So for the past few weeks I've been diving into the fruit of the Spirit. You know, those character qualities that Christ develops in us. If we belong to him.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
So far we've looked at Self Control, Gentleness and Faithfulness.
God keeps bringing up verses that speak to these attributes. For example:
A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. Prov 25:28
I've never thought of self control as a defensive quality. But I guess it is. If you let your emotions and your desires rule you then you are quickly and easily swayed from one emotion to the next. Situations affect your heart more than they should because you have no set standard of behavior.
For example:
Someone says something mean, snarky or incorrect to me.
I lash out at them in anger. They retaliate. The situation spirals down.
Self control wall. No matter what is said to me I will not last out. This wall allows me to walk away. Not respond. Diffuse the situation instead of escalate it.
Example 2:
I really want to scarf a whole pack of Oreos.
I go for it. Feel guilt. Gain pounds. Feel shame.
Self control wall: I will not eat them. I feel no guilt. No shame. Don't add pounds and calories.
The character qualities that God calls us to are not surface. The reasons and the benefits of practicing what Christ calls us to in obedience are so rich and deep. These fruit snacks are turning into meals. And like anything else character is developed over time and with continued practice. The more you choose self control, the easier it becomes the more we are like Christ.
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
Monday, April 8, 2013
Brave
Sometimes I feel like 3 people.
There's the photographer/artist/businesswoman.
The mentor/teacher/shepherd.
The girl who likes to laugh with her best friends, snuggle her husband, dance on Friday nights, eat guacamole and read good books.
Being in my mid 30s I guess has precipitated a mid life crisis. Who do I want to be? This was my first 30 years. What will the next 30 look like? What do I want them to look like? I'm taking this year to pray through it a little bit. To ask God for direction and to not make impulsive decisions.
Most of all I want to be afraid not to try. I feel at my most comfortable in my own skin right now. I know who I am, what I'm good at, and I want to be fearless. Lest you think this is all taken from various Taylor Swift songs, let's be clear.
Fearless means when I fail I look at why and try again, or make a wise decision about not trying again.
Comfortable means confident, less concerned with what other people think about my choices and more interested in being my best for Jesus.
In the 2nd third of life I want to be brave.
There's the photographer/artist/businesswoman.
The mentor/teacher/shepherd.
The girl who likes to laugh with her best friends, snuggle her husband, dance on Friday nights, eat guacamole and read good books.
Being in my mid 30s I guess has precipitated a mid life crisis. Who do I want to be? This was my first 30 years. What will the next 30 look like? What do I want them to look like? I'm taking this year to pray through it a little bit. To ask God for direction and to not make impulsive decisions.
Most of all I want to be afraid not to try. I feel at my most comfortable in my own skin right now. I know who I am, what I'm good at, and I want to be fearless. Lest you think this is all taken from various Taylor Swift songs, let's be clear.
Fearless means when I fail I look at why and try again, or make a wise decision about not trying again.
Comfortable means confident, less concerned with what other people think about my choices and more interested in being my best for Jesus.
In the 2nd third of life I want to be brave.
Monday, March 25, 2013
The Weirdest Verses in the Bible
Exodus 4:24-26
At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.
So Andy had us read Exodus 3-4 the other day and look at the whole process of Moses being called to lead the Exodus. Everything flows along really well. Moses talks to the bush. God is patient through all of Moses's excuses and gives him miracles to show off. Moses packs up his family and they head off to Egypt and then....the verses above happen.
Moses is off to obey God and God meets him along the way and tries to kill him. For no apparent reason.
And then Moses's wife cuts off her young son's foreskin and touches Moses's feet with it. WEIRD. Nasty. Ewww.
And then God doesn't kill Moses and the story continues.
I wonder why they don't preach a lot of sermons about this passage. hahaha.
I'm not gonna lie. At first I was like, WHAT is this about? So I went home and read some commentaries. (Because that's the kind of nerd I am.) Turns out the point of this whole thing is obedience. Or rather disobedience. And correction.
