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Spiritual growth is detailed in 2 Peter 1:3-8, “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

So, spiritual growth includes: (1) increasing in your knowledge and understanding of God’s Word, (2) decreasing in your frequency and severity of sin, (3) increasing in your practice of Christ-like qualities, and (4) increasing in your faith and trust in God. Perhaps the best summary of spiritual growth is becoming more like Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul says, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of what it truly means to be spiritual.

Spiritual Growth – How is it done?
In order for spiritual growth to occur, you first need to make sure you possess a true spiritual life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:11-12). When you believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you (John 14:16-17) and you are a new creation in Christ! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Your old nature, which is dominated by sin, is replaced with a new nature that is under the influence of God’s Spirit (Romans 6-7). Spiritual growth can only occur in a person who knows the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Savior.

Learning how to grow spiritually is a life-long journey which occurs as you read and apply God’s Word to your life. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches us, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” In order for spiritual growth to occur, we must be taught, rebuked, corrected, and trained by God’s Word. Then we will be thoroughly equipped for every good work. This is the essence of spiritual growth.

Another key to Christian growth is walking in the Spirit. Galatians 5:16-18, 24-26explains, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law…Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”

Walking in the Spirit is allowing Him to fill you (Ephesians 5:18), control you, and guide you. This is brought about by consciously choosing by faith to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you in thought, word, and deed (Romans 6:11-14). Failure to rely on the Holy Spirit’s guidance will result in a believer not living up to the calling and standing that salvation provides. Ephesians 4:1 says, “…I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”

Spiritual Growth – What are the results?
Spiritual growth is a life-long process of manifesting the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) less and less and producing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) more and more. Notice that it is the Holy Spirit who produces the fruit in us. Yes, we must submit ourselves to the Spirit’s leading, but it is the Spirit who produces the fruit of spiritual growth in our lives. What does spiritual growth look like? Galatians 5:22-23 has the answer, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” If you are becoming more loving, more joyful, more kind, more self-controlled, etc., then you can rest assured that spiritual growth is genuinely occurring in your life.

God works in different people in different ways. Some people grow rapidly, while others grow slowly, but steadily. Our focus should not be on comparing ourselves with others, but on comparing ourselves with God’s Word. The Scriptures are the mirror to show us what we are like spiritually and to shine light on the areas that need to experience and learn spiritual growth. James 1:23-25 declares, “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it – he will be blessed in what he does.”

Grow More!

WHAT DO YOU THINK? – We have all sinned and deserve God’s judgment. God, the Father, sent His only Son to satisfy that judgment for those who believe in Him. Jesus, the creator and eternal Son of God, who lived a sinless life, loves us so much that He died for our sins, taking the punishment that we deserve, was buried, and rose from the dead according to the Bible. If you truly believe and trust this in your heart, receiving Jesus alone as your Savior, declaring, “Jesus is Lord,” you will be saved from judgment and spend eternity with God in heaven.

What is your response?

