Grow Up Having The Relationship With God (1 Corinthians 13:11-12)

It’s been a long time since I’ve been here.

I think the last time I was speaking, Carlos’ voice was more like this. And now Carlos is now walking around talking like this. And I think the last time I was up here Fanny was still shorter than her mom. And the last time I was up here Chris was still scared when girls will hug him. So it seems like you guys are growing up quickly. And I don’t know how you guys feel about that. But I want to give you guys some hope.Because growing up like a remnant is nothing like growing up like a nonbeliever.

So right now, take this time to write this down. The question is, how do you feel about growing up? Just right down the answer: I feel like your notes should be a dialogue with God, not just what the pastor says. Be honest with God. Holding onto these words, may you receive the answer today. Not everybody listening is a Remnant. Some of you are quite a bit older but that’s okay. It can be a time to bring the worries you have about the future to God now. 

Remnants, you know about caterpillars, right? They’re really tiny, furry things. What happens when the caterpillar comes up to a pebble? The pebble looks like a giant pillar. When the caterpillar comes up to a drop of water, it’s going to look like the Niagara Falls. That’s the life of a tiny caterpillar. What happens when the caterpillar grows up? It turns into a butterfly. The tiny pebble won’t matter because it can fly over it. The Amazon River won’t matter because it can fly over it. This is the kind of blessing you have when you grow up as a Remnant. So I hope that whatever fears and concerns and worries you may have, you can let them all go.

We looked at 1 Corinthians 13. The majority of that chapter is about love, maybe you remnants are thinking of love. It wasn’t until I was in sixth grade when it got serious. In sixth grade, I wrote my first love letter. There was this really cute girl at my middle school; she was tall and awkward like me. Except I was super awkward back then, even worse than I am now. Because I really liked her, I followed her around everywhere. She was kind of creeped out by that, it got to the point where I was really confused. I had this brilliant idea: I’m going to write her a love letter. It went something like this: “Dear Jennifer, I can’t stop thinking about you. I want to spend all of my waking moments with you.” It was super cringe; I was in sixth grade, give me a break. Because the situation was really awkward with her, I asked her why she was avoiding me. “Because I just want to be with you all the time.” And so I write this letter, fold it up, and halfway through school, I give it to her. My hands were shaking and I was unsure how she was going to respond. The next couple of days were torture because I didn’t know how she was going to respond. Finally, like two days later, she handed me a note. I couldn’t read it at school; there’s nowhere to hide and just read it. So I just kept it in my pocket. The entire day, I thought about the letter. “I want to go home and read it.” The minute the school bell rings, I’m running home.

I go into my room and take out the note and start reading it. And then the first lines are, “Dear Tim,” and I was like “Ahhhh” and the pin the first words were like “I’m sorry making you feel awkward and confused,” and at that part my heart is melting up like oh she’s sorry! This is great! And then eventually she says “I’m not really ready to be in a serious relationship, but we can still be friends!” and this wasn’t 6th grade, sure you can’t be in a serious relationship when you’re in 6th grade. But I’m just super awkward, and so when I read that she still wants to be friends, my heart leapt for joy. In my heart I thought there is hope. After that year she moved away and I haven’t seen her since. And once I revived that letter how do you think I felt? I was always looking at that letter. And for the next 2 weeks I would read it, re-read it and re-read it, whenever I was missing her. Do you know why I did this? Because I was obsessed and because I had this heart of religion, because I was literally worshiping idols. That is why my entire mind was wrapped up around her. And I thought this was love, but it had nothing to do with love. 

In 1 Corinthians 13:5 it actually says, “Love is not self seeking.” meaning love is not really for myself, and it took me a long time for me to really understand that because my heart is with all these mixtures of religion, like idolizing love so it was really difficult growing up when relationships were always difficult. And that is why in verse 11, there are 3 specific things that Paul talks about growing up. “ When I was a child I thought like a child, I spoke like a child, I reasoned like a child.” What do those things mean? What do you guys think it means to think, speak like a child, reason like a child,  maybe put the opposite way, what does it mean to think and speak and reason like an adult? And the way you answer these questions will be based on what is imprinted in you. Actually you might think that when people grow up they are successful and they know how to think better, you might have deep thoughts, you might have wide thoughts, you might be able to speak with a lot of wisdom. I don’t know if that is what you guys are looking forward to when you grow up, but actually what it means to have the thoughts, words and the reasoning of a child is, we have to consider Paul’s background. You know who Paul was before he became Paul? (He was Saul before he became Paul) He was actually a super super Pharisee, and he had the equivalent of 3 PhD’s so he was really really smart and he was really powerful too, and when he says we should kill him, people will actually kill him. And he thought he was the super good person. 

