N Greetings I’m Pastor Patrick Jennings and welcome to the hour of power Bible study today I have a word for you I want to continue our discussion on Growing With God Growing With God second Peter chapter number 3: 18 says but grow in Grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus
The Christ we’re instructed to grow in understanding the love that God gives to us and the love that we are required to share with others as Christians in the same way that Christ did but not only are we to embrace and know his love we are to understand him know his personage
Know his teaching know his Doctrine know his miracles and his manifestations when we give our lives to Christ and accept him as our Lord and savior the journey isn’t over it hasn’t ended it’s just begun now God wants us to begin a journey of Education of gaining information about our Lord and
Savior Jesus the Christ know him in order to serve him and in order to be like him in this world education is the acquisition and application of knowledge the Bible wants us to grow in knowledge of Jesus grow in knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah so
We can understand him in our daily walk the scripture says the inance of Thy word gives light literally Enlightenment so I ask God now to illumin our hearts and our minds open our eyes that we may see open our ears that we may hear open our hearts that we
May receive and obey the word of God in Jesus name amen again as a newcomer in Christ there are not a lot of expectations laid on me when I first give my life to the Lord and I pray and I ask God come into my
Heart and save me the Bible says in 1 Timothy chapter 3 that we are newcomers in Christ the Greek word is neopit and it’s the exact same for Fraternity or sorority um someone who is newly initiated just pledged just crossed the line they’re new into the family new
Into the Brotherhood and The Sisterhood they’re neopit cuz they are new and the rest of their life they live learning the way of the organization likewise for the body of Christ when you come come to the Lord you come as a neopit as a new creation as a new
Born the Gospel of John 3:7 says Marvel not that I said unto thee you must be born again whether you’re young or old physically you are new spiritually you are a newcomer and a beginner and there are not a lot of expectation put on you just like a baby
You wouldn’t expect expect a baby to drive a bus or drive a car or fly a plane in time they may learn but as a baby the expectations are very few it is the same with a newcomer in Christ make sure for every newcomer that you’re not pressuring yourself to grow up overnight
To try and look like a mature Christian overnight it’s a growing process process it’s a gradual growth and a gradual Journey I’ve been in church all of my life and I’m still growing I’m not the model I’m not the example but I can tell you it’s a lifelong walk to develop and
To mature into the completeness that God would have for you in fact I’m afraid of people who join church one month and they are called to preach the next month I’m leery of people who join Christ one month and then a year later or they want to start their own Ministry and their
Own church it it scares me um because I know the growth process in God doesn’t work that way it’s not overnight but it’s over time it’s not instantaneous you have to walk a walk and live a life of Growing With God spending time with him in the same way
That he called his disciples and said walk with me for three and a half years and for three and 1/2 years they were in training whether they knew it or not and so now God is saying to us as Believers in God when I give my life to
The Lord and I hit that what now moment here is the expectation and that is for growth don’t allow anyone else to put mandates on you and give you that Christian dos and don’ts list that they carry in their back pocket that you can’t do this and you can’t do that and
Don’t do this and don’t do the other that’s not the walk of Christ and that’s not growing immaturity that’s a form of legalism but take your time and learn about the Lord learn about the Christian way learn about the Christ because he is our model and our
Master a line from one of my favorite movies Virgil salaso approached Tom Hagen when he was Christmas shopping and said get in the the car con Yeti and Tom Hagen said I don’t have time Victor said make time cons Yeti make time if you’re going to grow in the Lord
You’re going to have to make time to spend time with the Lord you can’t grow in God apart from him and aside from him and so there are four observances for growth that I want to share with you today that will help you mature in your
Walk with Christ because in the Book of Matthew chapter number five Jesus hit us with a heavy list and told us about changes that need to take place in us and things that we need to do differently and things that we need to change in areas where we need to grow
And a lot of those if we tell the truth really don’t apply to us when we first come to Christ because our life has a BC and an AC we have a before Christ life and an after Christ life and if your before Christ life was lengthy you had more years and
More time before Christ than you have in your life after Christ so even in this walk of growing you still may look a little more like your yesterday than you do your tomorrow and it’s okay because you’re growing if you took a newborn baby who
Was let’s say 8 lb 6 oz brand new baby and a year from now you came back to see that baby and it was the same weight 8 lb and 6 oz you would think something is wrong with that baby if you gave birth to a baby girl
