Day VI: God's Work

"Rules have their place, but if that's all there is to our Christianity, we become hardened, shallow, prideful, and judgmental. We become tangled up in all our rules."

I can identify with this. When I was new to my faith, I made rules to enable me to grow in God. However, rules can cause us to stumble and are not to be lived by.... remember the Pharisees? If we are not in step with the Spirit, we may miss what God is doing or calling us to do.

So more importantly, we are to give over control of our lives to Christ. All so often, I want to do everything on my own strength. And let me tell you, I have crashed and burned hard. But God still brushes the dirt off me and keeps carrying me and growing me. He gives me the strength, perseverance and hope to achieve my impossibles. He is my all in all and when I lose sight of Him, I begin to stumble... causing me to fall back into his arms. Somehow being broken makes me listen to God extra.

In Galatians 5:16, Paul said that when are to 'live by the Spirit, and [we] will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.' The Holy Spirit works deep within each of us. "The Spirit's work is a mystery, our walk then becomes an adventure, and seeing him at work deepens our passion for Jesus."

And who doesn't love spiritual fervor and being filled with zeal for God? So let's get filled with the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-25) through:

Mystery
Like a farmer prepares a field to produce a harvest, we are to prepare ourselves. Like the farmer, we have no control over the harvest. We can prepare ourselves: "pray, read the scriptures, memorize verses, spend time with people who influence us to be holy, worship and so on. But only the Holy Spirit himself can make the life of Christ flow in our hearts and change our desires. It is a great mystery of faith that God would even want to hang out with the sinners like you and me (well, me, anyway), but he does."

Adventure
God will always amaze us with how he will use us... if we let Him and are willing.

Passion
'I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turn his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live." ~ Psalm 116:1&2

"I'm always amazed that God is willing to use somebody like me. His faithfulness to me makes me love him even more.... The more we experience God's mercy, the more we love him. The more we see his power at work in us and through us, the more we are loyal to him. Passion takes root in gratitude."

Therefore, we can experience the Holy Spirit through mystery, adventure, and passion. By experiencing a closer walk with Jesus, we become more patient and less prideful. "I'm convinced that many of the problems in churches today occur because of this pride." Amen.

Jesus came to "demonstrate the Father's love, to seek and to save the lost. To accomplish those purposes, he overlooks a lot of junk in people's lives - yours and mine." By reconciling ourselves to God by repenting of our sin and preparing ourselves for growth, we open ourselves to be used for God's purpose fueling our passion for Him.

I love when a life is burning hot with Christ. For me, this is when I really become a beacon on a hill... my whole being glows. The other days when I feel distant and I am falling short, I yearn to be close to the Father. God draws me in and furthers me. I know that freedom is in Christ. I see it in my love for people continually growing, my pride being continually humbled, and the peace in my heart despite the whirlwind of this life.

I love this verse: Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. ~ Isaiah 26:8


All quotes in this post are from David Nasser's A Call to Die