WEEKLY
DEVOTIONS
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Click Here for more Devotions!! "IT'S TIME TO GROW UP!" (Part 1) "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth." Psalm 127:3,4 Indeed,
children are a gift from God and it is up to us, as
parents, to see that they grow up healthy and strong.
That's why we are careful to feed them the proper foods
to help them grow: fruits and vegetables to give them
vitamins, milk for calcium to make strong bones, protein
to build muscles, etc.. Just as your physical body needs
to grow and mature, so does your spiritual body. However,
there are many Christians who have been saved for many
years yet they are longing to have victory in their
lives. Satan has crept in and robbed them of the peace
and joy they once had. They don't know how or when it
happened... and they can't understand why they keep
struggling through life. The
Apostle Paul sheds some light on this common problem in
Galatians 4:1,2 when he wrote, "Now I
say, that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth
nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; But is
under tutors and governors until the time appointed of
the father." If you were a king and
had a son, he would be the direct heir to your throne.
Someday he will take your place as ruler and sit on your
throne. But you can't put a two-year-old boy on the
throne and expect him to know everything. He must go
through a training period when he is taught by teachers
and tutors the laws of the land and how to use wisdom in
guiding the people. Spiritually speaking, it's the same
way. As long as we are thinking like children, we will
not be able to take our rightful place of authority even
though we are heirs to the throne! Being saved and on
your way to Heaven is great... but you've also got to
grow up and mature in Christ or else you'll be just a
servant the rest of your life! The good news is: the Father has appointed a time when you will rule and reign with Him! Until that time comes God has ordained that you, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15) In other words: go to church, learn the Word, and use it to go into the enemy's camp and take back what he stole from you! The bad news is: there are people in leadership positions in the church that are just as spiritually immature as they were the day they got saved. These are the ones who will argue about whether the congregation should sing hymns or praise choruses. These are the ones who will complain about having to stand up while the song leader leads the congregation into praising and worshipping God. These are the ones that enjoy good preaching as long as it's over by 12:00 on Sunday morning. These are the ones with a "Me" attitude. They ask, "What can the church do for ME? How can the Pastor inspire ME this week? I want the worship service to suit ME. MY kind of music-- not too loud and not too soft. MY kind of preaching-- not too loud and not too long. And I want recognition for everything that I'VE done for this church!" Friend, let me clue you in on a little secret: the Devil doesn't mind you going to church just as long as you don't grow up! You can shout, run the aisles, even fall out in the floor-- just don't get up and start to grow up because that's when you become dangerous to him! Let me remind you that you're a King's kid... so start growing! Ann Landers says, "Maturity is the ability to make a decision and stand by it. The immature spend their lives exploring endless possibilities; then they do nothing. Maturity means dependability, keeping one's word, coming through in a crisis. The immature are masters of alibi. They are disorganized. Their lives are a maze of broken promises, former friends, unfinished business, and good intentions that somehow never materialize. Maturity is the art of living in peace with that which we cannot change, the courage to change that which should be changed, and the wisdom to know the difference." Next
week, we'll take a look at the 3 areas that Christians
must grow in order to become spiritual giants for Christ!
The text will be 1 Corinthians 13:11. If you want to take
a sneak peek at it...just use the Bible study tools at
the bottom of this page! This devotional is an excerpt
from the booklet "Strong Meat For Strong
Christians" by Evangelist Doug Johnson. If you would
like to receive this FREE booklet simply contact us. Friend,
if you are unsure about where you stand in God's eyes,
then I want to invite you to pray this simple prayer
right now: "Jesus, I'm afraid and unsure about my
life. At times my life doesn't make any sense and I'm
searching for answers. I believe that you have what I'm
looking for. So I'm going to trust you with my life, my
future, and my soul. I ask you to forgive me for the sins
and mistakes that I've made. I believe that you died on
the cross for me...that you took the shame and the blame
for my mistakes and failures upon yourself so that I
wouldn't have to pay the penalty for my sin. Thank you
for giving me eternal life! Now, give me peace concerning
my future and all that it holds. Amen."
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