Tag: Bible verses about maturing as a believer

Bible Verse of The Day – 1-26-24

Luke 21:19 (NKJV) 19 By your patience possess your souls.

As Jesus spoke to His disciples, He began warning them of some things that were to come that would signify “the end of the age”.

His first warning was that no one fall victim to the deceptive tactics of the false messiahs who would come.

He went on to tell them of numerous signs and events that would take place that would be very difficult for those who had to endure them.

There will be great earthquakes, pestilences, fearful sights, and great signs from heaven.

He then expounded on the great persecution that His followers will be subjected to during that time.

Part of this persecution involves “them laying their hands on you” and “delivering you up to synagogues and prisons”.

And “they will put some of you to death” for your faith.

Why will this happen?

Because His followers will be hated for His name’s sake.

These are not easy things to talk about or to imagine having to endure.

But Jesus was speaking truth that we must all embrace the reality of.

None of us knows if we will face these things. But we must all understand that it is a real possibility, and that we must be prepared for it should it happen.

Jesus didn’t speak of this to scare His disciples. He spoke of it to prepare them!

But after all His warnings, He reassured them that “not a hair of your head shall be lost” if they stood firm, patiently enduring and persisting in their faith.

What would they gain by their patient endurance?

Here is what 4 different translations say:

NKJV – By your patience possess your souls.

NLT – By standing firm, you will win your souls.

AMP – By your [patient] endurance [empowered by the Holy Spirit] you will gain your souls.

NIV – Stand firm, and you will win life.

These 4 translations each state this truth a bit differently. But the meaning is the same. Stand firm and protect our eternal destiny.

Faith in Christ is not for the weak or the faint of heart.

It is not something we should approach flippantly or lightheartedly.

Let us all do whatever is necessary to make our calling and election sure.

2 Peter 1:10 (NKJV) 10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble;

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 4-26-23

Philippians 3:10 (NKJV) 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

As I have grown and matured as a believer, this verse has become very personal for me.

As the apostle Paul penned these words, he was sharing the deepest possible expressions of His love for and dedication to his Savior, Jesus Christ.

Paul, having previously been a persecutor of “followers of The Way”, was now a Christian himself.

The zeal with which he had pursued and persecuted Christians was now being funneled into his newfound faith in Christ.

Paul was an all-or-nothing kind of person. When he did something, he did it with everything in him.

So, as He worked out his relationship with the Savior, he wanted to know Christ in every aspect. He wanted to know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings.

Paul didn’t just want to know the power that had raised Christ from the dead. He also wanted to know and understand the pain and struggles that Jesus had walked through to get to His ultimate goal; crucifixion and death on the cross.

Paul undoubtedly knew that his faith in Christ might eventually cost him his life. And ultimately it did.

So, this leads me to ask the question, “do we also want to know the fellowship of His sufferings?”.

Are we (you and I) willing to do whatever it takes to walk out our faith, even if it means suffering for it?

This is a question that we need to ask ourselves and give an honest answer to.

Let us seek God and the leading of the Holy Spirit on this most serious topic.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-31-22

Ephesians 4:11-12 (NKJV) 11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ…

God has created and given us everything and everyone we need to thrive as the body of Christ.

Above, He listed the people who equip the body, raising her up and teaching her everything that’s needed to live a life that’s worthy of the name of Jesus and that’s strong for the kingdom of God.

These five “offices” are responsible for training up and equipping the saints of God from the moment they put their faith in Christ until they breathe their last breath here on earth.

Thinking about this reminds me of a parent raising a child, trying to strike that delicate balance between love, discipline, nurturing, exhorting, edifying, etc.

Sometimes this requires saying or teaching things that might not necessarily be popular or easy to say but are required for “proper nutrition” of those who hear.

Most of us would much rather hear something that’s joyful and uplifting vs. something that’s serious and somber.

This is akin to trying to get your children to eat their fruits and vegetables when there is a freshly prepared dessert right in from of them!

But God is faithful, and He guides each of us every day as we seek to serve Him and worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

And as we learn to “eat” those things that are harder to swallow, along with the things that are more pleasant, we will be balanced, strong and ready to answer the call when God places something in front of us that He wants us to do.

So, let’s be prepared to eat what God serves to us, whether it’s a platter of spinach, kale and broccoli or a plateful of brownies and chocolate cake (or whatever our favorite dessert might be).

We may or may not like it at that moment, but if God is serving it, we know that it’s beneficial for us.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-8-22

Galatians 5:16 (NKJV) 16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

This verse is short, simple and to the point. Despite it being so short and succinct, there is much we can learn and glean from it.

And if we heed what it says, it can be life-changing for many.

Let’s look at this scripture in reverse, from the end to the beginning, so we can better understand the depth of what it says.

First, it addresses a problem that so many struggle with; fulfilling the lust of the flesh.

What exactly does that mean?

There are two pieces to this; lust, and the flesh.

Lust is most often associated with sexual desires. But it can also be used to indicate or describe a strong desire to have something that someone else has; this is also referred to as coveting.

You can have lust in your heart toward a person, indicating a sexual desire or attraction toward that person.

