Overarching Peace

Those who love Your law have great peace,

And nothing causes them to stumble.

(Psalm 119:165)

What does it mean to have great peace? In Strong’s Concordance, the word “great” in Psalm 119:165 is translated as the Hebrew word rab: it means abundant in quantity, size, age, number, rank, or quality. So, there is plenty of peace available for us! There’s so much, in fact, that our sense of peace can outrank every other feeling and emotion.

Galatians 5:22 reminds us that one of the qualities of the Holy Spirit is peace. If our lives are filled with the Spirit of Christ, then His peace will permeate us. Life’s trials will lose the power to generate a spirit of despair, because there is a greater power at work in us: the Spirit of peace. In the presence of great peace, fear cannot establish a foothold.  We who love the law of the Lord are positioned to receive this wonderful gift… God’s great peace, in great measure, for His great glory.

Lord God, today we declare our love for Your law. Thank You for allowing us to experience great peace. Please let it overflow from our lives into the lives of everyone we meet. In Jesus’s name we pray. Amen.

No Need To Worry

“Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Then it shall come about when the Lord your God brings you into the land which He swore to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to give you, great and splendid cities which you did not build, and houses full of all good things which you did not fill, and hewn cisterns which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you eat and are satisfied, then watch yourself, that you do not forget the Lord who brought you from the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-12)

“Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” (Matthew 6:31-33)

During yesterday's sermon in Bronx Bethany's Ministerio Latino, Pastor Martha shared from the intersection of Deuteronomy 6 and Matthew 6:

• We serve the Lord, who has a track record of providing for His people.
• We have the privilege and the responsibility to reflect on the word of God, covering our household with the remembrance of who He is and what He does.
• We, because of Him, can live every day without worrying about temporal needs.

God has not changed. In our moments of need, we can be encouraged that the Lord who fed ancient Israel in the wilderness will feed us; the Lord who brought water out of the rock can satisfy our thirst; the Lord who caused Israel’s clothing not to wear out can clothe us (see Deuteronomy 8:1-10). We can claim the prophetic promise and move from the land of servitude to the land of supply.

As we wait for God's promises to show up in our circumstances, how ought we pray? Instead of continually asking God to do things for us, let’s choose to thank God for what He has already done in us. He is our Father. He is trustworthy. God is not worried. His Spirit, who lives in us, is the Spirit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23a). May His character inform our conduct today.

Speak God’s word to yourself and to others.

Seek God’s kingdom and righteousness.

See God’s hand of miraculous, abundant provision.

Celebrate God's eternal faithfulness.

Periodic Maintenance

This past Sunday, Pastor Sam reminded us of the mission and vision of Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene. He noted that when our mission statement was written, it was not an indication of a new thing nor a new direction in ministry. It was, and is, a statement of what God had already set into motion-- a documentation of what our local church has been doing, in obedience to the direction of our Lord, through the years of Bronx Bethany's existence.

Our pastor also warned us of the risk of mission creep—a slow drift away from the mission that our church has embraced. He noted that the best way to avoid mission creep is to periodically reflect on the mission statement, and this is what we will do in this week's blog posts.

For today, let’s ask ourselves a few questions in light of Bronx Bethany’s mission. Below is our mission statement in bold print, followed by questions in italics.

Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene is a Spirit-filled community of love…

Are we participants in this Spirit-filled community, or are we merely spectators? Love is a characteristic of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22): are we living in love? Are we extending the love of God to others?

…with a place for everyone…

Have we indeed made a place for everyone? Are we willing to share the love of Jesus with everyone? Do our actions indicate that we are happy when visitors join us? Are we open to God's promptings regarding movement and change, or is our energy expended in preserving our own comfort zone?

…where people may experience the forgiveness of sins…

What is the experience of those who attend Bronx Bethany? Are they made aware of the availability of God's forgiveness? What part have we played in maintaining an atmosphere of love and forgiveness, even as we make room for the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin and move our hearts to repentance?

