In Hebrews 5:11-14 we read about retarded spiritual growth in believers. "Concerning this we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull in your [spiritual] hearing and sluggish [even [f] slothful in achieving spiritual insight]. For even though by this time you ought to be teaching others, you actually need someone to teach you over again the very first principles of God's Word. You have come to need milk, not solid food. For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action), for he is a mere infant [not able to talk yet]! But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law," the Amplified Bible.

That thing Paul calls "solid food" is the tough stuff you either read in the Word, or hear in a sermon. The kind of stuff [food] that needs to be chewed before swallowing. The kind of stuff that keeps you coming back, prayerfully, to that scripture, or that church, so you can clearly see your walk and see what God needs you to do in order to grow closer to Him.

When I think of spiritual infants for Jesus, I see in front of me the vision of an adult body laying on top of a baby blanket on the floor in the middle of the living room. In one hand is the Bible and the other hand, a noisy rattle [the rattle, for a baby, is much easier to manipulate and use] . Sitting next to the infant on the floor is a half empty bottle of milk, and I clearly see this adult infant for Jesus still wearing nothing more than a large diaper, [the Pampered brand]. This infant 4 Jesus is doing nothing but waiting for his next bottle, diaper change, and crying when his/her expectations aren't meant.

That my brothers, is what I see when I visualize an adult believer stuck in the "Twilight Zone" of spiritual infancy. It is truly a pathetic sight, and I'm sorry to say this, but it is all too often seen within too many churches today.

Read on.....In Ephesians 4:11-14 - Paul writes, "His gifts were [varied; He Himself appointed and gave men to us] some to be apostles (special messengers), some prophets (inspired preachers and expounders), some evangelists (preachers of the Gospel, traveling missionaries), some pastors (shepherds of His flock) and teachers. His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body (the church), [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the [[a]full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him. So then, we may no longer be children, tossed [like ships] to and fro between chance gusts of teaching and wavering with every changing wind of doctrine, [the prey of] the cunning and cleverness of [b]unscrupulous men, [gamblers engaged] in every shifting form of trickery in inventing errors to mislead," the Amplified Bible.

If the above message causes you to feel anger, or disagreement with me, than you just may be an infant. God wants each of us to grow, in order to protect us from being tossed to and fro, and to help us better proclaim the Gospel.

The devil wants three things to happen with a new born believer in Jesus. 1) He wants us to fall away [back slide] and be inactive, or ineffective, or both; or, 2) He wants us to stall out, and get stuck in a spiritual rut, hopefully in the infancy stages of our spiritual life; and 3) He wants us be poor witnesses for the Kingdom.

The time to grow is now. Get yourself into a Bible teaching church, with a pastor that regularly steps on your spiritual toes, pushing you to grow. Get back to reading and studying the word. Forsake not the gathering [fellowship] of yourselves together. And live each day for Jesus, spreading His word to the world around you. Finally, learn to talk to God. I purposely didn't say pray, because I think we are better able to communicate with God when we can talk to Him like we'd talk to someone who we love very much and feel comfortable being around. This is intercession at its best. Our prayer life should be intimate as well as respectful. But never formal....

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