Dear Southern Gables Friends,

Fred Smith Sr. had 65 years of executive positions with General Shoe Corporation, William Powell Valve, Gruen Watch and then his own company. As president of Fred Smith Associates, a management consulting firm, his clients included GENESCO, Mobil Oil, Caterpillar and many others. Mr. Smith served on the board of Christianity Today, Youth for Christ and many other Christian organizations. His lifetime friends included Billy Graham, Haddon Robinson, Zig Ziglar, Steve Brown and Ken Blanchard. Although he is with the Lord now, you can get weekly emails from his archives at www.breakfastwithfred.com

Several years ago, Fred Smith had an article in Leadership Journal. It is another gem that I get out periodically to check and see how I am doing in my walk with Christ. To maintain a close walk with God, it is wise to conduct a spiritual audit of our lives. Just as your body needs a check-up with blood tests and other health appraisal tools, you need a tool to find out where you are spiritually.

Fred Smith's article gives us a checklist that you might use as we get ready for the Day of Prayer on February 21. Over the last 10 years, I have reworked, refined and rephrased his list of 12 questions and expanded it to 15. But it comprises a good checklist of things to assess in your life to see how your walk with Christ is going. Ask yourself:

1. Am I content with who I am becoming? Am I satisfied with who I will be? Every day do I get one day closer to who I believe God wants me to be?
2. Am I becoming less religious and more spiritual? Am I less interested in the ritual and rules and more interested in the relationship with God and the grace He gives? Am I stuck on the content of Scripture or am I striving to live the Bible?
3. Do my friends, family and others close to me see me as a person who is genuinely walking with God? Do they see God working in me? Do they see evidence of my walk in the Spirit? Can they readily see the "Fruit of the Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-23) in my life? Is there any hint of the "Fruit of the Flesh" (Galatians 5:19-21) in my life? What needs to be confessed and repented?
4. Am I enjoying freshness in my walk with God? Are there daily insights and new joys in my devotional and spiritual life that God gives me? In John 7:38, Jesus said: "Whoever believes in me, … streams of living water will flow from within him." Instead of a stagnancy of faith and heart, is there freshness that comes from the flow of God's influence in my life?
5. Do I have a quiet center to my life? Psalm 119:165 says: "Great peace have they who love Your law." Is there commotion and chaos or contentment and calmness in my inner life? Do I have anger, stress, anxiety, bitterness or revenge that are blocking God's peace from quieting my heart and life?
6. Am I functioning in my unique ministry? Am I serving in the areas of my spiritual gifting with joy? Am I experiencing joy in my ministries of service to the Lord? Is there inner turmoil, driven-ness to succeed or territoriality? If there is, I am not in the will of God.
7. Is my prayer life improving? How many of my prayers are devoted to asking for things versus simply asking God for guidance and relying on His direction? Am I imposing my will on God or am I seeking His will each day of my life? Do I practice God's presence through the day?
8. Am I consistent in my worship experiences? Is there a real and growing sense of awe as a worshipper of God? (I know I need an audit when God does not impress me anymore).
9. Am I a genuinely humble person? Do I feel the need to tell others about my accomplishments or possessions? Do I have the need to self-aggrandize, or to recite my successes? Do I need to seek the Lord's help in this area?
10. Am I reading, studying, meditating upon, and applying the Bible? It is a part of the healthy diet of a spiritual person to be in the Word. What has God's Word said to me lately?
11. Can I point to current areas that Christ is transforming in my life? There should be some specific areas to which I can point where the Lord is changing my allegiances and behaviors to more Christ-likeness. Is obedience and surrender to God built into my lifestyle, mind and values? Obedience largely determines my relationship with Christ following new birth.
12. Am I more genuine in my love for others? Am I kind, patient, gracious, and forgiving with those around me? Do I listen to others and really care about their needs and cares? Am I harsh and terse or am I kind and forbearing in love?
13. How am I influencing others? Am I bringing people closer to God or to the world? Who are the people I am mentoring and influencing? How are their walks with Christ being enhanced because of my influence?
14. Do I have joy? If I am walking with God, joy will characterize my attitudes, countenance and speech. Criticism, complaining and ingratitude have no place in a mature Christian's life. Is there any of that in my life?
15. Do I have self-control? Are there areas of my life that are undisciplined? Do I have addictions and excesses that are driving my life instead of the Lord? Are there hidden areas of un-confessed sin that no one knows about?

