My word of exhortation today is going to be extremely pragmatic.  I thought after the rest of this week’s WFTDs, it’d be good to wind down with some encouragement about things you can do to spur on your growth and fruitfulness in the Lord.

Let’s first look at a passage from the Apostle Paul to the Church at Corinth:  Corinthians 3:5-9 – “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.”

If you are a true believer in Christ, then God dwells in you as the Holy Spirit.  As such, God is always at work, conforming you into His image.  The are, however, means of grace by which God accomplishes His work in you; His Word, Christian Community, Prayer, Discipleship, Marriage, Service, etc.   I want to use a different picture than Paul, and suggest that of a Trellis and a Vine.  A Vine will go wherever there is a Trellis.  It will climb vertically up the side of a building, it will cover an entire porch, or even an entire castle – wherever there is a support for it to grow from.  Now the point of Paul’s message above was to be crystal clear that if He, or Appollos, or anything else had been helpful to people as they conform to the image of God, it was not them, but God at work through them, and in the individual causing the growth.  Likewise I want to suggest that things I’m encouraging below are not themselves what is going to change you, but the means by which God might work in your life to change you.  What things are currently present in your life to help support your growth in the Lord.  Is there a piece of trellis missing?

• Do you have time, every day with just you and the Lord in prayer over His Word?  If not, you need that.
• Are you being discipled in some way?  If not, you need that.
• Are you discipling others?  If you’ve been a Christian for more than a few years, you need to be.
• Do you have a group of Christian men (if you’re a man) or women (if you’re a woman) who really know what’s going on in your life, and you can turn to for Biblical encouragement?  If not, this would be greatly helpful to you.
• Do you have a prayer life that is growing?  If not, work towards that.  Start by… praying for it.
• Are you serving others with your time and money?  If not, you need to be.

As a small side note – If you’re not giving anything at all of your money, you’re missing out on a massive amount of joy as a Christian.  Is your church helpful to you?  Support it financially so that you are taking part in God’s kingdom building that way.  Do you have a passion to help orphans?  There are a multitude of Christian ministries/missionaries that desperately need your support.  Pray, and whatever needy person God has given you a passion for – partner with a ministry and get involved.

This is a small list, but hopefully something popped out as an area that is weak or missing in your life.  Every one of these things is Biblically commanded, not merely so that you can be “obedient”, but because God loves you, and these are the ways He is going to work in your life – exposing sin, drawing you closer to Him, revealing Himself to you for your joy.  Know you’re all prayed for – hope you have a great weekend.

Grace and Peace,
Adam