Day 286 – Principles of Spiritual Growth – Appropriation

March 12, 2016 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III 1 Comment

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 286 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Appropriation

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 286 of our trek. Yesterday we finished our hike on the 6^th trail of this trek which was the Trail of Complete in Him.

Today we head onto the Trail of Appropriation. There is a total of 18 trails on the trek we call the Principles of Spiritual Growth, which is adapted from a short book written by Miles J. Stanford. This book contains a series of practical lessons which were instrumental in my spiritual growth as a young man seeking to create and live my legacy. I trust that you will also find this trek valuable in your own life, regardless of where you happen to be on your faith trek. Each of the trails that we hike builds on the previous one, so if you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen to them and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. As we wrap up another busy week, it is our hope to utilize the weekend for additional business planning that we need to put in place. Even after all the years that we have been in business, it continues to be a balancing act of good priorities and plans. It sometimes becomes difficult to be patient and know how to exactly appropriate the time for all the activities that we would like to accomplish.

As we look at hiking the Trail of Appropriation today, especially during this election season in the U.S., it brings to mind how the various government entities appropriate funds for certain specific reasons. Once those monies are set aside, they are not to be used for other purposes. While that gives us some basis for the word appropriation, let us explore today how this would apply to our spiritual lives. This is the 7^th of 18 trails which makes up the trek we call…

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Appropriation

Appropriation is an important subject that has to do with our faith and the practical reception of that which we are able to trust God for. Appropriation does not necessarily mean to gain something new but to set aside for our practical possession something that already belongs to us. In the government analogy, it is the setting aside certain government funds for a specific purpose.

In order to appropriate something for our daily walk in Christ, there are two essentials: (1.) to see what is already ours in Christ and (2.) to be aware of our need for it. These two factors of seeing and needing bring us from childish meandering into a responsible, specific walk of faith. They take us from the “help me” attitude to that of giving thanks; from begging to appropriation. If we examine Ephesians 1:3 we realize that all of the spiritual blessings from God are already set aside for us, all we need to do is to be prepared to accept them, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.”

This verse does not leave any room for interpretation. It is much more ironclad than if the government would appropriate or set aside resources for a particular purpose. This is God who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms…It is all done. It is finished. This verse is either true, or God is a liar and a sham. I know I fall into this same trap of asking, and sometimes pleading God to bless in certain areas in my life and the life of others. It is hard to understand that God has already blessed us, it is up to us to recognize and accept that appropriation of blessings that are set aside for us.

There is an element that we have not recognized yet, so let’s go back to the government analogy. If a government sets aside a certain amount of resources for a particular program, they do not send the full amount up front in hopes that it will be utilized appropriately. In the same manner, all the spiritual blessings are not poured out on us at once because most of us would not handle them correctly. Let me explain the critical phase, the key to it all. In most instances of appropriation, there is a waiting period between the acceptance and the receiving, often many years. Our responsibility is to patiently wait on God during the time necessary for Him to work into our character and our life that which we have appropriated in Christ. As it says in Isaiah 64:4, “For since the world began, no ear has heard and no eye has seen a God like you, who works for those who wait for him!”

Let me break this down in another example. As the result of the work of His cross and as the grand issue of Christ resurrection, eternal life is received already by those who believe. As with the other blessings, although it has appropriated to us, we have yet to experience the sinless life that will be ours in the eternity future.

Many believers don’t grow beyond the infancy of salvation, so is it any wonder why the other appropriated blessings have not been received. Because of this, many of us don’t receive what has been fully appropriated (set aside) for us. Jesus mentioned this in the verse that I often mention on our Wisdom-Trek, which is John 10:10, “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.” So the question for you at this point is, “Are you growing and maturing in your faith so that you can receive all that is available for you today?”

Within this past section, we have seen a third element involved in our appropriation. After we understand our possessions and blessings in Christ and become aware of our need to grow and mature, then we must give God the necessary time to work the appropriation into our everyday walk. If we are looking for our needs to be met in the next job that we take, the next relationship that we establish, the next book we read, or the next purchase that we make, then reality will never come.

