Growing in Christ

[jcapsu44]

I have heard it said that you can't grow in Christ or until you fully practice the things that have been revealed to you. This seems to be fully applicable, in the lives of many people. I often get asked why God doesn't reveal His plan to individuals, but when I ask if they are sharing their faith, doing good for the poor, and leading love committed to the Lord they are mum. However those that are tracking with the Lord seem to be at peace and understand the positions that He has called him to in life.

What are your guys thoughts?

 

[Cturtle]

In my thoughts, one grows in the area that they are putting into practice. That they are being a doer of the Word and not just a hearer. One who does not work out their muscles will not get physically stronger. The same goes for faith and the things of God. If we don't work or walk out God's Word then we cannot get stronger and then end up making excuses for where we are instead of where we could or should be. God does reveal His Plans to us (The Bible says so Luke 8:10, 17-18 and Dt 29:29), we just have to know how to listen. The tracking part of what you said...if i understand you right, people are rationalizing things in their own mind and coming up with answers to where they are. Its not God's plan, but it makes them "feel" better about being slothful about their relationship with God.

If i misunderstood your tracking comment i apologize.

Blessings

 

[Big Moose]

Jesus quotes Isaiah in Matthew 15:
8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ "

God has a path or a way for us, predestined for us to follow. When we stray from the path, or plan, and the further we wander, the less and less we can see or hear where this plan is going and in fact the plan is going nowhere. They stall it out.
That is why Jesus said "you have eyes but don't see, ears but don't hear." When you get too far from the path or plan, you still have eyes, but you can't see the path because you are too far away. The same with having ears but not hear the directions being given to get you back on track.

You must keep that desire to be on His path and plan.

 

[autumn oddity]

I was taught, that you can't change yourself...only God can...i was also taught that the HS will gentle convict you of sin...when he brings it to your attention...and you stop doing what you're doing...or do what's right...then you'll bear fruit.

 

[Cturtle]

Jesus quotes Isaiah in Matthew 15:
8 ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ "

God has a path or a way for us, predestined for us to follow. When we stray from the path, or plan, and the further we wander, the less and less we can see or hear where this plan is going and in fact the plan is going nowhere. They stall it out.
That is why Jesus said "you have eyes but don't see, ears but don't hear." When you get too far from the path or plan, you still have eyes, but you can't see the path because you are too far away. The same with having ears but not hear the directions being given to get you back on track.

You must keep that desire to be on His path and plan.

Reminds me of the parable of the sower in Matthew, (well its in Mark and luke too, but there is a verse that says it best) ch 13: 15 For the heart (inner man) of this people is waxed gross (strongs says to thicken, fatten or figuratively stupefy or be callous) and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed.....these people have chosen to close themselves (ears, eyes and spirits (inner man - heart) off to the things of God, and usually it takes something drastic to wake them up till they decide to become open to the Word. They have become wayside or in other words they say no i don't want to hear that right now. And thus go onto following the devil in the worldly ways.

 

[Cturtle]

I was taught, that you can't change yourself...only God can...i was also taught that the HS will gentle convict you of sin...when he brings it to your attention...and you stop doing what you're doing...or do what's right...then you'll bear fruit.

You are right in a way that we cannot change ourselves. It is God through His Word (Romans 12:2). But we have to do our part like Romans says. We have to choose to feed our spirits (through our eyes and ears and mouth by meditating) with the Word of God. And yes the Holy Spirit does gently convict us of sin, and if we choose to repent immediately we won't have to suffer the consequences of making the wrong decision or staying in our sin. When we choose to say that we repent it immediately breaks the hold or the power of the sin that is tripping us up. Good stuff my friend!

 

[KingJ]

1. I have heard it said that you can't grow in Christ or until you fully practice the things that have been revealed to you. This seems to be fully applicable, in the lives of many people. 2. I often get asked why God doesn't reveal His plan to individuals, but when I ask if they are sharing their faith, doing good for the poor, and leading love committed to the Lord they are mum. However those that are tracking with the Lord seem to be at peace and understand the positions that He has called him to in life.

What are your guys thoughts?

1. I don't like that underlined wording. Imagine you said to your wife ' I will grow closer to you by practicing to do what pleases you'. Or 'I know taking that bullet for you is love, so I will practice it'. We show our love for God by doing those things that please Him. As scripture says ''If you love me you will obey my commandments'' and Rom 12:9 'Genuine love for God is to hate what is evil and cling to what is good'.

Wanting to feel God is closer / seeing actual growth / walking in more faith... is not to be the focus. These come with time.

2. Agreed. Jesus would not in a million years say ''depart from me I do not know you'' to those following James 1:27 as He does to those in Matt 7:22.

