I hate tug of war. Feet slipping in the dusty dirt below, hands burning as the rope cuts across my palms, fingers rippling down the ridges of the rough twisted twine. I remember it from field day... I could see the red marker knotted in the middle, dangling down. It neared the line which marked the winning side of our opponent. We heaved and pulled. Leaning back, we grunted and gritted our teeth. But no matter the effort, we continued to lose our footing, until finally we gave in to the pull and were tugged across to the other side. And I hated standing up, dusting myself off while the winners gloated and laughed, mocking the weakness of a team I didn't even chose to be on. Don't you hate that in life... when you end up in a difficult situation that seems impossible to win? Sometimes it's a definite choice we make. But then there are times when circumstances take over and we really don't have much say in the matter. Have you ever gotten stuck on a team, or put with a group and the members don't pull their own weight. And no matter your suggestions to organize, to lead, to speak life into the situation, you just get dragged along in their dirt, with flashbacks of rope burn on field day. Or what if you're trying to tackle something on your own, because you've given up on the team approach. But you keep hitting a wall, and get frustrated when every new avenue turns into a roadblock. When will I get my break? I'm so tired of watching everyone else succeed while I stand back cheering on the outside but really just wanting the same thing for myself. This life truly is a tug of war! Mind, heart, soul, spirit... I want to have my own way! Even if we stop and pray about it, time stands still and nothing seems to change. Even when we search in the Bible for answers... we hear Paul tell us, You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. Galatians 5:16 NIV But Paul, that is so much easier said that done. So he continues... But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love. And as I understand it, when Paul speaks of the FLESH, he is referring to the sinful state of all human beings, or a power that is in opposition to the Holy Spirit. So now it seems to me that this picture I've had in my mind of this tug-of-war isn't really me against the world. Rather, it's more like me in the middle, and on one side is my flesh... or my sinful nature. On the other is my spirit... that deeper place in me which desires connection with God. This is the part of me that has been saved, if I have given my life to Jesus at some point in the past. These two are at war within all of us, a spiritual tug-of-war for our attention, our devotion, our words and our deeds. As Paul continues, he makes his point a little more clear in the next few verses... So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. Galatians 5:16-17 NLT That's the tug of war! Not just the battles outside of us which we see, feel, and have with other people. But much more the internal struggle... which tears us apart inside. You know exactly what this is...
we all do! These are the days when you realize what you SHOULD do, but you really FEEL like doing something else... or some desire is trying to CONVINCE you to do the opposite, right? Those are internal and external struggles tugging and warring between flesh and spirit. When I look at that list of things the Spirit produces... love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control... they seem like the perfect life. I mean, who wouldn't want those? But they are the fruit of living by the Spirit. They are the results of letting the Spirit lead us. And fruit doesn't grow overnight. It takes some time to not only grow, but to ripen and be ready for harvest. Which means that I will need to lean into and follow the Spirit regularly, and repeatedly if I want to have that fruit in my life to live on... to sustain me. The same will be true, though for the life lived in the flesh. I won't be full of that list of stuff, some of which we think could never happen to us, right away either. Just like the fruit, that will take time to grow and ripen as well. And if I live in the flesh long enough, I bet those things won't seem quite as shocking or strange to me. But here's the biggest problem. Trying to have both. Or not being ready to let go of one, to have the other. And thats where most Christians live; right in the middle of the tug-of-war zone. Because we aren't willing to completely give up our flesh. And it's really hard to wait for all that fruit to grow in the Spirit. So we keep one hand on the flesh and one hand on the Spirit. Sometimes though, the flesh tugs a little harder than the Spirit. You see the Spirit is a gentleman. He's not going to boss you around. But the flesh... yep, that's what he does. And you may just have to let go of the Spirit to get both hands on the flesh and you'll go for a wild ride one weekend... then Sunday comes. Uh... yeah. Tug-of-war. Freedom comes when we decide to give both hands to the Spirit and let Him gently lead our life... fully turned toward Him, no longer looking back toward our old life of the flesh. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Galatians 5:24-25 Word of God train me today... To let go of my old nature, nailing my flesh to the cross of Christ. To turn and give You both hands, Lord. To let the Spirit lead me and wait for the best fruit of my life to sustain me.
