maturity

Do You Passionately Pursue Maturity?

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Jesus and his Apostles clearly taught us that we should pursue maturity. But why? In this post, we want to focus mostly on the motivation of becoming what God made us to be. If your teenage child stopped growing intellectually and emotionally, would you not consider this a cause for great concern and make an exhaustive search for an answer to the problem? Wouldn’t you realize that unless your child resumes their development, they will not become what they should become? Wouldn’t you make every effort to help them pursue maturity and reach adulthood, along with its benefits? Likewise, if we allow ourselves to become complacent about our growth just because we have reached “teenage” maturity, then are we not choosing to fall far short of what we are meant to be? Are we not making our Father sad? Are we not sabotaging Christ’s efforts to join with us and Continue Reading →

weekly words of encouragement

We See God’s Light – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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In your light we see light (Psalms 36:9, NIV). One of the great privileges of being a child of God is that he opens up our eyes to more and more truth and wisdom. God is the source of light. Through him we see God’s light – spiritual light as well as physical light. Our old self, who still lingers inside us, cannot see invisible reality. It cannot see what forces are at work in the world, what God is doing, why he does what he does, and what his goals are. Our old self can not see the glory and satisfaction of following Jesus, including the sacrifices we make. But as a child of God we escape the darkness in the world and in our old self; we see God’s light and live in it. We actually get to see what countless philosophers and psychologists and activists and most Continue Reading →

weekly words of encouragement

Feasting On God – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.They feast on the abundance of your house;You give them drink from your river of delights.” Psalms 36:7-8 (NIV)The ones who trust and love God are the ones who take refuge under his wings. We have placed ourselves inside him, relying on him for our life and for the protection and blessing of our souls. And since God is a loving father who wants to give joy and satisfaction to his children, he rewards our faith and love with gifts from his personal possessions. We are feasting on God. He presents us with a feast of truth, peace, and friendship. His kingdom is “righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 14:17) His Scripture is like honey on our tongues. His Son is the bread of life, who nourishes us with his goodness and restores the image of God in Continue Reading →

close friends

Spiritual Friends Fulfill Our Hearts – Part Four

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So far in this series we have looked at several ways for developing close spiritual friends. This week we look at accountability and healing. Many of us have a love/hate relationship with accountability. We know it is good for us, but we rarely, if ever, seek it out. And if someone tries to hold us accountable without our asking, our usual impulse is to resist it. Moreover, the idea of us holding others accountable makes us cringe because we don’t feel qualified or, we fear the disturbance in our relationship. But if we want deep spiritual friends, then we will welcome accountability. In the New Testament accountability is mentioned in the form of warning each other. Colossians 3:16 instructs us to be “admonishing one another”. The Greek word for admonish means gently warn or caution. I prefer the word warn because “admonish” is vague to many of us. Warning each Continue Reading →

weekly words of encouragement

God’s Love For Us Is Unbounded – Weekly Words Of Encouragement

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“Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens.” Psalms 36:5 (NIV). God’s love for us knows no bounds. He created us so that he could shower his love on us. He is the perfect Father who delights in seeing his children grow up, develop their gifts, and enjoy the blessings of creation. He gave us his Son (John 3:16) and his Spirit so we could reunite with him and live forever in his perfect community of love. We are citizens of his kingdom now and have the privilege of brightening up our world with his goodness and love. There is no end to God’s love for us. He did not care that we were unholy, but rather: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”Romans 5:8 (NIV) God’s love for us is unfailing because it depends on his nature, not ours. Continue Reading →