This morning I was up before the sunrise, and although I enjoy my sleep now, it reminded me of the season in my life when I worked for Starbucks and opened the store more than half of the week. The way our store sat, there were two walls of windows that met each other in a corner looking out to the east and I could watch the sunrise over the hills of Southern California. It was just the right timing, because the busyness and rushing of getting the store open had passed but there wasn't a morning rush yet and I could make drinks on the bar and watch the sky change colors and be lost in thoughts and in prayer as the colors changed from black to grey to brilliant oranges and reds and finally settling into a normal set of colors for the world. It was like magic every morning. My own display of fireworks. It never stopped being awe inspiring.
This morning though, there were no purples and oranges and reds, at least not the way I thought there would be. I sat in my grey chair in the corner of my room and listened to a thunderstorm roll through. That made think of Texas. There's nothing quite like reading your Bible in the still of the morning and listening to the growl of thunder. It was beautiful. And as I finished reading, I looked out my window and saw this:
Oh man, I just LOVE rainbows. I love my Promise Keeper. I needed to see His promise as a banner of love across the sky this morning. He is so faithful. The last couple of weeks have been a roller coaster of emotions for me. Some really great stuff is going on! Jesus is working and moving and growing and its fabulous. Some really hard stuff has gone on too. Personal stuff that has made me get down on my knees and beg for the the Spirit of Truth to lead me into all truth. Hard and weird and painful, but fruitful too, I think. At least, Im praying I will be fruitful in this. This season has been a bit John 12 style around here..."unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." There can be fruit if I let it happen. I can't make it happen, that's Gods crazy mysterious working for sure. But I have to be sure to let Him. Some things have had to die in me. My flesh. My desire to be justified. My desire to have my heart seen and not read wrong. Even the little things that I cling to, that don't look to be wrong, I have to let go of. I have to let go of ANY rights that I have and just let Him drop me in the ground and bear some fruit. I don't get to pick the methods. But by His grace, I DO get to be used. That is mind blowing to me.
And can I just say that my mind has been blown this week by the love of God, but also by the love of His people. Seriously, I have had so many people just shower the grace and love of Jesus on me and it has been so so sweet. Thank you for praying for me! Thank you for loving me!!! Thank you for seeing that although I am way not perfect, I love Jesus and I love you. It means so much to be showered by His love through you guys. So thank you. Thank you for taking the time to say kind things. Thank you for just sticking with me over the years and knowing my quirks. The love of the body of Christ, even spread out over the entire United States, is overwhelming. Thank you. And I love you too. Like really, I could spend the next ten posts giving some shouts outs and not cover even the tiniest portion of it. You girls are amazing.
Thanks for joining me through Galatians, too. It's been so fun! I've gotten to know some new people through this too which is way cool. This week, we are going to devour the majority of chapter 5. Go read 5:1-16. This is some good stuff. Watch out though, I might get a little rant-esque. This is some serious stuff here.
Oh verse 1...stand fast! I love that image, don't you? Don't let go. It's got the image of a boat that is held fast to a dock or shore. A storm can roll through and that boat might shake, but it isn't going anywhere. That's what I want to be! I want to be tied up inside of Jesus so that when the world shakes and rumbles, I know that I am secure. It also warns not to become entangled again in a yoke of bondage. This is super key. We CANNOT get caught up in earning our right standing before God. Because thats stupid. We can't ever earn that. DUH! Right? But we can get tangled up and be kept busy with the idea that we have to do enough to earn His favor. Cause then we're always so self focused that we aren't all about the Kingdom work. We can't get past ourselves and into the deeper stuff Jesus wants to do. And that’s not good! For sure.
BUT...13-15 are a giant warning and this really hit home for me as I read through this. You see, I really feel like Jesus has done some cool stuff in my heart and in the hearts around me concerning legalism. Like, for reals, it has been a beautiful season. But, I also have to say that I have seen some stuff concerning legalism that gets me upset. Well, alright, I guess I will just come out with it. It seems to me that there are some people who cling so tightly to the concept that they will not be legalistic that they end up being legalistic about not being legalistic. Well, now, that was clear huh. Wow, I’m sorry. Let me see if I can get this out a little better. We do have liberty in Christ. I have the freedom of knowing that whether I perform well or poorly, my Daddy loves me. And that truly is freeing. It is!!! However, think of a family. I think of my own.
I love my daughter.
Even when she rolls her eyes at me.
Even when she hides all the stuff she doesn’t feel like cleaning up under the desk so that her room appears clean so I won’t tell her to clean it (that’s an imagery lesson all by itself isn’t it!?!)
Even when she lunges in ferocious anger after her brother in retaliation for the water he just squirted in her face.
Even when she lies.