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Letter writing is an art form that unfortunately is becoming a thing of the past. It's not the same as sending an email. And cannot remotely be compared to a text. I'm referring to the old-fashioned, hand-written letter with a stamp on the outside of an envelope that is delivered by the U.S. Postal Service. Yes, that antiquated art form. Funny, one of my daughters asked me the other day where she could get a stamp. And she didn't mean around my house. Like she had never purchased one so she didn't know were to go to get one, or two, or a book of them. I do remember taking them to the Post Office when they were little. But I'm sure they don't have any clue why we stood in that line. Even the letters we do get in the mail, are typically junk mail on letterhead and we skim over them to see if there's anything necessary before we shred them or pitch them in the trash. Some of them I can tell before I ever open the envelope... with that fake handwritten ink on the outside of the envelope. I realize it's not from someone I know, so I don't even read it. But what if you got one... a REAL letter? Would you take the time to sit down somewhere quiet, away from the hectic pace of the day and really absorb what your friend or loved one had to say to you? Because they took the time to write it out, it must truly be something of great importance. Do you remember the last time you got a letter like that? Did it begin formally with a greeting of some sort? Dearest Lisa... Greetings from... Hoping you are well... The personalization would vary, of course depending on how you were acquainted with the sender. I was actually reading such a letter earlier today. Mine had been printed. But in its original form it was hand-written, most likely not in pen, but on some sort of parchment. These words on the page clearly poured over and measured out in a language I don't speak. But it has been translated and carried across many lands so that I could open it today... yet careful not to skim past that greeting. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Galatians 1:3-5 NKJV How often I skim past these opening lines of the letters of Paul in my effort to get to the deeper subject that I believe he has to teach. When these words he writes in the greeting could be a lesson in, and of themselves. For Paul dearly loves these people. He had spent time teaching them as he built up a body of believers, about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and how he had a personal encounter with the Lord on the road as a blinding light. So Paul certainly knew first hand what this word GRACE truly meant. Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ This wasn't some churchy word he threw around casually. To him, GRACE was a blinding change in his life from persecuting Christians in the most zealous way, turned radically toward winning souls for Jesus and adding to the church daily. So when Paul writes of GRACE as a greeting, he is offering it as it was offered to him... the Lord's favor freely given, leaning forward for all to receive. Now this PEACE also is not just throwing up of our first two fingers like those of the 1970's might do. This was the Greek word eirene which meant "to join, or tie into a whole." And when all the essential parts of us are put together, we are much less frazzled people, less distracted, less disjointed, less discouraged. The prefix "dis," as a matter of fact, means apart. So any of those words that make life more difficult for us, beginning with these three letters, are actually the opposite of PEACE. Because they are not allowing us to be joined together in wholeness. This to be certain is what Paul was calling for the people of Galatia. GRACE and PEACE Are these things that we, in our own power, are able to gain and master in our daily lives? Well, I'm pretty sure I've tried without success. I'd like to say that is the case for most of us. But I do know... that God is a Master at both of these. In fact, He is able to bring them about in our lives when we are willing to give into Him, to give over to Him, all that we aren't. And that is Paul's greeting summed up. Jesus willingly gave Himself for us that He might deliver us from all those things in this world that pull us apart, that cause us to be a messy pile of pieces. Maybe I shouldn't speak for you, but I'll confess that I'm a messy pile of pieces... often! I may not always look it on the outside, but boy do I feel it on the inside! And when I open up my heart, mind, soul and spirit to God and release these pieces to Him, He can join them together into the wholeness... PEACE... by leaning into me with His love and GRACE... the favor He willingly gives without reservation. All I need to do is accept it. It is a free gift, no strings attached. How thankful I am that Paul greeted us so well, so simply but so profoundly in this letter to the Galatians. Today, I am going to receive GRACE and PEACE, knowing that when I lean into Him, He is leaning into me! Word of God train me today... To slow down and acknowledge Your greetings if wholeness and favor, leaning into You. To give You all the random pieces of my mess, knowing that You can join them together to make a masterpiece out of me. |
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January 2019
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