Live by the Spirit

 

PRAYER PRACTICE

Breath Prayer – Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask God to fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the list of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear, etc. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin reading today’s Scripture.

DAILY READING

Galatians 5:16-18

REFLECTION

When Strivings Cease

by Katie Borden

What are you running after today?

Is it a work assignment that you’re hoping will impress your boss?

Are all of the preparations for that upcoming vacation exhausting you before you even pack up the car?

Maybe you’ve been working hard on your inner self because if you can just fix “that one thing” about yourself, you might not feel so empty inside.

What are you running after today? Or are you too busy running to even slow down to contemplate that question? (I only ask because, honestly, that is where I find myself more often than I care to admit.)

Doing good work, taking rejuvenating vacations, and caring for our selves are not in and of themselves bad things. But we would do well to question to what end we engage in these activities. If it is because we are striving for some kind of achievement on the “performance plan”, as Pastor Steve shared recently, then we are just going to keep running and running and running after these fleshly desires until we fall over from exhaustion, because they will never be enough. Rather than finding our identity in the things of the flesh, we can rest in the identity that is ours by the gift of faith that is given to us in Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit.

 I’m reminding myself of this as much as—or more than—anyone else. Our identity is not found in our striving, friends, but in Jesus.

So let’s slow our pace for just a moment and sit with him, allowing ourselves to be led by his Spirit. Close with a quiet moment of silent communion with God, and rest in the peace of his presence.