So step aside, let the Master do his work.

Galatians 5:22-23
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.

As I read this verse I think of a dear friend of mine Bill Loveless from Christ Is Life Ministries. He always says that for 30 years he tried to produce good fruit and he is lucky if he even managed to get a plastic grape out.

Religious people love lists, specially when they are straight out of the Bible. This one is among the favorites. You do all these things and like it says, "againsts such things there is no law". A recipe for success in your religious walk. No thanks.

So what is the problem with this list you might ask me? The list is great, however I think that most readers who consider this as a list of things they should strive to do to be "holy" completely miss the beginning of the verse.

Let me ask you something. Does the verse say, "The fruit of the believer is love ..."? Are these fruits that WE produce? Among my favorite of these fruits is self-control. How I wish I could produce this fruit!

But the fruit of the SPIRIT comes from the Spirit not us. Our flesh is not capable of producing any of these fruits. On the contrary, the flesh finds comfort in hate, despair, worry, impatience, selfishness, wrongdoing, doubt, ruthlessness and .irresponsibility. Now this is a list that looks familiar to me. I can knock this one out before my feet even hit the floor in the morning!

So what am I to do with today's verse? Let's look at one of the fruits as an example. Do I wake up in the morning and pray "please Lord, give me patience today."? Certainly not!

Instead my prayer is "Lord, I have this situation in front of me today and I'm quite impatient about it. Lord I know that the Spirit in me is greater than this situation. I ask that in the power of your infinitely patient Spirit you work through me to solve this problem."

I'm still impatient but its God's patience, not mine that will get me through this thing. I'm stepping my impatient self aside so God can make the move through me.

One might think of this a matter of semantics but I don't think so. Its the difference between thinking that you are capable of handling things on your own or calling upon a higher authority to step in with the benefit of these fruits to do the work.

Furthermore, it is a matter of us admitting our shortfalls and letting someone who is capable do the job.

So step aside, let the Master do his work.

Will they find God's love and hope in our church?

Romans 15:13
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

When I read this verse, I had to go back and read the beginning of chapter 15. The context of this verse from the disciple Paul is about "gentiles." Gentiles in those days were despicable people who in a jew's mind, despised the law, the established religion and therefore God.

I know that most Christians are technically "gentiles" but just go along with me here. So if we were to draw a parallel today, who would qualify as a modern day "gentile" in today's "Christian" view?

Someone who doesn't go to church, unbelievers, drunks, gays and lesbians, prostitutes, abortionists, top-less dancers, etc.? Basically, anyone who is constantly told they are going to hell and that heaven is out of their reach.

NEWSFLASH: This verse is for them!

Attention gentiles: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

So while this verse offers hope, Paul begins this chapter with "We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves." Meaning, we who are strong, we who have Jesus in our heart, we who have the assurance of eternity in our minds, we in the church, should be looking at the "gentiles" in terms of support and love.

Unfortunately, too many people in today's church do the exact opposite. We don't bear the failings of the weak, instead we frown upon those who don't fit our mold. Their hope, dashed by judgment, hate and pride.

Gentiles are looking for hope. Hope that is provisioned by God's love. The key question we should ask: Will they find God's love and hope in our church?

Available for free!

Colossians 3:12
As God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

I read this an I wonder. Clothe ourselves? Does that mean that without these clothes we conduct ourselves with the opposite of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience?

Do we have the strength everyday to put on these clothes? We wake up in the morning and it doesn't take but a few seconds before something offends us and we get caught naked without these clothes.

I think most of us don't think we are worthy of this top of the line designer wardrobe. Instead, we wake up and we grab our trusty pair of ruthlessness and anger pants. We think it has served us well over the years.

But this verse is telling us to shed those old clothes because we have been chosen. Chosen as models to go down the runway of life, outfitted with top of the line clothing, designed by the best designer ever!

As people see us modeling compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience they will step up to the register and will want to order the same clothing.

To their surprise, they will find out, that the entire collection is available to them for free!

