GROW UP

GROW UP

II Peter 3:18 (NKJV) but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

INTRO: How do we grow as a believer?  Many of you have come to Christ in the past months… I want to give you some tips on how you can grow as a child of God…

Colossians 2:6-7 (TLB) And now just as you trusted Christ to save you, trust Him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with Him. 7 Let your roots grow down into Him and draw up nourishment from Him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all He has done.

1. We live the same way we started: by grace through faith.

We often feel it is something we have to do; a law to obey; a regulation to keep!

Galatians 3:3 (NKJV) Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?

Colossians 2:23 (NKJV) These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh.

Hebrews 7:16 (NKJV) (Jesus) who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.

The Christian life is Jesus’s life!

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV) I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

2. Live in vital union with Christ.

John 15:1-5 (NKJV) I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.

Cease striving and start abiding!

Romans 8:2 (NKJV) For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

Law of sin and law of life in Christ Jesus… Law of gravity and law of aerodynamics…

3. Put roots down into Him and draw nourishment from Him.

Things grow naturally. If they have what they need, they grow!  Plants, animals, children, believers...

John 15:7 (NKJV) If you abide in Me, and My words (rhema) abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.

Word and Prayer... Quiet time, devotions... Personal time with God… Most important activity…

Read the Word devotionally:

Matthew 4:4 (NKJV) But Jesus  answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

John 6:63 (NKJV) It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

I Peter 2:2 (NKJV) as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby,

Guided prayer:

Madam Jeanne Guyon: Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ, a Simple Method of Prayer. Praying the Scriptures, the Lord’s Prayer, Psalms

4. Obey what you hear

John 15:10 (NKJV) If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV) And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe (obey) all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

ACTION POINTS

1.     Start having a quiet time.

2.     Listen for God’s voice.