WHERE IS HERE ?
A SERVICEMAN WAS RETURNING FROM OVERSEAS DUTY. HE WANTED TO SURPRISE HIS MOTHER, SO, HE CALLED HER ON HER PHONE. HE HAS SECRETLY ENTERED HER HOUSE WHEN HE CALLED. When she answered the phone, and they spoke for a couple of minutes, she asked if he could tell her where he was. He replied, “I am here.” She replied, “well, where is here ?” He said, I am right here. But, that doesn’t tell me anything. “Yes, it does. I am telling you that I am right here.” With that, he walked into the room where she was still waiting on the phone for his answer. In fact, he made that call from inside her house. But, he could have also given the same answer if he was in Paris, Detroit, or New York City.
Do you really know where you are with the Lord ?
Genesis 3:9-10 “And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”
1. WHAT CAN WE USE AS A YARDSTICK TO TELL IF WE HAVE GROWN IN CHRIST ?
THE MATURITY YARDSTICK
1 Corinthians 3:1 “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. “
1 Peter 2:2 “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:”
***A healthy, growing Believer will want to eat. He will exercise as he uses what he knows, so there is a balance. A Believer who only learns but does not exercise is not a healthy Christian, and not mature.
AN UNDERSTANDING OF PRIORITIES AND WHAT IT TAKES TO PLEASE GOD.
1 Corinthians 14:20 “Brethren, be not children in understanding: howbeit in malice be ye children, but in understanding be men.”
WE ARE GROWING IN CHRIST, NOT JUST IN ONE AREA. IT IS MORE THAN KNOWLEDGE. WE GROW IN MORE CHRISTLIKE BEHAVIOR, CHRISTLIKE ATTITUDES.
Ephesians 4:15 “But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:”
THE ACCOMPLISHMENT YARDSTICK.
STABILITY AS AN ADULT.
2 Peter 1:10 “Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:”
2. HERE I AM. BUT WHERE IS THAT ?
DO WE KNOW WHERE WE REALLY ARE IN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST ?
IF WE WALK IN THE LIGHT. YOU ARE CONSCIOUS OF HIM WALKING WITH YOU.
1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”
WHERE ART THOU ?
James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
KING SAUL THOUGHT HE WAS IN OBEDIENCE TO THE LORD, AND WAS OK WITH HIM. BUT, SAMUEL SHOWED HIM HE WAS DECEIVING HIMSELF.
BEING CLOSE IS NOT ENOUGH. YOU MUST BE WILLING TO HEAR AND DO ALL THE LORD COMMANDS YOU.
1 Samuel 3:4-6 “That the LORD called Samuel: and he answered, Here am I. And he ran unto Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou calledst me. And he said, I called not; lie down again. And he went and lay down. And the LORD called yet again, Samuel. And Samuel arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And he answered, I called not, my son; lie down again. “
1 Samuel 3:8 “And the LORD called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli, and said, Here am I; for thou didst call me. And Eli perceived that the LORD had called the child. “
1 Samuel 3:16 “Then Eli called Samuel, and said, Samuel, my son. And he answered, Here am I.”
A PERSON CAN BE PAST FEELING, SO THEY MAKE UP THEIR OWN PERSONAL EVALUATION OF THEMSELVES. THE PHARISEES IN THE TEMPLE DID THAT.
Ephesians 4:17-19 “This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart: Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness.”
“Where Is Here ?”
A Bible Study with Dr. Ed J. MacWilliams
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