2024-01-26
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I was commanded to write about freedom in Christ. Much has been said about this topic in GA 5: 1-12 in the avoidance of hamstringing oneself by trying combine the beliefs of human-crafted religion with the pure Gospel, exactly as Jesus teaches it. Nothing will give us true freedom other than living by the Spirit. We should never use our freedom to indulge the flesh. The only way to know what is truth and what is not is to yield up control of our lives to the Holy Spirit. He is our Conscience, our Guide to the truth, and the One Who leads us to the God-pleasing life in Jesus Christ. You may wonder why I have been repeating GA 5: 22-23 so often and do it again here: “The fruits of the Holy Spirit are love, peace, joy, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness (humility), and self-control. There is no law against such things as these.” The last nine messages including this one have been about lessons learned from being obediently faithful. You’ll remember I began with a detailed description of the events after Christ’s crucifixion, death, burial, rising, the walk to Emmaus, appearance to the disciples, and finally His ascension--- found LK 23 and LK 24. The supernatural things found in these stories deal with intangible phenomena that are real, personal, and transforming when one has faith in them.
The real issue here is Christ’s ability to transform our lives! 2 COR 5: 17, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!” The old self was one directed by the fleshly desires, often with no thought of eternal consequences. Once Christ breaks though that old self and its ways, the Holy Spirit goes to work helping us to learn how to “think eternally.” What this means is that we don’t just think about the things of earthly value, but we consider eternal consequence and rewards. But there is far more than a reward/punishment point of view. There gradually becomes a richness from God’s demonstration of His love and willingness to bless us with guidance, mercy, wisdom, His companionship, and so much more. Those are the things that transform us to people with inner peace and joy amidst all the chaos around us. We discern the difference between self-righteousness and righteousness that comes from living in the Spirit. If my own experience is any teacher, I have learned to observe how different my own responses to the challenges of my life. 2 TIM 3: 16-17 describes the Scriptures as being “God-breathed and useful.” This means to me that God breathed life into them, or God designed them so that those who read and live by them can gain eternal life. Our challenges are to teach us to rely on the Lord and to focus our attention on what He wants us to know. This is vital reconnaissance to enable us to “walk on the rocky road through the narrow gate to eternal life” [MT 7: 13-14].
Let me briefly discuss the last fruit of the Holy Spirit listed above, self-control. When someone angers us, our flesh leads us to reflexively strike out in destructive anger. That’s why James, Christ’s half-brother wrote, “Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark… All kinds of animals can be tamed by mankind, but no human being alone can tame the tongue. Out of the same mouth comes praising and cursing…this should not be” [JAS 3: 5, 9-10]. Obviously, the fleshly reflexive response might be violence with fists and weapons as well. Talk about a way to invite trouble, that’s it! So, what can we do? You may have noticed I added the word alone above. That is because of the transformative nature of our relationship with Christ. 1 COR 10: 13, “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide you a way out [Christ] so that you can endure it.” This is only one way that our loving God gives us His paradigm and shows us how to avoid trouble. Long ago, a wise elderly man told me in the cafeteria during my university days, “What our world needs so badly is a little more Jesus in our lives.” He never said truer words!
PRAYER: O Lord, Most Holy One, we are blessed to have the opportunity that You give us through Your sacrificial Atonement. You came to us in human form as a humble mendicant rabbi to give us the truth. That is Your word, “which is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart ” [HE 4: 12]. We pray to You for discernment and wisdom that only You can give us. The long-held mystery is that we can tap into Your wisdom because Christ is in us [COL 1: 26-27, COL 2: 2-3]. While this doesn’t make us immune to wrongdoing, it gives us the choice to decide if we will remain attached to that metaphor of the Vine and its branches, mentioned in JN 15: 5. We offer You our heartfelt loyalty, love, thanks, and praise for all You do and all You are to us and for us in Your holy/mighty name. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: Our God’s hope is that we will be wholly transformed one day, so that the fruits of the Holy Spirit completely define who we are and what we do. Remember all those crowns described earlier in this series? That’s what he wants us to wear—as many of them as possible. Next week, I have been commanded to write about God’s hope and patience as we await the right time for us to be glorified. God’s grace [the undeserved favor He grants us] is key to understanding Who He is and what He does. EPH 2: 8-10, “For it is by grace you have been saved, though faith-and it is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” This basic truth brings together what we need to know about God’s motivation and His love for us. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn, JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2024. All Rights Reserved.
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