Growing Up

You know, growth is an interesting phenomenon.
You can't see the inch by inch growth of a child yet when you notice that he's gotten taller since the last time you saw him you say, "Oh wow! You've grown so tall!"
The boy probably couldn't feel his head moving up inch by inch everyday but one day he woke up and as if it happened overnight, he's taller and bigger.
Does anyone even know when this growth is taking place? That particular second/minute when the child gained an extra inch. Yet growth keeps happening. And the evidence is glaring, you can't deny that he grew taller.

That's how our life journey is. The ideal is that we go from one stage to a higher stage. We may not all notice the little steps or inches that we grow, but at some point, people go, "oh wow! You've reached this milestone!" We all know quite well that progress doesn't happen overnight. There are nutrients that we've been feeding on that have been contributing to our daily growth whether we feel it or not. However someday we get there. We get to that measurable level of growth. We can look back and have an Ebenezer moment, "thus far has the Lord brought me." And no matter what we've experienced in the past, nobody can deny our testimony.

You may not feel fully grown into who you know you should be. Don't panic. It's a process. God is pruning you, and putting all that you need for growth in you so that you may come to the full stature of Christ.

"12His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body (the church),

13[That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [[a]full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him.

14So then, we may no longer be children, tossed [like ships] to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, [the prey of] the cunning and cleverness of [b]unscrupulous men, [gamblers engaged] in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead. " Ephesians 4:12-14.

-Image found on stock.com

Letter to the Church: Is It well?

This was pulled from the faith column on 234Next.com, please enjoy.


The scripture declares it is well, but is it really? The prophet (Jeremiah I think) said of the priests of his day, and I paraphrase; the Lord says “my people are full of sores, yet the priests rub them with ointment and tell them it is well”. What does this mean? Straightforward really; Israel was infested with sin, yet the priest told the people that all was well. Today the pastors tell us the same thing; it is well, the Lord will bless you. Yet God who does not change is still saying, “if only the people who are called by name will turn and repent, I will heal them of their sins”.

Today, certain words have become archaic, forgotten, discarded, and mentioned only as infrequently as possible. These words? Sin and repent. Sin is mentioned in passing at the time a person becomes ‘born-again’, and repentance is sometimes attached at the end of the sermon, during the alter call. Following this, we are fine, supposedly, and on our merry way to heaven. Washed by the blood, and led by the spirit. But I remember a story that Jesus told of two men who came to the temple to pray. One, a religious Jew, prayed thus; “Father, thank God I am not a sinner like that other man”. And the ‘other man’ prayed thus; “Father forgive me for I am a sinner”. Who did Jesus say went home a righteous man? The ‘other man’. Today, we are the righteous Jew, the sons of Abraham, bought by the blood and led by the spirit, deceiving ourselves that the blood of Jesus has cleansed us of our sin and we thus on the highway to heaven. Care is required and scrutiny of our ways, necessary.

Sin is real and present, and repentance is a state of being. Jesus defines sin at the level of the heart and therefore ensures that we are almost all in a state of perpetual sin. His evidence of fornication, murder, covetousness and greed is always at the level of the heart and mind. Most are struggling, many are falling, plenty live in self-deceit and denial, and for the very religious, we are like the righteous Jew in Jesus’ story who don’t even know that Jesus regards us as sinners.

Ask a Christian, “are you sure that you will make heaven”? And they’re sure to reply, by the grace of God or, through the blood of Jesus. As for carrying our own cross, that’s not necessary as Jesus has done it all. We forget that he was the same man who said, “except a man carry his own cross, he cannot be my disciple”. Most do not even realize that Jesus redefined sin. So a Christian, man or woman, is most likely to believe that they have never committed the sin of fornication since they became ‘born-again’ simply because they have not physically indulged in the act. But at the level of the heart; the rest is best left unsaid. As for covetousness, our hearts know almost nothing else as our prayers tell the story of ‘give me this and give me that’. We want to gain everything even though Jesus asks us to lose our lives. Is it really well with us? Is it really? Who declares that it is well? The self-styled men of god who are more interested in successful ministries (as defined by numbers, size of church building and monetary collections) or our heavenly father who is only interested in the riches of holiness and the glory of righteousness.

I don’t remember any testimonies about overcoming a long fought battle with a particular sin, or someone finally repenting from lying and thanking God that he had remained 100% truthful for the last one year. The church would be irritated at such testimonies and ask people to keep their victory over sin to themselves. But business success, house building, promotion at work, long-awaited marriage, fruit of the womb, and of course that luxury car, of these we testify daily. Is it really well with us?

When will turn again to the days of old, when John cried in the wilderness, REPENT! When will we take our place and watch like Habakkuk? When will we like Abraham leave everything we know behind and look towards our promised land in God? When will we listen to Jesus, when will we agree with him, when will we truly follow him. Is there not a prophet in the land!?

-Kola Lawal, 234Next.com.

Clarity

Often times in life we hear people saying they need more clarity. In most cases, we've been the one telling someone how we need to hear from the Lord to get clarity. You'll hear someone say something like, "I really feel like doing this but I need more clarity." What is clarity? Clarity is defined as the quality or state of being clear. So basically when we desire more clarity concerning a matter, we want to be sure and clear about the choices we're faced with. Having clarity to me is having the courage of my conviction that I'm making the right decision; it is saying the mist is gone, the dust is settled and now I can see clearly.

There are many ways to get clarity concerning a matter. One way is to not act until the dust settles. You may ask, how do I know when the dust has settled? To allow the dust to settle you need to step away from the situation before you. For example, a male friend of yours comes to you and tells you he sees you as a potential mate. You've known each other for quite some time and you also think that you like him. Now your emotions are aroused and you just want to jump into the love boat. That's where you should stop. Take a few days apart from one another and really seek God. The Bible says, "He will keep in perfect peace, he whose mind is stayed on Him." And we know that it is the peace of God that guides our hearts, so then if we're abiding in His peace we'll know exactly what to do. We'll see clearly.

Another way of looking at the example above is to think of our natural senses. When a person loses one sense, the other senses are increased. For example if you closed your eyes, you would probably hear better. So if you closed your eyes to the "mountains" before you, it will be easier to hear the voice of God and know the heart of God concerning a matter.

Hoping you're all having clarity in every decision you're making. God bless!

A Year Ago...

How could I have forgotten my blogiversary! Happy Blogiversary to "Becoming Jeshurun"!!!