HillThread ~ Supporting Missions

John 12:24
“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.”

When you think about your walk with Jesus, some days you may wonder, “Why is this so hard? I’m still struggling with so many problems. When will I finally get it right?”

That spiritual growth is often like the growth we see in nature – the best fruit ripens slowly. In John 12:24, Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds”.

The problem is we tend to get impatient, so we dig up the seed to check the progress of its growth, and that slows down our growth! If you’re not seeing as much fruit as you’d like, don’t despair. Growth takes time.

In the meantime, try these steps for spiritual growth:

1.) Nurture growth with God’s Word. I know you’re already doing this, but when you read the promises of God, again and again, it helps you remember that he is at work, even when you can’t see him at work: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).

2.) Cooperate with God as he prunes. Praise God for the work he’s doing in your life, remembering “he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more” (John 15:2).

3.) Pray through the “fruit list.” Pray through the “fruit list” (the fruit of the Spirit) from Galatians 5:22-23. The Bible lists the fruit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Ask God to help you grow this fruit in your life.

Galatians 5:22-23
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”

The question is: How do we develop these character qualities? Obviously, God doesn’t just zap us one day and suddenly these qualities materialize in our lives. He uses a process that involves a partnership with us and also the time to grow.

It requires partnership. The apostle Paul describes this partnership in Philippians 2:12-13, where he says “continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,” but then he also says, “for it is God who works in you ….”

It’s important to note that Paul doesn’t say, “Work for your salvation.” The Bible clearly teaches we don’t have to work for our salvation. It is a free gift of God’s grace.

In a sense, Paul is talking about a spiritual workout, just like when you physically work out to develop or tone muscles. We’re to make the most of what we’ve been given. God provides the power for our spiritual growth, but we must flip the switch.

It requires time. It takes time for fruit to ripen, and in the same way, there’s no such thing as instant spiritual maturity. When you try to rush fruit, it doesn’t taste as good. If you’ve ever eaten tomatoes that have been artificially ripened to speed up the process, then you know there’s no comparing them to the wonderful taste of naturally, vine-ripened tomatoes. It takes time for fruit to ripen, and it takes time for spiritual fruit to ripen in your life.

You can begin by telling God right now that you want to be a productive, fruitful disciple, one who cooperates with his plan.

Ask God to use his Word to change the way you think. Invite the Holy Spirit to have free rein in your life. Don’t hold anything back. Ask God to help you respond to difficult people and unpleasant situations just as Jesus would. God wants to produce the fruit of the Spirit in your life, so partner with God on your spiritual growth and watch what develops over time.

Romans 12:1-2
“So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated to his service and pleasing to him. This is the true worship that you should offer.”

Offering yourself to God is what worship is all about. This act of personal surrender is called many things: consecration, making Jesus Lord, taking up your cross, dying to self, yielding to the Spirit. What matters is that you do it, not what you call it. God wants your life, all of it – 95 percent is not enough.

Our total surrender to God is blocked by several things, including: our ignorance of God (not knowing what he’s really like), our sinful nature (the desire to be god-like ourselves), and our misunderstanding of giving our lives to God and the trust that it requires.

Can We Trust God? Trust is an essential ingredient to surrender. We won’t surrender to God unless we trust Him, but we can’t trust Him until we know Him better. Fear keeps us from surrendering, but love casts out all fear. The more you realize how much God loves you, the easier surrender becomes.

How do I know God loves me? He gives us many evidences:

· God says he loves you (Psalm 145:9);

· You’re never out of his sight (Psalm 139:3);

· He cares about every detail of your life (Matthew 10:30);

· He gave you the capacity to enjoy all kinds of pleasure (1 Timothy 6:17b);

· He has good plans for your life (Jeremiah 29:11);

· He forgives you (Psalm 86:5);

· He’s patient with you (Psalm 145:8);

· He sacrificed his Son for you (Romans 5:8).

God loves you infinitely more than you can imagine. “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

If you want to know how much you matter to God, look at Christ with his arms outstretched on the cross saying, “I love you this much! I will suffer and die so that you may live.”

God is not a cruel slave driver or a bully who uses brute force to coerce us into submission. He doesn’t try to break our will, but woos us to Himself, so that we might offer ourselves freely to Him. When we completely surrender ourselves to Jesus, we discover that He is not a tyrant but a savior; not a boss, but a brother; not a dictator, but a friend.

