Growth

To start things off here is an excerpt from a book called the Devine Mentor by Wayne Cordero; 

    "Shortly after I became a Christian, I found myself complaining to God about the quality of my church's academic-style preacher who often flew things at a high altitude where I was unable to cruise. I began my complaint in the bathroom after a service.
    "God!" I called out, hoping I was alone in the men's room. "I'm not getting fed. I'm dying here, suffering from malnutrition!"
    I'm not sure if it was a chuckle from the stall next to me or a reply from heaven, but I recall becoming acutely conscious of something as the Spirit spoke to me from the depths of my own anguished being.
    What about ME? He seemed to whisper. Am I not enough? Why are you blaming others for your lack of growth? You are depending on a once-a-week feeding, but as you grow up you must learn to feed yourself! I will be your Mentor."


    That last paragraph should speak to us all... "What about ME? Am I not enough?"  All too often we find ourselves relying on a pastor/preacher to tell us what it is we need to learn or what we need to read, after all God is supposed to speak through them to us right? Well... yes, and no. We are to create disciples that create more disciples. We are all preachers, we are all given the role of mentorship once we have been mentored ourselves. This doesn't even always apply to a "new Christian"  there are plenty of people who have been a Christian for quite a long time and yet lack a mature relationship or even a realization of what that relationship should look like. This comes almost every time from the fact that they do not feed themselves, they do not allow God to be ever present in their life PERSONALLY. To give Him access to what happens everyday and to take that to Him and say "Lord, teach me". To take time out of their busy day and devote it to Him, or even continual conversation with Him throughout the day.

 Matthew 7:7  "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you."

    All of what Is told in this verse is nowhere close to passive, it is action.. which requires doing. Not just saying "ok Lord teach me I'm here." If we require knowledge what do we do? We go to someone who knows what they are talking about, the sole job of a preacher is to encourage a more personal relationship with God. Not to become the relationship we have with God. Going to His word in our own free will and opening our hearts and minds to HIM then allowing Him to manifest Himself in us. Seek out the source of knowledge and you will be granted truth and wisdom. This is not to say that you should not go to church and listen to your pastor, these men have been called to do what they are doing. But you need to always refer back to the word and the Holy Spirit to solidify what it is that they have taught. Then allowing God to teach you something that is even more relevant to your life than you had thought. He wants to teach us, in fact He is DESPERATE to teach us!  He will be there for us and teach us, but we must seek Him out. To show Him we are willing to learn all that we can from Him.