IT’S A WRAP

DR. LARRY LAMB

Do you have a plan to keep growing?

• Philippians 4:10-14 How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. 11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. 14 Even so, you have done well to share with me in my present difficulty.
• Reading this short part of one of Paul’s letters, we can easily see his growth pattern.
• People do not mature in Christ by accident.
• People who grow in Christ move toward a plan to grow.

1. PRIVATE DISCIPLINES

• 1 Corinthians 9:26 So, I run with purpose in every step.
• Four Private Disciplines
  – Absorbing God’s Word for daily food. (Biblical truth alive in love) – value 1
  – Practical praying to confess, ask, listen, and focus. (Power of prayer) – value 2
  – Giving to help. (Life-Changing generosity) – value 3
  – Serving to add value to others.
• John 13:4-5  So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, 5 and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.

2. WISE RELATIONSHIPS

– Do the people closest to you stretch you?
– Do the people closest to you inspire you?
– Do the people closest to you tell you the truth?
– Do the people closest to you point you to Christ?
– Are the people closest to you mature in their speech?
– Are the people closest to you pure in their lives?
– Are the people closest to you living in God’s grace?
– Are the people closest to you living for eternity?

• Colossians 3:1-2 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth.

3. BOOKS THAT DEEPEN LIFE

• 2 Timothy 4:9-13 Timothy, please come as soon as you can. 10 Demas has deserted me because he loves the things of this life and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has gone to Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Bring Mark with you when you come, for he will be helpful to me in my ministry. 12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, be sure to bring the coat I left with Carpus at Troas. Also bring my books, and especially my papers.
• What’s your plan to grow up in Christ? Do you have a Bible reading plan?
• Build your life on the solid rock of Jesus.
• Matthew 7:24-25 Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. 25 Though the rain comes in torrents and the floodwaters rise and the winds beat against that house, it won’t collapse because it is built on bedrock.
• May this be our most significant year ever, doing what God wants us to do, becoming who God wants us to become, and helping others along their faith journey.

“I must learn that the purpose of my life belongs to God, not me.” – Oswald Chambers

The Clock
“The clock of life is wound but once, and no person has the power to tell just when the hands will stop at a late or early hour. To lose one’s wealth is sad; indeed, to lose one’s health is sadder. To lose one’s soul is such a loss that no one can restore.”

Lord Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner. I know that the penalty for my sin is physical, spiritual, and eternal death. I acknowledge that I can’t do anything about my situation. But I know that You came to pay the penalty for my sin. I trust in You alone as the One who died in my place. I repent of my sin and trust in You as the only One who can place me in an eternal relationship with the living God. I desire to be Your child. I desire to live as Your child. In Your name. Amen.

If you have made a decision for Christ today please let us know by clicking this link and filling out the form.