Message from Pastor Leo

August 15, 2008

            Do you have a list of things "to do" for the Lord - a list you try to live by?  “I promise not to lose my temper, not to lie, and not to steal.  I promise to hold my face the right way, give the right amount of money and to always be kind to strangers.”  Did you know that if you do a "right" outward act but you haven't given your heart in love to God, that action does nothing for you?  It's not what you do for God, but why you do what you do that counts.  Motivation is everything.

         In the church in Galatia, some of the gentile believers were talked into being circumcised and following Jewish laws.  They thought their actions would make them better Christians.  But the Apostle Paul says, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?  This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Galatians 3:1-3  What happened to you?  Who tricked you?  When you received the Spirit of God, did you get that by being good enough, and by deserving it?  Or was it a free gift that God gave when you believed?  Are you now so foolish to think that what was begun by the Spirit needs to be improved by your own efforts?

         Who's doing the work in your life?  Are we going to be foolish?  After God has liberated us and saved us and given us a period of grace, are we going to say, in essence, "Hey, big guy with the ‘G’ on the pocket, I've got it from here."  It can't be both.  Either God has been merciful to you and He's saved you according to His mercy and His Holy Spirit is working in you, changing and developing you, causing growth (fruit of the Spirit) - or - you're trying to do it yourself.

          Jesus said, Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. Matthew 23:25-26  We don't want to just look like Christians because we know the vocabulary, or do the right things.  We want to be genuine.  Our words and actions should stem from our changed heart.  If we'll allow the Spirit to clean up our heart, we won't have to put on an act. 

            “That's a lot of fancy talk Pastor Leo, but how do I do it without doing it myself?” 

            Read your Bible.  Read your Bible, be nourished and grow. 

            Think about it like this - if you bring home a little tree from the nursery and set it on the driveway, it will provide shade for a while but eventually, the roots will dry and wither, the leaves will fall off, and the tree will die.  But if you plant the tree in fertile soil by the stream, it will grow and flourish giving shade for a long time.  Likewise, the Bible says, if you read your Bible faithfully, ...he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. Psalm 1:2-3  

            So plant yourself by the stream.  Drink-in the water of The Word.  Read your Bible … and grow.

May the Lord Jesus Christ Be Magnified!

Pastor Leo A. Giovinetti