And she was 21 in Long 6 months later she’s still 21 in long A year later she’s still 21 in long you would think something here is concerning what you want to see is a progressive pattern of growing over time gradually getting bigger stronger and more capable the same way with our walk
In the Lord over time we should gradually begin to look more like Christ than we used to we should lean more towards our BC and move away from that to grow into our AC after Christ life and let that become dominant in our lives the first observation for growth
That I want to give you is make time in the word a daily practice make time in the word a daily practice I encourage every believer in God to be committed and serious and dedicated to a practice of getting into the word of God on a daily
Basis every day find time make time to spend time reading the word of God it will help us to mature and help us in our growth Journey but we have to begin the discipline of having Bible study in our lives on a daily basis we probably
Didn’t always do it in the past but it’s something that we need to begin to do moving forward have your Bible handy have your Bible tools handy either on your phone or hard copy or laptop or iPad or wherever it is you need to spend time in the word because that’s spending
Time with God and do it every day in the book of 1 Timothy chapter number 4 and verse 13 the Apostle Paul said to his prodige Timothy till I come or till I come again give attendance to reading to exhortation to Doctrine till I come back give attendance to reading the Bible
Reading the parchments reading reading the word of God Timothy went on to become one of the leaders of the church under Paul Paul appointed him over several Church positions in order to teach the congregation and to monitor the discipline and growth of the church Paul said before you can do that you
Have to grow yourself how do you do that spend time in the word every day make time in the word a daily practice do it over and over and over and over what you do every day is a routine what you do every day of the week is a pattern what
You do every day of the month is a habit what you do every day of the year is a lifestyle and lifestyle develops your character spend time in the word every day it doesn’t have to be five hours it doesn’t have to be a whole whole book it
Doesn’t have to be a whole chapter but spend some time with the Lord in the word on a daily basis you will begin to grow as a process of it secondly spend time in the word as a daily passion make time in the word with God a daily passion desire it hunger it
Crave it want the word it’s something that we should approach not as a job but as a joy develop an appetite for the word almost an insatiable appetite where you enjoy spending time in the word you can actually say with the word passionate you love it you like it just
That much King David said my eyes anticipate the night watches so I can spend time in the word my eyes anticipate the morning Sunrise so I can be alone with the word of God he was saying my kingly duties keep me so busy that I’m running all day but
When things quiet down at the end of the day and I can get alone and spend time in my quiet time in my King’s chamber what I love to do is study the word of God he said my eyes anticipated that means look forward forward to it I long
For it I can’t wait until the day slows down so I can get into the word and then he says I’m eager for the next sunrise so I can arise and wake up and again spend time in the word of God that’s a brother that had a passion for the word
Of God he desired it he liked it he loved it in the book of Peter chapter number two verse two the scripture says as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby in the same way that babies crave milk and desire milk and will long
For it and hunger for it and holler and scream and cry for it the believer in God has to have the same passion for the word of God that we desire it that we want it that we long for it and here is the benefit of the word of God it’s a
Biblical assurance that as we drink the milk of the word of God we will grow thereby as I spend time in the word I have the assurance that growth is taking place no I may not feel like it no all of at once I may not look like it but
Just like a baby when they eat they don’t look any different when they eat they don’t sound any different they’re still just a baby but over time if they continue to feed on the milk they begin to grow and develop over time again my brothers and sisters over time over this
Spread out journey you will begin to look like the word of God but you have to let something in you catch fire that I have a desire to study the word of God I have a passion a yearning if I can use that word I want to know the word I want
To learn the word I want to read about Jesus I want to know more about Christ I want to understand him in my daily life more about Jesus I would know more of his grace to others show more of his saving fullness see more of the savior’s
Love for me I want to know more more and more about Jesus and that’s a passion that’s Satisfied by getting into the word that we may grow thereby there are a lot of things missing that God adds to us through the word and there are a lot of things
Present that God wngs out of us through the word spend time in the word and the word Works spend time in the word and the word will do the work number three make time in the word a daily priority set aside time for the word and
