Category Archives: faith

Are You Spiritually Immature?

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There are many church pews filled with Spiritually Immature people.  They go to Church, but fail to really grow in their Spiritually Maturity.

Fulfilling the call of God on your life will require spiritual maturity.  We can look at Solomon and what he had to go through to prepare to build the house of the Lord.  King David wanted to build the House of the Lord, but God told him that Solomon would be the one who would build the House.  Even though David was probably disappointed, he began helping Solomon prepare himself for the task.  In 1 Chronicles 29:1 David said, “Solomon is yet young and tinder” (inexperienced), in other words he had not matured yet.  King David knew Solomon was inexperience and would need to mature in order to accomplish the call on his life.

We live in a world of immaturity.  We live in a time when the adults have more toys than the children and most people don’t want to grow up.  The first step to spiritual maturity comes as the worldly desires are put aside and the work of the kingdom becomes a priority.

Another part of maturity is learning patience.  We learn patients as we go through difficult situations that give experience.  According to Romans 5:3-4, “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope:”

It takes tribulation to work patience in us.  Tribulation develops patience and patience produces experience.

We gain patience as we face times of tribulation.  This strengthens our faith.  So we are to embrace tribulation as a time to grow and mature. You will actually know if you are maturing by how you handle a difficult time.

 Experience also comes as we learn to go through difficult times.  Many people will view hard times or times of tribulation as an attack of the enemy instead of learning from the difficulty.  The experience gives wisdom and the wisdom brings maturity.

Wisdom from Solomon

We will gain wisdom when we receive discipline and correction properly.  Discipline is a major part of the maturing process, so do not avoid or despise it.

Proverbs 3:11-12 says, “My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord: neither be weary of His correction.” We get understanding when we go through correction and chastening. We understand the consequences of our bad choices. Understanding gives you the wisdom to be able to make a better choice. The problem is we all want wisdom but no one wants to be reproved and learn from their mistakes. Everyone wants to hear a prophetic word that will encourage them. But without reproof we will stay immature. When we are reproved is when we gain understanding.

Proverbs 29:15 says, “The rod and reproof give wisdom, a child left to him brings a mother to shame.” A child who is not reproved will not grow up, they become selfish and immature.

 Proverbs 13:24 says, “He that spares the rod hateth his son.” A child will actually mature through proper disciplining. All discipline should be accompanied by instruction so there is an opportunity to learn a lesson from the discipline. Proper discipline robes a child in righteousness but harsh discipline robes a child in guilt and shame.

Proverbs 15:32 says, “He that refuses instruction despises his own soul: but he that heareth reproof gets understanding.”

Many people do not understand how important disciplines are in their life. To be a disciple means: you have learned to be disciplined. The lack of spiritual maturity and discipline can hold you back from a calling God has on your life. So learn how to embrace discipline from the Lord as part of your spiritual maturing process.

The Power to Move a Mountain

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“You will know and understand the hope to which He called you and the greatness of His power.” Eph 1:18

faith to move mountainsWe have access to His great power when we are in His will. The power to create the universe, move a mountain and change history is in His hands. He has placed me as His child, His representative on the earth, to call on Him to create, move or change something. Sometimes we get so preoccupied that we forget our purpose.

Have you ever gone into the grocery store and forgotten what you intended to buy? After a couple of steps into the store you have a thousand voices speaking to you!  You see all the brands of cereal and the sales, and you forget what you wanted to purchase.  The same is true in our daily life.  The calls, the options, and the sales grab for our attention. What happened to the still small voice that spoke into your spirit the moment you woke up?  Was it drowned out within the first few steps into your world?  We must realize how Christ was able to carry out His assignment on planet earth. He set His face like a flint towards the cross and He didn’t let anything distract him. The world could not hinder, discourage, slow down nor stop Him.  Know what your purpose is and rely on the greatness of His power to accomplish it.

You Shall Walk

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“You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land which you shall possess.” Deut. 5:33

Walk in HimThe Lord has a path on which we are to walk. We are to walk in His ways regardless of our circumstances.  God promised us in Deut. 5:33 that if we walk in His ways, we will live a long life and things to work together for our good.  Even when our circumstances do not appear to be going as planned, if we walk in the ways of the Lord and trust what He has promised in His word, life will go well. This does not mean there will not be any problems.

As we walk down the path of life, there will be bumps in the road.  Things will happen that we did not plan on, but nothing should change the way we walk. We must still walk in His ways and not veer to the right or to the left.

