By TIMOTHY L. MELTON, PASTOR
(Transcribed by Myra D. Colgate)
Cherokee Pentecostal Holiness Church
Read Colossians 1:9-10
We, as believers, are to not only live, but to live in the Realm of the Spirit. The fact is we are not just human beings, we are living spirits. That is the part of us which got saved when we were saved. Our souls are only in the “process” of being saved, and sadly, our earthly “flesh” never will be saved.
The question came for me to answer, “Pastor Tim, how do we grow in the Spirit?”
Let me tell you in this way… “The Lord did something amazing for my wife, Cassie and I as of last week. We shared this a little bit on Wednesday night at church. We had received a phone call from a Ford dealership in the Asheville area. They said, “You need to come and see us.” So, we did. When we got there, the sales manager wanted me to come and to design, drawing out, what he called, “my dream truck,” and so I did.
When I had finished, he said, “Congratulations! It’s been paid for, so sign here,” and I received it last week. It is an amazing truck! I’ve never had anything like it. I had no idea this was going to happen, but I know that “When one sows,” Scripture tells us, “we shall reap.” The Lord began to move and so I drove away last week in a brand hammer new, 2022 F-150 XLT Super Cab truck and it’s been an amazing ride! I went out and climbed into my truck and I just sat down in it. It’s all electronic on the inside and I started talking to myself as I was figuring out what all the buttons and switches did. When I did, a voice came on and said, “This is Alexa, how may I help you?” Now, all of us know what an Alexa is. We may even have them in our homes, right? (I didn’t know they could build them into a truck, too.)
“Alexa,” and the voice said, “This is Alexa.” I asked, “Alexa what’s the weather today?” “The weather’s going to be sunny.” I thought, “You don’t know even the half!” “You know,” I asked, “Alexa, what else can you do?” “Anything,” so I made her play my favorite music, and now I’m enamored when I get in this truck because, as I drive down the road, all I have to do is say, “Alexa” and “she’ll” talk to me.
Now, I brought this up. I didn’t buy this truck. The Lord gave it to me. I got a truck! I took it and I’ve had it now for days and I did this, because I didn’t know beforehand what it would do or what it could do. I had no real idea! I stumbled on it by accident. I literally stumbled on it by accident and discovered this truck could do more than I ever thought a vehicle ought to be able to do. I could have driven this truck for 300,000 miles and never utilized it to its’ fullest potential. I had no idea!
Part of the issue for us in and with Christianity, also is like me taking time to learn and know all about this truck.
It’s because we can’t or won’t ever know any of this unless we continue to grow up within our newly born-alive spirits. Saved “Yes,” but it is also true, we must continue to grow and strengthen our understanding of all this can mean to Him and to us. To fully appreciate what this will mean to us or even how to grow in it, we must begin by examining how and what we will need, to grow into what we should become for Him.
It is because we must “feed” our spirits, “feed” them, with the “food”, found only in the Word of God. We have all kinds of rights and privileges that God has instituted for us in His, and our, new Kingdom, telling us all about it in His Word. Put your name on them now, read about them, and declare them now over your life. It is only because one hasn’t done so, that we may not yet fully know how to accomplish this on our own. One may live without ever being able to fully utilize these things. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to go through the next sixty years of my life and not get to do everything God had for me to do; to not receive every gift God intended for me to receive and enjoy; to walk beneath the privileges God intended for me to live and enjoy!
To be continued…