In the matter of Christian development, there is no shortcut, no quick and easy way. God builds into the believer that which He intends to have flow through them to others. In order to provide a living legacy to others, what you do and say must flow from who you are at your core. Who you are comes from your source of strength, the provider of your spiritual blessings. Hebrews 3:14 explains, “For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ.” The blessings that are appropriated for us are too great for us to understand as Ephesians 3:19 proclaims, “May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

Receiving the appropriation of every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms does take time for us to mature and to grow spiritually. God is in no hurry and desires most of all for us to grow into His image. As Hebrews 10:36 tells us, “Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will. Then you will receive all that he has promised.”

On our trek Principles for Spiritual Growth, today we learned much on our Trail of Appropriation. All spiritual blessings are ours, let us be patient in our receiving of those blessings. Tomorrow we will begin a new hike on the Trail of Identification. Every trail that we hike will help us to create and live our legacy each day. So, encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

That will finish our podcast for today. As you enjoy your daily dose of wisdom, we ask you to help us grow Wisdom-Trek by sharing with your family and friends through email, Facebook, Twitter, or in person, so they can come along with us each day.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Day 285 – Principles of Spiritual Growth – Complete in Him #2

March 11, 2016 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III 1 Comment

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 285 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Complete in Him #2

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 285 of our trek. Yesterday we hiked the first part of our 6^th trail of this trek, which is the Trail of Complete in Him. Today we will finish this same trail.

There is a total of 18 trails on the trek we call the Principles of Spiritual Growth, which is adapted from a short book written by Miles J. Stanford. This book contains a series of practical lessons and was instrumental in my spiritual growth as a young man seeking to create and live my legacy. I trust that you will also find this trek valuable in your own life, regardless of where you happen to be on your faith trek. Each of the trails that we hike builds on the previous one, so if you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. On Wednesday, it was time again for my annual physical and blood work, so unless there are any surprises with the lab results, I should be good for another year. Since I am very dedicated to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, I do not expect anything out of normal ranges. Although it does take a little more effort on a daily basis to stay focused on exercising and eating properly, it is part of the overall holistic life that we have chosen to live. This is part of being a complete person physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. None of us is perfect in all of these areas all the time, but we need to incorporate into our lives the habits to help us reach these objectives.

So I will ask you the same question that we started with yesterday again, “Are you living a complete life physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually?” All areas are important, but for our hike today, we want to focus on the spiritual aspect as we hike the second part of the Trail of Complete in Him. This is one of the foundational principles that we need to address in our life. This is the 6^th of 18 trails which makes up the trek we call…

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Complete in Him #2

We covered a lot of trail on yesterday’s hike on how we are complete in Christ. If you missed that podcast, it would be best that you listen to it or read the daily journal. One of the suggested practices for spiritual growth to understand what it means to be complete in Christ is to spend time meditating on God’s Word and in prayer. This is a very important concept if we are to effectively hike the Trail of Complete in Him. In chapter one of the book of John, Christ is referred to as the Word. Let’s look at verses 1-5 and 14, “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it. So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father’s one and only Son.”

In our finite mind, we do not have the capacity to comprehend how God, his Son Jesus Christ (the Word), and the Spirit can be three distinct entities and yet divinely one. By faith, we must accept the premise of the revelation that the one human personality which is Jesus Christ, who is our Mediator and through Him we are made complete. With the entrance of Christ into us on a personal level, the Divine life becomes part of us. This is a gradual and growing transformation of us individually becoming more like Christ as we comprehend and accept that we are complete only in Him.

sg15-10761 — Gradual and Growing Transformation

This is a complex concept, so let’s look at it from this analogy. A seed embodies in full the reproduction of the life from which it came. Everything that is needed for a fully developed plant that produces a harvest is contained (or complete) within that seed. A couple of interesting points to this analogy is that the seed must die to bring new life, just as we must die to self so that Christ can live through us. Also, each type of seed produces a different type of plant. We are not all the same. We will have different talents, gifts, and abilities, which we can use to impact the world in our own unique way. So for me being complete in Christ may very well be different than what it is for you. This concept is explained in 1 Corinthians 15:36-38, “When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed.”