Romans 14:7-8
“We are not our own bosses to live or die as we ourselves might choose. Living or dying we follow the Lord. Either way we are his.”

The paradox of surrender is that it produces power and victory. Stubborn temptations and overwhelming problems can be defeated by Christ when handed over to Him.

As Joshua approached the biggest battle of his life, he encountered God, fell in worship before him, and surrendered his plans. That surrender led to a stunning victory at Jericho.

Surrender doesn’t weaken you, it strengthens you. When you are surrendered to God, you don’t have to fear or surrender to anything or anyone else. The founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, once said, “The greatness of a man’s power is the measure of his surrender.”

Why surrender? Because you belong to your Creator. God has a right to direct your life: “We are not our own bosses to live or die as we ourselves might choose” (Romans 14:7). “Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people …” (Psalm 100:3).

Because Christ bought you with his sacrifice. The Bible says, “And He died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the One who died for them and was raised” (2 Corinthians 5:15).

When you surrender to Christ, you fulfill the very purpose He died for – not just to save you from hell, but also to save you from self-centeredness! We Christians do not live for ourselves, but for our Savior.

“At one time you surrendered yourselves entirely as slaves to impurity and wickedness for wicked purposes. In the same way you must now surrender yourselves entirely as slaves of righteousness for holy purposes” (Romans 6:19).

Because God modeled it first. He took the initiative, surrendering Jesus for our benefit. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son …” (John 3:16 NAB).

Our surrender is the only reasonable response to that kind of love. You cannot love Christ without surrendering to him.

Devotional

Don’t Be a Hater: Matthew 5:44 –  ”You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

** I encourage you to use these passages from God’s Word as a resource in your daily life. Don’t let this truth just rest on this tag or on this shirt. Use it! Let it become a part of you, let the scripture be written on your heart and move you to live your life in obedience to God out of love. Dive into God’s Word, spend time with Him in prayer, connect with other believers, live for Jesus who died for your sins and rose again! **

FYI – We have a Bible Study on Facebook.com and invite you to join. New scripture is posted daily. If you don’t have a Facebook Account, then you will need to create one to join the Bible Study. So, if you’re interested, sign into your Facebook Account and search “Facebook Bible Study – yes you can join!”

Ephesians 4:15
“God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and
tell it in love – like Christ in everything.”

God wants you and I to grow up: “We are not meant to remain as children …” (Ephesians 4:14).

Your heavenly Father’s goal is for you is to mature and develop the characteristics of Jesus Christ, living a life of love and humble service. But this won’t happen automatically. It takes a concentrated effort on our part as followers of Jesus Christ, to read God’s Word, to listen, to learn, to study, and to apply what God has commanded us. Sadly, millions of Christians grow older but never grow up.

They’re stuck in perpetual spiritual infancy, remaining in diapers and booties. The reason is because they never intended to grow. Again, spiritual growth is not automatic; it takes an intentional commitment. You must want to grow, you must decide to grow, you must make an effort to grow, and you must persevere in your efforts to grow. You have to wake up every day and make the decision to be teachable, to learn, to listen, and to grow closer to God.

Discipleship is the process of becoming like Christ, and it always begins with a decision: “‘Come, be my disciple,’ Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him” (Matthew 9:9).

When the first disciples chose to follow Jesus, they didn’t understand all the implications of their decision. They simply responded to Jesus’ invitation.

That’s all you need to get started: decide to become a disciple, decide to be taught. Decide that you are ready to read the Bible and actually do what it says. Decide to ball up all of your sin, confess it to God, and remove it from your life. Sin will always widen the gap between us and God.

Philippians 2:5
“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”

The first half of this mental shift is to stop thinking immature thoughts, which are selfcentered and selfseeking. Babies, by nature, are completely selfish. They think only of themselves. That is immature thinking: “Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life” (Romans 8:5).

The apostle Paul wrote, “To be perfectly frank, I’m getting exasperated with your infantile thinking. How long before you grow up and use your head-your adult head? It’s all right to have a childlike unfamiliarity with evil; a simple no is all that’s needed there. But there’s far more to saying yes to something. Only mature and wellexercised intelligence can save you from falling into gullibility” (1 Corinthians 14:20).

