ChristiansUnite Forums

Heart to Heart: Share the Truth in Love [Eph 4:15]

Greetings in Christ to the beloved saints in Christ! May God's Spirit use us to learn, grow and share "the truth in love" (Eph 4:14)!

My name is Bob and I spend most of my Bible studies in the category of "spiritual growth" because I believe there exists a dearth of spiritual growth within the lives of contemporary Christians due to the lack of desire for Scriptural knowledge.

For about the last decade I've been experiencing significant growth in my fellowship with God (more than my preceding 25 years in Christ) due to a deeper understanding of the primary truths of the doctrines of Christ, i.e. "For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat' (Heb 5:12). Paul admonishes us “to go on to maturity” by progressing “from the elementary principles of Christ” (Heb 6:1), which of course can only possible by increasing our knowledge and understanding (Spirit-taught—not self-taught) of God’s word.

I'm certain that a believer’s union with God cannot vary, "For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable" (Rom 11:29), but our fellowship with Him varies in proportion to our life styles, which can mature from the “meat” of the word (Heb 5:12) or remain immature as milk-only babes of the word (Heb 5:13 NKJ). Regardless of the condition of our fellowship with God, He is unrelentingly causing us to "Draw near to Him and He will draw near to you" (Jam 4:8). In this accomplishment we cannot rely on ourselves, "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Phil 2:13).

Thanks to the teachings of the "Identification Truths" within the doctrines of Dispensationalism, God has increased my hunger for His Word, which compels me to desire the same for others. I believe the spiritual growth author Miles J Stanford (temporarily absent from this life) has taught well in the spiritual growth category and has made it available through WithChrist.org.

For Christ's Sake (Eph 4:32)<><
Netchaplain

Our prayers to the Father can be fueled by remembering not only is He our God but also that He is our Father (Abba – Mar 14:36; Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). “Go to My brethren, and say unto them I ascend unto My Father, and your Father; and to My God, and your God” (John 20:17).

Paul wrote that “We do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us” (Rom 8:26). I like to think of it as this, that due to the “weakness” and “infirmities” of our carnal nature we cannot at times express enough to God, by prayer, the fervency of our heart and mind, esp. in times of distress or elations, but the Spirit “helps us” in this.
 
When our mind is on God, esp. when praying, our best honor to Him is remembering to center our focus on Him (along with Son and Spirit of course) more than on His blessings, because they are intended for this self-same purpose!

 “Lest--when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God” (Deu 8:12-14).
-NC
 
4-28. THE ONENESS OF PRAYER

"And we have an assured confidence that whenever we ask anything in accordance with His will, He listens to us" (1 John 5:14, Wey.).

The Christian life is the expression of the Lord Jesus Christ through the believer to men in the world, and in the church. The prayer life is the expression of the Spirit of Christ through the believer to the Father in Heaven. As there is growth in Christ, there will increasingly be prayer in the Spirit (Romans 8:26).

"Through the Lord Jesus every true believer is united to God in Heaven by a life-link. We are not praying down here on earth to One who is a long way off in Heaven. We are one with Him there and He is one with us here! The devil is all the time trying to create a sense of distance between us and the Lord: but there is no distance between if we abide in Christ, for no one can be closer to the Father than the Son, and we are in Him! -T.L.M.

"Efficacious prayer is to the glory of the Father (John 14:13), in the Name of the Son (John 14:14), and in the enabling power of the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:26, 27). Compliance with these conditions insures that the human will is in agreement with the divine will. Transforming things, mighty indeed, are wrought by prayer, but only such things as comport with the will and purpose of God." -L.S.C.

"If we want our own way we will find that everything is against us; but if we have chosen that God shall be sovereign in our lives then everything is for us."

"And since we know that He listens to us, then whatever we ask, we know that we have the things which we have asked from Him" (1 John 5:15, Wey.).
-MJS/WithChrist.org