When the seed of faith is planted in us, just like an actual seed, the entire question is one of growth and maturity. The development of the divine life in the Christian is like the natural growth in the vegetable world. We do not need to make any special effort, only place ourselves under the conditions favorable to such growth. This brings us back to the concept that for us to have the proper nutrients to grow and produce a harvest, we must take the time to meditate on the Word, which is Christ, and be in communion with the One, who is the source of all life.

You might be thinking, how can I know if I am growing properly and what should the harvest in my life be? First, realize that it will take time, so be patient. We cannot force the harvest before its time. As we allow more of Christ to be assimilated in us, we will start to reflect the completeness of Christ through the fruit that we are producing in our lives. This harvest is listed for us in Galatians 5:22-23, “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!”

We are complete in Him for God has been provided everything that we need, it is up to us to acknowledge and accept it. 2 Peter 1:3 – By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

Let me ask you this question again today, “Do you understand and realize that you are complete in Christ?” If so, is your life reflecting the harvest of fruit that is mentioned in Galatians 5? On our trek Principles for Spiritual Growth, today we explored the second part of the Trail of Complete in Him. A crucial element for us to understand the concept of being complete in Him is to spend time in communion with the Word, which is Christ.

Tomorrow we will begin a new hike on the Trail of Appropriation. Every trail that we hike will help us to create and live our legacy each day. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through this Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this Trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Day 284 – Principles of Spiritual Growth – Complete in Him #1

March 10, 2016 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III 1 Comment

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 284 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Complete in Him #1

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 284 of our trek. Yesterday we finished hiking our 5^th trail of this trek, which is the Trail of Preparation. Today and tomorrow we head out on our new trail called the Trail of Complete in Him. There is a total of 18 trails on the trek we call the Principles of Spiritual Growth, which is adapted from a short book written by Miles J. Stanford. This book contains a series of practical lessons and was instrumental in my spiritual growth as a young man seeking to create and live my legacy.

I trust that you will also find this trek valuable in your own life, regardless of where you happen to be on your faith trek. Each of the trails that we hike builds on the previous one, so if you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen and read the daily journal.

AR-160209944 — The Trail of Complete in Him

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. It has been a beautiful early spring week here in Charlotte, and although I love the work we do, when the weather is nice, it sure makes this farm boy want to get outdoors and enjoy it.

On a different topic, another podcast in which I was interviewed on “Being a Better Man” was released this week. The podcast is hosted by Alf Hergistad and focuses on helping men to live an impactful life, especially on the lives of younger men. It is important that we take the time to help impact the lives of others, and I was privileged to have another opportunity to share our focus on legacy. We want to live complete and full lives.

The question for today is, “Are you living a complete life physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually?” All areas are important, but for our hike today, we want to focus on the spiritual aspect as we hike the Trail of Complete in Him. Our spiritual core needs Christ to complete us. This is the 6^th of 18 trails, which makes up the trek we call…

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Complete in Him #1

On today’s trail, we continue to deal with foundational facts of our spiritual growth since our life can be no better than our root, our source. Growth should include a maturing process. Youth and immaturity tend to act first and think later, if at all. If we mature properly, we learn to take the time to assess the facts. God, our patient father, is willing for us to take time and learn the eternal facts without which we cannot be brought to maturity.

When Jesus was on earth, he so often used natural facts to teach the deepest spiritual truths. He first teaches us about our natural life that we have in Adam before we can understand and appreciate our new spiritual Christ-life. Genesis 5:3 tells us that all humans took on Adam’s image or attributes, “When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of a son who was just like him—in his very image. He named his son Seth.” This involves the source principle of inherited traits, or in the country we would say that you are the spitting image of Adam. Every believer first learns that he is complete in Adam. Romans 5:19a – Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. Or as Romans 7:18a states, “And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.” This sinful nature could also be thought of as the inherited image we have from the first Adam.

God, through our failures and struggles, has taught us about the natural. This prepares us to take on the image of the 2^nd Adam, which is Christ. Romans 5:19b – But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous. Think about the image we take on from what we inherited in Christ as found in Colossians 2:9-10, “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.”

