Page 20 - PT-Spring-2021

Kate Waterman

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Ten ways to maintain
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spiritual health
spiritual health

(When ‘Church’ just isn’t possible)

any people are looking forward to Every believer is part of the Church, the body of Christ,
returning to something resembling by virtue of the fact they are joined to Christ, and they
Mnormal life, as vaccination programmes cannot forfeit that place unless they disconnect from the
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roll out around the world, including the prospect Head. It is not correct to infer that people have ‘left
the Church’ because they practise their ‘gathering’ in a
of gathering again with other Christians. different way. Photo Credit: istockphoto.com/ZeynepKaya
However, not every believer is in that position;
disabilities, family issues, persecution, (and, 2. embrace solituDe.
sadly, church-related malpractice), as well as In less-than-perfect circumstances, it is so easy to use up
the ongoing effects of the pandemic, mean that valuable energy being resistant and resentful, instead of
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many Christians will not be resuming traditional trusting God who ‘works all things for our good’. One
of the ways we can promote our spiritual well-being is
church-life in the near future. to embrace the solitude that comes with the removal, for
But fortunately there are steps we can take to whatever reason, of familiar church routines.
maintain our spiritual health. And through this The Bible, fortunately, is full of accounts of individuals
article, we hope to show – and encourage you – who had profound encounters with God, either in physical
how you can deal with the situation. solitude, or by being a faithful believer in an apostate
culture. We too, can develop the expectation that we can
meet with, and receive from the Lord, on our own, or in
1. Deal with guilt. our private households.
Perhaps the first place to start is with the sense of guilt
many feel, having been taught that regular attendance at a 3. remain christ-centreD.
recognised church is a Christian duty. However, the word To avoid going off track, it is important that all of us,
translated ‘church’ in the Bible never refers to a place, but in or out of church-meetings, keep our focus on Jesus
always to a gathering of people of unspecified size. (In fact, who is the ‘author and finisher of our faith’. The facts
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Jesus spoke of two or three being ‘gathered’ in His name. ) surrounding his incarnation, death, resurrection, ascension
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Furthermore, as there are no commands as to size, and glorification, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, are
regularity, specific days or even format of meeting, just the the non-negotiable foundations of our faith. These central
advice given to unidentified Christians that they ‘should not truths furnish a supply of revelation which can be chewed
give up meeting together,’ we have to be wary of reading over for a lifetime.
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back our historical practices and preferences as Biblical
injunctions. 4. reaD the bible.
And while physical meetings of Christians are The Bible is the plumb-line which stops us sliding off
preferable, there is no reason to think digital get-togethers into major error. And we also have the Holy Spirit, who
are precluded. is the Master-Teacher, to explain it all to us. There are
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20 The Plain Truth Spring 2021 Find us online at www.plain-truth.org.uk