Tuesday 22 May 2018

Moving on

Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, …                                                                                                                                     Heb. 6.1


A further treatment came this morning, followed by an afternoon check in with my GP. And that’s the medical news for now. So, I thought I’d dip into my Prayer Journal for an entry to the blog. 

I just so happened to come across this entry. It spoke clearly to me. I am ready to move on in so many areas. Certainly, the treatment will cease at the end of next week. I am ready to move on. I feel well, really well, and I want to get on with whatever lies ahead. Spiritually these recent months have been truly amazing. I could camp here, but I know I need to move on. I truly believe God has more for me. Is this selfish? I think not. A long time ago I promised God that, if He gave me more, I’d give it away. And so it goes. Here’s my offering on “Moving on”.

Moving on


  Oh yes! Let’s move forward. Let’s always be moving forward into maturity in our Lord Jesus. The epistle has already told us clearly of the humanity of Jesus – His perfect humanity. He lived as any other man. He experienced all of the rigours of everyday life, including the most severe of temptations. He was just like you and me except in this only, He did not succumb to sin. 

He understands us. He can empathise fully with any situation that we find ourselves in, for He has been in similar situations. But He did not yield to sin and, because of this, He is placed to rescue us. His most glorious act as man was the giving of Himself in perfect sacrifice for the sins of all, to release all who would come to Him, from the power of sin and into eternal life.

The epistle has told us also of His divinity. He is God, and He sits now in power and glory interceding continually for us and reaching down from heaven to grow us in, and into, His perfection. Our Saviour is God. He can do anything. This we must know. This knowledge we must live in. We must know beyond all doubt whatsoever that we are saved by a God of power, who sits in glory. He would have us live in a similar state. In His heavenly perfection He reaches to our earthly state to draw us to Him, to make manifest His perfection in us.

The epistle has told us these things and we must take in the fullness of them. This is foundational to our faith. This is the basis of our faith. This is the very beginning of our assurance, and verse 14 of chapter 3 reminds us that we must hold firm this assurance to the end.

The present verse exhorts us to leave the elementary teaching, to leave the beginning. This does not mean to discard, for how can we when we have already been told to hold it firm to the end. No, we do not discard it, but we move on. We hold on to it while, at the same time, moving on, growing in maturity in the knowledge of Jesus and in relationship with Him.

The foundation has been laid. The time has come to cease work on foundation building and rather to build up from, and upon, our foundation. Before we leave, however, the epistle writer reminds us of some of the truths incorporated in our sure foundation.

We repent from dead works. We seek life, life is Christ and anything that is not in Christ is dead and must be repented from.

We commit to our faith in God. Later in the epistle the writer will tell us that faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. All present circumstance and evidence might deny a certain happening. Even future indicators may show grave uncertainty, but if we have a knowing in our spirit that a certain thing can happen in God, then we hold on to it. This is faith. Faith is believing God’s Word that tells us With God all things are possible.This is faith and we are called on to have faith in God. Hallelujah!

And so, we need to move on, to press on to maturity. We are told (v3) we will do this if God permits. God is our loving Father. No parent wants their child to remain a baby. The parent is eager to lead the child in the process of maturity, teaching them, guiding them into the truth. God is no different. In fact, I believe He is even more dedicated to growing His children into maturity. He will lead us into the truth. And Jesus is the Truth. God will lead us further into Jesus as we will allow Him.

God will lead us into the perfection of Jesus. He will cleanse us to enter in and serve the living God. God will reveal to us the perfection of Jesus, and through His divine power He will lift us into the perfection of Christ, revealing all truth to us and bringing us to the place where we willingly count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus as Lord. (Phil 3.8)

Oh, yes, I want to press on to maturity. I want to see the perfection of Jesus, to grasp it and hold it, to gain deep understanding of it, and to embrace it with all of my being.



Lord God,
I rejoice in this word today. I have been reminded of all the foundational material to the Christian life. I have this foundation and I stand firmly upon it.
But now I want to move on. I want to build upward. I look to heaven to my heavenly Lord and Saviour seated in power and glory. I look up to see the mightiness and wonder of my great God, to gaze upon the perfection of Christ.

And I would be made perfect. I receive the heavenly life that my Lord bestows upon me, from His throne in heaven into my life here on earth. I receive this, but I want more. I seek maturity and perfection in Him.
Lead me Lord God. Show me Your ways. Have Your way in me.
I come. I surrender. I look to You for all that You would give me.
I thank You
            in the powerful and precious name of my Lord Jesus Christ.             Amen.







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