Category: Grow Up… In the Spirit

Let’s read aloud together the following passages, proclaiming God’s Word over our churches and corporate gatherings this weekend: 

Colossian 3:15-17 NIV
¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶ Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. ¹⁷ And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

God sent his son, the Good Shepherd, to lead the people of God. In the same heart we are to grow up to be mothers and fathers to this generation. May the message of Christ dwell in our hearts richly so that we may overflow through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for this body of Christ you have placed me in. I want to be part of what you are doing, growing our churches to be mothers and fathers for this generation, leading them to Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song “Endless Praise” by Charity Gayle (click here)

-LB

1 Samuel 13:11-14 NIV
¹¹ “What have you done?” asked Samuel.
Saul replied, “When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash, ¹² I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”
¹³ “You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.”

“If we think about growth and formation, the Lord’s heart for the kings of Israel was to learn to lead with the heart of God. Saul was young and immature, and did not listen to the Lord’s instruction through Samuel. The Lord wanted to teach Saul, to form him as a king in the Lord’s own image, to show him victory only came with the empowering of the Lord. Saul did not assess himself, the situation or the command of the Lord as an anointed king, but as a mere human being, he assessed out of fear, desperation and pride. Ultimately, the Lord raised up King David as one patterned in this heart.” [P. Nate’s Sunday Message]

Prayer: Lord, raise me up as one patterned in your heart. May I not assess out of fear, desperation and pride, but out of your abundant love for me, trusting in you. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song “I Need You More” by Bethel Music (click here)

-LB

Let’s read aloud together the following passage, and repeat the portion in bold three times.

1 Corinthians 2:14-16 NIV
¹⁴ The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. ¹⁵ The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments, ¹⁶ for,
   “Who has known the mind of the Lord
so as to instruct him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.

“However, the Spirit has been given to enable, among other things, proper judgment and discernment so that God’s people may understand what it is to be “not of the world” while still living in the world as his covenant community. Growing up in the Spirit leads to discernment / examination / assessment of our reality with the mind of Christ.”  (Paul Gardner, 1 Corinthians, ZECNT)

We have the mind of Christ and can think like Jesus. How does Jesus think of our jobs? Our friendships? Our relationships? Our spare time? May we live the cross shaped life in all we do, as it is foolishness to the world, but life and power for those who have the Spirit.

Prayer: Lord, I have the mind of Christ. I surrender to you, I say yes to your plans for me. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s surrender all of our life before the Lord and worship to the song “Follow” by Melodie Malone (click here)

-LB

 

Let’s read aloud together the following passages:

1 Corinthians 2:12-14 NIV
¹² What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us.  ¹³ This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining [interpreting] spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words.  ¹⁴ The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned [examined] only through the Spirit.

When we receive the Spirit of God, we begin to be formed and shaped by God, who loves us and cares for us. This progression of growth, starting with understanding what God has given us in Christ, to interpreting and expressing what God has given us, to discerning and examining the things of the Spirit. We have received the Spirit of God. We do not have to live in foolishness, but by the Holy Spirit, wholly and well.

Prayer: Lord, I can now see the love in your eyes! Thank you that you are showing me your heart, form me and grow me in your love to be more and more like you.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song “Broken Vessels (Amazing Grace)” by Hillsong (click here)

-LB

Let’s read aloud together the following passage:

John 14:16-18 NIV
¹⁶ And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— ¹⁷ the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. ¹⁸ I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.

Ephesians 4:11-16 NRSVUE
¹¹ He himself granted that some are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers ¹² to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, ¹³ until all of us come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to maturity, to the measure of the full stature of Christ. ¹⁴ We must no longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in deceitful scheming; ¹⁵ but speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every ligament with which it is equipped, as each part is working properly, promotes the body’s growth in building itself up in love.

The Holy Spirit leads us into truth. We have wisdom because we have access to the One who has ultimate wisdom.

Prayer: Lord, lead me into your truth by your Holy Spirit. We see you and who you are, transform our lives into your reality. In Jesus’ name, amen.

With this faith, let’s worship to the song “Take you at Your Word” by Cody Carnes (click here)

-LB