The
Ark Community
Food for Thought #80
Walking in the Spirit
Jesus
often surprises us..! If we're honest,
at a glance, it would seem that
Jesus sometimes even contradicts Himself. These 'supposedly'
contradictions are often thrown in our faces by those
who don't accept the Bible as
God's infallible Word. However the
perceived contradictions are not contradictions at all,
they are simply God acting out
His constant unchangeable love in different
situations and circumstances. Bono
from U2 sings about this very fact in his song,
"Love teaches us
how to live."
During
Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, in Matthew Chapter 5, verse
16, Jesus said:
"Let your light so shine before men, that they
may see your good works."
Yet in Chapter 6, 1st verse, He says:
“Take
heed that you
do not do your charitable deeds before men." ...
a contradiction...?
No contradiction at all.
We as Christians need to understand that
the Spirit is Lord, not the Law...!
God loves everyone
equally but different.
God does not love everyone in the same way. He loves ALL
the same AMOUNT, but He loves us each according to how
we can receive His love.
An example:
My wife and I have TWO children; Daniele and Gabriella.
We love them the SAME amount but have to
communicate our love in different ways
to them, BECAUSE they are
different characters.
What works for Daniele does not work for Gabriella. If
we were to communicate our love to Daniele, in the same
'love language'
we use with Gabriella, Daniele simply won't be able to
receive what we want for him... Because he is different.
Therefore, my wife, Emiliana and I have learned the
different
'Love languages'
of Daniele and Gabriella, and have found a way to
effectively communicate our love to them both
EQUALLY.
This is God's challenge with us..!
We
are all different and thus God acts differently with
each one of us, so that we ALL may receive His EQUAL
love.
Back to our seemingly contradicting scriptures: The
context of verse 16 is Jesus exhorting us to
LIVE OUT LOAD
and be testimonies, to be light in this dark world... to
shine for Jesus. How can we shine for Jesus if no-one is
allowed to see what GOOD we're doing..? In the other
Scripture, Jesus is warning us of
MOTIVE...
If our motive is that of bragging and letting people see
our GOOD works, simply for our glory, then we need to
STOP this.
The motivation and context changes everything.
This brings me back to Bono...
"Love teaches us how to live."
Let love be your motivation and guide and your actions
will be guided towards God. St. Augustine said it like
this,
"Love God with all your heart, and do whatever you want."
Apostle Paul said,
"But
if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."
We need to be full of God's word, but we need to be
even MORE fuller of God's Spirit,
as His Spirit is the Lord, and it is the
Holy Spirit that will show us HOW to live out the
scripture.
We can not live life according to the letter...! This is
what immature Christians do... they act legalistically.
But we are told by the Apostle Paul in his letter to the
Christians in Rome, "For
as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons
(and Daughters) of God."
Sonship is the
'coming of age',
sonship means becoming a mature adult and no-longer a
child following rules without understanding.
Being a Son or Daughter means we have the right to
execute the Word of God as the Holy Spirit shows us HOW
and WHEN.
This means, sometimes we'll be moved to speak up, and
sometimes moved to keep silent. Sometime we'll be moved
to STAY and sometimes to GO. Sometimes to confront our
Brother for the wrong he did, and sometimes we'll be
moved only to pray for him and forgive him without
confronting him.
Being a Son or Daughter of God means to WALK IN THE
SPIRIT not the LETTER.
"Now
the Lord is the Spirit;
and where the Spirit
of the Lord is, there is liberty."
[2 Cor 3:17]
"Let your light so shine before men, that they may
see our good works and glorify your Father in
heaven."
[Matt 5:16]
Our
Prayer
Lord,
let us become ministers of GRACE.
Help
us to be mature and accept the god-given responsibility
to love correctly,
let
Your love teach us HOW to live out what You have Said.
Father,
help us to walk in your Spirit, fill us afresh now,
with
your Holy Spirit, so that we may hear HOW we are to
live.
Invade
us and evangelise us AGAIN..!
In
Jesus' name,
Amen+
The
Ark Community
