Road Kill

Driving on the highway a few days ago, I noticed lots of road kill scattered along the way, with vultures and buzzards flying around and landing to eat their findings.  In our area, those birds are what we see eating the decaying animal flesh, but at night other carnivores come out to devour the remains.

Road kill makes me sick to see.  I can't look at it!  I just have to look away or straight ahead to keep my eyes off of the gruesome sight!  And thinking about those vultures and buzzards eating it is sickening, too! I would have put a picture of road kill on this post, but....... YUCK!!

Spiritually speaking, if you aren't growing, you're dead.  You're road kill, in a sense!  Anything that isn't growing is in the process of dying.

If you aren't changing for the better, you're not in the process of being transformed into the image of Christ.  If you can't look back at your life last year, the year before, five or ten years ago, and see that you're a better human being, then you aren't growing IN Christ.  Becoming a Christian is the first step in the process (which may have begun even before then as you learned about Him), but continuing to grow in that relationship is allowing the Holy Spirit to work within you.  That means putting away the selfish and fleshly desires you once had, exchanging them for fruits of the Spirit.  Good fruits that change us for the better, change us into being more Christ-like.

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:13-25

Are you growing?  Are you changing?  Or are you road kill, waiting to be devoured?  Think of Satan as being the carnivore.  If you allow him the opportunity, he will devour you.  Get moving! Get to growing!  And never, ever stop!

Special Ingredients - Make Every Effort

God’s divine power has given us everything we need for life and for godliness. This power was given to us through knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and integrity. Through his glory and integrity he has given us his promises that are of the highest value. Through these promises you will share in the divine nature because you have escaped the corruption that sinful desires cause in the world. Because of this, make every effort to add integrity to your faith; and to integrity add knowledge; to knowledge add self-control; to self-control add endurance; to endurance add godliness; to godliness add Christian affection; and to Christian affection add love. If you have these qualities and they are increasing, it demonstrates that your knowledge about our Lord Jesus Christ is living and productive. 

2 Peter 1:3-8

Several years ago I did a lesson at a ladies' retreat about these verses. It was a recipe them, so these verses fit right with the theme.  I am using the God's Word Translation above, but the NIV says "increasing measure" on that last verse, instead of just increasing....so the 'measure' fit well with measuring ingredients in the recipe.

I love this passage of scripture because it shows us that it is not on our own power that we change into what God wants us to be.  He wants us to live a godly life.  He wants us to be holy, have faith, integrity, knowledge, self-control, endurance, and love for each other. But our sinful nature sometimes resists those changes.  It is ONLY through HIS divine power within us that we can change into what He knows we can be.

The Holy Spirit is given to us when we are baptized (Acts 2:38) and helps us grow spiritual fruits (Galatians 5-22:23).  His power has given us everything we need!  There is nothing more!

The key is in verse 5 in the passage above:  Make every effort.  Make every effort.  Am I making every effort to add these special ingredients to my life? Are you?   If I am, the last verse (8) says that my knowledge about Jesus is living and productive.  If I'm not, my knowledge about Jesus is not living and not productive.  

Jesus wants us to bear fruit for Him.  That shows that we are His disciples.  And because of Him, we have that power within us to do just that!  Thank you, Jesus!  Thank you, God! Thank you, Holy Spirit!

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ² He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³ You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴ Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵ “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷ If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ This is to my Father’s glory,that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

John 15:1-8

This Is A Test....

I remember when I was a little girl, we didn't have 24 hour a day TV with hundreds of channels.  We had three channels that ended at midnight.  After than, on one channel, anyway, there would be a screen of striped colors with the following announcement:  "This is a test of the emergency broadcast system.  If this were a real emergency.....".  The test was showing how viewers would be warned if there were ever a real emergency.  Along with the test came a loud blaring horn.  An annoying warning that something was wrong (or would be wrong in a real situation).

There is a sort of "warning system" in the Bible that will show you and I if we are allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us and show whether we are growing in our spiritual lives, or not.  We are given this gift at baptism, according to Acts 2:38.  Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for theforgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit is said to be our helper, teacher, counselor, comforter....and many other descriptive words.

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 

John 14:26

The Spirit will teach us and remind of, but we have to allow God's Spirit to work within us and help us. When we don't allow Him to work within us and do the job He came into you to do, we are grieving Him.  

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. ³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 

Ephesians 4:29-31

So here is the test.  It's from Galatians 5:16-23.  The heading in the NIV says "Life by the Spirit".  Basically it is a list of traits that come from the sinful nature, then a list of fruits (character traits) that come from the Spirit.  We will find ourselves in one of the categories - maybe in both of the categories. Either way, we will be able to examine our lives by this list and "test" whether we are growing in the Spirit or not.  

¹⁶ So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ¹⁷ For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

¹⁹ The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

So what if we find that we are not producing the fruits of the Spirit like we should?  What if we find areas that need improvement (which we all will)?  What do we do?

First of all, PRAY.  Pray and ask God to help you grow in that area.  Ask Him to soften your heart to allow the Spirit to work within you.  And ask him for opportunities that will cause you to grow in that area.  He will help you.  He wants to help you.  Prayer is the first step.

Second, open your eyes.  There are opportunities to use each of the fruits of the Spirit every day.  The problem is that sometimes we're so caught up in our own lives that we're too busy to really open our eyes and see what is going on around us.  There are people who need YOU everywhere.  There are people who need to hear about Jesus all around you.

And third, take action.  Just seeing things doesn't cut it.  We must ACT!  We must DO!  We must step out of our comfort zones and work for the Lord.  That's how we will produce those fruits of the Spirit.

It would be nice if our bodies/souls/temples of the Lord (within us) had a warning system where a light would flash and a loud horn would blare when we were in spiritual danger, but God didn't make it that way.  He did, however, give us the best guide ever to test ourselves - and that is by His Word.  It will convict us and it will encourage us.  But again, we must open our eyes, our minds and our hearts.  We must be receptive to what we read and have the courage to listen to those warning signs.  

Remember that you and I are not alone.  We have a counselor and a helper.  God's Spirit is waiting to help us. Always!

Expect Weeds!!

How Does Your Garden Grow? Part 5
Flowers take a lot of work to grow, but weeds don’t take any work to grow, do they? They take work to make them NOT grow! The weeds in our spiritual garden are the same way. Christians striving to live by the example of Christ are going to grow good fruit. We are striving to allow the Holy Spirit to develop fruits in our life as Galatians 5:22-23 explains: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control."

Sins in the Christian’s life are just like weeds. Left there to grow and multiply, these sins will begin to take over our lives. They will begin to choke out the good fruit growing in our lives. But, God’s Holy Spirit will help us get control over our weeds, if we will live by the Spirit.

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful natures. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." Galatians 5:16

We know that we were given the gift of the Holy Spirit at baptism because we are told that in Acts 2:38-39: "Peter replied, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off - for all whom the Lord our God will call."

And I don’t know about you, but it helps me to know that God’s Spirit is in me and ready to help me grow the kind of fruit that God wants me to. I can not do it on my own. God is ready, willing, and able to help us rid our spiritual gardens of those pesky weeds!