness is the Biggest part of the Spiritual Equation, it’s not the ONLY part of the equation. If He took on the role of Redeemer and He’s already paid the price for every wrong we’ve ever committed (or will in the future), and if our Hearts are sincerely Grateful for the Price He paid for us, then the desire to please Him comes automatically and all those excuses for our wrongs are just lame attempts to mock His Gift to us. I know there is absolutely NOTHING I can do that could push the limit on His Forgiveness…He paid the Price for it ALL on the Cross. But when I think about what He’s done for me, even though I didn’t deserve it, I want to please Him and serve Him and be all that He created me to be. This is the key to Spiritual Maturity.

I’m a grown-up woman and a grown-up Christian, but I’ll be busy working on my Maturity Level every single day that I draw breath into this old body because I want to be found PLEASING to Him. When He needs to take me to the Spiritual Woodshed, I won’t run and I won’t hide like a child, because I know that whatever it is that He’s calling Attention to…it needs to be made Right in my Heart so that I can become ALL that He Created me to be. That’s what grown-ups do.

How about you?

“When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me” 1 Corinthians 13:11