With a mind full of cares and concerns, both big and small, I sank to my knees, buried my face in my hands, and breathed out a kind of sigh and prayer, "Jesus." For me, in that moment, just His name was a prayer. He heard me and my soul felt peace, steadied by the embrace of the One who loves me most. In the middle of a day full of responsibility, He breathed strength into me so that I could go and do what needed to be done. Then, again, last night as I lay down to sleep, I 'heard' the voice (no, not audibly, but that inner voice of God's Spirit speaking to my spirit) inviting me to rest in Him. He whispered, "Just let me lead. I know the way and, whatever demands present themselves to you, I will be there with wisdom and resources. I love you, son." In that moment of quietness, I freshly realized the treasure I have in knowing, personally, the love of God. What does a person do who does not know that she can pray that name of Jesus? How does a weary man find rest in this world that is so full of strain and stress if he does not know that God cares?
Perhaps as you read about the embrace of the Lord, of the Spirit's voice, the words seem contrived or silly or simply the work of a vivid imagination. I assure you, it's not! I am not a man given to wild flights of imagination or trips through fantasy land. He can reveal to us, in the depths of our spirit, what we cannot know by observation or conclusion, what we cannot see with our eyes or hear with our ears! He loves and we can love Him. That intimate communion with the Lord of Heaven is the Treasure of Life!
Jesus tenderly says, to each of us: “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matthew 11:28-30, The Message)
There is a paradox in His words that once eluded my understanding. The 'unforced rhythms of grace' let a person get much more accomplished than the uptight drumbeat of drivenness! I used to think that if I 'let up' even a little my performance would suffer, that I wouldn't get the necessary things in life accomplished. The world is a place full of evil and suffering and I knew that He had commissioned those of us who call Him Savior and Lord to make a difference for good and righteousness sake. So I worked hard, but not always smartly! Too much of the time I let my work get in the way of the Lord's work. With sweat and frustration I tried to get it done, to make things happen, to assure that goals were met. I was often stressed and depressed, exhausted and exhausting!
"Come to me, Jerry." The invitation is not to early retirement, to perpetual slumber. He goes on to say, "Work with me!" Jesus invites us to learn how to work steadily, to be tired, but not exhausted; to give it our all, but not to feel that life has been sucked from us.
Are you weary today? Do you wonder if you can take another day, if you can hear one more report of human need/suffering without screaming?Let me urge you to take a "Jesus" break. Carve time for personal worship into that busy schedule. Break away from the grind to be among other Believers in corporate worship, attending to worship with your full attention.
In worship, you will find that His demands are not those of a cruel tyrant. Don't think of Him like that, for if you do, bitterness will creep into your heart. Instead, thank Him for fitting you for service, and for His promise of renewal of strength.
"But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.
They spread their wings and soar like eagles,
They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind. " (Isaiah 40:31, The Message)
___________________
Sunday, 10/16, is a Ministry Expo at the Assembly.
You're invited!
Come and learn what this congregation does in the Kingdom. Learn how we can serve you, and how you can serve Him with us!
See you at Church!
Friday, October 14, 2005
Thursday, October 13, 2005
How do you know?
Sometimes the 'facts' are not really true.
- You don't get the common cold from not wearing your coat on a cold morning despite what your mother says. You get a 'cold' (upper respiratory infection) from a virus transmitted by a sneeze or left on a doorknob by someone who is sick!
- In the days that followed Hurricane Katrina, the news media reported the 'fact' that people were being murdered and raped in the Superdome in New Orleans. It never happened!
- Our President took us to war in Iraq claiming 'incontrovertible evidence' existed proving the existence of weapons of mass destruction in Saddam's arsenal. There weren't any, and Colin Powell, then Secretary of State, says that he regrets making those claims.
Sometimes what we think we know because of our observations and conclusions just simply isn't true. We reach a mistaken conclusion, or worse, are lied to by those we trust. However, there is a source of Truth that is available to the Believer which is a solid rock foundation for life.
