Brick Building - Section Nine - Unity

The previous section of this series noted the importance of getting dressed spiritually. 

Today is our final section in this series. This is where we finally see the brick wall coming together. 

We can spend our entire lives allowing God to develop us into this beautiful stone/brick, but without other bricks and mortar to hold us all together what is our purpose. We were meant to be joined together with other believers in order to build us into the Body of Christ which is the church. The physical building may be the geographical location where we meet and even where we are protected from the elements of weather, but flesh and bones are joined together by Jesus Christ to form the actual church. Without people in the structure, it is just a brick building like all other buildings. Jesus Christ is the foundation, the cornerstone and the mortar that holds all the spiritual bricks/believers together. He is the firm base, central focus of all things, He is foundational and pivotal, He is the reason for the church! So we are brought together in UNITY by Jesus.

Ephesians 2:20-22 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Peter 2:4-8 As you come to him, the living Stone...you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood … For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone…  Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,” and, "a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message.

As each of us do our part to grow up in our salvation, which was discussed in all of the prior sections of this series, each of us become a part of the temple that Christ is building. As each of us learn to put on all that we are told to put on, we are learning to dress ourselves spiritually. As we learn to take up our shield of faith, and as we are trained to use our offensive weapon which is the word of God; we are learning to stand by our brothers and sister in Christ, and we are learning to form a wall so strong that the gates of hell will not be able to come against it. There is a formation called the Phalanx- (travelling wall) which gives us a physical example of what this should look like in the spiritual realm.

The phalanx was a formation used in battle. It was highly organized and done in a disciplined manner. Soldiers stood shoulder-to-shoulder, the shields overlapped each other, forming a WALL with their shields and protecting each other. A phalanx could be as many as eight rows deep, when moving in formation, they were nearly unstoppable as long as their rear and flanks were protected. One movie that demonstrates this is Prince Caspian The enemy uses the formation. Reepicheep, a small warrior mouse, finds a small hole to penetrate the fortress or PHALANX. (I love this entire series of movies - definitely worth watching)

In our responsibility to the body of believers, let's get our spiritual armor on, lock arms with one another and form an impenetrable wall with our shields of faith that the enemy cannot tear down. This wall can be a place of rest and healing for those that have been out in the battle and need time to be restored without more attacks from the enemy or even from within the ranks. Let’s do our part to get dressed so that many will be able to find a safe place to rest. 

Growing in Unity as a Community

Have you ever noticed that the word unity is the last part of community? One of the definitions of community is a unified body of individuals. So even the word community implies unity. Don't we all long for community? Let’s consider the scriptures when looking at how we might grow in unity as a body of believers.

• Romans 15:7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you,

• John 13:34-35 "A new command I give you: Love one another…  By this all men will know that you are my disciples.

• Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

• Ephesians 4:2-3 Unity in the Body of Christ … be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. …

• Ephesians 4:12-13 (Christ gave us leaders of the church to) prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature

• Ephesians 4:14-16 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

This is where I see Jesus bringing each "brick" together and joining us to one another just as mortar glues one brick to another to build a brick wall. Christ is bringing us together in unity.

Living in Unity                                                                                  

Once we are brought together, we need to remain together. Keep in mind that each of us/bricks have some sharp edges. Those edges can be smoothed out as we rub up against other bricks. But our tendency is to run from the abrasiveness of others. We need to keep in mind that God may want to use that abrasive person in our life to smooth us out. As a sculptor chips away excess clay to create a masterpiece, so is our heavenly Father chipping away everything that doesn't resemble His Son to develop our character and carve us more into the image of Christ. Also, remember that we are someone else’s abrasive person as well. Look below at some scriptures to consider how we may maintain unity:

• Psalms 133:1 dwell /live together in unity
• Ephesians 4:3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace
• Ephesians 4:3 KJV Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
• Ephesians 4:3 NLT Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 
• Ephesians 4:13 KJV Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:
• Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
• Colossians 3:13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
• 2 Corinthians 3:13,18 We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it while the radiance/glory was fading away...  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit
• 2 Corinthians 3:18 NKJ But we all… are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory 
• 1 Thess 5:11 so encourage each other and build each other up
• 1 John 3 :14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
• John 13:34-35  "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

Keep in mind that unity is not uniformity. We can love, accept, consider and be patient with each other and still not be the same. Unity requires love and acceptance

Some attribute the following quote to Wesley and others to Augustine, but there seems to be some confusion to where it originated. I have read it in many different writings and am quoting it here because it applies.

