Keys to Growth- 1

That Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:17

It seems like we are still in gardening mode! This is not a picture of anything I have grown. My attempt to grow vegetables was in those new style corrugated iron, above ground gardens. I was very excited at the prospect of picking dinner vegetables from the garden, but I lost the battle. It seemed to be a lot of work for too little return in our case. More of that later.

For anything to grow it must start with something - a seed, a bulb or a cutting.  The Christian faith is the same.  It must start with something, that something is the seed of trust. We put our trust in God's loving gift of Jesus Christ and Christ's sacrifice, in our place, for our sins.  When we do that, we have the beginnings of a new life, the spiritual life.  Our spirit becomes alive to God and so then we have something to develop and grow. 

It is helpful to know that there has been a time in my life when I have invited Jesus Christ into my heart as Lord and Saviour.  It's not about church attendance or being good or never hurting anyone.  It's about trusting that through Christ I have received the unconditional love of God, cleansing from sin, and that is my only qualification for eternal life when I die.  It is all about faith.  Ephesians 2:8-9 says God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  It is as simple as that.  If you can't remember doing it, why not do it now.

To get a plant growing it needs nutrients and water.  The problem with my garden boxes was that   I couldn't keep enough water to the plants.  The ground always seemed dry.  When we dug the ground over we found wads of fine root growth.  The very clever eucalypt trees, big ones, nearby had developed a source of water in my gardens and were robbing the vegetables.  Result- poor growth.

A Christian's nutrition comes through reading God's word and getting to know the nature of God and what a Christian life should look like.  It's like getting to know 'the family guidelines'.  We also need the fellowship of other Christians and good Bible teaching to help us grow. Given these conditions, we can't help but grow and develop.

The verse above in Ephesians speaks about our roots needing to go down deep into God's love and this will make us strong.  When we know that we are loved with an everlasting love, and accepted with an unconditional love we will become secure and ready to produce good fruit for God's Kingdom.  This is the first part of our discipleship process.  Becoming a Christian is not the end, it is only the beginning of an exciting and fulfilling life journey. 

Prayer:  Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for new life in you. Thank you for your great love for me. Help me to be committed to growth and fruitfulness for your Kingdom.   Amen

Growth

  ........ grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 3:18

Increasingly in the past few months I have been drawn to notice how natural it is for plants to grow. Recently a young Grevillea shrub near our driveway had been snapped off a few centimetres above the ground.  Now, a month later, it has lots of new growth bursting out.  Some other plants that I wanted to divide into more than one head suffered at my hand, being topped by my secateurs and they have obligingly sprouted either side of the main stem now.  Growth can't help but happen if the circumstances are right.  Pruning caused double growth!

On the other hand, Colin found a beautiful rose when we were enjoying a cooling swim in a river when we were on holiday.  It was on a good stem with leaves. I took it back to the caravan and enjoyed it's beauty for our last couple of days then decided I would cut it back and bring it home to plant, which I did.  After a week of good conditions, just the right amount of water and sun it started to sprout and soon had little leaves, much to my joy.  Then in my desire to encourage it even more I over watered it and it drowned!  I was devastated.

Christians have the inbuilt propensity for spiritual growth given the right conditions.  Growth is part of God's plan and purpose for us.  We do, however, have to have the right conditions.  I thought I would list some for you to mull over, not necessarily in any order.

• That Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. Ephesians 3:17
• .. know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:19
• Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. Colossians 3:16
• Continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard..  Colossians 1:23
• ...let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. Hebrews 12:1
•  .... if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another. 1 John 1:7
• Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say, rejoice! Philippians 4:4
• ....let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 1John 4:7
• I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, thank you that you have given clear directions in your word for my growth, but that the key is just resting in You, because without that I can do nothing.  Amen

•  

Foundations - 3



Stand therefore, having tightened the belt of truth around your loins....  Ephesians 6:14

Have you ever experienced the frustration of trying to have a relationship with someone who seems so perfect, has it all together, has an answer for every situation and never seems to make a mistake? It is almost impossible and very discouraging.  I tried to be that kind of person because I felt that's what God wanted.  It was about performance and it was not helpful to anyone, especially not to me or my family.

When I learned how to laugh at myself I allowed myself to make mistakes and life became so much easier.  It's good that I learned that a few years ago because I really need to be able to do that more and more these days. Those of my contemporaries will know what I mean!  Mistakes seem to happen so often.

I discovered (from Kris Vallotten in his book Spirit Wars, and checked it out for myself) that when Paul speaks about the belt of truth in Ephesians 6:14, the word 'truth' not only refers to God's word, but in a subjective sense it means 'truthfulness not only in our speaking but sincerity and integrity of character'.  Truthfulness is an important foundation in our life.

Truth is not only about the words we speak but the actions of our lives - how we present ourselves to others.  Many people hide, like I did, behind a wall of perfection or high performance.  They are afraid that to show themselves otherwise is to be vulnerable to rejection.  The opposite is more often true.  We frighten people off with our perfectness because they feel they can never be good enough for us. 

