In the recent weeks, spiritual maturity has been a recurring theme for me. It’s been part of sermons I’ve listened to, verses I’ve read, and a topic I’ve prayed about recently.

It’s been on my mind quite a bit, and I guess it’s because, even as I’m writing a layman’s book on discipleship, I’m not exactly happy with my own spiritual maturity.

For the past 7 years I’ve lived like a disciple and have made some incredible growth spiritually, to the point that many of my friends call me “advanced” in my faith. I guess they’re right in comparison, but there’s the thing.

I might be further along on my journey, but I’m no different than any of them. I still stumble from time to time, and I still face temptations like everyone else, and, to my shame, I’m not always successful in fleeing them.

In those times I have to pray, ask forgiveness, and repent too, and I know I’m maturing spiritually because the time between sins continue to increase. I go longer and longer without sinning, and my response time to sin, from when I sin and when I ask forgiveness and repent becomes shorter and shorter.

In fact, many of them are immediate.

And for most believers that’s enough, but it’s not for me. I want more of God and I want my faith to grow even more and more. If faith is like a mustard seed, then to me, I have a small sapling, and I want a tree that birds can nest in.

Right now I feel like I’m at a plateau and I’m just stuck. That’s what I’ve been dealing with lately in my faith walk, and what I’ve been praying about – and God answered me!

He said, “If faith comes by hearing the Word, how often are you listening?“

Of course, that’s Romans 10:17 – So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

You know, sometimes God has a way of giving you, “duh” answers, meaning you should have already known, and I should have because that’s one of the scripture verses that was on my list to memorize.

Upon receiving that answer I knew exactly what I needed to do – spend more time in the word daily.

And, because everyone needs accountability, I decided to write a blog post every day for the month of September reflecting on the day’s time in prayer and reading, and share any insights I receive, (that I feel isn’t specifically for me).

I say that because after 7 years living as a disciple, one thing that I’ve learned is that not everything the Lord reveals to you is for the world. Sometimes it’s just for you and your situation.

That said, this is what I did on day 1 of my 30 days of faith journey.

1. I read the book of James. It’s not a really big book, but James 1 and 2 have frequently come up in sermons I’ve been listening to so it was on my list to read.
   
   Of course, when it comes to wanting to grow your faith, James is all about growing your faith and living in line with Jesus Christ. Chapter 1 is about the character of a person of faith that faith should produce results.
   
   Chapter 2 is about partiality, (treating others differently based on worldly criteria, and our works proving faith. Chapter 3 is about self control, especially of the tongue, and seeking and operating in wisdom.
   
   Chapter 4 is about the things we should avoid in this life as far as behavior. And Chapter 5 is about stewardship and how we manage the things that God entrusts to us.
   
   All in all, if you want to grow in faith, the book of James is one of the better books to teach you how to live out your faith, and it was a good start for me.
2. Praise. Once you get into the Word and it really gets down in you, don’t be surprised if you find yourself humming or singing. I found myself doing that and I thought that a good way for me to say focused on the Lord, (abide in Christ, according to Romans 8:1 and 2 Corinthians 5:17) was to just listen to Christian music.
   
   But not any Christian music. It had to be biblically sound and scripturally focused. It was on that journey that I found a group called Holy Groove, and their thing is singing scripture as if they were blues songs. At first I wasn’t sure, but after listening? I love it.

That was basically my 1st day. I’m writing this on the 2nd, but this was September 1st, 2025, but I’m writing this on the 2nd and backdating it. I’ll write another today at the end of the day.

I wish I had some big or insightful lesson to pass on, but the truth is simple – I’m doing this as a kind of challenge, but this is how we’re supposed to live every day.

We’re supposed to just hang out with God in His Word, pray, maybe sing some praises, and build a relationship with Him – and listen.

God’s not an ATM machine, you know? What’s the point of praying and asking if we don’t stick around and listen?

Anyway, I’ve shared the video from Holy Groove below. I hope you enjoy.

PS: Are you interested in taking the challenge too? Leave a comment below and let me know. Whether start on the 1st or the 21st, it doesn’t matter.

What matters is that you spend time with Him, and put Him first.