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Deterrent Light
Spiritual growth?
What seems to be a major deterrent or stimulant for Christians in their walk towards maturity?
Scripture tells us to be holy, perfect, and Christ-like but we rarely are. 1 John reads that if anyone loves (is loyal to) God, obedience shows it, so do we love Him? The world will know that we are followers of Christ by our fruit and light, so where is it?
Also: Hebrews 6:1 and 2 Peter 3:18
2 Corinthians 5:17
If you are in Christ, are you being made new? How?
Spiritual Growth - What is it?
Spiritual growth is detailed in 2 Peter 1:3-8, "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."
So, spiritual growth includes: (1) increasing in your knowledge and understanding of God's Word, (2) decreasing in your frequency and severity of sin, (3) increasing in your practice of Christ-like qualities, and (4) increasing in your faith and trust in God. Perhaps the best summary of spiritual growth is becoming more like Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul says, "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of what it truly means to be spiritual.
Spiritual Growth - How is it done?
In order for spiritual growth to occur, you first need to make sure you possess a true spiritual life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life" (1 John 5:11-12). When you believe in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit lives inside of you (John 14:16-17) and you are a new creation in Christ! 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" Your old nature, which is dominated by sin, is replaced with a new nature that is under the influence of God's Spirit (Romans 6-7). Spiritual growth can only occur in a person who knows the Lord Jesus Christ as his or her Savior.
Learning how to grow spiritually is a life-long journey which occurs as you read and apply God's Word to your life. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 teaches us, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work." In order for spiritual growth to occur, we must be taught, rebuked, corrected, and trained by God's Word. Then we will be thoroughly equipped for every good work. This is the essence of spiritual growth.
Another key to Christian growth is walking in the Spirit. Galatians 5:16-18, 24-26 explains, "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law…Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."
Walking in the Spirit is allowing Him to fill you (Ephesians 5:18), control you, and guide you. This is brought about by consciously choosing by faith to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you in thought, word, and deed (Romans 6:11-14). Failure to rely on the Holy Spirit's guidance will result in a believer not living up to the calling and standing that salvation provides. Ephesians 4:1 says, "…I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received."
Spiritual Growth - What are the results?
Spiritual growth is a life-long process of manifesting the acts of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21) less and less and producing the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) more and more. Notice that it is the Holy Spirit who produces the fruit in us. Yes, we must submit ourselves to the Spirit's leading, but it is the Spirit who produces the fruit of spiritual growth in our lives. What does spiritual growth look like? Galatians 5:22-23 has the answer, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." If you are becoming more loving, more joyful, more kind, more self-controlled, etc., then you can rest assured that spiritual growth is genuinely occurring in your life.
God works in different people in different ways. Some people grow rapidly, while others grow slowly, but steadily. Our focus should not be on comparing ourselves with others, but on comparing ourselves with God's Word. The Scriptures are the mirror to show us what we are like spiritually and to shine light on the areas that need to experience and learn spiritual growth. James 1:23-25 declares, "Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it - he will be blessed in what he does."
Fruit of the Spirit - Visible Growth in Jesus Christ
"Fruit of the Spirit" is a biblical term that sums up the nine visible attributes of a true Christian life. Using the King James Version of Galatians 5:22-23, these attributes are: love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance. We learn from scripture that these are not individual "fruits" from which we pick and choose. Rather, the fruit of the Spirit is one ninefold "fruit" that characterizes all who truly walk in the Holy Spirit. Collectively, these are the fruits that all Christians should be producing in their new lives with Jesus Christ.
Fruit of the Spirit - The Nine Biblical Attributes
The fruit of the Spirit is a physical manifestation of a Christian's transformed life. In order to mature as believers, we should study and understand the attributes of the ninefold fruit:
Love - "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him" (1 John 4:16). Through Jesus Christ, our greatest goal is to do all things in love. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
Joy - "The joy of the Lord is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10). "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:2).
Peace - "Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1). "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit" (Romans 15:13).
Longsuffering (patience) -- We are "strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness" (Colossians 1:11). "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2).
Gentleness (kindness) -- We should live "in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left" (2 Corinthians 6:6-7).
Goodness - "Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power" (2 Thessalonians 1:11). "For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth" (Ephesians 5:9).
