How to do we grow in our faith yet retain the essential trust and faith that is at the heart of having a deep relationship with Jesus. How do we grow but retain the first-love mentality that we had when we first connected our lives to God. We need to stay young at heart.

CHILDLIKE FAITH

Message by Tom Fenske – August 27, 2017

BIG BABIES

When we cling to the past, we cannot grasp the future.

Hebrews 5:12-6:3 You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong. So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding.

The word most associated with spiritual maturity in the Bible is wisdom.

Wisdom in Hebrew = “skillful living”

DIGGING INTO THE GOOD STUFF

Hebrews 5:14 “ Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.”

Growing older doesn’t automatically make you wiser.

Wisdom is not about what you know, but doing what you know you is right.

The ultimate trajectory for your life should be to move from simplistic faith to a deep, intimate relationship with God.

The key to a childlike faith is to grow in wisdom.

Wisdom is born in intimacy.

THE EVER WIDENING CIRCLE

“We do not think ourselves into new ways of living. We live ourselves into new ways of thinking.” ― Richard Rohr

The wise know that intimacy comes from persistence.

Everything in your life can teach you something.

If you’re young, stay humble.
If you’re older, stay soft.
If you’re new, seek guidance.
If you’re experienced, seek understanding.

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