Mature to I Believe - I Received! When you Mature in the Lord Supernatural Living becomes natural.

Oct 18, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: Feeding to Grow: No Breaks Until Conviction

A relationship thrives when pursued without reserve. Just as a lover persists to win affection, believers must hunger for God’s presence with relentless focus. Spiritual growth isn’t forced—it flows naturally from consistent nourishment. Feeding on Scripture and prayer isn’t about checking boxes but letting truth reshape desires. The Holy Spirit uses this daily bread to convince us Christ alone satisfies. What we consume determines what flourishes. [05:14]

“Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4, ESV)

Reflection: What “meal” have you been skipping in your spiritual diet? How might prioritizing time in God’s Word shift your cravings this week?

Day 2: Breaking Arrested Development: From Crib to Kingdom

Childishness clings to offense, takes toys home, and blames others. Childlike faith trusts the Father’s voice over old wounds. The enemy’s “arrested development” spirit traps believers in cycles of immaturity, recycling pain instead of releasing it. True freedom comes when we let God’s light expose prisons we’ve normalized. Growth begins by renouncing the right to nurse grudges. Maturity walks in the authority of Christ, not the approval of cliques. [10:00]

“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” (1 Corinthians 13:11, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been carrying “your ball” away from relationships? What childish mindset is God asking you to surrender today?

Day 3: Two Races: Skin or Spirit?

Human divisions crumble before the cross. Social constructs of race fade when born-again identity rises. Superiority and inferiority dissolve in the blood-bought truth: we’re either dead in sin or alive in Christ. The new creation transcends ethnicity, history, and trauma. To walk in this freedom, we must stop rehearsing earthly labels and start declaring heavenly citizenship. Every other identity is a cage. [25:32]

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” (John 3:6, ESV)

Reflection: Which “race” do you default to—your earthly heritage or eternal rebirth? How would living as God’s son/daughter change your next hard conversation?

Day 4: Supernatural Coaching: Power Over Flesh

Jesus didn’t just save us—He trains us. A coach demonstrates, corrects, and empowers players to win. The Holy Spirit teaches us to resist temptation’s shortcuts, just as Jesus refused stones-to-bread ease. Supernatural living isn’t about spectacle but daily obedience: forgiving enemies, giving generously, loving recklessly. Victory comes when we stop striving in human strength and start yielding to divine drills. [23:09]

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses…” (Acts 1:8, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been trying to “turn stones to bread” instead of trusting God’s timing? What flesh-driven habit needs Spirit-led coaching today?

Day 5: Forward in Freedom: Shackles Can’t Hold New Wine

Deliverance isn’t a moment—it’s a momentum. Chains break when we stop rehearsing the past and start declaring our rebirth. Old addictions, mindsets, and wounds lose grip when we walk as those “crucified with Christ.” Maturity means waking up each day asking the Spirit to set the agenda. The healed heart, renewed mind, and liberated will prove the old has gone—the new has come. [59:35]

“He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.” (Colossians 1:18, ESV)

Reflection: What prison have you been visiting like a familiar room? How will you actively “walk out” your freedom today?

Sermon Summary

God’s pattern is love, live, and lead like Jesus. Love starts with falling in love with Him before trying to love like Him. Living like Jesus cannot happen until a believer is first living for Jesus, and leading others to Him cannot happen until that believer is being led by His Spirit. The kingdom, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, has to be manifested within before it can be manifested outside.

The call to feed, grow, lead, and serve shows how spiritual maturity works. Feeding on God’s Word and God’s Spirit produces growth. Growth makes room for Holy Spirit leadership, and Spirit-led people can serve without being thrown off by hurt, offense, or somebody else’s bad attitude. Flesh-serving can get tripped up, but Spirit-serving keeps going because even pain becomes part of God’s great work within.

Arrested development works against that growth by keeping God’s children childish, immature, and trapped in old cycles. Childlike faith trusts God, but childishness takes the ball and goes home when things do not go its way. The Word calls believers to put away childish thoughts, childish understanding, and childish speech. Repentance and surrender break the cycle because God does not expose darkness to condemn His children. His light exposes the prison, the void, the lack of godly structure, and the dark wisdom that has been ruling the mind.

Supernatural living is not only healing at the altar. Supernatural living is praying for people who despitefully use you, giving when the flesh wants to hold back, loving like Jesus, and communing with God in prayer. Christ Himself became the example and the Coach. Jesus received the Spirit, resisted Satan in the wilderness, and showed that power over the flesh comes by every word that proceeds from God’s mouth.

