Spiritual Growth - Purpose

PURPOSE

"And God said,

Let us make man in our image"

(Genesis 1:26).

"God ...

hath in these last days

spoken unto us by His Son ...

Who being the brightness of his glory,

and the express image of his person"

(Hebrews 1:3).

"For as by one man’s [Adam’s] disobedience

many were made sinners,

so by the obedience of one [Christ]

shall many be made righteous"

(Romans 5:19).

"Oh Heavenly Father,

I now see your

PURPOSE:

You are still making man in Your image.

This is not through the original Adam,

but through our Lord Jesus Christ, the Last Adam."

Being born into Him through faith,

we became "partakers of the divine nature."

(II Pet. 1:4).

"Christ in you, the hope of glory."

(Col. 1:27).

"As we have borne the image of the earthy [Adam],

we shall also bear the image of the heavenly [Christ]."

(I Cor. 15:49)

"And we know that all things

work together for good

to them that love God,

to them who are the called

according to his purpose.

For whom he did foreknow,

he also did predestinate

to be conformed to the image of his Son."

(Rom. 8:28, 29)

SPIRITUAL GROWTH

is to see that all things are working together

to make us more and more like the Lord Jesus Christ.

In spite of difficult things and frustrations,

we can pray "Thy Will Be Done."

"But we all, with open face

beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord,

are changed into the same image

from glory to glory,

even as by the Spirit of the Lord."

(2 Cor. 3:18)

How does God accomplish this purpose?

One of God's mose effective means is:

FAILURE!

Failure in our lives, cause us to be

FRANTIC.

We want to hide it,

We try to ignore it,

We even rationlize it.

But this is God's instrument

to conform us to the image of His Son!

FAILURE!

causes us to turn completely from ourselves

unto the source of our life:

CHRIST JESUS

Who never fails.

The Holy Spirit

quietly and effortlessly

changes the center of our life

from self to Christ.

We pray, "Not I, but Christ."

"If I am to be like Him,

then God in His grace must do it,

and the sooner I come to recognize it the sooner

I will be delivered from another form of bondage.

Throw down every endeavor and say, I cannot do it,

the more I try the farther I get from His likeness.

What shall I do?

Ah, the Holy Spirit says,

You cannot do it;

just withdraw;

come out of it.

You have been in the arena,

you have been endeavoring,

you are a failure,

come out and sit down,

and as you sit there

behold Him, look at Him.

Don't try to be like Him,

just look at Him.

Just be occupied with Him.

Forget about trying to be like Him.

Instead of letting that fill your mind and heart,

let Him fill it.

Just behold Him,

look upon Him through the Word.

Come to the Word for one purpose

and that is to meet the Lord."

Norman Douty

"For it is God which worketh in you

both to will and to do of his good pleasure"

(Philippians 2:13)

Assurance of Forgiveness - 1 John 1:9

IF WE CONFESS

our sins,

HE IS FAITHFUL AND JUST

to forgive us our sins,

AND TO CLEANSE US

from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

IF WE CONFESS -

Pardon in Scripture,

always supposes that there

is confession.

HE IS FAITHFUL & JUST -

Faithful to His promises and to

the excellence of His attributes.

He will be just to His covenant

of redemption accomplished by

atonement through Jesus Christ.

AND TO CLEANSE US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS -

He forgives all that is past,

and treats us as if we were righteous,

by removing all the stains of guilt

from the soul!

Barnes Notes on the New Testament

Who's Following In Your Footsteps?

THERE WAS A FATHER

who kept a jug of whiskey

hidden in the corn crib.

IT WAS HIS HABIT

to go out there every morning

and get himself a drink.

ON A SNOWY MORNING

he went out to the barn

as was his habit,

but this time he heard someone behind him.

HE TURNED AROUND

and found that it was his little son

following him,

stepping in the footsteps in the snow

where his father had walked.

THE FATHER ASKED,

"What are you doing, son?"

The boy answered,

"Im following in your footsteps."

