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Today’s reading is Galatians 5:1-6:18.

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

I want to quit sinning. I want to quit gratifying the lusts of my flesh. I want to overcome those temptations. I’m tired of the strife and turmoil sin causes. I’m tired of how sin wreaks havoc in my relationship with my family, friends, neighbors, etc. I’m tired of how sin destroys my faith in and fellowship with God. I want to get over all this. But I keep coming up short.

Paul explains the key in Galatians 5:16. I need simply to walk by the Spirit. I need to let the Spirit guide me. Instead of trying to be justified by law, which will only cause me to be severed from Christ (Galatians 5:4), I need to seek justification by the grace of God’s Spirit. I need to be led by the Spirit, not law (Galatians 5:18). That means I need to crucify my flesh, with its passions and desires. I need to put it to death and quit letting it lead me. It twists the law and leads me back into sin (Romans 7:8-11). I need to put away my conceit, my reliance upon me and the competition it produces with others. Instead, I need simply to surrender my life to the Spirit today and what He says I should do. Why? Because God’s way works.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

PPS. How do you think we walk by the Spirit?

Today’s reading is Luke 11:1-12:59.

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and finding none it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spiritis more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there. And the last state is worse than the first” (Luke 11:24-26).

I have learned that making a change is not the same as quitting something. I’ve quit bad things a thousand times only to wonder how they got even worse later. Making a change means putting something in its place. Jesus uses the metaphor of spiritual possession to talk about a changed life. We may “cast out the demon” and tidy up the heart. But if we do not invite a different spirit to live there, the evil one will return with a vengeance.

I’ve learned that I invite the Spirit to dwell in my heart by spending time in God’s word, by spending time in vulnerable, intimate prayer, by spending time with others who are making changes, by calling someone and talking to them about what is happening when it seems the “evil spirit” is trying to get back in, by getting outside myself and serving others, by singing, by listening to others, by teaching others, by meditating on God. As these things change my life, I can’t describe the joy and peace they bring. In this case, the last state is much better than the first and even than the second.

I need to spend some time today inviting the Spirit to take residence within me so the evil spirits won’t have any room.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What did you get out of today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Matthew 3:1-4:25.

“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil” (Matthew 4:1).

Whoa! Now that is shocking.

The Spirit led Jesus out to be tempted by the devil? There are some lessons I need to learn from this.

First of all, I think I need to learn to be comfortable with statements about being led by the Spirit. Because of the errors of pentecostalism and modern emotionalism, I’m usually pretty leery of any such statements. And yet, the New Testament is filled with that kind of language. Even Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit. I need to be led by the Holy Spirit (cf. Galatians 5:25), though I admit, I don’t think that phrase refers to some internal SPS (Spiritual Positioning System).

Second, the leading of the Holy Spirit will not always put me in easy situations. This is the bigger lesson I need to get. I hear so many people today attributing things to the Holy Spirit’s guidance. However, almost without exception, people only attribute something to the guidance of the Holy Spirit if it made their lives easier or gave them what they wanted anyway. I rarely hear anyone talk about how the Spirit led them somewhere and it brought hardship on them. But look at the Holy Spirit’s guidance of Jesus. 

The Spirit led Jesus:

1. into the wilderness
2. on a 40 day fast
3. to be tempted by the devil

I don’t know about you, but neither of those three things make it on my top ten list of things I want to do today. These are all hardships. Yet, the Spirit led Jesus right into the midst of them.

Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying the Spirit’s guidance always leads us into hardship. I’m certain there are great many things the Spirit leads us to do that directly make us happier and makes our lives easier. I just want us to note that the Spirit’s guidance often leads us into places we wouldn’t go because the path of least resistance isn’t always helpful.

For instance, according to Matthew 5:23-24, the Spirit guides me to have face to face talks with those I know have something against me. That is not easy. In Matthew 5:27-30, the Spirit guides me to get my lusts under control even if it means cutting of my hands or plucking out my eyes (let’s not get distracted by the hyperbole here). In Matthew 5:31-32, the Spirit guides me to make my marriage work even when my wife has made me really angry or has hurt me tremendously. In Matthew 5:38-42, the Spirit guides me to accept hurt without retaliation. In Matthew 5:43-48, the Spirit guides me to love my enemies, to pray for them and bless them. To be honest, none of these things make it on my top ten list of things I want to do today, but the Spirit is leading me there anyway. 

The practical take away is that the test for the Spirit’s guidance is not simply whether I like where it is leading. The test is does it fit with God’s word. If it does, then I need to follow, even if I don’t like where it is leading. I just need to trust God that where He is leading me is ultimately for my good and His glory.

***Question: What do you do to help you obey God even when you don’t like where He is leading you?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Galatians 5:1-6:18.

I’m in the middle of getting ready for a funeral right now. One of our beloved sisters in Franklin, Tennessee went to be with the Lord this weekend. It is a time of joy and sorrow. However, it leaves me little time to say much here. Today, I provide a brief post.

