Four Essential Ways to Live Out Your Spiritual Journey

Have you ever started something challenging only to realize halfway through that you had no idea what you were getting yourself into? Many years ago in high school, our church took a mission trip to Vancouver, British Columbia. During our time there, we visited Grouse Mountain and attempted what's called the "Grouse Grind" – a 1.8-mile trail organized as a giant staircase up the mountain, lovingly known as "Mother Nature's StairMaster." Our team had no idea what to expect. We didn't have enough water, proper shoes, guides, or training. Yet through perseverance and the sheer desire not to get stuck on the side of a mountain, we made it to the top. This experience taught me something profound about our spiritual journeys: they require both preparation and perseverance.

Living Filled with God's Word

When we get saved, we're placed on a path toward the kingdom of heaven. This spiritual journey is fraught with challenges, but Paul writes in Colossians 1 about how we should approach it. His prayer for the Colossian church begins with a desire for them to be "filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding" (Colossians 1:9). This idea of being "filled" was a theme throughout many of Paul's letters. He wanted believers to understand that God's will isn't some mysterious secret that only special gatekeepers can reveal. God's will is discoverable through His Word. Scripture points out four general areas of God's will:

1. To believe in Jesus Christ - (John 6:40)
2. To live sexually pure -  (1 Thessalonians 4:3)
3. To be thankful in all things -  (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
4. To submit to authority -  (1 Peter 2:15)

If you want to know the will of God for your life, you must know the Word of God in your life. It's that simple.

Living Fruitful in Every Good Work

Paul continues his prayer in Colossians 1:10, asking "that you walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God." Paul isn't saying that our walk makes us worthy. Rather, we walk because we've already been declared worthy through Christ. Our identity isn't based on our job, gender, politics, social profile, or past – it's tied to the very person of Jesus Christ. For the last few years, I've attempted to grow hot peppers in our backyard. There's never been a time where I've had to stand in front of a plant and yell at it to produce fruit. I've never commanded, "All right, habanero plant, you know what you're supposed to be doing! You're supposed to produce habanero peppers!" I've simply watered them, weeded around them, and protected them. When they're healthy, they naturally produce fruit. The same is true for believers. When we're taken care of by our amazing Savior and allow the water of the Word to pierce our soul, we'll produce fruit. It's just what we do. "When we produce fruit, when we allow the word of God and the light of the gospel to change us, we have a culture-changing effect."

Living Strengthened by God's Power

In verse 11, Paul prays that believers would be "strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness." The word Paul uses for "might" is the Greek word "dunamis" – the same word used in Romans 1:16 when he says the Gospel is the "power of God." It's where we get the English word "dynamite." Paul wasn't praying for some gentle, mild-mannered faith, but for a dynamite-level, explosive, world-changing power in our lives. This power particularly shines in our difficult moments. Paul links it specifically to "patience and longsuffering with joyfulness." Patience speaks to difficult circumstances in our lives – failing health, financial impacts, job loss. Longsuffering speaks to dealing with difficult people – a disgruntled boss, rebellious children, critics. When I was in college, I began a workout routine called P90X. At first, I could barely make it through the first 10 minutes of these grueling workouts. But by the end of 90 days, I was transformed – the strongest and leanest I'd ever been. The daily intensity and difficulty produced strength in my body and endurance in my soul. "When we walk through life spiritually speaking, we face difficulties. And those difficulties, James says we ought to look at with a joyful attitude. Because when we pass the test, we will become stronger."

Living Delivered from Darkness

Finally, Paul prays in verses 12-14 that believers would live delivered, giving "thanks unto the Father which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son." When a sinner accepts the gospel by faith, they're instantly qualified for heaven. God doesn't see their sin; He sees the blood of Jesus on their account. We've been delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of Christ. "When you called upon Christ to save you, you were slaves, debtors, captors to the spiritual darkness that rules in this earth. But Christ, by His redemption, by that power as you call upon Christ for salvation, we are translated, we are saved, we are redeemed, we are recaptured, and we are brought back home."

Life Application: Breaking Free from Meaningless Cycles

In the 1800s, a French naturalist named Jean Henry Fabre conducted an experiment with processionary caterpillars. He placed them on the rim of a pot, and they traveled in a circle for seven days and nights until they died from exhaustion and starvation – even though the food they needed was just outside their circular path. Christians can fall into the same trap. We can begin our journey but quickly enter a death spiral of pointless wandering. We mistake activity for accomplishment and movement for direction, following comfortable habits of casual Christianity rather than living purposefully. God wants us to live our lives with intention – filled with His Word, fruitful by His Spirit, strengthened by His power, and living as people truly delivered from darkness. Don't just go through the motions. Live your spiritual journey on purpose for God. If you haven't begun this spiritual journey at all, know that "God has done everything necessary for you to be translated into the kingdom of his dear Son. You can live filled, fruitful, strengthened and delivered by the power of the gospel in your life." Romans 5:8 reminds us, "God commendeth His love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Don't let this moment pass you by. Make sure you know where you'll spend eternity.