• In essentials- unity (agreement)
• Non essentials- liberty (freedom)
• In all things –charity (love)

Beth Moore has referred to the above quote when discussing what she labels as rib issues and spine issues in regards to Christian unity.  Meaning there are things that we must agree on to be in Christian fellowship called spine issues, but there are those issues that we can still be in fellowship with one another and disagree because they are rib issues. However, no matter what we believe, we should all interact with believers and non-believers in love.

Let's consider this warning and reminder to each of us:  Personal conviction does not automatically equal scriptural conviction.

Let’s not put our personal conviction on to others. The Holy Spirit convicts each of us of things we are to do or not do. These are personal to us. We should not use that as an opportunity to place these personal convictions on every other person around us. Based on each of our bents toward sin, it may not be an issue in the lives of others. So if God has prompted you to action or abstinence of an action, do not assume it is your responsibility to go forth and preach this to others. It is fine to share your testimony of it, but leave it there. God has not hired us as junior Holy Spirits. 

We need to keep our focus on God, be in God's Word, mature as believers in the faith, get dressed daily and walk in love and unity with other believers. Many things can get us distracted and off track as individuals and as a church body. When a church body gets off in the weeds and is no longer unified, focus gets off, purpose is forgotten and we loose sight of God's call for us. 

Remember we are to love, edify, encourage, and rebuke one another, but do it in love. We need to go and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. We teach them to observe all Jesus commanded. 

Once we lose our focus and get sidetracked with disunity, we are no longer well enough to GO and do these things. The world needs to see our love for one another, they need us to be unified so they will know that we are Jesus’ followers. We need to be in unity in order to become that mighty fortress, place of sanctuary for the weary souls, and a barrier against the enemy from hell that wants to kill, steal and destroy us all. This is why the enemy spends so much time trying to cause disunity in the church. If he can get us to turn on each other instead of loving one another, and bearing with one another; he knows it will be a stumbling block for non-believers and delay or prevent them from coming to Jesus.

So for the sake of the lost world, for the sake of yourselves and mine; let’s grow up into our salvation and grow in unity as believers. In doing so, we will see lives transformed and revival of a nation and the world. We will see “GOD's will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Amen!

In wrapping up this series of posts, see the following post: The Simplicity of the Gospel

Brick Building Section One-Maturity

Brick Building Section Two-Immaturity
Brick Building Section Three
Brick Building Section Four - Cooperating with the Holy Spirit
Brick Building Section Five - Prayer
Brick Building - Section Six - Believe/Faith
Brick Building - Section Seven - The Word
Brick Building - Section Eight- Learning to Dress Yourself

OBEY - Now There's a Word

When we hear the word obey, why does it conjure up images of restriction, constraint, drudgery and perhaps bondage? When we think of anyone telling us what we can or cannot do, we tend to feel as if they are controlling us. I have been there before.

However now after walking with the Lord for many years, the word obey looks different. I think of obeying as surrender, relaxing and letting someone else lead me and tell me the best way to go. I feel a weight lifted off my shoulders because I am no longer the highest authority in my own life. I don’t have the pressure of making the right decisions.  It makes me feel safer. I have made my share of mistakes in this life, and it is so good to know that I can be free from the consequences of my bad choices when I just stop resisting the One who knows what is best for me.

Obedience to our Creator is similar to a designer or engineer of an automobile. They know how the car was made. They know what it takes to keep it working at its optimum potential.  They know the type of oil that will be best for it.  They know what bolts and screws it needs, and how it is held together. They know it so well that they can write out a list of instructions and publish it as the owner’s manual. But what the designer and engineer will not do is come to the owner of the vehicle and tell them they must follow the orders in the manual. The owner can decide not to follow any of the manual's instructions at any time, but to the owner's disappointment the car will not last very long. So if the owner wants to take care of their investment and want it be useful to them for many years to come, they would need to heed the instructions and advice found in the owner's manual.

