The passages in John are some of my favorite Scriptures. Specifically, John 6:39 says that Jesus will not lose even ONE person God gives to Him. If you make a sincere commitment to follow Jesus, you have His personal commitment you will spend eternity with Him. For the Lord of Lord and King of Kings to make us that promise is an awesome thing! God saves Spiritual Giants! Right....well, no.....wrong. Actually, God saves sinners. Sinners like you and me. Sinners who finally understand that God can fill that aching need in your heart. God is the one who will take you - just as you are - and clean you up. I’ve been a Christian for 38 years. I have seen many people accept Jesus Christ. I have led people to Christ. But in that 38 years, not once, have I seen a saint get saved!
In our ministry in the inner city, I have found a common thread among many of the homeless. That is, they don’t feel that they are "ready" for God to accept them. They feel that they must "clean themselves up" and then come to God. Friends, God is a Holy God. He is the Master and the Creator of the Universe! He made all things! We, on our own, can NEVER ’clean ourselves up’ sufficiently for God to accept us. We need a Redeemer. Only through Jesus does God see us as worthy. When we acknowledge Jesus as Lord and make that commitment to follow Him, we are born again! Jesus then sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and our journey to becoming a spiritual giant begins - and it’s an exciting journey!!
What are you good at: Painting, photography, history, mathematics, nursing, teaching, landscaping, football, writing, carpentry, music, etc.? If you have a skill in any area, you know that it didn’t just "happen" overnight. You had to start as a novice and grow through consistently putting into practice what you learned along the way. I’ve played the guitar for 50 years. I can tell you that when I started, it was horrible! I almost drove my Mom and Dad crazy. But, I read books and applied that to making chords. I listened to records and learned to play along with the recording. I associated with other guitar players and learned different things from different folks. Now, after a service, someone will often come up to me and tell me how much they enjoy my playing and they say "man, I wish I could play like that!" Truth of the matter is, pretty much anyone can play a guitar if they consistently put into action the things that they learn.
Is becoming a spiritual giant any different? No. I have observed people throughout my life that I consider to be spiritually giants; people who I admired. These people have one thing in common. They follow Jesus. If you read the entire Bible, you can summarize it in three words: "God Loves You!" Jesus himself summarized the New Testament in two words: "Follow Me!" The spiritual giants that have influenced my life follow Jesus. They read God’s word regularly. They pray consistently. They put into action the things that reflect God’s glory through their everyday lives. Serving others with Jesus as our model reflects the Glory of God through us. God lets us take part!
Do you want to become a spiritual giant? If you can define what a spiritual giant is, then I have to tell you that you do not understand what a spiritual giant is. However, if you will actively ask God to make you a spiritual giant, He will define that for you to accomplish but it will be something that is only attainable through Him. Make sense? Without God we are merely going through the motions. There are many people who are good at making people think they are spiritual but they do not have God in their lives and their "spirituality" is an empty shell. A friend told me his girlfriend was a spiritual person and he respected her for that. Turns out her spirituality had nothing to do with the one true God! So, we must be careful about ’spirituality’. Spiritual giants are spiritual giants because they follow Jesus and do His bidding; they have done nothing on their own.
Make the commitment to follow Jesus. Read God’s Word and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you what you need to know. Ask God to guide you to the place He wants you to be. Put His Word into practice just as Jesus did. Start with the spiritual milk. Let the spiritual milk strengthen and embolden you so that you can mature in a heartier diet that you will crave! Spiritual maturity comes with the Word, the spiritual food, the bread of life, the practicing of Jesus’ ways and teachings! It’s never too late. Start now so that when you finally meet Jesus face to face, He’ll say; welcome home my good and faithful servant. Well done!
Papa Joe Mac's Commentary:
The passages in John are some of my favorite Scriptures. Specifically, John 6:39 says that Jesus will not lose even ONE person God gives to Him. If you make a sincere commitment to follow Jesus, you have His personal commitment you will spend eternity with Him. For the Lord of Lord and King of Kings to make us that promise is an awesome thing! God saves Spiritual Giants! Right....well, no.....wrong. Actually, God saves sinners. Sinners like you and me. Sinners who finally understand that God can fill that aching need in your heart. God is the one who will take you - just as you are - and clean you up. I’ve been a Christian for 38 years. I have seen many people accept Jesus Christ. I have led people to Christ. But in that 38 years, not once, have I seen a saint get saved!
In our ministry in the inner city, I have found a common thread among many of the homeless. That is, they don’t feel that they are "ready" for God to accept them. They feel that they must "clean themselves up" and then come to God. Friends, God is a Holy God. He is the Master and the Creator of the Universe! He made all things! We, on our own, can NEVER ’clean ourselves up’ sufficiently for God to accept us. We need a Redeemer. Only through Jesus does God see us as worthy. When we acknowledge Jesus as Lord and make that commitment to follow Him, we are born again! Jesus then sends the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and our journey to becoming a spiritual giant begins - and it’s an exciting journey!!
What are you good at: Painting, photography, history, mathematics, nursing, teaching, landscaping, football, writing, carpentry, music, etc.? If you have a skill in any area, you know that it didn’t just "happen" overnight. You had to start as a novice and grow through consistently putting into practice what you learned along the way. I’ve played the guitar for 50 years. I can tell you that when I started, it was horrible! I almost drove my Mom and Dad crazy. But, I read books and applied that to making chords. I listened to records and learned to play along with the recording. I associated with other guitar players and learned different things from different folks. Now, after a service, someone will often come up to me and tell me how much they enjoy my playing and they say "man, I wish I could play like that!" Truth of the matter is, pretty much anyone can play a guitar if they consistently put into action the things that they learn.
Is becoming a spiritual giant any different? No. I have observed people throughout my life that I consider to be spiritually giants; people who I admired. These people have one thing in common. They follow Jesus. If you read the entire Bible, you can summarize it in three words: "God Loves You!" Jesus himself summarized the New Testament in two words: "Follow Me!" The spiritual giants that have influenced my life follow Jesus. They read God’s word regularly. They pray consistently. They put into action the things that reflect God’s glory through their everyday lives. Serving others with Jesus as our model reflects the Glory of God through us. God lets us take part!
Do you want to become a spiritual giant? If you can define what a spiritual giant is, then I have to tell you that you do not understand what a spiritual giant is. However, if you will actively ask God to make you a spiritual giant, He will define that for you to accomplish but it will be something that is only attainable through Him. Make sense? Without God we are merely going through the motions. There are many people who are good at making people think they are spiritual but they do not have God in their lives and their "spirituality" is an empty shell. A friend told me his girlfriend was a spiritual person and he respected her for that. Turns out her spirituality had nothing to do with the one true God! So, we must be careful about ’spirituality’. Spiritual giants are spiritual giants because they follow Jesus and do His bidding; they have done nothing on their own.
Make the commitment to follow Jesus. Read God’s Word and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you what you need to know. Ask God to guide you to the place He wants you to be. Put His Word into practice just as Jesus did. Start with the spiritual milk. Let the spiritual milk strengthen and embolden you so that you can mature in a heartier diet that you will crave! Spiritual maturity comes with the Word, the spiritual food, the bread of life, the practicing of Jesus’ ways and teachings! It’s never too late. Start now so that when you finally meet Jesus face to face, He’ll say; welcome home my good and faithful servant. Well done!