Sow to Please the Spirit

PRAYER PRACTICE

Spoken Prayer – Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

DAILY READING

Galatians 6:1-10


REFLECTION

What Are You Planting?

by Pastor Jeff Morlock

 

As a teenager, I worked for farmers each summer, preferring harvest-related tasks like bailing hay or picking pickles to the early summer task of planting. Especially tomatoes. Sitting on a transplanter for 10 hours a day requires focus. Becoming distracted means failing to supply a young plant to one of the constantly rotating “arms” that seeks to grab it, resulting in an eventual bare spot in the field come harvest time. "You reap what you sow”, right? And spiritually speaking, we’re always sowing thoughts and deeds. When you sow to please the flesh (self-centered ways of being human) you’ll reap self-centered ways of being human . But if you sow to please the Spirit (God-centered, other-oriented ways of being human), you will reap the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and more.  

The books you read, the people you hang out with, the things you do for entertainment, and the thoughts that preoccupy your mind are all acts of sowing. Every time you nurse a grudge or objectify someone instead of recognizing God’s image in them, every time you wallow in self-pity or complain about the shortcomings of others, you sow to the flesh. And the results are the exact opposite of victory and blessing. Sowing to please the flesh hinders community. Its fruit of self-righteousness keeps us from forgiving one another’s sins. Its fruit of greed keeps us from being generous. Its fruit of pride keeps us from bearing one another’s burdens.

But lest we become discouraged, Paul says, ^“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” Keep going. Keep sowing, Paul urges. Focus not on past failures, which are forgiven in God’s grace, but on sowing to please the Spirit today, giving thanks for the bumper crop to come!

Prayer: God our Father, lifter of heavy burdens, I know that I cannot by my own effort obey what this Scripture says. Empower me by your Holy Spirit to crucify the flesh with its selfish desires, and to sow in ways that will build up those around me and give you glory. In the name of your Son, Jesus, whose body was sown in death, but raised to give his people a harvest of eternal life. Amen.

 

The Gardener's Way

"...He delights in genuine prayer."

Genuine prayer is all about the heart, a relationship, a pure motive. Having a pure relationship with Jesus takes time, it requires persistence and a searching spirit. We don't get to that place overnight. Just like we don't build a strong friendship with someone we just met; we need to cultivate this relationship for it to grow. We must feed it and water it with true conversation and openness before there is any fruit.

When people use sports analogies to make a point, or to explain a process, they used to lose me. I am not a sports fan, so I just didn't get it. But, I am a gardener and I love getting my hands into the soil, planting a seed and caring for it until there is a beautiful blossom to show for my efforts. Because I love this practice, it makes sense that I would use an analogy depicting this process.

One day at a time is a real gardener's way. No seed will germinate and grow to full potential overnight. It takes many days, weeks even, before the desired results are achieved. The same with prayer, talking to God, building that heavenly relationship. One day at a time. Don't let the soil get dry, water it often. 

When God is speaking and we feel a convicting finger on our hearts, examine this spot, yank up the weed of disobedience or doubt, and continue to fertilize the soil of your heart with more conversation. God loves to watch us grow and thrive. Excuse this analogy if you must, but remember, it all began in a garden a long, long time ago.

Proverbs 15:8

Fruit Insptector

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited,provoking and envying each other. -Galatians 5:22-26

My Father-In-Law used to own an orange grove. This was over 40 years ago, but he has shared stories of how he, and a crew of people, would have to go out into the grove and inspect the fruit. The grove was in Florida, so one of the things they had to be aware of was the temperature. If it got too cold, they would light tires on fire throughout the grove which would raise the temperature and keep the fruit safe.

We are called to be fruit inspectors too. We are to inspect the fruit in our own lives and make sure we are keeping with the Spirit. Our passage today says, "Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." How can we know we are keeping in step with the Spirit?

Well, we need to inspect our fruit. Is the fruit we produce in our lives consistent with the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 says,

 "22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." 

If we can see the fruit of the Spirit at work in our lives then we know we are keeping in step with the Spirit, if not then we know we have some work to do.  One great way to make sure you are on a good path is to allow others to be fruit inspectors in your life.  They will see things that you may overlook.  

It is always nice to have safe accountability, someone who knows us and loves us and wants the best for us and others around us.  We need someone we can trust to inspect the fruit we are producing, because as you know, one rotten apple can ruin the whole bunch.

It's Not About The Money, Money, Money

18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. -Mark 4:18-19

Last week I highlighted this passage and talked about how scripture should be our highest authority.  It should be the first thing we go to when trying to discern God’s will for our lives.

What are some things that get in our way from allowing scripture to take root.  Our passage today mentions some things such as the worries of life, the desire for other things, and what I want to highlight today is, “the deceitfulness of wealth”.

How can wealth be deceptive.  It gives us a false sense of security.  If we have wealth we tend to think we can control whatever comes our way.  

Scripture warns against this ideology. Our passage today says that if we are deceived by our wealth, scripture will be unfruitful in our lives.