There are two main aspects to this 2^nd source principle:

First, the Lord Jesus is the source of our Christian life. We were born into Him; God has made us complete in Him. This first truth we are to hold by faith; it is true of each of us. 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!”
Second, as we hold to this fact by faith, we are brought into the practical reality of this principle day by day in our experience. Little by little we receive that which is already ours. The important thing to know and be sure of is the full inheritance is ours; we are complete in Him. This fact enables us to remain at peace while God patiently works into our character the rich and satisfying life which is hidden with Christ in God.

Since we are complete in our Lord Jesus, we do not need to add to that finished work. It is now a matter of walking by faith on our daily trek and receiving what is already guaranteed to us from the ever-abundant source within.

Think of it in this manner…Christ’s resurrection was our resurrection to a life of holiness. In the same manner, Adam’s fall was our fall into spiritual death. We did not create our new holy nature; Christ did. We did not create our original corruption. That was based on Adam’s choice. Both are formed ready for us to share in them.

When we choose to sin, we become in union with Adam in death. In the same manner, when we choose to follow Christ and to be in union with Him, we partake of that spiritual life. Christ took possession of us at His resurrection, and thereby we are enabled to bring forth a great harvest of good deeds. This is clearly stated in Romans 7:4, “So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the one who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God.”

Our part is not the production of good deeds within ourselves but the reception of our life in Christ. This entails the Bible-based truth of explicit faith in God and His purpose for us in Christ. It also requires patient trust while God takes us through the necessary processing involved. We do not fall into spiritual maturity, even though we are complete in Christ. Spiritual growth necessitates heart-hunger for Christ, determination, assurance, meditation, and prayer to take hold of that which is already ours in Him. We will never come into the knowledge of our spiritual possessions through a superficial understanding of the Word. How can we ever expect to have intimate fellowship with one we know little of?

Let me ask you this question today, “Do you understand and realize that you are complete in Christ?” Through the trek of spiritual growth, which does take patience and time, we can realize the rich and satisfying life that is already ours for the taking.

On our trek Principles for Spiritual Growth, today we explored the first part of Trail of Complete in Him. On our daily trek, let us grasp the concept of the inheritance that is ours. Tomorrow we will continue with some additional mile markers of learning as we finish to hike the Trail of Complete in Him.

Every trail that we hike will help us to create and live our legacy each day. So, encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Day 283 – Principles of Spiritual Growth – Preparation #2

March 9, 2016 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III 1 Comment

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 283 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Preparation #2

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 283 of our trek. Yesterday and today we are hiking our 5^th trail which is the Trail of Preparation. This entire 18 trail trek which we are currently navigating is adapted from a short book called Principles of Spiritual Growth written by Miles J. Stanford.

This book contains a series of practical lessons and was instrumental in my spiritual growth as a young man seeking to create and live my legacy. I trust that you will also find this trek valuable in your own life, regardless of where you happen to be on your faith trek. Each of the trails that we hike builds on the previous one, so if you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen and read the daily journal.

Hiking-up-the-Tunnel-Brook-Trail — Hiking the Trail of Preparation

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. Our youngest son Fred was able to come over on Tuesday night for dinner, and we worked together on preparing his income tax return. Since we have been involved in tax preparation for companies and individuals for many years, we count it a privilege to assist him, at least until he feels comfortable enough to handle it on his own.

Paula finished up another quilt this week for a great niece who was born last month. We have three more nieces expecting so Paula’s quilt-making calendar is full. Her quilts are all beautiful, and she makes each one unique. I do help her in the preparation stage by going with her to select the fabrics, which provides us an enjoyable break from our otherwise busy workload.

Preparation in any aspect of life is important, and to have solid spiritual growth, God needs to prepare our hearts and minds. Let us continue today on the 2^nd part of the Trail of Preparation. This is the 5^th of 18 trails, which makes up the trek we call…

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Preparation #2

On the first part of the Trail of Preparation, we learned that solid growth takes time and may be filled with struggles. As we fulfill God’s purpose in our lives by becoming more like His image, we are also instructed that we can find rest from the struggles in Christ.

None of us like struggles and failures in our lives, but that is what life is made of. We need to acknowledge this fact, and accept life as it is, not as we wish it were. Much of God’s preparation in our lives consists of setting up this struggle, which allows us to see self for what it is, and the struggle to get free from its evil power and influence.

