It's a Process - That Starts with You

I’ve been telling my children, “it’s a process, it’s a process.”  And truly, so many things in life are just that - a process.  At this point in our moving saga, I feel the Holy Spirit reminding me of the same. ​

“Kim, it’s a process.”  
“It will happen.”  
“Be patient.”  
“I’ve got you in the palm of my hand.”  
“Just be obedient.”  
“Stay in My Word.” 
“Calm down.”
“I love you.”   
“You are my child.”

I haven’t always been able to hear or feel the comforts of the Holy Spirit, and sometimes now, I still become impatient and start trying to do things on my own.  I am still being sanctified, I am still undergoing the process of spiritual growth.  I am not a finished product, in the Lord.  I can tell that through the years, my faith in God has grown.  I became saved and was baptized at around 8 years-old, but I certainly was not complete or spiritually whole then.  I attended a new member class in which we learned the layout of the Bible - Old Testament and New Testament, and what the large and small numbers meant on each page.  We were taught a few memory verses then encouraged to continue to attend church and Sunday school, and to always try do good.

One big thing I didn’t understand then was that once I made the decision to believe in God - once I decided for myself that God did, in fact send His one and only Son Jesus to die on the cross many years ago so that I would not have to pay the penalty of death for my own sins.  Then He rose again on the third day as proof that He had defeated death and we could too - that I was saved forever.  I didn’t know that once I believed this, my next step was to grow as a Christian.  I thought that my every sin would set me back to being an unsaved person.  Every week at church I was raising my hand while every eye was closed and every head bowed trying to get saved again.  I wasn’t growing because I had not progressed out of spiritual infancy.  One Sunday, well into my adulthood, a guest minister preached on the topic of once saved, always saved.  Why hadn’t I known this?  It was eye opening to realize that every week, for years, I had been getting saved for nothing - I had already been saved since I was single digits in age.  It later began to make sense.  Why would the God who created mankind want His precious Creation to perish?  He loves us more than we can comprehend.  He knows our nature and the thoughts we will think before we even think them.  He knows we will sin, but He doesn’t want our sin to cause us eternal separation from Him. The first chance He gets, the first time we make up in our stubborn mind that He does exist and He is in control, and He does love us so much that He put His own Son to death on our behalf - that’s when He saves us.  We don’t have to make every decision the way He would have us make it.  We don’t have to be perfect - we cannot be perfect and without sin.  He only created one man who would live a life without sin and that was His own Son, Jesus Christ. 

Once we are saved, we must learn to read the Bible so that we know and understand God’s plan for mankind.  We must read the Bible so that we can see the exact words of Jesus as recorded in the Gospels.  I was taught about the large and small numbers on the pages of the Bible, but I cannot say I actually started reading the Bible until much later - years even after I realized I was saved long ago.  Once I began reading it and gaining a better understanding, the process of sanctification began.  Sometimes I feel like I am well advanced in the process, but on some days, I am not.  It’s a process. 

I wanted to share this message today because in our Bible study, last week’s doctrine was Eternal Security and this week’s has been the doctrine of Sanctification.  As we discussed these doctrines, I was reminded of how long I remained in spiritual infancy because I did not know that I had eternal security.  It is my hope that someone today will also realize that they are saved - or decide that they would like to be saved, and take the needed steps.  This is not a message to keep to yourself, this is for everyone you know.  If you have never shared a post, this one is worth sharing.  Amen.

Thank you for reading! 
Be blessed this week!
Kim