1
Corinthians 3:1-3 “But I, brothers, could
not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants
in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not
ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the
flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of
the flesh and behaving only in a human way?”
Is
passage of Holy Scripture has always challenged me to put a “stake in the
ground” to determine where I am in my spiritual walk with the Lord, and measure
my maturing experiences, to be aware of my current position, and develop plans
to correct to deficiencies in my growth, while celebrating, perfecting,
improving successes along the road of life on this journey and continuing to add
new ideas, skills and experiences in line with the will of God that push and
expand the boundaries for the kingdom of Heaven. It is so easy to get a glass
of milk (the general principles of Christianity and foundational truths of God
and the Gospel) and sit back on auto-pilot or cruise-control in this life, but
progress not the work of the kingdom doesn’t work that way. There is no “easy
street” in the development of Christian fieldworkers or soldiers and the vocation
labors of the true Child of God. The Bible passage above states that at this point
in their spiritual lives, the Corinthian Christians should be consuming meat (having
grown deeply in study and experience, and matured stronger and further in the
faith), but instead they are only drinking milk (immature and superficial in
their walk with the Lord). They were babes in Christ, So, where do I stand as
far as milk or meat is the question?
Galatians
5:13-25 “You, my brothers
and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to
indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For
the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as
yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be
destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will
not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is
contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They
are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you
want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The
acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry
and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition,
dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I
warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the
kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against
such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by
the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
The
Latin word for “flesh” is Carné, where we get our word “carnality”, meaning the
(contrary to the Spirit) sinful desires of the flesh nature of humans. I read a truth in Christian growth article
explaining that it is God’s eternal intention for every one of us that we grow in
the Spirit and to maturity in Jesus Christ. There is no place for fig trees or
grape vines without fruit; that is not their purpose. Likewise, the whole
process of “Sanctification” is a life-long growing process into the likeness of
the Lord Jesus and being fruitful in life. How do we do that? Pastor Kennedy
states, first of all, through the Word of God. One of the ways you can tell if
you are “born anew” from above by the Holy Spirit is that as a newborn babe in
Christ, you desire the sincere milk of the Word of God in the Holy Scriptures
of the Bible. We are not talking about a feeling. We are talking about the
knowledge that we are in need of the living Word.
John
15:1-5 “I am the true vine,
and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not
bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes
it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of
the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch
cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you
unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in
Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do
nothing.”
Kennedy
requests, may I ask you how much time did you spend in the Word of God this
week? Do you study the Word of God? Do you hide, keep and treasure the Word of
God in your heart? Do you meditate upon that Word of God in the slow and dark night
seasons? That is absolutely essential. Without abiding in it, you cannot live. Deprive
your newborn baby of milk, and that child will die. Our spiritual life desperately
needs the nourishing milk of the Word of God that we may grow thereby, and as
we grow stronger, we can then feed upon the meat. We should be taking deeper
bites into the Holy Word to continually increase in disciple experience and biblical
knowledge that leads to godly wisdom for living and witnessing for Christ.
Lord,
give me the strength to desire Your Word more and more. Help me to abide in
Christ to grow and mature in You. You are the One that causes growth and new
leaves and fruit. We praise your holy name.
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