Growing up

 

Theologians and mature Christians often point out stages in spiritual growth. Those recently saved are in a “honeymoon” phase, then as they grow, they begin to see the challenges and start to feel inadequate and helpless as they learn to rely on Christ for everything. These experiences are part of growing to be more like Jesus. John wrote a brief description comparing the process to physical growth:

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. (1 John 2:13–14)

He summarizes those stages as the realities experienced: forgiveness, fellowship with God, and victory over the evil one. MacArthur suggests that mature spiritual fathers have a deep relationship with God that comes from prolonged time in prayer and the Word. He says many Christians struggle with spiritual defeat or recurring sins because they haven’t learned to apply Biblical principles to specific situations. This could stem from several things, yet Paul did say:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

However, he also prayed for spiritual maturity:

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9–11)

Jesus gave us a pattern of how to resist the enemy by quoting specific portions of Scripture that applied to specific temptations. (See Matthew 4:1–11). He knew the Word, believed it, and refused to compromise its principles setting a pattern for us to follow. I know that when I fall, it is because I’ve either forgotten or neglected to use Scripture to settle the issues tempting me.

This instruction is also in the OT. The psalmist wrote:

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you. (Psalm 119:9–11)

When the Lord came, He created a body of believers, a community for our growth described this way:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Ephesians 4:11–16)

Spiritual growth happens through paying attention to the direction of others that God gives as teachers and examples, through seeking unity and the knowledge of Christ and desiring to be like Him. I’m to discern truth, speak truth in love, and deeply care and pray for unity in the Body of Christ so we are building up one another and growing as we each do what God assigns us to do. In other words, seek the will of God, do it whatever He asks and trusting Him with the results as I encourage others to do the same.

Obedience is vital to growing up in Christ: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.” (1 John 3:2–3)

PRAY: Jesus, I can see how loving You means always wanting to know You more, to discover Your thoughts and heart and to agree with You in every way, showing it by obedience. It also means to grow in an intense love for Your people and in the desire to be one with them so You are glorified. This means knowing Your Word and doing what it says. Increase my hunger for it and for being more like You.

PONDER: the simplicity of Psalm 119:11. I must read what You say and store those truths in my inmost being that I might not sin against You, but also so Your Word teaches me what I should be doing instead of living selfishly for my own glory.

 

 

The power of the Sword

My hubby and I both have e-readers. With access to the same account, we can be reading the same book at the same time, and reading anywhere, including in the dark. We can check books out of our library and they are automatically returned in three weeks.

Writers and publishers wonder if electronics will replace books made of paper and ink. Christian leaders are also wondering but for different reasons. In our church of 500 or so, Scriptures projected on the wall and on the screens of smart phones mean that almost no one carries a Bible.

One Sunday, I helped in a class of three and four-year-olds whose topic that day was the value of the Word of God, but there were no Bibles in the room except mine. The story teller was forced to ‘pretend’ as she read a child’s version of the Bible story from a curriculum guide.

During the time just before the Israelites were taken captive into Babylon, the prophets rebuked them for their disobedience to God’s Word. They had it, but were ignoring it. The Lord said to them, “Behold, the days are coming when I will send a famine on the land — not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord. They shall wander from sea to sea, and from north to east; they shall run to and fro, to seek the word of the Lord, but they shall not find it.” (Amos 8:11–12)

God’s people rejected this warning from Amos and went into exile where there was no word from the Lord at all. Its absence left a great gaping hole in their lives, and they realized God’s revelation to them had been their most precious possession.

The psalms begin with this: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.” (Psalm 1:1–2)

Psalm 119 particularly lifts up the Word of God as precious in verses like these:

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

“Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law.” (Psalm 119:18)

“How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” (Psalm 119:9–11)

Scripture had been valued, but by repeatedly rejecting God’s word, it was suddenly absent. At first, this severe judgment came to the priests, but eventually to the people as a whole for the same sin.

Jesus shows me one huge reason for needing Scripture. When tempted by Satan, He answered with the Word of God. He said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4) The Word of God is the very source of spiritual life. We need it for renewal, guidance, and to feed our souls.

It is also vital in fighting the Liar, as Jesus did. Regarding my spiritual battles, I must wear the armor God gives for protection, and use my weapon, “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17).

Of course, this sword can be read from a screen, but there is something ominous when so many Christians are not carrying the book. Does it indicate we are not reading it as much as we used to? Have we lost familiarity with its pages, where to find the cutting edge needed in our spiritual battles?

Maybe some do not read it because this sword works two ways. “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Hebrews 4:12)

God’s Word drives the Liar from us, but also exposes those things in us that inclined our hearts to listen to our enemy instead of God. While learning all about my sinfulness is not exactly a pleasure, I know the spiritual danger if I decided not to read the Bible. Without God’s Word, I’d wind up in exile, held captive in a foreign place where I’d hunger for what I once had but not be able to find it.