2021-04-02
Good Morning Dear Ones,
For 3000 years, traditional Judaism has relied on the Law as its central theme and approach to spiritual matters. But after a time, the Lord realized this belief system was leading to a lock-step approach to these matters that was lacking the spirit of God’s teaching. It’s what is called legalism. It would be inappropriate of me to say that all traditional Jews fail in living led by the Holy Spirit, but many of them exhibit refusal to forgive, hold grudges, lack of humility, destructive anger, ambition, materialism and other attributes of the flesh [GA 5: 18-20]. The ways of the Spirit are quite different than exhibiting love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, joy, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. These are the gifts of the Holy Spirit [GA 5: 22-23]. As I mentioned last week, the flesh and the Holy Spirit are opposites and enemies. What the flesh and the Spirit want is totally different. We can’t make generalizations where traditional Jews are concerned. It is wrong to believe that all Jews are only interested in material things, like money. Yet it was true in the past that many of them were unethical moneylenders. Ultra-Orthodox Jews have a tendency to form cliques that follow a particular rabbi and dress code. Each rabbi holds slightly different rules for his followers. Some Jews are sweet, intelligent people; others not so much. An examination of which groups have contributed the most to our society reveals that many of the finest contributions have come from Jewish people. Some examples can be found in medicine, science, mathematics, the arts, entertainment, and every field of endeavor.
So, no generalizations would be fair to either traditional or Messianic Jews or other Christians. They wouldn’t be fair to any group! Muslims, Hindus, and people from any of the mainstream religions can and do make contributions which forward and better our way of life. However sacrificial, ethical thoughts and behavior, intelligence which leads to societal contributions, arise from believers in Jesus Christ, who have yielded up control of their lives to the Holy Spirit. I was told once by a mentor that God chooses certain people to serve Him and gives these people skill sets that allow them to do His will. He endows these people to eschew the demands of the flesh and to allow the Spirit to lead their lives. I would like to think that I’m one of them, but that’s for God to decide. I started out my life thinking I wanted to be a botanist, but God had another idea. Jonah was afraid of doing God’s will and began to travel in the opposite direction (west) when God wanted him to go east to Nineveh and preach the word there. Nineveh was an enemy capital city at the time, and Jonah was frightened to obey. In the end after spending 3 days in the big fish, Jonah obeyed the Lord and to his surprise, caused people in Nineveh to become believers. Things have a way of working out when we obey the Lord’s commands. It’s necessary to look at what the relationship of Christ is with the law. RO 10: 4 helps to illuminate this topic. “For Christ has brought the law to an end, so that everyone who believes is put right with God.” RO 7: 6, “Now, however, we are freed from the law, because we died to what once held us prisoners. No longer do we serve the old way of the written law, but in the new way of the Spirit.” Both these verses show that Christ has given us a choice and the strength to follow the lead of the Holy Spirit. Serving the Spirit means living with the gifts of the Spirit that are outlined in GA 5: 22-23. Leadership over our lives by the fleshly passions and desires gives way to that by the Holy Spirit. This truth leads us to better, more joyful, more peaceful, and constructive lives. Pride, jealousy, and interest in irritating others dies in us. God is kind enough to give us instruction that helps us to know how to make the most of His commands. Read GA 6: 1-10 to gain a better understanding of these directions. We should bear one another’s burdens. An example is when wronged, we should not be tempted to do evil and should give gentle correction to the wrongdoer. We should never be a hypocrite, boast of anything but God’s accomplishments or attributes, or be jealous. Being judgmental is not God’s way.
PRAYER: O Most Holy Lord, You guide us to behavior and thoughts that reflect Your will, and You imbue us with the wisdom and strength to avoid doing evil. When we yield up our will to that of the Holy Spirit, we are given inner peace and a joy of life (joie de vivre) that can’t be found from any other source. When the flesh leads, it leads us to spiritual death. When the Spirit leads, it leads us to eternal life. The latter outcome is by far the better one. Life in the Spirit can be hard at times, forcing us to make difficult decisions. However, if our experience is any teacher, it is the way to true happiness. We see on TV and through the other media people being kind and generous in helping others in trouble. Over this last year, many businesses have failed and whole careers have been ruined because of the Covid pandemic. People have lost jobs and still have families to support. Moreover, children have had to learn from home, because it hasn’t been safe for them to go to their schools. We ask You to place the healing touch of the Holy Spirit on these people in need and those willing and able to help them. Open our hearts to the intervention of the Holy Spirit and guide us in the ways which make us show His gifts. We offer this prayer in love, loyalty, and with open hearts to Your Spirit, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: The subject of the flesh vs. the Spirit doesn’t deserve to be given short shrift. Therefore, the Spirit commands me to continue on it next week. I’m forever grateful to God for giving us the Holy Spirit to help us better understand God’s will and commands. We are not only given this goal for our lives, but we are shown how to accomplish it. Next week, I will follow His command to share some of God’s directions on how to carry out the goal of living in the Spirit.
Throughout the book of Psalms, we are reminded to offer our God praise and thanks for His relationship with us. PS 145: 17-19, “The Lord is righteous in all He does; merciful in all His acts. He is near to those who call on Him, who call to Him with sincerity. He supplies the needs of those who honor Him; He hears their cries and saves them.” In praise of the Lord, we can offer PS 111: 5, “He provides food for those who honor Him; He never forgets His covenant.” PS 117: 2, “His love for us is strong, and His faithfulness is eternal.” PS 118: 1, “Give thanks to the Lord, because He is good, and His love is eternal.” That word “eternal” is powerful, because it means forever and ever. When a person has gained eternal life, all the good and powerful blessings come to him. It makes going to heaven after our earthly, physical lives are over a worthwhile desire. Our loving God wants nothing more than to love us forever and for us to come to Him forever in sweet fellowship. It is His Spirit that guides us to fulfillment of this goal, and He does it in response to the Father’s decision and Christ’s work. How blessed we who believe really are! Thanks and praise to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2021. All Rights Reserved.
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