Blessings: A Devotional Inspired by the Imitation of Christ

Copyright © 2022 Alan Carruth.

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ISBN: 978-1-6642-7775-5 (sc)

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WestBow Press rev. date: 10/06/2022

CONTENTS

Introduction

1     Imitating Christ

2     Humility

3     Truth

4     Simple Faith

5     Our Passion

6     Wisdom

7     Reading God’s Word

8     Desiring God First

9     God or False Hope

10   Friend of the World or of God

11   Obedience and Submission

12   Idle Talk

13   Obtaining the Peace of God

14   The Value of Adversity

15   Temptation

16   Inappropriate Judgment

17   Motivated by Charity

18   The Burden of Faults

19   Blessedness

20   Those Who Have Gone Before

21   The Spirit of Discipline

22   The Place of Solitude

23   A Troubled Heart

24   Misery

25   Death

26   The Judgment of God

27   Devoted to Transformation

28   Meditation

29   Humility Revisited

30   Peace of Mind

31   Burdens

32   Truth about Ourselves

33   Having a Clear Conscience

34   Blessedness of Loving Jesus

35   Why Choose Jesus?

36   When God Seems Far Away

37   Gratitude for God’s Grace

38   Discipline for Transformation

39   The Royal Way of the Cross

40   Hearing God through Scripture

41   Listening for Understanding

42   Listening with Humility

43   Walking in God’s Truth

44   Divine Love

45   Loving Truly

46   Seeing Grace through Humility

47   Understanding Our Position before God

48   Finalizing Our Decisions with God’s Help

49   Sweetness in Serving God

50   Still Lacking Wisdom

51   Patience to Overcome

52   Counting the Cost

53   Insidious Pride

54   That Which Is Desirable

55   Where Do I Find Comfort?

56   Do We Allow God to Care for Us?

57   Suffering

58   Patience in Suffering

59   Confessing Our Weakness

60   Do We Appreciate God’s Gifts?

61   Understanding the Gift of God

62   Humility, Liberty, and Peace

63   Our Throne or God’s

64   Progress toward Peace

65   Freedom through Prayer

66   Self-Love

67   Slander

68   Blessing Our Troubles

69   Finding Divine Help

70   Worldly Affection

71   My Time or God’s

72   Distractions

73   God’s Sweetness

74   Security

75   The Vain Judgments of Humankind

76   Accepting God’s Freedom

77   Priorities and Treasures

78   Patience in Prayer

79   The Mysterious Love of God

80   Honor

81   Peace Is Not Found apart from God

82   Vain Worldly Knowledge

83   Concerns and Worries

84   Persuasive Words

85   Words That Challenge Us

86   Bearing Our Trials

87   When Life Turns Dark

88   Where Is God When We Struggle?

89   My All Comes from God

90   God’s Instruction through Community

91   Are We Worthy?

92   The Grace of God

93   God’s Rescue

94   Coruling with God

95   Bearing Our Cross Revisited

96   Do Not Despair in Your Failures

97   Folly in Scrutinizing the Ways of God

98   Trusting in God Alone

99   Holy Communion

INTRODUCTION

As I was rereading The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis, I decided—or rather was moved—to start journaling on the various subject matters presented in the devotions. This was a prayerful journey as I asked the Holy Spirit to help me encounter the spiritual truths being presented in a deeper and more meaningful way. As I began journaling, I found the desire to convert the text into more modern and perhaps a little more Protestant language. I began to notice that the process of journaling on these insightful writings began to transform and reorganize my thinking into a simpler and more straightforward understanding of God’s wisdom and truth. After finishing my first draft, I started wondering if this wisdom might be helpful to others seeking to become more like Jesus. This decision started a three-year process of revisions as I read and reread The Imitation of Christ while allowing the Holy Spirit to inspire and correct my first efforts. I then began searching scripture for appropriate passages that addressed the devotional message being presented. The current book is the result of six revisions in the hopes that God is truly glorified and the reader is enlightened as to what it means to be a disciple of our Lord Jesus. My journey is far from over as I continue to read these words as part of my daily spiritual discipline. I pray that you find challenge, comfort, and peace as you receive assurance in your journey with God.

Blessings,

Alan Carruth

1

IMITATING CHRIST

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

—JOHN 8:12 (NIV)

As disciples of our Lord Jesus, we, who have formerly indulged in many choices, have chosen to become apprentices to our Master in order to learn the ways of eternal life, but do we really understand what this means? Jesus has called us to come out of the darkness and be bathed in the light of His teaching. For us to understand, we must be freed from the blindness common to us all, allow our minds to be enlightened by the truths of God, and commit to becoming obedient to Jesus’s commands. We must seriously choose the way of prayer, scripture study, and fellowship with a faith community if we are to receive understanding concerning the necessity of the Holy Spirit, which brings clarity to God’s will. This is the path of divine enlightenment for the disciple who wants to receive understanding concerning the ways of God. Knowing Jesus as the way, truth, and life we so desperately need is critical for recognizing the vain pursuits of humankind. This requires us to pursue the truth of God above all human opinion and advice.

We must also recognize that knowing God’s truth is not enough to make us holy—that is, set apart for godly service. We must commit to reflecting the image of Jesus by living devoted to loving and forgiving others. Knowing the whole Bible and all principles of theology is useless unless we show others the grace and love of God. Our lives are doomed to consuming the vanity of humankind unless we become devoted to the ways of Jesus and to the production of good spiritual fruit.

