“You ran well. 

Who hindered you from obeying the truth? 

This persuasion does not come from Him who calls you. 

A little leaven leavens the whole lump. 

I have confidence in you, 

in the Lord, 

that you will have no other mind; 

but he who troubles you shall bear his judgment, 

whoever he is.”

my twocents…

often in our walk, we become hindered from obeying the Truth. the Truth can only come from God, His Word and His Spirit. why do we become hindered? or as paul puts it, ‘who hindered you'? the enemy will take any opportunity to invade and tempt us away from our walk in the Spirit and convince us to walk in the flesh, to fall for worldly ways, tricks and lies. Jesus was tempted by satan for 40 days. He was hungry and he was in the wilderness. could you imagine how strong of a will you’d have to have to not fall for a piece of bread? but Jesus’ will is stronger than we can ever imagine. our Lord is solid rock foundation and He is completely reliable. and as His Spirit lives within us, we have the power to resist satan’s temptations too. we have the power to overcome more than we know in our mind. His Word reminds us that this persuasion, this temptation that hindered us, does not come from the Lord. we know it comes from the enemy. and it only takes a tiny, tiny amount of yeast to blow up the whole loaf of bread- you know what i mean? we get just the tiniest whisper of temptation and it can escalate quickly if we allow it to be added to our dough mixture. that’s why its so important to slow down, especially before acting, to hear the right direction from the Holy Spirit. He will tell us what to add to the mixture and when to add it. and most often, things do not have to move at such a rapid pace as we are used to. its easier to trip fast feet than slow feet! regardless, the Lord will take our troubles and continue refining us through challenges. challenges will not go away in this lifetime, but with the gift of power that the Lord has bestowed in us through the Holy Spirit, we will succeed in His Will. we are His Children and we are destined for greatness in His Glory. just like a child to a parent, the child just can’t avoid growing up to realize that they absorbed these characteristics of their father and mother. it is inherent. have confidence like paul has confidence that the children of God will have no other mind and the true one at fault is the enemy. Jesus paid the ultimate price to cleanse us from our debt, our sins, our guilt. feelings may still surface that feel like guilt or shame or failure, but remember that those are feelings. there is a big difference between truth and feelings. the truth is that we are not guilty. the charges have been removed. case closed. if we feel guilty, it is just a feeling, it is not a fact nor a sentence. just as we can feel like we’re not enough- that doesn’t matter because God says we are. so let’s not be lead by our unreliable feelings that often conflict with the Truth. let us be lead by the Truth and feel freedom, peace and love, every chance we can get. 

2/18/23

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 

longsuffering, kindness, goodness, 

faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. 

Against such there is no law. 

And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh 

with its passions and desires. 

If we live in the Spirit, 

let us also walk in the Spirit. 

Let us not become conceited, 

provoking one another, envying one another.

my twocents…

as i was reading matthew 3 today in the Christmas devotionals, i noted how john the baptist instantly rejected the pharisees who came to his baptism. john was filled with the Holy Spirit and he knew that these people didn’t have their hearts in the right place as they visited. he told them to ‘bear fruits worthy of repentance’. what does this mean? 

well, we can reference galatians, which explains the fruit of the spirit. it says, as we live in the Spirit, we still have a role to play, the ‘walking’ part. this is a responsibility of ours, not contrasted by law, but by design. with faithful hearts for the Lord, we have to take each day and put forth our effort in the walk. there is work to be done, there is something to focus on everyday. these things we focus on cultivating: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. oh boy - that’s a tall order, huh? yes, but it’s worth aspiring to as we grow with the Holy Spirit. we aren’t expected to reach a completion point and pass a finish line. we are called to focus our efforts on daily spiritual aspirations instead of worldly ones. “i know i have my work cut out for me, but with a Holy guide available to me in every moment, how can i complain?” and that part about long-suffering explains exactly this feeling. maybe similar to the feeling Jesus had as He walked this earth. there is a pain of suffering that lasts a mortal lifetime, but it’s for a Holy cause and for the glory of God. that feeling of sorrow for the broken world, the aches of our fleshy body, and the intermittent feeling of loneliness and disconnection from our peers at times, and our God at times. this is why cultivating the fruit of faithfulness is right there in it too. we need faith everyday to drive us. and what helps support faithfulness? love and joy! when we are uplifted by goodness done unto others and our selves, we gain this momentum, energy and motivation. our cup is filled and we have vigor and faith to achieve our goals. then we meet self-control. how do we manage our ‘inventory’? how can we be thoughtful with our resources and allow for rations to spare and share? hard work and discipline is often the baseline here, but as taxing as it sounds, it is also the most rewarding. no one ever felt accomplished by sitting around doing nothing. truth is, we do have to move and make waves. we need to be in motion, with our eyes set on the Lord, and our hands out to our neighbors. working the orchards for fruit can sound tiring, but notice the Lord as you’re working... that cool breeze to calm your brow, the satisfying gulp of water to quench your thirst, the songs of the birds surrounding you encouraging your work, the colors and beauty of the fruits changing as they grow- knowing them from when they were just tiny bitter bulbs… only our glorious God can defy our logical anticipations- when we expect pain to hurt so bad, it doesn’t, when we expect loneliness to be so bitter, it’s sweet, when we expect labor to be painful, it feels invigorating, when we expect a storm, He displays calm. i pray that as we stay present in the moment with the Lord, we can rely on Him to show us truth and give us strength to do things that our minds just can’t understand. our environment just isn’t what we think it is, because we just don’t know all the factors. so let us be open to endless possibilities! we aren’t God, rather, we are blessed to be loved and cared for by God, our Father, our Creator. 

12/24/22