Dear Friends,
The Olympics are once again in progress. When you remove the politics of some of the participants, the games are always exciting and thrilling. Of course I love to see the USA on the platform to receive a medal, and the higher on the platform, the better. These athletes train hard, putting a great amount of effort to attain their best, pushing themselves beyond their limits. How many times they have an idea of what their limits are, only to push harder and find they have come to a new or higher standard of limitations. Until the next time, when they are ready to push beyond their new found limits, and reach a new level of achievement. How thrilling that must be, to find a new level within yourself, and then challenge yourself to go beyond it!!! Wow!!! This is what we call, attaining your personal best. Yet, there is a best that goes even beyond this level.
Jesus said in Acts 1:8 “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you..” There is a level in our lives that we can attain to, beyond our own personal best, the level of best in the Holy Spirit. There is a level of power, ability, might and efficiency, that we do not possess in our self, but it is possessed by the Holy Spirit who is in us. He is desirous for us to walk in all that He is and all that He has.
Power is the Greek word, dúnamis; which means to be able. It is power, especially achieving power. All the words derived from the stem dúna– have the meaning of being able, capable. It may even mean to will. This Holy Spirit power even affects our will power. This power make us able, and capable. According to the Word of God, no matter what, I am capable in Him.
Galatians 5:22-23 tells us, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, endurance, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control.” This is the life the Holy Spirit imparted to us when we were born again. The Holy Spirit makes us able to walk in this type of life. Just because this life was given to us, just because we are able in Him to walk in it, we must still make the decision to do so.
In the same way, an athlete may have resident in himself the potential to break world records, he has the ability to do so, he must still make the decision to work at it, train for it, and give his best to do it. It is not the athlete that has the potential, nor is it the athlete that has the ability, but the one who makes the decision to work at it that will have the accomplishments in their life. It is good to know we have the potential. It is good to know we have the capability. Yet, without the decision there is no accomplishment of the Word of God in our life.
Our life in Christ, with the help of the Holy Spirit, the instruction of the Word of God, can really be a great life. He has designed it to be that way. Jesus came not only to give us life, but to give it to us more abundantly. That would be life upon life. A life full of love, full of joy, full of peace. A life of endurance producing results, with goodness and kindness filling our being. A life walking in faithfulness, meekness (teachableness), and self-control. What a life these qualities can produce for us!!! What a potential for life upon life that dwells within each and every born again believer!!!
Not only is this life available for us, but also for every one of our children. They also have the potential, the capabilities. What are they hearing, and what decisions is it causing them to make? Proverbs 22:6 says that we as parents are to “Train up our children in the way they should go.” Going and doing is always based on the decision making process. In the Hebrew, the word translated “train up” is usually translated “dedicate.” It indicates that the child is to be devoted to God. It also indicates that the child is to be prepared for the responsibility he will know as an adult. We certainly know that it is proper for our children to walk in the life God has given us. Such training provides fertile ground for the Holy Spirit to work. The quality of training which the child receives is a critical concern.
Thank God for a church organization that teaches our children the Word of God for their life. Thank God for teachers that meditate the Word for our children. Thank God for teachers that depend on the anointing of the Holy Spirit to touch our children. Yet, that is not the training the bible talks about. Training takes place in the home. Training comes from the parents that share and communicate with their children about what they had learned in church. Then taking what they learned, discuss it, be an example of it, train them by being the church.
When our children fall down and hurt themself we tell them they will be ok and share with them what the Word of God says, then pray with them accordingly? If they come to us and tell us they don’t feel good, maybe their stomach hurts, we first take then to the Word and speak health into their bodies. Afterward, we may take some other action based on what we believe the Holy Spirit is leading us to. We share these things with our children, and in doing so, we are teaching them how to make decisions?
As we discuss the Word with our children, praying with them, we will be hearing them again our self. The Holy Spirit will have opportunity to move, we will make the right decisions, step into our potential, walk in our capabilities, and have the results and effects in our life of walking in the Word. Both us and our children.
This is the life of an Olympian. Not settling for the norm, the average. It is a life of pressing toward the mark of the high calling of walking in the abundant life we are called to. Pressing beyond our limits and reaching new levels of achievement. Training our children to live in the same.
Have a Very Blessed Week,
Pastor Bob