But you can also lust after a physical item, as in wanting it very badly.

The flesh refers to our mind and our will, not our fleshly body. It is in our mind and our will where sin is birthed, then it is carried out physically.

The scripture above tells us that if we walk in the Spirit, we won’t fulfill the lusts of the flesh. What does it mean to “walk in the Spirit”?

It means that we do not make our choices and decisions by our own understanding or based on our desires.

In its most basic form, walking in the Spirit means that we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us in our decision making.

Walking in the Spirit indicates an ongoing growing and developing process, not just a one-time or occasional effort. It means increasing our understanding and maturing, not stagnating and remaining a spiritual infant.

It is in this growing and maturing process that we develop the strength and discernment needed to thwart temptation and the fulfilling of the lusts of the flesh. And as we continue to grow and get better at this, the devil will flee, knowing that he is wasting his time.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
49 N Lamplighters Walk
Hampstead, NC 28443

401-439-3780

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Bible Verse of The Day – 11-15-21

John 13:9 (NKJV) 9 Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”

As Jesus was spending His last hours with the disciples, He shocked them by washing their feet. This is something that only servants did during that time period.

The fact that their Master would lower Himself to wash their feet was beyond their comprehension.

What’s more, though, is that Peter flat out refused to let Jesus do so. He didn’t feel worthy to have Jesus perform such a seemingly menial task on his behalf.

When Peter refused, Jesus rebuked him, telling Peter that if he wouldn’t allow Jesus to wash his feet, then he couldn’t have any part with Him.

At that, Peter proclaimed, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”.

And so it should be with you and I.

Not that Jesus is standing in front of us offering to wash our feet, but that we would allow Jesus to “wash” our whole selves, cleansing us and making us vessels that are worthy of His name, by the power of His Spirit and through our complete submission to Him.

This is the only way we will ever fully develop our relationship with Him, allowing us to grow into mature believers who serve God wholeheartedly, shining His light brightly to bring glory and honor to Him.

Jesus, wash all of me.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 10-29-21

1 Corinthians 13:11 (NKJV) 11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

There is something very important implied here for all believers to pay close attention to.

That something is our growth and maturity in Christ.

When we first put our faith in Christ, we are mere children in our relationship with Him.

But as time goes by, we need to make sure that we’re doing our part to mature and grow.

Everyone grows at different rates. This is a given. The important thing is that we do grow!

Thankfully, God is patient, and He gives us grace as we learn to crawl, then move on to walking and, ultimately, running.

Some of us might get stuck at crawling. There are usually a couple of reasons for this.

1. A lack of time and effort put into it on our part.

2. A lack of understanding.

There is a solution for both of these. Let’s take a look.

For the first problem, we need to be sure we’re disciplined enough to set aside the time needed to build and grow our relationship with God. It’s critical to growth as a believer.

If we’re not doing this, many times it’s because we haven’t taken the relationship seriously enough. The cure for that is to grasp and understand what Christ did for us on the cross, literally taking our place, dying as a substitute for you and for me.

To fix the lack of understanding, there are usually two different issues we need to look at.

The first would be making sure that we’re spending the time needed in God’s word to get that understanding. And if we’re having trouble understanding what we’re reading, it’s a great idea to get some help from someone who can help us understand it better.

Lastly, if we are already learning from someone else, but we’re still having difficulty, we may need to sit under a different teacher or organization in order to get taught in a way that helps us. This can sometimes make a major difference in how well we learn!

So, remember that we need to be growing as believers. But remember, also, that we are not on our own as we do learn and grow.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-30-21

1 Chronicles 22:8 (NKJV) 8 but the word of the Lord came to me, saying, ‘You have shed much blood and have made great wars; you shall not build a house for My name, because you have shed much blood on the earth in My sight.

God called David a man after His own heart.

Not only was David a man after God’s heart, though. He was also a man who took his walk with God very seriously. He put God above all else.

As David grew older in years, he felt a desire to build a temple; a place for God to dwell.

So, he set about gathering materials and other resources for that task.

But God stopped him in his tracks, telling him that he could not be the one to build the temple due to the fact that he had blood on his hands. He was a warrior who had killed many people.

He told David that Solomon, his son, would be the one to do this.

David accepted God’s choice. And instead of being upset and acting angrily about it, he spoke with Solomon and told him of this occurrence, and what God had told him.

In other words, he handled it like a mature man of God; a mature believer.

Despite being told that he would not be the one to build the temple, David continued to help and guide Solomon, making him aware of the enormity of the task, and the importance of it.

He also continued to gather materials and make all of the necessary arrangements for skilled laborers, and people to oversee the project to its completion.

It’s good for us to understand this, and to apply it to our own lives as children of God. We can learn from David and gain understanding as to how to handle situations in our own lives that may be similar in some ways.

God desires us to be mature children; people whose faith in Him is so great that we don’t let things like this throw us off and cause us to behave badly or in immature ways.

He wants us to be mature believers. So, let’s allow Him to mold us and shape us into just that.

If you’d like to learn more about this, we recently recorded a video on the topic. You can watch it by clicking here.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-15-21 – The Mature Believer

Please click to watch the video now.Greetings, brothers and sisters in Christ! 

