3 Vital Signs Of A Healthy Christian February 28, 2021
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Introduction
Introduction
I believe God has called us to be His followers; Jesus’ disciples. Sometimes, following God is hard. Sometimes we don’t see the growth we want to see. We struggle with habitual sins, we fail to be the people we know God wants us to be.
Sometimes changing our lives will involve coming to massive, deep revelations. It will involve big, sudden changes.
Like Tiger Woods’ car accident this week breaking his leg in multiple areas. he went from training Dewayne Wade on the golf course to being lade up for the next year. Change happened suddenly.
Yet many times change happens slowly over time. When I’m training a new employee on fixing phones they don’t automatically know all there is to know. They slowly learn as I teach them. Probably the same way we’ve all learned in our jobs.
In the same way change happens negatively. Months of overeating slowly adds unhealthy weight. Years of smoking creates problems in the lungs.
Spiritually change happens slowly or fast as well.
We’ve all heard of or met those annoying people who have had life changes in an instant. They go from addicted to alcohol to stone cold sober in a moment, an encounter with Jesus. I joke about these people but we all have really had different moments if we are a follower of Christ where God has done a quick change in us. And if you notice, when you share that story of change with others, God works differently in different people.
But for most of us through most of our lives God wants to work in us over time. He changes us by changing our hearts.
It’s like a relationship with a spouse or a good friend. If you see sometime in then you know needs to change you can try the direct approach. You can just tell them about it and try to change them that way.
But people who study behaviors and our minds say that we are all really like trees with massive root systems of belief underground. If you want change a loved one, you need to work to understand what’s underground, you need to take time to learn and share where you’re coming from. Then as you understand what drives someone else and share where you’re coming from, you can begin to change your loved one.
God wants to work in and change every one of us. Unless you have reached the peak of Christian perfection and don’t need to grow any more…God wants to change you to become more like Jesus.
Now the fact is we don’t know how God wants to change each of us. Every one of us has a different story, different history, and different challenges. Therefore God has different changes to work in each of us.
If you go to the ER, they have specific protocals to walk through to keep you alive. They’ll check heart rate, blood pressure, blood sugar and all sorts of things to see if your body is healthy. If it isn’t they’ll work to save or bring your body back to a healthy state.
When you go for a regular checkup the doctor compares metrics such as weight, blood pressure, and more against what’s normal. For all of us as human beings there are healthy habits for eating and living that will keep us whole (Aside from disease or accident).
In the same way if you want to walk as a disciple of Jesus Christ. If you want to be healthy as a child of God. If you want to grow to live the fullest life God has to offer you......then there are several normal habits, vital signs if you will to pay attention to.
Do you spend time daily with Jesus?
Do you spend time daily with Jesus?
1 “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.
2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.
3 Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you.
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Jesus wants to abide with you, to lead and guide your life.
God wants to speak to you.
11 I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.
105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
12 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.
If you spend time daily reading God’s Word and praying, God will shape you as you understand Him better.
Use a devotional
Ritualize your timing.
Use a list to hold you to prayer.
Some days just throw the list away.
16 Rejoice always,
17 pray without ceasing,
18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
If you are struggling to grow in holiness and in your faith and you do not spend time every day with God then you are like a diabetic suffering from the torture of chronically high blood sugar and refusing to take insulin every day.
Do you spend time every week in community with other believers?
We can’t grow alone.
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,
25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
19 Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”
11 And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
14 so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.
God has given us the church, a living community of believers. He has called us to be family to each other. He has equipped us to equip each other. We are changed by the people we spend time with.
Do you spend tim every week with other believers? God has called us together to follow and worship Him.
Do you give generously to God’s work?
Do you give generously to God’s work?
Throughout the Bible God has called his people to give back to him out of what He has given them. It has been a constant reminder that God saves, money doesn’t save, God saves.
7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.
10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
God asks us to test him!?
17 As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.
18 They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,
19 thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.
It’s not wrong to be wealthy.
God calls us to put our hope in him, not riches.
God calls us to use our money to store treasure in heaven.
God calls you to give. If you are a committed attender and member of Cornerstone, God calls you to give to what He’s doing here.
Giving reminds us that we are trusting in God, not our ability to cling to our wealth.
Conclusion
Conclusion
Spend time daily in God’s Word.
Invest weekly in community with other believers.
Give faithfully to God out of what He has given you.