Ephesians 5v1-2 - "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."

The greatest evidence of growth in Christ, is Love

1 Peter 2v2 - " Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation"

Just us consuming milk is sufficient to cause a baby to begin performing required life processes, consuming the Word of God will make us begin to think and act God's way

1 John 2v12-13 - "I am writing to you, little children,

because your sins are forgiven for his name's sake.

I am writing to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young men,

because you have overcome the evil one.

I write to you, children,

because you know the Father."

What makes one grow to be a father in the faith is not only in overcoming sin, or merely knowing his spiritual strength: it is his intimacy.

Ephesians 4v13 - "until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ"

Maturity in Christ is shown in how much of Jesus we reveal in the way we live

Numbers 14v9 - "Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the LORD is with us; do not fear them.”"

Joshua's personal knowledge of God caused Him to be stirred in faith when others had cause for fear

Exodus 24v13 - "So Moses rose with his assistant Joshua, and Moses went up into the mountain of God'

There are great encounters we have with God even while we serve others

2 Cor 3v5 - "Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,"

Having personal fellowship and encounters with God brings us to a place of complete dependence on Him. That is the greatest preparation for ministry

Acts 7v22 - "And Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and he was mighty in his words and deeds."

God prepares His people to make an impact in the world. But we must not lose our identity while we are being prepared in the world

Romans 12v2 - "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

It is when our minds are renewed that manifest the effect of our salvation

Proverbs 20v27 - "The spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts"

The spirit of a man is the real man because that is what is intended to give him God-consciousness

1 John 4v8 - "Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."

The sign that one's life is filled with and controlled by the Holy Spirit is the overflow of the expression of love.

2 Timothy 1v6 'For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands"

The Holy Spirit will have a powerful effect in our lives when He is fan into flame

Ephesians 5v18 (AMP) - "Do not get drunk with wine, for that is wickedness (corruption, stupidity), but be filled with the [Holy] Spirit and constantly guided by Him."

Being filled means allowing our lives and living to be under the Spirit's control and influence (just like how alcohol influences and controls a drunk person)

John 14v16-17 "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper,to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you."

The Holy Spirit is a person. The implication of that is that we ought to fellowship with Him

Luke 11v13 - "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

The Holy Spirit is God's gift to us to help us live the Christian life. There cannot be a fruitful walk with the Lord without the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 2v10 - "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."

- Our daily lives must be about good works because we are saved

- Our daily lives must be about growing in our intimate fellowship with God

Colossians 1v10 - "so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;"

We must live as though we have an audience of one; God Almighty

Daniel 1v8 - "But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s delicacies, nor with the wine which he drank; therefore he requested of the chief of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."

Philippians 2v15 - "that you may become blameless and [a]harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world,"

We may be the only demonstration of Jesus some people will ever see. Let's represent Him wherever we are

Philippians 2v6,7 - "who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. "

Jesus did all He did in spite of His divinity and His greatness. That is the perfect example of Humility