Friday, July 25, 2014

Are you growing?

As I was walking at the mall today (which I do 5 days a week), I noticed this new advertising campaign that Aeropostale is conducting and it caught my attention.  I admit I have no idea what they are trying to communicate with it.  It doesn't make sense to me.  But it is a great reminder for us.

Here is the way they present it...

  

It is a great question... Are you who you were a year ago?   And the answer is NO you are not.  Since before we are born, our lives are constantly changing and when we stop changing we die!  And that happens whether we do a thing or not!  It is part of life.    But not so in our relationship with Jesus!

If we don't do things to deepen our relationship with Jesus, it stays the same and may even wither and fade. That's why spiritual disciplines like reading the Bible, praying, solitude with God, practicing sabbath, worship, small group participation (5 Q Circle) to name a few.  The bottom line when it comes to our faith and relationship with Jesus, if we don't intentionally do things to grow, we will be the same person a year from now that we are now!  And that means we are withering.

But by setting forth goals and practicing spiritual disciplines, we can grow to new depths of relationship with Jesus and find that we are sustained through the challenges of life by him.  Recently, I have been engaging in a group/ book discussion group with a couple of church planters and it has given me great insights and caused me to wrestle with some things that if I weren't in the group, I might not think about or through.  For a long while now, like 11 years or so, being part of a small group/ life transformation group has been very beneficial for me and if it weren't for those experiences, I might still be the person I was.

So, who are you and are you taking deliberate steps to grow in your relationship with Jesus?

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