Category Archives: Our Spiritual Process

The Process of Spiritual Growth

08 Thursday Sep 2011

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Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” 6 This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do.  John 6:5-6

      On many occasions Jesus sat down in front of His followers and taught them like many of the other rabbi’s who preceeded Him.  But for those who were called His disciples, Jesus did far more than teach.  They willingly entered into a process which Jesus used to grow believers.  There is a difference between a superficial follower of Christ and a disciple.  Which camp do you consider yourself to be in today?  Notice that only those closest to Jesus were tested! 

     All of life is a process.  A plant cannot grow unless it is first placed in good soil, watered, and given ample sunlight.  A child will not mature correctly unless he/she is nurtured, fed, and loved.  Are Christians any different? 

       Why do Christian’s believe that being a follower of Christ is different?  Most do not really believe God has them in a process.  If they do believe in a process, they cannot describe the steps and stages of growth.  Unfortunately, most simply believe spiritual growth happens automatically through osmosis.  This is precisely the reason they do not grow and mature. 

      The truth is the Lord uses a process to grow us into the image of Jesus Christ.  When we understand His process, we can cooperate with Him.  In John 6:1-14, we can see the three-fold process the Lord uses over and over again to create growth in our lives.  The Lord is always testing us, strengthening us, and feeding us.  This cycle is endless as we (disciples) constantly move from one stage to the next and eventually back to start over again in the next process.  The question is whether we are cooperating or resisting His efforts.  Join me in the next few days as we examine this process.

Top Ten Ways To Know You’re Growing In The Lord (V)

07 Wednesday Sep 2011

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      This is final installment of  ways to know you are growing.  We will be discussing the top two indicators. 

      9.  More Silence In Your Prayer Time!  Good friends enjoy silence with each other.  Because their relationship is matured, they don’t feel the need to fill the vacuum of silence with chatter.  I have even had the Lord tell me, “you talk too much.”  Ouch!  Suffice it to say, I have had to learn that prayer is more than just talking to God.  Prayer involves a deeper level of intimacy that mere words dare to tread. 

      Someone asked Mother Teresa one time, “You pray hours a day.  What do you talk about all that time?”  She said, “Mostly, I just listen.”  This simple answer was puzzling to the questioner.  He further inquired, “You listen to God?  What does He say?”  She answered, “Mostly He just listens too.” 

     Have you learned to enjoy and appreciate the comfort and presence of the Lord?  Or…does your prayer time have to be filled with words all the time?  I believe Jesus knew how to enjoy the presence of His Father.  He knew heaven’s discourse, how to ask and receive from the Father. 

      10. Unceasing Prayer!  When asked how long you pray each day, you should have no idea.  The scriptures exhort us to “pray without ceasing” (I Thessalonians 5:17) and to “pray always.” (Ephesians 6:18)   It is imperative all believers have quiet times with the Lord.  The problem is we have a tendency to “lock” God out of the rest of the day.  We relegate prayer to that “special time” with God we set aside each day.  Our quiet moments with the Lord are not meant to be the end all, but should set the tone for the rest of our day. 

      I am amused by polls that reveal the average Christian prays about 45 minutes a day.  This means many believers are not praying at all.  Wow!  If you are truly growing in the Lord, you have grown way past this point.  Those who desire to mature in the Lord know that constant prayer changes everything, including themselves.  Make it your goal to stay connected to the Lord 24/7.

Top Ten Ways To Know You’re Growing In The Lord (IV)

06 Tuesday Sep 2011

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      We are continuing to examine the top ten ways to know you’re growing.  This is the fourth installment. 

      7.  A New Generosity!  Since God gives and gives of Himself, we are just being like Him when we give.  As we grow in Him our level of generosity is raised to new levels.  Where we place our money, time, resources, and energy reveals where our heart is.   The Lord wants all His children to become “cheerful givers.” 

