"Spiritual Infancy To Spiritual Maturity"

Can you imagine having a new born baby and then abandoning it at two months to care for itself? What do you think would happen to that infant? My guess is it would probably die. Well.. why would we leave a spiritual infant to nurture its self? A new convert needs to be walked with from spiritual infancy to spiritual maturity.

I have seen what I deem as a major issue in many churches. The issue that I am referring to is the lack of discipleship after a person is converted and changed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Whether or not the conversion was authentic our churches should have a ministry set up that walks with new converts and disciples them in the infant stages of conversion.

Billy Graham is quoting as saying “80% of those who make a salvation decision during his crusades are already on a church roll somewhere.” So they are on a church roll somewhere but they are just getting around to giving thier lives to the Lord at Bill Graham crusade? This leads me to believe that majority of the people in our churches are not believers even though they are faithful to church. This is what makes Matthew 7: 21-23 such a scary passage.

That passage states:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!”

Look at what these people said, “did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?” These were people thinking they were on the right track for the Lord, when the Lord says to them I never knew you. I would hate for people in our churches to get before the Lord and He say “I never knew you”.

The great commission tells us to make “disciples” of all nations it does not say make “converts”. Our churches should actively be engaging people to spiritually grow in the Lord. God never called us to Himself to stay as infants. But Paul made it clear in 1 Corinthians 3:1-5 that we should move from spiritual infancy to maturity.

Our churches should be training our members to be actively involved in the lives of our new converts. Abandoning an infant at the age two months is extremely wrong and will more than likely get you arrested and trailed for neglect and murder. We should have the same vigor and passion for our spiritual infants. Let’s tend to them, love them and nurture them in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

"A Cake Not Turned"

Hosea 7:8 "Ephraim mixes himself with the peoples; Ephraim is a cake not turned."

Imagine this... Getting up on a Saturday morning and having a strong craving for some good old fashion pancakes. I'm not talking about those pancakes that are pre-made in the bag but some soft yet crispy around the edges home made ones. Picture having your PJ's on, stirring the batter as your mouth waters. Then buttering the pan NOT spraying it with pam (ccThat's a HUGE pancake mistake)! Then dropping some batter in, however after you put the batter in than you walk away and forget its in the pan. What do you think would happen to those pancakes? Most likely they will be burnt on one side and undone on the other

Well that's exactly what Hosea is saying about Ephraim in Hosea 7:8. When I read this scripture this morning I couldn't help but think of the areas in which I'm "sanctified" in and the areas in which I'm undone. Now I completely understand the more and more you walk with the Lord the more and more he will cook the undone side however my prayer is that we would become aware of those areas we need to turn closer to the fire.

No real Christian is ok with having holiness in one area of life and reigning sin in another. After reading this passage it caused me to pray in two areas. Turn me so that I don't burn on one side and risk the chance of becoming prideful and turn me so that the undone area would cook under His holy fire.


I found a prayer by C.H. Spurgeon that I think endorses this passage well.

If it be so with me, O Lord, turn me! Turn my un-sanctified nature to the fire of Thy love and let it feel the sacred glow, and let my burnt side cool a little while I learn my own weakness and want of heat when I am removed from your heavenly flame. Let me not be found a double-minded person, but one entirely under the powerful influence of reigning grace; for I well know that if I am left like a cake unturned, and am not on both sides the subject of Your grace, I must be consumed for ever amid everlasting burnings.

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“Eyes”

Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness”

I Read this scripture today and couldn’t help but relate to the Words Jesus is speaking. Our eyes are the entrance to our hearts and minds and, as such, they provide a doorway to our very souls. If we allow our eyes to linger on evil, we are so affected by what we see that darkness actually begins to emanate from within and can corrupt us.

If you’re a transparent man you will agree that this scripture should ring in our hearts on a consistent basis. Seriously how easy is it for our eyes to wonder? Job said “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman” (Job 31:1). How many times have you broken this covenant? We must commit to being careful where we allow our eyes to go. Truth is we guard our hearts and souls by guarding our eyes.