We are much like the automobile. We were designed by our Creator, and He knows what we need to do in this life to be able to work at our optimal level of efficiency. We can look to the scripture as our owner's manual. If we follow the advice given in the manual, we will operate more in line with the intent of the designer. When we push to do it our own way and decide not to obey, He will not come to our house and force us to comply. Unfortunately there will be consequences for our disobedience. Just as when we choose not to care for the automobile according to the instructions, it will break down on us. That is a consequence of not adhering to the designer's advice.  So too, we will encounter breakdowns of sorts. The consequences will come. The Creator has given us plenty of warnings, and He gives us advice to keep us from those breakdowns because He cares about us.  He is not trying to rob us of a good time or be a stick in the mud. He just knows the model of the human race and knows what it needs to be fulfilled, peaceful, joyful, etc., basically operate at prime optimum working order!

So I challenge you today... Try resting in the advice and instruction of the Lord. Whatever conviction you may have been resisting…  Whatever Word from the Lord you read and haven't put it into practice… Whatever little thing you are holding onto and justifying it to yourself or even trying to make excuses to God… Whatever it is you are challenged with, why not let go of it and lean into the Word of God's advice.... Trust it instead of thinking that He just doesn't want you to have a good time.  What about just trusting the designer's opinion and stop arguing with Him about it. When He speaks to you, just do what He says.  Just resting in Him. Trusting Him. Not leaning on your own thoughts, opinions, wisdom and understanding. Doesn't that sound like taking a day off?  Doesn't that sound freeing? It sure does to me.

So here is your homework…

·        is there someone you need to forgive… forgive them (no excuses)

·        is there someone you need to go to and ask for forgiveness… go ask

·        is there someone you have sensed you need to call or write to let them know you are thinking of them… call or write 

·        is there a habit you know you need to get rid of… get rid of it  

·        have you felt you need to spend more time in prayer or in God’s word… then just do it  

·        an area of service that you feel God is calling you into… then do it

Whatever it is… stop making excuses… stop waiting… Just DO IT!!!!!

In the current, ongoing series, Brick Building, in this blog, you can actually see more regarding obedience to God's word by following this link Brick Building - Section Seven - The Word. You can scroll down about half the way down to see the section on Obeying the Word. 

Brick Building - Section Eight- Learning to Dress Yourself

In the last section, we discussed how being in the word helps us grow up in our relationship with Christ. Here we will consider how as we mature, we learn to get dressed just as a toddler learns to dress him/herself.

According to scripture, we are told to “put on” which implies our responsibility. The scriptures listed below demonstrates our need to take action. It tells us what we need to put on and how we are to clothe ourselves.

Romans 13:12 The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.

Ephesians 4:24 Put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Colossians 3:10 Put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Colossians 3:14 Over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

1 Thessalonians 5:8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 

Romans 13:14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh

Galatians 3:27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

Just as we need to get dressed daily for whatever is on our daily agenda, we also need to get dressed in our spiritual clothing. We do not know what we will encounter each day in the spirit realm, but God does. We need to seek Him daily in His word and in prayer in order to be able to be prepared for whatever the day has in store for us and for others.

There may be others that need us to be ready for battle.  They may need us to stand beside them, to stand behind them, and at times to even stand over them and defend them because they aren't able to defend themselves. But whatever the case, we need to be ready at all times. We never know what is up ahead.

Be sure to get dressed and put on Christ. In doing so, we will mature and grow up in our faith.

Brick Building Section One-Maturity
Brick Building Section Two-Immaturity
Brick Building Section Three
Brick Building Section Four - Cooperating with the Holy Spirit
Brick Building Section Five - Prayer
Brick Building - Section Six - Believe/Faith
Brick Building - Section Seven - The Word

Brick Building - Section Seven - The Word

Sorry for the delay in getting this one out.  I have been busy with getting my oldest daughter settled into college, and getting back to a normal schedule for my youngest daughter who is in high school and busy with club soccer. This has been a hectic month.

In the last blog we took a look at faith as part of our growing up in our relationship with Christ, in this section, we are going to discuss the importance of being in the Word of God. We've all heard the saying "You are what you eat." Well if that is true in the spiritual sense, we need a steady diet of God's Word in order to grow up and mature in our walk with Jesus Christ. We are going to look at the importance of our focus on the Word of God, being saturated in the Word of God and obeying the Word of God. 

