It’s a quiet riverside park on a Saturday afternoon. Joggers pass by, fishing rods whirl, seagulls fight over fish and chip wrappers, and my wife and I sit watching the couple. They are maybe in their late forties and are speaking a language unknown to us. She sits gazing into his eyes while he, without a hint of self-consciousness, sings to her a love song in his own tongue, carried on the breeze for us all to hear.
This delightful act got me thinking about the book of Zephaniah. At first you might wonder why. In Zephaniah’s day, God’s people had become corrupt by bowing to false gods (1:4–5), and Israel’s prophets and priests were now arrogant and profane (3:4). For much of the book, Zephaniah declares God’s coming judgment on not just Israel but all the nations of the earth (v. 8).
Yet Zephaniah foresees something else. Out of that dark day will emerge a people who wholeheartedly love God (vv. 9–13). To these people God will be like a bridegroom who delights in His beloved: “In his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” (v. 17).
Creator, Father, Warrior, Judge. Scripture uses many titles for God. But how many of us see God as a Singer with a love song for us on His lips?
We strive for peace, a peace within our intellectual understanding, but we live with anxiety and a fast-paced life. There is nothing greater than the peace that exceeds our understanding and intellect that is only attainable through Christ.
~ Lisa Blair
Philippians 4:7 explains that there is a peace that is greater than our understanding. Our concept of peace is always riddled with a bit of noise and vibration. The peace in this scripture is talking about a peace God provides. A space where there is nothing but serenity. I first experienced this peace about 11 years ago and it is unbelievable, o words can describe it. No drug can get you there. It is truly a peace that is greater than our understanding, and that peace does guard our hearts and our minds through Christ who lives in us. It provides the space for zero vibrations. It is a space to converse with Christ through the Holy Spirit who resides in us. It provides the space for wisdom. It provides the space for knowledge and understanding. It is a peace that is greater than our understanding.
There is a lower case ‘h’ – holy. We who have been reborn, Christians, learn to live in holiness.
~ Lisa Blair
When people hear the word holy, whether it be with a capital or lower case h, we think of something unattainable, something that dilutes the concept of fun and living a fun life, something beyond our reach. But holy, lower case, simply means the established relationship between our Holy God and his children. (Holy, Holiness. Biblestudytools.com)
The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV. biblegateway.com
awordywoman.com
“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” Galatians 5:16-17 (https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.5.16-17.NLT)
As Paul writes in Galatians, these two forces are in contrast battle. They are the forces of good and evil. Our former carnal life is a life of sins, self indulgence and satisfaction. Our new self is that of love and looking for the good we can share with others. Once we are renewed, we acquire the characteristics of Christ. We begin to envelope them into our being, we become holy. We no longer absentmindedly hang out, drink until we are drunk, do drugs, curse, or other things of the flesh, Galatians 5:19-21); you begin to walk the line between sin and holiness leaning towards holiness. You begin to evolve. Once you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior you begin your walk with Him. You acknowledge the Holy Spirit nestled in you, and you receive His guidance, you are led by the Holy Spirit. You put down the old and pick up the new. You become a new being. It is the Holy Spirit who nudges you, who whispers in your psyche, who causes you to feel uneasy or guilty for little things such as telling a lie to a friend or loved one, taking advantage of people, taking office supplies, to making an illegal u-turn, or more noteworthy sinful actions. You begin and develop a new life embedded in the fruit of the spirit.
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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control; against such there is no law. Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-26. https://bible.com/bible/1171/gal.5.23-26.MEV)
As born again Christians, we already have been washed clean, but that is not the end. Once washed clean we must absorb the characteristics of Christ and become holy, set apart from our past, our carnal life.
Scriptures – being washed clean.
“Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.”
“Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.”
It is easy to conform to the patterns of this world. Doing so is little more than following those around us who seek popularity, career advancement, and conformity. Non-conforming lives requires thought, commitment, and yes, repentance.
~ Lisa Blair
There are two scriptures that I feel go hand-in-hand. The first is Romans 12:2, “do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.“ The second is Matthew 3:8 NLT, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and return to God.“
When we choose not to conform to the pattern of the world and choose to be transformed by the renewing of our mind, we are committing to become more like Christ. We become more loving towards those around us, as well as loving ourselves differently. We think about our actions in a different way. During which time we recognize our earthly actions require change known also as repentance. Repentance causes us to critically (objectively) review our action or actions and choose different paths. That is what Matthew 38 is saying, we prove (demonstrate) the way we live through recognition of our actions past and present, to repent means changing direction and leaving those old habits and thought patterns behind, to again, become more like Christ.
Images: 1) Our Daily Bread; 2) YouVersion. Roger Cole. Bible.com
If we are new people in Christ how can we degrade those who are not yet new creatures, and may never be because you slipped back into your old human nature.
~ Lisa Blair
Bible.com
“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Corinthians 5:16-21 NLT. https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.16-20.NLT)
We are God’s ambassadors. We were given this role when we became reconciled to Christ. We became new people, and our old human nature was washed away. So you say, how can my old man be relinquished and replaced. The moment you received Christ as your Lord and Savior you were washed clean and freed from sin, and you received freedom in Christ. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians he wrote, ”so Christ has truly set us free. (Galatians 5:1)
To explain to the title, we have an old nature and a new nature. We possess both because we are human. The beauty is, when we became new people in Christ, we could push down the old creature. Paul wrote in Galatians 5:13-14,
“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”” (Galatians 5:13-14 NLT. https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.5.13-14.NLT)
We no longer find it necessary to satisfy what our old nature craves. Again, Paul warns that our sinful nature wants to do evil. This part of us finds it easy to criticize others, to evaluate others, to belittle others. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are no longer obliged to succumb to the whims of your sin nature. We possess new qualities, replacement qualities.
Galatians 5:22-26 first tells us what new qualities we possess. Paul informs us that our evil, sinful nature was nailed to the cross and crucified with Christ. He further wrote to the Galatians and us, stating that
“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.” (Galatians 5:22, 24-26 NLT. https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.5.22-26.NLT)
We are in a cultural melee that has pitted people against each other. Communities neighborhoods, states, regions, and nations are in a state of upheaval. People are acting out of their human, carnal, sin nature. We are evaluating and judging people rather that loving and respecting people. We focus on the human point of view that cares little about compassion, joy, love patience, peace, kindness, self-control, goodness, gentleness, or faithfulness. We are at a crossroads. Do we break away from our sin nature and follow Christ, or do we drown in the muck and mire of this earth? It is time that we open our eyes, recognize that we are not acting as if we were reconcile to Christ and chose a different path. It is time to stop evaluating people from a human point of view and begin loving our neighbor whoever they may be.
Love Song
Lisa’s Daily Inspirations 