Walking in the Spirit

     Change. It’s not easy to implement or endure, especially as we get older. But God calls us daily to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, which means not just learning new truths but applying them. This, of course, involves change. I’ve gone through long periods of stunted growth where it appears I’m stuck in certain sin patterns unable to break free. But the reality is that if I’m in Christ, the old is gone and I’ve been made new. I’m no longer a slave to the things of the past but free to live in the newness of life that Christ has bought for me.
     It’s sad when as Christians we look and act so much like the world that it’s hard to tell the difference. We often view our sanctification as something that simply happens without much effort-- kind of like a magic pill that transforms us.  But God doesn’t force spiritual growth on us, and it only comes through surrender and obedience. By faith, we daily choose to live and walk in the Spirit as we apply God’s word to our world and thinking
     Each day is a journey involving dozens of crossroads. As we reach each one, we’re faced with a decision about how to respond. Do we return good for evil or evil for evil?  Do we choose to be a servant or to be served, to be honest or to lie, to forgive or hold a grudge? The list is endless. Though we can’t obey without God’s help, we also can’t expect him to possess us and force us to make the right choices. He wants to direct our steps and give us wisdom in all we do, but we’ll only have it as we’re asking for it and submitting to his leading.
     Every day, every hour, every minute, in fact, we have choices. We can decide to surrender and follow God’s leading or to be in control and do what our flesh desires. It may seem like there aren’t severe consequences to many of our small choices, but together they form the framework of our lives. Weeks pass into months which, before we know it, become years. The life choices we make on a daily basis develop into the spiritual or fleshly patterns of our lives.
     These sin patterns don’t appear overnight, and they’re not usually broken overnight either. There are several areas in my life right now that I know need to be surrendered afresh to God. As I’ve been yielding my will to his and asking for wisdom to grow and change, I’m sometimes disappointed by my slow progress. At times it’s one step forward and three steps back. The temptation is to give up and go back to the old way of doing things, the old way of thinking, because it’s familiar and easy. But the Spirit continues to remind me that he’s come so that I can be truly free. Walking and living in that freedom involves struggle that eventually gives way to fruit. The more I walk in the Spirit and resist the pull of the flesh, the more fruit my life will bear and the more joy and peace I’ll experience.
     I’m praying again this morning that I’ll choose faith over fear today, kindness over anger, a genuine life over insincerity, that I’ll speak the truth in love. Because God is at work in me giving me these desires I can trust him for the power to resist temptation and to choose a life of love in Christ. You can too!
     “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” Gal 5:16

