Stretched (Daily Devotional)

Hello friends, we are studying about change to grow. We talked about different characteristics that we must have in order to grow with God. Today, I want to talk about stretching. God is a God who stretches us. He stretches us from our original position, not so He can break us but so He can lift us up to the next level. Let me read for us from first Corinthians chapter three verses 1 to 3 it says, ‘And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able; for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?’ Paul is talking to the Corinthian church and he's saying that they haven't grown, they haven't stretched themselves in the understanding of God's word which means that they have not stretched themselves from milk to solid food. They have also not stretched themselves in the character of Christ and he lists out all these evil things among them, strife, divisions, envy, behavior, he says like mere men, not like believers, not the things that are fitting for believers. What happened to these Corinthians? They remained where they started, not that God did not speak to them, not that revelation was not given to them, but they were unwilling to stretch themselves, they were unwilling to let go of the things that the Holy Spirit convicted them of. Why? Because stretching is painful. When we want to accommodate the truth that God is bringing into our lives, when we want to respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, it's painful. We don't want to go through that discomfort, it's easier to just stay as we are, but when we do yield to the work of God, that's when we are stretched for growth. In our understanding of God's word, we go from level one to level two, with a little bit of discomfort, but the good thing is we have moved on to the next level. In our character as the Lord Jesus Christ, we move on from level one to level two because we are able to manage with a little bit of discomfort and go after what God wants us to go after. So, friends, I just want to encourage us, there is pain involved in growth, there is pain involved with stretching, but without stretching ourselves in God there will never be growth. So, accommodate that positive pain and be willing to let the Holy Spirit work in your life. Let's pray together, Heavenly Father, we thank you, that you want to conform us into the image of your son, Jesus Christ. The way Jesus represented you, enable us Father to represent you and God, we pray that you will give us the grace to endure every good stretching that you bring into our lives. We thank you God, we thank you for growth, in Jesus’s name we pray, Amen.

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