Formula for Personal Growth
Growing in Christ involves far more than just attending church, tithing, and listening to a sermon. In fact, many believers do these yet remain stagnant in their walk. There are two elements necessary for us to become more like Jesus: instruction and involvement.
The first of these, learning truth, is vital to a healthy walk with God. Our Savior proved the importance of instruction by devoting much of His time on earth to it. The apostle Paul is another example, as he wrote letters to educate Christians about godliness.
So how can we gain knowledge and understanding? One of the most important and effective ways is to read the Word of God. Scripture instructs us that just as newborns crave milk, we are to desire His Word so that we might grow. I pray your spiritual thirst will become insatiable.
Yet simply listening to the truth does not mean that we've acquired it. I know many people who love attending Bible studies and expanding their knowledge base, but their lives remain unchanged. Just as today's passage teaches, we have to apply the Word to our lives. Even so, actual growth requires more than merely inputting information. It requires action.James 2:26 states, "For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead."
Are we careless hearers, deceived into thinking that we're growing? Or are we listening intently and abiding in the truth? If we're truly maturing, our lives will be increasingly Christlike, and our desires will align more closely with God's heart. Make sure that you are listening and responding to His truth.
~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~
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The Vital Sign of Pride
Pride and self-sufficiency are unmistakable signs of a heart that is in desperate need of reviving. Isaiah 57:15tells us,
For thus says the High and Lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones."
To have a contrite heart literally means you break easily. Even at the thought of grieving God's Spirit you break and repent very quickly. It means you walk softly in your heart before God.
God says He will revive those with a humble spirit and a contrite heart. But one of the great dangers among Christians today--especially for those living in the western world with all of its abundance--is a belief that we don't need anything.
More than ever we need to read the words of Jesus in Revelation 3:17,
"Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing'--and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked."
How can you be miserable and naked and not know it? It's obvious that Jesus is speaking of their inward, spiritual condition. Apparently, their outward wealth blinded them to their inward poverty. They fell into the trap of pride, which is one of the inherent dangers that comes with prosperity. As Christians living in a very prosperous western world, we need to heed this word!
At Disneyland there is a ride with cool little cars. I remember once seeing a little boy on the ride with his dad, and his feet didn't even reach the pedals! But Junior thought he was driving, oblivious to the fact that Daddy was actually driving the car and making it go.
We need to remember that our feet don't even reach the pedals, and that Daddy, our God, is the One who makes this thing go. We need to maintain a humble heart.
~Bayless Conley~
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Today's Thoughts: Step into New Land
Now the Lord had said to Abram: "Get out of your country, From your family And from your father's house, To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother's son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. - Genesis 12:1-5
The Lord called Abram out. He told him to leave his country, not just his home, but his country. God told Abram to leave his family and head towards a new land. Can we begin to imagine how Abram must have felt? I wonder if his family thought he was crazy. Let's see now--you are going to leave your home, family, country and head to a land that you have not seen yet? Abram did leave his home and country behind and went as the Lord directed him. Abram was a man of great faith. He believed in the promises of God and it was accounted to him as righteousness.
In the New Testament, Jesus told his disciples a similar message when he said, "Follow Me." To follow Jesus meant leaving everything else behind, including homes and families. Some did and some did not. The same is true today. How many of us are truly willing to forsake all for the gospel of Jesus Christ? Do we really have to go to such extremes in this day and age? In our hearts, we must answer those questions. Despite our behaviors and outward appearances, God knows our hearts. If we are willing to surrender all to Jesus, the Lord will do the rest.
Think upon these verses today. Maybe God has a new land that awaits you. Without a doubt, God has blessings planned for your life, planned from before you were born. Are you willing to step out of your comfort zone? If so, this could be the step that changes your life in amazing ways.
~Daily Disciples Devotional~
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A Clean Heart
Reaching our full potential begins with a clean heart--one that loves the Lord and desires to obey Him. However, each of us was born with a nature bent away from God. Jeremiah 17:9describes the heart as deceitful and inclined towards wickedness. Pleasing self is man’s normal state.
Salvation changed our hearts and lives. Jesus’ death on the cross paid the penalty for our sin and broke its power over us. By receiving Christ as Savior, we each became a new creation--with a heart sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s leading and a mind that strongly desires to know the Father better. We also received the Spirit’s power to deny our selfish desires and obey God. With clean hearts, we can begin to realize the capabilities our loving Lord has given us.
The best way to maintain a clean heart is by meditating on Scripture. It acts like a mirror in which we see ourselves as God does. Through it, we discover the areas where we have been faithful and also the places where we’ve veered from His path. Expressing genuine repentance brings God’s forgiveness and cleansing (1 John 1:9).
The heart represents the seat of our mind, will, and emotions. When we strive to keep it pure, we will more easily discern the Lord’s plan, submit our will to His, and follow Him obediently.
Becoming the person God planned for each of us to be requires an intimate relationship with Him and a desire to obey His Word. Apart from Jesus, we can’t achieve anything of lasting value (John 15:5). Cooperating with the Holy Spirit’s transforming work will help us keep our hearts clean.
~Dr. Charles F. Stanley~
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Refreshing Sleep
"So He giveth His beloved sleep" (Psalm 127:2).
Ours is not a life of anxious care but of happy faith. Our heavenly Father will supply the wants of His own children, and He knoweth what we have need of before we ask Him. We may therefore go to our beds at the proper hour and not wear ourselves out by sitting up late to plot, and plan, and contrive. If we have learned to rely upon our God, we shall not lie awake with fear gnawing at our hearts; but we shall leave our care with the LORD, our meditation of Him shall be sweet, and He will give us refreshing sleep.
To be the LORD's beloved is the highest possible honor, and he who has it may feel that ambition itself could desire no more, and therefore every selfish wish may go to sleep. What more is there even in heaven than the love of God? Rest, then, O soul, for thou hast all things. Yet we toss to and fro unless the LORD Himself gives us not only the reasons for rest but rest itself. Yea, He doth this. Jesus Himself is our peace, our rest, our all, On His bosom we sleep in perfect security, both in life and in death.
Sprinkled afresh with pardoning blood,
I lay me down to rest
As in the embraces of my God,
Or on my Saviour's breast.
~Charles Spurgeon~
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