5/26/2019
Keys To Spiritual Growth
We are glad to seem weak if it helps show that you are actually strong. We pray that you will become mature. 2 Corinthians 13:9
God Intends That We Grow & Mature
Ephesians 4:14-15 We are not meant to remain as children at the mercy of every false teaching . . . We are meant to hold firmly to the truth in love & to mature in every way into Christ …
You Grow When You are Nourished on God’s Word
Matthew 4:4 You need more than just bread (physical needs) for life; you should feed on every Word of God.
Acts 20:32 …the Word of grace is able to build you up & give you all the blessings that God has for his people.
Matthew 7:24-27 Anyone who listens to My Words & follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Though the rain comes in torrents & the floodwaters rise & the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock. Anyone who hears My Word & ignores it is foolish, like a person who builds a house on sand. The rains & floods come & the winds beat against that house & it will collapse with a mighty crash!
HEAR
Romans 10:17 …faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
READ
Deuteronomy 17:18-19 …he must write a copy of the Law on a scroll…He shall keep it with him & read from it every day of his life. Then he will learn to respect the LORD his God, & he will obey all the teachings & commands.
STUDY
Proverbs 2:1-5 …if you accept My words & store up My commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom & applying your heart to understanding, if you call out for insight & cry aloud for understanding, if you look for it as for silver & search for it as for hidden treasure; then you will understand the fear of the LORD & find the knowledge of God!
MEMORIZE
Psalm 119:9-11 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
MEDITATE
Psalm 119:97-103 Oh, how I love your law! I meditate on it all day long. Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are ever with me. I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes…How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!
Matthew 13:3-9 …he told them many things in parables, saying: A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he scattered the seed, some fell along the path & the birds came & ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow …but when the sun came up, the plants were scorched & they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up & choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop–a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear!
Matthew 13:18-23 The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. The one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word & understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Acts 13:6-8 They traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. There they met a Jewish sorcerer & false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. The proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas & Saul because he wanted to hear the Word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer opposed them & tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
Acts 13:9-12 Then Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at Elymas & said, “You are a child of the devil & an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you…
You are going to be blind & for a time you will be unable to see the light of the sun.” Immediately mist & darkness came over him, he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the Word of the Lord.