Romans declares that those led by the Spirit are the sons of God. The new birth creates a new identity, one no longer ruled by flesh, social constructs, inferiority, superiority, or the need to be accepted by groups that want to keep a person bound. Christ is the firstborn of this new people, and believers must know one another after the Spirit, not after the flesh.

Great deliverance comes where great prisons have held people for years. God calls the bound, the tired, and the cycle-worn to be born again from above. The old man has passed, the new man in Christ has come forward, and the command is clear: do not keep going backward. Believe, receive, and walk forward in freedom.

Key Takeaways

1. Feed first, then spiritual growth follows God’s Word and God’s Spirit are not optional snacks for a believer trying to mature. What enters the spirit will eventually shape the life, just as natural food shapes the body. Growth is not forced by human striving when feeding becomes a real relationship with God. Spirit-led service flows out of that growth rather than out of fleshly effort. [06:44]
2. Childlike faith is not childish living Childlike people trust the Father, but childish people demand their own way and quit when things get hard. God calls His children to put away old thoughts, old reactions, and old cycles that keep them bound. Maturity means believing that even painful circumstances can become part of God’s work within. The flesh seeks acceptance from people, but the Spirit establishes identity in Christ. [38:14]
3. God’s light exposes prisons to free God’s light does not shine on darkness in order to shame His children. The light reveals what has been tormenting, emptying, and structuring life apart from God’s wisdom. Conviction becomes an invitation to leave the prison, not a sentence of condemnation. God’s sense must replace every so-called common sense that disagrees with His Word. [16:19]
4. The Spirit empowers supernatural everyday obedience Supernatural living includes healing and deliverance, but it also includes loving enemies, giving, praying, and resisting temptation. Jesus showed this first in the wilderness when He denied the natural demand of His flesh and stood on God’s Word. The Holy Spirit gives power and ability so believers can live beyond natural reactions. Surrender makes room for those giftings to work through ordinary lives. [22:41]
5. Born again means a new identity The new birth moves a person from fleshly bondage into spiritual life. Christ becomes the true identity, stronger than old labels, old wounds, social constructs, and the voices of inferiority or superiority. God calls believers to know people after the Spirit and to walk as new creations. Great deliverance begins when a person stops agreeing with the old cycle and receives the new man in Christ. [49:08]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:13] - Mature to Believe and Receive
[02:30] - The Kingdom Must Be Within
[04:09] - Feed, Grow, Lead, and Serve
[09:33] - Arrested Development and Childishness
[12:04] - What Supernatural Living Looks Like
[15:32] - God’s Light Exposes Darkness
[19:51] - Jesus the Supernatural Coach
[23:29] - A New Identity in Christ
[35:03] - Led by the Spirit as Sons
[41:00] - Born Again and Putting Away Childish Things
[45:36] - Great Deliverance at the Altar
[57:18] - Walking Forward in Maturity and Freedom

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Romans 8:14
“For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” [35:25]

1 Corinthians 13:11
“When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.” [38:14]

John 3:3
“Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” [41:33]

Observation questions

In Romans 8:14, what identifies the sons of God, and what does Spirit-led living include according to the message? [35:25]
What three areas of childishness are named in 1 Corinthians 13:11? [38:14]
What order is given for spiritual maturity: feeding, growing, being led, and serving? What can happen when someone tries to serve without first being led by the Holy Spirit? [04:16]
According to John 3:3, what must happen for a person to see the kingdom of God, and how was Nicodemus described in the message? [41:33]

Interpretation questions

Romans 8:14 connects being God’s children with being led by the Spirit. What does it look like for a believer to let the Spirit influence daily choices instead of simply reacting out of the flesh? [35:30]
Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 13:11 distinguish childlike faith from childish ways. Why is trusting God like a child different from quitting, withdrawing, or demanding one’s own way when life becomes difficult? [11:10]
Jesus says that a person must be born again to see God’s kingdom. Why is religious knowledge alone not enough if a person has not been changed by the Spirit? [41:39]
God’s light exposes darkness, emptiness, and unhealthy patterns without condemning His children. How can conviction become an invitation to freedom rather than a reason for shame or hiding? [16:25]