King David’s sin happened way before he slept with Bathsheba and way before he had Uriah killed. It actually happened when he saw Bathsheba bathing. Jesus said in Mark 9:47 “And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell”.

Prayer:

Father help us to keep our eyes on you. Living in a world that is so perverted, dark, and wicked it is so easy to take our eyes off of you. Please help us to see that you are greater and more amazing than anything else we see. Help us to keep the covenant that Job made in Job chapter 31. Let our inner man not be darkened because of the things we chose to entertain with our eyes. I pray for anyone dealing with lust & porn addiction. May our Godly men not view woman as sex symbols but rather sisters in the faith. Be pleased with where we focus our eyes which should be on your Son Jesus Christ. It’s in Jesus Christ name I pray AMEN.

2010 Reflections

I have done a lot of reflecting over the last week (I'm sure most of you have). 2010 has been a year filled with mixed emotions for the Watts family. Spiritually this has been by far one of the most challenging years. The words that come to mind when I reflect on 2010 is prayed, cried, fasted, been uncertain, trusted, believed for greater.

Every decision and move that my wife and I have made during this year, was made with Jesus Christ as the focal point. Call me deep but I truly believe that a foundation built on anything else except Jesus, is destine to sink. 1 Corinthians 3: 11-13 says “For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work”.

As 2011 is fastly approaching, I can’t help having a million questions bouncing through my head. I though it would be cool to share these questions with you and get your juicy flowing. It’s my hope that when you read these questions you would be as honest as you can be with yourself. See where you can make adjustments for the better.

1. What worked in my life this past year? What did not work?

2. Did I passionately pursue Jesus and make him the focus?

3. What drained me? Could I possibly do without it?

4. Did I learn from my mistake, struggles, and hard times?

5. What am I most proud of? What do I most regret?

6. How many people did I love on?

7. What big project am I working on for 2011?

8. Could I have been a better father, son, husband, wife, friend?

9. Did I allow pride, greed, gluttony, envy, or jealousy to be my motivation?

10. Why is there an expiration date on sour cream? (Opps sorry my ADD kicked in)

Happy New Year Blessed People!

Salvation In 10 Sentences

Luke 2:25-32 Simeon was living a life filled with great anticipation. He was a man who was considered righteous and devout. The Holy Spirit promised him that he would not take his last breath before seeing what salvation looked like. Simeon response to seeing Jesus gives us great insight to what salvation really is. He said in verse 30 “my eyes have seen your salvation”. This small passage points out a very large truth. Salvation is not following ritual but is actually a person. Jesus name in Hebrew “Yeshua” literally means, "Salvation”. As we are moving into Christmas it’s important to keep in mind whose birth we are celebrating. Salvation is not merely found in Jesus, SALVATION IS JESUS!

Merry Christmas

“Narcissistic Christians”

The title of today’s blog clearly is an oxymoron, saying a Christian is a narcissus is like saying “she is almost pregnant” it just is not possible. However the point is still clear there are people claiming to be of the faith that are more concerned with themselves then they are the mission.

Narcissism is a term that derived from Greek mythology. Narcissus was a handsome young man who was exceptionally proud, in that he disdained those who loved him. As divine punishment he fell in love with his own reflection in a pool, not realizing it was merely an image, and he wasted away to death, not being able to leave the beauty of his own reflection. The myth of Narcissus has given rise to the personality disorder known as “narcissism”, which is characterized by vanity, conceit, egotism, and self-obsession.

