From the Pastor at Trinity!

"I had rather died, than have failed." Those were the words of a swimmer whom I read about in a devotion recently, who had been picked up two miles off the coast after failing to swim a certain distance due to exhaustion. As was noted, "His failure was due to his lack of strength." He was not in as good of physical shape as he thought he was and therefore failed to achieve the goal he had set for himself.

As I read that devotional, I was reminded of the importance of staying in shape physically, so that we can have the strength we need to perform our daily duties, especially those that are the most difficult. I was also reminded of how true this is of our spiritual lives as well. To be strong enough to accomplish God's purpose for our lives we must exercise our souls the same way we must our bodies. To be sure, if we do a spiritual workout on a regular basis, we will be able to resist the temptations of the Devil and not fail in living the Christian life, which is our primary goal is it not?

Without a doubt the great Apostle Paul understood this fact, as he wrote, Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me." From this scripture, we can see that Paul was keenly aware that we can succeed in life, especially the Christian life, provided we "stay in shape" by working out with Jesus day by day. He also knew that one is guaranteed to fail if he or she takes for granted his or her relationship with the Lord by not studying the Bible, praying consistently, attending church regularly and serving in some worthwhile capacity out of love for God and humanity.

This being the case, let's don't fall short of the goal of eternal life by failing to seriously consider Paul's advice to daily exercise our faith in Christ Jesus as we should. Instead, let's devote our whole being to staying in shape spiritually through constantly attending those things that keep us close to God and that enable us to be successful in all of our endeavors to serve and please Him. And let us do it in such a committed way that we would rather die than to do otherwise or fail.

With Love, from JESUS,

Pastor David