Publisher’s Letter, Trinity is Truth
The Trinity is Truth.
It was a refreshing revelation. Suddenly, during an otherwise normal day, I looked back over my life and realized an amazing truth. I really am a new Creation in Christ!
In my head I knew I’d been “born again” at the point of salvation. Yet over time as I yielded to the process of change, I began to see evidence of real spiritual growth. A recent devotional helped to put this into words. Writing of the multi-million-dollar market of self-help books sold each year, Dr. Charles Stanley reminded us to understand that our identity in Christ is not about self-help or self-improvement, but about self-replacement.
In my life, self-replacement has been a gradual process. I’m guessing for many it’s more of an instant transformation, but for me it’s been about learning to trust the Lord one day at a time, growing each day.
My early life had some major hurdles. I had no choice but to learn a fierce sense of independence in order to survive. In those environments I learned to take care of myself at a young age. That worked well for a long time, which is part of the problem. With little education and experience, I was able to work my way into a career and be somewhat successful.
I rededicated my life to Jesus when I became a new wife and mom years later. Though I’d been “saved,” I’d never truly committed my life to Christ. My family would need God, and I wasn’t going to attempt life without doing my part to invite Him into our family.
I’d like to say since then life has been easy. Quite the contrary! Yet over the years, week after week, month after month and year after year, I’ve leaned on God and He has been faithful to help me stand when I could not on my own. Because of the experience of God working in my life, my understanding of the importance of the Trinity went from head knowledge to heart knowledge over time.
God the Father. My earthly father was not a man who took care of his family and honored his marital covenant with his wife, my mother. His early decisions wreaked havoc in our family. So, to believe in God the Father as a loving and perfect father meant letting go of who my dad was not, in order to receive God the Father, for He is the perfect father to the fatherless.
Jesus the Son. Receiving Jesus into my heart meant salvation and an eternal home with God. This finally settled that, “If I died tonight would I go to heaven?” question. It also meant forgiveness of sins, which were countless and created so much shame in my life. By reading the Bible consistently, I met a loving Jesus and finally understood the power of the Cross. He is my Savior who cleansed my life from my sins.
The Holy Spirit. We have the spirit of God living within us! Conversely, we also have a spirit of self-living within us. My “spirit of self” was very strong and stubborn. Still is at times. But I now understand the choice that I must make every day. A wise man once told me, “You can’t lead and be led.” Trusting God to lead my life through the Holy Spirit means to let Him be my counselor and guide, giving me the wisdom to take my life in the specific direction of His will and not my own.
The reason I know I’m a new creation in Christ is because I can look back and see where I once was and where I am now. While I’m a work in progress, I thank God for His provision.
In the Trinity is the Truth we can Trust.