…and the cleansing of their hearts through faith in Jesus Christ.

Do the inner thoughts of our hearts help to maintain the atmosphere of healing and deliverance that God has established in our local church? Are we supporters of God’s desire for His people to be saved and sanctified?

All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Are You Trapped In The Gap?

To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. (Romans 2:7-8)

These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. (Second Peter 2:17-21)

“The observation of convention is not necessarily an indicator of depth of relationship, nor of understanding.” –Dr. Genise Aria Reid

In Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Sam noted an extremely important aspect of grace as a process. I’ll call this aspect the convention-commitment gap. Below is our list from earlier this week, with the gap added:

Ø  Sensitizing Grace

Ø  Saving Grace

~The convention-commitment gap~

Ø  Sanctifying Grace

Ø  Serving Grace

Ø  “Setting-Free” Grace

As our pastor shared, this gap occurs when a person has responded to the grace of God for the experience of salvation, but then rejects the grace of God that moves one along the path of spiritual growth and development. These are they who regularly attend church for years, or even decades, but show zero evidence of spiritual growth. Their words, and their lives, reveal nothing of the Spirit of God who desires to work in them (see Galatians 5:13-26)-- though they are in church, and though they are reconciled to Christ through salvation, they are not demonstrating Christ-likeness. And as we see in the Second Peter passage above, persons who fall into this gap are a serious danger to themselves, as well as a serious detriment to the body of Christ.

How is it that Christian ministries can endorse all sorts of wickedness, without remorse? They’re trapped in the gap. How is it that Christian individuals can share worship experiences with a fellow believer, then pay a practitioner of dark arts to attempt to curse him? They’re trapped in the gap. And we dare not gloat at those who have stopped (or stunted, or reversed) their Christian growth by remaining in this gap; rather, we grieve.

Those of us who have bridged the gap between saving grace and sanctifying grace must show love and compassionate care to these, our siblings in the faith, who have set themselves up for a most severe judgement from God by rejecting the call to bridge the gap. Our Lord Jesus declared the consequences of a life lived in the gap:

“The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.” (Luke 12:47-48)

We have been given much. We are recipients of the grace of God. We know the Master's will! He has caused us to recognize our need for Him, and He has empowered us to find our way to Him. Our great God always has our best interests at heart, because He loves us. Out of love, He calls us to draw ever nearer to Him, growing in our relationship with Him, so that we can become more like Him. If you, dear reader, have been resisting the call to sanctification, I pray you will cease resisting.

The LORD of all glory, the Lord who loves us, has made provision for us to grow in our relationship with Him. Thank You, Lord, for Your grace.

All Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.®Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

The Man; The Spirit; The Destiny.

In Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Andy pointed out that unless the Holy Spirit is present in us, we will never accomplish the destiny God desires for us. We see this in the life of Saul. When the prophet Samuel spoke with Saul, he gave this prophetic word prior to Saul’s anointing as king: “The Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person.” (First Samuel 10:6) The prophetic word came to pass, and there was initial evidence of the Spirit of God ruling Saul’s heart:

As Saul turned to leave Samuel, God changed Saul’s heart, and all these signs were fulfilled that day. When he and his servant arrived at Gibeah, a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying. (First Samuel 10:9-10)

Saul also went to his home in Gibeah, accompanied by valiant men whose hearts God had touched. But some scoundrels said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent. (First Samuel 10:26-27)

The people then said to Samuel, “Who was it that asked, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ Bring these men to us and we will put them to death.” But Saul said, “No one shall be put to death today, for this day the Lord has rescued Israel.” (First Samuel 11:12-13)

Unfortunately, Saul’s early years of self-control and wisdom eroded. Saul brazenly disobeyed the word of God, offering unauthorized sacrifices and keeping alive livestock and prisoners of war that God had destined to death.  Barely two years into his reign, Saul was given a prophetic word that the kingdom of Israel had been torn from his hand, and that the LORD had chosen another man. First Samuel 16 records the transfer of spiritual authority from Saul to David:

