At youth group last night, Jeff Lambin did a message on Hypocrisy and how to know how to see it. Oe of the points he made was really amazing. It's about our prayer life. When was the last time you prayed for someone's growth? When was the last you prayed for spiritual growth? When was the last time you praised God for spiritual growth in anyone's life? Usually when we get together and we're like, "OK can you pray for Bob, he's going through a hard time with sin", "Pray for Sally. She's just a slut and I want to be nice to her", "Pray for my friend's cousin's friend's uncle who has cancer". Do we ever think about the fact that 1, yes we are supposed to "cast our care upon Him, for He cares for you" but 2, "In EVERYTHING give thanks". It always bothers me when people never pray for their own sanctification. It's like they are afraid to say, "I'm a sinner and I need Jesus." Yes, we NEED Jesus! EVERYDAY! If I go one day without spending time with the Lord, reading His word and praying for knowledge, I have the hardest times throughout my day keeping my eyes on Jesus. As Christians, we are to have a hunger and a thirst for righteousness. I LOVE reading God's word! I LOVE talking to my Father in Heaven, praising Him, confessing to Him, thanking Him and humbly asking Him for somethings.
On a last note, John MacArthur put this in his footnote on 1 Peter 2:2 - "A Christian develops a desire for the truth of God's word by 1) remembering his life's source, 2) eliminating sin from his life, 3) admitting his need for God's truth, 4) pursuing spiritual growth and 5) surveying his blessings". I just love it because it kind of ties into what I said above about prayer in our lives. I hope that as you, whoever you are, go along and pray for growth in your own life and others and study His word! There's no other way to be sanctified apart from communion with God on a daily basis.
So true Christa. As time slips by we can become like the Ephesians and lose our first love if we're not careful to stay close to the Lord daily through prayer & Bible study. It's too easy to get lazy and set our relationship with God on cruise control. But the reality is that the Word of God is LIVING and ACTIVE and we need it on a daily basis as much as we need food for our bodies. We'd starve to death quickly if we just remembered what we ate last month.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminders!