God is loving and kind and one of the best things that could happen to any individual is for them to accept Him into their heart and develop a personal relationship with him.
Unfortunately, after accepting Jesus into their hearts, a lot of people get stuck because they don’t know the next course of action needed to forge ahead in this new life open to them. Some people experience a quick growth spurt after which they become stagnant. Others seem to go round in circles dealing with the same issues over and over again without experiencing any victory and without any experience of breaking forth into the miraculous realm which we are called to walk in (Ephesians 1:18-23).
In the book of Romans, Paul states that those that are led by the Spirit of God are the sons of God. Did you notice that he did not say that those that are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God? Once you accept Jesus Christ into your heart, you become a child of God however, it takes maturity to move from being a child to becoming a son (by the way, ‘son’ in this context is metaphorical. ‘Son’ represents a level of responsibility and status that can be reached by either a male or a female). This maturity i.e. the difference between being a child and being a son is proven by one’s ability to be led by the Spirit. How interesting!
As a son of God, the supernatural becomes your natural.
Supernatural = Super + natural = Above the natural.
Living a supernatural life means that you live life differently from the conditions of this world. Your timetable is a heavenly one and the Holy Spirit is your guide. Since the Holy Spirit knows all things, if you allow yourself to be led by him, you will glide through life effortlessly. This is what God means when he says “we are in the world but not of the world” – John 17:16. God’s ways are very different from the world’s ways. Sons of God know that they operate within systems separate from the systems on earth, for example, in God’s kingdom, for you to be great, you must have a servant’s heart whereas in this world, servants are perceived to be poor and lowly. In God’s kingdom, you believe before you see; that is faith! But in the world, they say “Seeing is believing”. The supernatural life is very much different from the natural life. The Supernatural life was what God created for Adam and Eve before they lost it. Jesus got this life back for us by dying on the cross; bridging the gap between heaven and earth and becoming the link between the Jews and Gentiles. At Pentecost, the God of heaven came down to dwell in our flesh. When we surrender to God and ask him to come into our hearts, we become born anew or born again in our spirits and our very own bodies became temples to house God’s Holy Spirit. This is the first step. Being born again in spirit is the first step!
Like a new born baby who is fully dependent on its mother and the people around it for survival, a newly born spirit or born-again person is young in spirit, immature and needs to help to grow spiritually. You would not leave a new born child on the floor without food, shelter or warmth. In the same way, a newly born-again person needs the right environment that provides the right resources, guidance and examples on how to mature in faith. Every parent wants their child to grow and develop physically, mentally, emotionally, and become a seasoned individual. In the same way, God does not want us to remain baby Christians forever. He wants us to grow, mature and become well-rounded spiritual beings. “Like new born babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” – 1 Peter 2:2.
A lack of exposure to the right resources, guidance and examples as well as making a consistent choice not to yield to God’s ways could lead to a stagnant spiritual life. In Hebrews chapter 5 verses 11 to 14, we see Paul telling the people that although they had been in the faith for a while, they were not ready for the meat of the word because they were not feeding their spirits hence not allowing themselves grow. Paul said they needed to be taught the elementary truths all over again. These were people that ought to have developed to become teachers of the faith, yet Paul said all they could have was the milk of the word and not the meat.
I don’t know about you, but I love growth and even though it requires me getting out of my comfort zone and being stretched, rather than live a life of mediocrity, I would rather dare to move into a new zone and level, so I can be exposed to new ideas and wisdom thus increasing the amount of positive influence I can wield in different life spheres. This was God’s original intent for man – after creation, God commanded that man be fruitful and multiply, replenish the earth and have dominion over it. You will agree with me that it is quite unnatural to remain stagnant and not grow. Imagine a scenario in which a baby doesn’t grow to talk or walk or where a 6 or 5-year-old child has the mental age of a two-year-old, in these situations, we would tend to identify that there is indeed a deficiency and we immediately seek medical help for the child. In the same way, it is quite unnatural for our spirit-man to stagnate or remain in the baby phase. In fact, lack of growth in our spiritual lives indicates that in some way, shape or form, we are deficient and lacking.
At this juncture, I think it is important to mention that man, as God created, is made up of a spirit, a soul and a body. A person who has not accepted Jesus into their hearts has a dead spirit, and they are ruled and led by their flesh i.e. bodily senses and emotions and ultimately you can tell from the fleshly behaviours and attitudes they exhibit, some of which include envy, strife, fornication, hatred, witchcraft, wrath etc. as underlined in Galatians 5:19-21. God told Adam and Eve that if they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, they would die and that was exactly what happened. When man fell in the garden, man’s spirit died. Because of Adam and Eve’s sin, all of humanity sinned and spiritual death came to us all. The good news is that Jesus came and died for us to bring our spirits back to life and restore our relationship with the heavenly father. Some of the behaviours and attitudes exhibited by individuals who are led by the Holy Spirit in them include love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith etc. – Galatians 5:22-23. Spiritual growth is evidenced in us changing from exhibiting fleshly, carnal attitudes and behaviours to exhibiting Spirit-led attitudes and behaviours. After all, we shall know them by their fruits! (Matthew 7:16)
Perhaps you are a new believer who seeks to know how best to grow your spiritual life, or maybe you have been a believer for some time now, but you still seem to be on a stagnant plane, going around in circles even though you ache for more, or maybe you are just curious about how to grow spiritually. I hope the following points help.
