Growth Spurts

As I have walked with the Lord, (and I am sure you can attest to this as well for your life), I can honestly say that there has been consistent growth. Yet as I take an overview of the past 15 years, there have been a few times that I have experienced growth spurts. As with the natural growth spurts we experienced in our childhood years, we also experience growth spurts in our spiritual years.

God has been teaching me so much about unity. The Bible tells us, "How good it is to dwell in unity..." , and to "maintain unity through the bond of peace."

God is building His Church, He is preparing His bride. He wants his church unified!

I have been challenged to take a look at the part that I particularly play in the role of unity. How do I promote it? How do I exemplify it? There is a lot that goes into unity and maintaining it. Unity takes a lot of hard work; it takes a lot of sacrifice.

God has been showing me so many areas where division, strife and offense try to come into my life and cause me not to walk in unity. But I do not only want to discern where the enemy is at work, but I want God to do a deep work in me and reveal to me the root of these attacks in my life. I am finding that for each onslaught of division, strife and offense, that pride is the root.

God has not called me to nurture the hurts of offense and pamper them so that they can stay safe and sound within my spirit. Pampering and nurturing offenses only keeps us bound from ever experiencing the true peace of unity. The Bible tells us that every root not of God will be pulled up - it will be removed! Being that we have been crucified with Christ, and that it is no longer us who lives but Christ that lives within us, doesn't it make sense to want nothing in us that is not of Christ?

Deep calls to deep. The greatest growth in my life is not growth that can be measured outwardly, but will be expressed out of the overflow of my heart through the deep inward working of the Holy Spirit.