8 Steps To Spiritual Living

8 Steps to Spiritual Living

By

Bishop M.L. Maughmer, Jr.

Isaiah 28:9-10 “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little”.

Every building must have a foundation and that foundation must be solid or else the structure will not stand. Matthew 7:24-27 says “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it”.

Hebrews 11:6 says “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”.

Hebrews 11:1 says “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.

So therefore our foundation is faith in Christ Jesus. Jesus is the Rock (Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it) and our faith in Him completes the foundation that our spiritual living is built upon. On Christ the solid rock I stand all other ground is sinking sand.

No-one ever said that this walk was going to be easy. The young Christian will have thoughts of giving up, they will say things like I can’t make it, this is too hard while the mature Christian will understand that they must crucify flesh daily. Understand Paul said I would do good but evil is ever present, Jesus said the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. The spiritual living doesn’t just happen there is some work that needs to be done on your part Philippians 2:12 says Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. There is no greater privilege that to live a Holy life in Christ Jesus. We need to make up in our minds that we are going to do whatever it takes to experience the most satisfying and gratifying life possible.

We have established the foundation #1 is Faith. Hebrews 11:1 & 6. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”. Faith would be the cement but what is also part of the faith foundation is diligence.

Divine Completeness. The ability to successfully live the spiritual life.

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Now let’s build upon this foundation. Remember the Bible says in Isaiah 28:9-10 “Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts. For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little”.

Turn to 2 Peter 1. We will see in the chapter that Peter gives detail of how to live the spiritual life successfully. In verse 1-4 we see that God doesn’t expect for us to do this by ourselves, but has given us power and promises to help us make it.

Vs#5:- Diligence – coupled with faith makes the strong foundation. Diligence is an eagerness, earnestness, forwardness, haste. It is the desire to accomplish or strive after. It is the effort and zeal for putting out and not putting off. Diligence is work, the Bible says in James 2: 20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? Then added to your faith virtue.

Virtue:- a course of thought, feeling, and action. This is the mind-set and willingness to do the right thing. It is this mind-set that causes you to say nothing shall separate me and nothing is going to stop me. My mind is made up I going to go through regardless.

AND TO VIRTUE KNOWLEDGE.

Knowledge:- knowledge signifies a general understanding and intelligence. Paul said it like this in Philippians 3:10 “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death”. This is not just book knowledge or information about, but experience with and relationship. We must know what God is like Exodus 34:4-7; John 4:24. Know what God loves Psalm 37:28, 146:8; John 14:23, 15:9, 2 Corinthians 9:7. Know what God hates Psalm 5:5, Proverbs 6:16-19, Isaiah 61:8 Know who you are in Christ Ephesians 1:3-14 for example.