I am almost always drawn to Galatians 6:7-8, when I get to this reading. We reap what we sow. If we sow to the flesh. We’ll reap corruption. If we sow to the Spirit, we’ll reap life. 

Something that struck me as I read it today is, if I’m not actively sowing to the Spirit, then I am sowing to the flesh. That is, sometimes I’m not out there actively doing things that give the flesh strength in the battle. However, I’m not actively doing things that turn my life over to the Spirit either. Here is what I have found. When I think I’m just coasting, I’m not. Even if only through omission, if I’m not working on surrendering to the Spirit, I am surrendering to the flesh. The fruit of that may not come immediately. But it always comes. I fall and wonder how it happened when I used to have such strong commitment. 

What does that mean for today? I can’t coast. I can’t rely on sowing to the Spirit yesterday. I have to sow to the Spirit today. I have to be active and purposeful about it.

***Question: How do you sow to the Spirit?

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

Today’s reading is Revelation 13:1-14:20.

Back in Revelation 12 we saw the dragon, the serpent of old, that is Satan. Now in Revelation 13 we see his two beasts. There is the sea beast with crowns, reminiscent of the beasts of Daniel’s vision in Daniel 7. Those beasts represented kingdoms, governments. This beast does as well. In the context of Revelation, we see the Roman government, depicted by the final amazing and indescribable beast in Daniel 7:7.

Further, we see the land beast with horns like a lamb and the voice of a dragon. Do you see the mixture of Jesus and Satan here? This beast performs signs and causes people to worship the sea beast. Just as in Rome, the eventual standard worship was emperor worship. This beast represents false religion.

Now we see the evil and unholy trinity–Satan, persecuting government, and false religion. (Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying government is inherently evil, all authority is given by God.) See how they mirror the true and holy trinity. Satan trying to take the role of the Father as the sovereign ruler. The government, or the emperor, taking the place of God’s representative on earth, the king. Trying to fill the role of the Son. And then false religion, giving signs and wonders, pointing back to the emperor. This beast is trying to fill the role of the Holy Spirit.

That is the picture. We don’t need to look for some time in the future that fills all the details of the picture, we need to see the big picture and the contrast. Here is Satan, land beast, and sea beast contrasted with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Who will win?

That gets us into Revelation 14. God’s side wins. The true Lamb has sealed His followers. Those who don’t have His seal will take the mark of the beast. Then the lamb will reap his harvest. This is the harvest of His faithful followers who are removed from judgment. They are the fruit of the Spirit if you will. Then the angel of the Lord puts in his sickle. This is the judgment of those marked by the beast. They are harvested and then trampled in the winepress of the Lord’s wrath.

God’s side wins. Remember, we are supposed to be keeping the message of this book (Revelation 1:3). What message do we keep from these chapters? Be on God’s side. Satan may tempt us. Government may persecute us. False religion may attract us. They may seem to be winning, but they will not. They will lose and be judged. We can either be gathered in with the wheat as the Son of Man harvests His followers. Or we will be gathered in with the grapes and trampled in the winepress of God’s wrath. I know which I prefer.

Here is the deal. The unholy trinity may seem all-powerful while the persecution wages. In the end, however, they are powerless. At the right time, God will call His children home and judge those who do not follow Him.

Please, don’t relegate Revelation as a prophetic book that tells of some distantly future something or other. Recognize the message for right now. No matter who opposes and no matter how much it looks like they are winning, they will lose. Stay on God’s side.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get out of today’s reading?

No, I don’t mean evangelizing like Pentecostals. I mean evangelism like the apostles did on the day of Pentecost. 

Have you ever stopped to think what caused folks to listen to the Apostles in Acts 2? Why did the people come rushing to the spot where the 12 were gathered? Was it because they liked the 12? Was it because the 12 offered money? Was it because the 12 offered entertainment? Did they advertise a musical? Did they promise comedy?

No. The people came rushing because of the work of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:2, the Holy Spirit made a humongous sound like that of a rushing mighty wind. People from all over Jerusalem showed up. But then they stayed and continued to listen because of the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit granted the apostles the ability to speak in other languages and everybody could tell these men were just Galileans, yet all could here their native tongues.

When we start thinking about evangelism, we need to do exactly what the apostles did. We need to rely on the work of the Holy Spirit. Granted, I Corinthians 12 teaches that the miraculous working of the Spirit through personal gifts such as speaking in tongues would cease when the Word was fully revealed. Therefore, we can no longer wait for the Holy Spirit to make a rushing mighty wind sound. We can no longer rely on the Spirit to give us utterance in foreign tongues. But we can let the Spirit attract attention by walking in His fruit.

Galatians 5:22-25 says we should let the Spirit lead us. When we do, we will have love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Let me ask you. Do you think if a whole bunch of us actually started living with these virtues that the world might stand up and take notice? 

Let’s quit relying on our gimmicks. Who needs the power lift team? Who needs comedians? Who needs rock bands? We have the Holy Spirit. The apostles relied on Him to attract the attention of the world. Let’s do the same today.

ELC