**therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection” (Hebrews 6:1).
**“we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Ephesians 4:15)
** “Brethren, do not be children in understanding; however, in malice be babes, but in understanding be mature” (1 Corinthians 14:20).
** This growth process involves overpowering the pulls of the flesh, replacing them with the character of Jesus Christ
** “Those who are God’s children do not continue sinning, because the new life from God remains in them. They are not able to go on sinning, because they have become children of God” (1 John 3:9)
** (1 John 1:8)
**(1 John 3:9): “People conceived and brought into life by God don’t make a practice of sin. How could they? God’s seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It’s not in the nature of the God-begotten to practice and parade sin”
**(1 Corinthians 6:18).
**growing to maturity is to increase that which lives spiritually ( your relationship with God)
**the word grow in Greek is "auxano" which means giving an increase, to grow , become greater
** “increase” of the work of the Gospel of God Acts 6:7)
** what does maturity mean?
__to become or to come to be
__(1 Corinthians 3:1-3)
__(Hebrews 5:12; 14)
__physically we all grow and spiritually we all ought to grow
** when a baby is born they are fed according to their size (how they weigh in kilograms) and their month age
** when a person is born is spiritually born again, they are renewed, they become new born
__and God expect us to grow into understanding and knowledge of His Son
**when babies are born they are fed milk not solid food
**but as they grow we change their menu and start feeding them purity
** and as they grow we feed them real food that is solid food
** the reason is that their bone structure and internal structure may develop at a faster rate
**even in a Christian life the same procedure is applies
**when you become matured in the things of God you begin to face challenges that are equivalent to your level of maturity
**even in real life we face challenges due to the phase of maturity we at
__for example a single guy cannot face challenges of a guy who is in a relationship
**what can we do as Christians to grow into maturity?
1) Study the Word of God
__the time we spend studying the word of God develops our spirit and transforms our mind
__the only way in which you can feed your spirit is by studying the Word
__when the studying the Word you depositing materials in your spirit
2) PRAYING
__( Romans 12:12)
__(1 Thessalonians 5:17)
__when you begin to engage in prayer you release what is deposited inside you
__”prayer” is asking from God (John 16:26)
__”prayer” is to desire (2 Corinthians 5:20)
__different types of prayers
a. Intercessory prayer
__( 1 Kings 13:6)
__through intercessory prayer you pray for other people
b. Warfare
__( 2 Corinthians 10:4)
__we are in a battle against high principalities, we fighting against satan ( against spiritual enemies)
c. Worship
__( John 4:23)
__in this type of prayer we exalt the Father we glorify Him
__the most important type of prayer in a Christian life
d. Fasting and Praying
__(Mark 2:20)
__in this type of prayer we grow mentally, we grow spiritually, we reach a peak in which we only depend on the Spirit of God for strength
__when you fast and pray you move from being a toddler to being matured spiritually
__fasting develops you in many ways
__your spirit now depends on the Holy Spirit for strength and for power and that strength is transferred to your soul (mind, emotions and will)
**when you spiritually grow into maturity you begin to receive things in the physical
**when your spirit grows, your faith in the Son of God grows as well
**when your spirit grows your trust in the Holy Spirit grows as well
** if you want to attract things in the from the spiritual world or dimension (the world seen by faith where everything already exist or is deposited) you need to grow into maturity
**what are the things we can see if person has reached spiritually maturity?
a. PRAYING IN TONGUES
__( 1 Corinthians 14:22)
b. PROPHESYING
__(1 Corinthians 14:1)
c. EVANGELISM OR WITNESSING
__(Acts 1:8)
d. PURE SUCCESS
e. DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS
CONCLUSION
__as Christians we are ought to grow, it is a must
__satan will continues to attack us if we don’t grow spiritually to maturity, He will use your lack of understanding the Word of God to accuse you of everything you do in life
__if you want to win against all kinds of temptations you will have to allow yourself to grow spiritually to maturity
__growing spiritually to maturity is when you understand God’s way of doing things
__let always pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us to grow to maturity by His grace that supplies all the favors of God into your life
PRAYER
“Father I thank you for dying on the cross and taking away sin in my life I am a new creation , the old is gone, I receive you in my heart be the Lord and savior of my life, forgive me of all sins, in Jesus Name Amen”