We live in a society that loves bargains. Everybody loves a bargain. It is a great feeling when you pay very little but you get a lot. Bargain hunters are everywhere.  They go to garage sales.  They search the classified, they wait for the sales in big stores, they use e-bay. And the basic mantra of the bargain hunter is, “What is the least amount I have to pay in order to get as many benefits as possible. How do I sacrifice a little and still get all the good stuff?” Everybody loves a bargain.
Now sometimes the bargain we are looking for isn’t always a material thing. Sometimes we search for bargains in or spiritual life.  What I mean is this.  There are times in our spiritual lives when we want all the blessings of heaven, but with the least amount of sacrifice possible. There are times when we lives our Christian lives are lived in such a way that we seem to be saying, “What is the least amount that I have to do and still receive all the good stuff of heaven?”
Now this kind of attitude is nothing new to our generation.  This kind of attitude has been around for thousands of years, including the time when Jesus walked on this earth. Luke tells us in chapter 9:51, “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”  (Luke 9:51) Now Jerusalem was the place where Jesus would ultimately die on the cross.  So when the Bible tells us that Jesus was going to Jerusalem it is saying that Jesus was choosing to go to the place where eventually he would give his life for those he loved.
Now most people had no clue that Jesus was going to Jerusalem to give up his life on a cross. To them Jesus was a
-Miracle worker
-A healer
-A powerful Teacher and preacher
-Someone who would lead them out of the oppression from the Romans and into freedom. And so thousands of people followed Jesus.
Now you would think that Jesus would have been thrilled with the number of people following him.
As the Bible says, “Large crowds were traveling with Jesus.” (Luke 14:25) But numbers didn’t matter so much to Jesus. What mattered to him was commitment. And so Jesus stops in order to thin out the crowd. And his method of doing this was to use several images and parables to drive home the point that in order to be a follower of Jesus we need to be one hundred percent commitment to him.  It’s all or nothing.  There is no bargain hunting here.
Now the first thing that Jesus says to the crowd in his attempt to thin them out is this, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters – yes, even his own life –he cannot be my disciple.”  (Luke 14:26) Now it would seem strange that Jesus would say that we have to hate those we love. Especially since everywhere else he tells us that we have to love everyone.  .Love God.  Love others.  This is what we are commanded to do.
So what does he mean in this passage when he says that we have to hate those we are supposed to love the most? Somehow this command seems a little out of place.  It seems a bit weird. One of the reasons why this is a weird saying to us is that it is a literal translation of a figure of speech or a “saying” from a different language. And what sometimes happens when you translate figures of speech from one language to another is that something gets lost or confused in the translation.
For example, we have interesting figures of speech or sayings in English that would probably sound odd in a different language if it was translated word for word. Sayings such as, “You are driving me up the wall,” or, “It’s raining cats and dogs.” In a different language these sayings make no sense. This is what has happened with this particular phrase. So how are we supposed to understand this?
Well when we look at the history of this particular saying in the original language, to hate something is  ”to give less priority too.” Actually Matthew captures the heart of this saying when he says, “Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”  (Matthew 10:37) So when Jesus says that we aught to hate those who are closest in relationship to us he is saying that we are to love him more than our most important relationships. That means we need to desire him more than we desire our spouses and our children.
But what does this mean? Well what it means is that more than anything else we need to pursue the character of Christ (his love, his forgiveness, his grace, his understanding, his joy, his gratitude, his servant attitude). It means that when we wake up in the morning, we need to make the pursuit of Christ and his character the number one item on our to do list. And to display that character in everything that I do: In my marriage, in my job, at my school, by business practices, my entertainment.  Everything. Jesus says, if we do not love him more than life itself, we cannot be his disciple.

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Intro: God has truly been good to His people! He has given us more than we ever deserved. Think of it! He provided a means of salvation that will save the vilest sinner. He has given us so many precious promises such as Heb. 13:5; Phil. 4:19; John 10:28, etc. When a person is saved, they are given spiritual gifts so that God can use them in His kingdom work, 1 Cor. 12:7. Much more could be said about this matter, but I think it is plain to see that God has been good to us! Yet, as I was thinking about these things, I came to realize that the greatest gift the Lord has ever given to His people is His love!
The love of God for His people is everlasting, Jer. 31:3. His love is what motivated Him to send Jesus to die on the cross, John 3:16. In fact, the greatest evidence of the love of God is the death of Christ on the cross, Rom. 5:8. God’s greatest gift to us is His love.
Now, He did not stop by just giving His love to us, He has also placed His love in us. Jesus said that the world would know we were His disciples by the love we have one for another, John 13:35. You see, love is the first characteristic mentioned in Gal. 5:22-23, concerning the Fruit of the Spirit. Not only did He love us, but He has also caused us to love!
Here was one of the primary problems with the church in Corinth, to whom this letter was written. They were manifesting every other spiritual gift in existence, but they were not manifesting love one to another. You see, chapters 12-14 can not be divorced one from the other. In the original, they are one unit. It is a call more Christlikeness and maturity in the midst of childishness and fleshly living. Paul writes these great words to remind the Corinthians that of all the great spiritual things they can do, the greatest spiritual exercise is love.
The effect of these words are to remind us that we might possess all kinds of spiritual
gifts and abilities, but that we are never more like the Lord Jesus Christ than when we love the right way

