This one is for you Uncle Jim. Thank you.
Galatians 6:9 ~ "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart."
Someone had prayed those words over us, Will and I, and internally I cringed. Weary? Yes, certainly. Lose heart? Well, maybe that too.
Understand it was not on some large scale, no, my bags were not packed for Mexico. But . . .
I was weary and my heart, it seemed awfully dirty.
I waged war on weariness but I had a sinking feeling that I was losing. Slowly, almost microscopically, a moment here and an hour there. A minor defeat today. A slight slip yesterday. Creeping doubt crawling through my mind.
No one-way to ticket to Mexico. Yet. But, weary I surely was.
He prayed that scripture and I cringed. That can't be right.
I admitted to the Spirit what He already knew, that this Mama was on a slippery slope.
Spirit spoke softly, "Maybe you ought to study that scripture a little closer."
It felt as rebuke, I was weary because my knowledge of scripture was shaky. Great. Weary and scripturally unsound. Great.
Spirit patiently reminded that He was my Dearest Friend, He only corrects so His Spirit and mine can connect.
I opened the Word and quickly observed the verse before ~ vs. 8 ~ "For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."
My Dearest Friend said, "You grow weary and lose heart for you sow to the flesh and corruption is reaped."
He walked me through a typical day and illuminated many places of flesh sowing. A thought (or two or twenty) here, a word there, idle time, luxury and comfort craved, rest and relaxation sought, judgmental ways, appeasing king stomach and He continued on but I will spare you the boring details. It was quite a thorough list I must admit.
It is an ongoing battle, one that has been waged on and in the lives of countless believers ~ the war against the flesh. And for centuries our Enemy has aided and abetted our fleshy ways. Our Enemy does detest a believer active and communing with the Spirit of God. A believer continually sowing to flesh and reaping corruption in life, family and ministry is far easier to tolerate. So, he sets about his ways to distract and deter and determinedly convince us that this "habit" is only natural and that this "desire" is certainly deserved and entirely we all need some luxury now and then. And we steadily and habitually sow to flesh and reap corruption in body, soul and spirit. For if he can not keep us from salvation he will fix his sights on weary and a heart lost.
It is time we take stock for time is surely short and as we wallow in our weariness souls slip into his abyss. Take stock, make note ~ all day and everyday and where you sow to flesh repent and pour your spirit into His Spirit.
The fields are white ~ a harvest is coming . . .
Do you want your family, your friends to be gathered in as grain? Or thrown into the furnace as chaff? A harvest is coming . . .
What of those distant lands or your own hometown? A harvest is coming, the fields are white.
What of your own heart? Ezekiel tells us of our hearts of stone and our desperate need for a heart of flesh. Where will your heart fall in the harvest? A harvest is coming . . .
Sowing to flesh or sowing to Spirit, how do we know? A simple question to ask yourself ~ does this have an eternal worth? If yes, then sow away, sow time, energy, money and skill. If not, then you know it is temporal and our mortal bodies are fleeting and passing away and if you sow there know that the Word promises corruption.
The words spoken to your child? Your spouse? Do they serve eternally or burn in the fires of temporal? The hours spent in front of TV or Facebook or any of our other past times? Eternal or temporal? The food we eat, the money we spend, the thoughts rattling around in your head? Eternal or temporal?
Everyday and all the time ~ we choose ~ sow to flesh and reap corruption or sow to the Spirirt and reap everlasting life.
I had to take stock and answer the Holy Spirit ~ was my weariness product of His call in my life or my choices to sow to flesh? And with minor, slight adjustments and small decisions I determined to sow to Spirit habitually. Would it surprise you to hear that I regained heart? Of course not, for you know as I that the Word of God is Truth and as we breathe in Truth we live it out in reality before a broken humanity. The Mystery of the Gospel, the Unspeakable , Unfathomable Goodness of Grace walked out on earth ~ but, that is another blog isn't it?!
A race craving Life, Life for me and Life for them so I remind myself continually I must race in the Spirit.
Galatians 6:9 ~ "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart."
Someone had prayed those words over us, Will and I, and internally I cringed. Weary? Yes, certainly. Lose heart? Well, maybe that too.
