Fundamental Building Blocks For Spiritual Growth

Part 2

2 My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons.
James 2:1

Every Christian has “the faith” of Jesus in their spirit. We do not need more faith! Our goal instead should be to find out what we have received in Jesus’ redemptive work.

⁶ That the communication of thy faith may become effectual by the acknowledging of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus.
Philemon 1:6

Most Christians do not have a revelation of what was deposited in their spirits when they were born again. They pray for God to give them faith due to not knowing He has already given them “the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).

I have observed that there are very few Christians who will let the Bible shape their beliefs. They may not do this consciously, but the majority hold on to the traditions of their church over what they will find in Scripture. A visitor at a service I was ministering in asked me why I was teaching something contrary to a confession their pastor led them in every week. I showed them the Scripture that my teaching came from, and they told me it was wrong. They believed their pastor more than they believed the Word of God!

Even the most committed Christian will have to deal with beliefs that do not have any Scriptural backing. They are just like the person who trusted more in their church confession than the Word of God. We hear the same things taught year after year and develop these beliefs. We need to guard ourselves and not just accept everything we hear taught or said in church.

Most Christians place a higher value on statements made by ministers or “trusted” teachers describing their interpretation of God’s Word than they do on Scripture. I first became aware of this while in Bible college. Our professors set an expectation that we quote at least three commentaries in each paper. The grade would be affected if we missed and only mentioned one or two. These books can be helpful for our studies, but we must never forget they are based on the author’s opinion and are not Scripture.

We will grow in spiritual matters if we commit to finding out for ourselves what the Word of God says and take the time to verify everything we hear. Any person who will make this commitment and then continue in the Word will become spiritually mature.

Every Christian has “the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ” in their spirit. Most do not understand this. They spend countless hours seeking what they already have as a result. If I handed you a bottle of water, would it make sense for you to ask me for it? It wouldn’t because you would already have that bottle of water! We do a similar thing when it comes to the blessings of God. He has given us “the measure” of His faith, and we pray for Him to provide us with “faith”. He has given us “all things pertaining to life and godliness”. Few of us have a revelation of this truth. We approach him with the proverbial water ball and plead for Him to give us what He already has! Often, God is not answering our prayers because we ask Him to do what He already has done.

² Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.
2 Peter 1:2

Christians spend hour after hour pleading with God to give them His peace when He has already given it to them.

³ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Isaiah 26:3

We access the peace of God through His Word. If our “peace” is affected by external sources like the daily news, our minds are not “stayed” on the Word of God. The Bible will provide stability, but only if we make it a part of our daily lives.

²⁵ And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;
²⁶ Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
²⁷ And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
²⁸ And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.
Luke 21:25-28

The world is gripped with fear of the COVID pandemic as I’m writing these words. Countries are in turmoil, jobless rates are up, and natural disasters seem to be increasing. There is a lot of stability in the world. We see the signs” Jesus described as being indicators of the end of time all around us. It is easy to become fearful if we are not spending time meditating on God’s Word God’s every day.

Jesus said that we should “lift up our heads”. Doing this will require us to look beyond the turmoil surround us into the Word of God. Christians should not be fearful of the times we live in because they are all indicators of Jesus’ soon return! It should excite us to live in these times because we are the generation that will see Jesus return for His Church.

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