Life by the Spirit

New Guest: Like this one, most posts are devotional; those related to CAR BIZ can be found by searching the blog archives for that title. You might start with 'Welcome,' the first post, dated November 12, 2008, where I introduce myself and the blog. As you read, I encourage you to record any reflections or comments you may have, for the entries here serve best as the first remarks in a conversation.

Blessings and best wishes,
Dr. Will

Thursday and Friday, June 10 and 11, 2010
Devotions: Ps 69, 71, 73, 74; Eccles 11:1-12:14; Gal 5:16-6:10; Mt 16:13-28

Hosanna, Lord: save now! I know I am a sinner. I sometimes feel discouraged and overmatched, but don’t let me let You and those who depend on me be damaged by my fickle unfaith. At an acceptable time, Lord, answer me in the abundance of Your steadfast love. Let Your face shine on me, my Redeemer, and bring Your judgment down on my enemies. God is so good, but I live precariously between heaven and earth—sometimes I envy the worldly wicked—no pangs of guilt, rolling in riches, arrogant and overconfident. They think God is a joke. But when I think more deeply, I perceive their end. God has them on a slippery slope, phantoms whose joy and prosperity are illusions and whose future is desolation. Lord, there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You, my Strength, my chosen Portion forever. It is good to be near God; I have made Him my Refuge so that I may tell of all Your works. I thank You and call on Your name, recounting Your wondrous deeds. You are the Judge of all, and I will rejoice in You forever. You are glorious and eternal; You overpower the mighty of the earth. We are wise who put our trust in You.

The final meditations of the community leader: Cast your bread upon the waters; after many days, it will come back and you’ll find it. Apportion your charities as widely as you can, and do all you can to improve your situation. We’ll never fully understand the ways of God—so trust Him and do all you can. Abide in the light while you have it. Let youth rejoice in its strength, but remember that age and wisdom and weakness come, bidden or unbidden. Set aside all vexation; avoid unnecessary pain. Remember your Creator throughout your lifespan, before light fades, and sorrow multiplies. Your hands will tremble, your back will bow, and your teeth will weaken. Your sight and hearing will diminish, and sleep flies away. Joy diminishes, and strength and sexual force dwindle; balance becomes difficult; hair grays, whitens and thins. All these signs precede death itself, when the cord of life is snapped, the heart stoops, the blood ceases to circulate, and the body decays to dust and the spirit flies away to God Who gave it. All human existence is vanity. Wise sayings are like goads; reciting them is like nailing the building together. Focus attention on what has lasting value—the world is full of pointless information and commotion. Fear God; keep His commands—this is the whole duty of a human being. God will bring every deed to judgment and reveal every secret, whether good or evil.

Paul writes to the Galatian Christians: Walk by the Spirit; do not gratify the desires of the flesh: flesh and Spirit are utterly opposite. If you follow the Spirit, you are no longer subject to the law. Works of the flesh include fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, anger, selfishness, dissension, party spirit, envy drunkenness, carousing, and the like. Those who indulge in these will not inherit God’s kingdom. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against these there is no law. Those who belong to the Messiah Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we have our lives by the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit, without self-conceit, without provoking one another, without envy of one another. If someone is overtaken in a trespass, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Look to yourself, lest you be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the Messiah’s law. If anybody thinks he is something special, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Let each person test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone, not in his neighbor. For each person must bear his own responsibilities. Let those who are taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches them. Don’t be deceived: God is not mocked; what people sow, they reap. Whoever sows to their own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh; but whoever sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit! Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. So as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

When Jesus came to Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, ‘Who do the people say that the Son of man is?’ They answered, ‘Some say John the Baptizer; others, Elijah, or Jeremiah, or another of the prophets.’ Jesus replied, ‘But Who do you say that I Am?’ Simon Peter replied, ‘You Are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus said to Peter, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of John! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father Who Is in heaven. I tell you, you are Kepha, and on this kepha I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.’ Jesus strictly charged the disciples not to tell anyone that He was the Messiah. From then on, He began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. Peter took Jesus aside and tried to rebuke Him, saying ‘God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to You.’ But Jesus turned and said to Peter, ‘Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men.’ Jesus said to His disciples, ‘If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. Whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. It profits a person nothing to gain the whole world and lose his life! What can a man give in return for his life? The Son of man will come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will repay every person for what he has done. I tell you truly: some standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of man coming in His kingdom.’