Baptist City Blog

Growth's Process

Jeremiah 12:2

"Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins."

One of the most exciting things to watch in life is growth.  On the other hand, one of the most frustrating things to wait on is fruit.  Yet, in order to enjoy the fruit of your labors, there must be a time of planting and then patience during the growing stage in order to see your fruit.  

Several years ago, when I had been in evangelism for about ten years, I was becoming frustrated with my ministry because I couldn't see the fruit of my ministry.  Don't get me wrong, I saw the LORD work on a weekly basis in every meeting, but I really wanted to see some long-standing fruit from my years of ministry.  I stayed with what God called me to do, and it wasn't long before I started seeing the fruit of my ministry.  Men who were called to preach were now coming to me as pastors and missionaries thanking me for my ministry.  People whom I led to the LORD were contacting me to thank me for taking time to lead them to Christ.  All of this happened because I had to go through the complete growth process in order to experience the fruit.  

In the verse above, God explains the whole growth process that a person must go through in order to see fruit.  The first step in the growth process is planting. When you start planting, you are full of dreams, but planting can also be frustrating.  You must remember that repetition is very important in the planting stage. Whether you are growing a Christian or a young child, repetition of truth is very important.  This is why we must avoid needing something new to give, for the greatest teacher is repetition. I have watched many pastors try to preach something new that no one else has preached only to hurt those whom he pastors.  Repetition of truth is what drives home the seed of truth in the hearts of the people.  When a parent is rearing a child, especially in the early stages, repetition is very important to drive home the right way to live.  

Growth is the second stage in this process.  The growth phase is an important stage to watch because weeds will start growing as well.  It is in this stage that you will have to remove the bad habits that people pick up. Correction is needed in this growth phase.  Along with correction, the feeding of truth is still important. Preachers and teachers need to use correction in their preaching and teaching to remove the weeds of bad habits.  Parents must use correction in order to remove the bad habits in their children. If you want to see good fruit, then you must continue to feed truth and correct bad habits.  

The final stage of the growing process is fruit.  Reaping is hard work!  In order to reap you will have to be patient and longsuffering with people so that you can see the fruit of your labors. Too many people give up before they get to the reaping stage and never see the fruit of their labors.  

Christian, don't give up, for you will get fruit.  Parent, don't give up, for the fruit of your labors will be seen. God placed you on this Earth to reproduce. If you are going to fulfill God's purpose to bring forth fruit, then you must go through the process of planting, growing and reaping in order to see fruit.  Don't try to skip any stage, and be sure to stay with it until you see the whole process through. Going through the whole growth process is how you will experience fulfillment and joy in life.

Spirituality is Not Inherited

Jeremiah 5:7

"How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses."

One of the greatest blessings of my life is my heritage.  I feel very blessed because I was born into an independent Baptist home. In fact, I am a sixth generation Baptist preacher. Because of God's grace, I have never seen the wickedness of the world in my family.  I grew up in a home where my parents guided me in the ways of the LORD.  Though I am blessed with this heritage, the LORD holds me more accountable to walking in His ways than those who have had to learn His ways on their own.  

In the verse above, God was angry with the second-generation Israelites who forsook Him for other gods. God lays His case out for what He did for them by saying He fed them until they were full.  In other words, He blessed them to the point that they wanted and needed nothing. Yet, though God blessed them in such a great manner, they still forsook Him to serve other gods. 

If you are a second-generation Christian, you must be careful about allowing your heritage to become "old hat" to you. What a privilege you have had to grow up in a home where you did not have to see the pains of sin. There are many people who were saved out of a life of wickedness and have seen the pain that sin causes.  As a second-generation Christian, you must realize that God holds you to a higher standard than those who don't know any better.  Let me give you several quick thoughts that second-generation Christians must keep in mind.  

First, spirituality is not inherited. Just because your parents are spiritual does not make you spiritual. If you are spiritual, it is because you live a spiritual life.  Every generation is responsible for its own actions. 

Second, every generation must seek to know the LORD's way. Though you may know about the LORD's way because of your parents, you must personally seek to know His way by walking in His ways.  Let me put it this way, the LORD's way is not a knowledge, but His way is an experience and a lifestyle.  The only reason why you are in the LORD's way is because you are living in His way.  

Third, second-generation Christians must not think they have missed out. It is sad that the second-generation Christians in the text above forsook God for other gods.  Just because you have not experienced the "fun" of the world does not mean you have missed out. Yes, you have missed out!  You missed out on heartache, broken relationships, wrecked lives and God's judgment. That is what you miss out on by walking in the LORD's way.  Don't become so enamored with the world that you think you have missed out.  

Last, every generation must become the first generation.  Though you are a second-generation Christian, you are the first generation in your life.  You must live as if there were no previous generations who sought the LORD.  You must be that first generation to show the LORD's way for the generation who follows you.  Always remember, you cannot inherit spirituality, therefore you are the first generation.

