How to grow in jesus

“Yes, I am getting older, but I shall never grow old.”

There is a vast difference between growing older & growing old.

Just because we are growing older in Jesus doesn’t mean we are growing in Jesus!

There is a serious need to grow in Jesus.“Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up

in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph 4:15, ESV).

“Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet 3:18, ESV).

We wish to learn “How to Grow in Jesus.”

If we are to “Grow in Jesus,” we must:

Give Up Our Sin

We cannot live in sin & “Grow in Jesus.”“Go out from their midst, and be separate from

them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor 6:17-18, ESV).

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 Jn 2:15, ESV).

Jean Francois MilletHad great success in his profession because he separated himself from worldliness.

If we want to “Grow in Jesus,” we must

Grasp Scripture

The words of Scripture need to be written on our hearts.“These words that I command you today shall

be on your heart” (Deut 6:6, ESV).“You shall . . . lay up these words of mine in

your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deut 11:18, ESV).

If the word of God is in our heart, how can we help but grow?

Scripture provides a light in the darkness.“The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing

the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes” (Ps 19:8, ESV).

“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path” (Ps 119:105, ESV).

“We have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts” (2 Pet 1:19, ESV).

Scripture purifies our lives.“How can a young man keep his way pure? By

guarding it according to your word” (Ps 119:9, ESV).

“Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you” (Jn 15:3, ESV).

“Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (Jn 17:17, ESV).

Will you open your Bible & “Grow in Jesus”?

If we want to “Grow in Jesus,” we must

Go to God

Prayer must be an important part of our lives.Jesus spent much time in prayer.

“Rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, [Jesus] departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed” (Mk 1:35, ESV).

“After he had taken leave of them, [Jesus] went up on the mountain to pray” ((Mk 6:46).

When Jesus was facing death, he wasn’t off feeling sorry for himself, he was praying.

Prayer must be an important part of our lives.Jesus spent much time in prayer.David often prayed.

“O LORD, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch” (Ps 5:3, ESV).

“I rise before dawn and cry for help; I hope in your words” (Ps 119:147, ESV).

Prayer must be an important part of our lives.Jesus spent much time in prayer.David often prayed.Others:

Martin Luther: “I have so much business I cannot get on without spending three hours daily in prayer.”

John Wesley: “God does nothing but in answer to prayer,” and he proved that statement by spending two hours daily in prayer.

William Penn wrote of George Fox that “above all he excelled in prayer .... The most awful, living, reverend frame I ever felt or beheld, I must say was his in prayer.”

Why is prayer so vital to “Grow in Jesus”?

Prayer enables us to ask for help with temptation.“Let us then with confidence draw near to the

throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:16, ESV).

We can cast all our anxieties on God.“[Cast] all your anxieties on him, because he

cares for you” (1 Pet 5:7, ESV).We can ask God for help.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened” (Matt 7:7-8, ESV).

If we are to “Grow in Jesus,” we must

Get with our Brethren

Fellowship with brethren is vital to Christian growth.The earliest Christians “devoted themselves to

the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42, ESV).

Paul desired to be with the Romans “that we may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine” (Rom 1:12, ESV).

Why is it so important to be with our brethren?

Our brethren help us as we strive to live in Jesus.“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the

law of Christ” (Gal 6:2, ESV). “Confess your sins to one another and pray for

one another” (Js 5:16, ESV).

Do you need to come tonight & begin to “Grow in Jesus”?