Who Are You Relying On?

Today's blog has been contributed by David Trotta:

We’ve all done it.  We receive a gift from someone with a warm smile and a “thank you” only to put the gift on a shelf or in a drawer somewhere to collect dust.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, at the time, we received it with joy and went on to think about all the ways we were going to use the new gift, but life got in the way.  We became busy with other things, and soon forgot we even had the gift.  (On a personal note, I have tools that were given to me over a year ago and are still in the box, unopened.)

Now imagine I have a job in front of me that requires cutting a lot of wood, and I proceed to manually cut the wood with a hand saw forgetting that I had this nice shiny power tool on the shelf and still in the box.  Pretty foolish, uh?

Yet, as Christians we do that with the Holy Spirit.  We received the Holy Spirit with much joy and gladness from our heavenly Father, but then, somewhere along the way we stopped relying on Him, and instead started relying on our own strength.  We relegate Him to a back seat in our life.

We have this daunting task in front of us – living a life that honors God in a world that opposes us at every turn, but we forget that the Holy Spirit of God was given to guide, empower, and comfort us.  Instead, we go through our Christian walk struggling to do the right thing in our own feeble strength, which often leads to failure and feelings of discouragement and frustration.  We view the biblical promises of “peace that passes all understanding” and “joy unspeakable” as unattainable goals, rather than reality, as we drudge through life.

Listen to what the bibles says in John 14:26 about the purpose of the Holy Spirit in our lives – “But the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.” (AMP)

What an incredible and powerful resource!  God gave us His very Spirit to lead us through life.  Today, let’s choose to rely on the Holy Spirit and not our efforts.  When we do, our sinful nature will be put to death (Romans 8:13), and our lives will be marked by repeated victories, rather than defeats.

Thank You!

“I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.”

Ephesians 1:16

 

 

We are very close to completing a third year of writing this blog

and I want to take a moment and say thank you to those near and far who have read it.

I know we have some faithful readers in countries far removed from

His Place in Wayne County, here in Western New York.

We have now had page views from well over 80 different nations.

These include faithful readers in places like Russia,

Germany, Ukraine and Malaysia, to name a few.

Our prayer continues to be that wherever you are in your walk with God this blog helps to move you forward and help you grow.

I am truly blessed and honored to be a part of a church family

that is hungry for God and He continues to bless us with a wonderful Pastor who regularly brings us strong, sound biblical teaching.

I would love to hear from you if this blog has been a help and ministered to you in some way.

If you do share with all of us – one simple rule – To God Be the Glory!

You can respond by way of the ‘Comment’ section in the blog.

 

Milk or Meat?

“In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!”

Hebrews 5:12

 

 

My son, who in a few weeks will be thirty years old, had joined my parents and I for a Saturday

morning trip out for breakfast when he was about three.

I am not sure exactly how the conversation wound up where it did but he began to cry when he was told (and shown!) that grandpa had no teeth.

His toothless grin was not a concern to my siblings and I because he had had his teeth removed in the early 1960’s and so we were simply accustomed to our toothless Dad.

It took some convincing on our part but Aaron finally accepted the fact that grandpa was not in great pain and was able to eat just fine.

There were some challenges for him though.

Apples, a thick steak, and similar foods were a tad bit rough for him to tackle.

When I recall that story I often wonder how God views us when we should be capable of handling solid food but must have the Word ‘pureed’ in order for us to receive it.

As we consider spiritual maturity there is indeed a time for a diet of only milk.

Any parent understands that.

But normal development means an infant eventually ‘graduates’ or ‘matures’ and moves from the “milk only” nourishment on to solid foods.

The writer of Hebrews speaks of this as it related to our spiritual development.

It is a measure we ought to take of ourselves as well.

Are you capable of feeding yourself or do you always and only need Gods’ Word fed to you?

You may still be on milk.

When you have a question or a problem is it always and only someone else who has the answer or can you dig in the Word and search it out for yourself?

Milk, meat or somewhere in-between?

It is a measurement we all need to review from time to time in our lives.

Milk or meat?

 

Road Trip!

“being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will

carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 1:6

 

 

Pick a date on the calendar.

Well, maybe not just any date, pick a date that holds special meaning for you.

Maybe it’s your birthday or the birthday of your child.

Maybe the date you pick is your wedding date.

Perhaps you selected the date you surrendered your life to Christ.

Now, let me ask you a question.

What do all these dates have in common?

What they have in common is that they are singular dates on a calendar.

Certainly it is a date that holds special meaning to you but still it’s just a single 24-hr period.

That date represents an event in your life and not a process.

It represents a single point in time and not an extended journey over time.