Others hide behind a wall of privacy, afraid to let anyone see what they are really like.  Their 'truth' is, "I've been hurt before, I'm not going to let you hurt or reject me."  As soon as you try to get close to them the wall goes up and you find yourself shut out, confused and frustrated that you can't have a real relationship with that person you really like a lot.

It takes courage to be vulnerable.  It also takes being able to receive and be comfortable in the truth of God's unconditional and unending love for us, because when we feel secure in His love we can love others and allow them into our lives. 

Loving Father, please show me if I have walls of protection in my life that prevent me from having meaningful relationships with others.  Help me to have the belt of truthfulness firmly in place in my life, trusting in you to be my protection and shield.  Forgive me for trying to protect myself.  Amen

Foundations - 2

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one we already have—Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11

 

We live in a developing area so preparations for house foundations are a very common sight. In preparing foundations for a building there are a number of steps.  First the site is cleared and then often there is a bit of digging out to be done, then often a load of gravel is laid before various reinforcing steel is laid, box work for the cement to be poured into built , plumbing pipes to be set in place and so on.  Attention to detail is vital.

 

In Foundations - 1, I mentioned about our foundation being our belief system; about God and about ourselves.  There is a lot of foundational work to be done in our lives and if it is not done correctly we will be building on a poor foundation. 

 

In our early Christian years we were part of a church that taught the word of God and evangelised and discipled well but some of the doctrine was incorrect.  When we finally realised, 5 years down the track, that we were trapped in a controlling, religious church, rather than a releasing, grace-teaching church, a certain amount of damage had already been done to our foundation.  Our  belief system was off centre in some areas.  It has taken us many years to become really free of some of that belief system that was instilled into us back then.  Praise God for the freedom that has come as we have re-aligned our thinking with God's help and good teaching.

 

This verse in 1 Corinthians 3:11 talks about Jesus being our foundation.  Through faith in Him and who He is; the Son of God, Saviour of the world, soon coming King, lover of our souls, healer, deliverer, peace-giver and so much more, we have a wonderful and sure foundation.  I want to leave you, today, with some verses to check out and meditate on to strengthen your foundation. Enjoy!

 

Matthew 14:33, John 3:18, Luke 2:11, Revelation 19:16, Psalm 135:3, Psalm 147:3, Psalm 18:2, Romans 5:1

 

Prayer: Wonderful Saviour, let my foundation be strengthened and established so that when the winds of adversity blow, I know that He whom I have trusted in is faithful and able to keep me. Amen

Foundations - 1

Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. Matthew 7:24-25

As this goes to my blog we are being beaten about by winds and heavy rain, though not so heavy as many north of us have experienced in the wake of a serious weather system.  Again the Lockyer Valley out of Brisbane is under serious flood watch as are other areas that were inundated just a couple of years ago.  The conditions remind us again of the necessity of building upon substantial foundations.  When we first came to Australia in 1986 we were looking to buy a house in Maitland which was flooded in the 1950's.  People told us not to buy anything on the floodplain and we didn't, but we notice that areas that were not allowed to be on then because they were considered floodplain, now have houses.  We can only hope they will not be sorry later.

When a large building is being constructed these days it seems to take forever before we see anything appearing above the ground.  The foundational work is very important to the longevity and safety of the building.  This is what Jesus was speaking about in these verses; the importance of getting the foundations right. But he was referring to the foundations of our life.

The foundation that needs to be developed is our belief system.  What we believe about God and what He says about us and life.  This does not happen overnight.  Our building block is the Bible, God's word.  Reading it and allowing it to become part of our life is vital to having a strong foundation.  We need to build our life upon God's word by obeying the principles it portrays.  We have to continue to allow God's word to guide and convict us daily.  It becomes our plumbline, keeping us on a good and safe track.  We ignore it to our own detriment. 

To obey God's word is to walk in the fear of the Lord and to honour Him.  Not that we are afraid of Him, for He is our loving, compassionate, kind and merciful Father, quick to forgive (Exodus 34:6-7).  Today I notice the lack of respect that many (fortunately not all) young people have for their elders.  It shows up in so many ugly ways.  Disobedience to parents was one of the marks of the 'last days' that Paul wrote about to Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:2. 

However, it is just as possible for Christians to be disobedient toward their Heavenly Father, and think nothing of it.  I'll leave you to pause and think about that!  Are there ways that your foundation is shakey because you are not building well upon the truth of God's word?  Sometimes God's ways can feel uncomfortable to us.  We want to do it our way or the 'easy' way.  But often when we try to do it the easy way, we find out the hard way!

