These are the four major things that we needed in order to be able to leave the safety of our home or meeting place. Since we had to have them, Jesus has seen to it that they are available to everyone who will respond to them in faith. Jesus is with us, He has given us His peace, we have been sent, and the Holy Spirit is occupying our body.

All of this was made available to us through salvation. We have these four things ready and available. The problem most of us face is taking advantage of what we have. We read these Scriptures and rejoice over the fact that salvation did all this. However, we sometimes miss the point. We have to put it all to work. What does all this mean in terms of ministering to the needs of helpless people? It all depends on what we believe and what we do on the basis of that belief. Once the provisions are installed, we become responsible for starting our journey with God. The gentleness of God is something that few Christians thoroughly understand.

• We wait on God and wait on God and He refuses to take over.
• We pray, beg, and plead with God and He still doesn't take over.
• We read, study, and memorize His Word and He still doesn't move us forward into His mighty ministry.
• The Bible says we have it, the Bible tells us to do it, we try and fail.

What is going on?

Part of what was holding us back was sin. That is what the first three aspects of Spiritual Growth are all about. Because of General, Sanctification, and Preventative Spiritual Growth; we are ready to move forward with God. Up to this point we have been working collaborative with God to deliver us from those things that were hindering us. But, we have been dealing exclusively with us and our own spiritual needs. It wasn't all about us loving our neighbor. We were mostly just learning how to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. We were learning how to hate the world, the body's misdeeds, and Satan's temptations. Except for the fact that the sins we were fighting were being committed against others, we were mostly only thinking about us and our own relationship with God. As we learned how to seek God's righteousness, we mostly wanted it so we could experience it for ourselves. Righteousness had certain things that were to be done to others; but, we were primarily motivated to do them so we could have a more enjoyable relationship with God. None of this was wrong. All of this was necessary for us so we could draw near to God and Him draw near to us.