Newborn Christians

Get all the advice and instruction you can,

so you will be wise the rest of your life.

Proverbs 19:20

“I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men,

 but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ”

1 Corinthians 3:1

There are people who are Christians but are not mature in their faith. They are neither carnal Christians nor unbelievers. These are people who are brand-new to faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior. They have not been saved long enough to become spiritual. A baby Christian cannot be mature. They can be Spirit-controlled, but they cannot be mature because maturity requires time.

When Paul addresses Christians about their infancy, he is referring to weak, brand-new Christians. We cannot condemn a person because he or she is a baby. Neither does the apostle Paul condemn new Christians because they are immature. New Christians should not get frustrated because they are not mature. They should allow the Holy Spirit control over what they have, and He will make it increase with time. When a baby Christian desires to become mature, we should rejoice that they have listened to the Holy Spirit’s voice and have developed a desire for a deeper and more satisfying relationship with God.“I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it”(v. 2). New Christians grow by feeding on the basics of Christianity. They learn who God is and how much He loves us. They learn who Jesus Christ is, and why it was necessary for Him to become the Lamb of God.
A baby Christian learns to love God with all his heart, mind, and soul.

Our you a TRANSFORMER?

 

Romans 12:9-16 (New Living Translation)

 9 Don't just pretend that you love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Stand on the side of the good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. 11 Never be lazy in your work, but serve the Lord enthusiastically.    12 Be glad for all God is planning for you. Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful. 13 When God's children are in need, be the one to help them out. And get into the habit of inviting guests home for dinner or, if they need lodging, for the night.  

What Do You Expect?

 Psalms 40  

For the choir director: A psalm of David.

1I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,

and he turned to me and heard my cry.

2He lifted me out of the pit of despair,

out of the mud and the mire.

He set my feet on solid ground

and steadied me as I walked along.

3He has given me a new song to sing,

a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see what he has done and be amazed.

They will put their trust in the Lord.

4Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord,

who have no confidence in the proud

or in those who worship idols.

5O Lord my God, you have performed many wonders for us.

Your plans for us are too numerous to list.

You have no equal.

If I tried to recite all your wonderful deeds,

I would never come to the end of them.

6You take no delight in sacrifices or offerings.

Now that you have made me listen, I finally understand—

you don’t require burnt offerings or sin offerings.

7Then I said, “Look, I have come.

As is written about me in the Scriptures:

8I take joy in doing your will, my God,

for your instructions are written on my heart.”

9I have told all your people about your justice.

I have not been afraid to speak out,

as you, O Lord, well know.

10I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart;

I have talked about your faithfulness and saving power.

I have told everyone in the great assembly

of your unfailing love and faithfulness.

11Lord, don’t hold back your tender mercies from me.

Let your unfailing love and faithfulness always protect me.

12For troubles surround me—

too many to count!

My sins pile up so high

I can’t see my way out.

They outnumber the hairs on my head.

I have lost all courage.

13Please, Lord, rescue me!

Come quickly, Lord, and help me.

14May those who try to destroy me

be humiliated and put to shame.

May those who take delight in my trouble

be turned back in disgrace.

15Let them be horrified by their shame,

for they said, “Aha! We’ve got him now!”

16But may all who search for you

be filled with joy and gladness in you.

May those who love your salvation

repeatedly shout, “The Lord is great!”

17As for me, since I am poor and needy,

let the Lord keep me in his thoughts.

You are my helper and my savior.

O my God, do not delay.

Life is filled with expectations. Look at our everyday lives. Some of us wake up expecting the best in our work day or with our family or in our health or in our finances. Others dread the day, or at best, never expect anything to change for the better. Is that you? 

Childhood dreams and hopes might be crushed by comments that discourage rather than encourage. Disillusionment's or disappointments can stop any positive expectations.

What are you expecting in life? Whatever your expectations, there's a good chance you're going to get it. In other words, you get whatever you expect out of life. If your expecting bad things to happen, chances are they will.

Please know that God is still ABLE to deliver you from low expectations. Start believing for something better in your life. The Word tells us that God is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according to the power that works in us. 
Expect it! Quit settling for defeat, and claim the victory in Jesus name!

Crazy Love

 

An exhortation from Frances Chan

Recently, out of a desire to grow in my love for God, I decided to spend a few days alone with Him in the woods.

