Video Transition: Movie from the trailer for Jesus Revolution
Spirit Care 101
Thesis: Spirit care is the discipline of allowing the Holy Spirit to shape us, mold us, teach us and help us to mature in our spiritual faith. So we in turn can help others come to Jesus and grow in Jesus.
Spiritual Care or Growth - is about us intentionally maturing our spirit, but we also need the help of Holy Spirit to grow and mature. It’s the Holy Spirit that is our teacher and guide in this wicked world we live in – did you hear that thought? - we as Christians need to learn from Him and follow His direction in our lives. If we do, we can turn around and help others! If we do not do this, we will never be able to help others or impact our world!
Scripture Text:
Key - Romans 15:1-4: 1We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. 3For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.”4For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
Hebrews 6:1: “Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God…”
Colossians 1:9-10: 9 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God…
Jesus spoke about the Holy Spirit and told us why He was sending Him to us – The following are Jesus’ own words:
Key – section - John 14:15-31:
15“If you love Me, keep My commandments.
16And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—
17the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.
18I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
19“A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.
20At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
21He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
22Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, “Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?”
23Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.
24He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.
25“These things I have spoken to you while being present with you.
26But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
27Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
28You have heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away and coming back to you.’ If you loved Me, you would rejoice because I said, ‘I am going to the Father,’ for My Father is greater than I.
29“And now I have told you before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe.
30I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in Me.
31But that the world may know that I love the Father, and as the Father gave Me commandment, so I do. Arise, let us go from here.
What Jesus describes above I can honestly say I have experienced in my own life!
Illustration from my own life: The School of the Holy Spirit.
I remember after accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior and being immersed in the Holy Spirit how I felt directed – really an inner passion arose within me. I had this urgency to grow in my knowledge of the Lord, His ways and His teachings. I choose to let the Holy Spirit teach me lessons from the Bible, from struggles and trials, from life’s failures, from pain and rejection, from books and messages and preachers. It’s been and still is an amazing life I am living – I am still enrolled in the school of the Holy Spirit today – I have learned new things this week – been guide by Him – heard His voice direct me. It’s amazing – please know I am still learning changing – dying to myself – repenting for disobeying His directives – I recall what one preacher on the radio said “When you are through learning you are through!”
So, the lessons I learned quickly from the School of Holy Spirit were to obey His voice, His Word and His instruction:
• Holy Spirit – inner voice - “Go to church when the doors are open – but take notes during the sermon – make sure you review those notes during the week and learn!”
o Sunday morning
o Sunday night
o Wednesday Night
? You grow spiritually when you place yourself in an environment that fosters spiritual growth!
• Holy Spirit – inner voice - “Enroll in the “New Believers Bible Study” and learn the basic teachings of the Bible!”
o A year long class on Thursday nights
• Holy Spirit – inner voice - “Read thru the Bible as quick as possible!”
o I read before work, on my lunch breaks, on afternoon breaks, at home at night.
o I devoured God’s Word – hungry for the turn of the next page!
o I cried as I read, I rejoiced as I read, I scratched my head as I read, I prayed as I read, I was shocked as I read, I asked God to help me be a man after His own heart.
? I bought Bible Commentary’s to help me understand some teaching better in the Scriptures.
? I then bought lexicons to study the original languages.
? I started auditing classes at a local Bible College.
• Did that on Monday nights!
• Holy Spirit – inner voice - “Listen to preachers while you are at work Mike!”
o My favorite preachers/programs”
? 9:00 am Charles Swindoll - Insight for Living
? 9:30 am Chuck Smith - The Word for Today
? Kenneth Hagen, Charles Stanley - In Touch Ministries, R.W. - Schambach, Doctor Dobson: “Focus on the Family”
• Please note: I did listen to other preachers all day as well but these three impacted me the most in my spiritual growth!
• Then after about 6 months of doing the above I received an inner voice again say, “Mike read Christian Books!” Note: I did not stop doing the above disciplines of spiritual growth, I just added another dimension to my spiritual growth plan to help me mature:
o My first book I ever read as a Christian led by the Spirit was Salem Kirban’s book “Satan’s Angels Exposed”
? The Holy Spirit used this book – to teach me some amazing revelations of Truth and lies connected to false religious groups. I also learned that there was a spiritual realm that was real and observable if you listened to the direction of the Holy Spirit. .