Steady Diet of the Word

We need to read the Word of God regularly. This is not so we can feel good about ourselves or out of a sense of duty. We do this because it is how we get to know the Lord, His character, His will and His voice. The word of God is the sword of the Spirit we use in battle. It is a road map that directs our path. It is words of life. With regular exposure to the word, we are nourishing our spiritual self just as healthy eating keeps us healthy and strong.

Once we accept Christ as our savior, we should begin to study the word, focus our eyes upon the Lord through the scripture. All scripture is a story about Him! As we do this, we begin to be transformed by Christ. We are converted immediately and transformed over time

Focus on the Word

Focus: Whatever can get your attention can influence you, and whatever can keep your attention can master you. So we need to focus on the Lord.

Focus is a way to be successful at anything we do in life.  In our jobs, in athletic training, weight loss, our families, relationships in general…

If we will take note of where we are focused, we may find the areas in our lives where we have idols. Anything that has our focus tends to have our heart.

Let’s set our focus on Christ!  Why? ... Because he deserves it. Consider the price that He paid for each of us, the price each of us SHOULD have paid. Focus on the enormous price that was paid. Consider the cross. Focus your eyes upon it. Look into the eyes of your savior who willingly suffered and died for you. Nothing can motivate quite as much as a grateful heart. If we will stay focused we can stay grateful.

Focus: Whatever can get your attention can influence you, and whatever can keep your attention can master you. So we need to focus on the Lord.

Look at King Josiah: 2 Kings 22:1-2 1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king…. 2 He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD … not turning aside to the right or to the left.  He was focused

Immerse

According to scripture, we are to teach others all about the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. I believe that we are to immerse them in all that the scripture says about them, or in essence, be baptized in the Word. We need to study the Word of God in order to start comprehending the character of our Lord. We need to study it in order to begin to understand how to enter into this relationship. We need to study the Word in order to be able to arm ourselves against our enemy. We need to study so we will be able to discern truth, direction and God's will. As we study, we know Him more, believe Him more and love Him more.

When addressing immersion and baptizing, I am not diminishing the need and practice of baptizing in water as we follow in obedience to Jesus. That is the outward demonstration to the world to show we accepted Jesus' sacrifice for our sin and will now follow Him. However, I am looking deeper into the scripture where baptism is mentioned to see if there may be clues to more than a onetime outward demonstration.

There was an old pickle recipe that used the words baptized and dipped. In the recipe, the first part of the process was to dip the cucumber in water referred to as bapto, and then followed by the instruction to baptize the cucumber into vinegar referred to as baptizo. Both steps in the process require the vegetable to be placed in a liquid. So why is one referred to as bapto and the other baptizo? The difference is that while the vegetable is placed in the water, it is cleaned but it is still a cucumber. However, when the cucumber is placed into the vinegar it becomes another thing all together. It is no longer a cucumber but now it is a pickle. See Bible Study Tools for this information.

Immersing ourselves in the WORD (fully saturating ourselves in the WORD)

Obey the Word

We can obey the word and generations will be blessed, or we can disobey and curse many. We need to live in obedience not just to please God, but I believe we need to do so for the sake of others. We need to grow up and consider how our actions may affect others. Take some time to read Deuteronomy 28.

Luke 6:47-49 As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Gen 22:18 through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.

We need to obey the word, and as a result, we will grow up and mature. But we do it with the indwelling inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will illuminate the word and bring it to mind.

We obey the commands of the Lord as we are introduced to them in order to mature in our walk. In Philippians 3, we are told to live up to whatever truth we have attained. Let's keep that in mind as we are exposed to the Word, but also keep it in mind when walking with others. Let's not hold them accountable for truths they have not even been exposed to yet. As we study the Word, be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Being in the Word, we become familiar to the Lord’s voice and the “types” of things He would say. I believe this is crucial in discerning the Lord from your own thoughts or that of the enemy. We need to surround ourselves with godly people to encourage us, challenge us and hold us accountable to be in the Word. 

