In this episode, we tackle the concept of spiritual growth and what steps need to be made on our parts to accomplish that growth.
Be sure to download the companion journal for this video from the link below:
My 12-Week Journal
Week 09#: Growing in Yah
Other videos in this series:
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Once you have been on this walk, continuing in the path of righteousness for some time, your place on that path and along this walk should not be the same as when you first awoke. If you have been learning spiritual truths and applying them to your life on a daily basis you will progress along the path considerably and advance your steps toward the Kingdom. The overall effect will cause you to mature spiritually as well, and this is called growing in Yah. Metaphorically, we all start out as babes in truth, subsisting on spiritual milk, but some of us mature somewhat and begin to grow into our true spiritual selves as we practice what we learn from Yah’s daily revelation. But the vast majority among those who have been presented with truth remain trapped in spiritual infancy by choice, in that they refuse to live what they have learned. In this way, both their learning and growth stagnates.
Growing spiritually does not happen on its own. You have to make a conscious decision to grow in Yah after being called by him—and many are called according to Matthew 22:14. But following the decision to grow, it will take effort on your part and work to actually add inches to your spiritual stature. Matthew 22:14 also says that though many are called, few are chosen, proving that only a few will do what it takes to grow in this truth. As with physical growth in babies and children, which requires that they rest, exercise by walking regularly, and eat well, spiritual growth is no different. We must take our spiritual rest on Sabbaths and days of pure convocation, we must continue on our walk by practicing what we learn, and we must nourish ourselves daily through Yah’s word. And when it comes to that spiritual diet, as we grow, our food will go from liquids to solids and expand with great variety. During this growth, we must also, through effort, add other important elements to our faith. The emissary Peter elaborates on this by saying:
“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with righteousness, and righteousness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Master Yeshua Messiah. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers [and sisters], be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fail.”
—2 Peter 1:5 – 10
Knowing that spiritual growth is only possible through a conscious choice which must be followed by personal effort and commitment, it is easy to see why few will make this choice. Commitment scares a lot of people, while others are often committed to the wrong things. Some commit themselves to the idea of striking it rich or becoming knowledgeable in some worldly field, and all of their efforts are made toward these and other earthly pursuits. Our commitments, therefore, largely shape who and what we ultimately become. If we can commit ourselves to Yah’s will and growing in him, we will be fully able to serve the purpose for which he designed us. And your interests must be spiritually attuned to Yah’s will, which is laid out in scripture.
But this kind of radical change does not come through forced action. You can’t tell yourself to quit eating a certain way or watching certain programs and expect to live that out instantaneously. First, your thought process must change, and that will change your very heart. If you long for something heart and soul, it is because your mind awakened the desire that was sparked by one of your senses. You must either see something, hear something, etc., in order for that thing to affect your mind and the way you think. Then your heart will long for it. This will force your mind to devise ways to attain whatever it is your heart longs for, which leads to commitment. If you want your heart or soul to long for what is righteous and spiritually beneficial, you have to train your senses on such things, and then your mind and your thinking will build commitment toward those goals. The Psalmist wrote:
“My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word.”
—Psalm 119:81
King David’s soul longed for salvation because he had first experienced such a concept by reading Yah’s word. His eyes were able to take in that promise and this shaped his thinking, which created a longing for salvation in his soul.
“My eyes long for your promise; I ask, ‘When will you comfort me?’ For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes.”
—Psalm 119:82 – 83
David familiarized himself with Yah’s statutes by reading them regularly, and his eyes longed for the promises in them. But note that David did not only read Yah’s statutes, he lived by them as well.
“I hold back my feet from every evil way, in order to keep your word.”
—Psalm 119:101
In addition to living Yah’s word, Psalm 119:93 says that David never forgot Yah’s precepts, for they gave him life. Verse 97 says he continually mediated on Yah’s word, and this is what we are to do. We must read them until we know them in our heart, not word for word, but their fundamental truths. We must meditate on those precepts and live by them. The emissary James also had a word for those who take time to study, or look intently, into the law:
“But the one who looks intently into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.”
—James 1:25
Applying all of this is how we build commitment toward righteousness and are able to grow spiritually.
WEEK 9
In considering these various points, know that Yah is not one to rush things. Therefore, your growth, as with the growth of all biological things, will take time. That does not mean you will not actively engage in reading the word and strive to live a life that lines up with Yah’s precepts. You will do these things, but with the understanding that spiritual maturity won’t happen overnight. Be expected to stumble and fall like any toddler, but also be prepared to stand up and try again, and again until your spiritual legs find their proper footing. It is written:
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.”
—Ecclesiastes 3:1
This includes a time to achieve spiritual maturity. As Yah told Habakkuk concerning an important prophecy, internationalize these words in your own walk:
“[T]he vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay.”
—Habakkuk 2:3
Over the next 4 weeks, I’m asking you to continue this journey with me; not a journey to figure out a career path, or how to busy yourself and fill your life with meaningless activities. In fact, we’ll be seeking to clear out the clutter and pare things down so you can focus on the most important aspect of your life: what it is Yah has truly called you to do in service to him.
Remember that our purpose, and our plans, must derive from Yah. This 12-week journey will involve listening to this message one week at a time, while applying its principles to your life. The 12 parts should not be binged in one go, otherwise it defeats the purpose of the journey. If you have already viewed the series one week at a time, then feel free to binge in another viewing.
THINGS TO DO OVER THE COURSE OF THE NEXT WEEK
First, listen to this message several times and review its various points.
Keep this in mind:
In order to grow in Yah, I must change the way I think by fixing my eyes on his word and apply their fundamental truths to my life.
Reflect on this verse of the week:
“So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—if indeed you have tasted that Yah is good.”
—1 Peter 2:1 – 3
Ask yourself this question:
Will I prepare myself for my true purpose by making a conscious decision to grow in Yah, rather than remain in spiritual infancy by not living according to the light I have received?
Keywords: spiritual milk, spiritual meat, babes in the word, Matthew 22 14, spiritual infancy, radical change does not come through forced action, what leads to commitment, look intently into the law, fundamental truths, spiritual legs, kingdom preppers, finding purpose, 12-week journey, searching for purpose, kingdom prepping, kp, scripture-study
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