Four Essentials for Growing in Life for God's Building

 

Four Essentials for Growing in Life for God's Building

1 Peter 3:4, 15: "But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit"; "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts"

Proverbs 4:18-23: "But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shines more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. My son, attend to my words; incline your ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."

Romans 8:6: "For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace."

1 Peter 1:8: "Whom having not seen, you love; in whom, though now you see Him not, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

Mark 12:30: "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength."

 

Item	Essential One: Love the Lord and Guard	Essential Two: Breaking of the Cross	Essential Three: Put Away Negative Things	Essential Four: Receive the Nourishment of the Milk of the Word
Reason	God's building is living and requires the growth of believers' life	To ensure Christ's life is unhindered within believers	Negative things hinder life growth	Need spiritual nourishment to maintain life growth
Method	1. Love the Lord 2. Mind the spirit 3. Guard the heart 4. Stay on the path of life	Experience the putting to death of Christ in His all-inclusive Spirit, the Spirit of glory	Thoroughly put away all: 1. Malice 2. Guile 3. Hypocrisy 4. Envy 5. Evil speaking	1. Understand through the rational mind 2. Absorb through mental faculties 3. Nourish the inner man
Explanation	Through loving the Lord and guarding one's thoughts and intentions, life can grow on the correct path	Through the work of the cross, deal with and remove inner obstacles	Need to thoroughly remove all negative elements that hinder life growth	God's pure word can nourish our life like milk
Example	Like plants needing sunlight and proper environment to grow, believers need to keep themselves in love	Like pruning trees, removing dead branches to promote growth	Like clearing weeds so good seeds can grow healthily	Like babies needing pure milk to grow
Application	1. Set apart daily time to love the Lord 2. Often examine one's thoughts and intentions 3. Stay on the proper path of life	1. Accept perfecting in environment 2. Submit to the Spirit's government 3. Let the cross work on us	1. Examine and deal with negative things 2. Practice living a holy life 3. Maintain pure thoughts and intentions	1. Daily Bible reading and prayer 2. Seriously digest God's word 3. Apply truth in daily life
Related Scripture	1 Peter 2:5: "You also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." Deuteronomy 10:12: "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul."	1 Peter 4:14 "If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." 1 Peter 1:11 "Examining what time or circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating, when he testified beforehand about the sufferings of Christ and the glory that would follow."	1 Peter 2:1: "Therefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings."	1 Peter 2:2: "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that you may grow thereby." Deuteronomy 11:18: "Therefore shall you lay up these my words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes." 1 Corinthians 2:15: "But he that is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is judged of no man."

 

The Four Essentials for Growing in Life for God's Building are:

1.      Love the Lord and Guard

2.      Breaking of the Cross

3.      Put Away Negative Things

4.      Receive the Nourishment of the Milk of the Word

 

*Please refer to the 2024 International Thanksgiving Conference  'Living the Christian Life and Church Life under God's Government for God's Economy'  Message Three: Life and Building in Peter's Epistles"