Are you growing in your walk with God? Are you going deeper with the Lord? Are you progressing from a child to a young
man to a father (see 1 John 2:12-14)?
God wants all of us to be going deeper. We are to move from just drinking milk to
eating meat (Hebrews 5). We are to “grow
in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ” (2 Pe. 3:18). As we “behold the glory of God” the Spirit
will transform us from “one degree of glory to another” (1 Pe. 3:18). Are you experiencing this?
So many Christians are either stagnant in their walk, or
just plain lazy when it comes to doing what is needed to grow. I actually think that if someone is not
growing, and doesn’t desire to grow, they may not be saved. If the Spirit of God is truly living in
someone, He will be working “both to will and to do for God’s good pleasure”
(Phil. 2:13). Furthermore, if a supposed
Christian is living in sin, and not repenting, or being disciplined for that sin,
they also may not be truly saved because Hebrews 12 says that God disciplines
those who are His children, and if someone is not disciplined then they are an
illegitimate child and not a true son.
Ouch. Better consider that
carefully if it applies to you.
One of the ways we grow is through suffering. This is not fun, and we all wish it were not
so, but it is. Therefore, when hard
times come, we need to press in to God.
For it is in those hard times that we often grow the most, because “in
our weakness is His power made perfect” (2 Cor. 12).
To learn more about God’s call for us to go deeper in Him,
the stages of growth, and how suffering produces Godly character, check out my
3 sermons on “DEEPER” at
http://www.livinghopeathens.org/category/sermons/. Ask God to give you a greater hunger to go
deeper with Him.