So how does this play its self out in the church today? Well by people simply being in love with them self and therefore have no real love for others, or even for God. Now before we condemn these types of people, it’s always helpful to look at yourself. We all have areas where we would rather take care of ourselves more then they would rather take care of others. From time to time I also must pray against this narcissistic behavior. I mean as a Christian it’s hard not to fall into loving your self when the majority of the Christian books on the market are self help books, or many Gospel songs are about us not God, or even Sermons that are geared toward self promotion. At times I wonder is God really pleased with us as his body. Some how we have taken the Bible and made it a book about God doing for us and not us doing for God.

So how do we fight against narcissism in the church? The apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves”. Selfishness and vanity are the epitome of narcissism, and they are very destructive and have no place in the Christian life. Paul also attacks this in Colossians 3:12 “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” A humble person always sees the best traits in others and the worst traits in there self.

By no means am I telling you to hate yourself but I am saying hate the fact that you love yourself (confused you didn’t I). Jesus said in Luke 14:26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters yes, even their own life such a person cannot be my disciple”

My hope is that you would read this and pray asking God to reveal the areas where you struggle with narcissism. A good question to ask your self is how many times do I say “I” or “Me” through the course of a day? If you have a social networking site such as Face book or Twitter take a moment and see how many post were about you. I’m telling you we all must do better.

The cure for narcissism is the same as for any sin, repentance and a commitment to Christ as Lord of our lives. Only through the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit can the narcissist become a true child of God, dedicated to Him and seeing others as better than himself. God is able to take that love that you have for yourself and turn it into pure love for Jesus Christ.

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“Holding On To What Is Dear To You”

Matthew 19: 16-22

And behold, a man came up to him, saying, "Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?" And he said to him, "Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments." He said to him, "Which ones?" And Jesus said, "You shall not murder, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother, and, You shall love your neighbor as yourself." The young man said to him, "All these I have kept. What do I still lack?" Jesus said to him, "If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me." When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Wow what an awesome story we find in Matthew 19. Far too often I find my self being the rich young man in this story. By no means am I rich, but this story points out a far greater issue then his love for money. It points out the things we hold dear and potentially put before God.

When I came into salvation I came in with a list of rules and I said to God I will give you this, this and this but not that. I wish someone had warned me that Jesus would ferociously go after every area and every piece of my heart. Just when you think you have given God everything he always seems to find something else that he wants. I know for some of you giving God everything is easy, but unfortunately I am more like that young man in this story that walked away sorrowful. Yea I'm a little selfish pray for me! :-)

So I thought it would be helpful if I laid out a few reasons why we don’t want to give up the things we hold dear. Prayerfully this will help us to understand that the greatest possession we could ever have is Jesus Christ! Everything else is temporary and will pass away.

Reason we hold on to stuff

1- (We think we have security in it) I have listed this one first because this is probably the most common one. In this story the young man’s wealth gave him a false sense of security. True security is by putting your hope in the one that created everything. John 1:4 says “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.” Money will never be able to fill the void we have in our hearts it’s a relationship with Jesus Christ that fulfills.

2- (We think we have given Him enough already) This young man kept all of the commandments yet he was still lacking something. Its easy for us to become religious minded and think well I have followed all of the rules so I’m good, when this story points out that you’re not good. The great thing about the Gospel is that it works from the inside out. Gods not after the list of rules that you have kept but after your heart.


3- (We think our treasure is here on earth) The easier our lives become, the more enjoyment we derive from our possessions, and the greater the temptation to store up treasures on earth, instead of in heaven. We must remember we are aliens here that are just passing through this is not our home. (1 Peter 2:11) "Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul".


So my prayer today is that God would shift us from building our foundation on possessions and build it on Jesus Christ. If you see yourself in this story like I do you probably need to repent and ask God to help you in that area. Ill close today’s blog with this question. Are you willing to part with anything that might keep you from seeking true joy with Jesus?

Father help us to realize that you alone can satisfy the deepest longing and desires of our heart. No other treasure can compare with you, keep me free from being possessive or discontented and give me joy in having you alone as my Treasure and my Portion. It’s in your Son beautiful name I pray Amen.


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