Matthew 12:31-37
31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
32 And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
33 Either make the tree good, and his fruit good; or else make the tree corrupt, and his fruit corrupt: for the tree is known by his fruit.
34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

.”
Religious people often speak “good things,” but their hearts are evil.
Religious Hypocrisy Comes from the Heart:
God rebuked this as much as any other sin:
1 John 4:20 – if a man says he loves God but hates his brother he is a liar.
James 1:26 – if a man cannot control his tongue he deceives himself.
Matthew 7:5 – a hypocrite judges his brothers without first looking in the mirror.
Billions have religion but not a true relationship. Jesus states, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matthew 15:8 Often, the only way to awaken the walking dead is with words that confront. Here we see Jesus use cutting words to spark change: “Brood of vipers.”
Many go to church sporadically, but would rather sit at home and do nothing​. They are disengaged and bored during worship when they do attend. Their social media posts resemble Hollywood not the work of the Spirit. They choose friends who complement their worldly lifestyle, rather than friends who challenge them to live for God. They look forward to consuming alcohol, and avoid prayer and Bible study. The things of the world are exciting and the things of God are dull. Their movie and video choices look no different than what the culture promotes. Their conversations at work or schoolinclude every topic except God, and at home, their words are shallow and lifeless. Their waking thoughts are either focused on wealth, pleasure, or entertainment. They have religion but​ not a genuine relationship. ​WHY? BECAUSE THEY ARE SPIRITUALLY DEAD!
Am I just trying to upset people? NO! The fruit doesn’t lie
This is the climate where the majority of religious people live.
*Floyd May weather wrote on Instagram, “Yes, I got a 14 passenger jet. Got to give them another reason to hate, but I will motivate the people that are ambitious and want to be winners in life. I am guilty! I’m materialistic and I’m motivated by money…but GOD is first in my life.”
Get the heart right and the rest falls into place.
The difference between Hypocrisy & someone struggling
Religious Deception Comes from the Heart: These leaders were “deceiving” the people.
Words alone can’t gauge change, but words and actions (over the course of time) can.
VIPERS hunt by striking and envenomating their prey
Wolves in sheep’s clothing
Pam’s Drum Set Story: I was delighted to know the drums would be used for worship and an a answer to prayer. He offered me $1500.00 cash ($1000 less than I was asking). He backed his vehicle up to the walkway to load up the drums. When this guy walked up, he was all smiles with two bibles in his hand. When inside, he opened with prayer and then sat at the drums and started to sing a beautiful praise song. He then asked if I would play the piano and he would accompany me.
After the song, he went on to tell me how God has gifted me to do great things….Then he proceeded to tell us he didn’t have the $1500.00 for the drums. He had $50 cash and could write me a check for money he didn’t have. Then talked about the purpose for the drums in his ministry in the inner city and how music would bring the youth to Christ.
1] Words and Actions didn’t match
2] Too religious – phony baloney – no sincerity.
3] Tried to control [point directly to Scripture like a magician]: “They are the kind who worm their way into homes” (2 Tim. 3:6)
The prince of darkness appears as an angle of light: use wisdom, be filled with the Spirit, take things to prayer, judge actions and words over time. Be patient and wait on God.
If we could interview Billy Ray…WHAT HAPPENED?
If we could interview men and women across our landscape that are caught in sin…WHAT HAPPENED?
Seemed like such a good spouse [sure, there were many red flags]
Seemed like such a good person to date [sure, they caused me to compromise…]
Seemed like such a good investment [sure, its seemed too good to be true, but…]
“Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.
Idle Words Come from the Heart
36 But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the Day of Judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
Look at vs. 37 1st: When someone gives a testimony they use words – their words “testify” as to their eternal state.