Faith (faithfulness) - "O Lord, thou art my God; I will exalt thee, I will praise thy name; for thou hast done wonderful things; thy counsels of old are faithfulness and truth" (Isaiah 25:1). "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith" (Ephesians 3:16-17).
Meekness - "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted" (Galatians 6:1). "With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2).
Temperance (self-control) - "But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love" (2 Peter 1:5-7).
Fruit of the Spirit - A Devotional for All Christians
The fruit of the Spirit is a wonderful study for Christians at any level of spiritual maturity. We hope this website provides a thought-provoking devotional and a springboard for growth.
What are the marks of spiritual maturity?
In a world where many people live for the "quick fix," it can be difficult to see the marks of spiritual maturity as we grow closer to Jesus Christ.
It is important that we realize salvation - as important as it is - is just the first step in a lifelong process of sanctification. Once we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, we open the door for the Holy Spirit to begin changing our hearts to conform us to Christ. Through this process, the marks of spiritual maturity will become more apparent.
The marks of spiritual maturity are called "fruit of the Spirit" by the Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22-23. He defines them as "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." So when we look at ourselves after being saved, we should see these things in greater measure, while things like jealousy, envy, anger, hatred, lust, gluttony, and sloth diminish.
We are partners with the Holy Spirit on this ladder of spiritual maturity. We are not expected to become like Christ in our own strength, nor are we to sit back and let the Spirit do all the work. Paul tells us in Philippians 2:12 to "work out your salvation with fear and trembling."
The tools are readily available - God's Word, prayer, and action. They work together, feeding off one another. For example, when we pray for discernment before reading a Bible passage, we may learn a lesson that challenges us to reach out to someone in our community with love. We may also find ourselves doing God's work and suddenly find new meaning in Scripture.
Reading the Bible is an important way to get to know God better. John 10:3-5 illustrates this in the relationship between a shepherd and his sheep.
"The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice."
God is constantly calling to us, but often we don't recognize His voice or we confuse our own desires with His will for our lives. When we are familiar with His voice through Scripture, we will find that communication is vastly improved!
The transformation process is not always comfortable. We may be called by God to change our lives in ways we would never have envisioned. Some changes may alienate non-christian friends and even family members. But we can pray continually that they, too, will come to know Christ and follow the same process.
The marks of spiritual maturity also provide us with a way of discerning when we are confronted by self-righteous men who may falsely proclaim themselves to be Christians. If they seem angry, confrontational, or judgmental rather than patient, kind, and humble, there is a good chance they are following some other god.
Christian maturity - Is it important in the church?
Christian Maturity is an important thing in the life of a Christian. What is spiritual maturity? It is moving beyond the basics and moving towards a life of full devotion of God.
Hebrews 5:13-6:3 sums up the need for Christian maturity. "Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And God permitting, we will do so."
As Christians, we need to learn and grow in our faith and understanding of God. This is what spiritual maturity is all about, taking our faith to the next level. What needs to be done to grow spiritually? Commit yourself to a life of study and learn more about God through Bible study and fellowship with other believers. Another component to maturity involves regular communication with God through prayer. Another component is adapting a lifestyle that reflects this new life that has been found.
How does this apply to the church? 2 Timothy 4:2-6 states the obvious: "Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season, correct, rebuke, and encourage with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardships, do all the work of evangelists, discharge all the duties of your ministry."
Spiritual maturity certainly pertains to the church, because we must not fall short on our jobs of encouraging one another, praying for each other, helping each other grow spiritually as we learn more about God together, and then fulfilling our job as evangelists.
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FakeTV Burglar Deterrent
How do you solve this physics problem?
One deterrent to burglary is to leave your porch light on all the time. If your fixture contains a 60-W(watt) bulb at 120 V(volt), and your local power utility sells energy at 8 cents per kilowatt-hour, how much will it cost to leave the bulb on for the whole month?
The 60 watt bulb will dissipate 60 watts * 24 hours = 1440 watt-hours of power in one day. In one 30 day month, the bulb will dissipate 1.44 kW-hours/day * 30 days = 43.2 kW-hours. So the cost to operate the bulb is:
43.2 kW-hours * 0.08 dollars/kW-hour = $3.46
It will be 31/30 * 3.46 = $3.58 if the month has 31 days.
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