      Jesus spent a lot of time speaking to the “internal” issues of a person’s life.  Giving is an external demonstration of an internal conviction.  The Lord doesn’t want us to just go through the motions of giving to others.  He wants us to be blessed by the process as well.  The more we receive from heaven, the more we will be able to give of our own resources, as well as heaven’s.  Is there an open channel from heaven to you and then to others? 

      8.  Joy In Anonymous Acts!  It is said of Jesus that “He went about doing good”  (Acts 10:38)  The growing believer will leave a trail of blessed people in his/her wake.  Have you found the joy of giving without expecting anything in return?  Our real blessings come when we never demand or expect anything in return. 

      Where we give is important to people.  How we give is important to the Lord and indicates if we are really maturing in Him.  If you struggle keeping your acts of righteousness off the radar, then you need work in this area.  Jesus encouraged people to pray and give in secret.  (see Matthew 6:3-4)   Most of our prayer for others should be anonymous.  If you feel the need to keep reminding people how much you are praying for them, then it may indicate your lack of faith and confidence in the power of prayer and the Lord.  Have you learned to pray anonymously and leave the results to the Lord?  Praying and giving the way Jesus prescribed can change your life!

Top Ten Ways To Know You’re Growing In The Lord (III)

01 Thursday Sep 2011

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      We are continuing to examine the top ten indicators that signify if we are growing in the Lord.  So far we have examined our change of appetites, gaining a disgust for shameful activities, love for the believer, and possessing peace.  Now we are going to examine two additional traits of a growing believer.

       5.  Possessing Strange Patience!  Do you remember when crazy drivers, unloving people, and ungodly conditions found in the world upset you?   Sorry, maybe there is still some work to do here.  Patience appears strange to many because it is rare to see it at work in people’s lives.  Patience is a virtue and a fruit of the Holy Spirit.  Those growing in the Lord will possess this virtue because the Lord uses it in a mighty way for Kingdom advancement.  

      When we are patient and longsuffering like the Lord, we are able to minister to people who are currently displeasing to God.  Like the Lord, we are able to love the unloving.  Patience gives us “God’s Capacity” for people to meet people’s needs in the worst of circumstances.  This explains how believers can serve the Lord in homeless shelters, jails/prisons, and in other mission centers in the roughest of neighborhoods.  Is your patience growing or shrinking?  Allow the Lord to increase your capacity for Kingdom work. 

       6. Full of Joy!  Jesus said, “This is my commandment that you love one another, that your joy may be full.” (John 15 )  Many people (both believers and non-believers) have created an overbearing portrait of Jesus.  They view Him as a stern, grave, and serious figure.  Yet every picture the Bible gives us of the Lord is one of joy, laughter, and contentment.  For the growing believer, it is imperative to possess the correct picture of the Lord.  Why?  Because, “As He is, so are we in this world.”  (I John 4:17) 

      Finding joy and possessing joy on a daily basis gives us the inner strength we need.  “The joy of the Lord is our strength.”  (Nehemiah 8:10 )  Our inner strength doesn’t come from ourselves.  Real inner confidence comes from knowing the Lord and receiving constant revelation from heaven.  When we start looking to the Lord and worshiping Him in all circumstances…”the joy of the Lord becomes our strength.”  How about you?  Is your spiritual inner core stronger today than last year?

Top Ten Ways To Know You’re Growing In The Lord (II)

31 Wednesday Aug 2011

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      We are continuing to examine the top ten indicators that signify if we are growing in the Lord.  So far we have examined our change of appetites and gaining a disgust for shameful activities.  Now we are going to examine two positive indicators we should possess. 

      3.  A Genuine Love For Other believers!  Jesus emphatically told His disciples on several occasions, “By this shall all men know that you are My disciples if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)  Jesus didn’t say if they went to church, read their Bible, witnessed effectively, or grew in numbers, then people would know they were His disciples.  No, Jesus said that the world at-large would know real believers by their love for one another. 

      The principle here is simple: the closer we are to Christ, the more we will love His people.  Conversely, the further we stray from Christ, the less concern we have for other believers and the more critical we will become of them.  In short, if we love Christ, we will love His people.  If we love the world, we will despise His people.  This is one of Jesus’ main markers to indicate whether we are truly growing in the Lord.  How are you doing in this area? 

