PRAYER MEETING TOMORROW AT 6:30 PM!

Daily Beats from your Pastor’s Heart!

Today we will be considering the “Spiritual Growth principle” of “TIME.” 

Many believers have difficulty in coming to the realization and facing up to the fact that God does not hurry in His development of our Christian life. 

He is working FROM eternity and TO eternity. 

Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

Our desire is to short-cut God’s growth process: This issue of God’s timing in the believers life is one that is often hard to understand. 

We live in a “microwave” society that is constantly looking for fast results. 

We are a time oriented people. 

We tend to carry this mind-set over into our Christian life…..Our desire is to short-cut God’s growth process. 

However, there is no short-cutting God’s growth process.

It is very important we understand that it is God Himself who regulates the pace of our growth. 

Over in Mark, Chapter 4, the Lord gives us the parable of spiritual growth. 

Mk. 4:26-28…… Since the Christian life matures and becomes fruitful by the principle of spiritual growth, much time is involved, and unless we understand God’s working in our lives regarding this time element, there is bound to be frustration and resistance to His development process. 

The temptation to shortcut God’s maturing process is especially strong unless we see the value and necessity of the time element. 

There is a tendency for Christians to look around at other Christians who are light years ahead spiritually, and pray that God will miraculously mature them, expecting Him to come in with a big surge of power and put them into a place of spiritual maturity. 

That is not God’s way……. But the way he does answer that prayer is described in Ex. 23:29, 30; Is. 28:10. 

Godliness is a mystery: I Tim. 3:16—“Great is the mystery of Godliness”—It is very important that we understand that Godliness (God-likeness) is a mystery. 

Something which is beyond our human intellect. 

Something that cannot be intellectually understood, but spiritually understood. 

An interesting question to consider; what is Godliness? 

When is a man Godly? 

Is it when he imitates God; when he imitates Christ? 

NO; Godliness is not man imitating God, there would be no mystery in that. 

But rather Godliness or God-likeness is God reproducing Himself in a man. 

Miraculously and mysteriously molding him into the image of Jesus Christ. 

This is the mystery of Godliness…… 

The Holy Spirit’s role: 2 Cor. 3:18–Notice who changes us; the Holy Spirit. 

The moment that we come to realize that only God can make a man Godly, we are left with no option but to yield/present ourselves/abide/rest. Ps. 46:10; Ps. 4:4-5; John 15:5; Rom. 12:1; Jn. 3:30 

If we fail to enter into this mystery of Godliness, and abide and rest in it, trusting God to mold us into His image, in His time, then we will seek to be Godly through self effort. 

Obeying rules and conforming to behavior patterns imposed on us by the Christian society that we have chosen. 

I think one of the greatest examples of a man who was not willing to wait on God’s timing was Moses….Acts 7:17-22 

Approximately 400 years prior to the life of Moses God told Abraham that he was going to raise up a Deliverer for his people and save them from a wicked pharaoh…. And now the time was rapidly approaching… 

By God’s grace, Moses had been saved from death as an infant. Ex. 1:22-2:10. 

Now Moses is placed in Pharaoh’s household and adopted by his daughter and given all the privileges of royalty, including a magnificent education. 

He was trained as a statesman, soldier and administrator and by the age of 40 he was a polished, scholarly man who could have taken his place in any society. 

Look again at Acts 7:22. 

This is a picture given to us by God of a man in the prime of life, highly qualified, standing, it would seem, upon the threshold of a brilliant career. 

However, in fact, he was a man only a few hours away from a tragic blunder that would bring to frustration all his ambitions and render him useless to both God and man for 40 years. Ex. 2:11-15. 

Here we have an example of a man who was trying to do God’s work in man’s way and man’s time.

We Christians today, are no different than Moses, we must stop setting our own agenda and time schedule and let God be God. 

Unfortunately at this point Moses had not learned this, and so in his time and in his strength he tried to tackle the job. 

As it turned out, he couldn’t even bury one Egyptian successfully …he must have left his toes sticking out of the sand. 

However 40 years later, in God’s time, God Himself took on the job and buried the whole Egyptian army in the Red Sea. 

Moses tried to do God’s work in man’s way and with the best of intentions he became a murderer rather than a missionary. 

So for the next 40 years, we find Moses in the back side of the desert while the Lord does that all important work of bringing him to maturity. 

What about you and me? 

Can we wait for God, or will we, like Moses, become discouraged with the delay and take things into our own hands? 

God takes pleasure in our child-like faith/dependence: 

There doesn’t appear to be anything more pleasing to God than the position of hanging in childlike dependence upon the Father and being entirely content to wait for His time. Ps. 27:13,14; Ps. 62:1, 2 & 5; Ps. 123:1, 2; Is. 30:18; Is. 40:31;

Some of our greatest blessings and growth spurts, come while waiting on the Lord. Deut. 8:16; I Pet. 5:10; Is. 50:10,11. 

The Spirit is faithful: The question of coming into true spiritual maturity rests not with us but with the Holy Spirit. 

It is not a question of our effort or ability, but of the absolute faithfulness of the Spirit of God. 

Can we depend on Him to do all the work entrusted to Him, in His time? Jn. 16:13,14. 

Spiritual growth is a gradual and sometimes painful process: Fruit ripens slowly; days of sunshine and days of storm are both necessary. 

God’s method for true spiritual growth involves pain as well as joy, suffering as well as happiness, failure as well as success, inactivity as well as service, death as well as life.

Spiritual growth is a gradual process, and the finer the organism, the longer the process. 

If God wants to make an oak tree, He takes a hundred years, but to make a squash plant He takes only six months.

However, we live in an impatient society; we are a people who want fast results. 

We find many Christian books that promise immediate spiritual maturity…but that is not God’s way. 

In Gods perspective, time is not a factor. 

2 Peter 3:8, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.”

Until Tomorrow,                                                                                                                With A Shepherd’s Love                                                                                                Pastor

Today’s Prayer List

Amy Garner’s Mother – better –  

Andria Carter -Ashley’s Sister – 

Barbara Shed’s Family – 

Bill Lawhead  – Cancer returned

Bill Moody –

Charlie Sessom -Waiting – 

Cheri/Barry Hill –

Colby/Connor – Allison’s G’sons–

Debra Roberts – Please Please Pray

Denise Stubbs – Kim Allison’s Mom 

Don Slate – Angela Bryan’s Dad – Hospice

Doug Fritzel – 

Hanna Hall 

James Garner’s G’Son – 

James Parsons – Mae’s Brother 

Joyceann – James Garner’s Daughter 

Kimberly – Dustin’s Sister- 

Larry Barker 

Lavona Davis –

Linda Breedlove’s Sister – Sarah  

Lynn – Nancy Brown’s Daughter – 

Mary Sims – 

Michael Stanley – 

Nancy Brown’s G’Daughter – 

Nora Allison – Dustin’s Mom – 

Pastor Stucke– Nikki’s Dad

Paula Ferus’ Missionary friend 

Ricky Stubbs – 

Roseleigh Osborn – 

Sarah Parker – 

Scott Lanier – Lisa’s cousin –

Sharon Blalock- 

Shaelyn – Jill’s friend

Shannon Golden – 

Sheila Simmons Cousin – 

Susan Bryan – Mike’s Mom – 

Tim McCollum –  

Todd Bailey – 

Todd Roberts –

Tom Witcher –

Tommy/Gayle Harris- 

Wanda Galanti –