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.

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.

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 this 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!