Grow
Good Morning,
Since beginning these Morning Moment emails, many years have passed and our culture has changed. A few good changes included my Morning Moment videos during the onset of COVID. Another good change is the availability of podcasts for those who like to listen to messages all day.
Not knowing the email reception, I am considering shifting all my resources to podcasts and video. If these emails are significant to you, I would appreciate if you would send a text or email to me. Many people have shifted from one to another, and as this lesson says, we are to grow in grace.
One ought to have growth in Christian grace.
2 Peter 3:18 “But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.”
We begin this growth by simple changes. We should ask ourselves if we care enough or have enough character to read our Bibles daily?
The young believer needs to learn to converse with the Lord and form a relationship (we call this prayer) just as we would with a person we recently met. The next step of growth is in the area of separation. Stages of separation will change with time, and some areas will be revealed revealed in order to grow. The list of things we will be "led" to do or to stop doing is individualized according to each person and the areas in which God sees the need to develop.
I remember a man who got saved who overcame his cocaine habit but still smoked. His wife was frustrated, but I assured her that he was growing and that she needed to let him do so at his own pace.
As we grow, we will find more difficult lessons to learn, one of which is how to respond in different situations; just as an ambulance driver has to be ready to deal with any situation when arriving to the scene of an accident.
A believer needs to learn to forgive, to cast down wrong thoughts, to resist temptation, and to deal with many more temptations that are far more difficult than the stopping of drinking alcohol or smoking.
In all of these situations, a procedure has been put in place to know what to do and how to act. Although, we may be caught off guard, we usually know what we should have said or done, even if we drop the ball and are caught by surprise. Every situation usually has a right and a wrong reaction.
Graduate course Christian growth comes next. When we face situations in which no "what to do" procedure is in place, we need to "stand still, fear not, and see the salvation of the Lord." We will face times when God trains us by hanging us over the cliff with no ability, no training, and no strength to handle the situation.
Abraham was asked to leave home, family, and security to follow God. Years later, he was asked to bring his son to the mountain as a sacrifice; and again, no clear solution to the problem existed except to obey and wait on God.
How do you act, when you do not know how to act? What do you do when there is no direction, no instruction, no slight leading from God as to your next move? When a child is sick, a spouse dies, or evil creeps into your world via government or criminal behavior, how do you respond?
In all this, we are to continue to grow. The ultimate goal of the Lord is for us to become more and more Christlike from each situation.
Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
vs. 29 “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
Conforming to the image of Christ is the real goal in God’s dealings with His children. This is a life-long journey that will only end when we see Christ in person. Until then, we simply, or not so simply, need to continue to grow.
Pastor