Spiritual Maturity (Part 2)

Exercising our faith muscle.... where to begin?  Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 9:8, "and God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work."  Here Paul is writing about giving.  We know that giving includes our time and attention, not just our wallets and supplies, right?  Let's see:

• God gives us our faith muscle, our measure of faith  (Romans 12:3),
• God gives us grace so that we have all we need to abound in every good work (2Cor. 9:8),
• in God we move and breathe and have our be-ing (Acts 17:28), and
• anything we ask, believing, we'll receive (Matthew 21:22) to name a few;

are guarantees that we receive in Christ.  We already have all we need to be assured that we can grow in faith.  The kicker is:  growing our faith is WORK!
Now there's a concept! 
Remember the parable of the sower?  I think our struggle with faith is worst hit when we resemble the seed that fell among the thorns:  "The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature."  (Luke 8:14 NIV)  Unlike the those who fall away from the path without being saved, or those who hear but do not take root and fall away; those of us who have come to know and love the Lord but also have heavy investment in our life here on earth (and don't we all?), can get distracted by that investment and not grow.  You see, faith/ spiritual maturity takes time and effort.  We aren't magically zapped with growth.  Growth takes intentional time and work.
Our Pastor recently expounded on Webster's definition of maturity ("a psychological term used to indicate that a person responds to the circumstances or environment around them in an appropriate manner.  This response is learned rather than instinctual, and is not determined by one's age") to say that spiritual maturity is "a Christian/follower of Christ who responds Biblically to the circumstances, environment and spiritual battles around them in an apropriate Biblical manner that brings honor to God and His kingdom.  This response, as well, would be learned and would not be instinctual.  Nor would it be determined by one's age."  Maturing in faith takes work!
Work involves sacrifice of time and attention that we could be investing in other things:  tv, internet, computer games (uh oh, guilty me!) hanging out with friends, continuous overtime at work, taking the lead in every sport available, compulsive exercise/eating/sleeping.... and the list goes on. 
    Scripture study and prayer take time: intentional, devoted, meditative, quiet time.  Attending a Bible study means commitment to a time and other people.  Worshipping and studying with others means a lot of grace and forgiveness and compassion towards them, accepting differences and remembering WHO is at the center.  It's all work!  But, it GROWS us to be of greater useful service to the Lord.  Doesn't that make it worth it all?  Not to forget that is pleases the Lord.  It also gives us more confidence in our walk with the Lord. 
Putting this down in writing has helped me, I hope it's helpful to you.  May God bless each of us in our exercise of our faith muscle!

Waiting.....

This morning, I'm on the 46th day of my study in Beth Moore's DAVID: 90 Days with a Heart Like His.  Today's lesson she titled, "Reasons to Wait" and addresses 2Samuel 7:1-16.  You know the story: David looks around and sees how successful that God has made him and wants to build God a grand house in return.  But, God has that planned for David's son, Solomon. 
     Ms. Moore's first question for thought is "Why do you think God has built the act of waiting into the human experience?"  My initial response is that God Himself is waiting for the people and circumstances to come together at the same time for the best (the good) of all who trust Him (and potentially, for all of those who don't).  I also believe that the act of waiting in itself, although frustrating at times, helps to grow us in ways we wouldn't have otherwise. 
     My ready answers are what my "head" knows and what I believe in my heart too.  My heart, however, can believe more than one thing at a time sometimes.  While trusting God, I'm also believing I should be working/doing on my great idea too.  David's idea was a great one!  Imagine then being told that your child will do it instead.  There's some pride in that of course, but simply letting go of the idea?  That's hard to do!  I don't know about you, but I like to have some say so about things, some control, some input.  Entrusting things to God, Yes.  Entrusting my idea to someone else?  Ick! 
     Ms. Moore writes: "God can entrust a vision or an idea to us that may be ours to pray about and prepare for but never to participate in directly."  That helps.  Praying is good.  I can do that.  Jesus says in John 14:13 "And whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son."  Matthew 21:22 "And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive."
There ya go.... I can do that!  We can each do that.  Love you all!

Spiritual Maturity (Part 1)

Hello Everyone! It looks like I'm getting to this about once a week. I certainly appreciate your comments, please keep them coming!

