2Cor.5:17(Amp) says, "Therefore, if any person is ingrafted in Christ Jesus (the Messiah), he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old previous moral and Spiritual condition has passed away. Behold! the fresh and new has come."
Wondering why I've spent so much attention on this particular topic? Every child born, either in the natural or the Spirit, comes into this world without knowledge of life or things that pertain to life. Every child, both natural and Spiritual, must learn to walk and conduct our lives by what and how they learn. If we learn things that are wrong, then we will walk in those things. The outcome of adulthood and the progress we gain, depend on how and what we learn.
Prov.22:6(Amp) says, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and in keeping with his individual gift or bend, and when he is old he will not depart from it." If we train ourselves in God's Word, then we will trust and walk with Him as we grow into Spiritual maturity. Our Spiritual walk will direct our natural walk, when we train ourselves by God's Word. We will either learn to lean on God and His way of doing and being right, or we will learn on the world's ideas, with it's religious traditions and customs.
Raising a child in a home filled with double-standards, will cause indifference in that child's heart, which he/she teaches to the next generation. If we just attend church on Sunday and live another way the rest of the week, then we're training ourselves and our children that's it's proper to be indifferent about our walk with God. It's difficult to turn a heart that has been raised and trained up like this, because it's become an established part of that person's life. David writes in Psalm119:113(Amp), "I hate the thoughts of the undecided in religion (double-minded people), but Your Law (Word) do I love." David confesses to not living by what he tells others. He tells us not to copy his actions, but just obey what he says.
Many today have been trained to walk with God, just like this. We attend church on Sunday, while not paying attention to the Lord until the next Sunday. Most of us haven't been trained to take God at His Word and trust in Him, so we raised our children to do the same. Many Christians ridicule those who seek to walk with God in a greater way, calling us "fanatics, Word people or faith people." God is raising believers in the Power of His Word, who refuse to walk according to the religious dictates of the world.
Most Christians only know what our denomination has taught us, without searching God's Word and His will for ourselves. They are saved and born-again, but don't see the need to go beyond what they've been taught. They are still in the infant stage of the walk with God, because they haven't searched God's Word and received the knowledge of their new creation identity.
Knowing the Father by what others have taught us, isn't true fellowship with Him. Jesus said that, "My sheep know My Voice." It's up to every individual child of God to build their own relationship with the Father. We're to be in fellowship and close companionship with the Lord, so we hear when He speaks and can follow His instructions. Many say, "God doesn't speak to me," but Jesus says this isn't so. It's not a matter of God not speaking, but we're not listening or hearing.
Some view God's Word as being like magic and that things will simply come to pass with a certain hand movement or word. It requires time in God's Word for us to receive the knowledge of who we've become in Christ, to trust in Who He really is, and to rest in what He has Promised in His Word. It's not magic, but trust and assurance in God's faithfulness, that builds our relationship with Him. If we don't know His Word and covenant, then we won't know what to put faith in when we pray. Sadly, many ignore God and His Word, until a crisis arises in our lives. Then we try building enough faith to receive a miracle.
Many Christians have left the reading and studying of God's Word, to their preachers and ministers. This has been one of the biggest mistakes in Christianity. We don't believe we're called to the ministry, so we don't feel compelled to study God's Word for ourselves. If we believed that studying math was the teacher's job in school, then we probably couldn't balance our checkbooks. Teachers are charged with bringing forth the application of math in our lives and the student's job is to apply what we've been taught, so we can count.
How often do we take the lesson taught in Church and study the scriptures until we know the Truth of God's Word for ourselves? Our math teachers gave us math books and homework, that furthered what they taught. What would society be like if only teachers were taught to read? Can you imagine the chaos that resulted because drivers couldn't read road signs?
A disciples is a student. Jesus said in Matt.28:19(Amp), "Go then and make disciples of all nations." Disciples are students who learned what Jesus taught about our Heavenly Father and how God's Kingdom functions here on earth, applying His Name to bring others into His Kingdom. There's never been a rocket scientist who can't read or count for him/herself. They must know how to read and count, in order to achieve this title.
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