Have we done the things He's said? Or has our growth been stunted?

Hebrews 5:11-14 Today reading this got me thinking and praying....God help me and forgive me....
Growing in Christ...What does that mean and look like? What is wrong with just milk as the diet? What's wrong with just the pure, good, sweet, loving and easy to digest milk?

Heb 5:11-14 "We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food. Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil."

NOTHING wrong with Milk, as long as we are a new born babe. In fact as a new born babe that's all we can digest, all we can take in. OUr system isn't developed enough, isn't strong enough to breakdown and digest anything more....

But as we Grow, solids, things that are not as sweet, sometimes bitter or sour and tough, like vegetables and meat are slowly added until, milk is mostly done away with. How many times I wanted to stop trying to give my kids something new because they would gag, spit it out, make faces or cry about it....

Yet if I only gave them what they wanted, only spoon fed them myself, never taught them how to use the utensils on their own - I would be guilty of spoiling them at best, at worse criminally neglecting them....

How many times have I reacted that way to God's words...I'm so grateful, He never gave in to my tantrums for sweets!

A little while ago in the news there was the story of parents that only fed their children milk and the young children were seriously malnourished and undersize. Their growth was stunted.

I learned a long time ago, as a bible teacher, that new born believers can only handle the tender sweet milk...and that's great. They grow plump and robust with energy and vigor. But that growth has a ceiling. Eventually they need to hear some of the deeper, harder, more penetrating aspects of truth. Things that sometimes can be distasteful, causing them to gag over it even cry with disdain... but faithfully and lovingly they need to be fed.

I know my kids as they were growing up always preferred cake, cookies or cotton candy....sugar, sugar, sugar. But if I gave in to their demands, instead of doing what I knew was required of me as the parent, I would be creating, sickly, overweight, diabetic kids, seriously endangering their lives and growth potential.

I think as leaders we are called to be Coaches in the lives of other Christians, Coaches that encourage and boost esteem through serious training, counseling and challenging of erroneous mindsets. Fortifying and strengthening believers with solid, sometimes uncomfortable but truthful teachings that defy our sinful natures. Broadening and establishing others with truth that undergirds and drives roots deep so that the growth potential is anchored and enormous in an individual.

Beware of the Carnival, with all of it's attractions, music, lights, Cotton Candy, Ice Cream and popcorn...

It could be in a church where everything is made to entertain, keep you comfortable and at ease, seemingly satisfying your need for a God fix but not charging or challenging you to live differently, to repent and change your life style. It could be in a liturgical setting where everything is just as it always has been, practices, form and rituals, that speak of godly things, but in such a manner that they have become a background, white noise in your spiritual hearing, where you go to fulfill some sense of religious obligation. Or what of a congregation that is always seeking 'the power' of God to defy everything, and cast down everything, and have victory over everything on demand, which may be nothing more than a power high in itself.

How about living a transformed life that doesn't wait for others to feed us. How about putting into practice the very things we are told to do, and not just being hearers. How about loving our children and spouses first and foremost, willing to die for them, expend our self for their benefit, before we run off to save the world far away? What about being a diligent servant at work, in school, at home, not always pointing the finger at someone else to take responsibility but take it ourselves. What about putting away our course jesting, and filthy hearts, and foul habits that we would be completely ashamed of if Jesus were standing right next to us, but don't seem to think we are called to change when we are away from the church setting?

Several Years ago there was a Don Francisco Song called "The Steeple Song"

I don't care how many buses you own, or the size of your sanctuary,
it doesn't matter how steep your steeple is,
if it's sittin' on a cemetery
I don't care if you pave your parking lot, or put pads upon your pews,
What good is a picture perfect stage,
if you're missin' all the cues

I don't care if your pastor's super powered,
and your program's always new
What you need is love and truth & Men are gonna come to you,
It doesn't matter that you know the bible, if it's all just in your head,
the thing I need to ask you is,
have you done the things I've said

CHORUS
Do you love your wife?
For her and for your children, are you laying down your life
What about the others ?
Are you living as a servant to your sisters and your brothers,
Do you make the poor man beg you for a bone
Do the widow and the orphan cry a-lone------------

I don't care if you pray for miracles,
I don't care if you speak with tongues,
I don't care that you said you love me, in every song you've sung,
It doesn't matter that your sacrifice of praise,
is loud enough to raise the dead,
the thing I need to ask you is,
have you done the things I've said



Check out the website www.GraciousVine.com or www.JoannaFruhauf.com