So Samuel took the horn of oil, anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the LORD came upon David in power. Samuel then went to Ramah. Now the Spirit of the LORD had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him. (First Samuel 16:13-14)

In the New Testament we find a critical checklist: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23a). Though Saul’s kingship continued for decades after the Holy Spirit departed from him, his life bore the evidences of a man devoid of God’s Spirit. Unlike the early years of his reign, in which a Spirit-filled Saul demonstrated patience and grace, the remainder of Saul’s kingship was marked by jealousy, anger, fear, and impulsive actions.

As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. (First Samuel 18:8-9)

When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David, Saul became still more afraid of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days. (First Samuel 18:28-29)

As we go through this day, let us reflect on our own track record. Do our lives indicate that the Spirit of God lives in us? Or, do our lives show evidence that the Spirit of God is absent from our hearts?

Holy Lord, you are our God. Fill us with Your Spirit. May Your Spirit be evident to all: in the way we live, in the way we respond to crisis, and in the way we respond to the harsh words of others. Help us to follow You in complete obedience so that we might live the life You destined for us. Amen.

Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

In Character.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23a, NET)

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Sam shared with us that the credible, Spirit-empowered Christian can be identified by their character profile. In yesterday's blog post we took time to consider the words of Jesus in regard to authentic prophetic ministry. Today, let's take a moment to reflect on the words of the apostle Paul regarding Christian character.

In Galatians chapter 5, Paul encourages Christians to understand their freedom in Christ not as license to sin, but as license to love others in the way Jesus Christ has loved us. Paul says, "If you are continually harming and exploiting each other, beware! You will destroy each other! But I tell you, walk according to the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh." (Galatians 5:15-16, paraphrase mine)

What does it look like when a person loves in the same way God loves us? How is this Spirit-walk of love expressed in the world? It looks radical. Why? Because, as Pastor Sam noted, it is a love that cannot originate from us. On our own, we are incapable of loving our enemies through our own strength. It is only the Spirit of God who can instill in our hearts the capacity to love the unlovely. And, when this love of God is demonstrated, it shows the world a particular 'character profile' that is unusual and attractive... it shows the beauty of Christ's love expressed consistently and authentically, even in the most painful of circumstances.

Is your testimony supported by your character?

Proof Of Residence.

“After God had blessed them and showed them how to live, giving them laws and directions, immediately, it seems from Scripture, they turned away to attractive idols in their contemporary situation… the idols that are the competition to their God.” –Rev. Dr. Sam Vassel

In this past Sunday’s sermon, our pastor noted that God gave laws and decrees not for His own benefit, but for the benefit of His people. In the face of ancient Israel’s continual idolatry, God sent a word through the prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah: I am going to do a new thing. I will take out their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh; I will put My Spirit in them. They will not have to be taught, because they will know the truth directly from Me. (see Ezekiel 36:26 and Jeremiah 31:34)

If the Spirit of God is resident in us, then we will walk in His truth.

If the spirit of idolatry is resident in us, then we will turn our backs on God’s truth.

But, what is the evidence of residence? How can we, and the world, know who influences our thoughts and actions? The apostle Paul shares a list that distinguishes the people ruled by self-will from the people ruled by God’s Spirit. Today, let us reflect on this passage prayerfully.

Holy Spirit of God, please help us to live lives that reflect the proof of Your residence in us.

Galatians 5:19-25

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God! But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also behave in accordance with the Spirit.

Thankful For The Spirit Of Christ.

