Thanks to the Boy Scouts, as a pre-teen and a teenager I went camping once a month for years. It was always an adventure and a challenge. There were always obstacles to overcome.

When I was 19, I had an experience that is the solid rock of my life. I encountered and surrendered to the living, resurrected Jesus Christ and I have camped on an ever-growing relationship with Him the rest of my life. I love “gloramping” in Christ — camping in His glory!

A Christian lifestyle isn’t a pattern that we learn to follow or a religious program that we regularly attend. It’s moment-by-moment surrender to “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Christ-followers are called to a Spirit-led way of life that rises far above human habits. The fruit of the Spirit isn’t produced by good habits or self-effort. It flows like rivers of living water from deep within people who let the risen Jesus fully inhabit them. As they constantly submit to Christ living in them, He personally directs their thoughts, words, and actions throughout each day. If churches would begin to train people to continually listen to and obey the risen Jesus (instead of catering to human complacency by conducting comfortable church services) spiritual awakening would become the norm in the body of Christ.

Christ’s love is the key to God’s kingdom. (“The greatest of these is love’). When we begin to experientially know the love of God (not just understand it as a concept) we begin to actually rely on and totally depend on God’s love for us moment-by-moment. We learn to live in love throughout each day, not just to philosophy about it. As we, more and more, live in God’s love we experience the reality of literally living in God and of God truly living in us. (1 John 4:16.) Perhaps church could become a place where people train together to live in love by listening to God’s Spirit and each person saying and doing whatever the risen Jesus prompts them to.

Christianity unity has to be the heart-to-heart unity of the Holy Spirit. Christ-followers will never come into full doctrinal agreement on earth. Seeking unity through doctrinal agreement has backfired. It has splintered the one body of Christ into an estimated 40,000+ independent Christian denominations world-wide (not counting all of the independent congregations).

During the Jesus Movement I saw unity between believers bring multitudes into a direct, personal relationship with the living, resurrected Jesus. When we sang, “We Are One In The Spirit,” we meant it, and we felt it, and we lived it. But then some of the 40,000 denominations began to chip away at our unity by trying to pull us into their institutionalism and diverse doctrinal beliefs. Over a few years the Spirit-led lifestyle of the Jesus Revolution was snuffed out by churchianity. O that Christians would return to the heart-to-heart unity and direct, personal leadership of God’s Spirit!

The inner voice you hear calling you to acts of love and kindness that are beyond your complacent zone, isn’t something in you telling you what to do. It’s someone speaking personally to you through your conscience. His name is Jesus.

Make the choice
To obey Christ’s voice
And soon you will rejoice!

Follow Christ Himself,
Not just sermons
About Him
Or the preachers
Who preach them.
Let Christ Himself
Living in you
Personally lead you
In all you say and do.
–John 17:26.

When you ignore
The inner restraint
Of your conscience
The voice of Christ in you
Becomes faint.