He was blameless in keeping the law. That’s what he was always thinking about. Remnants, you guys are afraid of getting in trouble, right? I’m not saying you should get in trouble and not care. To some extent, it’s good that you don’t want to get into trouble. But what does it mean to be a Remnant? Even if you get into trouble, you’re okay. You don’t need to fight; you don’t need to worry. Because God is with you, you can overcome everything. 

I think I shared this with you before, but this happened when I was in third grade. It was school picture day, and there was this kid who had longer hair. When the photographer took a picture of this kid, the photographer said “Good girl.” But he was a guy. So then I started spreading the news: “The photographer called this guy a girl.” There’s no reason for me to make excuses. At this time, I was really scared about getting into trouble. Because he started crying. I mean if you were a third grader and someone made fun of you, wouldn’t you cry too? And so the teacher found out about what happened, but I was the teacher’s pet. There was this other kid who the teacher didn’t like. He didn’t speak English very well, and so the teacher just blamed that kid. And I thought, “Great! I really dodged a bullet there!” 

What do you guys think about that? I was going to get into trouble but I didn’t. This random kid didn’t do anything but he got into trouble. Some of the other kids knew what was going on, and they told me that they were going to tell the teacher that it was me, not the other kid. And I said, “No, it wasn’t me!” That’s how much I was afraid to get into trouble. And it’s normal. If I think I have to protect and defend myself, I will be afraid of getting into trouble. When some big problem comes to me and I don’t know how to deal with it, I just freak out. 

But how did the 7 Remnants overcome? They were put into very serious problems. The last couple of weeks, we looked at Daniel. Daniel was going to die. They were going to kill him. Just because he was worshiping God they were going to kill him. Some of you guys don’t even want to come to church because you’re lazy, but Daniel was like “I’m going to come to church even though I might die.” That’s how much he really believed in God. That’s why God rewarded him for his faith. Do you know the story about how he was thrown into the lion’s den? That night, an angel of the Lord came and closed the mouths of the lions. So Daniel didn’t die. That’s the power that you have as a Remnant. But you guys are scared of getting into trouble. You’re scared whenever a problem comes to you. You think, “Oh that’s too difficult for me, I can’t do it. I’m just going to be quiet and obedient.” Satan is working even now. And Satan tries to keep you down. And it’s not based on what you feel or based on what you’re thinking about. Satan is just undermining your relationship with God. And so you forget about God. I forget that God is with me. And I just have to figure out my own solutions and problems. And getting into trouble is the worst thing in the world.

So, back to 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says he thought like a child, spoke like a child, reasoned like a child, but when he became a man, he put his childish ways behind him. What are those childish ways? It’s anything that comes from myself. It’s my thoughts, my words, my reasoning. That’s how I live. That means I’m a kid. We all know there are some adults who still act like kids. That’s when it gets really awkward. I mean, you guys are kids right now and it’s okay if you act like kids. And sometimes, I think some people wish you would grow up a little faster. But God has his time schedule. There’s no reason for us to rush how God makes us grow. It’s important to know how God is making you grow.

You guys know there are people out there who should be adults but they behave like kids. You guys might know what I’m talking about: if something doesn’t go their way or something bad happens to them, they’ll yell and scream and throw a temper tantrum. They’ll get frustrated and blame people. That’s what kids do. They fight with each other, steal from each other. Not all kids do this but it is the kids who are really afflicted and has no guidance in their lives. So some people never grow up, and when they’re adults, they still do these things. Maybe you have some people like that in your family. Sometimes, it’s really frustrating, because they’re supposed to be adults, they’re supposed to be more responsible, but it’s just so frustrating to deal with them. You ask yourself, “Why are they so immature?” But you know why now. Maybe there are some people you really need to pray for. Because they need to grow up too. That’s God’s plan for them. That’s a blessing God has reserved for you and that person. 