Spiritual Retirement Age

Isaiah 62:1  

"For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth."

Have you retired on God?  It seems as I travel that there are more and more people who have spiritually retired.  What I mean by this is that they are still faithful to church, but they hardly do anything in the church.  Many of these who have spiritually retired rely upon their past spiritual accomplishments as their basis for justifying their spiritual retirement.  

According to the verse above, until righteousness reigns supreme, there should be no spiritual retirement. You will notice it says, "I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth." Apparently, in God's eyes there is no spiritual retirement age.  The only time God justifies anyone spiritually retiring is when righteousness rules in everyone's life.  Micah 2:10 says, "Arise ye, and depart; for this is not your rest..." God commands every Christian to arise and keep building and restoring lives until righteousness reigns.  

As I think about this verse, several thoughts come to mind.  First, you should not rest until you have conquered your own sin. Spiritual retirement is not an option until all sin has been conquered in your own life. Christian, one of the reasons you should not spiritually retire is because serving God is how you conquer sin. You will not conquer sin by sitting on the sidelines watching others serve God.  Being that you are a sinful human, that would mean you have no business spiritually retiring because you still have sin to overcome.  

Second, you should not spiritually retire until every person has conquered sin.  I think you are starting to get the picture, spiritual retirement will not happen until we get to Heaven. As long as people continue to sin, it is your responsibility to help them overcome their sin.  There is no time to rest when sin is destroying lives! It is not time to spiritually retire until righteousness reigns in the heart of every person.  

Last, you should not spiritually retire until every person on Earth is saved. The greatest reason why you should cancel your spiritual retirement plans is because people are still dying and going to Hell. Christian, Hell is a real place; and people are still dying and going there. How can you enjoy your spiritual retirement while people continue to slip off into a burning Hell for all eternity? It is not time to spiritually retire, it is time to grab your Bible and go tell people how to be saved. It is not time to spiritually retire while thousands of cities have no church to tell them how to get saved.  It is not time to spiritually retire while the world goes without a clear presentation of the Gospel. Until there is no fire in Hell, and until there is no person who is not saved, you should stay busy trying to reach every lost person with the Gospel of Christ.  

Have you spiritually retired?  What do you do for Christ other than attend church? It is time to get busy serving God and realize that your rest will come when you get to Heaven.  Until then, cancel all of your spiritual retirement plans.

Defusing the Enemies Weapons

Isaiah 54:17
"No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD."  

Defusing weapons is normally a very dangerous task. I can only imagine the adrenaline and fear that goes through the minds of bomb squads whose job it is to defuse the bombs that were created to hurt people.  Yet, when you know how to defuse a bomb, then that weapon that could hurt you does not cause as much fear for you because you know how to keep it from hurting you and others.  

In the verse above, God shows the Christian how to defuse the weapons that their enemies use against them.  Christian, we are in a spiritual war, and because we are in this war there will be enemies who will try to hurt you.  You must not be shocked when someone tries to attack and hurt you for you are in a war.  In the verse above, God gives us the answer as to how to defuse the weapons of our enemies.  Let me show you several things that will help you to defuse the enemies' weapons.  

First, there will be weapons formed against you. God would not tell you about weapons being formed if you would never have to face them.  If you are going to serve God, then you must expect people to form weapons that will hurt you.  

Second, the verse above does not say that the weapons won't hurt you.  Christian, the only thing that God promised in the verse above is that the weapon won't prosper.  When the enemies' weapons hit you and hurt you, don't become disenchanted with God and quit.  You will be hurt at times, but you must keep on going.  

Third, this weapon is the tongue of the enemy.  Notice it says after talking about the weapon, "...and every tongue..." After God tells you that there will be weapons, He then tells you what their weapon is.  Christian, the enemy will say hurtful things about you if you do right and serve God.  One of the most hurtful weapons is the tongue.  The tongue is vicious! When you serve God, you must expect people to attack you with gossip and untruths.  

Fourth, what they say will not benefit them or their cause. This is where it starts getting exciting because God said, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper..." The enemy may say hurtful and untruthful things about you to try to advance them and their cause, but God said that it would not help them.  You must understand that when people try to hurt you with their tongue that they are only hurting themselves.  Oh, they may hurt you for a little while, but it will not benefit their cause.  

Last, you overcome their tongue by serving God.  Notice God said, "This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD..." Notice the word"servants" in this verse. God is showing us that the way to defuse the weapon of what your enemies say is to keep serving God.  When you continue to do right and not let what people say about you stop you, then you are defusing their weapon.  Continuing on, and doing right is the best way to vindicate that you are right.  

Christian, if you serve God, you will have people attack you through vicious rumors and untruths.  In times like these you must defuse what they say by continuing to do right.  Time will show your character if you keep going.  You are the only one who can defuse the enemies' weapons, and you do this by continuing to serve God.