Matthew 11:6

“And blessed is he who is not offended because of me.”

Too many times I've heard the devastating story of someone praying for something fervently day in and day out and never getting what they prayed for, leading them to there unbelief in God. It's a tragic story to see such a potential heart be turned away due to lack of understanding in God's plan. I went through a period in my life where I was not given what I asked for and I prayed hard. I chose anger and disobedience to comfort the pain of being ignored. I was weak and hurt and hated that God wouldn't come to me in my time of weakness After getting kicked around back and forth by my sins and the sins of the world I found myself screaming out to God once again. I came back to Him and found the peace I had once had. Although having that peace the unanswered prayer that troubled me for so long stung in the back of my mind. Instead of running away with anger, I ran to Him for answers. I realized that I knew the answer all along and only needed to look at the situation in a different way. He had been giving it to me but I was not mature enough to see with the right perspective. Often times we want an answer from the Lord, and he gives us exactly what we ask for, just hardly in the way we expect. It's not that he gives us encrypted messages, it's usually that our hearts are not in the right place to understand. It can be compared to a carpenter and his wood. The wood must be taken from its comfort, shaved and cut down to where it is standing naked and vulnerable into the hands of the carpenter, sanded, polished, and eventually assembled into a functional piece of furniture. If the wood were to run away at the point of being vulnerable and naked it wood never know what it's beautiful purpose was for, leaving him alone and naked for the world to scar and beat. I was that wood that ran away while I was naked and I was scarred. But Christ took me back in and sanded them away to use me once more. When I come across a situation or a heart break where all I want to do is run, I will remember to fall on my knees and not let my feet take me anywhere but His word. In applying this, when I call home and here the troubles of my fellow loved ones I will not look to God and ask why, I will look to myself and ask, what am I supposed to learn?

With a vibrant mind and a dull heart you are a weapon of destruction.

With a dull mind and a vibrant heart you are a weapon of peace.

With a vibrant mind and a vibrant heart you become a peaceful destroyer.

This life is meant for Him.
To indulge in sin only leads to an emptier morning.
Only leads to another crack in your glass reputation.
Only sticks knives in the ones you love.
Only pours salt on the wounds where the knives have been.
Destruction leads to destruction.
Foundation leads to design and stability.

I do not want to die in this world rubble that scatters the earth giving myself to all creatures that walk by.
I want to be made a structure where I can invite those creatures in and offer them the peace I have been given.

Galatians 6:8

“For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

When I read this verse the concept of Pride comes to mind. When I was younger I had a complex with Paul. I read his letters and couldn't help but think how prideful he was in the way that he would always say be more like me for I am a man of God. A man who states be more like me doesn't always come across as the most humble of men. Through the eyes of the Holy Spirit it is an act of humbleness, in the flesh it comes across as prideful. When man does good on his own terms, and takes pride in the good he has done, it becomes pride. When we see men in our culture today telling everyone to be more like them, Charlie sheen for example, we think him prideful, insane, and simply crazy. We all have our own gifts and talents, who are they to tell me to be more like them. Why should Paul be any different? Paul takes pride in what he does for the Spirit, and only the Spirit. I believe Paul fully grasped this concept he wrote so many years ago. Because he knew that things he sowed were of the spirit then he didn't speak that he was a man of God through his own sowing, but because he was empowered by the Holy Spirit, he was made great. We can see that Paul is humble enough to say I am a great man, but give no entitlement to himself. From that point of view it makes us see Paul as an exceedingly sacrificial humble man instead of a man seeking recognition. I struggle with doing things for the Lord and remembering I had little to nothing to do with it. We are given these great tasks in the name of the Lord but we are so quick to forget that it was only through Him we were blessed with the task. It's easy to sow to the Spirit and desire to reap in the flesh.

Galatians 6:7

“Do not be decieved: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”

We see this theme written with different names all throughout culture. Acknowledging this concept in almost every religion, it is mostly referred to as Carma given name by the Buddhist culture. When most people are introduced to this concept they take on the idea that they just need to do more good and therefore the punishments won't be as strong. The only ones who “succeed” at beating Carma are guys dressed up in orange garments and separate themselves from society for the rest of their lives. Even then, they never escape this vicious concept. God created us to be perfect, but we failed. And we continue to fail everyday whether we do it in the mountains of Tibett or in the cities of Boston, we fail. Adam and Eve initially was at fault for bringing sin into this world, but it is us that keep biting that fruit every single day. We can't escape it, we were born into sin. Many will try to bend and make rules explaining why this law of nature doesn't exist to them, but only one answer stands above all the rest. Christ. Only because Christ came in and payed our ransom. Only because he stepped in and became our ultimate get out of jail free card. If it were up to us to conquer this concept, you would be a fool to think we can defeat it alone. Only one of us was perfect, and He who was perfect loved the rest of us enough to be beaten and crucified, so we can be perfectly covered by His blood. He who was never bound by jail, became bound so we can all be freed. That, and that alone is the only answer to this age old question. We do reap what we sow with or without Christ, but with Him we win, without Him we lose tragically. The good we reap within Christ is good for God, the good we reap without Christ is a hamster in a wheel, thinking he is gaining, but only thinking.  

Galatians 6:5

“For each one shall bear his own load.”

I am called to pick up my cross everyday, and I should try to never complain for the path I have been given. Christ's cross bared more weight than any of ours and He is who we must look too. Not turn around, look at each others cross, and envy the size of others, but look to Him who carried the most. My cross is heavy yet the yolk is light and I will strive to run this race with endurance and without complaint.  

Galatians 6:5

“But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.”

Jesus Christ was our perfect example. If he were to ever say, why can't I sacrifice like John the Baptist? He would not have been amongst the people in the cities. If He were to say, why can't I be perfect like the Pharisees? He would have let the deception of religion backslide him into a white washed tomb. If He were to say, why can't I speak poetically like faithful King David? He wouldn't have been able to relate to the people of His time and love them exactly how they needed to be loved. Why do we find it okay to follow the great men of our nation and call it justified? Often we cry out to be more like this pastor, or if I can only think like this guy, sacrifice like this guy, love like that guy. It is good to respect a quality within a man, and admire his strength but never to think him great by his own works. Firstly, it will only lead you to be stumbled in your walk. If you follow the way of man he will inevitably fail you in one way or another and all the faith you had could crumble over one mans sin. Second, God does not call us to follow the sheep around us, He calls us to follow the shepherd. We are given a perfect plan for our life. Although we will never follow it perfectly, it is still singularly one path and one path alone. If Christ would have looked to others for heavenly guidance instead of heaven, my sins might not be washed by His blood today. I can't even fathom the repercussions. By conforming to others work we are cheapening His personalized will for our life. I need to rejoice in the realizations and plans God lays before me, for they are sweeter to my soul than any other. I am guilty of this type of idolizing because of it's tangibility, it is so easy to see the fruit they bear, taste it, and plan our lives around reproducing from our own lives. C.S. Lewis's fruit taste really really good. I mean really good. I would love to recreate those fruits. But God asks me to conform to His Son's fruits, and that is what I will try and do. Once again, Jesus Christ is our perfect example.