Invitation To A Journey Mulholland Summary
Invitation to a Journey
Robert Mulholland (pp 15-44)
As I began to read this excerpt, I was initially taken aback by the “concept” that we
would break down our relationship with Christ in such a way that you could apparently
place it in a box. I began to look at the “process of transformation” as just another
persons personal idea of how to explain something very private and personal, such as my
relationship with Christ. Trying to keep an open mind to a moderately unread, foreign
position, I began to understand that there is a very solid biblical principle in this reading.
As I reflect on the stages of being transformed, I can see where, specifically, GOD has
allowed my walk with Him to become more personal, at the …show more content…
same time, more public. I
would wholeheartedly agree that the relationship with Christ starts with a process, I
however felt the process was very much controlled by my understanding and my actions
and my definitions … I felt that GOD did not provide a process easily described or
discerned by mere man. I now have a more complete understanding of what the bible
says about how we are to walk through this “process” … all this said I feel as if my
roadmap or journey is growing and ever changing.
I can say that as I reflect back and give thought to my walk and decision to open my mind
and heart to a relationship with Jesus Christ, it very much was a decision, a conscious
decision to explore the “Christ” character. I believe the Holy Spirit completely enabled
that decision to come to fruition. I remember kicking and screaming the whole way … it
just did not “feel’ right, conforming to a biblical principle and not the world. The
decision to conform to Christs image and likeness was too foreign and certainly far to
uncomfortable for me to adhere to right away. I did not have that immediate AHA
moment and transformation. I remember a very defiant attitude, one that was looking for
the loopholes, the windows of opportunity to blend the world and the Christian life
seamlessly together. I know today that was not and is not possible, I am either living for
Him or I am serving Satan. It is simply that black and white for me today, I can continue
to fight, rebel and live a life without regard for obedience to Christ and his teachings, or I
can surrender completely to His will and desire for me in my life. I can know peace or I
can know turmoil. I can live a life that honors Him and know joy or I can fight and know
nothing, when it becomes all about my desires and me, I no longer am living, walking
and sharing a life that Christ has called each and everyone of to do. True freedom comes
only by true surrender of body, spirit and mind.
I understand and agree with the idea that we have been brought up in today’s society to
have everything right now, right here. We have been trained to get that immediate
gratification and built to understand the concept of “go get it while you can” to “get while
the getting is good” – it is mine for the taking. I lived a life defiant of God all the while
professing that I “KNEW” who He was/is. A lie, I continued to believe in and felt
justified in applying. I have walked many miles in the “desert” of life, all the while blind
to the fact that while I was certainly greatly separated from the life God had planned for
me, He was also right there, right where I was at, watching, directing and holding me. It
is in those trials, those periods of perceived separation from God that He was allowing
me to draw that much closer to Him. I know today that change happens within me,
through Him, sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly. He allows more to be revealed,
my eyes to be opened and my soul to be enriched every time he allows me to know Him
more intimately.
When I realize that it is not about immediate gratification, but about a
process, a period of growth just an infant becomes an adult, so is the spiritual process
(growth) He allows in His children’s lives. I am continually being shaped and transformed
into the likeness of Christ, I believe God has chosen each path and allowed each trial very
specifically for me, knowing exactly what it was going to take to bring me to Him. The
hardest aspect of walking consistently with Christ is my inability at times to give up the
control I so desperately feel the need to hold onto. I struggle with the idea at times to not
have a personal “back up” plan, an exit strategy, JUST IN CASE God messes up, or worse
yet, God cannot (more likely) God will not provide my desires, my needs.
It is in these times of my life that I feel the most tempted. The need to know I can control
the outcome of any given situation in life somehow has always given me comfort. A
sense of power, self-dependence and assurance in myself that can only be measured by
the world and the system of approval and recognition I was raised to believe in. I
have
desperately come to have a burning desire to “feel” needed, accepted and loved, by the
world and a worldly definition of success, acceptance and individualism. Letting go of
self has been the biggest struggle; it is still today the single greatest obstacle I come
across. I know it’s not about me, about works, about words … I know it is bout faith and
obedience and following Him. I know there is true freedom in seeking to be Christ-like,
to be moldable to His image, losing my self completely to the image of Christ. Moving in
a direction to fulfill His commands, hear His words, to understand His love, to feel
comforted by His grace alone. Selflessness is the order of the day. Coming to know
Christ, to walk in His image and fulfilling the greatest of His commands – to love the
Him with ALL my heart, ALL my mind and ALL my soul, loving others as you love
yourself. God meets me right where I am at, examining my heart, my mind and my soul.
Grace abounding, shining the light of love and truth – darkness is the enemy of light, just
as I am the enemy of self. I must learn to die to self-more and more each day in order that
I can live in love and life with Christ, in His image and serve Him not myself. I pray that
each day this would be just one of many areas He allows me to grow in, to be able to look
back and see His mercies so freely given to a sinner like me.
