Grow Up...

I felt like doing some writing today...it's been while. I was reading in Galatians 4 today...and that chapter in the Bible always gets my wheels turning. The beginning of the chapter talks about the inheritance we have as children of God. It speaks of how God is not only our master but our daddy or "abba" father. We are rightful heirs to all the blessings and promises of God because we are his loved children! What great news! A second great news is that we as God's heirs are no longer under the law of sin and death. We aren't made right with God by keeping tradition, doing enough good things, or sinning as little as possible. We are made right with God by believing in the finished work of Jesus Christ. Wow! If that's not something to be thankful for during this Thanksgiving holiday I don't know what is!!!

However...it concerns me that we may leave things at that and not understand or give attention to the very beginning of chapter 4 which in essence states that an heir as long as they are children are no different than slaves or employees...meaning they work for the father but have no access to the inheritance that belongs to them. We have to understand that the good news of being heirs to all of God's promises in unconditional, but actually receiving all that God has for us and wants to give us IS CONDITIONAL. To walk in the blessing of God to have access to an unlimited inheritance we've got to grow up.

The Lord wants to unlock the doors of inheritance to all his children. I believe this is what the bible is talking about when it says that the reaper will overtake the sower. Because inheritance is something you don't earn...it's given to you. You see you can't sow enough to receive the ability to heal the sick. You can't sow enough to see the wealth of the wicked turned over to the righteous. These type of things that will facilitate a true Godly change on the earth and begin to allow the changes that are on the Father's heart to take place on the earth are the inheritance God wants to give his children but he's got to see maturity in order to release what he wants to release. Otherwise you end up with a generation of prodigal sons and daughters that misuse their inheritance.

So how do we get mature? Wow if I fully knew the answer to that and was living it out that would certainly be great. But the truth is as much as I love God, and as much as I want to be a part of changing the Earth, and as much as I know I'm living for eternity I struggle with maturity issues as much as the next person. I make stupid choices at times...I grieve the Holy Spirit at times with my actions and attitudes...and I sacrifice what I know is right for the momentary pleasures of sin from time to time as well. While you or I may or may not struggle with overtly sinful lives we've got to understand that we all fall short of God's glorious standard daily (for the most part). You see we like to rank sin...which is where we get into a religious spirit. Because God doesn't rank sin...the homosexual is not a worse sinner than the liar, the drug user is not a worse sinner than the selfish person, the person who sleeps with someone outside of marriage is not a worse sinner than the person who just looks at inappropriate things...It's all sin to God. Even mature Christians should understand that the dispensation of grace released a higher standard into the earth. Jesus' finished work and Jesus himself set the bar higher when he paid the price for your sin once and for all. The Bible goes so far as to say anything that is not faith is sin(Romans 14:23). So the grace that offends you...should be the grace you are holding onto. Because if Romans 14:23 is true than worry, unbelief, lack of confidence in God to provide for your needs, fear, ect is all sin. And if the greatest commandment is to love God and love people...anything that done in selfish ambition is sin. So gossip, lying, putting your own needs ahead of others needs, conceit, insecurity, depression, selfishness, a "mine" mentality...that's all sin too. Get it??? Many of us think we don't live in sin...but we do. We simply don't see sin under the high bar that has been set. That's why the person who is offended that there is continuous grace for the person who keeps going back to drugs, or that keeps making the same mistakes may want to reconsider their position. Because we all need that same grace that forgives stupidity, repeat offenses, and a sinful lifestyle. HOWEVER!!!!!! That is never to say it's okay to settle into a lifestyle of sin on any level!!!!! I repeat GRACE never makes it OKAY to live in sin!

So back to maturity. Damon Thompson defines spiritual maturity this way: The consistent application of elementary things. Or in other words doing the basics consistently: Reading the word, praying, worshiping, fasting, ect. I love that definition. That is a great starting point for us! A couple more thing's I'd add to that to help the reader. We've got to understand that we are never going to completely figure God out, yet we must never stop trying. maturity has little to nothing to do with how much you know or think you know about God. It has to do with the way you think and live. The day you think you have it figured out is the day you stop growing in spiritual maturity. Therefore forfeit the remainder of your inheritance. I love what Craig Kinsley says "If you haven't challenged your theology on some level in the past year you probably haven't grown up spiritually in the last year." He's not talking about foundational spiritual truths...he's talking about how we relate to and think about God and YES even how we relate to think about and see much of God's word. Do we see it through religious eyes or eyes that are opened and enlightened by the Holy Spirit? The point here....never stop growing. Never stop reaching for more understanding and always be open to change your way of thinking. Because two truths about God can be opposite yet true. God is good he's also severe. God is love, he's also a mighty warrior. God's grace is sufficient to forgive any sin yet he detests sin and expects his children not to live in sin. Are you getting this? Are you picking up what I'm putting down? I hope so!

God is good all the time! Let's be thankful for all he's done and made available to us this Holiday season and consistently strive to live a live that opens up the doors of the amazing inheritance God has made available to us!

Love ya'll....now go eat some food!HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Chad