Moses is a descendent of Abraham. And Abraham and God had a little agreement going on.
And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
Moses had not circumcised his sons. They are supposed to be circumcised on the 8th day after birth. Moses's kids were probably around 2/3 years old when they set off for Egypt. Moses was in disobedience to God. Major disobedience. Didn't matter that he was serving. Didn't matter that he was on the path in life God wanted him to travel. Didn't matter that it looked like he was obeying God in all things. He wasn't.
And God took it seriously.
The reasons why he disobeyed aren't really important. You can kind of infer from the passage that his wife wasn't a huge fan of circumcision. Maybe he wanted to make her happy and keep peace in the home. But the why doesn't matter as much as the response from God.
If God calls you to serve he calls you to obey. In all things. I don't know about you guys but that makes me a little nervous. God was going to kill Moses. His chosen servant. That guy that turned water into blood, etc. Because Moses thought he could pick and choose where God had authority in his life.
God never wastes a lesson. In my life lately I've been seeing the kindness of God as he corrects me and calls me to a deeper walk. Not in lists of rules but in areas of my life that I want control over. God says no. I am the boss of you and I will not tolerate disobedience in my servants. It is a fierce and overwhelming love. It is a kindness I don't fully understand the depths of. It doesn't matter how high we are in a church heirarchy. It doesn't matter how many good works we do daily. God is not interested in our shiny public holiness. He is interested in our inner and total surrender to his will.
Oh that's hard.
At a lodging place on the way the Lord met him and sought to put him to death. 25 Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son's foreskin and touched Moses' feet with it and said, “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me!” 26 So he let him alone. It was then that she said, “A bridegroom of blood,” because of the circumcision.
So Andy had us read Exodus 3-4 the other day and look at the whole process of Moses being called to lead the Exodus. Everything flows along really well. Moses talks to the bush. God is patient through all of Moses's excuses and gives him miracles to show off. Moses packs up his family and they head off to Egypt and then....the verses above happen.
Moses is off to obey God and God meets him along the way and tries to kill him. For no apparent reason.
And then Moses's wife cuts off her young son's foreskin and touches Moses's feet with it. WEIRD. Nasty. Ewww.
And then God doesn't kill Moses and the story continues.
I wonder why they don't preach a lot of sermons about this passage. hahaha.
I'm not gonna lie. At first I was like, WHAT is this about? So I went home and read some commentaries. (Because that's the kind of nerd I am.) Turns out the point of this whole thing is obedience. Or rather disobedience. And correction.
Moses is a descendent of Abraham. And Abraham and God had a little agreement going on.
And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you.
Moses had not circumcised his sons. They are supposed to be circumcised on the 8th day after birth. Moses's kids were probably around 2/3 years old when they set off for Egypt. Moses was in disobedience to God. Major disobedience. Didn't matter that he was serving. Didn't matter that he was on the path in life God wanted him to travel. Didn't matter that it looked like he was obeying God in all things. He wasn't.
And God took it seriously.
The reasons why he disobeyed aren't really important. You can kind of infer from the passage that his wife wasn't a huge fan of circumcision. Maybe he wanted to make her happy and keep peace in the home. But the why doesn't matter as much as the response from God.
If God calls you to serve he calls you to obey. In all things. I don't know about you guys but that makes me a little nervous. God was going to kill Moses. His chosen servant. That guy that turned water into blood, etc. Because Moses thought he could pick and choose where God had authority in his life.
God never wastes a lesson. In my life lately I've been seeing the kindness of God as he corrects me and calls me to a deeper walk. Not in lists of rules but in areas of my life that I want control over. God says no. I am the boss of you and I will not tolerate disobedience in my servants. It is a fierce and overwhelming love. It is a kindness I don't fully understand the depths of. It doesn't matter how high we are in a church heirarchy. It doesn't matter how many good works we do daily. God is not interested in our shiny public holiness. He is interested in our inner and total surrender to his will.
Oh that's hard.
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