• I started seeing into the spiritual realm:
o The good – I saw Jesus at work – spiritual forces of good at work – His kingdom and its work – His love and His Great commission. I saw lives changed. I saw communities change. I changed – I grew in the realm of the spirit by the help of the Holy Spirit.
o The bad – I saw into the demonic realm literally, the realm of the cult and occult – the manifestations of demons – I saw the deception and bondage of the people in his grip. I learned the power of the name of Jesus against principalities and powers. I received discerning of spirits.
o The ugly – I saw the flesh of some Christians cause a mees in the church, I observed pride and arrogance destruction in a church, I saw the bait of Satan – the disease of offense and its devastation in the church and in other Christians. I watched a mentor fall away from Jesus. I watched men of God and women of God by into false teachings and be deceived.
? With the completion of each chapter – a revelation of what I just learned transpired – sometimes within minutes or days - but I actually encountered in real life what I just read about – even the ones I had just read about!
• Listen: My mind was blown by the coincidence’s, my spirit was energized to learn more – to grow more – to know the truth of God and learn to recognize the lies. I learned to be bold with demons in the name of Jesus.
• My heart was touched, these people were in bondage, I sought to help these people out of their deceptions. Very seldom worked – but I did share my story and my miracle stories with them when possible.
• My spirit was bursting to become involved in the work of the Kingdom.
• I learned as I served to deny the flesh, not take the Spirit of Offense against others – like some did – this is called the Bait of Satan.
• The Holy Spirit said, “Mike use your carpenter talents to remodel Outreach Church don’t charge – do it for me!”
• The Holy Spirit said, “Mike go to North Central Bible College full time – give up your union carpenter job – start your own company.”
o In the beginning I said “No, I cannot afford school.”
? Then the situation of hurting my back and unjust treatment by my employer and winning the law suit which paid for school.
? The supernatural provision for work while in college for 4 years – never without work – the open doors – the miracles – the financial blessings of God’s provision.
• The Holy Spirit said, “I want you to become a pastor/teacher for the Kingdom – I want you to become a man after God’s own heart – I want you sacrifice for the Kingdom your time, your talent, your life! And I will bless you with the Abundant life promised by me- Jesus!”
o At first - I resisted – “No thank you Lord, I will just be a great Christian carpenter for the Kingdom!”
o I said, “Lord the cost is to much – I will not be able to pay my bills.”
Introduction:
This world needs more spiritually mature Christians who are willing to die to themselves so as to grow and be there to help others find Jesus! The Lord is looking to use those willing to help others mature spiritually in Jesus!
But to help others we must learn to do Spirit Care within our inner being – when we do this it leads to spiritual maturity and the doors opening for Kingdom work.
Illustration: Last week I received my monthly magazine from AACC and here was the front page: Christian Counseling Today, “Mental Health Among Today’s Teens and Young Adults, Volume 26:” Immediately the subject struck my heart! I in my message briefly mentioned it but today I want to read you some of the statistics from this magazine.
I opened to one of the articles written by Tim Clinton, President of AACC – I met Tim years ago while attending this convention many years in a row – we chattered and got to know each other I was impressed with his love for Jesus and for the church. His article “Kids, Life and Mental Health” was straight from his heart: He opens his article with this statement, “Growing up should be all about belly laughs, bikes, best friends, sports, being loved, (I say camp, church groups, and services) and maybe ice cream.” But that is not the reality today in our world, he noted the following statistics about today’s young people:
• Since COVID and all that we have been through, suicide is now the second leading cause of death in America among 10- to 24 year olds. It has risen more than 57% in recent years – I say it is definitely a dark time of the soul for many young people today in the USA!
• Mental health emergency room visits in 2020 increased by 24% for children between five and 11 and more than 30% for those ages 12-17.
• Over the past year, 16.39% of America’s youth suffered a major depressive episode.
• Additionally, more than 2.7 million youth in the U.S. encounter severe depression, and multiracial youth are at the greatest risk.
• Also in the last year, 6.34% of youth in the U.S. had a substance use disorder.
• The other major issue for young people is accessible mental healthcare (especially Christian/faith based healthcare).
o Due to location especially rural and urban
o Due to finances
o Due to lack of mental and spiritual healthcare workers and professional mental healthcare workers.
o Children with mental health needs have become one of the most undeserved population in today’s culture.
Question: What can you and I do to stop the oncoming tsunami that has already made landfall in our country?
Practical step: Go to the AACC Convention in Nashville, Tn. September 13-16th “Know Hope” at Opryland Hotel! Subscribe to AACC American Association of Christian Counselors check it out on their website aacc.net.
