Spiritual Progression

SPIRITUAL PROGRESSION

by Pastor Jim May

In the life of every truly “born again” Child of God, there should be a process underway be which we are brought into a place of maturity in Christ. What we were yesterday is no more, what we are today is ever changing, and what we shall be tomorrow, by the grace of God, will be far better than we are now. God’s purpose in the life of a Christian is to fulfill His own Word in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it."

Our Father in Heaven desires us to become more and more like He is. Every day, when we wake up in the morning to continue our journey through life, we should be in a constant state of growing and changing into the very image of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

This Spiritual Progression is very evident in the lives of those who are allowing the Word of God and the Holy Ghost to change them, day-by-day, into the man or woman of God that God intends for them to be.

The old man – the one who once cursed God, or at best, ignored God’s very existence, and cared nothing for the things of the Spirit - that old man that once was me, no longer exists.

Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

In the place of that “old man”, that “nature of sin” there exists a new creation, a new man, a new heart, a new spirit, a new purpose in life, and a new promise of an eternal life. If you are truly “born again”, you no longer desire the things of this world for now your vision is lifted from this earthly realm to gaze upon the glorious realms of Heaven and the wonders of God’s grace.

You can’t see them with your eyes of flesh. You can’t reach out and touch them with your hands. You can’t taste them with your mouth. But nevertheless we know that all of the promises of God are true and we can “see” them through eyes of faith, we can “handle” them through faith, and we can “taste” the goodness of God’s wonderful promises through faith.

In Hebrews Chapter 11 we have a wonderful list of so many of the “heroes of the faith” that have passed through this life before us.

Noah - built an ark and saved his whole family, and became the father to every human being alive today. Through Noah’s faith we all have the chance to be an heir to God’s promise.

Abraham - when he was called, left all that he knew, didn’t know where he was going, and because of his faith, we all now look for a city whose builder and maker is God.

Moses - refused the wealth, fame, power and pleasures of sin for a season, that the world had to offer and chose to suffer affliction with the people of God. He considered that living a life for Christ, a life that would not be accepted by the world, was far better than the treasures in Egypt.

I don’t have time to tell you about so many more of the heroes like Gideon, Samson, David, Samuel, and all of the prophets - through faith conquered the devil and those nations who served the devil, worked the works of righteousness, saw God’s miraculous power again and again, and stopped the mouths of lions,

All of the heroes of the faith won great victories. Some saw their work for the Lord flourish while on the earth but there were many who never saw the rewards of their service in this life, for they had to endure the hatred of the world. The world will hate anyone and anything that will remind them of their need for a Savior.

Some endured trials of cruelty. They were mocked, scourged, thrown into prison, stoned, cut into pieces, and forced to endure temptations that were beyond the power of mortal man to resist. Many more were stoned and killed by the sword. They were forced to wander about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; hiding in the deserts, mountains and caves while they were hunted down like animals by a world that hated them.

But the Bible says that all of them, through faith, believed that God had something so grand, and so wonderful waiting on the other side of death, that whatever they had to do to get there was worth it.

Every one of these “heroes of the faith” saw God’s promise of an eternal reward and they were willing to forsake all that this world had to offer, hold on to God’s promise at all costs, and walk in the path that God had placed before them, even when that path led to a life of absolute sacrifice.