8299129_1452941592.6211 — Life is made up of struggles and failures – Keep pushing anyways

Paul described this in his letter to the Church found in Romans 7:18, “And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.” There is no hope of consistent abiding in the Lord Jesus as long as we are under the dominion of the self-life. So is there any hope? Yes, there is, as we explored on our trail yesterday in Galatians 2:20, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Once we are willing to allow God to unlock and remove the shackles of our old nature, we can then be set free. Oh yes, the struggle will continue. We have become accustomed to, and in a strange way, enjoy the shackles of life, but once removed, we do not have to allow them to restrict us. Our personal, heartbreaking failure in every phase of our Christian life is our Father’s preparation for His success on our behalf. This negative processing of His finally brings us into His positive promise of Philippians 1:6, “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” His “good work” in us is begun through our failure and will continue on into His success by His performance and not ours. Philippians 2:13 – For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him. There is no question that we all began our faith trek by sheer grace, and we must continue and arrive on the very same basis. The shackles have been unlocked and removed, we should not be putting them back on ourselves as Galatians 5:1 tells us, “So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.”

We have been set free through no effort of our own. John 8:36 tells us, “So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” We need to grasp an important concept here. The effortless life is not the will-less life. We use our will to believe, to receive, but not to exert effort in trying to accomplish what only God can do. Our hope for victory over sin is not “Christ plus our efforts,” but “Christ plus our receiving.” To receive victory from Him is to believe His Word that solely by His grace He is, this moment, freeing us from the shackles of sin. And to believe on Him in this way is to recognize that He is doing for us what we cannot do for ourselves. We learned this principle at the time of our spiritual birth, and it seems that most of us have to learn it all over again for our spiritual growth and service.

As part of our preparation to fulfill God’s purpose in our lives, which is to make us into his image through Christ, we can expect difficulties on our trek of life. Why do we doubt His love for us when our trail is scattered with rocks and obstacles? During those difficult days, we would do well to remember Romans 8:35-39, “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Let me ask you this question today, “Are you ready for the overwhelming victory that is yours through Christ?” If so, then you must also be ready to go through the preparation necessary for that victory.

On our trek Principles for Spiritual Growth, today we explored the second part of Trail of Preparation. Let’s keep the shackles off of us so that we become more like Christ and enjoy the victory that is ours. During the next two days, we will hike the Trail of Complete in Him, where we will discover that we have everything that we need for the trek of life, which God has prepared for us in the future. Every trail that we hike will help us to create and live our legacy each day. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

Day 282 – Principles of Spiritual Growth – Preparation #1

March 8, 2016 by H. Guthrie Chamberlain, III 1 Comment

Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 282 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Preparation #1

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 282 of our trek. Yesterday we finished hiking on our 4^th trail on our current trek, which is the Trail of Purpose. Today and tomorrow we will hike our 5^th trail which is the Trail of Preparation.

This entire 18 trail trek that we are currently navigating is adapted from a short book called Principles of Spiritual Growth written by Miles J. Stanford. This book contains a series of practical lessons and was instrumental in my spiritual growth as a young man seeking to create and live my legacy. I trust that you will also find this trek valuable in your own life, regardless of your spiritual background or perspective. Each of the trails that we hike builds on the previous one, so if you miss any of our Wisdom-Trek, please go to Wisdom-Trek.com to listen and read the daily journal.

We are recording our podcast from our studio at Home2 in Charlotte, North Carolina. We have a variety of activities scheduled for this week. I am being interviewed on The Positivity Effect Podcast, we have one more company tax return and several personal tax returns to work on, we have time set aside for work on Your Life Plan Blueprint, and we have our usual client work to accomplish. It should be a busy but productive week. We have prepared well and will forge ahead taking one day at a time.