Decide to work in children’s ministry, youth ministry, start a DNA group with young people. Get trained through Pursue Kingdom ministry to minister to others. Decide to be trained to become one of our lay counselors – through Peer Counseling.
So the question to answer for today is “How do I care for my spirit and grow to become a spiritually mature Christian?
T.S.: I am so glad you asked me that question today – I am going to answer that question with a few Scripture passages which describe the process of Spiritual care and growth.
1. Opening Scripture Text: Romans 1: 1-7: The process of spiritual care and growth and becoming a Saint!
a. 1Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— 2the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures 3regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, 4and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God£ by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord. 5Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith. 6And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. 7To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
i. As I read our first seven verses of this powerful book of Romans, a phrase in the NIV leaped out at me in verse seven, “To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.” This phrase echoed in my mind over and over and the Lord drew my attention to the word “saint.”
b. A question we could all ask is: “What is a Saint?”
i. Is the type of “saint” Paul is referring too in this passage look like Roger Moore from the TV series “The Saint?” I know some of you are to young to know of this TV series played by Roger Moore – who is more well known as James Bond 007!
1. The Saint TV show was a spy action series about a thief who only stole from criminals and then usually got them caught and put in prison. He was kind of a "self-hired and self-paid" law enforcement officer. That would be a good enough story line in itself, but there's another twist! He was constantly chased by a real lawman called Inspector Teal who didn't see the difference between The Saint (Simon Templar) and any other criminal! That kept Simon looking over his shoulder while he went after the loot!
2. See picture on Power point along with theme song on the TV show “The Saint”.
3. But his is not the type of “saint” that Paul was referring to though: A Saint is not a Robin Hood character – reference the statement on back of van you saw Wednesday morning “Robin Hood was right!”
ii. What a about the New Orleans “Saints?” This is an NFL football team if you don’t know, and we can ask the question was Paul referring to one of their football players? They would be called “saints.” But the answer is, “No” Paul did not mean this kind of “saint.”
1. A football player can do good things and be a hero figure but no it’s not this type of saint.
iii. Is the type of “saint” Paul is referring to one of the many “Sainted” saints of the Roman Catholic Church?
1. There are more than 10,000 Roman Catholic saints. It is important to note that Saints should not be "worshipped" according to strict Christian terminology of Jesus and the Bible. Worship should be reserved for God alone, whereas Saints should be venerated, respected, and viewed as role models but not prayed too or worshipped.
2. The Roman Catholic process of sainthood and of being canonized to the special status of sainthood has no valid biblical basis and we are told by the Word that we are only to pray to God through Jesus Christ. First Timothy 2:5 states, “For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,”
a. But for whatever reason the Roman Catholic church has adopted a sainthood policy.
c. I looked up the word “saint” and discovered this definition from my research: ONE SEPARATED FROM THE WORLD AND CONSECRATED TO GOD; ONE HOLY BY PROFESSION AND BY COVENANT; A BELIEVER IN Jesus CHRIST!
i. Duncan Ross states, “A saint, as the bible uses that word, does not refer to a technical or even special class of especially godly persons. The word “saint” as it is used in Scripture is a synonym for words like “believer,” and “Christian.”
ii. Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia tells us the following about what this word “saint” and describes it this way:
1. A saint is a holy person. The term comes from the New Testament, where it is used to refer to all Christian believers. Over the years the term has grown to be used and accepted in other Christian, religious, and even secular contexts, to refer to those who are considered to be exceptionally virtuous or glorified in heaven. Hence a "saint" is a (usually deceased) person whose life is regarded by a community as a good example, and their life story is remembered for sake of inspiring others.
iii. Biblically, though, the term saint is correctly applied to anyone who believes Jesus Christ is Lord. To believe in Jesus demands obedience and conformity to His will. A saint bears true and faithful witness to Christ in speech and in life-style. To be a saint is a present reality when a believer seeks to let the Spirit form Christ within their hearts and inner spirit. A few scripture verses refer to this process:
1. Romans 8:29: For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.
2. Galatians 4:19: My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you…
3. Ephesians 4:13: …until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
a. The truth is we become a saint when we become “Born Again” and the Spirit of the Lord enters into our hearts – The Holy Spirit sent by Jesus seeks to mold us into the image of Jesus through our life and life circumstances.
d. Coming back to the question: “What makes one a Saint?” Or how is one person an “aint” and another person a Saint?
i. The difference is found in the first letter of Saint – the S stands for Spirit! We are “aint’s” without the Spirit in our hearts and lives! The Spirit – the Holy Spirit is what makes us “Saints” – we cannot make ourselves “Saints” only Jesus and the Holy Spirit can make us “Saints”!
ii. Reality Check: A saint is not an “aint,” because the Spirit of Christ adds “S” to “aint” and makes the “aint” a “saint.” A saint is person known in heaven and belonging to the ranks of Heaven. They are Christians – believers who follow the Lord with their whole heart mind and soul.