Before I left, a friend prayed, "God, I know how You’ve wanted this time with Francis." Though I didn’t say anything at the time, I secretly thought it was a heretical way to pray and that he was wrong to phrase it that way. I was going to the woods because I wanted more of God. But He’s God; He certainly wouldn’t want more of me! It seemed demeaning to think that God could long for a human being.

The more I searched the Scriptures, however, the more I realized my friend’s prayer was right on, and that my reaction to his prayer indicated how much I still doubted God’s love. My belief in God’s love was still theoretical, not a reality I lived out or experienced.

I ended up spending four days in the woods without speaking to another human being. I had no plan or agenda; I just opened my Bible. I don’t think it was coincidence that on the first day it fell open to Jeremiah 1.

After reading that passage, I meditated on it for the next four days. It spoke of God’s intimate knowledge of me. I had always acknowledged His complete sovereignty over me, but verses 4 and 5 took it to another level: "The word of the LORD came to me, saying, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.'"

In other words, God knew me before He made me.

Please don't skim over this truth just because you’ve heard it before. Take some time to really think about it. I’ll say it again: God knew you and me before we existed.

When I first digested this, all of my other relationships seemed trivial by comparison. God has been with me from the start--in fact, from well before the start.

My next thought, alone in the woods, was that He determined what Jeremiah would do before he was even born. I questioned whether that was also true of me. Maybe all of this pertained only to Jeremiah’s life?

Then I remembered Ephesians 2:10, which tells us that we were created “to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do? That verse is meant for me and all others who have been “saved by grace through faith? My existence was not random, nor was it an accident. God knew who He was creating, and He designed me for a specific work.

God’s next words to Jeremiah assured me that I need not fear failure:

"Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am only a child?"

But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you,' declares the LORD. Then the LORD reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “Now, I have put my words in your mouth. See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant?" (Jeremiah 1:6-10)

When Jeremiah voices his hesitation and fear, God--the God of the galaxies--reaches out and touches his mouth. It’s a gentle and affectionate gesture, something a loving parent would do. Through this illustration I realized that I don’t have to worry about not meeting His expectations. God will ensure my success in accordance with His plan, not mine.

This is the God we serve, the God who knew us before He made us. The God who promises to remain with us and rescue us. The God who loves us and longs for us to love Him back.
So why, when we constantly offend Him and are so unlovable and unloving, does God persist in loving us?

In my childhood, doing something offensive resulted in punishment, not love. Whether we admit it or not, every one of us has offended God at some point. Jesus affirmed this when He said, "No one is good--except God alone" (Luke 18:19).

So why does God still love us, despite us? I do not have an answer to this question. But I do know that if God’s mercy didn’t exist, there would be no hope. No matter how good we tried to be, we would be punished because of our sins.

Many people look at their lives and weigh their sins against their good deeds. But Isaiah 64:6 says, “All our righteous acts are like filthy rags? Our good deeds can never outweigh our sins.

The literal interpretation of "filthy rags" in this verse is "menstrual garments" (think used tampons--and if you’re disgusted by that idea, you get Isaiah’s point). It’s hard to imagine something more disgusting that we could brag about or put on display. But compared to God's perfect holiness, that’s how our good deeds appear.

God’s mercy is a free, yet costly, gift. It cannot be earned. Our righteous acts, just like menstrual garments, certainly don’t help us deserve it. The wages of sin will always be death. But because of God’s mercy, sin is paid for through the death of Jesus Christ, instead of the death of you and me.

A Strange Inheritance

The very fact that a holy, eternal, all-knowing, all-powerful, merciful, fair, and just God loves you and me is nothing short of astonishing.

The wildest part is that Jesus doesn’t have to love us. His being is utterly complete and perfect, apart from humanity. He doesn’t need me or you. Yet He wants us, chooses us, even considers us His inheritance (Eph. 1:18). The greatest knowledge we can ever have is knowing God treasures us.

That really is amazing beyond description. The holy Creator sees you as His “glorious inheritance?

The irony is that while God doesn’t need us but still wants us, we desperately need God but don’t really want Him most of the time. He treasures us and anticipates our departure from this earth to be with Him--and we wonder, indifferently, how much we have to do for Him to get by.
Reflection Questions

1. How does it make you feel to consider that the God of Creation loves you personally? Does that seem presumptuous to say?
2. Why are you able to make that claim?