Category Archives: Growth

Bible, Growth, Miracles, Scripture

GOD’S GROWTH

COLOSSIANS 2:19

“and not holding firmly to the head, from whom the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and ligaments, grows with a growth which is from God.”

I have an almost seven month old grandson whom I love immensely (any grandparents out there?). Every time he is taken to the doctor for a checkup and those nasty, painful shots, they weigh him and measure him. Then the doctor tells my daughter and son-in-law how he measures up against other children his age by telling them he is in a certain percentile. All they have to do is ask me or my wife and we can tell them he is perfect. Right?

Paul finishes this long sentence by making a profound statement at the end. He says, “grows with a growth which is from God.” Everything that happens in our life, every growth moment comes from God. Now, those growth moments may come easily or through some struggles. But God is always trying to make us more like Him. Paul uses the Greek word auxesis, which only occurs here and in Ephesians 4:16, “from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.” It simply means growth or increase, toward maturity.

APPLICATION

The verb form of auxesis is auxanó and is used a lot more through the New Testament. The same basic meaning is there, though. You get the picture. Our growth, our increase, our maturity in our Christ life only comes through God. It is His “Miracle Grow” inside of us that gives us that growth spurt we are looking for.

Do you want to grow? Do you want to mature as a believer? I hope so. Who wants to stay on the bottle? Back to my grandson – he has been introduced to some semi-solid foods this month. He is partial to green vegetables right now (good man) but will try other things. His mama even gave him some fresh avocado. I threatened to turn her into Child Protective Services for that, lol. Yuk!

My grandson cannot survive on the bottle. He has to have solid food. He will need protein and some carbs (they are not all bad). And we cannot stay on the bottle spiritually. We must allow God to grow us up and put us on solid food. Paul even speaks to this in 1 Corinthians 3:1-2, “1 And I, brothers and sisters, could not speak to you as spiritual people, but only as fleshly, as to infants in Christ. 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to consume it. But even now you are not yet able,” Don’t be like the Corinthians. Tell God you are ready for steak!

Father, I want to grow and mature so give me the kind of food I need to grow! 

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Bible, Fruit, Growth, Pleasing, Scripture, Walking

THE PERFECT GIFT FOR JESUS

COLOSSIANS 1:10

“so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;” 

How much time did you spend Christmas shopping this year? Some people shop all year looking for that perfect gift for a loved one. Grandmas especially are good at that. They seem to always be on the lookout for a gift for a grandchild. That’s because they are always on her mind. Hmmm, how can we apply this to today’s verse?

In the previous verse, Paul had prayed for knowledge of God’s will for these believers. In today’s verse, we see why. He wants them to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord.” Isn’t that what every parent wants for their child? I know that is what I desire for my children and grandchildren. Once again, Paul further explains what he means by this.

APPLICATION

He wants the Colossian believers “to please Him in all respects.” The Greek word used here for “to please” is only used here in this verse. It means to be agreeable or accommodating. Paul wants them to walk only where Christ would walk. He wants them to do what only Christ would do, to say only what Christ would say. To be agreeable and accommodating to Christ in their daily lives.

He also wants them to bear “fruit in every good work.” We know what that means, don’t we? Fruit bearing is always for the benefit of others, not yourself. Paul desired that these believers bear fruit to help spread the gospel, to do good for those who need to hear the truth. I am sure the words of Jesus in John 15 were ringing through Paul’s ears as he wrote this.

And then Paul prayed they would be “increasing in the knowledge of God.” The Greek word for “increasing” has the idea of physical or spiritual growth. In either, it infers growing in size, getting bigger, getting stronger, just as a plant would grow in size and produce its fruit or grain.

Are you pleasing? Are you bearing? Are you increasing? If you are, you have just given Jesus the perfect gift this Christmas.

Father, help me please you, bear fruit and increase in the knowledge of You this Christmas Day.

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Abiding, Bible, Growth, Maturity, Measure, Scripture

OUR STATURE

EPHESIANS 4:13

“until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.”

I bet a lot of you had a door frame somewhere in your house where your parents recorded yours and your siblings’ (if you had any) heights as you grew. I know some people who actually removed that part of the door frame when they moved to maintain that history. Seeing your gain in height each year was kind of cool. It’s too bad we don’t have the same kind of measuring rod for our spiritual growth. Oh wait, we do!

In today’s verse, Paul gives us that measuring rod. We are measured against the “stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ.” Of course, Paul wasn’t referring to Christ’s physical stature. He was pointing us towards His spiritual maturity, which is perfect. He was telling the Ephesians and is telling us that our goal in our spiritual life is to be more like Jesus. That’s a pretty lofty goal, but we should always aim high.

APPLICATION

This same Greek word for “stature” is used in John 9 when the blind man was healed by Jesus. Remember when the Pharisees questioned his parents about his blindness and how he was healed they told them to ask their son because “he is of age.” That is the same word. Their son was mature. He was a grown man. They were not referring to his spiritual growth. After all, he had just been introduced to Jesus. He knew Jesus was a miracle worker, but he had so much more to learn.

Have you ever thought about all those people whom Jesus healed or raised? We only know of the results surrounding Mary Magdalene and Lazarus. All the others could have been healed miraculously and never grown spiritually. I guess we’ll find out one day in heaven. I want to meet that leper he healed, if he is there. I want to meet the slave of the Centurion who was healed, if they are there. I want to meet that thief on the cross. I know he’ll be there.

The length of our physical life has nothing to do with our spiritual growth. There are a lot of old people who are still on the bottle spiritually, and there are a lot of teenagers who are chewing on solid food and are discipling others. What is your stature in Christ? How do you measure up. If Jesus put you up against the door frame to measure you spiritually, would you have grown since last year?

God, I want to grow and be more like you each and every day.

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Babies, Bible, Birth, Growth, Maturity, Scripture

BIRTH PAINS

GALATIANS 4:19

“My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you—”

I will never forget watching my wife give birth to our children. I was in the room with her for both. With our first, she had an epidural which blocked most of the pain. With our second there wasn’t time for that. Watching her in pain broke my heart but I knew it had to be done. She couldn’t keep that baby inside of her forever. I also knew she would soon forget that pain when she saw that baby and got to hold it. The birth pains were worth it.

Paul uses the analogy of giving birth to compare the pain he had endured in “giving birth” to these Galatians in the faith. Witnessing and discipling can be laborious tasks, even for those in full time ministry. But we should all have the same heart as Paul – it is worth it to see them grow into maturity in Christ. That is what is meant by “until Christ is formed in you.”

APPLICATION

Who are you “giving birth” to right now? Are you purposely pouring into a new believer? We all, as believers in Jesus, should share what He has taught us and given us. We need to labor as Paul did. 2 Timothy 2:2 is a verse we use quite often in our ministry. “And the things you heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.” Multi-generational growth!

Whether you do that one-on-one or in a small group, start “giving birth” to those young believers, those who are brand new to the faith. They need your wisdom in how to apply God’s Word to their lives. Or maybe you are the one who needs someone laboring over them. Reach out to someone and ask them to mentor you. There are a lot of great tools out there for that.

Especially for you men out there – check out the curriculum we use in Every Man A Warrior (www.everymanawarrior.com). It is designed to take a small group of men through a three book course built just for men. It’s practical, relevant and life changing. We have thousands of men around the world who have seen their lives change and then had the opportunity to lead other men through the course – making disciple makers. Just labor for Jesus and see what He births through you.

I want to labor for You, Lord. Use me in the lives of other men to grow them spiritually.

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