HINDRANCES TO SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT WITH PASTOR YUGO

3 John 1:1-2 says: The Elder, To the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth: Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers.(NKJV)

God desires us to prosper, grow and have the best things in life. There is prosperity in everything and the key remains that every other form of prosperity must be in-line with SPIRITUAL PROSPERITY. The connection here is that, as you do the will of God all the good things of life will follow you and that is why the bible said “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Your prosperity, health, emotional wellbeing is more important to God. God has obligation over your prosperity, it in His interest that you succeed but the fundamental key that will help you possess this is Spiritual Prosperity. 

Your possession or success as a Christian is dependent on your obedience to the word of God. 

Deuteronomy 8:1 says: "Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers.(NKJV)

Proverbs 22:6 says: Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.(NKJV)

You need to find out what God wants you to do as a parent to help fulfill the purpose for which your child was created.

Deuteronomy 8:2 says: And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not.(NKJV)

Your sustenance and motivation should not come from the material things that you have. A person who is genuinely rich will multiply. The good things you have in life are not your own but things that will enable you fulfill purpose. Whatever you have should enable you to serve God better. 

FIVE HINDRANCES TO SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

1. LIGHTNESS: This means that in the site of God you have no weight. When a person does not have substance, or root or something that is holding him strongly he is light. A root is an invisible part of a tree, it is the part of you others cannot see, the root is the channel of nourishment. Your source of nourishment as a Christian is your connection to God. If your connection to God is what is seen only on Sundays, then you have no connection with God. When you have problems and you begin to cry, then you are light. What kind of things do you devote your time to stimulate and strengthen your faith?

Mark 4:4-5 says: And it happened, as he sowed, that some seed fell by the wayside; and the birds of the air came and devoured it. Some fell on stony ground, where it did not have much earth; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of earth.(NKJV)

You have a group of people who are wayside hearers. There are people that the seed cannot grow in their heart. They may be looking but they cannot see, they are hearing but they don’t understand. The birds of the air are actually demons who collects the seeds. 

When you have a person who is light, he can receive the word but because there is no root, the harvest will not come. You don’t get a harvest because you heard from preachers. The harvest will only come when you have been given the opportunity to implement what you have heard on patience. 

1 Corinthians 3:1-2 says: And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as to carnal, as to babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;(NKJV)

The carnal man is born again but he is still led by the flesh, he makes decision on the bases of external circumstances. He has the spirit of God within him but he seats down on it and covers it. 

1 Corinthians 3:3 says: for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?(NKJV)

These are the signs of carnality envy, strife, bitterness and grief over the progress of another person. There are certain things that God cannot communicate to him, even if God does, the carnal man will not connect or understand.

The spiritual man sees certain things and makes decision based on supernatural knowledge. You need to be internally regulated. The spiritual man does not make decisions without the instructions of God.

A light man exaggerates his circumstances to the detriment of things that doesn’t matter. A light man does not place any importance to spiritual things. 

Genesis 25:34 says: And Jacob gave Esau bread and stew of lentils; then he ate and drank, arose, and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.(NKJV)

2. LOOSENESS: To be loosed means you are not tight. What makes a person rise above temptation when others fall into that same temptation? It is only the boundaries the person has set for himself. There are different kinds of looseness, there is looseness in thought. What do you meditate on? There are things you have to get out of your mind. You must take responsibility with what you think. Your source of information will determine what you think and what you think will determine the path you follow. 

2 Timothy 1:7 says; For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.(NKJV)

You don’t have to give in to any kind of thought that come your way. You have the ability to restrain from certain kind of thoughts.

Thought of defeat, thoughts of failure and thought of mediocrity should not be part of you. 

2 Corinthians 10:5 says; We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.(NIV)

Job 31:1 says: "I have made a covenant with my eyes; Why then should I look upon a young woman?(NKJV)

Guard your sources of information; they will determine what you think. There is also looseness in habit.

Joshua 1:18 says: Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!"(NIV)

God’s abundance is tight to His principles, is either you adhere to it or you forget it. 

3. LAZINESS: Whatever it is that keeps you away from church, stop you from studying the bible will stop you from fulfilling your purpose and destiny. You have to discipline your body and design things that will help you put your desires in check. Maximum control is also needed even towards certain things that are good. Stop basing your actions on the way you feel, start basing them on your commitment. This will help you to check the demands of your body even when it is not convenient to you. If you have become internally motivated then there will be no need for God to regulate you externally. 

1 Corinthians 9:27 says: But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.(NKJV)

4. LOQUACITY:  If you will grow spiritually, then you must be a person who guards his tongue.

James 1:19 says: So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;(NKJV)

With your mouth you can execute a project and with your mouth you can damage even the works of God in your life. You need to put yourself in a position where you will receive from God, don’t be in a hurry to talk, put yourself in a position where you can learn. You need to be slow to speak, slow to anger as the word of God has said. 

Proverbs 10:19 says: When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.(NIV)

5. BEING LIKE OTHERS: This means being a worldly person. Some Christians think and behave like non-believers, some Christians when confronted with problems, run to seek power from other sources instead of depending on God’s power. Some Christians draw inspiration from non-Godly sources. 

Romans 12:1-2 says; Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.(NIV)

You don’t have to follow the world; rather your interest should be on what God is saying concerning your situation.

James 4:4 says: Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.(NKJV)