Robert Mulholland (pp 15-44)
As I began to read this excerpt, I was initially taken aback by the “concept” that we
would break down our relationship with Christ in such a way that you could apparently
place it in a box. I began to look at the “process of transformation” as just another
persons personal idea of how to explain something very private and personal, such as my
relationship with Christ. Trying to keep an open mind to a moderately unread, foreign
position, I began to understand that there is a very solid biblical principle in this reading.
As I reflect on the stages of being transformed, I can see where, specifically, GOD has
allowed my walk with Him to become more personal, at the …show more content…
same time, more public. I
would wholeheartedly agree that the relationship with Christ starts with a process, I
however felt the process was very much controlled by my understanding and my actions
and my definitions … I felt that GOD did not provide a process easily described or
discerned by mere man. I now have a more complete understanding of what the bible
says about how we are to walk through this “process” … all this said I feel as if my
roadmap or journey is growing and ever changing.
I can say that as I reflect back and give thought to my walk and decision to open my mind
and heart to a relationship with Jesus Christ, it very much was a decision, a conscious
decision to explore the “Christ” character. I believe the Holy Spirit completely enabled
that decision to come to fruition. I remember kicking and screaming the whole way … it
just did not “feel’ right, conforming to a biblical principle and not the world. The
decision to conform to Christs image and likeness was too foreign and certainly far to
uncomfortable for me to adhere to right away. I did not have that immediate AHA
moment and transformation. I remember a very defiant attitude, one that was looking for
the loopholes, the windows of opportunity to blend the world and the Christian life
seamlessly together. I know today that was not and is not possible, I am either living for
Him or I am serving Satan. It is simply that black and white for me today, I can continue
to fight, rebel and live a life without regard for obedience to Christ and his teachings, or I
can surrender completely to His will and desire for me in my life. I can know peace or I
can know turmoil. I can live a life that honors Him and know joy or I can fight and know
nothing, when it becomes all about my desires and me, I no longer am living, walking
and sharing a life that Christ has called each and everyone of to do. True freedom comes
only by true surrender of body, spirit and mind.
I understand and agree with the idea that we have been brought up in today’s society to
have everything right now, right here. We have been trained to get that immediate
gratification and built to understand the concept of “go get it while you can” to “get while
the getting is good” – it is mine for the taking. I lived a life defiant of God all the while
professing that I “KNEW” who He was/is. A lie, I continued to believe in and felt
justified in applying. I have walked many miles in the “desert” of life, all the while blind
to the fact that while I was certainly greatly separated from the life God had planned for
me, He was also right there, right where I was at, watching, directing and holding me. It
is in those trials, those periods of perceived separation from God that He was allowing
me to draw that much closer to Him. I know today that change happens within me,
through Him, sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly. He allows more to be revealed,
my eyes to be opened and my soul to be enriched every time he allows me to know Him
more intimately.
When I realize that it is not about immediate gratification, but about a
process, a period of growth just an infant becomes an adult, so is the spiritual process
(growth) He allows in His children’s lives. I am continually being shaped and transformed
into the likeness of Christ, I believe God has chosen each path and allowed each trial very
specifically for me, knowing exactly what it was going to take to bring me to Him. The
hardest aspect of walking consistently with Christ is my inability at times to give up the
control I so desperately feel the need to hold onto. I struggle with the idea at times to not
have a personal “back up” plan, an exit strategy, JUST IN CASE God messes up, or worse
yet, God cannot (more likely) God will not provide my desires, my needs.
It is in these times of my life that I feel the most tempted. The need to know I can control
the outcome of any given situation in life somehow has always given me comfort. A
sense of power, self-dependence and assurance in myself that can only be measured by
the world and the system of approval and recognition I was raised to believe in. I
have
desperately come to have a burning desire to “feel” needed, accepted and loved, by the
world and a worldly definition of success, acceptance and individualism. Letting go of
self has been the biggest struggle; it is still today the single greatest obstacle I come
across. I know it’s not about me, about works, about words … I know it is bout faith and
obedience and following Him. I know there is true freedom in seeking to be Christ-like,
to be moldable to His image, losing my self completely to the image of Christ. Moving in
a direction to fulfill His commands, hear His words, to understand His love, to feel
comforted by His grace alone. Selflessness is the order of the day. Coming to know
Christ, to walk in His image and fulfilling the greatest of His commands – to love the
Him with ALL my heart, ALL my mind and ALL my soul, loving others as you love
yourself. God meets me right where I am at, examining my heart, my mind and my soul.
Grace abounding, shining the light of love and truth – darkness is the enemy of light, just
as I am the enemy of self. I must learn to die to self-more and more each day in order that
I can live in love and life with Christ, in His image and serve Him not myself. I pray that
each day this would be just one of many areas He allows me to grow in, to be able to look
back and see His mercies so freely given to a sinner like me.