Know that the Holy Spirit is in you. Ephesians 1:13b – in whom after that ye believed, ye were sealed with the holy Spirit of promise. As soon as we believe and accept Jesus into our hearts, the Holy Spirit becomes sealed in us. It is very important that we are aware of this fact otherwise, we will unknowingly ignore the Holy Spirit and the friendship he offers us. We will not fully harness his power in our lives. The Holy Spirit is God and we get to develop a relationship with him. Through the Holy Spirit, we have access to divine help, divine guidance, comfort and so much more (John 14:26).
“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
The power he gives represents the power of the Holy Spirit in us and ‘sons of God’ as previously explained differs from ‘children of God’ and represents maturity. In other words, the Holy Spirit provides us with power and enablement for spiritual maturity and growth. It is important that we know that the Holy Spirit dwells in us and that we can talk to him at anytime about anything. The first step could be to say something to him along the lines of “Hello Holy Spirit, I know you are in me. Please help me to recognise your voice, I surrender my mind, will and emotions to your leading”. Talk to him about anything you wish and if you have any questions on how to live the Christian life, the Holy Spirit is the best teacher to give you answers (John 14:26).
Pray. Prayer is simply defined as the communication between God and man. God wants to have a relationship with us. He came down in the cool of the day to spend time and chat with Adam and Eve but we lost this privilege because communication with God was cut off at the fall, but with what Jesus did, the curtain of separation tore from top to bottom granting us access to communicate with the Spirit of God who moved from being hidden in the tabernacle, behind the curtains within the temple walls to being in our hearts within the temple of our bodies. There are different types of prayer. There is the prayer of communion in which we commune with God all day long about our thoughts, feelings and actions regarding circumstances we are faced with. There is the prayer of thanksgiving which is about us giving thanks to God, prayer of supplication where we lift our needs up to God, there is the prayer of intercession where we pray for other people as God lays it on our hearts, there is corporate prayer which involves prayer made in agreement in mass gatherings with other believers and there are spiritual warfare prayers which help us win the battles in our minds and over demonic forces that may be at play in any territory of our lives.
“Prayer is simply talking to God like a friend and should be the easiest thing we do each day” – Joyce Meyer
Generally, many Christians don’t pray until a problem arises. This is not good at all. It is important that we are in constant communication with God. Personally, I think communion prayer is the basis for every other prayer type. With the prayer of communion, we are in constant communication with the Holy Spirit, thrashing out issues and questions that arise as soon as they come. This provides us with much growth and capacity and gives room for us to recognise God’s voice so we can sense when he wants us to pray the other types of prayer be it for other people or ourselves. It is also important that we are aware of the season of life that we are in so that we can pray the right prayers. According to James 4:3, we do not have what we want because we do not ask God for it and in cases where we have asked but have not received, it is most likely because we have the wrong motives.
"Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."- 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18.
Eat the word. Just as we eat to keep our bodies going, we also need to eat to keep our spirits going and the food our spirits eat is God’s word. In Psalm 119 verse 103, David says “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth”. The way to consume the word is to study it, pore over it and think on it continuously. God’s word is God’s letter to us. He shows us how to live triumphantly as sons of God through his word. A lot of people spend time wondering how to hear from God and while God does speak to us through the Holy Spirit in our hearts, it takes some time to figure out these inner promptings but God’s word is the surest way to hear what God has to say to us regarding any matter and after some consistent, continuous study, we start to recognise God’s voice more easily. We start to think the way God thinks which then translates into us speaking the way God speaks and acting the way He acts. God’s word also leads us in the direction that we should go and guides us into making choices that pertain to life and godliness. “I gain understanding from your precepts; therefore I hate every wrong path. Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.”- Psalm 119: 104 – 106. The bible says that without faith, it is impossible to please God. The same bible also lets us know that faith comes by hearing and hearing the word. I don’t know about you, but I want to please God. I believe pleasing God in this case points to living our lives in ways that please him.
“If you focus on the priority of knowing Him and knowing His Word, discernment of Hos voice will start to happen automatically on its own” - Priscilla Shirer.
