1. Ephesians 4:11-16 ~ So Christ himself gave
the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers,
to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may
be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge
of the Son
of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness
of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by
the waves,
and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning
and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking
the truth in love, we will grow to become in every
respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From
him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting
ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its
work.
2. 1 Corinthians 14:20 ~ Brothers and sisters, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be adults.
When
we allow God to perfect us, we can have faith, stand on the Word &
believe in God's deliverance. We can stop thinking as infants when it
comes to the things of God & grow up, maturing in the Word!
3. James 1:5-8 ~ If
any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to
all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you
ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who
doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That
person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a
person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.
1 Kings 3:5-14 ~ At
Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and
God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my
father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright
in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given
him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
“Now, LORD my God, you have made your servant king in place of my
father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry
out my duties. Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a
great people, too numerous to count or number. So give your servant a
discerning heart to govern your people and to
distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this
great people of yours?” The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for
this. So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for
long
life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your
enemies but for discernment in administering justice, I will do what you
have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning
heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will
there ever be. Moreover,
I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so
that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. And if you
walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your
father did, I will give you a long life.”
With perfection comes wisdom...
whatever we lack, including wisdom, we are mature enough to know that we
can ask God for whatever we need. We must have unwavering faith,
without doubt.
4. John 8:32 ~ "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
The
gospel of Jesus will make you free… allowing God to perfect us makes us
realize that we must have faith that what saved us can also deliver us.
5. Galatians 5:1-2 ~ It
is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do
not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my
words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised,
Christ will be of no value to you at all.
God has
liberated you from sin; therefore trust that He will deliver you from
any situation! Stand fast & know that He is God! Don't return to
what God has delivered you from (even people)! When you go back, you
begin to be like minded with the people you are with. What you do &
say, what you hear will get in your heart & you will begin to act
just like them - like the OLD you! Set an example & come out from
among them! Touch no unclean things; don't be caught up in bondage
again! We are special & peculiar & God has called us out as His,
to be separate & holy as He is holy. We are therefore new creatures
in Christ; the light of the world… don't compromise - stand firm!
6. Colossians 2:6-8, 3:16 ~ So then, just as
you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him,
rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were
taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive
philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual
forces of this world rather than on Christ.
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and
admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs
from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Everyday,
we meet many different people - some nice, some not so nice, some who
listen & try to understand the message of Christ & others who
question it, even attempting to sway us with their own philosophies. We
must learn to answer all people with the love of Christ. God does things
decently & in order. He is not the author of confusion therefore we
should be the same. When we are mature & allow God to perfect us,
we do things the way Jesus would, speaking & acting in love,
encouraging & lifting one another up in the Lord!
7. 2 Timothy 2:15-19 ~ Do
your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who
does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more
and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them
are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have departed from the truth. They say
that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the
faith of some.
Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this
inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who
confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
Because
we have the mind of Christ, the spirit of God dwells in us & we
should avoid vain teachings , gossip & conversations like those who
have departed from the faith & those in sin. We should, instead
spread the gospel of Christ with love! We might be the only bible
someone reads so we have
to always do the right thing to avoid being a stumbling block - what we
do can have a major impact on someone's life.
8. Hebrews 5:11-14 ~ We
have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you
because you no longer try to understand. In fact, though by this time
you ought to be teachers, you need someone
to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You
need milk, not solid food! 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.
Rather than
teaching, some of us need to be taught the elementary things of God all
over again. We will never receive what God has for us or be able to do
what He's called us to do if we do not allow Him to perfect us! We have
to grow up in the Word!
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