Prayer:  Father God, open my eyes to see when I walk in ways that will erode the good and strong foundation that you want me to have in my life.  Help me to stand firmly upon your word and so experience the fullness of life you want and have planned for me.  Amen

Refuse Fear - 2

He said to them, "Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?".  Matthew 8:26

If we are honest, there are things that we all fear at times.  I don't like spiders and I am nervous at times when I am in a boat, especially if I think we will run aground, or if it's really rough.  Yet when I watch people handling spiders I know I am silly, because most spiders cannot hurt me.  When I look at a boat going through the water it looks so great and peaceful to me...... so long as I am on dry land.  I wish I didn't get 'nervous', which is a nice way of saying 'fearful'!  I can choose not to fear.

The storm that the disciples experienced while Jesus was quietly asleep in the boat must have been quite a severe one.  Why?  Because many of them were experienced fishermen and used to this unpredictable lake.  They cried out to him for help and he chided them.  Had they not seen enough of His power already that they could not believe they would be kept safe?  Perhaps they were not grounded in the scriptures, the ones that tell us that our times are in His hands (Job, 14:5, Ps 31:15). After all before they went he said, "Let us cross over to the other side."  That seems to assume that it was his intention that they would reach the other side!

Soon after (Matthew 8:28) there was to come another amazing miracle before their eyes when they landed on the shore.  Two men, (some passages say one), met him.  They came out of the tombs screaming, "Why have you come to torment us?"  Mark's account of this (Mark 5:1-7) says this tormented one could not be restrained, he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying out and cutting himself with stones.  Isn't it interesting that he, the already tormented one, accused Jesus of coming to torment him. That's what demons do. 

The other interesting thing is that Mark says the man ran to Jesus and worshipped him.  He was a conflicted soul.  He recognised Jesus as the mighty son of God and worshipped, yet the demons had such a grip upon him that they raged at Jesus because they knew He had the power to move them on, which he proceeded to do, sending the demons into a herd of pigs which then dived off a cliff into the ocean, leaving the man free, sane and rejoicing.

The neighbourhood was not happy though, at the good news of this man's freedom.  They were fearful.  So much so that they came and asked Jesus to leave their area.  How sad; the One who could bring freedom to tormented souls was asked to leave.  Why?  Because he was going to cause things to be different? I believe that was their fear.  They didn't even give Him a chance.

It is the same for many people today.  They will not give Jesus a chance because they fear that He will change their comfortable life.  And He may, but it will only ever be change that brings freedom, peace and joy.  My challenge for you if you have those kind of people around you is to pray for them. Pray believing that God will remove the scales that are blinding them to the truth, and wait and see what God will do. We need to fight for their freedom. Let's attack that spirit of fear that keeps people bound to their torment. The weapons of our warfare are mighty in God for pulling down strongholds. (2 Cor 10:4)

Prayer:  Lord and giver of life, help me to pray and break through the stronghold of fear in the  fearful ones I come in contact with, so that they may experience life and freedom, joy and peace.  Amen

Refuse Fear - 1

God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea. Psalm 46:1-2

As well over 100 bushfires still rage throughout New South Wales, we may well add "though fires come" to the verse above.  Many people have lost their property, their livelihood and their precious possessions in the past few days, and not only in this state.  Our hearts go out to them and our prayers go up for them. 

We are thankful for the brave men and women who are our fire fighters.  They stand within reach of the fire and fight on behalf of others.  They refuse to fear and run. They are our heroes.

God is, indeed, our refuge and our strength and we need to remember to run to him in our times of trouble, especially when we find ourselves becoming fearful. Fear is such a tool of the enemy to destroy God's people and even to keep people from really entering into a relationship with Jesus. Let's talk about the latter first. Many people who have heard the good news of the gospel fear to enter into the fullness of relationship with Jesus because of the demands he may put on their life; i.e. giving up habits, 'having' to attend church, giving up control of their lives. Some even feel that they have to 'clean themselves up first' before they will be acceptable to God....wrong! Their fear blinds them to the benefits that He offers. You see, Satan paints Jesus as 'a controller', that's because he (Satan) doesn't want to lose control of his own captives. He is the real controller and deceiver. Eve recognised that he was a deceiver way back in the Garden of Eden.

God is not a controller at all. He is the one who gives us the free will to choose life or death, blessing or cursing (Deuteronomy 30:19). When we come into relationship with Him we choose life and allow Him to lead us in the best path for our life. We give Him permission to give us the best life.

However, Christians can still be prone to fear. It is something that we must choose to refuse. We don't refuse to fear without having a foundation for hope and faith. That is why it is so important to be grounded in God's word. It is through the Bible that we begin to understand the depth and breadth of God's love for us and His power to act on our behalf (Ephesians 3:16-19). You see, knowing the love that God has for us and His desire always for the very best for 'His kids', increases our trust in His ability to guard and protect us.

How do we do this? Psalm 46:10 says "Be still and know that I am God." When we feel ourselves beginning to fear a situation we need to be still, turn to the truth of his word, remind ourselves that fear will lead to torment, faith will bring peace. In choosing to refuse fear, we choose to exercise faith and so allow God to be in control of our situation.

Prayer: Faithful Father, I thank you that you always desire what is best for me. When I am tempted to entertain fear, please help me to choose faith and so allow you to work on my behalf. Amen