Going on to Maturity
Coming to know Christ is wonderful. We have the burden of our sins lifted from us, when we are forgiven. We have a new heart once we are born again in Christ. We have the ability to go directly to the throne of God with our requests 24/7. It is an amazing change that is hard to describe. Most of us go through a brief time when we are on cloud nine, but then Satan and his demons attack us. The world and the flesh war against us. We can find ourselves struggling to stay close to the Lord if we do not begin to grow in His Word and in our relationship with Christ. As a new Christian, a baby Christian, it is hard for us to overcome all that is thrown at us. God knows that, and He helps us, but what we need to do is to become mature in the Lord, so we re able to use all that He has given us to withstand Satan's schemes. (Hebrews 6:1) We have to leave the elementary teaching about Christ and go on to maturity. We must not keep laying the foundation of repentance from dead works and faith in God. Those things need to be settled once and for all, so we can grow strong and mature in the Lord.
We know we are mature, as a Christian, when we have mastered the basic teachings of the Bible, and we have begun to live out what the Word says we are to do. We should not be having to grapple with repentance from our sins. That should be settled, so that we turn away from sins with all of our heart, and we confess them quickly. We should not have to wonder if we really have faith in God or not. We should be living by faith in God every moment of every day. Our life is mature when we can do what is right in the way God wants us to do it. Yes, this takes time in the Word every day. It takes engaging in prayer without ceasing, as we talk with God about everything. It take others helping us grow and praying for us as a member of a strong church family. However, when we give ourselves to these things and other things that God shows us, we can become mature in the Lord. That is God's goal for all of us, and it is the only way to have a joyful, peaceful Christian life, living in victory over the world, the flesh, and the devil.
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Tomorrow, I intend to read Hebrews 7-9.