The boot camp of spiritual growth

God's ultimate goal for all humans is to soften our hearts and to make us more and more like Jesus every year; loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled. Code Orange Revival is an event at Elevation Church where different pastors and Christian speakers from all over the world visit Elevation and speak on different topics that can help us grow. Code Orange Revival is a little bit like a boot camp for spiritual growth.


Christine Caine speaks on the topic of timing in this sermon. Most of us are fully aware of our personal issues that we need to work on but instead of dealing with our issues today we say "tomorrow". We postpone dealing with our issues until tomorrow or until next year. Personal growth is uncomfortable, a bit scary and quite inconvenient, so we put it off until tomorrow and let our issues continue to mess up our lives. We let our relational issues sit there undealt with and one day they may ruin our marriages and lead to divorce. We let our financial issues be postponed until next year and one day they may grow so big that personal bankruptcy is the only option left. Change is always possible with God. God is willing & able to change us and heal us but it starts with us saying "I am willing". I will deal with this issue today, not tomorrow. What issue in your life is plaguing you like the frogs in the story about Pharaoh?


Most of us sincerely want a breakthrough in our lives, we want to see a change but we keep coming up with excuses why we can't do it today or why we are too busy to deal with our issues this year. Freedom is awaiting us and God did not create us to live in bondage. God wants to set each one of us free from what is holding us back in our lives. It all starts with me deciding to take that step of faith and say: "Today is the day to deal with this issue".


It is also good to remember that the enemy wants to keep us stuck in the past, so instead of beating ourselves up for not changing we can be aware of the reality that there is a power working against us. We have the power to choose who we follow. We can either choose to keep listening to the voice in our head that says: "You will never succeed at this so don't even try it" or "You will never change". We can choose to listen to God who says: "For I know the plans I have for you. Plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11) God has the power to heal every broken thing within us. The enemy's goal is to kill, steal and destroy every good thing in our lives. We get to choose who we will give our allegiance to, the enemy or God.