Prayer
– Pray first. That is always a good place to start. Lord, please give me spiritual wisdom and discernment that I would understand and live by your spiritual truths.
Yet when I am among mature believers, I do speak with words of wisdom,
but not the kind of wisdom that belongs to this world or to the rulers of this world,
who are soon forgotten. No, the wisdom we speak of is the mystery of God
—his plan that was previously hidden, even though he made it for our ultimate glory
before the world began. But the rulers of this world have not understood it;
Pif they had, they would not have crucified our glorious Lord.
That is what the Scriptures mean when they say,
“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets.
No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit,
and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit.
And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit),
so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.
When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom.
Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit,
using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren’t spiritual
can’t receive these truths from God’s Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them
and they can’t understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand
what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things,
but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.1 Corinthians 2:6-15 |
Meditate.
Plan for spiritual growth.
What do I mean by spiritual? The part of our being that is not physical—but a recognition of a feeling or sense that there is something greater than ourselves. Do you have a plan for your own spiritual growth? How about some encouraging words for someone you are mentoring?
What spiritual goals have you set and reached this year so far? Here are some things to consider when setting Spiritual Goals:
1. What would you like to accomplish spiritually this year? Bible reading, memorization, or a specific time with God—studying His word and prayer?
2. What attitude or habit needs to change?
3. How would you like God to use you?
4. What ministry could utilize your unique gifts?
5. What ministry could benefit from your leadership?
6. What level of intimacy would you like to have with God?
7. What friend would you like to lead to Christ?
8. Who do you want to be your mentor…and who do you want to mentor?
As you consider these questions, think about what steps you can take on a monthly, weekly and daily basis to attain these goals. We need goals in lots of areas of our lives to challenge us—at work, at home, with physical fitness and with diet or nutrition (how many pounds do you to lose?). Let me challenge you to seek to set some spiritual goals now. Without a goal we fail to attain anything. As Lawrence J. Peter said…
If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.
Where are you going?
Verse
of Salvation ~ So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit,
hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave
pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation.
Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord's
kindness. 1 Peter
2:1-3
© 2024 Text, photos, and illustrations by Mickey M. Hunacek. All
rights reserved.
All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation (NLT) unless
otherwise noted.
New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale
House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream,
Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Biblical search from Blue Letter Bible - http://v3.blueletterbible.org/search.cfm.
Books by Mickey M.
Hunacek
Available as e-books or paperbacks at Amazon.com
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