When God speaks, when He reveals the Truth to us, we are transformed by the experience. One day Jesus took the men who were being trained to take His Kingdom message to the world to a remote northern part of Palestine called Ceasara Philippi. He asked them, "what are your conclusions about my identity?" "Well, we hear some say you're John the Baptist, some say Elijah, and others say Jeremiah or one of the other prophets." Then Simon Peter spoke up. “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16, The Message) How'd he know that? God revealed it to him! "Jesus replied, “You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being." (Matthew 16:17, NLT)
The truth that God revealed to Simon was a transformational and foundational Truth. Jesus says as much. He went to to tell Simon that his name was now, "Petros," meaning, a stone! Peter was to become a living stone in the great temple called the church because God had given him the Truth. Furthermore, Jesus said that this Truth was the "petra," the granite rock foundation on which the church would be built! And so it has been for two thousand years! The Church rests on one eternal Truth that was first spoken into Peter's heart- that Christ Jesus is God's Messenger: born into this world by God's will, lived sinlessly among us, died for our sins, and was raised to life by the Father, and now sits at the right hand of God, the Father.
When God reveals the Truth to us, we need not worry about a revision, a correction, or a second edition. Revealed truth is unchanging, life tranforming, and eternal. What is the foundation of your faith? Does your faith rest on doctrines of some denomination, or on the religion passed to you by your parents, or on a creed that you recite in church? If so, yours is a foundation subject to failure! Pray that the Spirit of God would reveal the Christ to you, that He would speak to you in your heart and through the written Scripture, giving you a 'know-so' revelation not merely a 'hope so' conclusion.
Then, like Paul, you will be able to say, "I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day." (2 Timothy 1:12, NKJV) "So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed." (Isaiah 28:16, NIV)
_________________________________
The Solid Rock
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus' blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
When darkness seems to hide His face,
I rest on His unchanging grace.
In every high and stormy gale,
My anchor holds within the veil.
His oath, His covenant, His blood,
Support me in the o'erwhelming flood.
When all around my soul gives way,
He then is all my Hope and Stay.
When He shall come with trumpet sound,
O may I then in Him be found!
Dressed in His righteousness alone,
Faultless to stand before the throne!
On Christ the solid Rock I stand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
All other ground is sinking sand.
Author: Mote, Edward / Bradbury, William B.Copyright: Public Domain
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
When doubts arise
Pain, while unpleasant, serves an important purpose in our bodies. Generally pain signals that something is wrong, that some part of our body is not functioning properly or has been damaged. Often, if a person just ignores pain, they will do greater damage to their body or they will allow some physical problem to become worse. Doubt can serve a similar function for us in spiritual matters. Doubt may signal to us that we have unresolved inner issues that need to be addressed. Doubt may reveal a lack of genuine intimacy with God. Doubt may show us that we are putting too much reliance on ourselves and not enough on the Holy Spirit. If a person never feels a twinge of doubt, it may be because he is living superficially, not digging into life in a way that turns up hard questions, not engaging in the work of building God's kingdom in a way that pushes him beyond his own abilities into the realm of the Holy Spirit's work.
Some confuse having genuine faith with living without doubt. I disagree! Faith is trusting God even when doubts blow about us like Fall winds! Against that doubt, we exercise faith and it grows stronger! What does the Bible say? "Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see." (Hebrews 11:1, CEV) Believers who have gone through the deepest trials, while exercising faith in the face of terrible suffering, emerge with an even greater faith. That faith doesn't always result from a "happily ever after" ending. It grows because we overcome doubt by trusting God anyway.
In Mark's gospel, we meet a father whose son was terribly tormented by an affliction that made him have seizures and harm himself. For years this man had been helpless, watching his son suffer. Then he heard about Jesus' authority over sickness and demonic torment and he brought his son to the Lord. Here's the way the Gospel records this event.
So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was very small. The evil spirit often makes him fall into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us. Do something if you can.”
“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly replied, “I do believe, but help me not to doubt!” (Mark 9:20-24, NLT) That boy went home well!
The line that stands out to me is the father's response to Jesus' call for faith. He knew he needed God's help to overcome his inner doubt. He was a creature of both faith and doubt. He had the faith to bring his son to Jesus, but even then wondered how a situation that had gone on for so long could change. Can't you identify with his ambivalence? We, too, are a mixture of faith and doubt. We need not hide or deny our doubts, but we must not let them control us. Instead, we should lay them before the Lord with humility, asking Him to grant us eyes of faith that see the unseen, a heart of faith that takes hold of that which is yet a hope, so that His will is done in us and through us. What a prayer - “I do believe, but help me not to doubt!”