How does that happen? You need God’s word. If you only have your own thoughts, you’re going to get trapped. Satan will continue to give you lies, and you’re going to listen to Satan. How can you overcome Satan? How can you really have the truth in your heart and not listen to Satan’s lies? You need Jesus Christ. It’s only Jesus Christ who is the truth. He is the true King who defeated Satan on the cross, he exposed the darkness and gave us his truth, and he took away all of our sin. Sin is not about doing bad things and getting into trouble. It’s not just about the cause and effect of doing something bad and receiving the punishment. 

But it’s about Jesus Christ who had no sin and took all the punishment on him. So there’s no reason to be afraid. You’re already forgiven, all the sin from your past, present, and future, everything is taken care of. And all the consequences of your sin of past, present, and future, are all taken care of. We call this God’s absolute sovereignty, God is in absolute control over your life, so I just have to accept it, and the more that I enjoy it, the Holy Spirit  begins to work in me. 

If you don’t listen to this what are you going to listen to? Maybe put it in a different way, when you face a problem, when you see a problem at school or at home what do you do? Immediately you start calculating, and how I’m going to solve this problem, Maybe you got to your friends and ask them how you’re going to solve this problem, and in the off chance, maybe you go to your parents and ask them how you’re going to solve this problem. We forget to ask God about what God was doing in that problem. More than trying to break free from our uncomfortable circumstance, God is trying to tell us something. And that’s why the relationship with God is the most important thing. How can you have that relationship with God? You receive God’s word in every single circumstance.  But it’s now just when bad things happen, up until this time we were reading about Paul, he thought he was a really good person but if you look at him, he says, “All of those things were really childish, he hadn’t grown up. So what does it mean to grow up? It mean you grow up having the relationship with God. But it’s not just the word, because the Jewish people had the word.

Do you know shema? It’s In Deuteronomy 6: 4-9, it’s an important verse, the Jewish people recite it everyday. It is part of their daily active worship like their summit time. Do you know what Deuteronomy 6:4-9 says? It says things like, ” Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength. Take the words of God and put them in your heart. Bind them to your wrist and put them on your doors. Whenever you go out or lay down, always relay it to the next generation.” This is what the Jewish people did, they became very successful. It’s not a secret that they control the economy. What was missing? It’s in the very beginning of the verse, it says,” Here O Israel” meaning God calls me, it means God lets his word come upon me. Because of his living words, it is my relationship with God.

 Remember my love letter, I was treating this letter like it was super precious. I was reading it all the time and I memorized it, a waste of time. It made my heart empty, some people read the bible that way. The bible is God’s love letter to you. It is very precios, always read it that’s why it’s not just about praying but reading the bible too. When my heart isn’t in the right place, I can’t even enjoy reading the word of God. The example of the love letter didn’t satisfy me. 

If my heart isn’t with God then I can’t enjoy only Christ no matter how much I read the bible. God needs to speak to me and I need to listen and care of what God is telling me. This is God’s blessing during forum, forum isn’t just notes. You repeat what you wrote down in forum time. It’s not bad but the word needs to be living and active in you. This word needs to be fulfilled in your lives. 

There are adults that act like children, it’s a strange phenomenon but when you get old. You go back to being a child in some ways. You know diapers. Do you know depends? In college there was a depend filling competition, it’s like diapers for adults. Do you know why they make diapers for adults? They aren’t babies, why do they need diapers? When you get older you can’t do things you used to be able to do. It’s normal and natural.

 So there are some people in my family who are growing older and becoming more child-like. So the situation kind of reverses: before, it was the parent taking care of the child, and now the child needs to take care of the parent. Can you imagine if you had to take care of your parents? How would you feel? When you were a baby, they wiped your butt when you pooped your pants. It’d be super frustrating, right? Out of your frustration, your response might be, “I don’t want to take care of you anymore. I’m going to send you to some old person’s home. I can’t take care of you. I don’t want to wipe your butt.” Some people respond that way, and it’s really frustrating. Now instead of having one person who is a kid, everyone is behaving like a kid. 

What does it really mean to be an adult? Remember 1 Corinthians 13 is all about love. At the core of love, there is strength. It’s not a temporary strength, not a temporary love, but it’s something that is persisting and eternal. You can always have the strength. If you have the strength, you can help others. Sometimes you might think, “My parents are so annoying.” And the words you tell your parents don’t actually strengthen them. In fact you’re kind of killing them. Remnants, it’s time to grow up. You need to save the adult generation. How do you do that? Really love them. C’mon they’re your parents, you love them anyways. That means you strengthen them. 

