Growing in Grace
"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen (2 Peter 3:18)."
When Jesus saves you, this happens one time. He places His Spirit within you and gives you a new heart. Over time, as you hear the word preached and meditate on it, you begin to grow in your knowledge and your walk with God. This does not happen overnight. It is a continual process. In the beginning, you are like a little baby who craves "pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good (1 Peter 2:2)." What is the "pure spiritual milk Paul is referring to here?" It is simply God's word. In order to grow spiritually, you must stay in God's word. It is imperative that you do this on a regular basis. If not, you will fall. There are so many things that contradict God's word and if you are not grounded in the truth, you will begin to conform to the pattern of this world.
Every day you either feed your flesh or you feed your spirit. You do this by the things you watch, the music you listen to, the thoughts you entertain and the people you are around. You are in the world but you are not to be of the world. "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the Father, but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:15-17)." Be very careful what you watch, what you read and the people you listen to....all of which influence you one way or another. You may think, what is the big deal? Well, it is a big deal, because all of this information enters your mind and heart and will determine your choices. "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-His good, pleasing and perfect will (Romans 12:2)."
You will not grow in Christ, if you are not spending time with Him, praying and listening to His voice. You will not grow in Him if you are not purposefully reading and meditating on His word and filling your mind with His truth. If you aren't already doing so, set aside time each day to study the word of God. Make the choice that you are going to do this, even if you start with ten or fifteen minutes each day. Tune out all distractions and focus on the Lord Jesus. satan will try to convince you that you do not have the time. He loves it when we are so busy that we don't make time for God.
Let the Holy Spirit guide and control you. This is definitely a battle as our flesh craves worldly desires while our spirit craves the things of God. We must die to self or in other words, put away or put to death the things our flesh desires and set our minds on what the Spirit desires. "Therefore brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. for if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit, you put o death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Romans 8:12-14)."
Christ died to set us free-free from this body of death-free to live the life we were called to live. By His blood, He has cleansed us from all sin. He has broken all of our chains so that we no longer walk in fear or bondage. Jesus didn't call us home the moment He saved us, why? I know without any doubt we are still here to point others to Christ-to share the hope that we have. He wants our lives to be a living testimony of His goodness and mercy.
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:3-8)."
You will not grow in Christ, if you are not spending time with Him, praying and listening to His voice. You will not grow in Him if you are not purposefully reading and meditating on His word and filling your mind with His truth. If you aren't already doing so, set aside time each day to study the word of God. Make the choice that you are going to do this, even if you start with ten or fifteen minutes each day. Tune out all distractions and focus on the Lord Jesus. satan will try to convince you that you do not have the time. He loves it when we are so busy that we don't make time for God.
Let the Holy Spirit guide and control you. This is definitely a battle as our flesh craves worldly desires while our spirit craves the things of God. We must die to self or in other words, put away or put to death the things our flesh desires and set our minds on what the Spirit desires. "Therefore brothers, we have an obligation-but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. for if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit, you put o death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Romans 8:12-14)."
Christ died to set us free-free from this body of death-free to live the life we were called to live. By His blood, He has cleansed us from all sin. He has broken all of our chains so that we no longer walk in fear or bondage. Jesus didn't call us home the moment He saved us, why? I know without any doubt we are still here to point others to Christ-to share the hope that we have. He wants our lives to be a living testimony of His goodness and mercy.
"His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge, and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:3-8)."
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