The Pathway of Spiritual Growth
God predestined us to grow into His likeness, but this doesn't happen at the moment we are saved. While we are redeemed by the Savior's precious blood and immediately have a new heart, our transformation is a lifelong process.
The Holy Spirit enables this journey. Growth is impossible without Him, regardless of our efforts. Yet we can welcome or hinder His transforming hand.
One way we give God willing access to our lives is by obeying this mandate in Romans 12:2: "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..."
Everyone chooses either a biblical or worldly philosophy as his or her source of truth--and that choice shapes the mind and spirit. Therefore, the Lord tells us to immerse our mind in Scripture, allowing Him to mold us into His beautiful image.
The Bible story about the Israelites wandering in the wilderness illustrates this principle. After saving them from Pharaoh's abuse, God did not bring them immediately to the Promised Land. The Lord knew doing so would bring sinful ways with them. Instead, He led them to the wilderness and gave the Ten Commandments. Only after they learned to obey and turn to almighty God were they ready for the next step.
The process of sanctification isn't always pleasant. In fact, it's often painful for us, just as it was for the Israelites. In God's amazing wisdom and love, however, He knows what we need to leave our old ways that lead to death. And He builds new character in us--full of life and joy.
~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~
_____________________________
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2)
Let any of our old man, whether of our old temper, our old way of judging, our old disposition, any of it come up at all, if we are children of God, we know quite well that at that point a barrier is set up and we cannot get past, we are held up in our spiritual life and we have to go back and have that thing cleared up. It is as real as any other thing in the universe to us. At that moment we stand still spiritually, and the flaming sword is across our path. There is no way for that here. Bring that here and you will be judged. You will meet the judgment of God. You will be broken. It is coming up against the fact that God finished with all that long ago and we have to accept God’s standpoint. When we have accepted it then the thing works out, it continually works out. We take that position, we accept the truth.
We cannot bring an actual end to the old creation ourselves, but we say in a positive way: "I reckon as God reckons." Well then we shall find as we go on that God, having put all that under death, death rests upon it and if ever it shows its head again, the sentence of death is met. If we begin to work for the Lord with our own natural strength we meet death and before long our natural strength will come under death. If we begin to use our natural judgment in the things of God we shall meet an arrest and before long we shall come to a deadlock, unable to get through. Anything which we bring of nature into the things of God will bring us up against – not some new issue, but the old issue – death which was made to rest upon the old creation. In so far as we move in the newness of Life, work by the Spirit of God, and walk after the Spirit, death is done away and we are in Life and we can go on and can get through, no matter how much there may be of handicap and weakness in nature, we can get through as we go on in the Spirit. "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and death." We are free!
By T. Austin-Sparks
_________________________
Distrust Yourself
For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing… Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Romans 7:7:18-19, 25
I do not trust myself to always make the best decisions. My pride and ego need checks and balances to protect me from myself. For example, I persuaded myself in the past to exclusively manage our very modest financial portfolio—it looked easy and fun. But the truth is: I am too emotionally invested to make the wisest investments. I need the objectivity and skill of an experienced financial planner. If I consistently make life decisions alone I will one day find myself sad and alone. A healthy distrust of myself leads to a healthier trust in God and people.
The apostle Paul (who wrote much of the New Testament) struggled to always do the right thing. Though he experienced salvation in Christ, his tendency to sin continued to pull him away from God’s control of his will. The flesh comes alive to pride, but is put to death by humble trust in Jesus. The more Paul matured as a Christian the more he felt the sting of sin and the sensitivity to quickly confess and repent. As a self proclaimed chief of sinners he felt the full extent of Almighty God’s abhorrence of sin. Since God delivers us by our Lord Jesus—sin is not to be our ruin!
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Corinthians 2:14).
Do you find yourself occasionally debating in your head between two competing thoughts? One argument convinces you to give in to the lust of the flesh—just this one time, while the other voice speaks softly and firmly of a self-restrained, Spirit-led process. You are set up for failure if you trust yourself to be alone with another person other than your spouse. You will be horrifically burned if you allow sexual smoldering to be extinguished outside of marriage. It is naive and reckless not to have behavioral boundaries. Distrust decisions made without wise counsel.
The tension of doing the disciplined wise thing rather than the expedient foolish thing never goes away—until heaven. It even intensifies the more you vie for a guileless heart toward God and others. Thus, stay immersed in Scripture. Soak your mind in truth until it saturates your soul. Confess your faults to friends who love you and will protect you from yourself. Listen to godly counsel, swallow your pride and do it. Learn to trust Christ alone. He alone knows your heart better than you know your own heart. Follow the Spirit’s lead. Distrust trusting yourself!
