Accepting the Challenge - Day 1

This past Sunday, our church family took a challenge to awaken our sensitivity to the work of the Holy Spirit in and through our lives. To live in the newness of the Spirit made possible by Christ's death and resurrection as we have been learning through our study in Romans. (www.meloniepark.org)
We made a commitment to look to see where His Spirit is at work, to listen for His voice in our life, and when we hear Him speak, to obediently follow His lead.
This may be as simple as slowing down to recognize the beauty of God's creation or as difficult as forgiving those who have offended us. In either case, we are going to ask God's Spirit to empower us to live this new life He has created in us. For apart from Him, we can do nothing.
Now that we have been released from the law so that we might be led by the Spirit, in humble submission, we will let Him have His way in our life and be transformed. We are all in!
One of the committments I made was to share my reflections as I spend time in the Psalms this week. You are welcome to add your thoughts about your time in the Psalms or any of the other ways God might be prompting you this week. Whatever we do, let's glorify God by recognizing His power in our life as we live in His realm of grace.

Psalm 1

This morning, my attention was drawn to verse 3 where the psalmist describes the outcome of those who trust in the Lord when he writes: “whatever he does prospers”. Yet, in a moment of despair, the psalmist will later write in verse 5 of Psalm 10 the very same attribute of the wicked when he writes: “his ways are always prosperous”.
The contrast seems to focus on the heart. For it says of the wicked, “he is haughty and your laws are far from him.” Yet of the person of faith, “his delight is in the law of the Lord and on his law he meditates day and night.”
The wicked trust in themselves. Their branches become stiff and their hearts hardened by the wisdom of the world. Their leaves wither like chaff and what once appears to be prosperous now leads to destruction.
The person of faith trusts in God who sustains. They yield fruit in season and their leaves never wither. What may appear to be barren will soon spring to life as it nourished by the truth of God's Word.
May we delight in the Lord today and trust in Him alone.