Grow in Christ

Galatians 4:19
My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you.
KJ V
Introduction:
1 Most Christians do not progress beyond their first experience with God: salvation. They are
justified but not sanctified. They are baptized by water but not by His Spirit.
2 If God intended our relationship with Him to stop at salvation, then we'd get saved and He
would immediately take us to heaven.
3 God's intent was for us to get saved, to be conformed to the image of His Beloved Son, and
to become mature Christians walking in the Spirit.
4 Paul said in (Gal.4;19) My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be
formed in you. (Paul had such a desire for the Galatians to grow in Christ that he likened his
anxiety to the travail of a mother in child birth). His desire was that Christ be formed in them. In
the Greek it has meaning of the internal reality of a change in character, becoming conformed to
the character of Christ.
5 Have you had your desire for the things of God to be renewed lately?
Search yourself and ask some hard questions:
1 Is my relationship with God the same as it was when I first got saved?
2 Do I know Him better?
3 Am I walking closer to Him?
4 Have I received fresh revelation from His Word?
Set your sights higher in God.
1 Don't allow yourself to become satisfied with where you are.
2 Launch out into the deep. Be sanctified, set apart, and made holy by the Spirit of God.
3 Go deeper than you ever imagined yourself going with God.
J am.1:26
Whoever looks intently into the perfect law, and continues in it, not forgetting what they have
heard, but doing it, they shall be blessed in what they do.
NI V
4... Are you serious about being spiritually strong and mature?
5... (J am.1:26) gives us four ways to be spiritually strong and mature.
1..... Read your Bible....Whoever looks intently.
2..... Review the Bible.... Continues in it.
3..... Remember the Bible.... Not forgetting what they have heard.
4..... Respond to the Bible.... But doing it.
It's time to grow up and live the blessed life.
God Can Use Your Messy Life For His Good.
1 One of Gods great promises in the Bible is (Romans 8:28). Its one of the most well-known
verses in the Bible. Its also one of the most misunderstood.
Rom 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
the called according to his purpose.
KJ V
What does this verse promise to us about recovery and growth?
1 First it says, We know.
2 In other words, were not guessing, were not hoping, were not wishing, were not desiring.
We know for certain. We can be confident. We can stake our lives on it.
3What do we know? We know God causes ... That means your life is not an accident.
4 Theres no such thing as random chance. Theres no such thing as bad luck. Our lives are not
a result of fate. There is a grand design behind everything.
5 We know that God causes everything ... If we just stopped there, that would make God the
author of evil, and God is not the author of evil. Nothing that is evil in the world was caused by
God. So what is he saying?
6 We know that God causes all things to work together for the good ... Notice that the verse
does not say all things are good. Theyre not!
7 Can God really bring good out of bad? Oh, yes he can. How about the Crucifixion? The
death of his Son was bad. They tortured him, they spit on him, they beat him, and then they
crucified him. Did God bring good out of that? Just the salvation of the world! God specializes in
bringing good out of bad.
8 This promise, however, is not for everybody. We know that God causes everything to work
together for the good of those who love God. This promise is only for those who are willing to
give God the pieces of a broken life and say, God, I love you, and I believe you can use the
mess of my life for something good. Please take the pieces of my life and put them back
together.