Part 1: Let’s Grow Together
“If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.” Jesus – John 7:17
When we look at the heroes in the Bible, it helps to remember that they were ordinary people who had great faith in God. One of our amazing opportunities is that God never says, “I used up all my great relationships. You were born too late. You can’t have one.”
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. Peter – 2 Peter 1:3-4
Close your eyes and think for a minute: Remember the best ever time in your relationship with God.
What was it like? What did it feel like? What were you doing? Why was it so special? Was it recent, or long ago?
What if, sometime in the next six weeks, you could reach a new “personal best” in your relationship with God? Is that appealing to you? What would that take? What would it mean for you and the people around you? Would you like to help others reach a new personal best?
Do you believe God can make that happen? For the next six weeks, we will look at ways we can grow spiritually, and help others grow, too. The 7th week will be a Jubilee, a celebration of what God has been doing in us, through us, and around us. It is shaping up to be a powerful, exciting, fulfilling time. We hope you decide to join others and myself so that we all can grow together.
Let’s get started. Here’s how:
A. Daily or weakly? The most important aspect of growing your relationship with God is to work on the relationship every day. God has already prepared something for each of us to do each day. (Ephesians 2:10) Will we look for what He wants us to do, and try faithfully to do it?
B. “Stones of remembrance” It’s really helpful to write down something every day about what you pray or what you study in the Bible or how you let your light shine. I am buying a notebook so I will start journaling again. If you have a daily log, it will be a lasting reminder of how your relationship with God strengthens and grows.
C. Memorize 1 Scripture per week Psalm 119:11 says,“I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.” If you pick a Scripture on Sunday, and write it down every day for a week, by Saturday it will probably be “hidden in your heart”, acting as that reliable guide to help you become more like Jesus. Please start with 2 Peter 1:3-4. It’s the Scripture on page 1 about “participating in the divine nature”. We are going to study out how that relates to prayer, to faith, and to spiritual growth.
If you already know 2 Peter1:3-4, pick one of these: Micah 6:8, Matthew 22:37-40, 1 Timothy 2:3-5, 1 Thessalonians 2:8 , Ephesians 2:8-10, or 2 Corinthians 1:3-5
Those three things (work on our relationship with God every day, write things down, and memorize at least one Scripture a week) are a great way to start to grow. God is eager to help you grow. He loves you, believes in you, and wants you to have a relationship with Him that’s better than it has ever been. He wants that for the people around you, too.
This isn’t a competition. God doesn’t want you to do better than someone else. He just wants you to grow closer, grow stronger, and grow your faith in ways that will produce lasting changes.
In six weeks we can’t cover everything, but we can learn from God’s Word, God’s Spirit, and each other. That daily focus will lead to a lot more growth than would have happened if we just settled for what we already attained.
Next Week: Participating in God’s Divine Nature