Folks, these questions are a great way assess your spiritual maturity and ascertain whether you are making progress with Christ. Now if you are like me you have a long list of things that need to be addressed. As a "recovering sinner" who is striving to live in the heavenly realms, I can tell you this list gets longer the more honest and introspective I become. Here are some suggestions on what to do when you find these flaws:

First, you need to confess your sin. When David got his life straight with God, he said, "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"- and you forgave the guilt of my sin" (Psalm 32:4). Like most Christians, I struggle with my sin nature and have to practice confession many times a day. I have learned that confession is the way to a deeper walk with God. When I live in complete honesty before God, He comes in greater fullness into my life. You need to do the same. When you confess your sins, God will give you joy and peace!

Second, you need to repent. Paul told the church at Corinth, "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret …" (2 Corinthians 7:10). Once you have confessed your sin, ascertain how God would like you to change. Daily Bible study, prayer, and meditation will help you set some benchmarks of where you believe God wants your life to move. Your repentance will allow God to tell you the next steps of what He wants to be renovated in your life.

Third, you need to seek help. The Christian faith is not solitary. Christianity is lived in the context of fellowship and community. Jesus was with His disciples. He commanded his disciples to go two by two. Paul was never without the companionship of Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Luke or others. James 5:16, 19, 20 says, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed ... if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." Be accountable to another Christian. Have spiritual partners so that you can help each other stay on the path. Proverbs 27:17 says: "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."

Lastly, you need to live in God's grace. Too many people wallow in the guilt of things undone and un-yielded. We will never attain sinless perfection. Sure, we should aim for it (2 Corinthians 13:11), striving to please the Lord and honor Him in all we say and do. But when we fall short, we should drop to our knees to rely on the grace and mercy of God. We can fully trust in the wonderful grace of Jesus that takes away all our sin. Remember how the Apostle Paul agonized about the carnality and sin in his life? He wrote: "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death" (Romans 7:24-8:2). Once we have done our spiritual audit and have done our best to please the Lord, the next step is to live in the grace and mercy of God.

All this brings me back to Southern Gables Church. Our Elders have set aside Sunday, February 21, as a Day of Prayer. Every area of our Sunday morning schedule that day will be for prayer, worship and seeking God. Our Adult Communities, Children's Ministry and Student Ministries have been asked to use their Sunday time for prayer. We want God to order and motivate the next steps of transition as we move closer to calling a permanent pastor.

But here is the deal: having a great, growing and godly church is less about having the right pastor than it is about us becoming the right people! God can't bless our church or our lives if we are not completely yielding our lives to Christ in deeper fuller ways!! Each of us have to follow God and obey Him as we walk with Him daily in our pilgrimage of faith. The results begin when we do!

See you this Sunday for worship! We will study the sixth church in the Asia Minor city of Philadelphia. My message is called, "Be Available" and it is taken from Revelation 3:7-13. Please take a few minutes before Sunday and read it and pray. Our music and worship team strives to lead us into the presence of God each week. "The meetin' and greetin'" in the Welcome Center, the halls, the Adult Communities and in the parking lots with good friends as well as new ones is always great!

Bring a smile, a Bible and an open mind to let God talk to you on February 14. Remember, we have two worship choices for you:

• 9:00 AM Worship — praise, worship, and songs of the faith
• 10:30 AM Worship — songs of the faith, praise and worship

I love being your pastor!

mplatt@sgc.org