Make it important in your life you have to answer the question where do I rank study of the word where do I rank my devotion time where do I rank my reading time is it the most important thing of my day somewhere in the middle or somewhere at the bottom after I finish
Everything I have to do during the day right before I KN off to sleep do I read the Bible or do I make it a priority and start off with it and if I don’t do anything else today I’m getting this word in and growing up I told my children all the time
BFA and I know they’re tired of hearing it business first always whenever you have business to take care of something of essence and something of priority put it at the top of the list and take care of that first everything else all the other distractions all the other side
Stops you can do those later but if you run out of time if you run into difficulties you at least want to be able to say I took care of the main thing first I got to accomplish the business that I set out to do but if you
Put it down at the bottom and get entangled with other things sometimes you never get to it and the business goes undone all of us are busy and we have the run of the day every day things that we have to do pick this person up drop
That person off go here be there punch in here come out there there’s always something that has to be done and in the middle of all of that shuffling Bible study can be lost lost if you don’t make it a priority make it very important in your life that you spend time regularly
I I urge daily in the word of God in the Book of Matthew chapter number four and verse number four Jesus says but it is written and said men shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of
God but he answered him and said he was he was speaking to Satan this was after Jesus was in the wilderness fasting for 40 days and 40 nights and was afterward and hungered Satan came to him and said turn these stones into bread Jesus said hunger is paining me food is important
More important is the word of God man man can’t live just by eating food I can eat this food and still die but if I Feast on the word of God I have life and life Everlasting the word of God is more important than anything else job said I
Esteem it above my necessary Meats more important than food for me is spending time in the word of God and here Satan came to Jesus on three different occasions to tempt him on three different occasions Jesus defeated him with the word of God and the Bible said after the third time he leaveth
Jesus Satan is going to bother you in your new walk he’s going to bother you in your life of Christ he’s going to try and cause trouble for you he’s going to try to pull you down but more importantly because he’s a sore loser he’s going to try to pull you back and
You’re going to have to defeat and defend Satan by using the word of God equip yourself study yourself see how Jesus defeated Satan see how Jesus dealt with temptation see how Jesus dealt with opposition and grow in that knowledge because it’s going to Aid you as you deal with and confront the
Exact same things that Jesus had to confront make your time in the word a daily priority where do you rank it how do you rank it your priorities say what is important to you you can’t say the word is important and it’s not a priority but if it is a priority you’ve
Already said it’s important to me and it’s important to our spiritual growth let me add this that there are other tools for spiritual growth um prayer is a tool for spiritual growth praise is a tool for spiritual growth worship is a tool for spiritual growth church assembly is a tool for spiritual
Growth fasting is a tool for spiritual growth meditation is a tool for spiritual growth all these things are in the word of God speaking in tongues and singing in tongues is a tool for spiritual growth and development I’m not saying the word of God is the only tool
But Jesus is emphasizing here that we need to learn more about Jesus and get into the knowledge of Jesus Christ don’t just be a church person or a saved person be a Bible person be a growing Christian be a mature Christian whatever I am I want to be
Getting better whatever it is I’m doing whatever job I have whatever skill I have I want to be getting better at it as a Christian I don’t want to come in one day and a year two years later I’m still at the same level still St same struggle still same flaw still same
Weaknesses I ought to be maturing and getting better in my walk with God I should be getting stronger and closer to God my maturation process should be approaching a more complete level because I’m spending time in the word with God make spending time with God a daily priority stay in that word
Fourthly make time in the word a daily promise make time in the word a daily promise the gospel of Matthew chapter 13 verse 23 said but he that receive seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it which also beareth fruit and bringeth forth Psalm
And hundredfold Psalm 60 PSAL 30 make yourself a daily promise that you’re going to soow the word into your soul soow the word into your spirit soow the word into your life make that promise and don’t break that promise sow the word sow the word and if you sow the
Word the word is going to produce the Harvest the word is going to produce the results promised in the word you’re going to grow thereby but keep the promise of sewing in the word that’s a commitment you need to make to you in order to make you the best Christian you
Can possibly be I’m going to get into the word so I can know more about Jesus live as he lived walk as he walked as the accuser said of Peter I want even my speech to betray me I want to begin to speak like him regardless of how I used