Today, we have a video that teaches us about maturity. 

In this new video, The Mature Believer, we use a Biblical example to show and teach by example. 

Maturity comes over time, as we grow in our walk with God and allow Him to change our heart. 

This video was fun, and the Holy Spirit was moving as we taught and shared examples of the behavior of mature believers. 

We hope you’ll take a few minutes to watch it and let God speak to you through it. 

Please click here to watch the video now. 

We love you! 

Sincerely, 

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie 

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808 

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 8-6-21

Hebrews 6:1-2 (NKJV) 1 Therefore, leaving the discussion of the elementary principles of Christ, let us go on to perfection, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, 2 of the doctrine of baptisms, of laying on of hands, of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

This is one of the best direct references to maturing as a believer in the entirety of God’s word. It is direct and forthright in its intentions; to convey the importance of not “laying again the foundation” of the “elementary principles of Christ”.

This is a point often lost on many believers. It is often thought that once a person places their faith in Christ, they are good to go, so to speak; ready to move on to living their new life as a believer, but without much thought as to what that really means.

We need to understand, though, that this is far from the truth. For if we are truly putting our faith in Christ, we will want to know all we can about Him, since we are (or should be) trusting Him with our eternal destiny.

And if we are simply “putting our faith in Him” to reserve a spot in heaven, and then just want to “get on with our life”, we may want to re-think our “strategy”.

So, if we are truly putting our faith in Him, we should want to learn all we can about Him. We should be willing to spend the time needed to mature and grow. He did, after all, give His life (literally) for us in order to make a way for our sins to be forgiven.

So, as the writer of Hebrews says, we need to move beyond the basics, once we have a sound understanding of them, and begin to leave behind the “milk” in exchange for more solid foods.

Hebrews 5:13-14 (NKJV) 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

You see, it is the learning of His word that gives us the ability to partake of, and digest, the weightier spiritual things, and to be able to learn to discern good and evil more readily.

And this is crucial for all believers, especially during the season in which we live.

So, we strongly encourage you to spend time in this mighty tool (weapon) that God has supplied us with; His word. Let’s move beyond the basic, elementary principles of Christ.

Your life depends on it, in more ways than most understand.

As we make the effort, God will give the increase.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 5-9-21 – Being Sure

Please click to watch the video now.Greetings in the name of Jesus! 

We hope you are growing and maturing as a follower of Jesus Christ. Doing so makes being sure of our eternal destiny much easier. 

Speaking of being sure, that’s the title of our latest video; Being Sure. 

In this video, we teach about being sure of our salvation and how maturing as a believer is an important part of that. 

There is lots of Biblical meat for us to feed on in this one, so we hope you’ll spend a few minutes watching it and letting God speak to your hearts. 

Please click here to watch the video now. 

We love you all, and we sincerely want God’s best for your lives. 

Love in Christ, 

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie 

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808 

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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Bible Verse of The Day – 9-28-20

2 Corinthians 6:17 (NKJV) 17 Therefore “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, And I will receive you.”

This is a verse that I haven’t read, thought about or pondered on for a long time.

But today God brought it back to my remembrance. And I knew it was time for me to take another, deeper look at it.

Most believers already know that this verse does not mean that we are to literally, physically separate ourselves from unbelievers. This would be virtually impossible.

Additionally, doing so would not fit what God’s word tells us when it comes to being a light to a dark world, being a city on a hill (Matthew 5:14) or not hiding our light under a basket (Matthew 5:15).

We need to let our light so shine before men! And we can’t do that if we do not interact with others.

Matthew 5:16 (NKJV) 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

So, now that we have firmly established that fact, let’s look more closely at what it means to be separate while not being separated.

It’s important that we understand that this verse is really speaking symbolically about our behavior, which stems from what’s in our hearts. What’s in our hearts will manifest outwardly in our actions, even if our words might say something different.

As long as our heart is still united with the things of the world, our outward actions will not change enough to significantly matter.

Paul actually took pieces of this verse from Isaiah 52:11, where the Israelites were commanded to remove themselves from their lands of exile and return home to Jerusalem, but not to bring any of the idols from their foreign lands home with them.

Similarly, we need to be sure not to bring pieces of the world with us as we mature from earthly (carnal) thinking to heavenly (Godly, Spirit-led) thinking.

It is irrational (unreasonable, illogical, absurd) to think that we, as believers, can be united with (bound to, joined together with) unbelievers and the ways (the habits and the thinking) of the world in our actions and our behavior.

Jesus was our example in this as He walked this earth, interacting with others from all walks of life without taking on their habits or behavior. He remained pure from start to finish.

This was confirmed for us here in Hebrews;

Hebrews 7:26 (NKJV) 26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;

It’s time for us to take this seriously and put action behind our words.

It’s time for us to let God circumcise our hearts once and for all, helping us to shed those foreskins (the idols of our former lives) that keep us tied to the ways of the world.

Pastor Curt & Pastor Ellie

Seven Seas Ministries
P.O. Box 272
Bradford, RI 02808

401-315-0902

If you know someone who will enjoy this or be encouraged by it, please feel free to share it with them!

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