Growing, Believing, Obeying and Maturing In Christ

While we await the Blessed Hope and the glorious appearing of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the blessed in God, Apostle Paul , left us an example of how we are to live our lives. He states, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, Philippians 3:14. This “Pressing on” by necessity involves maturing in our faith. It is especially important yet sometimes a hard thing for a new believer to grasp this concept, so I often just tell them to find a local Bible believing church, attend faithfully and by all means start a Bible reading program where they can begin to learn as much about Christ as the Lord will allow; after all, it is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to mature, lead, guide and teach us the things that glorify God and emanate from His throne, John 14:26. That said, it does not give the church a license to skulk away from our responsibility to pray, point and lead them in the right direction. We must be ever vigilant in our own maturity to be there giving true discipleship to God’s new-borns.

Concerning this topic, Charles Stanley wrote in a recent devotional the following:

Obedience is another essential element for advancement. When our desire to obey the Lord is stronger than our attraction to sin, we'll know we are making progress in our spiritual life.

In terms of physical development, the goal is to become more independent and self-sufficient as we age. But in the spiritual realm, the opposite is true. Those who are mature in Christ recognize their own inadequacy and rely on the Holy Spirit within them. It's His job to transform our character and empower us to accomplish everything the Lord calls us to do.

Brother Stanley could not be more correct. God calls each believer to a life of obedience that is based upon knowing we must submit to the will of God. This point cannot be overstated for our tendencies are to go our own way and practice our own thing. But the Scripture is clear that we were bought at a price, 1 Cor. 6:20, 7:23 and that as Christians we are new creations in Christ, 2 Cor. 5:17. We are no longer to be slaves of men or of the worldly culture created by men of darkness but rather, slaves to God.

For the believer, there is no other way to fully take advantage of the riches prepared for us through the mystery God revealed to the world, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, Colossians 1:27b (ESV). We can strive all of our lives to attain a piece of everything the worldly culture says is good but it will mean nothing in eternity and surely profits nothing for God’s glory or for our spiritual benefit in this life. Instead we will find that in the silver years we have wasted the lifetime the Lord graciously gave to us—one in which He truly desired to give us His spiritual riches, James 1:17. We must ask, "Is that what we really want?" A wasted forlorn life? It certainly is not what God wants.

The prophet Isaiah wrote the following:

"Come now, and let us reason together," Says the LORD, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, You shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, You shall be devoured by the sword"; For the mouth of the LORD has spoken, Isaiah 1:18-20.

Because he knew that God made the first move—that is He gave us the “Good Gift”—forgiveness of sin and eternal life, then our correct response to God and His gracious actions should immediately induce a grateful attitude that would reflect back to God a life of loving obedience. This obedience would result in the inevitable inheritance of the truly “good of the land.” However, disobedience would result in destruction, not only personally but even as a nation.

We could then ask, "What is God’s call for the believer?" Let’s let Solomon answer that. Near the end of his life and after he squandered most of his good years on seeking the answers to life through riotous living here is what he learned, The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil, Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 (ESV).

Solomon regretted his early years where He turned from God choosing instead to seek out gratifying pleasures as an answer to the cursed plight of humanity. But God used the emptiness Solomon often referred to as, “Grasping for the Wind” to turn his heart back to His God. Wisdom in Scripture tells us we do not need to repeat his actions. We need only remember that it is God who saved us while we were in sin and it is God who has the power to sustain and provide for us in peace for the rest of our days, 1 Pet. 1:3-5. Straying and not trusting will only result in troubles and emptiness. The following passage speaks volumes. Do not allow it to be your living epitaph:

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil, Hebrews 5:12-14 (ESV)

God Bless!!

Bro. Mike

truthinspires@msn.com

25 Reasons to Believe - In Jesus FREE EBOOK

FREE EBOOK click to download - When book comes up click down arrow on Upper Right to save a copy . A while back the Barna Group released a report titled, "Six Reasons Young Christians Leave Church." 1 Under reason two, " Teens’ and twenty-somethings’ experience of Christianity is shallow" they write: "A second reason that young people depart church as young adults is that something is lacking in their experience of church. One-third said “church is boring” (31%). One-quarter of these young adults said that “faith is not relevant to my career or interests” (24%) or that “the Bible is not taught clearly or often enough” (23%). Sadly, one-fifth of these young adults who attended a church as a teenager said that “God seems missing from my experience of church” (20%)." If one takes a look at the modern church-scape I can see why. The gap between those pastors and teachers that are fired up about Jesus and those that do not preach all of th

Fornication - The Acceptable Sin?

In the Bible there are several sexual sins that are categorized under the term,"Sexual Immorality." Not the least of these is, "Fornication." However fornication has become an outdated, and in many places, the acceptable sin in the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries. As a matter of fact, many do not even know what the term "fornication" means. Since the advent of the modern Bible translation, many have never heard of it. This article focuses on what the Scripture says about this out-of-control acceptable sin. Fornication is mentioned thirty-six times in the Bible (MT), thirty-two times in the New Testament. In almost all modern translations the word has been substituted with, "sexual immorality" and has come to mean any number of sexual sins. However, sin (missing the mark) is still sin and sin still separates a person from God. So why has this sin become so acceptable even in modern churches???? UPDATE : Here is a testimony of life

The Bride of Christ Has Made Herself Ready!!

The Bible teaches of an upcoming Wedding Day that the Church should be on cloud nine over!! Rev. 19:7-9 states: Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come , and His wife has made herself ready." And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Then he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!' " And he said to me, "These are the true sayings of God." The passage above speaks of two distinct events, the Marriage of the Lamb and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Both of these events are reminiscent of the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony where the Bride would become betrothed to her Groom and he would go away to build her a home. In the meantime she would wait anxiously for his return with shouts from his wedding party of "The Bridegroom Comes!" When the shouts were he

Understanding Grace…without it no one can be saved!

Years ago as a pastor, I faced an issue concerning the topic of “Grace.” I had noticed some congregants who were taking Grace to the extreme and beginning to teach that since our sins were bought and paid for at the cross—all of them, past, present, and future—there was no need to strive against sin. Thanks to our Lord, this was noticed and the He quickly allowed it to be curbed. This heresy occasionally rears its head in Christian circles and indeed must be stopped before it becomes out-of-control. The good thing is that a proper understanding of Grace can arrest the heresy in its steps. Because this false perception thrives in loose living, many well-meaning Christians go completely to the opposite extreme and throw the Biblical teaching of “Grace” out altogether. That too is heresy. How should we approach it? Grace, as a doctrine, should always be presented in its entirety. By that I mean, a starting definition, followed by why it is important, and concluding with keeping it scri

Cardboard Signs and Saying Yes to God

Perhaps you have seen the story of "Daniel's Gloves". It has been floating around the internet since 2001 according to snopes.com. They also tell us the original author is Richard Ryan the assistant Pastor of a Church in Indiana. I refer to this story—which you will find posted below mine—because of the effect that helping one in need can actually have on a believer’s life. One of the things I have done in the past is monitor just how many people there are who simply pass on by those who are holding a sign stating “Will work for food” or “Need Help for me and my children.” If you ask the hurting they will tell you there are literally hundreds and hundreds who just will not help. Truly it is a sad testimony that “one or a few bad apple(s) can spoil a whole bushel.” It is definitely something I also have observed. For some reason we either fear them, fear confrontation or fear being deceived. Whatever the reason, I often wonder how God feels about it. Just a fe

Truth Inspires

Search This Blog