My Offensive Ways

Psalm 139:23-24
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

This may be a tough verse, or it may be an easy verse for you. How many people have "offensive ways" and they don't even know it? I think most of us may fall in that category but either we don't know it or don't want to know it.

This is right where the psalmist is headed in this very well needed prayer for all of us. Think about it, God is all knowing, he knows your "offensive ways." If we ask him, he will reveal them for us.

But a word of caution should be given to those who pray this prayer. You might not like what God will reveal to you. You may have spent most of your life in the indoctrination of some tradition or ideology which is offensive by its very nature, and you don't even know it!

Pastor James (the half brother of Jesus) talked in his letter about double mindedness. Jesus called the Pharasies "brood of vipers." Why? These people thought they were dignified and saw no offense in their often suppresive actions.

Can I get real with you for a minute?
Have you asked God to make an inventory of your "offensive ways" lately? I have, and been shocked at what I've learned. I've been learning that in the name of "righteousness" I've concocted a maddening cocktail of hate, anger and insensitivity for others who don't particularly fit my view of the world.

Ask God to take inventory in your life and expose those "offensive ways" and you might be totally surprised at what you learn about yourself.

In the end, love triumphs over everything. Love is the essence of the way God works his miracles. Everything is driven from his Agape love. And soon you will find that your "offensive ways" don't mix well with his Love.

So ask God to search even the deepest darkest places of your soul. Ask Him to create in you a clean heart that knows nothing but his love. And you might be surprised when you wake up the next morning.

It is your choice.

Isaiah 25:1
O Lord, you are my God; I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.

How many marvelous things do you see every day? Every month or year? I was at a place called Camp Eagle last year and I went out to the lake in the middle of the night and saw the stars reflected on the perfectly glassy water. It was as if God had laid a giant mirror for us to stand there and marvel at the clear reflection of the stars.

When you think of the great expanse of the universe, the perfect coordination of force, alignment and movement of the earth to keep it habitable, you can't help but marvel at the greatness of God.

But nothing as complex as the universe can just happen by chance or some process of elimination. It has to be a carefully orchestrated plan that was designed by the creator from start to finish. Nothing left to chance, all pre-designed, all a perfect plan carefully and faithfully executed by God.

You can believe this and be in awe of God, willing to exalt him and praise his name every day. Or you can believe that we are the product of chance and natural selection. The product of random events which evolved into our existence.

In my opinion, it takes more faith to believe that God is not a person, deeply interested in each of us. God loves us so much, he even lets us choose what to believe!

So bottom line, it is your choice.

Those nasty leaks...

Isaiah 55:8-9
"My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Even in my best days anger and hate manage to seep out of my flesh.

Have you ever been to the Arizona Memorial in Honolulu? More than 60 years after its demise at the bottom of Pearl Harbor you can see the oil seeping from the sunken ship. Tiny drops make their way to the surface every few minutes. Its a totally random event yet a constant phenomenon.

That's how my ways are, they are certainly not His ways. His ways are all focused on heaven, 100% good and my ways are like the nasty oil that keeps oozing up hour after hour, year after year. Just when you thought you saw the last drop, here comes another.

So what's my point in all this? We are a society that fancies itself in self help. We think we can clean up our act yet the goop seeps from us despite our best efforts. Then we take to identifying other people's leaks yet ignore our own leaks?

God's ways are not our ways. If we let God be the one that directs our ways then we have a chance to actually be able to love one another without the nasty leaks that often hamper our relationships.

Forsake all?

Psalm 73:25-26
Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

This is a tough verse. The psalmist lays it all out before God and forsakes all earthly pleasures for Him.

But what about that new HDTV we desire? Is it wrong to want to watch your movies in the ultimate home cftheatre experience? Is it wrong to want to ride in style with a new car with wonderful smell of new leather?
Is it wrong to want to go on that wonderful cruise?

Thousand of years before the death of Christ this psalmist understood the New Testament. He understood that his flesh is not capable of such devotion to the Father but understood that God can give our hearts the strength to glorify Him even at the cost of forsaking earthly things.