JC Blog

“Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” ( Hebrews 5:13-14 )

When a baby is born they are fed their mother's milk for the first six months of their lives. Then as they grow they are slowly introduced to solid food. First in the form of baby foods, pureed fruits and vegetables that are easy to swallow and digest. Then small amounts of prepared food, cut into little bits. Eventually they are given solid food, once their teeth have come in and they have learned to chew and swallow it. It is a natural process that one does not have to teach with much effort.

As children grow, they also begin to feed themselves. Every mother knows that at a certain point, the baby will not allow others to spoon feed it any longer. The child wants to use the utensil to bring the food into their own mouth. What begins as a messy process is also a necessary one. They learn coordination from working the spoon when they eat. They develop skills, early on, to feed themselves for the rest of their lives. This is the way it should be. After all, no one would want to spoon feed a forty year old baby, it would be quite embarrassing.

The same natural principle can be used for Christians. At first, they should be gathered and taught the first principles of God's Word. They should be encouraged and led into these amazing truths by those who are older in Christ. As this happens, their own skills should start to develop for reading and understanding the Word for themselves. They should ask questions seeking comprehension of what they are studying. All the while being trained through the power of the Holy Spirit to understand what has been written to them in the Scriptures. As they do this, the Lord speaks His powerful truths into their hearts illuminating their lives with this knowledge and truth.

This is a process which requires solid doctrine as its foundation. The footing must be set on the basic principles of God's Word to understand the other truths that are recorded for us. No one would give a child a steak; so in the same way a new believer must start out on the milk of the word and grow in the knowledge and truth of God.

Problems arise because we have a multitude of Christians who are not progressing in the natural process of growing up. The writer of Hebrews is chiding the people for their laziness in understanding the principle he is writing about. He told them that they ought to be teaching others by this time and yet they are still feeding on the milk of the word, needing someone to each them the very first principles over and over again ( Hebrews 5:12 ). He goes on to say that anyone in this condition is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. The Amplified Bible puts it this way, “For everyone who continues to feed on milk is obviously inexperienced and unskilled in the doctrine of righteousness (of conformity to the divine will in purpose, thought, and action), for he is a mere infant [not able to talk yet]!” ( Hebrews 5:13 Amp ). These are harsh words, but the truth in them rings clear, just as it is not acceptable for an adult to continue to nurse, a believer should not remain an infant in the knowledge of the Word.

The remedy to this problem is growing up! It takes time and it takes discipline to get in the Word regularly. But Jesus is the one who said, "The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life" ( John 6:63 ). The written word is our handbook for this life, Peter said that everything pertaining to life and godliness is found there ( II Peter 1:3-4 ). The writer of Hebrews closes chapter 5 with these words, “But solid food is for full-grown men, for those whose senses and mental faculties are trained by practice to discriminate and distinguish between what is morally good and noble and what is evil and contrary either to divine or human law” ( Hebrews 5:14 Amp ). As we grow, the more skilled we are in the word, the more we will understand these truths when we hear or read them. We will not need anyone to first explain the foundation again, instead we will build upon it entering into the fullness of God with the complete understanding that belongs to the spiritually mature.

Abraham was the only saint in the Old Testament who was called a friend of God. Abraham pleased the Lord greatly, but it wasn't because he was good or even because he was living a holy life. In fact Abraham did some things that would raise our eyebrows today. But nevertheless, he pleased the Lord because he lived fully immersed in faith.

Hebrews 11:6 says, ‘without faith it is impossible to please God..." so the opposite is also truth, with faith it is possible to please God. The rest of that verse goes on to say, "...because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him." ( Hebrews 11:6 ) Abraham was a living example of this, he knew the Lord intimately and because of it, he was convinced that God was capable of everything he had promised to him. God loves that kind of faith!

The Bible is God's love letter to us. He has done everything that can possibly be done to redeem mankind. The Bible is God's promise to us. In the same way that Abraham believed what God had promised him and was credited with righteousness, we too, need only to rely on the promise within His word and what Jesus did to obtain right standing with him.

Abraham believed and exercised his faith in God and received right standing with God. In the same way, we also only need to put our faith in Jesus and firmly rely on him as our personal savior and then God credits us with that righteousness that solidifies our standing before him. Today if you have done this, then you, like Abraham, are also considered a friend of God! What a blessed thing!

I have prayed for many people over the years for various things. One girl, in particular stands out because her body was sick and robbing her of life. The doctors could do nothing for her and as we talked, I looked into her eyes and saw that she had no hope. I remember thinking to myself, that this was a great place to be... fed up with the circumstances and hopeless for a solution.

No matter what anyone says, we all have faith. Because of this, we put our faith in what we believe. If we believe we will receive the answer from the doctor, then we will exercise our faith by seeking that answer, from the doctor. If we believe we have a chance at the million dollar jackpot, then we will buy a lottery ticket. If we believe the building we are in, is on fire, then we will leave the building. When we believe something, it show by how we appropriate our faith in that belief.

In this example from Abraham, he used his faith to believe God. The difference between us and Abraham, is that 'against all hope, Abraham in hope believed'. The Amplified Bible puts it this way, "[For Abraham, human reason for] hope being gone, hoped in faith that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been promised, So [numberless] shall your descendants be." ( Romans 4:18; Amp ). His human hope was gone because there was no possible way physically, that he should father a child by Sarah. Both well pass the age or capability. But the scriptures say, that he didn't hope with his limited understanding, instead he hoped through the supernatural hope imparted by God.

He took what had been spoken to him as fulfilled even before it had begun. To do that, faith first has to rise on the inside. Hoping with a supernatural hope in the promise of God. When we base our faith in God's word and what he has promised, then our faith is based in truth. Thank God that Abraham operated in faith because he saw the fulfillment of God's promise and we were also blessed through it. The circumstances surrounding him, ceased to exist when he clung to that hope, riding on God's word.

In the same way, the lady, whose eyes held disappointment and hopelessness, lit up at hearing this very scripture because all of a sudden her hope wasn't based on anything but God and his word. As we spent a couple hours pouring over this passage in Romans, faith rose on the inside of her until she couldn't contain herself. As we prayed together for her body to heal and the sickness to leave in Jesus' name, she showed that she believed God's word by her faith. And her faith made her well that very hour. Every day she grew strong and healthier until it was physically evident that her health was completely restored. She choose to operate in faith, believing God for the impossible according to human standards. She hoped in hope, and saw fulfillment of what had been promised her in the scriptures.

Today, I encourage you to find just one promise in God's word and believe it with all your heart, mind and strength. Whatever you are needing from him. Find it, read it, meditate on it until you believe it with all your heart. When you start operating in faith, based on truth, then you will be blessed and completely changed by it. And like Abraham, your faith and the fulfillment of the promise will also bless many others as well! Amen.