| There Are No Shortcuts to Spiritual Maturity |
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| By Rick Warren — Jun 24, 2015 |
“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” (Philippians 1:6 NLT, second edition)
It takes years for us to grow to adulthood, and it takes a full season for fruit to mature and ripen. The same is true for the fruit of the Spirit. The development of Christ-like character cannot be rushed. Spiritual growth, like physical growth, takes time.
Billy Graham associate Lane Adams once compared the process of spiritual growth to the strategy the Allies used in World War II to liberate islands in the South Pacific. First they would “soften up” an island, weakening the resistance by shelling the enemy strongholds with bombs from offshore ships.
Next, a small group of Marines would invade the island and establish a “beachhead”—a tiny fragment of the island that they could control. Once the beachhead was secured, they would begin the long process of liberating the rest of the island, one bit of territory at a time.
Eventually the entire island would be brought under control, but not without some costly battles.
Adams drew this parallel: Before Christ invades our lives at conversion, he sometimes has to “soften us up” by allowing problems we can’t handle. While some open their lives to Christ the first time he knocks on the door, most of us are resistant and defensive. Our pre-conversion experience is Jesus saying, “Behold! I stand at the door and bomb!”
The moment you open yourself to Christ, God gets a “beachhead” in your life. You may think you have surrendered all your life to him, but the truth is, there’s a lot to your life that you aren’t even aware of. You can only give God as much of you as you understand at that moment. That’s okay.
Once Christ is given a beachhead, he begins the campaign to take over more and more territory until all of your life is completely his. There will be struggles and battles, but the outcome will never be in doubt. God has promised that “he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6 NIV).
PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >>
Talk It Over
- Describe your pre-conversion experience with the Lord. What did he allow to happen in your life that was meant to soften you up? How did you respond?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsC4MPAA0wM
- What are the areas that you have not yet surrendered to the Lord?
- What kind of fruit do you want God to produce in your life?
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| Today’s Scripture |
“In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps”
(Proverbs 16:9, NIV) |
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| Stay in Sync |
Have you ever tried something and got the results you wanted and then tried the same thing again and got different results? This happened to Moses in the Bible. They needed water and God told Moses to strike the rock. He struck the rock and water flowed out freely. Another time they needed water again, and God told Moses, “Speak to the rock.” Do you know what Moses did? He went over and struck the rock. He thought, “Hey, it worked last time. It’ll work this time.” But it didn’t. God had a different plan.
The point is that we have to stay open and make adjustments to stay in tune with God’s plan. You can do the same thing the same way you did last time and get different results. It may not be something major, but like Moses, maybe it’s just something small. Sometimes a small tweak, a small adjustment can make a major difference in the outcome.
Today, make sure you aren’t doing things just because it’s the way you always did it before. Instead, listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit of God inside. Follow His leading and stay in sync with the wonderful plan He has for you!
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| A Prayer for Today |
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| “Heavenly Father, I submit my mind, will and heart to You. Help me to see clearly what Your plan is for me. Help me to stay close to You always, not living in the past, but pressing forward to the new things You have in store for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.” |
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AMEN AMEN🙏🙏
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