Spiritual growth 4

Spiritual Growth4-
In nature you take a balanced diet having protein,
carbohydrates, vitamins etc. These must be present to cause
growth and bring development. However, Spiritually ONLY ONE
meal is accepted/ acceptable, Christ Jesus! -The Word.
Paul's prayers for the Ephesians is very informative. It is a
prayer for knowledge. Not just any sort but a kind of insight.
Let’s see it in brevity:
Ephesians 1: 16 Cease not to give thanks for you, making
mention of you in my prayers;
17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,
may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the
knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye
may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches
of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
19 And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-
ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty
power,
20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the
dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly
places,
21 Far above all principality, and power, and might, and
dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this
world, but also in that which is to come:
22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be
the head over all things to the church,
23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
The Prayer is to KNOW and have precise information about:
1. What Christ did for us.
2. What is available to us in Him
He calls it "the Hope of His calling", The Glory of His
inheritance IN the saints!
Growth will only start when we acknowledge this truth. This is
the MESSAGE of the New Covenant. Prophecy and Promise
Fulfilled.
Another of such prayer is for Philemon-
Philemon 4 I give thanks to my God for you always when I
mention you in my prayers,
5 Because I continue to hear of your love and of your loyal
faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and [which you
show] toward all the saints (God's consecrated people).
6 [And I pray] that the participation in and sharing of your faith
may produce and promote full recognition and appreciation
and understanding and precise knowledge of every good
[thing] that is ours in [our identification with] Christ Jesus [and
unto His glory. (Amplified bible)
Our participation in the Faith is measured by what we know
about all that Christ has done and all we have in Him.
Some have called it New creation realities. To them it is for
the foundation school. After which you now learn other things.
Mostly another gospel!
Truth is, this is the basis of and for Christian growth, WHAT
CHRIST HAS DONE FOR US, What we have in HIM and What
He is doing in US today!
This is the food of the believer in Christ. He should not
attempt a balanced diet! What should balance this? What we
can contribute? Our love for God? Our service?
Paul warns the Galatian Church in this regard.
He lamented
Galatians 4:19 My little children, of whom I travail in birth
again until Christ be formed in you
What agony of a parent! Again! Till Christ The Word, The Life,
The Faith ... be formed in you. For Christ to form in you, you
MUST feed on Him alone.
He had earlier warned them in a sharp rebuke.
Galatians 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you,
that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus
Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?
2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now
made perfect by the flesh?
4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.
They started out in Grace- looking at Christ within, until they
got exposed to new teachings… 10 ways to maximize your
Christian life, 5 steps to hearing from God, 27 ways to please
God, 65 keys to successful living, The Terror of God, The Sin of
Samson, Will you be ready for the Lord? The Error of Cain?
Can God trust you? This is never Christ-centered!
Soon the focus shifted from Christ to us. From the Spirit to the
flesh. From Grace to the Law!
This will frustrate Growth! It will manifest in stunted growth.
It will fill up altar calls. More "I surrender all". You will look for
and find your old rugged cross. Yet Christ is not Glorified! He
seems to have died in vain!
Not every meal will bring growth. Some are wastes, others are
junk food a.k.a success motivation etc. while a good number
are poisonous!
Paul tells us the effect.
Galatians 2: 20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live;
yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live
in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me,
and gave himself for me.
21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
You will frustrate Grace. Frustrate growth! To acknowledge the
death of Christ, you must see His life in you! Yet not I (though
italicized)- Christ LIVES IN ME!
When we resort to efforts and self-help and get into the law to
find food for growth we get into trouble, struggle and we fall!
Paul mentions this:
Galatians 5: 4 Christ is become of no effect unto you,
whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from
grace.
Growth will only be when Christ is ALL we see!
Ever read how to run the Christian race?
Some call it hard, tough, and plead with God to take them to
the end! Alas, they are fallen from Grace, the Truth... from The
Faith.
The writer of Hebrews offers help.
Hebrews 12
1 Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so
great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with
patience the race that is set before us,
2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the
throne of God.
To lay aside weights, and the sin, run the race? LOOK UNTO
JESUS! The originator and perfecter of Faith (our is not in the
original text, faith here is the gospel, which is not personal).
Growth comes from a Christ-centred focus which produces a
Christ-centred Life!
We must feed on Christ! The Epistles unveil Him to us. It
shows us Christ in US.
Then growth will be the consequence!
Blessed? I feed on the epistles, I feed on the finished work, I
feed on faith, I feed on the gospel, I feed on Grace! I feed on
Grace. I grow in Christ!