T.S. – Saints are created by adding the Spirit to our lives through faith in Jesus and once we receive the Holy Spirit we need to care for our spirit through His Spirit and grow into the mature Saint God wants us to be.
2. 2 Scripture: 2 Peter 1:5-8: The process of spiritual care and growth and becoming a mature Saint.
a. 5For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.
b. There is a process of spiritual growth according to this Scripture text:
i. Spiritual growth happens through living life and being led by the Holy Spirit!
1. It starts with understanding of the goodness of God and the gift of salvation! It comes from experience God’s forgiveness and grace – His goodness!
a. God has provided this for us through faith or belief in Jesus Christ. We don’t earn it we accept it as a gift!
2. It is also connected with knowledge – understanding the goodness and the grace of God leads us to knowledge – This knowledge of Him comes from a relationship with Him and it also comes from knowing His teachings and words in the Bible. Through the process of gaining knowledge of God comes the illumination of the Holy Spirit to God’s words found in the Bible. In other words the – the words of the Bible come alive – they live, they breathe life and insight in how to live and know God better.
a. Once again: This knowledge is enlightened by God’s wisdom which also comes through the Holy Spirit and as we get to know the Word of God we grow closer in our relationship with the Lord.
3. As we grow in experiencing the goodness of God and in knowledge of Him from the Bible we then progress to the next step of Spiritual care which is learning self-control – self-control comes through Christian spiritual maturity – it comes through learning and choosing to die to the self.
a. When we have grown in our self-control – when we die to the flesh and let the Spirit lead us we gain the next level of spiritual care and growth which is the ability to persevere through the hardships of life.
4. Perseverance is so crucial in the Christian walk because so many give up on God, become angry with God and some fall away from God because they give up and do not push through the hard times of life – or through the Storms of life.
a. If we learn to persevere then the next level of Spiritual Care and growth is godliness – the spiritual state of living for the lord in a holy and reverent way for Him. To honor him with the way we live our life. To live godly in a ungodly world makes us stand out as light in the midst of darkness – this is what we are designed by God to do daily in our lives.
b. We come to the understanding that God does not owe us – we owe Him!
i. Matt Slick stated, “One of the best things I learned in Seminary was when a professor wrote on the board "There is a God. You are not Him." Boy, has that proven true! Over the years I've discovered how unwise, inexperienced, and ignorant I really am. Also, I've noticed that God doesn't consult me with making decisions about running the universe. And, if that isn't humiliating enough, He doesn't take any of my suggestions about how things ought to be in my own life. I don't understand why God doesn't take my suggestions. But, it comes down to one thing: There is a God. I am not Him!”
ii. He adds, “"There is a God. You are not Him," is a delightful piece of truth. Think about it. Who created the universe? Was it the infinite and wise God, or was it me... or you? I have not heard whether if God consulted any of you about how universe should be run. If He has, please let me know. But as it stands now, He doesn't need our help.”
1. Above from https://carm.org/christianity/devotions/there-god-you-are-not-him
iii. Matt adds, “If you truly understand that there is a God and that you are not Him, then you can begin to relinquish your own rights, hopes, desires, and wants and submit them to His will.”
iv. Quote: “The apostle Paul in writing to the Philippians gives them the admonition to be “anxious for nothing,” telling them that the cure for anxiety and dark times of the soul is found on one’s knees, that it is the peace of God that calms our spirit and dissipates anxiety. Again, we can be anxious and nervous and worried without finally submitting to ultimate despair.”
1. From http://www.gotquestions.org/dark-night-soul.html#ixzz3PUBdfVUc
5. Godliness leads to kindness toward others – it has an empathy for others – a heart that cares about other people and their struggles, their faith, their doubts and reaches out to them as God reached out to us through the sacrifice of Jesus.
6. Kindness – our world has lost this Spiritual exercise and level of spiritual maturity – just spend a little time on social media – just watch the news – just listen to how people treat each other in marriages – in church – in schools and at work.
a. Kindness is a level of spiritual maturity that seems missing today – we need to cultivate it again.