Understand it was not on some large scale, no, my bags were not packed for Mexico. But . . .
I was weary and my heart, it seemed awfully dirty.
I waged war on weariness but I had a sinking feeling that I was losing. Slowly, almost microscopically, a moment here and an hour there. A minor defeat today. A slight slip yesterday. Creeping doubt crawling through my mind.
No one-way to ticket to Mexico. Yet. But, weary I surely was.
He prayed that scripture and I cringed. That can't be right.
I admitted to the Spirit what He already knew, that this Mama was on a slippery slope.
Spirit spoke softly, "Maybe you ought to study that scripture a little closer."
It felt as rebuke, I was weary because my knowledge of scripture was shaky. Great. Weary and scripturally unsound. Great.
Spirit patiently reminded that He was my Dearest Friend, He only corrects so His Spirit and mine can connect.
I opened the Word and quickly observed the verse before ~ vs. 8 ~ "For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life."
My Dearest Friend said, "You grow weary and lose heart for you sow to the flesh and corruption is reaped."
He walked me through a typical day and illuminated many places of flesh sowing. A thought (or two or twenty) here, a word there, idle time, luxury and comfort craved, rest and relaxation sought, judgmental ways, appeasing king stomach and He continued on but I will spare you the boring details. It was quite a thorough list I must admit.
It is an ongoing battle, one that has been waged on and in the lives of countless believers ~ the war against the flesh. And for centuries our Enemy has aided and abetted our fleshy ways. Our Enemy does detest a believer active and communing with the Spirit of God. A believer continually sowing to flesh and reaping corruption in life, family and ministry is far easier to tolerate. So, he sets about his ways to distract and deter and determinedly convince us that this "habit" is only natural and that this "desire" is certainly deserved and entirely we all need some luxury now and then. And we steadily and habitually sow to flesh and reap corruption in body, soul and spirit. For if he can not keep us from salvation he will fix his sights on weary and a heart lost.
It is time we take stock for time is surely short and as we wallow in our weariness souls slip into his abyss. Take stock, make note ~ all day and everyday and where you sow to flesh repent and pour your spirit into His Spirit.
The fields are white ~ a harvest is coming . . .
Do you want your family, your friends to be gathered in as grain? Or thrown into the furnace as chaff? A harvest is coming . . .
What of those distant lands or your own hometown? A harvest is coming, the fields are white.
What of your own heart? Ezekiel tells us of our hearts of stone and our desperate need for a heart of flesh. Where will your heart fall in the harvest? A harvest is coming . . .
Sowing to flesh or sowing to Spirit, how do we know? A simple question to ask yourself ~ does this have an eternal worth? If yes, then sow away, sow time, energy, money and skill. If not, then you know it is temporal and our mortal bodies are fleeting and passing away and if you sow there know that the Word promises corruption.
The words spoken to your child? Your spouse? Do they serve eternally or burn in the fires of temporal? The hours spent in front of TV or Facebook or any of our other past times? Eternal or temporal? The food we eat, the money we spend, the thoughts rattling around in your head? Eternal or temporal?
Everyday and all the time ~ we choose ~ sow to flesh and reap corruption or sow to the Spirirt and reap everlasting life.
I had to take stock and answer the Holy Spirit ~ was my weariness product of His call in my life or my choices to sow to flesh? And with minor, slight adjustments and small decisions I determined to sow to Spirit habitually. Would it surprise you to hear that I regained heart? Of course not, for you know as I that the Word of God is Truth and as we breathe in Truth we live it out in reality before a broken humanity. The Mystery of the Gospel, the Unspeakable , Unfathomable Goodness of Grace walked out on earth ~ but, that is another blog isn't it?!
A race craving Life, Life for me and Life for them so I remind myself continually I must race in the Spirit.
God is good and His Word is true. Great communion friend. -Kristen
ReplyDeleteKristen - you crack me up! You were for real that you were going to comment to every post! Thank you for reading, it gets lonely locked up in this big old house with my lovely nine!! Love you, see you soon! P.S. How do I make a comment as me and not Anonymous? Super computer savvy I know!
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