In a 1st grade Sunday School class we don't ask a child to think very critically. We teach them concrete lessons using the stories of the Bible. Sadly, some adult Christians never want to leave 1st grade Sunday School behind. They want simple answers, quick solutions, and iron-clad guarantees for every situation. But a life of faith doesn't work that way, does it? Faith causes us to step away from what we 'know' and to trust God's power and wisdom. Peter was invited out of the boat on the Sea of Galilee and walked on the water, until he realized he was doing the impossible and let doubts overwhelm him. Even then, he knew his true source and yelled, "Help me, Jesus!" Jesus didn't tell him to buck up, to start swimming until he got more faith, or to just go ahead and drown. He met the impulse of faith, though small, with loving care. "Instantly Jesus reached out his hand and grabbed him. “You don’t have much faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”" (Matthew 14:31, NLT)
God invites you and me to a walk of faith. If we say, "yes," to Him we must not think that all the storms will go away, that every troubling doubt will dissipate, but we can expect to see amazing things happen.
Greater faith opens the door to greater doubts, which then cause us to rely even more on the One who is always Faithful. Here's a word from the Word to keep in your mind today. Let it inspire faith so when God says, "Let's do the faith walk into the impossible," you will be ready to say, "Let's go!"
Yet I still ...hope when I remember this:
The unfailing love of the Lord never ends!
By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.
Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him.
(Lamentations 3:21-25, NLT)
Some confuse having genuine faith with living without doubt. I disagree! Faith is trusting God even when doubts blow about us like Fall winds! Against that doubt, we exercise faith and it grows stronger! What does the Bible say? "Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see." (Hebrews 11:1, CEV) Believers who have gone through the deepest trials, while exercising faith in the face of terrible suffering, emerge with an even greater faith. That faith doesn't always result from a "happily ever after" ending. It grows because we overcome doubt by trusting God anyway.
In Mark's gospel, we meet a father whose son was terribly tormented by an affliction that made him have seizures and harm himself. For years this man had been helpless, watching his son suffer. Then he heard about Jesus' authority over sickness and demonic torment and he brought his son to the Lord. Here's the way the Gospel records this event.
So they brought the boy. But when the evil spirit saw Jesus, it threw the child into a violent convulsion, and he fell to the ground, writhing and foaming at the mouth. “How long has this been happening?” Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied, “Since he was very small. The evil spirit often makes him fall into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help us. Do something if you can.”
“What do you mean, ‘If I can’?” Jesus asked. “Anything is possible if a person believes.” The father instantly replied, “I do believe, but help me not to doubt!” (Mark 9:20-24, NLT) That boy went home well!
The line that stands out to me is the father's response to Jesus' call for faith. He knew he needed God's help to overcome his inner doubt. He was a creature of both faith and doubt. He had the faith to bring his son to Jesus, but even then wondered how a situation that had gone on for so long could change. Can't you identify with his ambivalence? We, too, are a mixture of faith and doubt. We need not hide or deny our doubts, but we must not let them control us. Instead, we should lay them before the Lord with humility, asking Him to grant us eyes of faith that see the unseen, a heart of faith that takes hold of that which is yet a hope, so that His will is done in us and through us. What a prayer - “I do believe, but help me not to doubt!”
In a 1st grade Sunday School class we don't ask a child to think very critically. We teach them concrete lessons using the stories of the Bible. Sadly, some adult Christians never want to leave 1st grade Sunday School behind. They want simple answers, quick solutions, and iron-clad guarantees for every situation. But a life of faith doesn't work that way, does it? Faith causes us to step away from what we 'know' and to trust God's power and wisdom. Peter was invited out of the boat on the Sea of Galilee and walked on the water, until he realized he was doing the impossible and let doubts overwhelm him. Even then, he knew his true source and yelled, "Help me, Jesus!" Jesus didn't tell him to buck up, to start swimming until he got more faith, or to just go ahead and drown. He met the impulse of faith, though small, with loving care. "Instantly Jesus reached out his hand and grabbed him. “You don’t have much faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”" (Matthew 14:31, NLT)
God invites you and me to a walk of faith. If we say, "yes," to Him we must not think that all the storms will go away, that every troubling doubt will dissipate, but we can expect to see amazing things happen.