I've been thinking about the many reasons that, as Christians, we might worry about our salvation. Some of the things that have impacted me over the years include:
... not spending time praying...not spending time reading and studying my Bible... not knowing "enough" scripture...not being forgiving...not DOING enough for the Lord... being stuck in a bad habit...not doing enough for others...not being like???(a fellow Christian who seems to have it all together for the Lord)...being or having been too sinful.... not attending a church or attending irregularly..... or, you name it.

There are MANY reasons that we can conjure up to keep us from being confident children of God. Most of us have experienced guilt over any number of those reasons.... reasons that when expressed by a non-Christian friend, we readily jump in and encourage them to seek Jesus, trust Him as their Savior, and become free of sin and the death sin causes. And yet, for some reason, we still need to remind ourselves that this has already happened for us!

In my first blog, you've already read that I John 3:20 reassures us that even when our hearts condemn us (feel guilty) "God is greater than our hearts.... and we have confidence towards God.." That's not to say we should never have guilt or that there's something wrong about us when we do. After all, if our conscience does not prick us when needed, we would not change and grow. God's refining of us could not work. However, constant guilty feeling over things that God has already forgiven are one of the Evil One's tools to keep us miserable and ineffective for the Lord.

A Pastor/friend of mine in Raton, NM was the first to share with me the illustration of faith as a spiritual muscle. Just as we are born with every physical muscle that we will need during our lifetime, so are we born with our muscle of faith in our spiritual birth. Yes, God gives us our measure of faith. (Romans 12:3) If we never walked or exercised in any way or only so little that we didn't grow and mature physically, our muscles wouldn't support us and our bodies would be crippled. So it is with faith. If we don't exercise our faith through scripture, prayer, thanksgiving, helping others, and Christian fellowship, we're cheating ourselves (and God) of its development. Are we still His, yes, but we are not the confident children we can be.

So, if you believe that you need more scripture study, prayer, thanksgiving, compassionate doing, etc., you probably do. The Holy Spirit is prodding you onward. However, if you're feeling guilty because you're not doing as much as someone you know, or that God requires more of you before He'll save you, then God's voice is probably not the one you're hearing. Each of us is unique, wonderfully made. (Psalms 139:14) Each of us is a necessary part of His Body. Each of us has our personal measure of faith to feed, exercise, and strengthen.

God wants us to grow, that's the natural flow of a healthy developing life. Do we need to grow in order to be more like Jesus? YES! We aren't complete without Him. So, take the time. MAKE the time to spend in His Word, in prayer, and sharing Him with others. It's a "doing" thing in order to grow our BEING His.

God bless you in your exercise!

When our hearts condemn us

As Christians, we are to be joyful people. Who says? Check out Psalms 40:16, 70:4, 97:12, 98:4, 105:3; Philippians 2:18, 4:4; and I Thessalonians 5:16-18 (to name a few) in order to see that we can be happy and that God is pleased when we are happy. But, how can we be happy if we're unsure about our salvation? The book of I John is filled with encouragement and tells us how we CAN KNOW that we are going to Heaven. But what if we don't feel that we are worthy, or have done enough, or been good enough? In all truth, that is accurate! Not one of us is worthy, no one of us has done enough, for sure not one of us is good enough. Paul tells us this very clearly in his letter to the Romans. So, instead of giving into those feelings, do as a very dear friend once told me, "Get over yourself!" Accept this truth and move on to another truth: we CAN KNOW we are bound for Heaven. I John 3:20-24 tells us that even if our heart (our feelings?) condemns us, "God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commangments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us." Since you are reading this, you probably have the first part of the commandment intact: you believe in Jesus Christ and have made Him your Lord and Savior. (If you haven't yet, keep on seeking Him and you WILL find Him. Jesus promises that in verse 22 above and Matthew 7:7. Need to know more, let us know.)
The second part of the verse to "love one another" can be harder when we think of love as a feeling. But love is a choice of action; a choice to be kind; a choice to sacrifice our comfort, time and/or money; a choice to not think of ourselves so highly that we don't see the needs of others; And it's a choice to grow to be more like Jesus each day. Simple? Yes. Easy? No, but SO worthwhile and SO confidence building! And, this work you don't do alone. The Spirit of God is with us every step of the way.
So, sisters and brothers, next time you are asked if you're saved, give a confident YES! by the Grace of God!
God's peace and joy be in your hearts and minds. Till next time, Jackie

Next blog: What is Christian maturity?