“What does it profit, my brothers, if a man says he has faith but has no works?”
— James 2:14

Jesus is Lord, and if you’re submitted to Him, He should be Lord of all your life. Are you willing to obey the Lord in all sorts of areas, but one particular one? It may be that because we are holding back in this area, we have reached a spiritual plateau, a limit to our growth in Christ.

We grow in grace by our obedience, because as God tells us various things that He wants us to do, we are confronted with a decision, and it is a decision either to be obedient or to be disobedient. And if we obey God, then He pours out grace upon grace and blesses us yet more abundantly. If we disobey Him, we have the experience of a person rising up and hitting the ceiling and coming back down, then trying to rise again and hitting the ceiling and coming back down because of those acts of disobedience.

May I ask you this: What is it that God has told you to do in His Word that you have refused to do? That is as far as you will grow spiritually. That is your ceiling. That determines the size of your room for growth and improvement. So obedience to what we already know works a tremendous blessing. We don’t necessarily understand what that blessing is until we obey. Sometimes obedience precedes understanding. But in retrospect, we realize what a glorious, wonderful adventure to which Christ has called us.

Abba Father, I ask You today to show me any area in which I am not obeying You. Bring to my attention anything that hinders my growth and short-circuits any blessing You have for me…

BY GOD’S STRENGTH, WE CAN
OVERCOME ANY OBSTACLE TO OUR GROWTH.