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Fruit bombs, secondhand kindness, and the fruitcake of the Spirit
Have you ever seen a healthy apple tree or lemon tree or an orange tree produce so much more fruit than its branches can handle? I’m talking about a tree that will actually stunt its own growth by unintentionally harming itself simply because its own branches will break under the sheer weight of all the fruit it is producing. If a person doesn’t come in there and harvest the fruit, then that’s exactly what will happen. At least eventually. “The fruit tree with no one to eat from its branches becomes the image of a dying tree” That’s also what can happen to any Christian who is deep in the…
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The Box: A perspective on life and prayer
If you were in a cell—a box—whether it was for cause or no cause….because we all know you didn’t do it, and jails and prisons are full of innocent people—there would be nothing for you to do. Literally. There’s nothing to do. You can pee in the toilet since it’s right next to you. You could lay on the bunk that’s right next to the toilet. If you’re in general detention, there would be a lot of people you could talk to. It would help pass the time. It just might be a small cell with a door instead of the bars seen in movies. The bars are usually in…
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Crazy Love
“with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,”Ephesians 4:2 ESV Bearing With Someone vs Tolerating Someone Bearing with one another sounds a lot different than tolerance. What does it matter if I say I am tolerating you versus I am bearing with you? Tolerance seems to mean that I am putting up with you and that I am ignoring your sinful nature and your bad behavior or your glaring struggles. When a person tolerates another person, they are not enduring the pains that others are going through. They’re not even aware of them most of the time. It’s like wanting to be able to stand…
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Who would abandon a baby on the side of the road?
Alcoholics Anonymous (aka, Al-Anon or AA) recognizes that having a mentor is integral to success in their program. Al-Anon mentors are called sponsors—who are typically people that have successfully abstained from alcohol for an extended amount of time. They come alongside new members to advise and help them navigate through the challenges of being sober and the struggles encountered during recovery. What does this look like in practice? Sponsors will make themselves available or get someone who can be when desires for alcohol come up. They should also be an inspiration so that others would want to be more like them. Finally, they should be a pillar of strength for…
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Not all love is created equal
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” 1 John 2:15-16 ESV YouVersion Bible link Love is a choice. It is a decision that one consciously makes. It is acting for one option to the exclusion of another. Love is associated with desire in a way that illustrates this choice. Though the two concepts are closely intertwined (as these verses highlight) desire and…
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God’s good pleasure
“for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”Philippians 2:13, YouVersion Bible Link ESV Paul is talking about the Church in Philippi, but I should be able to read it more personally. As I was trying to wrap my head around this verse, I began to reorder the words in another way and swapped the pronouns from “you” to “me”, so the verse looked like this: God works in me for his good pleasure—both to will and to work. So God works in me to will? What does that mean? Also, God works in me to work? Isn’t that repetitive? Since…
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Good conduct reflects wisdom
“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom.” YouVersion Bible App ESV James 3:13 ESV This is an incredible verse. Opening with a question like this seems to be a trap. Anyone who answers, “I am,” could probably be seen as lacking in humility or meekness. No one can truly answer this question and be the one whom the question seeks to find. This draws a line in the sand between those who serve with a trumpet’s horn versus those who serve with stealth. Conduct can be done in private, but cannot be kept private. A person’s…
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Fellowship can take a hike
I went hiking with a friend and it came up while we talked that God wasn’t answering his prayers. I felt that was a bad time to tell my friend that “no” was an answer. Instead, I told him that God always has a better plan than us because he can see everything that we can’t. He knows things that we’ll never know. My friend didn’t look satisfied with that response. As we continued to hike, the terrain became so rocky and jagged that the trail we were on became very hard to see. We stopped and took our bearings. We had no idea where to go next. We could…
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Prayer is fellowship with God
What if God’s plan unfolds and we don’t have the strength to endure? What if, instead of praying for someone to be delivered from their hardships, we instead pray for them to have the strength to endure? For example, can you imagine someone saying they will not pray for you to be delivered from your hardships? Stick with me on this. I know it sounds harsh, but much of the growth I’ve had in my life directly resulted from endurance of hardships. It needs to be communicated with tactfulness and gentleness, or not said at all. The point being made from the pray-“er” to the pray-“ee” is that the prayer…
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The Funny Thing About Prayers….
In the past I have prayed this prayer: God, please help me to be a better father. Also, please help my child to be more obedient and kind and loving. Give me patience and gentleness and compassion and understanding and self-control—especially over my anger—and help me to be a better reflection of Christ in my life so my kids can look at me and see the virtues of my Savior throughout my deeds and behavior. At the time, I thought it was an awesome prayer. Somehow, God was going to imbue me with a self-control I have never before experienced. I will soon—with God’s grace—have my prayers answered and be…
