Grow?

1. Grow? • We Can & We Must!

2. Ephesians 4:15 “We are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ”

3. Ephesians 4:14 “As a result, we are no longer to be children”

4. 1 Cor. 14:20 “Brethren, do not be children in your thinking…in your thinking be mature”

5. Hebrews 5:12 “For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the first principles of the oracles of God; and you have come to need milk and not solid food.”

6. Luke 9:23 “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me”

7. Mediocrity

8. Are we only experiencing mediocre growth in our life as a Christian? • If so, our commitment is half-hearted.

9. Matthew 13:22 “and the one on whom the seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of the world and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful”

10. Are you a distracted Christian? • To actually make the most of our time on this earth, we must maintain an eternal perspective.

11. Luke 9:62 “No one, after putting his hand to the plow and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God”

12. Growth • “Starts With Changing The Way We Think!”

13. Consider… • that behind everything we do originated with a thought. • that every behavior is driven by a belief. • that every action is incited by an attitude.

14. Proverbs 4:23 “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life”

15. Matthew 6:19-21 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

16. Consider… • “Here the word ‘heart’ means more than mental or emotional capacity; it also encompasses one’s values” (Bible Knowledge Comm. p. 914) • “Keep thy heart more than any other keeping” (P.P. Comm. p. 91),because our habits, lifestyle, and eternal destiny will all be determined by what we allow ourselves to believe and value.

17. Growth • “We Can Change!”

18. Consider… • First, one must want to change! • “And behold, a woman in the city who was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at the table in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster flask of fragrant oil,” - Luke 7:37 • Secondly, there also needs to be that conviction that God’s way of thinking and living is truly the right way, not just for others, but for me as well!

19. Romans 12:2 “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove that which is good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

20. Ephesians 4:23 “that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind”

21. Philippians 2:5 “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:”

22. Growth • “Are you serious?”

23. Consider… • The Bible makes it clear that selfish thinking also leads to a life of sin. • “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God” (Romans 8:7) • “Who set their minds on earthly things” (Philippians 3:19)

24. Consider… • This is one example of immature thinking, where we are thinking only of yourself and what we want right now. • Have you grown beyond this level of thinking? • If we are presently unhappy or miserable, this is probably where we are mentally.

25. James 4:1-4 “Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members? 2 You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask. 3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. 4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.”

26. Growth • “Whatever Is True!”

27. Matthew 4:4 “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God”

28. John 17:17 “Sanctify them through thy truth: Thy word is truth.”

29. Consider… • Much of our problems transpire due to centering our decisions on undependable ideals: • culture (“everyone is doing it”) • tradition (“we’ve always done it”) • reason (“it seemed logical”) • emotion (“it just felt right”)

30. Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is pure [tested]…”

31. Psalm 119:128 “Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.”

32. Growth • “Finding The Lies”

33. 2 Cor. 10:3-5 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,”

34. Consider… • If we are unhappy, miserable, envious, and quarrelsome, then we are holding onto a number of lies. • The truth will convict us of sin, but the truth will not lead to an unhappy or miserable life (Psalm 119:97-105)

35. Growth • “Dwell On These Things”

36. Psalm 119:97 “It is my mediation all the day”

37. Psalm 119:11 “Your word I have treasured in my heart”

38. Psalm 119:15 “I will mediate on Your precepts and regard Your ways”

39. Consider… • Worry, envy, jealousy, lust, hate, and so on, are the result of a mental focus on what is false. • Patience, kindness, love and so on, are the result of a mental focus on what is true! • Why not spend all this mental energy on what is true and be happy as a result?

40. Parable of the Soils • The wayside soil (Matt. 13:19): Here is the closed mind, the person who only wants to believe what is comfortable and what suits their self-interest and preconceived ideas. • The rocky soil (Matt. 13:20): Here is the person who lets in a little bit of truth, but wants to live a superficial life as well.

41. Parable of the Soils • The thornysoil (22): This is the distracted mind, the person who is trying to trust God and hold on to a number of lies as well. • The good ground (23): The only individual who grows in this entire section is the last person mentioned who completely embraces God’s truth and acts upon it.

42. Growth • “Crucial Decisions”

43. Consider… • In order to grow spiritually, we must be willing to trust God completely and involves: • exclusive allegiance, not part-time faithfulness (Matthew 6:33; 24). • Servants remember that God owns it all (Psalm 24:1) • Servants do not view various jobs as beneath them, and servants are secure people who do not worry about how they appear to others.

44. Grow? • We Can & We Must!