What happened was that my mom was getting frustrated about my family situation. I realized that because of all this frustration, my grandpa was feeling a lot of pressure from everybody. Because he knows that he should get better, but his physical state is actually getting worse. When I really talk to him about it, it seems like the pressure was coming from everyone around him. Whenever I talk to my grandpa, I want him to get better. So I would always give the Word to him, encourage him to do deep breathing exercises, give him bible verses to read. But in my heart, there was that desire to make him feel better, to heal him. 

And so even from me, I didn’t even know it and didn’t realize it, I was putting a lot of pressure on him. So sometimes he’d get better and things would be good. But then if things aren’t working out and he feels like everything is getting worse, then he’ll lose strength. That’s religion: I think I can help my grandpa. So because of that, there’s so much pressure coming from me onto my grandpa. Nobody wins. Satan wins. It’s a disaster. But the most amazing thing was that as I was meditating on this situation, my mom brought this up. I was going to tell my mom of the things I realized, but my mom shared the same conclusions with me. She was repenting, “I’m putting a lot of pressure on my dad.” She realized she was putting so much pressure on him, so she repented. I need to strengthen him, the same way I gain strength which is not by just reading the Bible during Summit time but having God speak to me during Summit time. 

That’s the kind of blessing God has reserves for you guys, you don’t even need to do anything, because if you can do it then God wouldn’t need to do it. Then you get the glory because of it. God puts us through these absolute impossible situations so that it is undoubted that God is the one who is actually doing it. So you might think you have family problems, you think there are problems at school, and you think that the problem kids are the kids who are depressed and complaining about their teachers, that’s how I saw my field because I had this religious imprint. The fastest way to see with the eyes of the Gospel is to realize that everybody needs the Gospel. It doesn’t matter how happy someone may appear to be, it doesn’t matter how successful they may appear to be, it doesn’t matter how peaceful they seem to be, they are actually suffering under Satan. 

They are lost and have no way of meeting God. And this is how you need to see your field, I am not talking about the teachers who are depressed, of course you have to pray for your teachers who are facing depression but also the teachers that you think that are enjoying their time, because they are actually really hiding their problems, and they have so much pressure inside of them, and that pressure goes into everyone else around them. And it just spreads like a spiritual cancer, you can overcome that because it’s not you, but because God’s word comes upon you md it’s a word that really strengthens you, because it is the word that is being fulfilled in your life, it’s a living and active word, and because you receive strength from it, you use that strength to strengthen other people. And you don’t even need to say a word, you just be still and pray holding onto that word.

And at that time the heavenly angels are mobilized, at that time you can move the throne of heaven, and the Holy Spirit   is working unseen to your eyes, you have to believe this and you also will be able to experience it being fulfilled. That is what happened to my mom, my mom and me, I didn’t need to say a word to her but God revealed it to her and spoke to her so we had the same mind, we had the same thoughts, we wanted to share the same words, our reasoning was the same. It wasn’t that I was trying to convince her of anything, I wasn’t arguing with her, the Holy Spirit  just worked, and just like that the walls were broken. 

This is the kind of blessings you guys have. So I really hope you will hold onto this when you go back to your homes tonight, Every single home has some kind of darkness in it. It’s normal.  And actually there is a reason God has out that darkness into your life and into your family. 

So don’t lose strength in the middle of that darkness. Find God’s answer in the midst of it. If you don’t have it, just pray. Pray until you get that answer. I’ll give you a hint: the answer is only Christ. Don’t waste too much time. When you have that conclusion of Only Christ, you’ll have strength in the midst of that problem, and then you’ll be able to save everybody in that situation. It seems to be absolutely impossible; if you don’t have that unbelief or fear, it means you haven’t really looked at your situation hard enough. This isn’t something like, “Yeah! Okay! Amen! I’m going to go save everybody!” It should actually be very humbling, because you recognize that you have no power in this. But when God is moving in me, I know that I can do all things. So I hope that you’ll have this blessing. And as you precious Remnants grow up, I hope that you’ll enjoy the process of being turned into a butterfly. 

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus, You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God. We thank you for all the precious Remnants who are listening to this message. We pray that you will really raise them up to become the Spiritual, Skill, and Cultural Summit. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.