Flesh vs. Love

A healthy conviction set in as I read my In Touch devotional booklet, “Our human nature finds it easier and more satisfying to hold onto our anger.  But as vessels of God’s love, Christians no longer live according to the impulses of the flesh.”  Uh! I acted in the flesh the other day when a lady opened her car door RIGHT onto my car.  We had just arrived at the beach into a good parking spot when I glanced in my side mirror and watched this insane injustice!  My flesh spiked high and I made a rash decision.  It seemed all in one motion as I turned off the car, ran around the back, rose up my arms at the lady and yelled, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!??!”

For the next two days I went around telling my friends about the injustice I suffered that day.  Over and over my daughter heard the dramatic presentation of how I responded to the lady. 

The next part of my devotional notes, “Thanks to the Holy Spirit, when someone mistreates us, we can not only forgive but also show love to the person.”  The day after my incident, our pastor shared the truth in Galatians 5:16 about walking in the Spirit and not fulfilling the lusts of the flesh. 

I was obviously not walking in the Spirit that morning at the beach as told by the way I responded to the lady.  A good witness to the testimony of the Lord was totally blown away even though while I was going through it I was trying to figure out a way back to a good representation of Christ.  And then I taught my three year-old daughter how to walk in the flesh by repeatedly sharing my bad news with others.

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Lord, please cover my mistakes and help me to walk in the Spirit so as to not fulfill the lusts of the flesh.  Help me to put on love each day so I would not behave rudely, not seek my own, not provoke others or myself be provoked to anger.  Help me put on humility and the shoes of the gospel of peace.  Thank You for Your forgiveness and Your grace.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Wait on the Lord!

There are times in the life of a believer, when we face circumstances that are harsh, unfair, brutal, stretching, and... (fill in your adjective here.)  We can pray and fast and beg God to move mountains, but not hear or see any movement on the horizon. Our human nature, in order to free us from this discomfort, wants to rush in, take control, and find an immediate solution to ease the pain.

If we move in our flesh, like Abraham and Sarah did with Ishmael, there will be consequences that could be even more heinous than the original trial. "The flesh profits nothing, but CAN produce something," a pastor recently shared. 

1 Corinthians 3 talks about works, done in our own strength, being burned up like wood, hay and stubble.  The only works that remain are those done in accordance with His will. Wait on Him! His way is the good way. Wait on Him!

Sometimes His silence is Him working something out in us. While you are in His waiting room, ask Him to move the mountains in your heart, so you can be ready for the answer He is bringing your way.  Lay yourself at His altar and allow Him to do the deeper work. Remember that He is faithful, even when we are faithless. Wait on Him!