Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Confidence”
Our Bible verse for today: “I am sure of this, that He who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” Philippians 1:6
Our thought for today: “Your job is to be faithful; God’s job is to bring transformation in your life.”
If you’re like most of us then you’re probably mildly dissatisfied with where you’re at spiritually. I’ve never met a Christian who could honestly say that they were completely happy and satisfied with the condition of their prayer life. I’ve also never known anyone who felt they knew the Bible well enough. And I’m certain there is no person who could claim to have such a deep and intimate relationship with Jesus that they don’t need to know Him any better.
Spiritually all of us are works in progress and none of us is where we need to be. And, we know it. That being the case, we can easily be left feeling guilty, frustrated, and inadequate. Many of us do.
The answer is to just be faithful and continue to do the things you know you’re supposed to be doing. Faithfully practice the basic and essential disciplines of the Christian life, and trust that God will bring about the spiritual transformation in your life. Author Eugene Peterson once referred to this as “A long obedience in the same direction.” His point was that by means of the basic spiritual disciplines of the Christian life such as prayer, Bible study, fasting, meditation, worship, fellowship, service, etc., we are to place ourselves in a position before God whereby He can bring about the transformation in us that He desires.
We are not the source or the cause of the spiritual transformation we seek. That comes from God. That’s what Paul meant in Philippians 1:6. God is in the process of doing a great work in your life. He is molding you into the man or woman He wants you to be. However we do have a role to play in the process in that we have to place ourselves before Him and be open to the work He wants to do in us, but the results are up to Him. Therefore our confidence is in Him. You do your part and you can trust Him to do His.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 