Sat, Aug 5th - 7:09PM

Spiritual growth and the Christian diet

                           Growth is very important to a believer. As Babes in the Lord we should desire the sincere milk of the word, but there comes a time when we mature in Christ and are able to eat some spiritual meat. The meat of God’s word is found in the deep things of God, which the Spirit is willing to share with, whoever are hungry to know them. He will withhold nothing that is good and profitable from us. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want! Those who trust in the Lord will not want for any good thing. It is precious promises such as these that will help us on the way to spiritual growth. We cannot stay Baby Christians forever! Some men are mature at seventeen, and some are immature at 70, it’s time we grow up! Mature and go on to perfection.

  Matt. 5:6 If we hunger and thirst after his righteousness, we shall (Promise) be filled! To prosper and be in health even as your soul prospers, we must eat the right foods (You are what you eat) Angels food or devil’s food, You can’t eat from the Lord’s table and slip around and eat from the devil’s table too. You can’t eat everything you want and stay healthy either. You must pick and choose what is best for you, and be fully persuaded in our minds.

  Without natural food we would eventually starve to death, and if we would want to compare natural things with natural and spiritual things with spiritual, then we could also say that the spirit man (the new man which after God is created in righteousness) without being fed the daily bread would eventually shrivel up to nothing and die. We are to live by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, that is what Jesus told Satan when he was tempted to lust after natural food, (Which is categorized as “the lust of the flesh”) one of the three things that we are told not to love.

  We build strong men and women of God (Children of faith) by giving them the bread of life and the living water. (A bread and water diet if you will) Jesus said, “ Unless you eat my flesh, and drink my blood you cannot see the kingdom of God, (a type and shadow of the communion of the Old Testament Passover.).

  John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.  He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats me, even he shall live by me. This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eats of this bread shall live forever. These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. ¶Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, this is a hard saying; who can hear it?  When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh doesn’t profit anything! The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life, but there are some of you that believe not: For Jesus knew from the beginning who that they were that believed not, and who should betray him. And he said, therefore said I unto you that no man can come unto me, except it was given unto him of my Father. From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.

Purpose; at the local church you will find purpose and, everyone can enjoy a piece of the P.I.E. (Which stands for purpose, interaction, and enthusiasm) O’ taste and see if the Lord isn’t good! (He’s better than mom’s homemade Apple pie with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top! Amen?

   In him I have found new meaning, true purpose, and direction for my life. The answer to one of life’s biggest questions; “Why am I here”? Can be answered at the local church. The preacher of Ecclesiastes said “there is a reason for every purpose under heaven” and that is why; all things were made by him and for him! He’s my reason for living. John 10:10 the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. He that has the Son has life, a better quality of life (an abundant lifestyle) we were made in his likeness, created in his image. We were born to serve the Lord!

  Don’t live your life in vain! A sinner or a backslider’s life is distorted, twisted, and their perception (The way they view things) is darkened, they have not the light of life, so they stumble around in the dark, and they choose the darkness rather than the light! So never come to the light, because their deeds are evil, and they can never try to find their true purpose!

 Interaction; The local church is a community of believers in Christ. A neighborhood if you will (A church in the hood!), a family who have spiritually adopted brothers, sisters, and elder parents, which are heirs of God, and joint heirs of Jesus Christ!

We have been accepted in the beloved! You never have to feel left out, there is always something for everyone to do, whether it is being part of the five fold ministry that God has ordained, being a help, or part of the governing body. Everything is done for the edification of the local body, which are members in particular. Eph. 4:11-16 and he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, that we may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and   compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

  1 John 1:7 but if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanses us from all sin. How sweet it is! (Paraphrased of course) for the brethren to dwell in unity! With all in one mind and in one accord, as on the day of Pentecost! We need that upper room experience! Interaction with “The Holy Ghost” and “Fire”!

  Enthusiasm Which brings me to the last piece of the “P.I.E.” enthusiasm is what we should encounter every service, it will equip us with what we need to stand against the wiles of the Devil. The local church should be a soul-filling station, a place where we go to get our souls fed, fueled up and ready to share our faith! That we might be thoroughly furnished unto all good works (With all the right stuff)

  Christians in general are not as enthusiastic about this as we should be! The world gets excited when the baseball player hits a homerun, or when the basketball player with great accuracy gets a three pointer, then they stand and cheer for the football player who makes a touchdown, and what happens when the world champion boxer gets a knockout? They stand and scream, “You go boy! Yeah!”

