Tag Archives: Christ Life

Beyond Normal: Rebecca Friedlander

05 Monday Jul 2021

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I am pleased to welcome another Renaissance Woman to the blog this week. Rebecca Friedlander is a writer, poet, photographer, film maker, musician, singer, and I’m sure there are many other talents I don’t yet know about. Rebecca is a beautiful sister in Christ and I am honored to be getting to know her.

My first experience with Rebecca Friedlander’s work was watching her film “Finding Beautiful”. I then watched her “Thin Places” film which is a history of the Celtic Church from the 5th Century to the 1900s. I am especially grateful for this film because if I hadn’t watched it I would never have purchased “Listening For the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality” at a thrift store and would never have heard about Pelagius and the fight between his views and those of Augustine. Rebecca has been a guide for me in ways she is not aware (until now!)

Rebecca has published a new book: The Divine Adventure: Spiritual Practices for a Modern-day Disciple. I have ordered it but am waiting for it to arrive. I look forward to reading it. If her bible study modules on her YouTube channel are any indication, the book will be a wonderful resource. Enjoy her post!

Beyond Normal

When I was in Sunday school as a twelve-year-old child, the teacher asked my restless, wiggling class, “How do you get close to God?”

The pat, easy answer was, “Read your Bible and pray.”

None of us knew how to do those things very well. We just knew it was the right thing to say, and it was the most spiritually profound thing we could think of.

I will be the first one to say that reading your Bible and praying are vital to life, but I will also acknowledge that they are keys toward opening an incredible vault of treasures God has prepared for you . . . if you know how to use them. As a young woman, I found myself searching for a deeper walk with Christ that built upon the simple Sunday school formula. Writing a list of prayers and reading the Bible every day were easy, but my heart hungered for a more life-giving, revolutionary journey with Jesus. Envying the early disciples of the first century who walked with Jesus, I longed to follow him with their same connection and abandon.

Faith became to me

a programmed routine . . .

An outward demonstration

of Christianity

That failed to

engage my heart.

Simply put: there was more to the Christian life, and I wanted it—but I wasn’t sure how to walk with Christ in a deep, fulfilling way.

Discovering Jesus, Discovering Discipleship

When I read the Gospels, I discovered a description of Jesus that defied my early Sunday school perceptions. A thoughtful teacher and compelling communicator, he was a far cry from the pasty, stoically posed portraits my mind had painted of him. Instead, the Scriptures offer the fascinating glimpse of a hero who spoke truth, demonstrated love, and set the world on fire with his compelling message. In a time before social media or networking platforms, Jesus set an entire nation ablaze with his earth-shattering words—and he did it all in three and a half years. Christ’s life was like lighting the fuse on a battery of fireworks: revolutionary principles exploding with riveting, world-changing beauty.

Becoming a Modern-Day Disciple

Since the word disciple means “learner,” the term disciplines could be defined as “ways to learn.” These ideas help us practice being a disciple of Jesus in our modern world. Far more than a list of rules or a textbook of prayers, they give us tools to practice discipleship in intentional ways, stirring our passion for Christ and helping us live it out. Like finding a trail of footprints left by Christ and his followers, we can set our feet on the same weathered path and discover the Way they walked.

Spiritual disciplines

help us break from our busy lives,

shift our hearts toward heaven,

give our souls space to breathe.

They create space to partner

our hearts with God’s.

They unleash passion

to us,

in us,

through us.

My new book, The Divine Adventure: Spiritual Practices for a Modern-day Disciple is all about practical ways to pursue our faith and cultivate an intimate walk with Christ. These 12 spiritual practices will help you put feet to your faith and go deep in some of the practices of early saints who walked closely to Christ. More at: www.RebeccaFriedlander.com

Being Indestructible

28 Monday Jun 2021

Posted by in Personal Essays

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I am going to tell you a story about cactus.  I should not be able to share the photo at the top of this post because the cactus pictured here should be dead.  Instead, it has filled the pot it’s planted in and looks as if it longs to take over the entire backyard.

My mother found this cactus when she accompanied my stepfather on a fishing trip.  The road they were driving down had been graded and the cactus lay along the side, uprooted and left to die.  My Mom-very carefully-picked it up, put it in a box, brought it home, and promptly forgot about it.  It lay in the box for months until she re-discovered it and planted it in the pot to see if it would survive.  Some bits did die but the rest not only survived, it thrived.  It has filled not one but three pots and delights us with the beautiful blooms.

We have feral cats in our neighborhood and they have chosen to use our backyard as their toilet.  We have tried various deterrents but they would just move from one toilet spot to another.  They were beginning to use the space behind our tree and so, about a month ago, my stepfather when out and-very carefully-trimmed off some pieces of cactus which he scattered on the ground around the tree.  Bits of the cactus were once more left to die.