To talk and the language I used to use I’m growing now to be more like my model and my master and I’m speaking in faith I’m speaking in love I’m speaking in trust and in patience I’m speaking in wisdom and in knowledge and the words of my mouth are fruit and abundance
Not death and destruction and so make yourself this promise that every day I’m going to make time in the word a daily promise the Bible can be overwhelming it can be daunting you’re looking at 66 books in the Bible 929 chapters 3,1 145 verses in the Bible
That’s a lot to go through and a lot to have to deal with don’t try to do it all at once but make yourself a daily promise little by little here a little there a little line upon line precept upon precept as the African Parable said how does the ant eat the elephant
One bite at a time my brothers and sisters gradually continually regularly daily keep your promise of spending time in the word make the promise to God I want to be more like you I want to walk like you walk I want to live like you
Live and I’m going to study the word to get there make the promise to yourself I’m going to daily feed you I’m not going to let my spirit man starve I’m going to daily feed you so that spiritually you can grow and mature to do whatever it is that God has saved you
And called you to do another one of my favorite movies is My Fair Lady it’s an old movie about Professor Higgins who was overheard bragging about how he could take this young lady with a strong cocky accent a brti brogue street slang um with an English accent and transform her into a
Garian and an elocutionist one who was very eloquent in her speaking and he took um lady dittle and worked with her every day on how to enunciate how to articulate worked on her diction her vocabulary he began to as a professor professor of language as a Linguistics Master himself he began to
Work on her and her elocution was struggling and fling and they buted heads and were very combative as he was trying to teach her and it seemed like she just was not going to get it at one point they had a conflict they were arguing they were going back
And forth and she said something striking and he said stop say that again say it again he was shocked that she said it the right way over time she began to get it in your walk with Christ you’re going to make some mistakes you’re going to stumble you’re going to
Struggle it’s going to seem like I’m not getting it but continue to stay in the word I encourage you to observe your daily practice and your daily passion and your daily price priority and your daily promise to yourself and sooner or later you’re going to begin to notice
Something is different others around you are going to begin to notice something is different places I used to go I don’t have a craving for that anymore things I used to say God is changing my tongue how I used to feel about people and things God is changing my heart a new
Change is coming over me it’s called growing up it’s called matur in the Lord I’m becoming more and more like him and my goal is to be the Earthly mirror image of my Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ grow thereby Joshua 1 and8 I’ll leave this
With you said this book of the law shall not depart from thy mouth but Thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein for then thou th shalt make thy way prosperous and then Thou shalt have good
Success you’re on a success Journey stay in the word read it meditate on it day and night let never let a time go by that you’re not in relationship with the word of God and your growth is guaranteed my final word to you today if you miss a day don’t beat yourself
Up if you miss a season of spending time in the word don’t say I’m a bad person don’t say I’m a failure I can’t get it don’t get frustrated forgive yourself give yourself permission to be human give yourself permission to not feel like it every day and when
You miss a day it’s all right God has not cancelled you he has not thrown you away he still loves you he still died for you which is the greatest investment anyone will ever make in you and he’s not going to give that up easily get
Back on it get back in the word if you set your plan you set your agenda you got off Pace get back on Pace and start reading the word again keep that closeness with God and you will will grow as a result of spending time making
Time to spend time in the word of God God bless you our next program our next live stream will be ask the pastor you’ll be able to send your questions live as we live stream also you’ll be able to send your questions in advance through texting and through email please follow
Our Facebook page to stay in step with us and get information of how you can submit your questions in advance and even anonymously if you so desire look forward to seeing you then look forward to spending time with you then thank you for spending time with me today I am
Confident of this very thing that he which ha begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus the Christ God has begun something amazing in you and he’s not done yet in other words The Best Is Yet To Come God bless
You thank you for watching the vine if this video has been a blessing to you feel free to support this ministry you can give via gify cash app or you can send your donations by mail the address to mail your donations is 7125 Finkle Avenue Detroit Michigan 48238 thank you for your generous
Support and remember the best is yet to Come W
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