Five Simple Steps to Flexibility.

There are five simple steps in the process of becoming flexible in Life.  These are levels of growth and not just phases you grow out of one day, because you don’t leave them behind as you move on, you bring each one with you into the next.

You are, first of all, available.  In Matthew 22:14 Jesus, comparing the Kingdom of Heaven to a wedding banquet for a prince, said to the Pharisees, “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”  It’s those who make themselves available in Abba’s plan who find true intimacy with the Lord Jesus Christ.  Make no mistake about what I just said.

Then secondly, teachable— willing to be taught— which requires humility.  Solomon said, “He who listens to a life-giving rebuke will be at Home among the Wise.  He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.  The fear of the LORD teaches a man wisdom, and humility comes before honor” {Prov. 15:31-33}.  “How much better” it says in Proverbs 16:16, “to get wisdom than gold, to choose understanding rather than silver!  ...Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.  ...Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers, and blessed is he [or she] who trusts in the LORD.  The wise in heart are called ‘discerning,’ and pleasant words promote instruction.  Understanding is a Fountain of Life to those who have it, but folly brings punishment to fools.  A wise man’s heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction.  Pleasant words [‘words’ given us by a gracious God] are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones” {vv. 18 and 20-24}.  You bet they are.

Third, adaptable.  Sun Tzu was a Chinese warrior and philosopher who lived about a hundred years before the birth of Messiah.  Commenting on the ‘Art of Strategy’ he wrote, “Those who are victorious plan effectively and change decisively.  They are like a great river that maintains its course but adjusts its flow.  ...They have form but are formless.  They are skilled in both planning and adapting and need not fear the result of a thousand battles; for they win in advance, defeating those that have already lost.”

Fourth, stable.  This is soundness, solidity, sturdiness of soul.  And it is a direct result of the Word of God at work in the heart and Life of the Child of God!

And fifth, indomitable.  This is genuine maturity in every area of life.  Mature Sons and Daughters reflect the glory and majesty of their Hero, the Lord Jesus Christ, by being firm but fair, wise yet willing to reach out, to expand and explore, to new things, new options, new avenues, especially when the old ones don’t work {and probably never did}.  They’re unbending in character but flexible in nature.  I.e., rigid on the absolutes, gracious on the non-essentials.

There it is in all its glory: a Life which is Jesus-centred, faith-focused, and divinely enabled, in absolute opposition to one which is self-centred, fear-focused, and humanly energized.  As Abba’s Children this incredible potential exists, in the form of equal opportunity and equal privilege for every one of us, from the moment of salvation on.  Our capacity— for love, for Life, for joy and generosity— deepens and develops as a result of our progress in His plan and purpose, in learning to live in the Kingdom of Grace.  When you bring these two things together {potential + capacity}, you have the reality for which we were intended.

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
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Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously