** The MARK of MATURITY ** by rick warren

"This is to my Father's Glory, that you bear much Fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples." John 15:7 NIV.

God has a plan for eternity and you have a role in it.

God wants you to grow to spiritual maturity so that you can beart spiritual "fruit".

Here is the best way i can describe it:
* How do you know when a tomato plant is mature? It bears tomatoes.
* How do you know when an apple tree is mature? It produces apples.
* How do you know when a human being is physically mature?

You spiritually reproduce, or as today's verse says, you "bear much Fruit"
What is Fruit?
In the bible, the word "fruit" is used four different ways.
1. It refers to the fruit of repentance,
2. the fruit of the Spirit..(Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and self Control),
3. the Fruit of answered prayer,
4. the fruit of another christian - Spiritual reproduction.
God wants you to bear much fruit, to reproduce many Christians. This includes people in your family, in your community, and in the whole world.

Acts 1 teaches. "You will receive power when the Holy spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Acts 1:7-8).

* Jerusalem represents your immediate family and friends.
* Judea represents your community.
* Samaria represents your cross-cultural relationships.
* and the ends of the earth refers to your global calling.

If you want Gods blessing on your life, your family, your finances, your health, and your relationships, then you need to get with Gods Agenda! He is building a kingdom, a church, a spiritual family for all eternity. He wants his lost children found and thats where you come in. The more you make God's agenda your own, the more God is going to bless your life.

Instead of saying, "God BLess my plans", PRAY, "God help me to do what you are blessing." This is the first step in spiritual maturity, and it will lead to fruit in your life! 


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*~Developing the desire to do Gods will~*

Lord, we dont know where you are going, so how can we know the way? -John 14:5. 

Do you realize that when youre not obedient to Jesus, You're fighting against God's purpose for your life.

Part of the strength God gives you to "do all things through him" is the ability to choose to do his will, even before you know the full implications of what that means. He will begin to change your desire, developing within you more and more of a "want" to do His will.

1. Am i willing to decide, in advance, that i will do what God asks me to do, no matter what it is?

2. Am i abandoned to him and his will, believing he will strengthen me to do all the things he asks?

3. Or do i behave as if i believe i am the final judge of what is best for my life: "God, show me the whole plan, wait for me to understand, and then i'll decide whether or not to do what you ask:"

The Good News : is that, even if youre not ready for immediate obedience, God will give you strenght to be honest with him. He already know about your hesitancy, so He wont be surprised by prayerful confessions, such as, "Father, Im not sure Im ready to do your will. I dont know if i want to do it or not."

Yet God is Gracious and Patient. Tell him, "I dont know that im willing to step out in faith without first knowing everything thats going to happen, but im willing to be made willing."

AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  

SPIRITUAL MATURITY is for MINISTRY- Rick Warren

Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my LIFE. Matthew 20:28

We are commanded to serve God.
Jesus was very clear: For Christians, service is not something to be tacked onto our schedules if we can spare the time. It is the heart of the Christian life.
Jesus came "to serve" and "to give" and those two verbs should define your life on earth, too.

Jesus taught that - spiritual maturity is never an end in itself.
Maturity is for Ministry! We grow up in order to give out. It is not enough to keep learning more and more.
We must act on what we know and practice what we claim to believe. Study without service leads to spiritual stagnation. 

The last thing many believers need is to go to another Bible Study. They already know far more than they are putting into practice. They need to exercise their spiritual muscles by serving others.
Serving is the opposite of our natural inclination. Most of the time we're more interested in "serve us" than service. But, as we mature in Christ, the focus of our lives should increasingly shift to living a life of service.

The mature follower of Jesus stops asking, "who's going to meet my needs? and starts asking, "whose needs can i meet?"

~WHO TAKES THE BLAME??~

God asked. "Did you eat the fruit that i told you not to eat?" The man answered, "The woman you put here with me gave me the fruit, and i ate it" The LORD God asked the woman, "Why did you do this?" She replied, "The snake tricked me into eating it." Genesis 3:11-13.

When God found Adam eating fruit in the garden, Adam stood up like a man and blamed it on Eve.
Eve, wanting to set a better example, blamed it on the snake. And in the twisted, pretzel logic only a snake can have, the snake -- in a sense -- BLAMED IT ON GOD!

Embedded in our fallen nature: is the instinct to not only dodge the blame ourselves, but also shift the blame to someone or something else. Praise Jesus, he comes with nail-scarred hands and a thorny crown, paying the price so that we can:

1.STOP Blaming
2. Confess our SINS
3. Stand BLameless before our Father in Heaven.

I read this post and it hit home with me. Most times when we make mistakes silly or serious we tend to shove the blame in the opposite direction!

Funny enough thats what i did! I pounced on a friend a bit too harshly and in the end blamed it on the same  friend- Because it was her silliness that prompted the whole ISSUE from the very beginning. SERIOUSLY....hahah.

As i reflected on the Mistake, I found myself wanting to shift the blame. I rehearsed excuses. Perhaps you've been there... Perhaps you can hear an echo from the Garden: "She told me to do it." "He tricked me into it." "Did God really say you shouldnt do it? Perhaps he's just trying to keep you from what is best for you." Did Jesus really say we are Forgiven, or do we still need to hide behind EXCUSES and BLAME?

Where's the safest place to be -- under the CROSS OF JESUS, or in the Shadows cast by our pride and fear?

~PRAISE GOD, JESUS FREES US SO WE CAN STOP HIDING FROM GOD!
HE FREES US TO WALK IN HIS GRACE, FOLLOWING HIM INTO THE PRESENCE OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER!~

The BODY of Christ**

Monday, June 06, 2011 The Body of Christ Needs You by Rick Warren All of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it. 1 Corinthians 12:27 (NLT) One reason you need to be connected to a church family is to fulfill your calling to serve other believers in practical ways. The Bible says, “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each one of you is a separate and necessary part of it” (1 Corinthians 12:27 NLT). Your service is essential to the Body of Christ—just ask any local church. Each of us has a role to play, and every role is important. There is no small service to God; it all matters. There are no insignificant ministries in the church. Some are visible and some are hidden behind the scenes, but all are valuable. Small or hidden ministries often make the biggest difference. In my home, the most important light is not the large chandelier in our dining room but the little night light that keeps me from stubbing my toe when I get up at night. There is no correlation between size and significance. Every ministry matters because we are all dependent on each other to function. What happens when one part of your body fails to function? You get sick. The rest of your body suffers. Imagine if your liver decided to start living for itself: “I’m tired! I don’t want to serve the body anymore! I want a year off just to be fed. I’ve got to do what’s best for me! Let some other part take over.” What would happen? Your body would die. Today thousands of local churches are dying because of Christians who are unwilling to serve. They sit on the sidelines as spectators, and the Body suffers. God calls you to a service far beyond anything you could ever imagine. He created YOU for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for you to do (see Ephesians 2:10). Whenever you serve others, you are actually serving God - Rick Warren. - Personally, I loved this. . . I feel like this is what most of us need to read about. We are so quick to make excuses, me included when it comes down to pulling up socks and getting committed!