From Milk to Maturity in Jesus
The quiet rise that comes from within.
Devotional Credit
Abide Above, Miles Stanford
Photo Credit
Unsplash
Many of us were taught to rejoice in forgiveness, yet we quietly stopped short of the fuller life the New Testament describes. Miles Stanford, in Abide Above, presses us past the nursery bottle. He points out how easily we camp at Romans 5, grateful for peace with God, while the Holy Spirit is inviting us into Romans 6 through 8 where union with Jesus becomes the source and shape of daily living.
The point is not to discard gratitude for justification. Rather, it is to follow the gospel through to its next grace. You were placed into the death and life of Jesus, not as a solo project, but inside a people whose Head is the risen Lord. In Him, you are counted dead to sin and alive to God. The Christian life is not law managed from the outside. It is Jesus expressing His life from the inside by the Holy Spirit.
Where older patterns leaned on liturgy and rule keeping to stir devotion, the apostolic pattern centers on nearness to the Father, bold access through the Son, and the indwelling Spirit who writes God’s desires on our hearts. The focus shifts from trying to become to resting in who we are in Christ, then walking that identity out in love. This is not passivity. It is responding to the One who works in us as we set our minds on things above.
So, when Hebrews speaks of milk and solid food, it is inviting believers to feed on the finished work of Jesus until it becomes the living logic of ordinary life. We are not bound to a legal theory of sanctification. We are invited into the shared life of the Body, where Jesus, the Anointed One, is our righteousness and our life. Thank you, Brother Stanford, for nudging us from the bottle to the table.
Journal Entry, Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I am the Spirit of the risen Lord who placed you into His death and into His life. In Him you died to sin’s claim and you now live to God. I have sealed you, I dwell within you, and I write My desires on your heart. You are not under the old letter that stirs the flesh. You serve in the new way of My life within you. Set your mind on the things above where your life is hidden with the Anointed One in God, and you will find that I am working in you to will and to do what pleases the Father.
There is no condemnation for you in Jesus. Walk with Me. Present your body to Me as one who is alive from the dead, and I will express the life of the Son through your words, your patience, your purity, and your love. When the pull of the old patterns rises, remember that you are a new creation, joined to the Lord as one spirit. Keep in step with Me. As you behold the glory of the Lord, I will transform you from one degree to another.
You have every spiritual blessing in Him. You have been made complete in the Christ who is your wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. I am faithful to finish what I began. Feed on solid food. Live as one who belongs to a holy people, a Body with Jesus as Head. I am your power for holiness, your liberty from fear, and your joy in the Father’s nearness.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of baking a loaf with a lively sourdough starter. You can knead the dough longer and push it harder, yet without the starter working inside, it stays flat. But once the starter is folded in, the whole loaf rises from within, quietly and steadily, until the kitchen fills with a warm aroma. That is what life with the Spirit is like. Instead of managing yourself with more rules, you trust the living presence of Jesus to work through you from the inside out.
A simple practice for today. Before you answer that tense email or step into a difficult conversation, pause for ten seconds. Breathe normally. Then say, Lord, I rely on You as my patience and clarity in this moment, express Your peace and truth through me as I respond. Then type, speak, or act in step with that reliance, not to earn anything, but because Jesus already lives in you.
Prayer of Confidence
Lord, thank You that in Jesus I am forgiven, accepted, and joined to Your life. Thank You that I am dead to sin’s rule and alive to You. Thank You for the Holy Spirit who indwells me, writes Your ways on my heart, and expresses the life of the Son through me. I rest in Your finished work. I welcome Your solid food today, and I walk in the liberty and joy of Your nearness. Amen.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
Hebrews 5:13–14; Romans 5:1–11; Romans 6:1–14; Romans 7:4–6; Romans 8:1–4, 9–14; Galatians 2:20; Galatians 5:16–25; 2 Corinthians 3:5–6, 17–18; 2 Corinthians 5:17, 21; Colossians 2:6–15; Colossians 3:1–4, 9–17; Ephesians 1:3–14; Ephesians 2:4–7, 18–22; Philippians 2:12–13; Titus 2:11–14; Jeremiah 31:33–34; Ezekiel 36:26–27; 1 Corinthians 1:30; 1 Peter 2:2–3; 2 Peter 1:3; Romans 12:1–2; Hebrews 10:14–22.