Are You Growing In Christ?

There is no secret that you and I are living in very trying times. Yet as Christians we are not to be troubled or to be in despair. Jesus said:

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me." John 14:1 (KJV)

Just as the day in which Jesus lived was a troubled time... we must come to that place where we believe in God and believe in the Son which is Jesus Christ.

Living in Faith and Growing In Christ means that we "Practice the Presence" of God.

What do I mean by that? How do you "Practice the Presence" of God?

That WORD "Practice" means "the habitual or customary performance of; to put something into operation. Naturally if we practice "the habitual or customary performance of Christ; or put into operation the Life of Christ in all that we do.. we are actually invoking His presence to come and Tabernacle with us. It is an expressed form of worship before Him... in His presence.

So how do we Grow in Christ?

In addition to our Practicing the Presence of Christ, we must see that there are certain things that he would have us do to "GROW" IN HIM.

Deuteronomy 10:12 says :

"And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul."

Lastly look at that 13th verse it says,

"To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?"

Israel was known as the Children of The Lord God. Deuteronomy reminds them of the simple requirements of "life" in continued "growth" in Christ. He said that we are to fear not what the Leaders of lands or men in high places can do unto us, but that we are to fear God and to walk in all His ways.

Many men and women cannot grow in Christ and will not Grow in Christ because they do not serve Him. They carry around the Moniker of Christian yet they don't pay their tithes and they don't go to church and they don't read their Bible...  need I go on?

The secret is that they don't love Him. In fact using the same analogy we could very possibly say that we do not love our spouse or our children because we carry the moniker of wife or husband or dad or mom, yet we neglect them when i comes to our own needs and desires.

The Bible says:

"And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Deu 6:5 

Jesus Himself said:

"And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment." Mar 12:30 (KJV)

It goes without saying that if we are to Grow In Christ we must put Him first and love Him above all else.

Pray this prayer:

Father, I know that I don't always live a life that is pleasing to you. I see by this reminder here that I must take heed to my daily activity and do more than just carry Your  Name, but I must begin to turn some things around and maybe even push something aside so that you will once again be Lord of My Life. I do that today and if I find myself slipping I will remember these WORDS from Your Holy Bible and work at becoming more like you in all that I do. I do love You Lord and I want to grow closer to You. In Jesus Name, Amen.