I had a lady in the Metroplex tell me recently, "A lot of people know the Lord around here, but their lives do not change." That's an interesting statement with a lot of truth to it. It reminds me of a recent, popular book called, "unChristian." A synopsis of the book reveals that most young people today (ages 16-29) perceive Christians as "hypocrites", and that Christianity has taken a "giant step backwards."
What is God's definition of a Christian? How are you and I to live for Christ in this world? What are the real SIGNS OF SPIRITUAL MATURITY? Below is an article that I recently sent to our church family:
Am I growing in Christ? Am I closer to the Lord this year than I was last year? Am I resisting more temptations? Do I look more and more like Jesus each day...in thought, word, and deed?
Ephesians 4:15-“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ.”
Psalm 92:12-“The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.”
The New Testament charges the believer to live in a way that is consistent with his identification with the Lord who saved Him (Eph. 4:1; Phil. 1:27). Spiritual fruit is the by-product of this righteous life. The Bible identifies spiritual fruit as the following:
1. Partaking in the deeper truths of Scripture (Heb. 5:14)
2. Pointing people to Christ (I Cor. 16:15)
3. Praising God (Heb. 13:15)
4. Sacrificial giving (Rom. 15:26–28)
5. Living a godly life (Heb. 12:11)
6. Displaying holy attitudes (Gal. 5:22, 23)
7. Increasing in the knowledge of God (Col. 1:10; I Pet. 2:2; II Pet. 3:18)
8. A deeper love for God’s Word (Ps. 119:97)
9. A more perfect obedience (I John 2:3–5)
10. A strong doctrinal foundation (I John 2:12–14)
11. An expanding faith (II Thess. 1:3; II Cor. 10:5)
12. A greater love for Christ and others (Eph. 3:17-19)
13. Overcoming temptations (I John 2:14)
What are the SIGNS OF SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY?
1. Inability to receive strong doctrine (I Cor. 3:1-2)
“And I (Paul), brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.”
2. Inconsistency in faith and practice (Eph. 4:14)
“That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive.”
3. Not cultivating an understanding of Scripture (I Cor. 14:20)
"Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men."
4. Not putting away childish things (I Cor. 13:11)
“When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
5. No spiritual progress, and the need to be taught again and again (Heb. 5:12)
“For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.”
Friday, August 22, 2008
Monday, August 4, 2008
Forgive and Forget
Are you struggling to forgive someone who has injured you? Are you having a hard time forgiving yourself? C.S. Lewis had this to say about forgiveness: "I think that if God forgives us we must forgive ourselves; otherwise, it is almost like setting up ourselves as a higher tribunal than God."
Genuine forgiveness is an inner change of the heart toward the offender. Too often we think we have extended forgiveness, but we continue to harbor ill will or resentment toward others. Matthew 18:21-22 says, “Then came Peter to him (Jesus)...Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven.” This is how often you and I should forgive ourselves or those who have harmed us. The number seven was not to set a limit on the number of times to forgive (Psa. 119:164), but it meant the opposite. Jesus was stating that forgiveness should be granted unendingly. The phrase “seventy times seven” speaks of innumerable times. Paul told the Ephesian believers: “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).
Do you need forgiveness? Are you having trouble forgiving and forgetting? Here’s how our Heavenly Father forgives:
1. God refuses to remember our sins. Jer. 31:34- “…for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
2. God throws our sins behind His back. Isa. 38:17- “…for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”
3. God casts our sins into the depths of the sea. Mic. 7:19- “…thou wilt cast all their sins in the depths of the sea.”
4. God places our sins under His feet. Mic. 7:19- “…He will subdue our iniquities.”
5. God removes our sins as far as the east is from the west. (Psa. 103:12)
6. God completely cleanses us from the soiled spot of our sins. Is. 1:18- “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Come and join us at New Life Bible Church as we search the Scriptures to study subjects like forgiveness and various others.
Genuine forgiveness is an inner change of the heart toward the offender. Too often we think we have extended forgiveness, but we continue to harbor ill will or resentment toward others. Matthew 18:21-22 says, “Then came Peter to him (Jesus)...Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven.” This is how often you and I should forgive ourselves or those who have harmed us. The number seven was not to set a limit on the number of times to forgive (Psa. 119:164), but it meant the opposite. Jesus was stating that forgiveness should be granted unendingly. The phrase “seventy times seven” speaks of innumerable times. Paul told the Ephesian believers: “Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you” (Eph. 4:32).
Do you need forgiveness? Are you having trouble forgiving and forgetting? Here’s how our Heavenly Father forgives:
1. God refuses to remember our sins. Jer. 31:34- “…for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
2. God throws our sins behind His back. Isa. 38:17- “…for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.”
3. God casts our sins into the depths of the sea. Mic. 7:19- “…thou wilt cast all their sins in the depths of the sea.”
4. God places our sins under His feet. Mic. 7:19- “…He will subdue our iniquities.”
5. God removes our sins as far as the east is from the west. (Psa. 103:12)
6. God completely cleanses us from the soiled spot of our sins. Is. 1:18- “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Come and join us at New Life Bible Church as we search the Scriptures to study subjects like forgiveness and various others.
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