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P. O. Box 2252, Oak Park, Illinois 60303-2252 info@wordoflifeministries.org 773-544-0058

Growing Spiritually

To him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins – Acts 10:43.

In order to receive remission of sins, one has to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. With the heart, one believes and with the mouth, confession is made into salvation. One is not saved by his mouth’s confession, but rather, the mouth testifies readily of the grace of God in Christ which has been received by faith.

Many receive salvation but they don’t go any further than receiving salvation, they don’t grow spiritually because they’re satisfied with just being saved. If the disciples would have just been satisfied with being saved we never would have received the books of the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles as well as the book of Revelation.

The disciples and Apostles were ordinary men that God used to show His glory by empowering them to do miracles, signs, and wonders to draw men to Jesus and to the Father. God is still using ordinary men and women to show His glory through, but in order to be used by God, one has to submit themselves completely to God and to His written Word.

This is why Jesus instructed the disciples that they would have to forsake all (And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children or lands for my name’s sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life – Matthew 19:29. Jesus was not telling the disciples they would have to literally forsake their families, but they couldn’t allow their families to influence them to stray from Jesus’ teaching. Jesus’ instructions for the disciple is to love Him and the Father more than they love anyone or anything.

Sometimes being submitted to the Word of God you will lose spouse, family, and friend when they continue to live by the world’s standard and the disciple is committed to be submitted to the Word of God. Growing spiritually sometimes causes physical pain and loneliness, being misunderstood, as well as lied on, but the disciple is just being prepared to be a soldier of Jesus Christ.

They lied on Jesus, some of His disciples left Him because they couldn’t commit themselves to His teaching. He had many following Him for the miracles and the signs but their hearts were far from Him. The heart has to be committed to Jesus and the Word of God in order to grow spiritually. It does not matter what one has to go through in order to grow in Christ. Everyone receives a portion of God’s Spirit when they receive salvation, but the only way to receive the Holy Spirit one has to be totally submitted to God.

As we read the Bible, many professed to be Christians, but they were doing the opposite of Christianity. The disciples were believers of Jesus and God, but they had to receive the Holy Spirit, that’s why Jesus instructed them to go to Jerusalem and wait for the promise which was being filled with the Holy Spirit (For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence – Acts 1:5).

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit assists the believer to live according to God’s instructions. Through Him, the Fruit of the Spirit will begin to manifest as well as the Gifts of the Spirit; without His presence, the Fruit nor the gifts of the Spirit will be manifested through the believer. Jesus gave the believer an example of being filled with the Holy Spirit when He was baptized by John the Baptist (And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water, and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lightening upon him – Matthew 3:16).

The Apostles were already believers, they had accepted salvation, they believed Jesus as being the Son of God, but they had not received the Holy Spirit until the day of Pentecost (And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of as rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance – Acts 2:2-4).

Apollos was an Alexandrian Jew who arrived in Ephesus not long before Paul’s arrival during his third missionary journey. Apollos had received the message Jesus Christ but knew nothing of the Spirit’s coming and the church age. Apollos was an excellent speaker and was very familiar with the Word of God; Apollos and other disciples at Ephesus were believers but they had not received the Holy Spirit (He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost – Acts 19:2).

After hearing the teaching of Paul they were baptized, the Apostle Paul prayed for them by laying his hands on them and they received the gift of the Holy Spirit (And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied – Acts 19:6). Every believer needs the empowering of the Holy Spirit living within their beings. Without it, one will not receive the promise the Father has for everyone that believes in His Son. Without the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Fruit of the Spirit will not manifest in the believer, because it is through Him one can live by the Spirit and the Fruit of the Spirit of God is manifested in them through the Holy Spirit.

The year 2020 has been a year no one will ever forget, things are bad, but we have not seen what is coming upon the earth. If anyone knows the Bible, they don’t want to be on the earth when God allows His wrath to come upon the earth and on the non-believer. As Christians, we want the fullness of God to be in us to pray and allow the Spirit of God to use us to bring others to the kingdom of God. To grow spiritually, we must have a consistent and persistent prayer life. We must be submitted to God’s written instructions, and we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will also assist us to meet Jesus in the air on His return to get His church!

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