Daddy Issues Part 7: Spiritual Maturity

We were created for fruitfulness.

Genesis 1:28 Be fruitful and multiply… have dominion

Maturity, fruitfulness, & authority. God made Adam mature, He commanded him to be fruitful, and then gave him the authority and the real estate in order to do it.

Fruitfulness requires Maturity

In the OT Bareness was seen as a curse and many today pay tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to conceive. – desolate to be silenced

It is also a tragedy when conception happens to early or when one is unprepared or outside of marriage

Linda Medina, 1939, 5 ½ years old
She had been raped
Physiological abnormality – precocious puberty
Could have been genetic or brought on by earlier abuse.

Daddy Issues - Series Main Text
Malachi 4:5-6 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

God is saying that He is going to redeem & restore our Maturity, Fruitfulness (legacy / inheritance), & Authority by healing the parent child paradigm by the power of His Spirit.

one of the symptoms of a society that rejects God as Father and then suffers the breakdown of the parent-child relationship is the amount of children who are being raised by young single mothers. We have babies raising babies.

This was not God’s intent, nor is it God's heart. Because, the ones who really suffer are the children. This is why…

Matthew 3:1 In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!”

John 1:23 I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness
Matthew 4:1, 17 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness… From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

We became baren and fruitless because of our sin and rebellion.

Isaiah 54:1 Sing, barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy, you who were never in labor; because more are the children of the desolate woman than of her who has a husband

Desolate: appalled, stunned, devastated, silenced

We were devastated and silenced because of our sin, we turned the garden into a barren wilderness which matched the landscape of our souls. John prepared the way for Jesus in the wilderness. Jesus had victory in the wilderness.

Now our praise brings God’s presence and enforces the cross in our wilderness breaking the bondage and restoring fruitfulness.

The wilderness is where we get our prophetic voice, and it starts with praise.

Key to effective witness – successful wilderness, from that place we call for repentance and invite others to Jesus. I go through what I go through with Jesus, for you!

Maturity is necessary for fruitfulness. Successful wilderness seasons are necessary for maturity. Without wilderness, you don’t get fruit.

To show you the relationship between the wilderness and spiritual maturity, let’s look at Israel’s deliverance from Egypt.

Spiritual Seasons:
Egypt: The world, sin, strongholds
Deliverance: Judgment on sin and the world, Passover
Red Sea: Baptism, Publicly destroy enemies / declaration of defeat
Sinai: Revelation of God’s word
Wilderness: Tests hearts, faith to walk out the word you received
Conquest:
Promised Land:
Fruitfulness:
Maintenance:

Promised Land without a wilderness is illegitimate. Authority without serving is not kingdom.
Luke 16:12 And if you have not been faithful in what is another man’s, who will give you what is your own?

Sometimes your wilderness is serving a leader’s vision in an area where you feel called instead of your own. Sometimes it means going to a job you may not be excited about.

Wildernesses build character through consistency and purging of impurity

Many are called and are frustrated because they are not “chosen”. They are not in their promised land, but that can only happen after the wilderness has purged you of your selfishness and appetite for sin. So you can have a voice. - Job

Genesis 1:28 Be fruitful and multiply… have dominion

Matthew 28:18-19 Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations…

He redeemed our mandate. We can now be fruitful and multiply spiritually and naturally, with kingdom dominion.

John 15:8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.

Fruitfulness requires maturity.

Maturity requires time, experience, and growth. Monte isn’t mature. He can’t be fruitful or multiply. He eats, sleeps, makes a mess that we have to clean up, plays with his toys, and demands we watch Sing 2 for the 37th time.

His whole outlook on life is summed up in 2 words: mine & no. He’s selfish. He’s immature. He is where he is supposed to be.

Can you imagine changing the diaper of a fully functional 30-year-old? It’s not a pretty picture.

The problem is that Jesus is looking for some disciples to feed His sheep and all He hears is MINE! He is looking for disciples to GO! But all He hears is NO!

Immaturity = Selfishness, Maturity = Love

John 13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

We got kicked out of the Garden because we were proud and selfish and cost the Savior His lifeblood to redeem us. He now stands at the door and knocks and brings an invitation to grow up in the grace and love of God.

1 John 2:12-14 I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name. I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

He mentions three groups. It has to do with spiritual maturity not age. 40-year-old children.

He mentions: Children, Fathers (parents), & Young Men (adolescents)

Children: Starting Place. Immaturity. Unfruitful
Sins have been forgiven in the Name of Jesus
Know the Father

Fathers (Parents): Goal, Maturity, Fruitful, Pours into the next generation
Know him who is from the beginning
Know him who is from the beginning

Young Men (Adolescents): Ability to be fruitful but requires guidance, experience, and wisdom. Must learn appropriate intimacy.

Overcome the evil one
you are strong, and
the word of God lives in you,
you have overcome the evil one.

Children:
Know God as Savior: sins are forgiven, not going to hell
Know God as a father (authoritarian, provider, protector, savior)
What

Parents
Know him who is from the beginning (2x)
Know His nature, essence, heart and mind
Why

Psalm 103:7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel. (NKJV)
He revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel. (NLT)

Becoming spiritually mature is all about knowing God intimately and growing in His love. Why?

1 John 4:8 God is love

Matthew 7:23 I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!

Know (Greek – Ginosko): To come to know, knowledge by experience and or intimacy

1 John 2:3 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.

1 John 2:5-6 But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in Him: Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did.

1 John 14:15 If you love Me, keep My commands.

Adolescents – because this is where most of us are
Learning the word
Spiritual Warfare
Growing in strength and authority

If you are only concerned with being fed, rather than looking how you can feed others
If you refuse to grow in the word and to take it seriously
If you do not engage in spiritual warfare, and leave it to you spouse or pastors
You are a spiritual child.

Jesus loves you but you have some growing up to do

Adolescents are sexually reproductive, but not mentally, emotionally, mentally, financially, spiritually mature.

Restoration of Peter
John 21:15 Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Feed My lambs.”

Parenthood is supposed to be reserved for mature. Maturity and security is supposed to be the foundation upon we build the lives of our children and legacy.

Babies raising babies, sperm doners and incubators rather than fathers and mothers.
Fornication vs. Legitimate Intimacy w/ Spouse
Idolatry vs. Intimacy with God

We must grow through seasons and stages to reach maturity.
We start off in bondage to our selfishness
God Delivers us and gives us revelation so we can repent – change our minds and behavior
Then we go into a wilderness to walk it out
When we let the wilderness have its work, we begin to grow and mature
We are then prepared for the next season or assignment – to declare the Lord – to be a voice

We can then be fruitful God’s way, have Kingdom dominion that honors God and builds legacy.

Spiritually mature are fruitful and walk in their authority as a mother / father for the benefit of sons and daughters. They are legacy, inheritance and next-generation minded.

Immature people are selfish. It’s all about them.

We must not allow ourselves to remain children and become spiritual babies trying to raise spiritual babies.

We must also go to God when others have hurt us or when we experience trauma so that we don’t birth or reproduce brokenness and disfunction.

Response:
Repent of our selfishness, sin and idols
Ask God to heal our hurts and trauma
Face the wilderness with humility, faith, and obedience – and do it again tomorrow
Bear fruit for the benefit of others.