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want” (Galatians 5:16-17).
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I trust You to protect me from myself by Your humble wisdom.
Related Readings: 1 Samuel 2:3; Proverbs 16:1-3; Matthew 26:41; John6:33; Romans 8:6-9
~Wisdom Hunters Devotional~
_______________________________
I do not trust myself to always make the best decisions. My pride and ego need checks and balances to protect me from myself. For example, I persuaded myself in the past to exclusively manage our very modest financial portfolio—it looked easy and fun. But the truth is: I am too emotionally invested to make the wisest investments. I need the objectivity and skill of an experienced financial planner. If I consistently make life decisions alone I will one day find myself sad and alone. A healthy distrust of myself leads to a healthier trust in God and people.
The apostle Paul (who wrote much of the New Testament) struggled to always do the right thing. Though he experienced salvation in Christ, his tendency to sin continued to pull him away from God’s control of his will. The flesh comes alive to pride, but is put to death by humble trust in Jesus. The more Paul matured as a Christian the more he felt the sting of sin and the sensitivity to quickly confess and repent. As a self proclaimed chief of sinners he felt the full extent of Almighty God’s abhorrence of sin. Since God delivers us by our Lord Jesus—sin is not to be our ruin!
“But thanks be to God, who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere” (2 Corinthians 2:14).
Do you find yourself occasionally debating in your head between two competing thoughts? One argument convinces you to give in to the lust of the flesh—just this one time, while the other voice speaks softly and firmly of a self-restrained, Spirit-led process. You are set up for failure if you trust yourself to be alone with another person other than your spouse. You will be horrifically burned if you allow sexual smoldering to be extinguished outside of marriage. It is naive and reckless not to have behavioral boundaries. Distrust decisions made without wise counsel.
The tension of doing the disciplined wise thing rather than the expedient foolish thing never goes away—until heaven. It even intensifies the more you vie for a guileless heart toward God and others. Thus, stay immersed in Scripture. Soak your mind in truth until it saturates your soul. Confess your faults to friends who love you and will protect you from yourself. Listen to godly counsel, swallow your pride and do it. Learn to trust Christ alone. He alone knows your heart better than you know your own heart. Follow the Spirit’s lead. Distrust trusting yourself!
“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want” (Galatians 5:16-17).
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I trust You to protect me from myself by Your humble wisdom.
Related Readings: 1 Samuel 2:3; Proverbs 16:1-3; Matthew 26:41; John6:33; Romans 8:6-9
~Wisdom Hunters Devotional~
_______________________________
What God Would Rather Do
BIBLE MEDITATION:
“The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.”Jeremiah 18:7-8
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
In this passage, God is not just talking about the nation Israel. He’s talking about nations in general. God says, “When I get ready to judge a nation, if that nation will repent, then I will turn from the judgment that I had determined to send upon that nation.”
Let me tell you something about the great heart of our God: God is a God of righteousness, judgment, and justice, but God had rather show mercy than send judgment.
America is ripe for judgment. God says, “When I get ready to judge a nation, if that nation will repent, then I will turn from the judgment that I had determined to send upon that nation.” We are in the eleventh hour, the clock is about to strike midnight, and we need to pray, “Oh God, hold back Your hand of judgment upon America.”
“If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
ACTION POINT:
A church steeple is something that is supposed to point us to God. Have you ever noticed that the closer the steeple gets to the top, the smaller it gets? The closer we get to God, the more we realize how insignificant and sinful we are. This is not a time for finger-pointing in America. This is a time for repentance of personal sin. I’m talking about the people in the pew. The Bible says the time has come that judgment begin at the house of God.
“The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it.”Jeremiah 18:7-8
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT:
In this passage, God is not just talking about the nation Israel. He’s talking about nations in general. God says, “When I get ready to judge a nation, if that nation will repent, then I will turn from the judgment that I had determined to send upon that nation.”
Let me tell you something about the great heart of our God: God is a God of righteousness, judgment, and justice, but God had rather show mercy than send judgment.
America is ripe for judgment. God says, “When I get ready to judge a nation, if that nation will repent, then I will turn from the judgment that I had determined to send upon that nation.” We are in the eleventh hour, the clock is about to strike midnight, and we need to pray, “Oh God, hold back Your hand of judgment upon America.”
“If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)
ACTION POINT:
A church steeple is something that is supposed to point us to God. Have you ever noticed that the closer the steeple gets to the top, the smaller it gets? The closer we get to God, the more we realize how insignificant and sinful we are. This is not a time for finger-pointing in America. This is a time for repentance of personal sin. I’m talking about the people in the pew. The Bible says the time has come that judgment begin at the house of God.
~Adrian Rogers~
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.