Growing your affections for Christ | Episode 007

Episode 007 show notes

On this episode of Crosspoint, OCF’s Director of Field Operations, LTC Tom Schmidt, USA (Ret.), chats with CH(MAJ) Mark Winton, USA, on the topic of “affections for Christ.” Our affections are typically rooted in our answer to this question: “What are our heart longings for?” As CH Winton suggests, our answer ultimately shows what drives our hearts and where our affections lie.

An overview of the conversation

• [2:20] CH Winton discusses his walk with Christ and offers an introduction to the topic of affections for Christ.
• [6:36] CH Winton shares how God used Colossians 2:8-10 to convict him with this question: “Where was my fullness coming from?”
• [7:45] CH Winton recalls a piercing question from a conference years ago: “When was the last time you told Jesus you loved Him?”
• [9:23] A description of what we mean by intimacy with or affections for Christ. What are our heart longings for?
• [13:12] CH Winton offers insight on what really brings about godly behavior.
• [14:37] How does God call us into intimacy with Him?
• [15:38] CH Winton offers three examples from Luke 10 of how Jesus wants intimacy more than duty, performance, or obligation—starting with the story of the 72 disciples.
• [17:43] The parable of the Good Samaritan
• [19:39] The story of Martha, busy at work, and Mary, sitting at the feet of Jesus
• [22:13] A discussion of the fruit of intimacy in our lives. That intimacy is a source of strength, stability, security, and satisfaction, and as our affections for Christ grow, our lives grow in holiness. A transformation occurs (see Titus 2:8-11).
• [23:41] CH Winton recounts a verse from an old hymn titled “Hast Thou Heard Him, Seen Him, Known Him?” and what this hymn says about the transforming power of Christ.
• [26:40] How do we grow in our affections and intimacy? The answer lies in our practice of and heart motives for spiritual disciplines.
• [32:56] CH Winton’s personal reflections on maintaining affections for God with the noise, activities, and limited time of a busy military life.
• [35:20] CH Winton offers a few books as resources to go deeper in our intimacy with God.

Resources mentioned this episode (no affiliate links)

James K.A. Smith, “You Are What You Love”

Richard Foster, “Celebration of Discipline”

Jerry Bridges, “The Discipline of Grace”

Jonathan Edwards, “The Religious Affections”

Scripture references

Mark 12, Colossians 2:8-10, Titus 2:8-11, Luke 10, Psalm 27:4, John 14

Quotable

“My fullness was coming from what I was doing, even what I thought I was doing for Jesus, instead of my fullness really coming from just who Jesus is, and all that He is, and all that He’s done for me.”

“When was the last time that you told Jesus you loved Him?”

“What are our heart longings for? Because ultimately, that will drive what we do.”

“What brings about godly behavior, what brings about holy and righteous behavior, is the beauty and the glory of what Jesus has done for us in His grace.”

“Jesus says, ‘Rejoice, not in what you’re doing for me, but rejoice mostly in what I have done for you’” (when speaking to the 72 disciples in Luke 10).

“Someone else—that being the Lord Jesus—wrote your name in the Book of Life. Let that be the source of your joy.”

“If we have intimacy with Christ, and all that He’s done for us, then there is contentment, and there is fullness in that.”

“Martha is not knocking her list out; her list is knocking her out.”

“What helps us say no to the world and say yes to Jesus is not our sense of duty, not our willpower, not our sense of accomplishment, or man-driven pride. What transforms us is beholding the beauty, the majesty, and the glory of Jesus.”

“Prayer is that means by which we experience intimacy with God.”

“All of these [spiritual] disciplines are a means to experience intimacy with Christ, and believing that as we experience that intimacy, it should have this transforming effect on our affections, on our desires, on our longings for Christ and for Christ alone.”