7. Of course the process of Spiritual care and growth always leads to a Christian a saint who loves others!
a. Love that quality of Jesus we all so admire – His willingness to forgive the sinners – to love the unwanted of society – to love the sick and deformed – to love unconditionally!
b. 2 Peter 3:18: 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
c. Hebrews 5:11-14: 11We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.
12In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! 13Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. 14But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.
d. Hebrews 6:1: 1Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God…
T.S. – Growing spiritually is a process that we must learn and walk through in this journey of life.
3. Scripture text 3 Romans 5:2-6: The process of spiritual care and growth and becoming a mature Saint.
a. 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. 6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
b. The process of Spiritual Care and Spiritual growth which leads to us becoming mature Saints.
i. Spiritual Care and spiritual growth move’s us from the beginning of grace – that understanding and the experiencing of the goodness of God. This stage of spiritual growth develops us into the Saint who is becoming more spiritually mature and who is able to rejoice in the hope of the glory of God – which is Jesus.
ii. But we also learn through this text that as we do spiritual care and grow in Christ understanding grace then we learn to rejoice in our sufferings – this is another level of Spiritual growth toward maturity as a Saint.
1. Rejoicing in suffering is a huge step in the Spiritual care process of spiritual growth.
a. 2 Cor. 4:7-10: “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.”
b. Hebrews 6:19: We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain…
2. In times of suffering which will come we need to understand that God has a plan for you in this moment?
a. Jesus said, “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” — John 17: 15 NIV
b. Cordeiro states, “If we fail to listen to what God is trying to teach us through these experiences, we end up misreading God’s language.”
i. He also adds, “God must first accomplish something in you before he can accomplish something through you.”
3. John Ortberg states, “If you ask people who don’t believe in God why they don’t, the number one reason will be suffering. If you ask people who believe in God when they grew most spiritually, the number one answer will be suffering (Soul Keeping: Caring for the Most Important Part of You (p. 179).
a. Romans 12:1-2: Living Sacrifices
1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
iii. Suffering if gone through biblically will always lead us to spiritual growth and the ability to persevere through the hardships of this life.
1. Perseverance is a must spiritual quality to have in the type of world we live in.
2. Throughout Scripture the Christian believer is told to stand firm in his faith. We are exhorted by the Gospel and Old Testament writers to stand firm. I believe that this church as well needs to stand firm. We need to plant ourselves on the Word of God and stand.
3. Jesus said, “Keep alert at all times. And pray that you might be strong enough to escape…and stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36 NLT)
a. John Eldredge states from his book Resilient, “The words from Jesus “Strong enough to escape- that’s who and what we want to be. Strong enough to be survivors, the triumphant ones. To make it through the storm. This is no ordinary strength Jesus is offering. This isn’t optimism, this isn’t simply feeling refreshed for a new day. Hard times require something more than willpower. Jesus warns us, urges us, practically commands us to ask for strength. The Greek word used here is katischuo’ at it means:
i. To be strong to another’s detriment
ii. To prevail against
iii. To be superior in strength
iv. To overcome
v. To prevail”
1. Eldredge page 40-41
b. John notes this Greek word is used one more time in Scripture by Jesus in Matthew 16:18:
i. 18And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. (NKJV)
1. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it (NIV).
2. He adds, “We need the strength of heart, strength of mind, strength of spirit. A strength that prevails. Because there are forces urging us to quit” (42).
a. We must persevere through this stuff to grow spiritually mature in Christ!
iv. Perseverance leads to the next level of spiritual maturity character!
1. Character is not what you believe but how you act – what you do!
2. Character is essential in this journey of life – and character comes with spiritual growth and sacrifice and hardship!
a. Romans 8:8-17: 8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. 9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. 12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co–heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
v. When you have grown in character then you develop a mindset filled with hope.
Conclusion:
What do we need to know?
Answer: Real life Truth 1: The Bible is your handbook for Spiritual Care Real Life Truth 2: Life is your classroom – The Holy Spirit teaches you through various life circumstances. Real Life Truth 3: Growing spiritually takes intentionality on our part – we have to take responsibility to want to grow!
What do we need to do?
Answer: We need to get in to the Bible and discover more of God and allow the Holy Spirit to teach us through the lessons of life. We need to have a plan to grow spiritually!
Why do we need to do this?
Answer: This is the only way to do Spiritual Care and grow to become a mature saint in Jesus.