The second half of thinking like Jesus is to start thinking maturely, which focuses on others, not yourself. In his great chapter on what real love is, Paul concluded that thinking of others is the mark of maturity: “When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good” (1 Corinthians 13:11).

Today, many assume that spiritual maturity is measured by how much biblical knowledge and doctrine you know. While knowledge is one measurement of maturity, it isn’t the whole story. The Christian life is far more than creeds and convictions; it includes conduct and character. Our deeds must be consistent with our creeds and our beliefs must be backed up with Christlike behavior.

Christianity is not a philosophy, but a relationship and a life where we practice thinking of others as Jesus did: “Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweettalk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand (Philippians 2:34).

Thinking of others is the heart of Christlikeness, and the goal of spiritual growth. This kind of thinking is unnatural, countercultural, and rare. The only way we will learn to think this way is by filling our minds with the Word of God.

“God has given us his Spirit. That’s why we don’t think the same way that the people of this world think” (1 Corinthians 2:12).

Devotional

Beware of the ‘Cure’: Matthew 7:15 –  ”Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

Matthew 24:10-13 – “Many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”

Matthew 24:24 – “For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect—if that were possible.”

2 Peter 2:1 – “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.”

1 John 4:1 – “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”

** I encourage you to use these passages from God’s Word as a resource in your daily life. Don’t let this truth just rest on this tag or on this shirt. Use it! Let it become a part of you, let the scripture be written on your heart and move you to live your life in obedience to God out of love. Dive into God’s Word, spend time with Him in prayer, connect with other believers, live for Jesus who died for your sins and rose again! **

FYI – We have a Bible Study on Facebook.com and invite you to join. New scripture is posted daily. If you don’t have a Facebook Account, then you will need to create one to join the Bible Study. So, if you’re interested, sign into your Facebook Account and search “Facebook Bible Study – yes you can join!”

Deuteronomy 11:13-14 (MSG)
“From now on if you listen obediently to the commandments that I am commanding you today, love God, your God, and serve him with everything you have within you, he’ll take charge of sending the rain at the right time.”

Repeatedly, the Bible says to “serve the Lord with all your heart.” God wants you to serve him passionately, not dutifully. People rarely excel at tasks they don’t enjoy doing or feel passionate about. God wants you to use your natural interests to serve him and others.

How do you know when you’re serving God from your heart?

The first telltale sign is enthusiasm. When you’re doing what you love to do, no one has to motivate you, or challenge you, or check up on you. You do it for the sheer enjoyment. You don’t need rewards, or applause, or to be paid, because you love serving in this way.

The opposite is also true: When you don’t have a heart for what you’re doing, you’re easily discouraged.

One characteristic of serving God from your heart is effectiveness: whenever you do what God wired you to love to do, you get good at it. Passion drives perfection. If you don’t care about a task, it is unlikely that you’ll excel at it.

On the other hand, the highest achievers in any field are those who do it because of passion, not duty or profit.

We’ve all heard people say, “I took a job I hate in order to make a lot of money, so someday I can quit and do what I love to do.” That’s a big mistake. Don’t waste your life in a job that doesn’t express your heart.

Remember, the greatest things in life are not things. Meaning is far more important than money. The richest man in the world once said, “A simple life in the fear-of-God is better than a rich life with a ton of headaches” (Proverbs 15:16 MSG).

Don’t settle for achieving “the good life,” because the good life is not good enough. Ultimately, it doesn’t satisfy. You can have a lot to live on, and still have nothing to live for. Aim instead for “the better life” – serving God in a way that expresses your heart.

Figure out what you love to do – that which God gave you a heart for – and then do it for his glory!

Devotional

Crank It Loud so the World Can Hear: 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 –  ”If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”

Crank up the love, blare it out loud, make sure the world hears the love and sees the love of Jesus.

** I encourage you to use these passages from God’s Word as a resource in your daily life. Don’t let this truth just rest on this tag or on this shirt. Use it! Let it become a part of you, let the scripture be written on your heart and move you to live your life in obedience to God out of love. Dive into God’s Word, spend time with Him in prayer, connect with other believers, live for Jesus who died for your sins and rose again! **

FYI – We have a Bible Study on Facebook.com and invite you to join. New scripture is posted daily. If you don’t have a Facebook Account, then you will need to create one to join the Bible Study. So, if you’re interested, sign into your Facebook Account and search “Facebook Bible Study – yes you can join!”