Scripture is full of godly wisdom that reveals our purpose in life, which is to seek the kingdom of God above all other pursuits. We are to live pleasing our Creator, which requires us to take the blinders from our eyes and know well the ways of sin. We must come to recognize the many unprofitable things we chase without God’s guidance. For example, it is vanity for us to put our trust in riches that perish or to pursue honor to satisfy our sinful pride. It is vanity to give in to our lusts and allow them to guide us to temporal pleasures that bring severe consequences and regret. It is vanity to live a greedy life hoarding all for self while showing no concern for the needs of others. It is vanity to manipulate others for self-satisfaction and never learn the true meaning of love found only by abiding in God, our source of life and eternal joy. If we claim to be followers of Jesus, shouldn’t we allow His counsel to guide us from our vain and sinful ways to heavenly treasures?

Dear disciple, isn’t it time for us to become resolute in our loyalty to God, turn our hearts from the vanities of the world, and become imitators of our Lord Jesus? Shouldn’t we commit ourselves to learning and practicing our Savior’s ways and let our words and deeds bring glory to our God? Isn’t it time for us to fully receive the grace of God that soothes our troubled minds and strengthens us against the temptation to satisfy our selfish passions? Let us resolve to abide in our God and know divine love and forgiveness. Let us allow our God to heal our guilty conscience with the Holy Spirit’s loving touch and change our sin-stained lives into ones as white as snow.

2

HUMILITY

Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth.

—MATTHEW 5:5 (NKJV)

As disciples of our Lord Jesus, we must come to grips with the fact that success in following the path so carefully laid out by our Savior requires the attitude of humility. Practicing humility can prove to be quite challenging since we are so used to seeing our world though proud, arrogant eyes. True understanding comes only with humility, no matter the book or teacher. Unless we allow God to mold and shape our understanding through the lens of humility, we will likely misuse or abuse our knowledge solely to elevate ourselves at the expense of others. Jesus promises us a place of honor when we choose the way of humility, and that honor comes when we learn to be satisfied with anonymous service. Humility is lost on the proud intellectual whose only purpose is to prove their superiority and self-worth. Unless we allow God to divinely guide us into humble service, our focus will be on self-glory as we seek the praise of others rather than seeking to serve as the least of these.

Humility brings divine truth to our thinking as we hear God proclaim that having all worldly knowledge without charity toward others profits nothing for God’s kingdom. Proud knowledge inspires life’s delusions that bring a troubled mind full of worry and fear. Gaining humble eyes allows us to have compassion even for those who we would otherwise deem unlovable. We understand that knowledge is essential for a successful life, but without God, we exchange a joyful, satisfying life full of meaning and purpose for a life of poor choices, regret, and despair. When we pursue a humble life inspired by God, we discover the rich rewards of peace of mind and a clear conscience. By allowing our minds to be ruled by humility, we are empowered to get over ourselves and give up our proud and arrogant ways. Our lives become filled with thanks and praise to our awesome God, who is the source of all our gifts and talents. When we allow godly wisdom to enlighten our minds, we truly understand the limits of our understanding. This revelation should bring us to our knees, and in humility, we should admit that we are ignorant about so many things.

Dear disciple, blessed humility is actually a position of power, for it allows God to fill us with the Holy Spirit. We should, therefore, adopt a humble attitude in order to receive God’s counsel and comprehend divine wisdom and revelation. Let us allow God to help us see outside ourselves so that we release the ugliness found in our superior judgment of others. Let us hear Jesus tell us that passing judgment on others is sinful and wrong, for we are no less guilty of the same acts. In humility, let us admit that we are sinners and that we are saved from our hopeless condition only by the redeeming gift of Jesus, who came not to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for you and for me.

3

TRUTH

Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever. For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths, from the realm of the dead.

—PSALM 86:11–13 (NIV)

As disciples of our Lord Jesus, we believe that ultimate truth comes to us from God through scripture and the glory of creation, so why do we place such value in the opinions and speculations of the so-called experts of the world, be they Christian or secular? Does any good come from arguing over opinions and speculations concerning the uncertainties of life at the expense of the kingdom of God? Why are we so consumed with petty and irrelevant things? These discussions are not focused on the godly ways of joy or peace but on our disgust or disappointment concerning a wide range of issues. The result of these useless exchanges is discontent, anxiety, and worry. Unless we allow the Holy Spirit to refocus our conversations on godly truths, we risk straining our relationships to the point of breaking for the sake of our prideful, arrogant opinions. By failing to restrain our divisive thinking, we allow corrupt reasoning to cloud our views of humanity in general and individuals in particular. Our capacity to love and forgive for the sake of God’s kingdom is lost to us as we cast judgment upon those who refuse to agree with our truth.

We are charged with seeking God’s truth in scripture so that we can be set free from our faulty thinking. Much in scripture is difficult to understand or is easily misinterpreted, which requires us to seek help from a community of faith so that we are guided into proper understanding as to the ways of life, worship, and praise of our God. We must understand that we are incapable of comprehending the way of Jesus unless we allow our minds to be renewed by the Holy Spirit. This path frees our minds and enables us to see and hear God’s Word and creation speak lessons of life to us. Without God’s divine wisdom, our judgment concerning kingdom living is questionable at best, but when we allow scripture to become our primary source of truth concerning all things, we see that the ways of Jesus are the path to a joy-filled life. We must learn that the peace of mind we so desperately desire is found only in the assurance of God’s truth acquired by the abiding presence of our God.

Dear disciple, let us confess that life-giving truth is found in God alone. Let us earnestly pursue the path of becoming one with God so that divine truth becomes our reality. Let us accept Jesus’s invitation to receive the Holy Spirit and abide in God’s presence, where we experience God’s everlasting love. Let us become obedient to the ways of Jesus and revel in the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Let us exchange our unworthy opinions for the truth of God and be empowered to deal with the many worrisome and exasperating situations of life. Let us pray for the Holy Spirit to come and fill us so that we might hear the psalmist’s words of abiding truth. Be still and know that I am God (Psalm 46:10 NKJV).

4

SIMPLE FAITH

Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as