      4.  Possessing Unusual Peace and Quietness!  With the recent upheavals in the economy, political arena, and in the natural world, it is a wonder that anyone could walk in tranquility.  The growing believer can!  There are numerous “peace” verse in the Bible.  This is for a good reason.  We need them! 

  • “For God is not a God of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints.”  (I Corinthians 14:32-34)
  • “And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your minds and hearts in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-8)

      If you are growing in the Lord, His peace is your rudder.  His peace is supposed to be guiding, guarding, and steadying your walk in this world.  It is our lack of understanding and possessing the Lord’s peace in our hearts that keeps us from receiving real revelation from the Lord about futuristic events.  As Jack once said, “You can’t handle the truth.”  The reason we can’t handle the truth is because the Lord’s peace is not fully installed in our life.  This is why there was such a glaring distinction between Jesus and His disciples when they faced storms, demons, death, and other problems.  Jesus possessed peace, they didn’t.  Grow in the peace of God today!  The Lord will lead you to places you never thought you could go. 

 

Top Ten Ways To Know You’re Growing In The Lord

30 Tuesday Aug 2011

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       Are you growing up in the Lord?  It’s not like you can stand in the doorway of God’s kitchen and let Him measure your height and make a notch on the door frame.  But there should be indicators that we are growing strong in the Lord.  I am not talking about church attendance or regular Bible reading.  Hopefully you have those things under control. 

     Follow in the next few devotionals and examine yourself to determine if you are truly growing. 

  1.  Your Appetite Changes!  Tastes for certain types of material and activities should leave your system and be replaced with a Godly appetites.  Job said, “I have esteemed the words of Thy mouth more than my necessary food.”  (Job 23:12)  If you struggle in this area, ask the Lord to change your appetite.  Once you move away from worldly junk food and begin treasuring the revelational words from heaven, your appetites will change. 
  2. You Become Disgusted With The Shameful!  The more you become like Christ (this is God’s plan for every believer) the more you will find yourself turning away in disgust at activities that once fascinated you.  There  is no need to list a bunch of activities to illustrate what is shameful.  Paul wrote that before we met Christ we were enemies with God and our “god was our belly and whose glory was in our shame.”  Now that we are His children, He gives us a “shame meter.”  The world doesn’t possess this type of shame meter, but the believer is given a strong sense of right and wrong.  We know we are growing up in the Lord when this shame meter speaks to us with clarity.      

      Remember, the Lord is not expecting you to inflict your appetite and shame meter on other believers.   These first two changes are internal transformations within you.  They are a part of the Lord’s “salt and light” program and reveal that we are His children.

Guide You In All Truth

22 Monday Aug 2011

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But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.  John 16:13

      Have you ever traveled anywhere using GPS?  Insert your own joke here.  In reality, we as a society have had to grow accustomed to having a computer voice telling us our next turn.  Now that we have gotten used to the idea of using them, we have gotten better at using them.  We know when they will be reliable and when it might be better simply following the signs.  The point is that a GPS is only as good as the maps inside. 

       The Holy Spirit works on our behalf like a GPS in this fashion.  He speaks to us and gives us directional information from heaven’s perspective.  If we fail to follow His directions, it is not His fault.  He cannot make our turns or coerce us to choose correctly.  His job is to speak what He hears from heaven.  Our job is to listen.  Just like it doesn’t make good sense to yell back to the GPS, it doesn’t do any good to be in disagreement with the Holy Spirit.  He is our Guide, not our consultant.  When we choose to treat Him as a consultant, He simply stops speaking. 

      Jesus was trying to convince His disciples of the benefits and advantages of trusting the Holy Spirit.  Jesus trusted the Spirit’s guidance and so should you.  If we can learn to trust and use a man-made GPS, we can learn to trust and use God’s spiritual GPS, the Holy Spirit.  His maps and guidance of our spiritual journey are not incomplete, but perfect.  The Holy Spirit’s mandate is to guide us in all truth.  Are you taking advantage of His wisdom and trusting Him with your future?

