Speaker: Sis. Techie Rodriguez ,Elder, The Lord's Flcok Catholic Charismatic Community

“Checking Our Spiritual Growth and Maintaining Spiritual Fitness”

2006 is another year. As this new year begins, let us ask ourselves if we have eaten the right spiritual food. Did we grow and gain spiritual maturity?

I. C hecking Our Spiritual Growth

1. LET US LOOK AT OURSELVES.

? “ A person should examine himself, and so eat the bread and drink the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.” (1 Corinthians 11:28-29)

? “ Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his own face in a mirror. He sees himself, then goes off and promptly forgets what he looked like. But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres, and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, such a one shall be blessed in what he does.” (James 1:22-25).

L et us evaluate ourselves by checking how we applied last year the word of God in our lives. Did we merely hear the word of God and forget about it? Did we read and study the Holy Bible and obey what it says? Did we follow the word of God and claim God's promises in order to be victorious in our endeavors?

W hat happened to the word of God that we heard? Did it make us spiritually healthy? Did it give us spiritual well-being? Did we remain losers or did we become victors? Did we remain hearers only or did we become doers of the word?

L et us keep in mind that God's word gives us light. How we apply the word mirrors our spiritual condition.

2. LET US CHECK IF WE HAVE SPIRITUAL FORGETFULNESS OR AMNESIA.

? “Idol makers all amount to nothing, and their precious works are of no avail, as they themselves give witness. To their shame, they neither see nor know anything; and they are more deaf than men are.” (Isaiah 44:9).

M any times on their history, the people of Israel forgot who they were, where they came from, whom they worked for, and how much the Lord had done for them. They even had false Gods. (Isaiah 44:9-23).

S piritual amnesia is a dangerous condition. Some of us are suffering from this ailment. We forget who created us. We forget God's word, his promises, and his blessings.

W e should get healed from spiritual amnesia. Let us not forget that we are God's children, made according to his image and likeness. Let us not forget what Jesus Christ did for us. He redeemed us. He does not take our sins against us after our confession and repentance. He puts order in our lives when we trust him and allow him to do so. He restores and heals us.

II. M aintaining Spiritual Fitness

T he following are tips on how to maintain spiritual fitness:

1. DON'T BE A FAKE - Since we were small children, we might still be wearing masks of hypocrisy. Let us remove them.

J esus taught us not to be like hypocrites. “When you give alms, do not blow a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to win the praise of others.” (Matthew 6:2). “When you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites. They neglect their appearance, so that they may appear to others to be fasting.” (Matthew 6:16).

J esus condemned the hypocrisy of the Pharisees: “ This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me ;” (Matthew 15:8). Let us not pray like the Pharisees did. Let us pray what Jesus taught us: The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13).

L et us serve not to please men but to please God. Let us serve not to show off and to be praised by others. Let us do everything for the glory of God. Let us be humble; God exalts the humble. Let us not commend ourselves; let God commend us.

W hen we pray and when we serve the Lord, let us not be fake. Let us be real with God!

2. GROW UP - Let us grow to become matured Christians.

“A lthough you should be teachers by this time, you need to have someone teach you again the basic elements of the utterances of God. You need milk, [and] not solid food. Everyone who lives on milk lacks experience of the word of righteousness, for he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those whose faculties are trained by practice to discern good and evil.” (Hebrews 5:12-14).

I n our community, we must grow to maturity. For most of us, it is past the time taking “milk”; we should already be taking “solid food” such as teachings at our Growth Series Seminars. We should no longer be fooled by the enemy; we should be able to discern good and evil. We should be mature enough to take initiatives and have discipline in fulfilling our spiritual duties.

3. TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEART - Let us examine our heart. Is it in its proper place?

a) Do we have an arrogant heart? God punishes those with arrogant hearts like Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. “You, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this!” (Daniel 5:22).

I s our heart filled with humility or with pride? D o we humble ourselves and ask forgiveness when we commit mistakes? Do we recognize those who are in authority over us? Are we teachable? Do we accept corrections? Do we fret when others fail to recognize us for good things we did?

L ike our Lord Jesus, (Luke 4:1-13) , let us be victorious over pride and lust if tempted by Satan. Let us be humble like Jesus who “humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8).

b) Is our heart troubled? - Are we troubled by the conditions of the world? Are we troubled by the economic situation and political crisis in our country? Is our heart affected by the bad news in the newspapers?

L et not our heart be troubled. “I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world.” (John 16:33). When we have the peace from Jesus, we rejoice even in the midst of chaos.

O nce we know the condition of our heart, then we can take the proper care of our heart. We can seek God's guidance and allow him to give our heart's desires.

4. CHECK YOUR EYES – Let us examine our eyes. Some physical sickness can be seen by examining the eyes.

F or spiritual fitness, it is necessary to fix our eyes on Jesus. Let us “persevere in running the race that lies before us while keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the leader and perfecter of faith.” (Hebrews 12:1-2). So many things that entice us can make us lose our focus on Jesus. Even with dismaying situation around us, we should always keep our eyes on the Lord.

F ixing our eyes on Jesus also means fixing our eyes on the word of God. “My son, to my words be attentive, to my sayings incline your ear; let them not slip out of your sight, keep them within your heart;” (Proverbs 4:20-21).

O ur eyes should not depart from the word.

? “Heaven and earth will pass, but my words will not pass away.” (Matthew 24:35).

? “I am watching to fulfill my word.” (Jeremiah 1:12).

? “So shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; It shall not return to me void, but shall do my will, achieving the end for which I sent it.” (Isaiah 55:11)

? God can “call into being what does not exist.” (Romans 4:17).

L et us not look at the situation or problem. Look at what the Lord can do. Look at the bigness of God!

L et us also check our eyes for spiritual blinders that distract our focus on Jesus. Let us remove these blinders to allow the light of God to enter our eyes and abide in our heart.