In the return in 2012, we transitioned to our eternal destiny in regard to spiritual growth and being powerful and productive, as individuals and as family units. So what does it mean to be spiritually mature in this context?

It’s about perspective.

A temporal, human perspective wants what it wants immediately, and lacks the patience necessary to be able to navigate circumstances that may not unfold for them immediately. A spiritually mature perspective operates out of eternity…understanding that they have the primary responsibility to connect with and listen to God for daily directionality. Remember, to God, “A day is like 1000 years, and 1000 years like a day” (2 Peter 3:8). We must remove ourselves from a “24-hour mentality” when dealing with God and submit to His Perspective.

But how?

Simply put, we must plug into the mentality that we cannot allow our hearts to be troubled, but to believe in both God the Father and the Son Jesus Christ, as Christ has prepared places for us in His House (John 14:1). We know this because once we are saved, everything that is stored up in Heaven reserved for us is already given (every spiritual blessing, Ephesians 1:3).

We have a conflict, however, when demonic hosts enter our minds and disrupted in dealing with God and following His Commandments. We subconsciously plug into what these demonic hosts have to say, because we do not discern all principalities appropriately to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). This lapse in judgment is partially due to paradigms (preconceived ideas) in our business. We must become solid…in that NO other spiritual idea can move us away from God, regardless of its source. Dismissing paradigms is difficult, as the false sense of security they create is STILL a sense of security. However, we must do this to grow spiritually, understand the fullness of our eternal destiny, and operate out of God’s Eternal Mindset. This is how we can remain in the Ephesians 1:3 mentality, and not fall into the flesh due to worry.

The key, again, to this, is listening to God, as His Voice is, among other things, the essence of foreknowledge. We must connect to the Spirit to capacitate our supernatural intellect, as opposed to just being “religified sheeple”. We must remain engaged with God and avoid even the acknowledgement of deception.

19. March 2009 · Comments Off · Categories: Apologetics, Featured, Other · Tags: , ,

While the word Apologetics may be unfamiliar to many lay Christians, it simply means to give a reason why you believe what you believe. Apologetics is a direct derivative from the Greek word used in 1 Peter 3:15 where we are told,

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.  - 1 Peter 3:15 (NIV)

This is the approach quite often used by Jesus when he was engaged by opposition. For instance, when He is asked is it lawful to pay taxes unto Caesar? Jesus apologetically responded, “Render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.”  The apostles used this approach as well. An example of this is in Acts 17 when Paul reasons to the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers on idol-redden Mars Hill, saying, if God made you, than how can you be making gods with your own hands? To this end we employ the method of teaching people to think through, re-affirm, and memorize scripture that teaches what they believe as Christians, so that when they encounter opposition to their faith, they will be ready with an answer.

We have learned that a good defense is also an effective offense, and it is the most practical way for the average person to become both confident and active in sharing his or her faith. Christian apologetics builds personal confidence, motivation, and security. It is the sentiment of the writer of Hebrews, saying, “by this time you ought to be teachers (Hebrews 5:12).” Our single goal is to see individual Christians actively communicating what they believe and why they believe it on a regular basis.

Stay tuned to our website for more resources….