Speaking of preparing, before we set out on our daily activities for our trek of life, we need to make sure that we do prepare for whatever we may encounter. It is now time to break camp for today and head out on our new hike for the first part of the Trail of Preparation. This is the 5^th of 18 trails which makes up the trek we call…

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Preparation #1

We have already hiked the trails of faith, time, acceptance, and purpose. Once we know God’s eternal plan and purpose for us, we need to understand His method and process of preparation. In doing so, we will be able to reach the place of rest and confidence. Anytime we desire to grow, we must first understand our need. In the same manner, God’s basic ingredient for growth is need. Without the understanding of our personal needs, we will not grow in our Christian life. The reason our Father creates and allows needs in our lives is to shift our focus from all the religious trappings that are outside of Christ, centering us in Him alone. As part of this preparation process, we need to integrate the concept of Galatians 2:20 into our lives, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

For both our growth and our service, it is all essential that we see and understand this principle. When we understand our need for Christ to live in us, it causes us to reach out and appropriate by faith, from our Lord Jesus, the strength which we require. The simple fact in everyone’s life is that the true value of anything is known only when it is desired. If we do not desire something, we will never know our need for it. God makes Himself known to us through our needs. Those needs could be material needs, but it is likely that we will determine that we can work to fill our material needs. Spiritual needs are something quite different. We can never fill our spiritual needs apart from God’s Spirit living in us.

In this light, our needs are invaluable! We must face up to the fact that without spiritual hunger, we cannot feed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Matthew 5:6 should mean much to every one of us, “God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice, for they will be satisfied.”

All too often believers are encouraged and even pressured to grow before there is an acute awareness of their need, before there is true spiritual hunger. True and lasting growth of any kind comes through the proper planting, watering, nourishment, and environmental conditions. Spiritual growth is no different.

In many instances when there is real heart hunger for spiritual growth, there is very little spiritual nourishment offered. Spiritual nourishment can come from wise and Godly counselors, but it also requires that we individually take the time and effort to acquire this nourishment through meditation on God’s Word and through prayer. The timing and conditions must be right, and we must be prepared for growth. Jesus understood this as he was preparing for his crucifixion and told his disciples in 16:12-14, “There is so much more I want to tell you, but you can’t bear it now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future. He will bring me glory by telling you whatever he receives from me.”

We must be prepared ourselves before our lives will generate a hunger for Christ in others. This is part and parcel to us living a legacy each day so that we can leave a legacy for eternity.

Watchman Nee puts first things first in saying, “God does not set us here first of all to preach or to do any work for Him. The first thing for which He sets us here is to create in others a hunger for Himself… No true work will ever begin in a life without first of all a sense of need being created…We cannot inject spiritual appetite by force into others; we cannot compel people to be hungry. Hunger has to be created, and it can be created in others only by those who carry with them the impressions of God.” One of the main reasons why so much evangelistic effort and personal witnessing comes to little or nothing is that truths are forced on the “victims” to be saved before they are aware that they are lost.

There will be many seasons of preparation within our lives where our trek appears difficult. That is part of shaping us and conforming us to fulfill our primary life purpose, which is to be in God’s image. These times of preparation are needed if our life is to be Christ-centered, our walk controlled by the Holy Spirit, and our service glorifying to God. Sooner or later, the Holy Spirit begins to make us aware of our basic problem as believers—the infinite difference between self and Christ.

During these times of preparation and growth, we will grow tired, we will become discouraged, and we will be tempted to lose hope. Remember if we want to stand strong like the oak tree, it will take many years before we are able to produce a bountiful harvest. We are not in this season of preparation by ourselves. Jesus gives us a place to rest during the difficult uphill climbs on our trek of life. Matthew 11:28-30, “Then Jesus said, ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.’”

On our trek Principles for Spiritual Growth, today we explored the first part of the Trail of Preparation. Preparation is usually not easy, or considered enjoyable, but it is necessary to grow and flourish. Tomorrow we will continue on this trail and learn more valuable lessons about preparation. Every trail that we hike will help us to create and live our legacy each day. So encourage your friends and family to join us, and then come along tomorrow for another day of our Wisdom-Trek, Creating a Legacy.

Thank you for allowing me to be your guide, mentor, and most of all your friend as I serve you through the Wisdom-Trek podcast and journal each day.

As we take this trek together, let us always:

Live Abundantly (Fully)
Love Unconditionally
Listen Intentionally
Learn Continuously
Lend to others Generously
Lead with Integrity
Leave a Living Legacy Each Day

This is Guthrie Chamberlain reminding you to Keep Moving Forward, Enjoy Your Journey, and Create a Great Day Every Day! See you tomorrow!

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