MESSAGES OF FAITH: Learning and growing

The topic for this week's 'Message of Faith' is Learning and Growing. What I thought about is, 'that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.' Yikes! I will have my 82nd birthday in two weeks, but that's OK, because I learned years ago that my old tricks needed to be revised and that I can keep learning and growing. Proverbs 1: 7 reads; 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge ...' and Proverbs 9: 10 and 11 declares: 'The fear of the Lord is the beginning wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. For through wisdom your days will be many and years will be added to your life.' Perhaps my favorite Bible verse now is Psalm 92: 12 through 15; 'The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming; 'The Lord is upright; He is my rock'…' An explanation of my quoting Psalm 92:12 'The righteous will flourish,' suggests that I identify as righteous through Christ. The apostle Paul helps me explain in Philippians 3:9; 'And be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ...' In addition, Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:23-24; 'to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.' Paul continues in 2 Corinthians 5: 17-20; 'Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old is gone, the new is here! All this is from God who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people's sins against them. And He has committed to us the message of reconciliation.' Learning and growing in Christ is attained by reading God's word, fellowshipping with believers and listening to God's word through teachers. I am motivated to grow as I read and ponder the scripture in Ephesians 2:10; 'For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.' I am saying that it is my desire to be His handiwork as He leads me in learning and growing.