We Know... We Grow.

"But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel after I plant them back in the land," says the LORD. "I will put my law within them and write it on their hearts and minds. I will be their God and they will be my people. People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me. For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me," says the LORD. "For I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done." (Jeremiah 31:33-34, NET Bible)

As we read these verses today, we can consider our own spiritual walk. We can reflect on the reality of God having planted into the hearts of all people the knowledge of His laws, His desires, His sovereignty, and His love. Even the soul who claims to be atheist will invariably claim a sensing of what is right or wrong, what is fair or unfair, what is deserved or undeserved. Who is it that has planted this sense of moral rectitude into our hearts, independent of our making a confession or knowing a creed? It is God. God has helped us in a way that we could never have helped ourselves. To paraphrase Jeremiah’s prophecy, the blueprint of God is etched, by God Himself, into our hearts.

So, we know. And, as an outflow of our knowing, some of us desire to grow. We want to mature in our faith-walk so that we aren’t only knowledgeable of God’s law, but that we believe and obey God’s law. We want to live as joy-filled reflections of His character, His grace, and His love, so that people can see the evidence of what their hearts already know. It’s not always easy to do so in a world that peddles violence and self-preservation as the commodities of the day. But if we are rooted and growing in God, then we will have the strength to display His truths, withstanding the pressures that the world sends our way.

Lord God, we are grateful that You have written Your law into our hearts and minds. We want to look more and more like You every day! We are planted in Your word, and we ask You to care for us so that we will grow in wisdom, grace, mercy, and love. We ask this in Jesus’s name. Amen.

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.