Spiritual Growth

Growing up

The Christian life is called the new birth according to 1Peter 1 vs. 3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” It is a new birth from darkness to light, a change of spirit from death to life.

When a baby is born, the next most important and expected thing is the proper and normal development and growth of the child. Every resource needed for nourishment in the child’s food becomes the primary pursuit.

In the same vein, as soon a person gets saved, the church should gear all resources needed for the nourishment of the new believer in order for that believer to develop in the faith normally.

It is a scriptural truth and practice right from the birth of the church in Jerusalem. In Acts 2 vs. 41- 47 “Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common…Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” NIV

These new believers did four important things, which were very important for the growth of the early church and the establishment of the new converts. These four values are underlined in the scriptural quotations above.

1.       The apostles teaching: The apostles were important for two reasons: They were appointed by the Lord and anointed for the purpose of nurturing the church; and they were trained by the Lord himself to take care of the church. For these two reasons, what the apostle taught was of great importance in the life of the church. Therefore, it became very imperative for new believers to attend to what the apostles taught.

It is likewise important for new believers today to adhere to the teaching of the Word of God for their personal growth and development in the faith. New believers are not only to listen to teaching but to be devoted to pure teaching of God’s Word.

2.      The Fellowship: The fellowship as the word implies was a place where they met and interacted with people who profess the same faith in Christ. They socialized together daily, they shared their values, testimonies and encouragement, and it must have been so wonderful to share with them.

Above all, there was a warm atmosphere of sincere and genuine love. This is the love that made their master and Lord, Jesus Christ die for them. Surely, this is the ideal environment to start your Christian life. You will be equipped and nourished to develop and grow a spiritually healthy faith.

3.      Breaking of bread: In John 13, Jesus took communion with his disciples. In his instruction you could feel the sense of urgency. The communion was something he had looked forward to. It was a significant event at the closing of his earthly ministry and at the threshold of the New Covenant.

The communion is a place of intimacy in the faith. It is a place where spirits commune, where we share deeper relationships that are better than natural and biological relationships. The believers should celebrate the communion daily because it is place where the new covenant was enacted, where Jesus united the church and where Jesus defeated the devil.

4.      Prayer: This is the last but not in order of relevance. Prayer is first of all a place of fellowship with the Father God. We meet daily with the Father and share love and communion. It is no wonder these new disciples spent lot of time with the Father in prayer. We find refreshing, affection, edification, strength and renewal of joy in his presence.

Believers should spend more time not just asking for needs but talking with the Father seeking to know His mind, His thoughts and His will for our lives.

We see that as these values prevailed in the early church they believers enjoyed love among themselves, abundant supply of their needs, sharing of each others burdens with sincerity of hearts, the favour and respect of unbelievers and increase in their number daily.

May we walk in these virtues and excel in our walk with the Lord.

Written by on Jan 24,2011 in: |

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