One of the principles of spiritual maturity we must commit to is this:

We must commit to the process of spiritual maturity and not simply to the event of salvation.

Salvation is a single point in time while maturity ‘happens’ over the long journey of life while remaining in relationship with the Lord.

We would all prefer an ‘instant’ salvation and an ‘instant’ maturity too.

It doesn’t work that way.

The process of maturing takes time.

Sometimes it may move at a pretty good clip while at other times it seems agonizingly slow.

God has purposed it to be a journey.

Don’t grumble along the way.

Enjoy the road trip to maturity!

 

It’s Not about Fairness!

“So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.”

Ephesians 4:17-24

 

“It’s just not fair, they get all the breaks!”

Have you ever heard someone make that or a similar statement?

Maybe it has even come from your own lips a time or two.

If so, then you have probably also heard this spoken:

“Who said life is fair?”

The truth is there are a lot of things that happen in life to us and to others that is not fair.

For us as believers, though, it’s not about fairness but is about becoming like Jesus Christ.

Every believer will mature through the same spiritual process.

I did not say the same circumstances or even the same methods.

But you cannot mature as a believer without surrendering self.

What brings that surrender in your life could be quite different than what is needed to bring it in my life.

  There were experiences and circumstances that brought about a surrender to the will of God in Joseph’s life that were not at all like what David experienced but you cannot deny that both were in pursuit of God.

We tend to judge by our own experiences and circumstances and so when we start comparing what another person ‘endures’ compared to us we immediately start crying “Foul!”

“I had to go through this – why don’t they?”

Maybe it’s because God knows best!

Did you ever consider that?

Yes, even when it comes to the process of maturing as a believer; God’s path, no matter how different it may seem to be for you compared to others, is still the best way.

Suppose I said to you, “Let’s all meet in Venice, Italy on August 1^st 2014 at 10:00 a.m.”

Do you think we would all travel the exact same route to get there?

Of course not!

Our destination may be the same but our starting point will be different and that will help to determine what we each have to do to arrive at that destination.

God knows what has to happen in your life in order that you might mature as a believer.

He make take you through some things that I never experience, not because He loves you more or less than me, but because He knows what it will take.

Do you trust Him with the process?

Let go of your recipe for your life and follow His lead.

His ways are perfect and His plans for you are good!

Dancing With the Holy Spirit

Today's blog has been contributed by David Trotta:

Dancing with the Stars has become a hugely popular show, watched by 20 million viewers each week. It is amazing to watch how perfectly in sync they dance as partners.

I remember taking dance lessons with my wife a few years back.  One of the first and most important things you learn about dancing is that in order to dance successfully there can only be one leader and both partners have to be in full agreement with the steps they are taking and the direction they are going.  If you don’t, your dancing may more closely resemble a WWF wrestling match with some toes being crushed in the process.

As Christians, we were given the perfect dance partner to guide us through life – the Holy Spirit.  Galatians 5:16 says “But I say, walk and live [habitually] in the [Holy] Spirit [responsive to and controlled and guided by the Spirit]; then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh (of human nature without God).”

When we choose to allow the Holy Spirit to control and guide us, he will empower and steer us away from fulfilling the cravings and desires of our flesh.  Our lives will remain in step with the Holy Spirit, becoming a beautiful dance where Jesus is glorified.  However, when we choose to take the lead and go our own way, we will trip and stumble through life, often stepping on the hearts of those around us along the way.

Let’s choose to fully surrender every area of our life to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to lead in this dance we call life.  After all, he’s the perfect dance partner.

He Was a Good Man!

“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Matthew 5:20

 

Have you ever heard anyone speak of someone who has just died with words like these:

“He was a good man!”

Or

“If anyone made it into heaven, it was him.”

While those might sound like kind words to speak of someone or to someone’s friends or family left behind they can also carry some misconceptions about our own righteousness.

It is never our own goodness or righteousness that gains us entry into heaven.

It is only through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

I wonder what thoughts were passing through the minds of some as they heard Jesus’ words that day.  

To most, in that day, there were none more pious, none more religious than the Pharisees and the teachers of the law.

Their outward religiousness was not what God desired.

He desired, and still does, truth in the inward parts.

We cannot earn our way to heaven no matter how good we are.

God provided the sacrifice and only as we ‘put on’ Christ do we gain access to heaven.

I am certainly not advocating a life void of good works.

We have ample scriptures declaring the righteous are to be full of the fruit of good works.

But those good works flow out of a life into which His grace has flowed.

If it is ever said of me, “He was a good man!” let it be followed with the words:

“…because of Christ working in him!”

May that be said of all of us to His glory!