Standing Through
We tend to do whatever we can to get out of the way of adversity. We may try to think our way out of the mess, to look for help from others or to pray that God will get us out or make it stop. We also receive continual input and advertising that offer us products that will stop our troubles and give us access to the good life to which we are all entitled. If your difficulty is weight, muscle tone, sickness, finance, loneliness, depression or erectile dysfunction – “We have a product that will take care of that for you.”
However, God’s ways are often very different from ours. He uses the hurdles and stubborn obstacles of life to deepen us and produce lasting fruit in our lives. Wisdom and character are grown through adversity, not through escape. There is no product that you can buy that will give you the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) or understanding of the ways of God. These are only forged through a mixture of God’s truth and the...
Steps To Genuine Growth
Are you growing as a person?
Are you growing spiritually?
How can you tell?
Personal growth is necessary for spiritual growth. Some people don’t understand this. They think that they can grow spiritually without becoming more mature as a person. They hope they can become spiritual giants without becoming more honest and responsible. It will not happen.
Spirit life – the fruit of the Spirit - is described as: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Galatians 5:22) These are wholeness words that affect one’s entire character. These are the by-products of the presence of God in your life, and your cooperation with His promptings.
Peter wrote a personal growth list for you to consider: faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. (2 Peter 1:5-7) He goes on to say that if you possess these qualities in growing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and...
Are You Waiting Well?
Do you have anything for which you are hoping or that you are hoping to accomplish in the future? The waiting can be brutally difficult – particularly if you haven’t practiced waiting and built your capacity to wait. Waiting is not an American value. We want things … and we want them soon! However, Scripture indicates that waiting is one of the ways God builds faith and hope in our lives. “Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” (Romans 8:25) Learning to wait patiently builds character and faith. Those who wait, hoping in the Lord will renew their strength. (Isaiah 40:31)
The challenge is not to lose heart while waiting. Sometimes waiting can take its toll on our emotions and bodies. It can even work deep despair into our souls. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” (Proverbs 13:12)
Zechariah was a priest two thousand years ago. He had been praying...
Do You Pass Quality Control?
Are you growing as a person?
Are you growing spiritually?
How can you tell?
We may hope to become spiritual “giants”, but that will never happen without becoming more honest and responsible. It just will NOT happen.
Spirit life – the Fruit of the Spirit - is described as: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control. (Galatians 5:22) These are wholeness words that permeate and are reflected in one’s entire character. These are the by-products of the presence of God in our lives, and our cooperation with His promptings.
Peter also writes a personal growth list for us to consider: Faith, Goodness, Knowledge, Self-control, Perseverance, Godliness, Brotherly Kindness and Love. (2 Peter 1:5-7) He goes onto say that if we possess these qualities in growing measure, they will keep us from being ineffective and unproductive in our knowledge of Jesus Christ.
God wants us to be faithful and fruitful in life....