 

[Fish Catcher Jim]

1. I don't like that underlined wording. Imagine you said to your wife ' I will grow closer to you by practicing to do what pleases you'. Or 'I know taking that bullet for you is love, so I will practice it'. We show our love for God by doing those things that please Him. As scripture says ''If you love me you will obey my commandments'' and Rom 12:9 'Genuine love for God is to hate what is evil and cling to what is good'.

Wanting to feel God is closer / seeing actual growth / walking in more faith... is not to be the focus. These come with time.

2. Agreed. Jesus would not in a million years say ''depart from me I do not know you'' to those following James 1:27 as He does to those in Matt 7:22.

KJ when in scripture it says to put into practice or anything along those lines ( translation wordings differ ) it means to start doing things that way and work at it to make it a normal every day way that you live.

To put into practice what Jesus said is the very smartest thing any one can do.
Blessings

 

[Fish Catcher Jim]

1. I don't like that underlined wording. Imagine you said to your wife ' I will grow closer to you by practicing to do what pleases you'. Or 'I know taking that bullet for you is love, so I will practice it'. We show our love for God by doing those things that please Him. As scripture says ''If you love me you will obey my commandments'' and Rom 12:9 'Genuine love for God is to hate what is evil and cling to what is good'.

Wanting to feel God is closer / seeing actual growth / walking in more faith... is not to be the focus. These come with time.

2. Agreed. Jesus would not in a million years say ''depart from me I do not know you'' to those following James 1:27 as He does to those in Matt 7:22.

Kj following James 1:27 is worthless unless you are living according to His every word.
You can (think) you are doing much in the kingdom of God or for God or that your Christiananity is set in stone because you follow James 1:27 but if you are not walking or living in Love as God commands us to then it is all worhtless.

again as a disclaimer...........the word you is used in general as to any born again believer.
Blessings

 

[Fish Catcher Jim]

I was taught, that you can't change yourself...only God can...i was also taught that the HS will gentle convict you of sin...when he brings it to your attention...and you stop doing what you're doing...or do what's right...then you'll bear fruit.

Pancakes,
Wow your hitting the nail right on the head here. ; )
Dont loose sight of this
God Bless
Jim

 

[KingJ]

Kj following James 1:27 is worthless unless you are living according to His every word.
You can (think) you are doing much in the kingdom of God or for God or that your Christiananity is set in stone because you follow James 1:27 but if you are not walking or living in Love as God commands us to then it is all worhtless.

again as a disclaimer...........the word you is used in general as to any born again believer.
Blessings

I don't agree Jim. I don't think anyone can ''keep up'' selflessness of this sort without having an encounter with God. I always like to interrogate those who do such... . It is impossible for one who has a heart after God to... not meet God.

 

[KingJ]

KJ when in scripture it says to put into practice or anything along those lines ( translation wordings differ ) it means to start doing things that way and work at it to make it a normal every day way that you live.

To put into practice what Jesus said is the very smartest thing any one can do.
Blessings

Yes I can agree. There are two ways of looking at the word 'practice'.
1. I practice tithing by putting 10% under the pillow and wait to see if I will need it.
2. I practice tithing by starting with a little / that I can afford and work my way up.

Disclaimer: I don't believe we 'have' to tithe but rather, 'should'.

 

[Fish Catcher Jim]

Yes I can agree. There are two ways of looking at the word 'practice'.
1. I practice tithing by putting 10% under the pillow and wait to see if I will need it.
2. I practice tithing by starting with a little / that I can afford and work my way up.

Disclaimer: I don't believe we 'have' to tithe but rather, 'should'.

Rofl............
Now brother you know both of those examples are far fetched and funny.

1. One should not ever - like in never - decide to tithe or bring a tithe out of what you feel, or think you can aford. 10 percent is 10 percent and it is not if you can aford to but rather one can not aford not to. The tithe is honoring Him and He does not simply take your offering and say be gone away from me. No sir God honors the tithe with all that He is.....He backs it by all the honor of His name.

Now then to put into practice.........
Simply put...........Work at making it a habit..........work at operating or living in such a way until it is as normal for one as breathing is.
God Bless Kj
Jim

 

[KingJ]

1 One should not ever - like in never - decide to tithe or bring a tithe out of what you feel, or think you can aford. 10 percent is 10 percent and it is not if you can aford to but rather one can not aford not to. The tithe is honoring Him and He does not simply take your offering and say be gone away from me. No sir God honors the tithe with all that He is.....He backs it by all the honor of His name.
2. Now then to put into practice.........
Simply put...........Work at making it a habit..........work at operating or living in such a way until it is as normal for one as breathing is.
God Bless Kj
Jim

1. Agreed. We must 'do it'. We must obey if we love Him. As for tithing, I disagree with ''we cannot afford not to''. But lets leave that discussion for a tithing thread.

2. Jim, pretend you are saying the underlined to your wife. Do you think you will escape a slap? God has feelings and emotions too .