Obey. Obedience is very key, this is where most people miss it. When we get a prompting from our communion with the Holy Spirit, during the study of the word or during prayer, it is imperative that we make the necessary changes to ensure that we are growing. What is the point of studying the Word and not doing what it says or getting an instruction from the Holy Spirit and not acting accordingly? Stepping out in obedience to God’s commands and guidance show him that we trust him and this paves the way for us to experience the miraculous. When the children of Israel got to Jericho, Joshua was ready for battle but God gave him instructions different to the plans he had in mind. He chose to leave his own ideas of what should be or happen and embraced God’s leading. This act of obedience led to the miracle of the wall of Jericho falling flat. James 1 verses 22 to 25 lets us know that anyone who listens to the word but does not do it is like someone who looks at himself in the mirror, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But whoever looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues in it – not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it – they will be blessed in what they do.
Be around believer friends. One of the quickest ways to grow spiritually is to surround yourself with Christian friends who also want to grow spiritually and live their lives in ways that please God. As highlighted in my previous post, Pursue Peace, being within a group of loving people trying to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling is one of the best experiences a Christian can have once there is love, unity and an individual and collective desire for spiritual growth. It is so freeing and liberating to be around people you can pray together with, talk about the biblical concepts together with and be truly open with. Vulnerability with one another is where the power lies. James 5:16 lets us know that our healing comes from confessing our sins with each other and praying with each other because the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Most churches have smaller fellowship groups, it is wise to find one that works for you so you make new friends who sharpen you just like you sharpen them.
Back to my point about vulnerability, because the church is filled with different people from different backgrounds who have acquired different life experiences, no one is perfect and we are all at different levels of spiritual maturity. For example, imagine being open about some of your struggles within a group in which one person still struggles with gossiping, before you know it, everyone around will know what your life issues are. To avoid heartbreaks and church hurts (which will most likely still happen), it is very important that you are careful about who you choose to be vulnerable with. The best thing to do will be to pray to God to bring godly friends your way and also for Him to let you know which individuals or what groups of people you can be vulnerable with. Generally, after joining a small fellowship group, over time you will get to know people for who they are and gravitate towards people with whom you feel comfortable with. You will also be better at discerning who to talk to depending on what circumstance is at hand.
Engage in Spiritual Exercises. We exercise our bodies to keep them fit. In the same way, we should engage in spiritual exercises to keep our spirit-man fit and healthy. To prepare for a party, you create the necessary environments to make the party happen as you would like it to – the music, the D.J., the food, the people, etc. Spiritual exercises enable us to create spiritual environments in which God can easily come down and dwell so He can commune with us and get to work in our lives. Continuous spiritual exercises help us generate spiritual power and command spiritual authority because we continuously create an atmosphere for God’s presence to flow uninterruptedly with in us, with us and around us. In Joshua chapter 7, we see the story of how the Israelites were defeated at Ai because Achan’s sin had created an environment that was not conducive for God’s presence. I don’t know about you but I want God’s presence continuously with me because the presence of God commands victory. Even Moses said “If your presence does not go with us, call this trip off right now” – Exodus 33:15.
Some spiritual exercises include:
Worshipping: God literally lives in our praises – Psalm 22:3.
Personal Devotion: The next morning, Jesus woke up very early. He left the house while it was still dark and went to a place where he could be alone and pray – Mark 1:35. There is something special - a certain personal confidence and assurance that comes from being alone and still with God. It’s the best thing ever!
Praying: Call unto me and I will answer you and I will show you great and mighty things which you know not – Jeremiah 33:3.
Meditating: … brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things – Philippians 4:8. And as a man thinks in his heart, so is he! In essence, we are/become what we think.
Fasting: … This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting – Matthew 17:21. There are certain circumstances that will not shift in our favour unless we choose to combine our prayers with fasting.
Speaking in Tongues: But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit – Jude 1:20.
Attend mass Christian events. There is something about worshipping, praying and receiving the word in a crowd of many believers. God’s presence is always tangible, you can almost touch it and our collective faith does much more than we can imagine; chains are broken and healing happens.
"But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.You have come to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. And to Jesus, the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling , that speaks better things than that of Abel.” – Hebrews 12:22-24.
Every time I have emerged from a mass gathering event, be it a summer camp, a church conference or a Christian concert, there is a different kind of energy in me. My faith is stronger and I come out with a fresh awareness that I am not trying to figure out this Christian life by myself. There are thousands and millions of us all over the world and there is power when we join forces!
Rest in knowing God. Rest in knowing God is with you, rest in knowing God is for you, rest in knowing God fights your battles for you. One of the last statements Jesus made to his disciples when he was finally leaving earth was “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid”. One of the parts of the Christian life most of us struggle with is the moving on after sinning or making a mistake part. It is important to know that when we have made a mistake, there is no need to wallow in self-pity, guilt, shame or condemnation. All we have to do is talk to God about it and move on from it because we are no longer condemned (Romans 8:1). We are set free in Christ Jesus and it is important that we rest in this truth.
