Thank you for your generosity to the Gideons! You gave $500 to provide Bibles to people all over the world. That is, potentially, 100 Bibles or 322 Testaments! Depending on where each of those ends up, those could represent tens of thousands of lives touched by what you have given. If you were unable to give, please still keep the Gideons in your prayers.

We have now examined the entire sermon on the mount! Since July, we have taken the time to go verse by verse, line by line with the words of Jesus in His first recorded sermon. What have you learned? Which teaching stood out most to you? I encourage you to go back to read the entire sermon or some portions thereof. When you do so, notice if anything new catches your eye. We will continue to explore the life and teachings of Jesus through the end of the year. The Great Commission instructs us to go make disciples, baptize into the Name, and teach people to observe the commands of Jesus. If we are to teach others, we must know the commands of Jesus.

Have you ever had an experience where the Lord clearly told you to do something that was the complete opposite of what you really wanted to do? I can recall a time with my dear friend and the Lord clearly told me that I couldn’t go to an event due to the guest list and the impact that it could have on my witness as a Christian. No matter how much I tried to convince myself that I could still go and “evangelize” to the group (Ha! Who was I fooling?), I had to obey what the Lord was clearly calling me to do. See, spiritual maturity isn’t measured by your biblical knowledge – it is measured by your response time to the Lord. Especially when it goes against the craving of the flesh.

The mission that God has called us to requires a level of maturity that this world, the church, doesn’t talk about. Spiritual maturity in the church is often equated to spiritual knowledge.

You have to know God wants you to move further and further from your flesh so that you can walk more firmly in the Spirit. That’s the maturity process.

Maturity is being able to say YES to God, even when everything in you wants to say no.

We overlook this kind of maturity because this kind of maturity doesn’t get applause. No one is going to say, "Look at you, serving and leading." They’re not going to see or know that you said yes to a conversation that you didn’t want to have. They’re not going to know that you said no to something that you really wanted to do because you wanted to honor the Lord. That's private growth. It’s where God cultivates something in secret so that when He’s ready to send and display you, you’ll bring Him glory.

Question of The Day: What is your response time to God?