AN ANSWER TO A GOLD QUESTION…

Why grow spiritually?

What more do we need? Why dig deeper? We’re definitely not going to hell, so what’s there to lose? God already loves us in FULL. God cannot love us any less. All around us are unbelievers that are doing exploits in different spheres. They don’t even believe in Jesus, so why bother ourselves?  We admire them; envy them, and even look up to them in some cases. Yet, we’re the Christians, the Christ followers, the ones that serve a mighty God. We pray. We go to church almost regularly and very early because we serve during church services. So, what’s this talk about growing spiritually? …I don’t think there’s anything wrong with our lives.

We’re fine.

BUT,

We don’t understand it when we hear people Say “The Holy Spirit told me.” We read our Bibles only when we feel like it. We don’t have a personal, consistent quiet time with God. We guess our way around life. We can’t remember ever rebuking the devil and seeing him flee. We don’t operate in any Gift of the Spirit. We’re definitely not bearing the Fruit of the Spirit. Of course, we can’t remember the last time we prayed in the Spirit.

No, we’re not fine.

God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being)
And those that worship Him must
Worship Him in spirit and in truth…
John 4:24 (AMP)

Did the Bible just say MUST?                                            

To be fair, we do have an option. God is not going to put robes round our necks and drag us to the place He wants us to be. He has given us the power of choice, to choose without His interference. But if we choose to worship Him, we can only do it in the spirit.

Question though: How can we have a solid relationship with someone that’s a Spirit and only communicates to our spirits, if our spirits are inactive to hear from Him?

Answer: No way. Lack of communication kills relationships.

When we accepted the offering of Jesus, God didn’t just save us from death to life, He established a relationship.

But to as many as did receive and welcome Him,
He gave the authority (power, privilege, Right) to
Become the children of God…
John 1:12 (AMP)

 He became our Father and we became His children.

Before we accepted Jesus, God already planned out this relationship. He made the rules. He has a plan for every individual. He called us into purpose.

God is a responsible Father. In fact, He teaches responsible fathers what it takes to be responsible. He wants to communicate with us often, and He can only achieve it through our spirits. God’s plan cannot be achieved if He can’t get to us, daily. He cannot get to us without the person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works/walks with our spirits. We cannot access what’s in our spirits, if we leave our spirit walk to chance: pray only when I feel like it, read the Bible only  when I feel like, listen to what my flesh wants to, watch what my flesh want to, go where my flesh wants to, say what my flesh wants to say etc.

Yes, unbelievers are doing excellently well on earth, without this relationship we’ve been called into, but we can’t decide to defile our own calling because of what we see in/around unbelievers.

Why?

First, it is only naturally to stand before kings if we’re diligent at what we do. In other words, if we work hard, we have a high chance to meet success (Christian or not). See Proverbs 22:29, 10:4, 12:24, and 12:27. In the Bible days, Egypt and Babylon were two powerful countries. They were excellent in Arts and Sciences, yet were not counted as God’s people. As a matter of fact, these countries, at different times, held the Israelites (God’s children) captives because of their influence and might, yet they weren’t part of God’s kingdom. They had wisdom, power, and all that makes a country great. Guess who gave all these to them? God, yet they were not His people.

Secondly, can we remember the parable of the wheat and the darnel (weeds), in the book of Matthew 13: 24-30?

… the kingdom of God is like a man who sowed
Good seed in his field; but while he was sleeping
His enemy came and sowed also darnel (black, wild wheat)
Among the wheat, and went away.
So when the plants sprouted and form grain,
The darnel (weeds resembling wheat) appeared also…

You see, the weeds grew also. It’s not only those that belong to the Father that are growing. Unbelievers are also growing.

 …the servants said to him, then do you want us to
Go and weed them out?
But he said, no… let them grow together…

Growth is not the very essence; the very essence is what you are. We are wheat. We cannot start looking at the weeds and wanting to be like them. We have to stay true to who we are. We don’t grow like the world; we grow in Grace into the likeness of Jesus. See Ephesians 4:13-16 and Romans 12:1,2

If you’re His, there’s a special assignment here on earth with your name on it, an assignment that will advance His kingdom on earth. You cannot discover and carry out your assignment if you don’t have a personal, consistent growing relationship with the Holy Spirit.

Let’s play the “imagine game”

Imagine Abraham… if he had not been in tune with God at every moment, what would have been the fate of Isaac?

Imagine Moses… if he had not learnt to hear and listen to God, when he got to the red sea, what would have been the fate of the Israelites?

Imagine Joshua… if he didn’t seek the face of God often, in other to know how to fight each battle, when he got to Jericho, what would have been the fate of the Israelites?

Imagine Samuel… if he had not understood the way God works, what would have become of David?

Imagine David… if he didn’t know how to seek the face of God and hear from God, what would have been his fate with Saul?

Imagine the early church; the disciples of Jesus, the 120 on the day of Pentecost, Peter, Stephen, and Paul, not working and walking with the Holy Spirit…

Imagine your favorite Bible heroes, and then imagine what would have become of them if they didn’t have a close relationship with God?

You see, these heroes in the Bible were just like us. Like them God has a special call on each and every one of us. If we don’t have a close relationship with God how can God communicate His heart to us? How can we hear Him? How can we know when to pursue and when not to pursue? How can we know when to stop and when to say know? …We wouldn’t.

It’s like God not to show us the light at the end of the tunnel before He asks us to go through the tunnel. He gives us our daily bread (remember the people that tried to keep manna for the next day? What happened to the manna? It got bad). God wouldn’t show us the full picture from the beginning. He will only show us what we need for the now. So when we’re done with the now, what happens to the next step if we’re not in tune with God?

Don’t bother! We can’t manipulate God.                                                       

He knows our frame. The thickest darkness can’t hide us from Him. He remembers we’re just dust. You cannot come and get when you want to get and go when you want to go. God is more interested in who we’re becoming than in what we are doing. So, He’s ready to wreck our lives (positively though), in other to bring us to the point where we need just Him and nothing else, sincerely. At this point He can trust us enough to release our assignments to us.

What’s the next step?

If you’re reading this and wondering what to do next, here is what not to do next; don’t rush to set goals, or make decisions like “I will read the Bible for five hours every day, starting from today”… no no no. Refuse to feel guilty, that’s the devil, be excited and trust God for a new beginning. Start by renewing your mind. Talk sincerely to God about what you feel and what you desire. Ask Him for Grace to help you become what you want to become, to do what you want to do. Invite the Holy Spirit (our Trainer/Nutritionist) to come help you. The Holy Spirit will probably start you up with baby steps. Go on with the baby steps. God is not angry with baby steps, He created it. Your life will not remain the same, as long as you’re always willing. We can never serve God with our efforts; we always need Grace, and Grace walks with willing hearts.

Our kingdom assignments need our undivided attention,

Get in the Gym, and

Stay Spiritually Fit.

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