And as she grows, she will do more junk for sure. She can break my heart into tiny pieces and I will still love her. She will still be my kid. Her poor behavior will never make her less mine. But, it will make our lives uncomfortable, even miserable depending on the circumstance. And it WILL effect her relationships with those around her. That’s what I see going on in these verses. Don’t get caught up in legalism, don’t get caught up in proving your worth before God. But also, don’t get caught up in your liberty either. You've got to get caught up in Jesus! Whether you’re living legalistically or liberally, I think there is a common problem. There is the tendency in both to constantly be looking at self (to check and see how you’re doing) and at others (because you’ve got the right way and you want to tell everyone else). Oh man, I’m not making sense am I? In my dealings with people who struggle with legalism, the effect it had on them was much the same as with people who claim to be free from it. A legalistic person often measures up their worth with other people, is constantly looking around to see if others are better or worse than them. It’s a pretty insecure place to be. I’ve been there. I know. But, from the people who claim to “be free” I personally have seen a lot of the same stuff. They seem to always be looking at others and measuring whether or not other people are as free as they are...labeling others as still under a yoke of bondage...always trying to prove that they are free, and scrutinizing the actions of others, sometimes even passing judgements on the hearts of others. I mean, I get that Paul got fired up about stuff. It’s good to be sure of what you’re sure of. But it’s not good to constantly be in a place where you’re criticizing everything around you. Paul spent four chapters talking passionately about the need to be free from a performance based relationship to God, so we know it’s important. But I feel like this is placed in there because Paul knew that there would be people who get free from legalism and then end up caught up in being free and pointing out how others aren’t as free as they are and then comes the junk. Jesus knew this would happen. The Holy Spirit inspired this passage because He knew we would need to read it.
Even when she rolls her eyes at me.
Even when she hides all the stuff she doesn’t feel like cleaning up under the desk so that her room appears clean so I won’t tell her to clean it (that’s an imagery lesson all by itself isn’t it!?!)
Even when she lunges in ferocious anger after her brother in retaliation for the water he just squirted in her face.
Even when she lies.
And as she grows, she will do more junk for sure. She can break my heart into tiny pieces and I will still love her. She will still be my kid. Her poor behavior will never make her less mine. But, it will make our lives uncomfortable, even miserable depending on the circumstance. And it WILL effect her relationships with those around her. That’s what I see going on in these verses. Don’t get caught up in legalism, don’t get caught up in proving your worth before God. But also, don’t get caught up in your liberty either. You've got to get caught up in Jesus! Whether you’re living legalistically or liberally, I think there is a common problem. There is the tendency in both to constantly be looking at self (to check and see how you’re doing) and at others (because you’ve got the right way and you want to tell everyone else). Oh man, I’m not making sense am I? In my dealings with people who struggle with legalism, the effect it had on them was much the same as with people who claim to be free from it. A legalistic person often measures up their worth with other people, is constantly looking around to see if others are better or worse than them. It’s a pretty insecure place to be. I’ve been there. I know. But, from the people who claim to “be free” I personally have seen a lot of the same stuff. They seem to always be looking at others and measuring whether or not other people are as free as they are...labeling others as still under a yoke of bondage...always trying to prove that they are free, and scrutinizing the actions of others, sometimes even passing judgements on the hearts of others. I mean, I get that Paul got fired up about stuff. It’s good to be sure of what you’re sure of. But it’s not good to constantly be in a place where you’re criticizing everything around you. Paul spent four chapters talking passionately about the need to be free from a performance based relationship to God, so we know it’s important. But I feel like this is placed in there because Paul knew that there would be people who get free from legalism and then end up caught up in being free and pointing out how others aren’t as free as they are and then comes the junk. Jesus knew this would happen. The Holy Spirit inspired this passage because He knew we would need to read it.
I think the danger comes when it becomes about US. Which is what 13-15 are all about. When we get caught up in the junk that flows out of all of this, we end up biting and devouring each other. We make it about us and the standards we see. But what about the things we can't see? What about leaving room for our hearts to be flawed, to miss something good in someone else. I have been wrong about about people...have you? We can’t judge the hearts of others! If you are struggling with legalism, dude, GET FREE! Jesus loves you. If you find that you don’t struggle with legalism, but you’re struggling with always having a problem with other people because they aren’t “free enough,” because they are too rigid if they read the One Year Bible, because they aren’t as passionate about the things you’re fired up about (prayer, reaching the lost, whatever), dude Paul is clear. You will end up biting and devouring those around you. Sounds harsh. But Paul is harsh. He is harsh because it matters so much. There is Kingdom work to be done and we can’t get to it if we’re all caught up in the junk. You read the Bible the way you feel convicted to, and I will do the same. As long as we’re reading the Bible, who cares how? You get fired up about this and I’ll get fired up about that and we will both be used to stir up each other and see some awesome stuff happen. There’s too much cool stuff happening to spend time biting and devouring each other.
So, what’s the answer to all of this? Vs 16
So, walking in the Spirit is the answer. We have to constantly take our own hearts to the cross and apply the gospel and then get up and LOVE our neighbor. If you find you constantly have a problem with the people of God, then you’ve got to check your own heart. Paul says in verse 13 to use liberty through love as a chance to serve one another. Let’s make that our focus! Not our church models. Not our ideas on how to reach people. Not our criticism of each other, or how we think we could do things better. Let love for Jesus and for His kids drive our actions. If we are walking in the Spirit, then it’s all good! Love will be agape love, not our own flawed love, and it will cover imperfections and the focus will be on Jesus, not self or others. If we’re walking in the Spirit then we will see that played out in our interactions with each other, in our love and service to each other.
And that’s where I want to live, right at His feet, sitting in His lap, just wherever He is. And I need to be empowered by His Spirit to even do that! Dude, pray for me!
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