  Think about our champion, who made of himself no reputation. The one who conquered death, defeated sin, and gave us the victory to overcome the temptations of this world! Yet we have to pump and prime to get people to lift their hands and give God praise! But they say, “now brother, I don’t want to get in the flesh” and they end up quenching the spirit of God. You only get out of a church service what you put into it! And of course if you receive a blessing at all, it will be because you have earned it, as my daddy always said, “God don’t bless on credit!

G-R-O-W-T-H

G Go to God in prayer everyday. Prayer is communication with God, and the more you pray, the closer you get to him. Draw nigh unto God and he will nigh unto you! Husbands and wives get closer to one another when they learn how to communicate well with one another. Men are not good communicators, unless it has to do with something on his job.

 We have access to the Father through the Son, because of reconciliation: God sending his only begotten Son of God, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. Because of this we can A.S.K. (Ask, Seek and Knock) the keys to the kingdom! We have not, because we A.S.K. not! God is faithful over his word: to perform it in your life! So P.U.S.H. pray until something happens! This is a pressing way.

R Read your Bible. The B.I.B.L.E. our basic instructions before leaving Earth. (Our instructions) If all else fails: read the instructions! I’m using my Bible for a roadmap. Set aside devotional time when you pray and study the word of God (Time alone with him, we get intimate with someone when we spend time alone with them) Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that has no need to be ashamed! Rightly dividing the “Word of truth” because it is here a little, there a little, line upon line, precept upon precept, comparing natural things with natural things, and spiritual things with spiritual things. The reason so many are deceived, is because they don’t know the word of the truth. They rely on traditions of men, which for the most part contain damnable heresies. The truth is God’s word to us, a contract with conditions: without any of the fine print!

O obedience to God is a must; it is absolutely necessary for spiritual growth. Obedience is far greater than sacrifice. In sacrifice you do it out of necessity. Now don’t get me wrong, God does honor sacrifice, such as a sacrifice of praise. It is the fruit of our lips that is pleasing to him! Even though we don’t feel like it or not, we should praise the Lord! Everything has been going wrong and you had a bad day: God command is let everything that has breath “Praise the Lord!” If we should hold it in, Jesus said, “The rocks would cry out!”  It is a sweet smelling savor (aroma) to God. I could say, “everyone raise your hands and praise the Lord,” and it may be a sacrifice for you to do so, yet if you do it out of obedience to God’s command, you will be blessed. I believe is part of the reasonable service (The least that God could expect from us)

W Worship him in spirit and in truth. Worship is a must if you ever want to grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. What is worship? Something we do to bring honor and glory to God, and it is done in many ways. There are as many ways to worship, as there are people in the world. Worship like praise magnifies God (Makes him bigger, and brings him closer as we focus on his Lordship over our lives.

  Heaven is full of worshipers. The Angelic host around the throne of God ceases not to cry holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. It is not a quiet place. As a matter of fact, this is probably the quietest place you’ll ever live in! Praise and worship is left up to the individual, and God can discern lip service (A form of flattery) from true heart-felt, sincere worship and praise. We worship in song, in our giving, in a testimony, lifting holy hands, bowing on our knees, prostrate on the floor, in laughter and in tears. God knows all about us, and he understands our own unique style of worship. Some shout, or silently meditate, some will dance, some run the isles, we leap for joy, it’s all worship, and it’s all good! Worship is “willful, obedient, response to his Lordship”

T Teach others, (Part of the great commission) we must be apt to teach, (live up to the task) to give an answer to every man that would ask a reason for the hope that is in us. It is also part of the great confession. We must confess him before men, to let our light so shine before them, that they may see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven. We preach to sinners (Mark 16:14-15) and teach the saints (Matthew 20:28&29) 2 Timothy 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

H Holy Ghost power to witness, in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria and in the utter-most parts of the Earth. He has come as a comforter and a guide, “The Paracletes” the one who has been called along side.