Greater faith opens the door to greater doubts, which then cause us to rely even more on the One who is always Faithful. Here's a word from the Word to keep in your mind today. Let it inspire faith so when God says, "Let's do the faith walk into the impossible," you will be ready to say, "Let's go!"
Yet I still ...hope when I remember this:
The unfailing love of the Lord never ends!
By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.
Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day.
I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”
The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him.
(Lamentations 3:21-25, NLT)
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Great, glorious plans
I remember still remember the rush of emotions that overwhelmed me on the morning of February 10, 1977. On that day my son, Jay, was born. When that little baby boy was laid into my arms, I trembled - awed by the realization that God had trusted me to care for an eternal being full of potential. I (and his mom) was charged with a task stretching out over the next 18 or so years of provision, protection, and development of a man who would assume the responsibility for his own family years down the road. I had only the faintest inkling about the parenting challenges that lay ahead, but I knew that completing this God-given task would require discipline, encouragement, leadership, and love! Each child that God brought into our family, enlarged my dreams. I was not content to just 'raise' my children. It was my desire to help them to develop, to reach the full potential of their lives in the plan of God. Now, they are adults. What joy they bring to me - each one very different in gifts and talents; each one blessing the world in a different way; each one loving and serving God uniquely.
Do you know that God dreams great and glorious plans for you? In Ephesians 1, Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, exults: "God thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, ... It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone." (The Message) Hebrews says that through Christ, it is God's plan to "bring many sons to glory!" His plan includes a mature faith, deep devotion, developed spiritual gifts, and a fruitful life. It culminates with our reception into the Father's house, where we spend eternity enjoying His Presence and love.
When my kids were resisting the direction I was giving them, I would try to paint a word picture of the kind of person I was trying to help them to become. They didn't always 'get it.' My hope was that by helping them to see past the moment, they would be motivated to choose to engage with life, to resist temptation to live in sloth and self-indulgence. Our Father in Heaven asks us to look higher, too. If we can catch glimpses of the glory He's planned for us, we will more readily say "yes, Lord" to the rigorous discipline that brings us to share in His purposes. Living to our full potential, becoming a child of glory, is not inevitable! 'But,' you say, 'it is the plan of God!' That is true, but He allows us the freedom to choose to embrace that plan. We can live as self-willed sons or as obedient sons. When we resist Him, He disciplines us, not because He is wrathful or vindictive, but because He sees the perfect plan that will lead us to greatest glory. The Bible reminds us: "As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. ... Since we respect our earthly fathers who disciplined us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our heavenly Father and live forever?" (Hebrews 12:7-9, NLT)
Today, ask God to help you understand His purposes. Let Him paint a picture of the glory He's planned for you. It will not likely be the 'glory' that an earth-focused life envisions - great wealth, fame, celebrity. It will the glory of a well-developed character like that of Christ. It will be the glory of a worthy life that honors Him, that is filled with the mature fruit of the Spirit including love, joy, and peace in abundance. Then, "God will rejoice over you!"
Do you know that God dreams great and glorious plans for you? In Ephesians 1, Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit, exults: "God thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, ... It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone." (The Message) Hebrews says that through Christ, it is God's plan to "bring many sons to glory!" His plan includes a mature faith, deep devotion, developed spiritual gifts, and a fruitful life. It culminates with our reception into the Father's house, where we spend eternity enjoying His Presence and love.
