Fruit of the Spirit...Patience and Gentleness

I was in a Bible study this morning. There is a wonderful group of women who meet on Fridays at the church I attend, and I so appreciate the encouragement and wisdom that I gain from them.

As we talked about Christ and His last hours on the planet, we discussed the crowd that gathered around Him as He hung on the cross. One group consisted of the religious leaders of that day. They demonstrated pride and scorn as they watched the Son of God die. The question was how do we attempt to reach this type of person. There were many good comments made, and it also led to a question about "interpretation."

What do I do with those people who disagree with me? And who am I anyway, a gentle heart seeking to continue a ministry of reconciliation between God and man, or am I one of the religious elite who thinks I'm always right?

Lord, have mercy on me.

Patience and gentleness are such important characteristics of discipleship. God has been so patient with me over the course of my lifetime...embarrasingly so. How shameful when I am anything but. With God's grace, I will grow in this. I want to be able to deal more lovingly with people whose "interpretations" differ from mine. Especially when I find them particularly stubborn.

As I was mulling these thoughts over in class,God provided an object lesson for me. There was a little boy present who came with his mom. Normally he is one of the sweetest (and probably smartest) 4 year olds that I know. He was still sweet today, but a little out of sorts. As his mom struggled with behavior that she was sure was disruptive to the rest of us (which it wasn't...I have an autistic 18 year old; I've seen disruptive!), I watched how she interacted with this child. She was always the mom and the one in control, but, oh how lovingly and gently and patiently she dealt with this little boy. As I thought about my own lack of patience, I saw this virtue very visibly displayed right before me.

May I learn those lessons God so graciously gives.

Fruit of the Spirit...Self-Control

Yesterday was the beginning of Lent. No, I'm not Catholic. But I do observe Lent. I love God, I love His holy word, and I love the church that was bought with His Son's blood. Each believer in that body is saved by faith alone in Christ alone, but we can learn a lot from the saints that came before us. I don't have much respect for traditions that exist for the sake of tradition alone, but if there is a biblical emphasis to a practice and if that practice focuses one's thoughts more acutely on God, then I'm not critical of it.

Having said that,there has been a theme to my reading over the past several weeks. This hasn't even been of my design. It seems that everything I've picked up has had something to say about gluttony. And then yesterday I get an email from my husband. He's not a Christian, so he wasn't even thinking about overeating as sin. He was lamenting the 10 pounds he's put on while in Egypt, and asked me to join him in a contest to lose weight. So, while I've been here considering my own habits and thinking about what actually defines gluttony (I think the biblical definition may be different than the average American's), I believe God was speaking through my husband (again...man, sometimes I hate when that happens!). I think a lack of self-control in one area, is indicative of a larger sin issue.

As I contemplated what this lenten season meant to me, I realized that self is just too prevalent in my thoughts. My prayer is that as I focus on Christ, His mission, and His sacrifice, that I will more readily die to self. That God will fill me with His Spirit, so that I will be more self-controlled in my life and my habits. For me, that means giving up a few things during the next 40 days and 6 Sundays.

Fruit of the Spirit...Kindness

I was at Trader Joe's this morning (for those of you still in Germany, try not to be too jealous!). The guy working the register was a very nice, pleasant young man. He was kind to woman in front of me as he rung up her order. I watched her with a somewhat saddened heart.

She never looked the guy in the eyes. She responded to his quiet questions not with disdain or rudeness, but rather as if he just wasn't at all important. Maybe she was having a very bad day. Maybe she isn't always like that. But I'm afraid it's an attitude that is becoming more prevalent across our country. Because I'm seeing it everywhere I go.

I told my sister about over lunch. Later, she emailed me this quote:

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.
— Plato

So the next time you're in line at McDonald's, smile at the girl taking your order. Or at the "Pebble-Beachish" rich woman in front of you at Trader Joe's. Maybe she needs a little kindness in her life as well.

Revival in Belfast

I've written several posts about books I'm reading. I've not done much with music. I don't know why I hadn't thought of it before...I like music almost as much as I do books.

I bought a new CD last week. I am so thrilled with it, that I wanted to share some thoughts about it.

First of all, if you like a celtic sound, Revival in Belfast delivers. A line on cover calls it "live worship with Robin Mark in Northern Ireland." He is probably best known for his song, Days of Elijah, and this one is on the CD. So is Shout to the North (not written by him, but by Martin Smith), another of my favorites. (Who can remain seated when singing the words:
"Rise up women of the truth
Stand and sing to broken hearts
Who can know the healing power
Of our awesome King of love" )

One of the songs that makes this album great (in my opinion) is called Revival. It starts out slowly, repeating (among others) these lines:
"I hear the voice of one crying
Prepare ye the way of the Lord."

Then it breaks into this great sound...I really don't know how to explain it. Other than your whole being longs for the revival that the words are describing:

From the preacher preaching when the well is dry
To the lost soul reaching for a higher high
From the young man working though his hopes and fears
To the widow walking through the veil of tears.
Every man and woman every old and young
Every father's daughter every mother's son
I feel it in my spirit feel it in my bones
You're going to send revival
Bring them all back home.

I am not a musician. I am not even close. I know words can be emotionally charged and emotionally manipulative. Maybe music can too. I don't know. So maybe others would listen to this CD and hear something different. But it does stir my emotions. It does fill me with longing. It does make me cry out for the day when I'll say,
"Behold He comes!....It is the Year of Jubilee! Out of Zion's hill salvation comes!"