Wisdom-Trek / Creating a Legacy

Welcome to Day 278 of our Wisdom-Trek, and thank you for joining me.

This is Guthrie Chamberlain, Your Guide to Wisdom

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Acceptance #1

Thank you for joining us for our 7 days a week, 7 minutes of wisdom podcast. This is Day 278 of our trek, and yesterday we finished our hike on the Trail of Time. Today and tomorrow we will hike the Trail of Acceptance.

The entire 18 trail trek is adapted from a short book called Principles of Spiritual Growth written by Miles J. Stanford. This information was instrumental in my spiritual growth as a young man seeking to create and live my legacy. I trust that you will find this trek valuable in your own life, regardless of your spiritual background or perspective.  Each of the trails that we will 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. We made significant progress on projects today on multiple fronts, so although it was busy, there was a sense of accomplishment. This is partially because the remote technical support for one client was a bit less intense today. Paula and our friend Bev were also able to make some reviews and edits to Your Life Plan Blueprint today, so hopefully we will be able to get back on track soon with that important project.

As we hike the trails of life, we all desire to be part of the group, to be accepted. As we are leaving our campsite for today and heading out on a new trail, we all want to feel as if we are contributing to the progress that we make. This concept is part of our very nature. As humans, our acceptance of others is usually conditional.

What we will learn on the Trail of Acceptance is whether God accepts us, and if He does, on what basis. These thoughts lead us to our hike on our 3rd of 18 trails, which will make up the trek we call…

Principles of Spiritual Growth – Acceptance #1

There are two questions that every believer must settle as soon as possible in order to be able to live the rich and satisfying life that Jesus promised us.

1. Does God fully accept me?
2. If so, upon what basis does He do so?

This is crucial. What devastation often permeates the life of one, young or old, rich or poor, saved or unsaved, who is not sure of being accepted, even on the human level.

Yet so many believers, whether “strugglers” or “sleepwalkers,” move through life without this precious fact to rest and build on from Ephesians 1:5-6, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.”

Every believer is accepted and made right by the Father, in Christ. Romans 5:1 says, “Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.” The peace is God’s toward us, through His beloved Son—on this, our peace is to be based. God is able to be at peace with us through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:19-20 – For God in all his fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

And we must never forget that His peace is founded solely on the work of the cross, totally apart from anything whatsoever in or from us. Romans 5:8 – But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.

Our faith becomes a fixed attitude, as solid as stone once it begins to rest in this wonderful fact. We not only become living stones in God’s house, but we also become a holy priest. 1 Peter 2:4-5 – You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.

This is the solid evidence that most believers are in need of today. God never alters nor departs from the acceptance in which He has received us because His acceptance is based exclusively on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We may feel that we wander from God’s acceptance of us when we sin, but He does not even remember our sins because he sees us in Christ. Once we have accepted God’s sacrifice, we are completely accepted for eternity. 1 Peter 3:18 – Christ suffered for our sins once for all time.

The truth is that God has not changed. His eye rests on the work accomplished by Christ for the believer. When you are not walking in the Spirit, you are in the flesh. You have turned to the old man who was crucified on the cross. We should no longer be slaves to sin. Romans 6:6 – We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin.

When you do sin, which you will, as soon as you realize it, you have to be restored to fellowship, and when you are, you find your acceptance with God unchanged and unchangeable. When sins are introduced, there is a fear that God has changed. He has not changed, but you have. You are not walking in the Spirit but in the flesh. God will not condemn you for your sins. He did that in Christ. Romans 8:1 – So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.

Acceptance is not altered, regardless, but for your fellowship needs to be restored with God.  You have to turn from those acts that are not aligned with God’s Word.

God’s grace to us must be our basis for acceptance. There is no other. Ephesians 1:6 – So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.

God, our Father, is fully satisfied with His beloved Son on our behalf, and there is no reason for us not to be. Our peace and satisfaction can only spring from and rest in His satisfaction. It is from God to us, not from us to God.  When the Holy Spirit deals with a person’s heart, He does not reason from what man is for God, but from what God is to man. Humans reason from what they are in themselves as to whether God can accept them. God does not accept us in this manner. The only way that you obtain everlasting peace in our lives is by accepting that God has accepted us through what Christ did, not through what we have done or may do.

Humans reason from what they are in themselves as to whether God can accept them. God does not accept us in this manner. The only way that you obtain everlasting peace in our lives is by accepting that God has accepted us through what Christ did, not through what we have done, or may do.

On our trek Principles for Spiritual Growth today, we find ourselves on the first part of the Trail of Acceptance. We have clearly seen that God accepts us completely and unconditionally because our acceptance is through Christ. Tomorrow we will finish the trail by exploring the evidence based on facts of this acceptance. 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:

1. Live Abundantly (Fully)
2. Love Unconditionally
3. Listen Intentionally
4. Learn Continuously
5. Lend to others Generously
6. Lead with Integrity
7. 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!