What exactly must be as normal as breathing? Are we about to have another discussion of building our faith that we are talking to God? Talking to God must be normal? If so, I agree. But as said many times before, a Christian gets a revelation that Jesus is God. So to every Christian, Jesus and ''God's existence should be normal very quickly. What I think you are proposing is that we learn how to talk to God? We make it a habit to choose the correct words and have unwavering faith when talking to Him? Imagine I said to my wife, honey I am developing a habit of speaking to you a certain way and I believe without doubt that when I ask you to wash the kitchen, you will. Or when I ask you / demand you to give me a plaster, you will. Jim, you need to just '''''be'''''' a Christian. You are in a relationship with God. Stop all the acting, practicing, habits, self effort and just love and trust God. You are trying to be someone special when you are already special to Him.

 

[KingJ]

Relationships are always emotional rides. We can't think we can normalize it with God like He is a robot. ''You said if I do X I get Y, I did X, so I claim Y. I practice at trusting that if I do X I get Y....in time I learn that A and B with occasional Z also help'' = Jews with God = helper with master. This is not how husband and wife are to treat each other. This is not how we are to treat God.

 

[Major]

I was taught, that you can't change yourself...only God can...i was also taught that the HS will gentle convict you of sin...when he brings it to your attention...and you stop doing what you're doing...or do what's right...then you'll bear fruit.

Sometimes gently, and then at other times He will jerk a crick in your neck!!! Trust me!

 

[Fish Catcher Jim]

1. Agreed. We must 'do it'. We must obey if we love Him. As for tithing, I disagree with ''we cannot afford not to''. But lets leave that discussion for a tithing thread.

2. Jim, pretend you are saying the underlined to your wife. Do you think you will escape a slap? God has feelings and emotions too .

What exactly must be as normal as breathing? Are we about to have another discussion of building our faith that we are talking to God? Talking to God must be normal? If so, I agree. But as said many times before, a Christian gets a revelation that Jesus is God. So to every Christian, Jesus and ''God's existence should be normal very quickly. What I think you are proposing is that we learn how to talk to God? We make it a habit to choose the correct words and have unwavering faith when talking to Him? Imagine I said to my wife, honey I am developing a habit of speaking to you a certain way and I believe without doubt that when I ask you to wash the kitchen, you will. Or when I ask you / demand you to give me a plaster, you will. Jim, you need to just '''''be'''''' a Christian. You are in a relationship with God. Stop all the acting, practicing, habits, self effort and just love and trust God. You are trying to be someone special when you are already special to Him.

I will give a reply once some one explains what you are trying to say here.

You keep talken about talken. How do you fit this into what I said ? I mean is it not just like you telling me about grapes and then me replying back at you about apples ?

Kj you said.....Jim, you need to just '''''be'''''' a Christian. You are in a relationship with God. Stop all the acting, practicing, habits, self effort and just love and trust God. You are trying to be someone special when you are already special to Him.

Brother I find this statement of yours quite disturbing to say the least.
From day one brother we must strive to be more Christ like, It's called growing up and walking as God has commanded us to walk.

God aint gonna do it for us - we must strive or make the effort and put His ways into practice or another words brother - do them - live by them - act in the manner God has commanded us to act.
It is always a joy Brother talking with you.
Blessings
Jim

 

[Major]

Yes I can agree. There are two ways of looking at the word 'practice'.
1. I practice tithing by putting 10% under the pillow and wait to see if I will need it.
2. I practice tithing by starting with a little / that I can afford and work my way up.

Disclaimer: I don't believe we 'have' to tithe but rather, 'should'.

Agreed. Good stuff.
If we have to tithe then when are following the Law and not the Grace of God.

We tithe because of the Love we have for Christ and it is one of the real things we can experience in our relationsip with Christ.

 

[Fish Catcher Jim]

Relationships are always emotional rides. We can't think we can normalize it with God like He is a robot. ''You said if I do X I get Y, I did X, so I claim Y. I practice at trusting that if I do X I get Y....in time I learn that A and B with occasional Z also help'' = Jews with God = helper with master. This is not how husband and wife are to treat each other. This is not how we are to treat God.

I agree for if you treat God as one trerats their spouse then you might be in for a bumpy ride However if you Love your spouse as God has Loved us, then you will become a spouse worth bragging about. For the rest of your use of the alphabet and all these x's and y's and so forth, I have no clue to why you say them.

Enjoy the day my friend and as always it is such a wonderful joy talking with you.
God Bless
Jim

 

[Major]

I agree for if you treat God as one trerats their spouse then you might be in for a bumpy ride However if you Love your spouse as God has Loved us, then you will become a spouse worth bragging about. For the rest of your use of the alphabet and all these x's and y's and so forth, I have no clue to why you say them.

Enjoy the day my friend and as always it is such a wonderful joy talking with you.
God Bless
Jim

My wife always brags on me!!!!