So seek the word in order to know the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit. As the Holy Spirit leads you, be pliable and moldable to the work the Spirit desires to do in you. Think of obeying the word as cooperating with the Holy Spirit who is working in you to complete the work that was starting in you at your salvation.

We need to obey the word and as a result we will grow up and mature.

Remember the word of God is the sword of the Spirit we use in battle. It is a road map that directs our path. It is words of life. Also remember, regular exposure to the word is like eating right physically. We grow up healthy and strong.

See also older posts: Do We Need the Word of God?, Road Map to Freedom and Searching the Scripture


Brick Building Section One-Maturity
Brick Building Section Two-Immaturity
Brick Building Section Three
Brick Building Section Four - Cooperating with the Holy Spirit
Brick Building Section Five - Prayer
Brick Building - Section Six - Believe/Faith

Brick Building - Section Six - Believe/Faith

Last week we took a look at prayer as it impacts our maturity, and today we’ll take a look at the area of faith when considering growing up in our walk with the Lord.   

We call Christians people of faith or believers, but what is really being said is that we are believers of Jesus Christ, we believe what God says about Him, and we have faith in the work of Christ. However, we all believe in something even if it is not God or Jesus. It is the object of our belief that defines our faith. It may be that we believe in science, we may believe in the existence of gravity and other laws, we may believe in self; even an atheist believes. (They simply believe that God doesn’t exist.) So the object for them is the non-existence of an object. But even in that, faith is required. So really we are all people of faith. It is actually funny how loosely the words faith, belief and trust gets used. It is a simple fact that we all believe and have faith.

We believe that the other drivers will stop at the stop sign when we are crossing an intersection (at least until a driver runs a stop sign and hits us). We believe an elevator will get us to the floor we want. We believe the educational system will prepare and educate our children. We believe the sun will come up each day. We believe in so many things, but our belief does not affect reality.

Let’s consider the law of gravity…Regardless of what you believe, this law remains the same.  If you jump off a tall building you will fall and get hurt or die.  The law exist whether we believe it or not.  Our faith of its existence has no effect on it.  It only affects our behavior. For example, if you believe the law does not exist, then you will act in opposition and jump from a building.

Our Heavenly Father’s existence is not dependent upon our belief. As with the case for gravity, you can choose not to believe in it, but it will not change the fact of His existence.

However, a believer and follower of Jesus Christ believes God exist, believes what God says about Jesus’ death and places his/her faith in the sacrifice to pay for his/her sin. In order to grow up in this faith, we have to believe what God says in the word of God, scripture.

We must believe that He will mature us when we cooperate and surrender to Him. He will do the work to transform us. We will grow up and mature not by our own doing but by the work of Christ in us thru the Holy Spirit. He will do it little by little from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18).We are saved by faith, we walk by faith, and we are right with God because of our faith.

Look at the following scriptures:

·        2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.

·        Philippians 3:3-9 We put no confidence in the flesh- though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

·        Ephesians 2:8-10 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God- not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

•      1 Corinthians 1:30-31 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."

•      Genesis 15:6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness

•      Galatians 3:6 Consider Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."

So assuming we believe He exist and assuming we want to please Him, I believe we mature in our relationship by not just believing in Him, but I believe we must believe Him. We must believe what He says, and in order to believe what He says, we need to know what He says.  The best place to determine that is to be in the word, studying it, pondering it, praying it and meditating upon it. The next two sections we'll delve deeper into this.
Remember that we act out of what we believe. If you believe other drivers will stop at a stop sign, you act in faith by going through the intersection. If on the other hand, you believe other drivers will not stop, you tend to be slightly paralyzed at the intersection. Our actions will demonstrate our beliefs. So if you find yourself acting contrary to God’s Word, I suggest you take a look at what you are believing about God or yourself that isn’t true.
As you dig into the scripture and study about God, get to know His character and plan, you will find that you are better able to trust Him. He is trustworthy.

So to mature in our walk, we need to not only believe in God but also believe what He says. We must be a follower of the object of our faith and trust He will complete the work He started in us when we first believed.

Brick Building Section One-Maturity
Brick Building Section Two-Immaturity
Brick Building Section Three
Brick Building Section Four - Cooperating with the Holy Spirit
Brick Building Section Five - Prayer