What Are You Thinking About?

Galatians 5 is the resounding theme of the the past few posts so we are going to continue to walk in the Spirit today realizing that He empowers us to walk according to the Spirit and not to do the things that the flesh desires to do.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace...

Peace

 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. 

Following Jesus means that we walk the way that He walked, crucifying the flesh with all its passions and desires.

Do you have peace?  Most people know right away if they don't have peace.  

I was recently staying with a friends baby.  The entire time that I was with her, the baby did not have peace.  No matter what I tried, she was full of fear and unrest.  She was so worked up that she could not rest in the provision of my love as I cared for her.  

I tried everything to give her peace I gave her food, I bounced her, I tried to read to her, I sang to her, I put her down... but her mind was made up.  

She had decided that the only way that she would be at peace was if her mother were present.  

Isaiah 26:3 says;

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.  

Although I was trustworthy, this little one could not see that though the stream of her tears that were focused on what she did not have that she wanted.  

She could not perceive that I was trustworthy, that I meant good for her life or that I loved her.  As a matter of fact I was there when she was born so I have a special love for her.

Just like this baby girl,  our hearts have the tendency to trust in other things that are shakable or not trustworthy so it is no wonder that we don't have this peace that Isaiah speaks of in the text.  

Where is your mind today?  Is it on God's faithful, trustworthy love for you or is it invested in something, some time, or someone other than Him?

Galatians 6:7-9 tells us that we will reap what we sow

Do not be deceived:  God is not mocked, 

for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  

For the one who sows to this own flesh 

will from the flesh reap corruption, 

but the one who sows to the Spirit 

will from the Spirit reap eternal life.  

And let us not grow weary of doing good, 

for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  

So when we sow anxiety, fear, worry and distress we will reap those things in our lives.  This is a principle that holds true in scripture.  Are you allowing your flesh to rule your thoughts and attitudes?  

Our flesh will lead us astray every time.  It is not trustworthy and it is a cavernous sink where self pity and self idolatry readily manifest in our hearts.  Fruit is actually a sugar sink, meaning that the excess sugar that is produced from the life of a tree is shunted to the fruit that will be used to protect, transport and eventually propagate the next generation.

Do we want to allow our flesh to produce our fruit that is to be the life giving force to others?  What do we want to perpetuate from our lives?  Lives that sow to the flesh or lives that sow to the Spirit?

We have Jesus' life as our guide and he continually got alone with His Father and that is what kept him in confident rest.  He did not rely on his own flesh to give him what He needed during His time of struggles but He cried out to His Abba Father.  

He had an advantage in that He knew His suffering and ultimate death had a purpose but we are never convinced that that is a reality in our own lives... and why not?

Because ultimately we have believed the lie that we are good and deserve good given to and done for us but in actuality the Bible states that not one of us is good but only God is good and deserving of anything.  

So as we focus on the Rock of our salvation, looking to Him in the wilderness of our lives where the enemy has set up traps or haunts and where we are choosing to blindly walk in fear and trepidation, let us repent and turn from our path of anxiety knowing this;

1 Peter 5:6-10

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God 

so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 

casting all your anxieties on him, 

because he cares for you.  

Be sober-minded; be watchful.  

Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, 

seeking someone to devour.  

Resist him, firm in your faith, 

knowing the same kinds of sufferings 

are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.   And after you have suffered a little while, 

the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.  

When we cling to our desire for something other than Christ to show up on the scene of our lives, we are erecting an idol that will demand our affections.

As we turn to our trustworthy Father and acknowledge that it is He that has control over our lives and nothing else, we can rest in His Shalom Shalom or perfect peace!

God, thank you that you are the author and perfector of our faith.  We declare that you are God and there is no other!  We dethrone the idols of our hearts today that have taken our attention and affection and have robbed us of the peace that You provided through the blood of Jesus.

We need a revelation of Your lovingkindness so that we can rest in Your almighty hands spirit, soul and body.  

We thank you that you reconciled us to yourself even though we did nothing to deserve your grace, mercy and peace but we are now recipients of Your love through the sacrifice of our true King.  

Help us to see our propensity to place other people or things on Your rightful throne in order that we might keep our minds stayed on You.