When my kids were resisting the direction I was giving them, I would try to paint a word picture of the kind of person I was trying to help them to become. They didn't always 'get it.' My hope was that by helping them to see past the moment, they would be motivated to choose to engage with life, to resist temptation to live in sloth and self-indulgence. Our Father in Heaven asks us to look higher, too. If we can catch glimpses of the glory He's planned for us, we will more readily say "yes, Lord" to the rigorous discipline that brings us to share in His purposes. Living to our full potential, becoming a child of glory, is not inevitable! 'But,' you say, 'it is the plan of God!' That is true, but He allows us the freedom to choose to embrace that plan. We can live as self-willed sons or as obedient sons. When we resist Him, He disciplines us, not because He is wrathful or vindictive, but because He sees the perfect plan that will lead us to greatest glory. The Bible reminds us: "As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. ... Since we respect our earthly fathers who disciplined us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to the discipline of our heavenly Father and live forever?" (Hebrews 12:7-9, NLT)
Today, ask God to help you understand His purposes. Let Him paint a picture of the glory He's planned for you. It will not likely be the 'glory' that an earth-focused life envisions - great wealth, fame, celebrity. It will the glory of a well-developed character like that of Christ. It will be the glory of a worthy life that honors Him, that is filled with the mature fruit of the Spirit including love, joy, and peace in abundance. Then, "God will rejoice over you!"
Monday, October 10, 2005
Still living on milk?
John Rosemond, a family psychologist who writes a national column on parenting, says that parents are failing in the major job of creating self-sufficient adults. "Forty years ago, the typcial young adult was fully emancipated (on his own!) by age 20. Today it is 25. Delayed adulthood does not bode well for children, parents, families, schools, American business and industry, the economy, defense, or the culture." He tells about parents who call their childrens' college professors, as though they were still high school. He tells of college grads who are invited back to live with their parents because these perpetual children are unwilling or unable to keep a job. They won't accept responsibility to show up on time, work hard, and respect authority. They bring an entitlement ethic with them that insists that being asked to do anything unpleasant is unfair.
Spiritually speaking, are those characteristics applicable to your life? In Hebrews 5, the writer laments the immaturity of the Believers he was attempting to instruct. He says, "There is so much more we would like to say about this. But you don’t seem to listen, so it’s hard to make you understand. You have been Christians a long time now, and you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things a beginner must learn about the Scriptures. You are like babies who drink only milk and cannot eat solid food. And a person who is living on milk isn’t very far along in the Christian life and doesn’t know much about doing what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right." (Hebrews 5:11-16, NLT)
Some Believers never get past the repentance stage! They live where they found Christ, in perpetual repentance, in a cycle of being 'sinful and sorry, forgiven and relieved, and back again.' A silly bumper sticker sentiment is a 'life truth' for these perpetual infants. It reads - "I'm not perfect, just forgiven!" In other words they are saying, "Don't expect me to grow out of my self-indulgence that allows me to keep doing the same wrong things, throwing the same fits, and being selfish. I don't have to become mature because Jesus forgives me." Yes, He does forgive us our sins, but He also wants us to grow into a mature life that is marked by a transformation of character, by a steadiness of commitment, and by an unshakeable faith. Many assume that because no one can ever become perfect (that is true!) that we don't even have to grow (that is wrong!). My grandson, Gavin, at age 3, is long way from perfectly mature. When he gets tired, he whines, gets stubborn, and becomes increasinly disobedient. His Dad and Mom tolerate some of this behavior because the child is only 3, but they also set boundaries for Gavin that will help him to learn that the world does not revolve around his moods. Over the next 13 to 15 years, they will teach this child to manage his emotions, increasing their expectations for him to accept responsibilty for his actions. They would be foolish, indeed, to just excuse all of his tantrums saying, "he's just a baby." Because of their consistent discipline and his growth, I observed a measurable difference in Gavin's behavior in just 6 months time.
Believer, are you able to apply the Scripture's truth to your life in a way that leads you to life in a God-honoring way? Are you developing the spiritual maturity that lets you choose to reject temptation because you have a greater goal than just 'being happy in the moment?' Or are you still living by your whims and constantly saying, "Sorry, Lord, I just did it again"? There are tremendous opportunities available for mature Believers who are ready to use the spiritual gifts God has invested in them. For those who will show up to serve, who will overcome the desire to just drift along, there is joy in serving and making a difference in the world. When we stop making excuses for our failures and get serious with God about growing up spiritually, He gives us all the resources we need to live in a way that is godly and good! We still fail, but less often over time, as we mature in discernment. No, He doesn't clean up all of our messes. He doesn't do all the work for us. He doesn't let us pass off a 'half job' with a phony affirmation - "that's wonderful." He says, "train yourselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right."
