The Spiritual Shift: Conclusion--Relationships Realigned

                              Conclusion:

                Relationships Realigned

"Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near." ~Isaiah 55:6

We have done it! We reached the end of the 21-Day Spiritual Shift! Our goal was to be purposeful and spend 21 days assessing–and strengthening–our relationships. Like a patient leaving a productive chiropractic appointment or a person who can't see well finally getting a pair of glasses, hopefully we are walking a little straighter and seeing the world more clearly in all areas of our lives.

Let's recap our journey:

Week 1: Days 1-7     Spiritual Focus→We realigned our spiritual relationships.

Psalm 96

"Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all the earth.
Sing to the LORD, praise his name;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the LORD made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the LORD, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the LORD glory and strength.
Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come into his courts.
Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness;
tremble before him, all the earth.

Say among the nations, 'The LORD reigns.'
The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
he will judge the people with equity.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
Let all creation rejoice before the LORD, for he comes,
he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
and the peoples in his faithfulness."

Week 2: Days 8-14 Personal Focus→We realigned our relationships with people.

Psalm 73:21-26

"When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.

Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever."

(We discussed one part of this sweet verse in The Spiritual Sync during our Prayer Process. God is holding our right hand, so He would be using His left. Why? Because Jesus is the One at God's right hand. What a picture!)

Week 3: Days 15-21 Material Focus→We realigned our relationship with “stuff.” 

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20

"This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them--for this is their lot. Moreover, when God gives someone wealth and possessions, and the ability to enjoy them, to accept their lot and be happy in their toil--this is a gift of God. They seldom reflect on the days of their life, because God keeps them occupied with gladness of heart."

This verse sounds a lot like, "Do what you need to do and find peace and contentment in the Lord." A loving relationship with God gives us gladness of heart (as opposed to a grumbling, arguing, complaining spirit). With our relationships realigned, we benefit from growing the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our hearts: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self-control.

Our routine:

Assessment: Moving forward, we need to be a little more sensitive to our relationships. We need to pay attention to how they are shifting with the seasons of our lives and make the needed adjustments and realignments along the way.

Reassess Regularly: The order of our Spiritual Shift was purposeful. We must always make sure that we are aligning with Almighty God first. Often, when we put God first, other relationships align more easily.

As with The Spiritual Sync, it is tough to end our time together. Here are a few more reminders about the loving character of God for us to savor.

2 Chronicles 13:12

"God is with us; he is our leader. His priests with their trumpets will sound the battle cry against you. People of Israel, do not fight against the LORD, the God of your ancestors, for you will not succeed."

Exodus 14:14

"The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still."

2 Corinthians 6:16

"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:
'I will live with them
and walk among them,
and I will be their God,
and they will be my people.'"

If we haven't already, we need to right our relationship with Jesus. We have to do more than acknowledge Him, we must accept that we are sinners, we must believe He came as a sacrifice for all of us, we must confess our own sins and commit to doing better. What does it mean to "do better"? Follow Jesus. We are on His team now and His standards are high. Will we be perfect, no, but if we are committing to live a life as Jesus did, we will certainly Do Better.

Matthew 16:24-27

"Then Jesus said to his disciples, 'Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what they have done."

Having a team mentality can certainly help us understand our Christian relationship. Jesus is the ultimate team player; when we decide to be Christ followers, we are joining an eternal team. This whole Spiritual Shift has attempted to make us a better teammate. First, respect the coach; what the coach says is what happens. Second, respect ourselves and others. A team has to play as a unit; a team also has to have an understanding of the opponent. Finally, a team must maintain their focus; a team must manage distractions in order to be successful. As we go through this life, may we keep our eternal focus and help others join the team.

The world will come with all of its temptations, but we must hold firm and be steadfast. We must remain yoked with Jesus; we are on His team now.

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Galatians 5:1

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

Romans 8:34-35

"Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger of sword?"

Romans 8:37-39

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

We have completed The Spiritual Shift, and we have realigned all of those very important relationships.

Let us end where we started, but, I believe these verses will mean so much more than they did at the start.

Psalm 46:10

“He says, Be still, and know that I am God; 

I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

Micah 6:8

“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. 

And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly and to love mercy 

and to walk humbly with your God.”

We know how to truly be still before God and trust in Him. We know to act justly and to love mercy, and to hopefully, walk humbly with our God. May we daily continue to pray and to strengthen our right relationships and to loosen our grip on others.

Prayer: 

Oh, Almighty God. What a journey! Thank You for revealing the richness of Your Word. Thank You for desiring a relationship with us, Lord God. We want to know You better, and we want to help others know You as well. Guide us, Lord God. In Jesus' Name. Amen. 

“...if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” ~2 Chronicles 7:14