When our son was in a coma, I could feel the pull moment by moment to give in to fear and to give up and accept the report of the doctors. The doctors said my son would be in a vegetative state if he came out of the coma. But I resisted the pull and I didn’t give in. I trusted in the Lord. God said He would show us the path of life for our son. He said our son would live and not die. As I read God’s Word, He encouraged me to not give up.

“The eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap like a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall sing for joy…” Isaiah 35:5-6

So, I walked in the ways of the Lord, believing His Word. The path of life for our son had been prepared ahead of time and now we had to embrace it by faith. Faith is the assurance of things we hope for even though we may not see them yet. We saw him lying in a hospital bed unable to move, talk or communicate in any way. But we did not give in to what we saw. We had to believe what we did not see. We believed that he would walk and talk again……and praise God he is walking, talking and serving the Lord today.

Whatever you are going through do not give up, give in, or stop walking and trusting in the ways of the Lord. His ways are a high-way above the circumstances. The high-way is the way of faith, believing what God says and not giving in to fear. Don’t let your circumstances dictate your thoughts and convince you that God is not faithful. He is faithful. He will work all things together for good for those who trust in Him. Trust Him and ask Him to show you the path of life.

You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy, at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

Deal With Offenses by Magnifying The Lord

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“Oh, Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” Psalm 34:3

Have you noticed the increase in the opportunities to be offended? Even after 25 years of marriage to my husband, I sometimes get offended by what he says. As a wife, I may know he doesn’t mean something the way I took it, but I still feel a huge pull to be offended. I believe in the day we are living, the days prior to the return of the Lord, there will be a greater pull than ever before to be offended. Jesus taught us in Mathew 18:7 that offenses will surely come. In Mathew 24, when the disciples asked Jesus what the signs of His return would be, He said in verse 10, “And then shall many be offended…” So we should not be surprised when we feel the pull to be offended. The question is: how fast do you move past an offense? Jesus made it possible for us to be able to move past offenses very quickly.

I must constantly remind myself that we are in “the time,” the days before Jesus returns. Paul said in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, that there would be a great falling away in these days. I believe the falling away is due to being offended. If your love waxes cold according to Mathew 24, you will fall away.

I know when I am offended, I must quickly forgive. Forgiveness is the only answer! It is the way of escape! The quicker I forgive, the quicker I come back into my right mind. When I am offended my soul is in control. When I forgive, my spirit rises up above my soul and takes back over.

I have learned that when I am offended everything is distorted and even my emotions become out of control. When I am offended at a person I will see them in a distorted way, bigger than they really are. I will become overly focused on them. They become the center of attention and all I talk about for days. Every conversation even goes back somehow to what offended me.

The more we put our focus on those who offended us, the more magnified they become. This could cause our heart to wax cold and may lead us to sin against God. He is the only one we are to magnify. When we focus on others and what they did to offend us, we make them bigger than God.

Oh, Magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. (Psalm 34:3).

So right now press the minimize button and minimize the person who has offended you. Bring them down to the right size and forgive them. Remember, if it were not for the grace of God you might have done the very same thing

Moving to the Big House

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“Now I say that an heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he is Lord of all.” Galatians 4:1

Living by FaithLike going to any new destination, you will need a vehicle to get you to the Father’s House; the only vehicle that will get you there is the vehicle of faith. It is by faith that we receive the promises of God.

And it’s only by faith that we enter into the Father’s House, the Big House where we receive our full inheritance.  By faith you take your rightful place as a son or daughter and a joint-heir with Christ.  As you read the Word and by faith receive the Word as Truth, you will find yourself dwelling in a new place, a higher place, high above the old life you once lived.

Galatians 4:1 says as long as we are children, we are as servants or as slaves, but when we put away the childish way of thinking—the old lies—we can by faith receive our identity and full inheritance.

Before faith, you are still a child—“thinking, feeling, and acting like a child”—living in the little house (I Corinthians 13:11).  Now is the time to get into the vehicle of faith and travel to the Father’s House, where your full inheritance awaits you.  You are no longer a servant or a slave; you have been redeemed and you are now an heir, a child of God, and a joint-heir with Jesus Christ.

“God sent forth His son… to redeem them that were under the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 4:4, 5, 7)

“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.  For [the Spirit which] you have now received [is] not a spirit of slavery to put you once more in bondage to fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption [the Spirit producing sonship] in [the bliss of] which we cry, Abba (Father)! Father!” (Romans 8:14-15, Amplified).