Translations by sergio

Gotta Grow Christians. We seem to have lost sight of what our faith is supposed to look like. We've been redeemed, saved, the separation between God and man caused by sin has been erased by the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, made the ultimate sacrifice in order that we might have relationship with the Father. He bridged the gap! So why is it that we don't seek a true relationship with Him? The door was locked. Christ's sacrifice is the key. The door has been unlocked. Why do we refuse to walk through the door? Most of us have this crazy misconception that coming to faith is the end of our journey. That we've reached what Christ meant for us to reach already. Either we think that or simply don't care. I say this because the majority of us as Christians never reach anything that could be referred to as maturity spiritually. Getting saved is just the beginning. If you've become a Christian you are just getting started. God never meant for us to get saved and then just relax. Now that our eyes have been opened to the truth we are to seek that truth. Now that we have access to Him who created life and knows how its to be done, we are to seek Him and cling to Him and learn how to do this thing right. To come to faith and stick to most of our old ways is nothing short of foolish. Having been born again, just like the first time we were born, we are babies. Babies need to be nurtured by their mother and father. They need to be taught how to talk, how to walk, etc. A lot of how this happens is by the child being around their parents, watching and hearing what they do, and imitating them. In the same way, we as born again believers are spiritual babes. We ALL MUST be nurtured, taught how we should talk, how we should walk, by imitating our Father in all of His ways. If a child was born, got older in age, but refused to mature at all; never learned how to talk, how to walk, or any of that what would happen? He would never be able to function in the world. He would be clueless. He would be a grown man crawling around, and he would look foolish. In the same way if we as believers never mature and remain spiritual babes we will never be able to properly function in this world. We are just as foolish as the adult crawling around. And even though we should definitely be more mature then we are, we are still acting as babies. Scripture addresses this problem. Hebrews 5:12-13, "In fact though by this time you ought to be teachers you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of Gods 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." Sadly most of us are still attempting to grasp the elementary stuff: what we base our salvation on, how to share our faith, how to read our bibles. All things that can be difficult to learn but these are not lifetime struggles. We should be moving on to more difficult things to grasp. We should be getting to know this God better everyday and becoming more and more mature everyday! How can we attempt to grasp the concept of the Trinity, or Christ being 100% God, 100% man, or His eternal being, if we dont even know how to read the text? Most of us arent ready for solid food. The author of Hebrews goes on to say, But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil. Many of us struggle with countless sin problems. It may be foul language, lust, pride, putting activities or people before God, underage drinking, alcoholism, promiscuity, drug abuse, disobedience to parents, lying, etc. And for many of us we actually want to do better. But we just cant seem to. This isnt because we just cant do any better its too hard, its because we are spiritually immature. The Lord has provided us with all the answers well ever need in His word. In Psalm 119 the psalmist speaks of how he meditates on His word daily and how He is wiser than his enemies and his teachers because of Godâs word, overflowing with wisdom. If we never learn how to solve problems or deal with certain situations, well never be able to. How do we keep from having premarital sex, how do we maintain sound mind when going through things, what do we say when someone challenges our faith, how do we deal with our friends who pressure or tempt us to sin? Ephesians 4:14 says, 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 men in their deceitful scheming. Instead speaking in truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ. Infants are often deceived and tricked into sin, infants are tossed back and forth by those challenging their faith. We gotta grow! This is the answer. This is how we get our lives together. This is how we get closer to the Father. This is what He wants us to do. It seems that every other faith group knows their stuff. Even though it may not be legitimate they know what they base their faith on. Christians dont. I heard someone jokingly say that the largest Christian denomination is the unlearned brethren. Its sadly true. Most of us are spiritual babes and have not yet developed the tools that are so necessary to live this thing out. So I encourage all believers, stay in your word on a daily, stay on your knees on a daily, run to Christ harder than ever before. Your spiritual life depends on it.