HE SENT THE BOY BACK

into the house,

and then he went out to the corn crib

and smashed that jug of whiskey.

HE REALIZED

that he didn't want his boy

to be following in his footsteps.

Assurance of Victory!

There Hath No Temptation

Taken You

But Such As Is Common To Man,

BUT GOD IS FAITHFUL

Who Will Not Allow You

To Be Tempted Above

That You Are Able

But Will With The Temptation

But Will With The Temptation

But Will With The Temptation

Also Make A

WAY TO ESCAPE

That You May Be Able

To Bear It.

1 Cor. 10:13

But God Is Faithful.

This is the only source of security;

and this is enough.

If we look only to ourselves,

we will fail.

If we depend on the faithfulness of God,

we will be secure.

How Do We Depend On The Faithfulness of God?

We resist temptation.

We seek His aid.

We depend on His promises.

All Circumstances That Lead To Temptation

are under the control of God.

Every man that tempts us.

Every fallen spirit that engages us.

Every book, picture, amusement, music.

Every business plan, gain, or ambition.

All Are Under The Control Of God.

He can check them.

He can paralyze them.

He can destroy them.

God does not infuse evil thoughts into the mind;

God does not create an object of temptation to place in our way;

God permits it...God does not create it.

That it may be turned in some way to His glory.

That it may be turned in some way to our spiritual growth.

But God Will With The Temptation:

Make a way of deliverance.

Save us from being entirely overcome by it.

That we may be able to bear it.

That we may be able to endure it.

This Promise Is Positive And Certain!

A way shall be made for our escape;

We shall be able to bear it.

Is God Faithful Or Is God Not Faithful?

Will God allow us to be tempted above that we are able?

Will God make a way for our escape?

Can we believe either of these?

It follows that we who are converted shall be kept unto salvation.

from Barne's Notes On The New Testament

Why I Love The Bible - Numbers!

The Book Of Numbers

plunges us into the mess of growing up.

LEARNING

how to honor God,

how to live out love and justice in daily affairs,

how to deal with sin in oneself and others,

how to follow God's commands into future blessings.

THE BIBLE

shows us what it means to be a human being,

created by God and called to a life

of obedient faith and sacrificial love.

WE NEED HELP

to live together in community,

to get along with each other.

Wise discipline is required in becoming a people of God...

prayer, instruction, and justice.

by Eugene Peterson

Welcome Aboard Pilgrim!

Beginning With Christ

Jesus Christ said, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If
anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat
with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

The gospel of John says, “to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (John 1:12).

If you have to the best of your knowledge received Jesus
Christ, God’s Son, as your own Savior, according to the
Scriptures quoted above, you have become a child of God in
whom Jesus Christ dwells.

Too many people make the mistake of measuring the
certainly of their salvation by their feelings. Don’t make this tragic mistake. Believe God! Take him at his word:

“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).

Finding God

Four Steps To God

1. God Loves You!

The Bible says, "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,

that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life"

The problem is that

2. Sin!

All of us have done, said or thought things that are wrong. This is called sin, and our sins have separated us from God. The Bible says “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

God is perfect and holy, and our sins separate us from God forever. The Bible says “The wages of sin is death.”

The good news is that, about 2,000 years ago,

3. Jesus Christ

God sent His only Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins.

Jesus is the Son of God. He lived a sinless life and then died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sins. “God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

Jesus rose from the dead and now He lives in heaven with God His Father. He offers us the gift of eternal life -- of living forever with Him in heaven if we accept Him as our Lord and Savior. Jesus said "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except by Me."

God reaches out in love to you and wants you to be His child. "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe on His name." You can choose to ask Jesus Christ to forgive your sins and come in to your life as your Lord and Savior.

4. Believe and Receive Christ!

If you want to accept Christ,

you can ask Him to be your Savior and Lord

by praying a prayer like this:

"Lord Jesus, I believe you are the Son of God. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. Please forgive my sins and give me the gift of eternal life. I ask you into my life and heart to be my Lord and Savior. I want to serve you always."