Here's a promise to tak with you today. Ask the Spirit to help you to grow. Remember, the key is steady progress, not fits and starts every now and then. Here is God's promise to make our maturity, not only possible, but inevitable as we desire Him and His Spiritual Presence.
"As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness! And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature. So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life.
Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop these virtues are blind or, at least, very shortsighted. They have already forgotten that God has cleansed them from their old life of sin.
So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Doing this, you will never stumble or fall away. And God will open wide the gates of heaven for you to enter into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:3-11, NLT)
Spiritually speaking, are those characteristics applicable to your life? In Hebrews 5, the writer laments the immaturity of the Believers he was attempting to instruct. He says, "There is so much more we would like to say about this. But you don’t seem to listen, so it’s hard to make you understand. You have been Christians a long time now, and you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things a beginner must learn about the Scriptures. You are like babies who drink only milk and cannot eat solid food. And a person who is living on milk isn’t very far along in the Christian life and doesn’t know much about doing what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right." (Hebrews 5:11-16, NLT)
Some Believers never get past the repentance stage! They live where they found Christ, in perpetual repentance, in a cycle of being 'sinful and sorry, forgiven and relieved, and back again.' A silly bumper sticker sentiment is a 'life truth' for these perpetual infants. It reads - "I'm not perfect, just forgiven!" In other words they are saying, "Don't expect me to grow out of my self-indulgence that allows me to keep doing the same wrong things, throwing the same fits, and being selfish. I don't have to become mature because Jesus forgives me." Yes, He does forgive us our sins, but He also wants us to grow into a mature life that is marked by a transformation of character, by a steadiness of commitment, and by an unshakeable faith. Many assume that because no one can ever become perfect (that is true!) that we don't even have to grow (that is wrong!). My grandson, Gavin, at age 3, is long way from perfectly mature. When he gets tired, he whines, gets stubborn, and becomes increasinly disobedient. His Dad and Mom tolerate some of this behavior because the child is only 3, but they also set boundaries for Gavin that will help him to learn that the world does not revolve around his moods. Over the next 13 to 15 years, they will teach this child to manage his emotions, increasing their expectations for him to accept responsibilty for his actions. They would be foolish, indeed, to just excuse all of his tantrums saying, "he's just a baby." Because of their consistent discipline and his growth, I observed a measurable difference in Gavin's behavior in just 6 months time.
Believer, are you able to apply the Scripture's truth to your life in a way that leads you to life in a God-honoring way? Are you developing the spiritual maturity that lets you choose to reject temptation because you have a greater goal than just 'being happy in the moment?' Or are you still living by your whims and constantly saying, "Sorry, Lord, I just did it again"? There are tremendous opportunities available for mature Believers who are ready to use the spiritual gifts God has invested in them. For those who will show up to serve, who will overcome the desire to just drift along, there is joy in serving and making a difference in the world. When we stop making excuses for our failures and get serious with God about growing up spiritually, He gives us all the resources we need to live in a way that is godly and good! We still fail, but less often over time, as we mature in discernment. No, He doesn't clean up all of our messes. He doesn't do all the work for us. He doesn't let us pass off a 'half job' with a phony affirmation - "that's wonderful." He says, "train yourselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right."
Here's a promise to tak with you today. Ask the Spirit to help you to grow. Remember, the key is steady progress, not fits and starts every now and then. Here is God's promise to make our maturity, not only possible, but inevitable as we desire Him and His Spiritual Presence.
"As we know Jesus better, his divine power gives us everything we need for living a godly life. He has called us to receive his own glory and goodness! And by that same mighty power, he has given us all of his rich and wonderful promises. He has promised that you will escape the decadence all around you caused by evil desires and that you will share in his divine nature. So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life.
Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness. Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But those who fail to develop these virtues are blind or, at least, very shortsighted. They have already forgotten that God has cleansed them from their old life of sin.
So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Doing this, you will never stumble or fall away. And God will open wide the gates of heaven for you to enter into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2 Peter 1:3-11, NLT)
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