Having wealth is not a sin.  Placing our security in wealth rather than God, is.  Don’t let anything hinder your walk with God.  Put your trust in him and not your bank account.  Look for peace in the pages of the bible rather than the bottom line of your retirement plan.  And instead of following the money trail, let the word of God guide you.

Read today entire passage here. Mark 4:15-20

Finding Prosperity in Olive Oil

Proverbs 21:5, 20-21

Today's impactful message – work hard; plan ahead; do what is right; seek love, and prosperity will follow.  Lots of good stuff, but for some reason – God’s reason – he wanted me to focus on olive oil. Yep, olive oil.

Did you know, according to Biblestudytools.com, “Olive trees took a long time to grow and mature, but they also lasted for hundreds of years. Therefore, a good oil supply was a sign of stability and prosperity (e.g.,  Deut 8:8 ;  33:24 ;  2 Kings 20:13 ;  Psalm 92:10 ;  Prov 21:20 ;  Isa 39:2 ;  Joel 2:19  Joel 2:24 ). The lack of oil was a sign of the curse of God and agricultural disaster (e.g.,  Deut 28:40 ;  Joel 1:10 ).”

Also interesting to note, olives are a fruit. Maybe you already knew this, but this realization lead me to think about the numerous references to fruit in the bible… fruit of the vine…fruit of the spirit… peace is a fruit of the spirit… olive branches are a symbol of peace… peace leads to prosperity. (Following my connections?)

So in addition to learning a little something about olive oil, God was leading me - in a roundabout way – to PROSPERITY. And that's where he's leading each of us. He wants us to prosper and bear fruit. Like olive trees, it may take us a while to grow and mature but once we get our roots planted in the soil of his love, then we will find “life, prosperity and honor” (v.21).

See God knows how to tie things together!

Now I'm hungry for olives.

Mudslingers and Fig Trees

I am ready for this election season to be over.  How about you?  I’m done with all of the mudslinging. We continually hear one political group comparing themselves to the other by showing how evil their opponent is.

It doesn’t take long to get tired of all the negativity. Highlighting only the bad might make us feel better for a brief moment, but soon either we, or those around us will need some good news.

Our scripture passage today talks about this very thing. Luke 13: 1-9 explains how there were some who were talking to Jesus about how bad certain people where.  Jesus even questions these accusers asking, “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no!” But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

Did you catch Jesus’s reply? “Unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Those who brought the question to Jesus were not even talking about themselves.  They were comparing one group of Galileans to another, but Jesus turns the tables on them saying they too need to repent.

Jesus continues telling about a man who had a fig tree growing in his vineyard that did not produce any fruit. The man wanted to cut down the tree because it was just using up soil.  It’s not hard to see that Jesus was telling this story about those who thought they were good enough.  He keeps the story focused on those who were playing the comparison game, not on the “sinners”.

As Christians, we need to be particularly careful how we treat others. It’s easy to compare someone else’s shortcomings as worse than our, in order to bolster our self-worth.  Talking with a friend, family member or colleague about what horrible thing someone else did, takes the spotlight off of how we are doing, but that kind of living is dangerous.

We need to make sure we are producing good fruit for the Kingdom of God and not just using up soil. Repentance is the key to keeping the focus on ourselves and away from others.

Heavenly Father,

We confess that we often look at what others are doing hoping to feel better about ourselves.  We are so sorry. Please forgive us.  Help us to turn our focus and only compare ourselves to you.  Thank you for loving us and not giving up on us.  Help us to produce fruit that gives you glory. When we do look at others, please help us to look with love and compassion.

In Jesus name we pray, Amen.

Matthew 3: 1-12

John The Baptist Prepares The Way

“John’s clothes were made of camel hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. People went to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.”

The picture this paints for us is so sincere. Can’t you just envision the men, women and children journeying to this place of peace and hope? Not in a hurry like we are today, as they walked through the desert or rode on the backs of camels and donkeys. Not filled with anxiety about getting to work on time or earning enough money to cover the bills or purchase unnecessary toys. Filled only with the urgency of their hearts, to be forgiven and filled with the grace of God,……..they traveled.

Matthew uses thought provoking symbolism to paint us a picture of this scene. As John saw the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he had a message for them. It began with the phrase; “You brood of vipers!” He went on to inform them that; “One must produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” It is not just one act of dipping in the water that will make us sons of God, but true repentance and living a fruit bearing life. “The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

John then promises Jesus’ coming, as he speaks of one who is more powerful than he, one whose sandals he is not fit to carry. His words illustrate Jesus’ baptizing style as far more intense than his, as Jesus uses the Holy Spirit and fire to baptize. “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

The term winnowing is defined as: examine something in order to remove the bad, the unusable or undesirable parts.

The message is clear. Seeking forgiveness and repenting is necessary, yet it is not the end, but the beginning. From this place, maintaining a sincere heart and bearing fruit for the Lord, we will be spared from the winnowing fork. Amen.

Read/Listen to Matthew 3: 1-12