A few words about making commitments we don’t keep.
The Scribes and Pharisees Ask for a Sign: 38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” 39 But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and indeed a greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up in the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and indeed a greater than Solomon is here.
There was mockery in their voice, not sincerity [what’s the difference]?
SIDENOTE: Mockery, hypocrisy, harsh words, etc are all birthed in the womb of pride.
Let’s talk about humility for a minute: David had to tend sheep; Moses had live on the backside of the desert; Paul was humiliated and had to be led around; Elijah had to be fed by birds and a widow.
In the same, God can’t use a man or woman greatly he must break them. Stop fighting what you’re going through and allow it to break your heart.
“Signs” won’t matter when the heart is wrong. They were going to say THAT everything He did was thru Satan.
PEOPLE STILL SAY, “SHOW ME A SIGN!”
During an average lifetime, the human heart will beat more than 2.5 billion times. RE: Lungs, we get app. 22,000 breaths every 24 hours.
The human brain contains roughly 100 billion neurons equalling 100 trillion data points.
The central nervous system consists of the brain and the spinal cord. The brain turns thoughts into actions.
STOP SAYING: “I used to believe in God, but not anymore. OR “God doesn’t exist…it’s all fairy tales.”
The earliest Jewish arguments against Christianity admit the empty tomb.
Why did 10 of the disciples willingly die as martyrs for their belief in the resurrection?
It’s often pointed out that there were many myths of dying and rising savior gods at the time of Christianity? [But there are many myths about gods too. This doesn’t kill the idea of God; it adds to the validity.] The early disciples were Jews, and it would have been unthinkable for a Jew to borrow from another religion. For they were zealous in their belief that the pagan religions were abhorrent to God.
Again, “From the Heart, the Mouth Speaks”. You can’t change on your own!​

In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death, and Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, thus saith the Lord, set your house in order, for you shall die and not live (Isaiah 38:1)
These are heavy tidings. You get sick and a prophet of God comes and say set your house in order this it you will die and not live. Many of us would have die from we hear this. These are things you must do. In preparation for death is to make your relationship with God right, and that is really what it meant by set thy house in order.
So Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed unto the lord Remember now O thy God, I beseech thee, how I have walked before you in truth and with a complete heart, and have done that which is good in his sight. And Hezekiah wept then came the word of God that saith thou hast heard thy cry and thou will add fifteen years to your life.

In the name of Jesus who has removed death’s sting and defeated death for us, so changing the nature of death for the Christian, that we can even safely say with Paul.; I desire to depart and be with Jesus, which is better by far(Philippians 1:23)
Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the lord my soul to keep .if I die before I wake, I pray the lord my soul to take. Many of us may remember these familiar lines. Many people don’t think about death very much because we’re so busy with life. Day to day activities, a rushed schedule, and heavily committed lifestyles leave little or no time to think about life, death and beyond. Yet in spite of the joy we have in carrying out our daily activities, we also live in realization that some day we have to face death. In other words some day we will die.

Brothers and sisters the reality we face today is that death is sure. Romans 6:23 says for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our lord. what this saying to us because we are all sinners we need to face death. But if we remain faithful we shall have eternal life. I am encouraging us to claim the gift and not the wage. the wages come with consequences but the gift is a reward from god which is eternal life. When we will not take anything but if we die with Christ we will have eternal life. Many of us think that when God tells us to put our house in order it is to refurnish our house but it is not so it is to renew a relationship with God. God will have to say to us before we die set your house in order for you shall die and not live. Many of us today knows that our house is not in order and it needs to get in order now. When sis Brooks was going to die God said set your house, fix your house in order for you will not live but die. My brothers and sisters I want to let you know that death has come for sis Brooks but if her house was in order it is quite fine. Death does not have the victory if we set our house in order. The song writer says” no grave can hold my body down no grave can hold my body down, when the trumpet of the lord shall sound and the dead in Christ shall rise no grave can hold my body down” No grave cannot hold your body down when you have set your house in order. My brothers and sisters we must cry out to God when we are going to die and long before we die. Not to say to him don’t let death pass my way but for him to let you set your house in order in the right way. When we know that our house is set in order we wont worry if death comes our way but we know that our house would have been in order. Have you ever read a book and it’s a good story and you’re enjoying it, and then you get to the ending and you’re so disappointed and heart rending because the ending was no good? You finish the book and say, what a bad way for the story to end. What if our life has a bad ending? What if our whole life is good and then ends up horribly. What would be a bad ending to life? Dying with regrets? So to avoid this set your house in order. I emplore each and every one of us to SET YOUR HOUSE IN ORDER. FOR YOU WILL DIE.