Saturday, July 1, 2017

From Hearing to Seeing

‘My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes’ (Job 42:5, 6)

A relationship with God is the solid rock foundation of every Christian’s life and it is the will of God that this relationship will experience growth. Let us consider God’s testimony about Job in Job 1:8, ‘…there is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.’ It is remarkable to note that, after God had given this testimony about him, Job got to a point in his relationship with God where he personally declared that, ‘my ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes’. Simply put, Job experienced spiritual growth; he grew from hearing to seeing in his relationship with God. His relationship with God was no more based on the encounters of other people that he had heard but his personal experiences with God. Similarly, God’s plan for every child of His, is that we will have multidimensional spiritual growth.
Those who profess Christ ought to be careful of the dangers of complacency. After God had spoken to Moses as a man speaks to His friend, Moses still cried out, ‘teach me your ways that I may know you…’ (Exodus 33:11-13). The almighty God is infinite in His glory; even the twenty four elders and four living creatures who worship in His presence daily never cease to be amazed as different aspects of His glory are revealed to them. This awesome God desires to reveal Himself to you through a deeper relationship. The Apostle Paul taught that, God wants us to grow from one level of glory to another level of glory and from faith to faith (2 Cor 3:18, Rom 1:17). This spiritual growth is the key to living the abundant life that Jesus promises. When it comes to spiritual blessings, you don’t go up to get them you grow up to get them, ‘as long as an heir is underage, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate’ (Gal 4:1).
Spiritual growth should be the earnest desire of every Christian. The key to this spiritual growth is a hunger to know God more through fellowship in His word and prayer. Self centeredness and self reliance are the dangers of idolatry. Finally, it is important to note that your selflessness that flows from your love for God and fellow man is the primary indicator of your level of Spiritual growth (1 Cor 12:1-3). In sincerity, personally access yourself today, are you really growing spiritually?
May this be your prayer, ‘I want to know Christ yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death’ (Phil 3:10) and remember those that know God shall be strong and do exploits (Dan 11:32).





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