Spiritual Maturity

So this week for Home Team I really wanted to do something from 2 Kings or Acts just because it's been really fun (and bloody) to read. So while preparing for Home Team, I threw out the quick, "Lord, should we do 2 Kings or Acts?" Quite clearly I heard, "Neither". Now this is pretty big since I really wanted to at least touch on Acts. But obviously God had other plans.

I opened up the reading for Psalms this week and came to this:

Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

This is what spiritual maturity looks like. It's no longer a negotiation of "Well, God it's not really sinning is it? I mean, it's not like I killed someone or anything like that." There are no more excuses about so and so or your church not meeting your needs, etc. You step up and say, "Okay God, search me, test me, show me the crap I'm still clinging to and lead me toward freedom."

Randomly today I decided to listen to an older Perry Noble sermon. I never do that. It's just not something that ever crosses my mind, but today I did. What was it on? The title, "Me or Jesus?" intrigued me so I downloaded it. What did it end up being on? Spiritual maturity. Specifically asking God,

"What do I still lack?"
"What am I resisting that you still want to do in me?"

These are scary questions just like David's requests in Psalm 139. Why? Because the answers just may change your life forever. It may turn what you now know as normal upside-down.

So we have a choice. We can stay spiritually stunted, just hanging out, going through the motions and feeling empty. Or we can step out and say, "Search me, test me, show me, lead me" and find out that God has so much more in store for us than we could have ever imagined if we'll just let Him work through us.