We want to avoid the trap of what we call moralism: in other words, there is a danger, when you are pursuing holiness, that you hear the call to holiness as a call to do better and try harder. It is a trap where people find it easier to pretend than to actually experience. -Rev. Dr. Sam Vassel (paraphrase mine)

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Sam reminded us of the good news: holiness is not about trying harder. "The good news of holiness... is that people here and now can experience God's Spirit. And what we are about, in this community, is to announce the possibility and the necessity of experiencing the Holy Spirit."

Our pastor shared with us that we are not a community convicted by our inability to accomplish holiness in our own strength. Rather, we are a community converted, renouncing any attempts at delivering ourselves, and submitting ourselves to the Spirit of Christ. It is His presence and power that free us to obey His word.

Are you submitted to the Spirit?
Are you aware of His presence?
Are you empowered by Him?

Lord God, I recognize that I am not strong enough to live a life of holiness by my own means. Today, once again, I submit my entire being to You. Live in me! Work in me! Move through me! No part of my life is off-limits to You. Do as You will; shine Your perfection through my imperfect frame. 

Thankful For The Word, Part Two.

Today we continue our devotional reflections by reading the second passage Pastor Sam referred to on Sunday: Galatians chapter 5.

I pray that our lives will be authentic demonstrations of the freedom we have in Christ Jesus.

I once was bound, but now I'm free:
Free to embrace God's grace;
Free to love Him exclusively;
Free to serve Him faithfully.

Galatians 5 (NIV)

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.

You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!

You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; 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 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. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Raise The Standard!

 “Holiness has an object: the object of holiness is God.” –Reverend Andy Rubin

In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the sovereign master seated on a high, elevated throne. The hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs stood over him; each one had six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and they used the remaining two to fly. They called out to one another, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord who commands armies! His majestic splendor fills the entire earth!” (Isaiah 6:1-3, NET Bible)

In this past Sunday’s sermon, Pastor Andy took a few minutes to remind us of our theme for this year: Pursuing Holiness, Promoting Healing. He shared with us some points that I’d like us to reflect on for today:

v  God is absolutely holy: when we pursue holiness, we pursue Him.

v  When we pursue the holiness of God, we will be changed into the image of Christ.

v  When we are changed into the image of Christ, our actions will be reflective of His character.

Bronx Bethany Church of the Nazarene is in the middle of its autumn Care Group cycle. Our small groups are learning a great deal about the character of the Spirit of Christ, based largely on Galatians 5:22-23. But let us remain cognizant of the other list: Galatians 5:19-21, in which we see a checklist of the works of the flesh that run counter to the fruit of the Spirit.

Our pastor noted that if we have been on board with our church’s theme since January of this year, then by now we should be better reflections of Jesus than we were ten months ago. I would like to encourage all of us to read Galatians 5:13-26 today. As we take inventory of the areas of our lives where the character of Christ is (or is not) present, let us appeal to our great God to help us live according to His standard: the standard of holiness.

Where Are You?

What is God's assessment of our giving?

I should mention that this is not a question about money. As Pastor Sam said during Sunday's sermon, "God wants me more than He wants my help." And when God says He wants us, He means every fibre of our being. Our nature, our character, our will, our behavior. God wants every area of our life submitted to Him.

One of the consistent tactics of the devil is to convince God's people that they do not need to give themselves to God completely. So we have Christians who say they love God, but whose lives lack evidence of complete surrender and submission to Him.

God is so good: He has given us, through the apostle Paul, a detailed list of the nature, character, will, and behavior of those whose lives are not fully submitted to God. (The bracketed words are from the footnotes found in the NET Bible, accessible online at http://bible.org.)

