i Live by Faith - but Faith in Whom?

The latest verse that I have been working on memorizing is below – Galatians 2:20…
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
However, I just had a conversation with someone last night who said that while they are memorizing verses in their head, it is taking time for them to sink in to their life. Well, ME TOO! I can say this verse and I KNOW the first part is true…Christ lives in me. But I so often question the second part of this verse in my life. Can I really say that I live by faith in the Son of God? I sometimes sit and reflect on where my faith is placed and I am usually discouraged to find that I place a lot of faith in myself and my abilities. I think pretty highly of myself (contrary to Romans 12:3) and thus many times I should say, “…the life I live in the body, I live by faith in Greg Serafino, who loves himself and would not give himself up for another.” Wow. I actually wrote that out. It is there for the world to see. I struggle with living by faith in Jesus Christ, my Savior. I shouldn't be there, I am a pastor, after all, and we should be above all of that. Right?
Another passage I have also been working on is Colossians 3:1-3 – Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set you minds on the things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
If I died then I should not be living either FOR myself or IN my own strength. Hidden in Christ…am I willing to hide behind my Savior? To let Him get the glory? To point people toward Him and not ask them to follow me?
So…do I live by faith – Yes!
Do I live by faith in Christ Jesus, my Savior, who died and gave himself for me? Sometimes – more now than last week, last month and last year but not ALWAYS! I need to make it present tense – every day.

You’ve Got It All!

I am amazed at the things that I see on TV or hear on the radio or EVEN hear from people in the church that appeals to my sense of greed vs. need. There are so many things that I do not have and so many ways that I "fall short" by the standards of the community in which I live and yet, I continue to find out that I am truly blessed with those things that I DO have and by the way that God meets my every need. I have learned so much as I try to depend on Him more and more and yet I also keep learning that I do not depend enough on Him. An interesting dilemma to be in as a disciple of Jesus.

I find that same principle at work in my spiritual life, too. I find that I want to be a mature Christ follower but I often don't think I have what it takes to accomplish it. There is always someone more "spiritual" than me or more" in tune with the Spirit" than I am. So what am I missing? There must be a trick, a secret, a special thing I have to have or do that makes this "spiritual life" thing work. Well, 2 Peter says it is not a secret and there is something involved that we have to do – I am trying to run through this 2 Peter chapter 1 cycle more and more and as I do I find my faith growing. So what is the secret?

2 Peter 1:3 says we have been given everything that we need for LIFE and GODLINESS – WOW! Then it goes on to say that as a believer in Jesus – one who has placed faith in Christ for eternal life – I should add to my faith. What do I add? Seven things:

1. Goodness - that action that follows our faith and moves us toward service and change
   
2. Knowledge – the expanding of what it means to be like Jesus by reading His word and gaining insight and understanding
   
3. Self-Control – UH OH – once I have knowledge of something I should do and have not OR something I should NOT do and yet I DO – it puts me in a place of decision. Will I or won't I obey? Discipline to choose the right path and step forward to follow through.
   
4. Perseverance – AHHH – once the right decision is made, inevitably, we are faced with a struggle – follow through on the hard path or give up. Here is where the rubber meets the road. Do you trust God to help you through or not? Stick with it when you know it is right!
   
5. Godliness – Whoa! At this stage your level of "godliness" is raised. How about that – "godliness" that attribute of being like God. Not that you are God – that ain't gonna happen, BUT you attain a level of that that includes humility in having persevered and succeeded. Give credit where credit is due – Who helped you through? The Holy Spirit.
   
6. Brotherly Kindness – you are on the track of realizing that this is not all about you and it is about serving those around in need. You begin to develop a love for those around and see their needs and look outside of your own person interests. Seek the good and well being of others and you are growing and stretching your faith.
   
7. LOVE – true "Agape" love. That love that gives itself freely for another without expecting anything in return. You are there! NOT QUITE!
   

The passage goes on to explain that we can make it through one cycle of that and become a little more productive and effective but we need to have these qualities in "increasing measure". Now that you faith has grown a little through one cycle – we walk through the cycle again and grow a little more. And then a little more. Again and again and your faith (and mine as I do this also) grows and stretches. The hardest part for me is 3 and 4 – deciding the right course and then sticking with it through the hardest of times. But when I have – I can point to those times as to when I have grown the most. Press on in Real Life – that is all we have!

A Journey of VAST proportions

I love Vacation Bible Schools but I really LOVE ours! We revamped how we do it about 15 years ago and we have seen such amazing results with both volunteers and new people to our church along with a great reputation in our community! We divide all the kids up by grades and have line leaders for each grade and then have them go from station to station throughout the morning! Instead of having a story teller and a craft person and a game person and a verse person leading it for each grade we have one person in charge of each of those things and then the kids come to them. It is so smooth and works out well for everyone.

The impact for the kingdom that we have is also incredible. We have people that get to use their creative skills and their administrative skills to the point of excellence. Over the last 15 years we have literally had thousands of kids come through here that have heard about Jesus Christ. We have had hundreds of decisions for Jesus and have visited hundreds of homes to invite the parents to come to our church. We do not purchase a package because we found that when we did we only used a portion of it so we started using our own creative juices and putting themes together on our own - WOW have these people been creative.

Check out our website at www.ogbc.net and follow what happens this year through our "Jungle Journey – A Quest for Truth". Look under the Media tab for Jungle Journey 2008. We had 252 kids this year on day one – we'll see what the rest of the week holds! Pray for us as we strive to expand the kingdom for Jesus through reaching children and then their parents.