Application questions

What has been feeding your spirit most consistently lately—God’s Word and time with Him, or other voices, habits, worries, and distractions? What is one realistic change you can make this week to feed on God more deeply? [06:44]
Is there an area of serving, family life, work, or church life where another person’s words or attitude can easily throw you off? What would it look like to serve there by the Holy Spirit’s strength rather than by natural feelings? [08:07]
Where do you notice childish thoughts, understanding, or speech showing up in your life—especially when you are hurt, corrected, disappointed, or not accepted? What would putting that childish thing away look like in one specific situation? [38:28]
Is there an old cycle, painful memory, label, or group expectation that keeps trying to tell you who you are? How does being born again and made new in Christ speak to that area? [49:08]
Supernatural living includes praying for those who mistreat us, giving when the flesh wants to hold back, and choosing love when it is hard. Which of these forms of everyday obedience is God inviting you to practice this week? [12:56]
Jesus resisted temptation in the wilderness by yielding to the Spirit and standing on God’s Word. When are you most tempted to return to something God has called you out of, and what truth from God’s Word can you hold onto in that moment? [22:41]

Sermon Clips

53s

#DarknessIsNotYou

“Understand this, when God exposes the darkness in your life or exposes yet the darkness in your life, understand the darkness is not you. The darkness is what you are trapped in. So when you're hearing the word of God and conviction comes on you, the word is not coming to convict you, it's convicting you of the darkness in you. And so what makes you uncomfortable is that it feels like my darkness is being exposed. Are you with the church? And so God says, I'm not doing it to condemn you. I'm doing to shine a light to show you where you are being tormented and where you are in prison and what have you bound. So”

34s

#FeedYourSpirit

“Because what I feed myself is what I'm gonna groan. If I feed myself in the natural, the right foods, I'm going to be healthy. If I feed myself in the natural, the wrong foods, I will not be healthy. It's not that I choose to be healthy or unhealthy. My choices are made by what I put in my mouth. Your choices are made by what you put in your spirit, what you put in your soul. Are y'all with us, church?”

51s

#ServeInTheSpirit

“now I'm not serving by the power of the holy spirit. I'm serving by my own natural flesh. So somebody can come to me and say something that throws me off. Oh my god. Lord have mercy. But when I am a servant at heart, by the power of God's spirit, you can't throw me off. Alright. Because I'm not serving in my own strength. I'm serving in the power of the Holy Spirit. You could hurt my feelings. You can make me angry, but you can't stop me from serving. Because in my growing, I learn that you hurting me is part of the process. You making me angry is part of the process.”

62s

#BornAgainAndFree

“Where are you childish? What do you mean? Where are you just living in the natural and you haven't given it to the Lord? The second question is, where do you see yourself just living by the natural childish, repeating the same old cycles? God says that's where you need to be born again. And here's the last question. He told me to ask you, do you want to be made whole? And do you want to be free?”

50s

#LeaveTheDarkness

“Jesus gives us gives us a a command to take no thought that will keep you in the formlessness without structure, the emptiness, and the darkness of this world. We said this last week. If you keep going back to the darkness that's giving you the pain, you're gonna keep getting the pain that comes from the darkness. God almighty. Yes. What are you saying apostle? You can't keep going back to the same thing that's giving you the pain and expect it not to give you pain. My goodness. expect it not to leave you empty, not to leave you void, not to leave you formlessness and have no structure in your life.”

52s

#SupernaturalLiving

“Here's the kingdom key. The power of the light of God's word transforms us by renewing our mind to live God's kingdom way. His will and his word. How? Supernaturally. You can't do this in your own strength. It's done supernaturally. Guess this? Supernatural living starts with Christ Jesus. Not only... Here it is y'all. Listen, I'm I'm about to bring Jesus the coach in. Are y'all ready to see the coach? Okay. It starts with Jesus, Christ Jesus, not only as our Lord and Savior, but also as our example of how to be about supernatural living. He is also our supernatural coach.”

58s

#StandOnGodsWord

“Do you have enough maturity in you to understand you can stand on what God's word said and you don't have to get with this group, that group, and the other group? Catch this, to be accepted. Because that's what it's all about. I wanna get with folk to accept me. But when you get with folk who'll accept you as you are Yes, sir. Wanna keep you as you are My goodness. Are your greatest enemies, and they're not your friends. How do you know? Because when you start to come out from among them, they gonna dog you out.”

35s

#CommunionWithGod

“It's you spending time communing with me. You spending time with me. One way that we commune, when you get in God's word, right, when you get in God's word and and especially in in Proverbs and he is speaking to you, he is communioning with you. Yes, god. Because what he is doing is in that time, you're not asking for nothing. He is imparting unto you his wisdom to empower you to overcome what's been tormenting you.”

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Kingdom Church Intl. of Rome Ga This sermon · AI assistant

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