"For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity to indulge your flesh [which is dominated by sin], but through love serve one another [in a humble manner]. For the whole law can be summed up [fulfilled] in a single commandment, namely, You must love your neighbor as yourself. [Leviticus 19:18] However, if you continually bite and devour one another [that is, if you are harming and exploiting one another], beware that you are not consumed [destroyed] by one another. But I say, live [conduct your life and behavior] by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition [hostile] to each other, so that you cannot do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious [clear and evident]: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery [witchcraft], hostilities [acts of hatred], strife [discord], jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying [acts of envy], murder [murders], drunkenness, carousing [orgies], and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!" (Galatians 5:13-21)

Perhaps the most disturbing part of this passage of Scripture is not the list, but Paul's comment: "I am warning you, as I had warned you before." His beloved church in Galatia seems not to have heeded the first warning. Perhaps some of us are in the same position-- we have heard this before, but we have not heeded.

Paul says in Galatians 1:6, "I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ, and are following a different gospel." Based on the Galatians 5 list, this "different gospel" is rooted in the worship of self and self-satisfaction, even at the cost of exploiting other Christians in the process. In short, it is serving as an assistant to the devil. No wonder God, through Paul, says "Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!"

So as we pray and prepare to give towards our Lifestyle Stewardship campaign on October 28, let's remember that the giving campaign is ultimately a question of our lifestyle.

Take my body with its passions,
Raw emotions coursing through,
Tempted to follow worldly fashions;
I submit this flesh to You.

Take my mind, its selfish thinking,
Envies of those I should love,
Angry outbursts, gross self-serving;
Purge my heart, my dross remove.

Test me in Your precious desert,
Try me in the Garden prayer:
"Not my will, but Thine, my Father!"
Though it costs, please take me there.

Make my mind the mind of Jesus.
Make my body Your delight.
Fill me with Your gentle Spirit.
Woo me to the good and right.

-G.A.R.

You Look Like Someone I Know.

As we continue our thoughts on this past Sunday's sermon, let's consider the two main passages Pastor Joy spoke on (Matthew 5 and Galatians 5). In them are contained two famous New Testament scriptures: The Beatitudes and the listing of the "fruit of the Spirit". (If you're not familiar with them, please take a few minutes to read Matthew 5:1-11 and Galatians 5:22-23.)

Those of us who have been attending Sunday School and church for a long time probably memorized these verses somewhere along the way. But, memorizing it and living it out are two different things! How do we make these verses a reality in our daily lives?

Maybe we should "un-memorize" this stuff and read it as if we'd never seen it before. One of the dangers of rote memorization is that the words are nothing more than words, nothing more than a laundry list filed in our brains with all the other laundry lists. So, let's just look at two examples with new eyes.

What does it mean to be poor in spirit? Can you embrace the notion that, outside of the presence and power of God working in us, we have nothing to offer?

What does the fruit of joy look like? Can you demonstrate a joyful demeanor even as you experience the deepest grief and sorrow? In other words, do you have the joy of the Lord in you, or is your joy solely contingent on your current circumstances?

I'd encourage you, as you read and re-read these two passages, to slow down and ask yourself hard questions: "Does my life reflect this? Is my life giving people a glimpse of how things work in the kingdom of God? If 'Christian' means Christ-like, does my life fit the bill?"

Lord, help us to be Your agents in the world.

Welcome To The Club.

"Those who belong to Jesus Christ have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires." (Galatians 5:24)

As we continue our reflections on this past Sunday's sermon, let's think about Pastor Joy's comment (paraphrased here): "It's not that the customer sees you as the best choice; the customer sees you as the only choice."

Oh, for us Jesus is the only choice! And because we belong to Him, that means there are other things that we don't want to be a part of. Galatians 5:24 sums it up: we don't want to be controlled by the sinful nature. In fact, we have put the sinful nature to death.

But how do we put the sinful nature to death? By cultivating the fruit of the Spirit, those character traits that define and "brand" the Christian. What are they?

Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control.

What a list. No disclaimers, no "I love everybody except for those people who keep bothering me", no "but you don't understand my situation". Just beautiful fruit, the love of our Father God reflected in and through His children.

Yes, Lord, we want to look like You! We want to present You in such a way that people will see You as their only option. Please let Your transforming work be done in us. In Jesus's name we pray, Amen.