them.
In life, everything living grows. The tables and chairs don’t grow. Jesus
also grew. In Luke 2: 6 “While they were there, the time
came for the baby to be born”. In verse 21 “On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise the child, he was
named Jesus,” verse 40 “And the child grew and
became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him”.
Verse 42 “When he was twelve years old, they
went up to the festival, according to the custom” Here we see Jesus’ growth. In verse 52 “And Jesus grew in
wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man”. We see that Jesus grew mentally, physically, spiritually and
relationally.
Jesus is a perfect 10. We are all at a 5. If we want to grow, there is
something we need to do. What can we do to move from a 5-6?
IMPRESS
P – Physically
Physical growth is important. 1 Cor 6:19 “Do you not know that
your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have
received from God?” Jesus places a high emphasis
Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We need to take care of our bodies. We
can make jokes about dieting etc.
1.
Each of us needs to exercise. What can you
do to keep God’s temple in good shape?
2.
We need to diet! Be careful what you
ingest. Eat veggies protein and fats
3.
Fasting! Apart from spiritual benefits it
has physical benefits. Fasting is very
healthy as well
commit to do these things to take me from 5-6
M - Mentally
There is a difference between knowledge and wisdom. Leaders are readers.
We need to grow that muscle. When was the last time you read a book? As we
read, we grow in our God given capacity to think
Fill our mind with Knowledge, learn something new. Find something
to learn and grow your mind. We also need to fill our mind with God’s word. 2 Chr
1:7-12 “That night God appeared to Solomon
and said to him, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
8 Solomon
answered God, “You have shown great kindness to David my father and have made
me king
in his place. 9 Now, Lord God,
let your promise to
my father David be confirmed, for you have made me king over a people who are
as numerous as the dust of the earth. 10 Give
me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern
this great people of yours?”
11 God
said to Solomon, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for
wealth, possessions
or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a
long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have
made you king, 12 therefore
wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth,
possessions and honor, such
as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have.”
Let’s be a people who ask for wisdom. Commit to doing something to
grow your mind.
S- Spiritually
God has made us to have a relationship with him. We grow
spiritually is by knowing about God and knowing God.
Acts 19:11-16 “11 God did
extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him
were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.13 Some
Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord
Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They would say, “In the name of the
Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing
this. 15 One
day the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but
who are you?” 16 Then
the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He
gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding.”
Let’s desire to be like Jesus and Paul and make a name for
ourselves in the spiritual realm. The way to foster is through spiritual
disciplines – spending time in prayer, feeding ourselves the word of God etc.
Commit to doing something to grow spiritually.
R – Relational
We are relational beings created by a relational God.
Examine the relationships in your life. Leadership is influence. We need to get
along to go along. The foundation of leadership is to love people.
Relationships are where we demonstrate our love one for
another. We have relationships all around us. Relationships need to be
transformational. Look to build relationships all the time. Jesus grew in favour with God but he also
grew in favour with man.
What is one thing you can do over the next 30 days to grow
in your relationship with someone in your life?
E- Emotionally
Emotional growth is important because feelings are
important. We need to have self awareness and self management when it comes to
feelings. Most major decisions we make are made based on feelings. People get
married, buy a house, join or leave a church etc. based on feelings. We need to
know how other people are experiencing us. Feelings control our relationships.
When Jesus was at Lazarus’ tomb, he wept. Mark 1:14 “14
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good
news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come
near. Repent and believe the good news!” Jesus controlled his emotions and
pressed on in the kingdom pursuit.
S- Succession
We are not going to live on this earth forever. So
when we move on who can I pass things on to in whatever you are doing.
2 Tim 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the
presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified
to teach others”
The kingdom is all about succession. The very sad
thing is we pass away without passing on. So think about who you can invest in
to pass on whatever you do.
What can you pass on? Who can you pass on to?
I – Income & Finance
Jesus spoke more about money than he spoke about
heaven or hell. How can we grow in managing our income, expenditure, saving,
Insurance and giving.
Make sure that you have a life insurance and term
insurance.
Giving – plan out your giving just as you plan to save.
Aim to be generous. God’s blessing just flows into our lives as we give. Give
generously and abundantly.
Put down things you can do to get more healthy in your
finances.
We have looked at 7 dimensions of our blueprint for
2022. Let’s put that in practice.
Let’s pray.
Word of Grace is an Evangelical (Born Again), Spirit-filled (Charismatic), Reformed, English speaking church in Pune that upholds the Bible as God's inspired Word for life. We are a church community that has people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. Word of Grace is a part of a wider international family of Churches called RegionsBeyond.To know more about us please log onto www.wordofgracechurch.org.
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