How’s Your Ride?

09 Tuesday Aug 2011

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Jesus said, “I must journey on today and tomorrow and the next day; for it cannot be that a prophet would perish outside of Jerusalem.”  Luke 13:33

      It may surprise you, but from Heaven’s perspective you have spiritual transportation.  God views His children moving along, spiritually speaking, at certain speeds and conditions.  In order to communicate this, the Lord gives us a snap-shots of our current vehicle. Here is a short list of some of the ways the Lord has spoken to believers about their rides. 

  • Crawling, walking, running
  • Tricycle, bicycle, scooter, motorcycle
  • Sportscar, minivan
  • Hummer, RV, bus,
  • Plane, rocket  

      All of these are snapshots of how you are progressing or possibly regressing in your spiritual journey.  Obviously, moving in a car is better than walking.  Remember, the Lord wants us to know how we are progressing.  So, how is your ride?  Right now would be a great time to ask the Lord for a status update! 

      In this passage, the religious leaders were seeking to interrupt Jesus’ progress by claiming Herod was out to kill Him.  Jesus would have none of their interference.  How could He be so confident?  Jesus knew His destination and how He was going to get there.  Herod was not a part of the Father’s plan.  If Jesus had this confidence, so can we. 

     Today, ask the Father to give you a picture of your destiny and future.  Catch a vision of your destination and the spiritual transportation the Lord desires you to possess.  It just may change your life! 

     

Moving From Servants to Sons

08 Monday Aug 2011

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No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:15

      It is the Father’s heart for all believers to be sons and daughters inside and out.  When we first come into the Kingdom, we arrive as servants.  Practically speaking, this is how the Lord interacts with us.  We are told what to do, when to do it, and how to do it.  This is best until our adoption as sons and daughters is complete.  This process takes years as the word of the Lord effectually changes us from our inner man out. 

       Eventually, if we stay in our process, we graduate into full sonship.  The line between the Lord interacting with us as servants or sons is not easily defined.  As we grow in Him, there will be some areas in which we thrive in growth.  There will be some areas in which we struggle to grow.  Regardless of where you are, stay in the process! 

      How about you, where are you on the road to sonship?  Does the Father interact with you more as a servant or friend?  It is imperative we locate those areas that need attention.  Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a picture of where you actually are on the road to sonship.

The Strait Gate

05 Friday Aug 2011

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And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.”  Luke 13:23-24

      This verse highlights the truth of all ministry, including Jesus’.  When it is all said and done only a few want transformative salvation.  The crowds following Jesus were described as “throngs, myriads and multitudes.”  But in the end, “just a few” gave themselves to become true disciples.  Why?  Better yet, are you in the process of being saved or are you simply an observer from afar who never gets too close to the Lord?  Another way of asking this question is to use Jesus’ words, “Have you found the narrow path or the strait gate?” 

      Odd that Jesus puts the onus upon us to find and enter the narrow doorway.  Strive here is our English word for agonize.  Why would the Lord tell us we have to struggle and fight to enter into heaven?  It would appear we are missing something here! 

      Until we pass from this life, we will always battle our flesh and the ways of the world.  The natural way of life is to take the path of least resistance.  If we follow the path of least resistance we will never battle our flesh or agonize to enter the narrow door.  Jesus is asserting that those who follow Him will always be swimming upstream against the current.  This is why the way of righteousness is narrow and difficult. 

       Also, the rest of the world is taking the wide and easy road.  It is relatively easy to fall-in-line with everyone else, drift down the path, and forget the Lord’s directives. 

      The devil and his minions want you to miss the strait way as well.  He sets up roadblocks, provides hindrances and temptations all along life’s paths.  He is great at getting people sidetracked before they reach their destination. 

      Finding the strait way and entering the narrow door is a battle.  Have you had to fight to stay on the narrow path lately?  If not, you should.  It’s best to discover which path you’re on now before it’s too late to do anything about it! 

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