Grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ - 2 Peter 3:18

Recently I noticed a spider in her web and she stayed in the same place forever...it seemed like.  She's not very pretty but thought you might like to see her:

 Our neighbor told me she was a good spider and to not disturb her...not something I planned to do anyway!!  It turns out the female Golden Garden Spider tends to often stay in one place throughout much of her lifetime...which makes me sad because it's in my space she is hanging out but also because it's a sad way to live.  That's not what our verse says today.  The Scripture is filled with admonitions for us as believers to "grow" in our faith...to NOT stay in the same place for long.

I can remember when Don was recovering from his cancer diagnosis in 2007 one of the verses that I felt the Lord impress upon me was the passage in John 15 on the vine and the branches...how we are to be the branches of His vine...always connected and always seeking nourishment - i.e., being fed - from Him....bearing fruit that lasts! Do a study on fruit-bearing and see how healthy fruit happens!  We can get stuck...and I have been stuck!  The Lord wants us to grow in our grace and knowledge of Him because He wants us to glorify Him...when we get stuck we usually are intent on glorifying me, myself and I. 

I believe the hymn "Spirit of the Living God" by Daniel Iverson  gives us the formula to grow in Christ:

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me;

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me.

Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.

Spirit of the Living God fall fresh on me. 

When we ask Him to fall on us, we are relinquishing control...He breaks our self-centered focus, He melts the habits that keep us independent from Him, He molds (or transforms us) to the image of Himself and then fills us to the brim with His holiness!  If those things are not happening in my life, I am stuck in one place...maybe for a lifetime....and it grieves Him and we are ineffective...useless.   Our nourishment comes from spending time with Him, in prayer and study, in assemblies with other believers and, in worship.  We can do that all day long...not just on Sunday mornings.

One suggestion for you is to order Kay Arthur's LORD, HELP ME GROW SPIRITUALLY STRONG  IN 28 DAYS...Amazon has it for pennies.  Ask Him - our great and awesome Vine - to give you a desire to get out of that web, to grow and develop a passion for Him and then help those around you to want to do the same.

For further study: 1 Samuel 2:26,  Psalm 92:12-15, Mark 4:26-32,  1 Cor. 3:6-7, 2 Cor. 10:15-18, Eph. 4:15-16, Col. 1:9-:10, 2 Thes. 1:3, 2 Tim. 2:15; 2 Peter 1:5-9.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly