- Welcome to a Grace Digital Presentation.
In this video we shall be discussing the topic,
"Everyone Starts Life as a Baby."
Wouldn't it be the weirdest thing
if we see a human that starts off as an adult
instead of being born as a baby like we're all used to?
That would definitely be odd.
But ever so often we try to skip the process of growth
when it comes to very important areas of our lives.
Even Jesus, our perfect example,
who was God made manifest in the flesh,
started off as a baby.
Isaiah 9:6 AMP says;
"For to us a Child shall be born,
to us a Son shall be given;
And the government shall be upon His shoulder,
And His name shall be called Wonderful Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."
Also see Matthew 2:1 AMP;
"Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea
in the days of Herod the king, Herod the Great,
magi, wise men, from the east came to Jerusalem, asking."
Jumping ahead of processes
that are supposed to be beneficial to us in the long run
always brings premature results
that eventually bring loads of regret.
Speaking of John the Baptist in Luke 1:80 KJV
the Bible says;
"And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit,
and was in the deserts till the day
of his showing unto Israel."
A constant fact in life is that everyone is born as a child,
after which parents are expected
to feed them with liquid milk and then solid food
before they eventually grow or mature into adults.
It is important to note
that the same way we are born as babies
is the same way we are born anew in Christ Jesus.
Therefore we must begin to feed on the word of God
to grow from one level of maturity to the next.
For this reason Spiritual maturity is a journey
that requires a whole lot of patience.
Jesus talked about spiritual birth in John 3:1-‬7 AMP
after Nicodemus, a Jewish leader came to him.
John 3:1-‬7 AMP says;
"Now there was a certain man
among the Pharisees named Nicodemus,
a ruler, member of the Sanhedrin, among the Jews,
who came to Jesus at night and said to Him,
'Rabbi, Teacher, we know without any doubt
that You have come from God as a teacher;
for no one can do these signs,
these wonders, these attesting miracles
that You do unless God is with him.'
Jesus answered him,
'I assure you and most solemnly say to you,
unless a person is born again,
reborn from above, spiritually transformed,
renewed, sanctified,
he cannot ever see and experience the kingdom of God.'
Nicodemus said to Him,
'How can a man be born when he is old?
He cannot enter his mother's womb
a second time and be born, can he?'
Jesus answered, 'I assure you and most solemnly say to you,
unless one is born of water and the Spirit
he cannot ever enter the kingdom of God.
That which is born of the flesh is flesh,
the physical is merely physical,
and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
Do not be surprised that I have told you,
"You must be born again, reborn from above,
spiritually transformed, renewed, sanctified."'"
Having this new birth is accepting Jesus
as our Lord and Savior
and renouncing sin and the devil.
The day we do that, we are born spiritually
and we are welcome into the kingdom
and set for a walk with Jesus.
It is important to remember
that we all start this spiritual journey as babies
regardless of our physical age.
See what Apostle Paul said in Hebrews 5:11-‬14 AMP;
"Concerning this we have much to say,
and it is hard to explain,
since you have become dull and sluggish
in your spiritual hearing and disinclined to listen.
For though by this time you ought to be teachers
because of the time you have had to learn these truths,
you actually need someone to teach you again
the elementary principles of God's word from the beginning,
and you have come to be continually in need of milk,
not solid food.
For everyone who lives on milk is doctrinally inexperienced
and unskilled in the word of righteousness,
since he is a spiritual infant.
But solid food is for the spiritually mature,
whose senses are trained by practice
to distinguish between what is morally good
and what is evil."
What he was trying to communicate
was that the essence of spiritual growth and maturity
is the word.
Babies must be fed to grow,
whether naturally or spiritually.
No one is supposed to remain a baby forever
and feeding is what ensures that there's growth.
The word of God is the only spiritual food
that contains all the nutrients needed
for spiritual babies to grow into spiritual maturity.
Every time the word of God is to be taught
it simply means it is time to eat.
Every time we gather in fellowship with other believers
it means it's time to feed our spirit and grow stronger.
Every time we are about to study the word of God privately
it means it is time to nourish ourselves.
Since we feed our physical body every day,
it means that we must also feed
our spiritual body every day.
Just like the strength of the physical body
is drawn from the physical food we eat,
then we must draw strength
from the word of God for our spirit.
There's no way to grow spiritually
without feeding on the balanced diet of the word of God.
If we live the task of studying the word
to our pastors and teachers alone,
then we will become weak and easy to fool by the devil
because feeding is a personal responsibility.
Not even a husband can feed on physical food
on behalf of the wife he loves.
What anointed Teachers feed you
is the appetizer that should get you ready
to dig out the main course for yourself.
Jeremiah 3:15 KJV says;
"And I will give you pastors according to mine heart,
which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding."
We need the strong meat of the word
that is produced from genuine encounters
to carry us through life's journey.
Generally, parents begin to teach their children
to eat on their own at a certain age
because that is the only way the child
can learn to be responsible enough to feed himself.
This is why God constantly nudges us towards His word.
He knows this is our only chance for growth
and this growth is necessary
to become all that God has purposed for us.
Jesus Himself showed us the example of how this is done
through a road map of responsibility,
teaching, mentorship, leadership and maturity.
He started by teaching how to pray
in Matthew 6:5-‬14 AMP;
"Also, when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites;
for they love to pray publicly standing in the synagogues
and on the corners of the streets
so that they may be seen by men.
I assure you and most solemnly say to you,
they already have their reward in full.
But when you pray, go into your most private room,
close the door and pray to your Father who is in secret,
and your Father who sees
what is done in secret will reward you.
And when you pray, do not use meaningless repetition
as the Gentiles do,
for they think they will be heard
because of their many words.
So do not be like them praying as they do;
for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.
Pray, then, in this way:
'Our Father, who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come, Your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we have forgiven our debtors
letting go of both the wrong and the resentment.
And do not lead us into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom
and the power and the glory forever.
Amen.'
For if you forgive others their trespasses,
their reckless and willful sins,
your heavenly Father will also forgive you."
Secondly He fed them with the word through His teaching.
Mark 4:2-‬25 AMP says;
"And He taught them many things in parables,
and in His teaching He said to them,
'Listen, a sower went out to sow seed;
and as he was sowing, some seed fell by the ground,
and the birds came and ate it up.
Other seed fell on rocks where there was not much soil;
and immediately a plant sprang up
because the soil had no depth.
And when the sun came up, the plant was scorched;
and because it had no root, it dried up and withered away.
Other seed fell among thorns,
and the thorns came up and choked it,
and yielded no grain.
And other seed fell into good soil,
and as the plants grew and increased,
they yielded a crop
and produced 30, 60, and 100 times as much
as had been sown.'
And He said, 'He who has ears to hear,
let him hear and heed My words.'
As soon as He was alone, those who were around Him,
together with the twelve disciples,
began asking Him about the interpretation of the parables.
He said to them,
'The mystery of the kingdom of God
has been given to you who have teachable hearts,
but those who are outside,
the unbelievers, the spiritually blind,
get everything in parables,
so that they will continually look but not see,
and they will continually hear but not understand,
otherwise they might turn from their rejection of the truth
and be forgiven.'
Then He said to them, 'Do you not understand this parable?
How will you understand and grasp
the meaning of all the parables?
The sower sows the word of God,
the good news regarding the way of salvation.
These in the first group are the ones along the road
where the word is sown;
but when they hear, Satan immediately comes
and takes away the word which has been sown to them.
In a similar way these in the second group
are the ones on whom seed was sown on rocky ground,
who, when they hear the word,
immediately receive it with joy
but accept it only superficially;
and they have no real root in themselves,
so they endure only for a little while;
then when trouble or persecution comes because of the word,
immediately they are offended and displeased
at being associated with Me
and stumble and fall away.
And others are the ones on whom
seed was sown among the thorns;
these are the ones who have heard the word,
but the worries and cares of the world,
the distractions of this age with its worldly pleasures,
and the deceitfulness and the false security
or glamor, of wealth or fame,
and the passionate desires for all the other things
creep in and choke out the word,
and it becomes unfruitful.
And those in the last group
are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil;
and they hear the word of God
and the good news regarding the way of salvation
and accept it and bear fruit,
30, 60, and 100 times as much as was sown.'
He said to them,
'A lamp is not brought in to be put under a basket
or under a bed, is it?
Is it not brought in to be put on the lampstand?
For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed;
nor has anything been kept secret,
but that it would come to light that is,
things are hidden only temporarily,
until the appropriate time comes for them to be known.
If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear and heed My words.'
Then He said to them,
'Pay attention to what you hear.
By your own standard of measurement,
that is, to the extent that you study spiritual truth
and apply godly wisdom,
it will be measured to you
and you will be given even greater ability to respond
and more will be given to you besides.
For whoever has a teachable heart,
to him more understanding will be given;
and whoever does not have a yearning for truth,
even what he has will be taken away from him.'"
Thirdly, He sent them out to take responsibility.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬
Mark 3:14-‬15 AMP says;
"And He appointed twelve disciples,
so that they would be with Him for instruction
and so that He could send them out
to preach the gospel as apostles,
that is, as His special messengers,
personally chosen representatives,
and to have authority and power to cast out demons."
The Kingdom race is therefore a race
of patience and consistency since it requires growth.
Let us pray.
Living Father thank you for birthing me
into a new and victorious life.
Thank you for the purpose you have ahead of me
but thank you so much more for the definite processes
that you have laid out for me to get to the expected end.
In the name of Jesus I will not miss the growth and lessons
that are a part of each phase.
Amen.