Pray and Don't Give Up

    God says that we should keep praying and not give up. It’s all too easy to quit when the road is uphill and there’s no relief in sight. It’s often tempting to throw in the towel, to doubt God’s willingness or ability to intervene and go on with life as best we can. But God says, “No.” He wants us to persevere with absolute certainty in his goodness and power. Though we can’t always discern how he'll answer, we can relax in the guarantee that he will answer.
     I’ve started a new prayer journal that’s different from ones I’ve had in the past. In this one, I’m recording answered prayers on three different levels: those that have been answered in a day or week, those that have been answered after a year and those that have come to fruition after five or more years of prayer. I got this idea from one of the great missionaries who kept a journal of all his answered prayers.
     One of the first things that struck me when I started recording the answered prayers for the week was just how many things God had provided that I’d prayed about. Nothing is too small or big to take to him in prayer and nothing is a coincidence when it works out for our good and his glory. As I looked over the list I realized how much of my daily victories I take for granted -- like returning good for evil when someone attacks me with words or having the strength I need to accomplish a task way out of my comfort zone. On a larger scale, I saw so many answers to prayers that I prayed for many years like marriage, children, ministry opportunities, healing and financial provision.
     The parable of the unjust judge challenges me time and again to keep on praying even when I want to quit. If the judge, though only human and evil, responded to the pressing requests of the persistent widow,  how much more will our loving heavenly Father graciously answer us when we cry out to him. Unlike the judge, God doesn’t need to be persuaded to do us good, but rather he often tests us to see if we’re going to relentlessly cling to his promises, allowing them to dictate truth rather than our circumstances. He doesn’t delay in answering to tease or torture us but to grow and strengthen our faith so that we may be “mature and complete lacking in nothing.” Because he’s the God of all wisdom and power, he’s able to use our answered prayers for purposes beyond human understanding. Many times we think that our personal struggles are only about us when in fact they have a ripple effect that affects multitudes. Through his kindness and love in answering our prayers we’re brought to repentance for unbelief and our faith is strengthened, we grow in grace and knowledge of his love, others see his power and love and put their hope in him, advancing his kingdom and giving him the glory due his name.
     I don’t know what you’re praying about right now, but I have short and long term prayers that press on me daily. They include everything from practical needs to extremely complicated and urgent ones. There are days and weeks when I grow weary in standing upon the Word and asking God to answer. But God always eventually brings me back to this lesson of perseverance. I may go to my grave, like Abraham, never having realized certain prayers for loved ones or even for myself. But by his grace and the power of his Spirit I will persevere in asking, seeking and knocking.
            God is at work. He is faithful, powerful and loving. He knows the who, what, where, when and why of every one of my prayers and he’ll answer them at the right time – not a second too early or late. The question is not whether he’ll be faithful to do all that he’s promised, but if I’ll be faithful to persevere in faith and trust.

“I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” Lk 18:8

God's Got This!

^“ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.” Rom. 8:26-27

     I’m relying on the truth of this promise right now. A friend called to say that she has no hope for living and isn’t even certain that she’s a child of God. She’s lost the will to go on. Her reason? God doesn’t seem present or real and has allowed her to repeatedly go through humiliating and difficult situations. She cries out for deliverance, but he seems silent and she can’t feel his presence.
     We can all relate to some degree. We enter into a relationship with our creator and expect him to take charge of our lives in a way that we can understand. But he works in mysterious ways which are often beyond our comprehension. We hit an impasse and don’t know how to pray or what to pray for in our struggle. But he assures us that the Spirit, who lives within our earthen vessels, knows everything about us and is able to pray for us “in accordance with the will of God.”
     At this very moment, if we’re children of God, the Spirit of Life is interceding for us. He knows the perfect will of God for our lives and is able to pray effectively toward that end. As my sister-in-law likes to say, “God’s got this!” He’s in control even when we feel out of control, confused and don’t know how to pray. Jesus, our great high priest, is also interceding for us as he sits at the right hand of the Father.
     I’ve been so anxious lately about our future, what we’ll do when we leave Korea, how God will provide for our family’s needs. As I sit down each morning to pray I find it increasingly difficult to voice my burdens to God. I know they’re present because I feel the weight of them, but I’ve buried them so deep I’m not sure exactly what’s wrong.
     Reading over this verse again today reminds me that I don’t have to understand all that I’m thinking and feeling. My comfort lies in the fact that God knows, and the Spirit has been interceding for me all along. He’s not surprised or overwhelmed. He’s aware of everything that I’m experiencing, of all I want and need and of everything he intends to accomplish in my life. And he knows and understands all that my friend is going through as well. He's not forgotten her or left her to fin for herself.
     I could sit for hours and “navel gaze”, trying to figure out why God is or isn't doing this or that and what I can possibly do or not do to change it. Instead I’ve decided to be at rest in my unrest, relying on the finished work of Christ and his guarantee that he’s not only called me out of darkness and declared me righteous, but that he’s able to sanctify me and one day bring me to glory. The Spirit and the Son are interceding on my behalf, praying that God’s Kingdom come in my life, that his will be done. Just as the clouds don’t diminish the authenticity and power of the sun, my circumstances and feelings have nothing to do with the reality of his presence and the certainty that his promises will prevail. I may not feel it, sense it or even see it, but God’s at work and he’s got this…..guaranteed.

"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" Num 23:19