Maturity is the ability to respond to the environment.
It’s being aware of the correct timing, how to behave, and knowing when to act, according to the circumstances and the culture of the society one lives in.
Eph 4:12
…to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up…
Eph 4:13
until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.
Divine maturity is a maturity that can come only from God – there are certain things in life that we cannot be qualified for until we are mature.
A baby is not mature, but a man is…
You may be a male but that doesn’t mean you are a man!
Male merely identifies your gender, that’s not a revelation or something to be discovered cause its already there. To say you are a man, you have to be seasoned – nothing can be considered mature without seasoning. In the mind of God, you are seasoned not only by what you have gone thru, but by what you have passed. You are seasoned by your process, so if you deny your process by running away from it, you cannot be seasoned, so you cannot mature.
When are you seasoned?
When are you mature?
We can say we are maturing in our process when there is less resistance to what God wants us to do. We become mature only when we obey God. The more you obey, the more you mature. The more you become mature, the more your purpose is revealed.
Q? Do you know the purpose of God for your life?
Purpose is not obvious.
So we ask again: do you know the purpose of God for your life?
Three Types of Purpose
1. Natural purpose
2. Divine purpose
3. Eternal purpose
Natural purpose
Reason, taking care of nature, belonging to family [biological, community, church], loving and caring for one another…
Divine purpose
Col 2:2 My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ,
Eternal purpose
It’s for us His children to be with Him forever in His Kingdom, for all eternity!
Rom 9:17
For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: “I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”
Is it possible for a person to be on purpose and not know it?
Pharaoh didn’t know his purpose!
Ex 1:8
Now there arose a new king over Egypt, who did not know Joseph.
The other Pharaohs knew Joseph, but this one did not – yet it was God who raised him up!
If you pray against Pharaoh, you are praying against the will of God!
Rom 13:1
Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Ex 3:4
So, when the Lord saw that he turned aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, “Moses, Moses!” And he said, “Here I am.”
When a person has been called, what is the first thing that the call does to the person? Sometimes, the call and the purpose are not the same! [profession and purpose]
First, the call identifies, then it separates.
Every time God calls, He calls you first to Himself.
Then He assigns you to a thing!
If one does not meet the Source of his calling, there is the tendency for you to do things on your own strength, that’s why it doesn’t stand! [falters and fail] I believe that 90% of the call is actually the preparation for the thing we were called to do.
Let’s look at the preparation of God for the Apostle Paul.
Gal 1:11
I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.
Gal 1:12
I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
Gal 1:15-16a
15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased 16a to reveal his Son in me…
Gal 1:16b-17
so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was,
Gal 1:16-18
17bbut I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus. 18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem
Gal 1:21 Later I went to Syria and Cilicia.
Gal 2:1 Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalem,
This is where many miss what God has called us to do, we think that our purpose is in something we can naturally do. THAT IS NEVER TRUE. When you assign people to do things based on their availability and capabilities, you could actually create a crisis!
You need to understand this:
Every ministry functions on faith, never by sight, talent, or availability of the person!
God will tell you to do things that are contrary to your education. Often your education sees only facts and figures. No ministry can be done by sight, but only by faith – if by sight, we will not be able to do anything! [sample: Church’s Prayer tower]
Moses took care of sheep for 40years!
What has that got to do with confronting Pharaoh and delivering the Israelites?
He even lost his ability to speak!
Jesus was a carpenter.
What has that got to do with being the Son of God?
Or being the Savior of the world?
The deception with many of us is, we think that what we have naturally acquired, qualifies us to do something that can only be done Supernaturally. Truth: the natural thing you have studied and learned how to do has a shelf life; There is only a season and a time for it.
From the moment Moses was called from the burning bush, he knew he can no longer be a shepherd.
The moment he stepped into his purpose, all that he learned the past 40 years as a shepherd, he can no longer apply.
Purpose is not obvious.
David: shepherd boy to king
His whole family actually ignored him, even his own father!
Ovet: smuggler to Pastor
Cynthia: doctor to Pastora
So many others, we were called into something we really did not prepare for; but God did! God would not immediately disclose your purpose, because if it was obvious then the devil could see it! Then he will do everything to make life so very difficult for you – not God’s plan. The devil didn’t know who the Son of God was only until He was revealed.
The devil doesn’t know who you are till you show up at the appointed time, at your set time.
Luke 3:21
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as He was praying, heaven was opened…
Luke 3:22
and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are My Son, whom I love; with You I am well pleased.”
God won’t tell your enemy your purpose till the right time. When is that Pastor?
When you have fully submitted your life to the hands of the Master!
Do you know the purpose of God for your life?
Are you fully obedient to His commandments?
Will you be fully submitted to His will when the time comes for it to be revealed?