They did not.  They did not need careful planting.  They did not need watering.  They took root, righted themselves, and, though separated from their source still in the pot; bloomed right alongside.  While a bit concerned that it has been set free from the confines of the pot, I can’t help but admire the tenacity of this spiny little plant.  As I consider it, I learn two lessons.

Lesson One has to do with the ground. I have not carefully examined the cactus for sharp pokey reasons.  Perhaps it hasn’t actually rooted.  Perhaps it has bloomed because of the life that was in it from when it was joined to the parent plant still rooted in the pot.  Perhaps, as time passes and it remains cut off from that life; it will use up the vestiges, wither, and die. This reminds me of the Parable of the Sower, specifically the seed that immediately sprang up but had no root and withered away (Matthew 13:5-6).  Whether or not a believer is vitally connected to the life of Jesus is a truth that cannot but manifest itself.  There may be lovely full blooms at the moment but without being rooted deep into His life, those blooms can’t be sustained.  They will wither and die. My highest priority is to keep myself in Him so that He can ensure I am good ground and His Life within me flourishes.

Lesson Two has to do with roots. Perhaps the cactus has rooted and it will continue to bloom for many more seasons.  Despite the intentions of those who tore it from the ground or cut it and scattered it, it has put down roots and is thriving.  I may be pushing the metaphor here but, in this tenacity, I see a picture not only of the strength but the quality of our lives in Christ Jesus. 1 John 3:1 says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”  The Amplified has “…what an incredible quality of love”.  I have heard Malcolm Smith speak on this passage and he likens this love of The Father to finding an orchid growing within the Arctic Circle.  It’s an impossible kind of love but yet here it is: we see it in Jesus.

Jesus gives a beautiful description of Himself in Revelation 22:16: “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the churches.  I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and Morning Star.”  I realize this is highly symbolic language yet I like thinking of Jesus as The Root.  The source of my life is The Root.

This being so, what is there to fear? It doesn’t matter if the circumstances of my life are such that it appears my life couldn’t possibly bear fruit.  I died and my life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3).  He is The Root and there is nothing in this world that can separate me from Him.  The Father abides in Jesus, Jesus abides in me, and I abide in Him (John 15, John 17:23).  It’s an impossible love.  It’s an impossible life.  It’s indestructible (Hebrews 7:16, NAS) and here it is blooming where it is least expected.

Unless noted otherwise, scriptures are quoted from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1982

Perichoresis

21 Monday Jun 2021

Posted by in Poetry, Writing

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Image by Jackson David from Pixabay

Perichoresis

I wake and find

I am in the midst of the dance

Hand in hand

‘Round and ’round

Moving through

Spirit Sound

Thou the lead

Guiding me

Perfect step

Harmony

Don’t belong

In this place

Not dressed for

Spirit Space

In Love’s eyes

Clarity

Reflected

Renewed me

No more rags

But transformed

With bride clothes

Now adorned

Crown of Life

On my head

Symbol of

Thy blood shed

Love’s purpose

Thou in me

Culminates

I in Thee

Spirit Birthed

Unity

We will have this dance forever

The Ministry of the Spirit

14 Monday Jun 2021

Posted by in Fruit of the Spirit, Studies

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I write this on a Sunday afternoon after having had a wonderful meeting with other believers and, after the chronological meeting was over; continuing my day strengthened in the Spirit, edified, joyful, and peaceful.  I say “chronological” because I live and move and have my being in Jesus Christ and so while the Sunday meeting is an opportunity to gather together with others who live and move and have their beings in Jesus, to hear our teacher share his delight in Jesus, and have our spirits cry a resounding “Amen!”; there is no real end to the meeting because my body is the temple of God and His Spirit dwells in me (1 Corinthians 3:16).  I am-along with other believers-the ecclesia, and we all live and walk in the Spirit.  This is my Christian Life.

I can’t help wonder what Sunday Service was like for other believers.  Did they go to a church building believing it was the only place they could meet with Jesus? What was the message like?  Did their meetings end with the Song of Lord in their hearts?  Did their meetings end with their hearts heavy with the burden of being wretched sinners, saved by grace certainly, but having nothing more in them than a determination that this week they would do better?  How many of them heard a message on the life that is theirs now through the Indwelling of the Holy Spirit?

I ask myself these questions because-whether through social media or in person-I rarely hear anyone speaking of the Holy Spirit.  When He is mentioned it is little more than that: a mention.  I hear nothing of His ministry and very little of His necessity to the Christian Life.  I understand His purpose is hard to nail down.  After all, it is Jesus who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, and that in all things He may have the preeminence (Colossians 1:18).  The Spirit speaks not on His own authority (John 16:13) and so it is difficult to understand just what the Spirit of God does.  I long to know more myself and so, while conducting this study of the Fruit of the Spirit, I went to the New Testament with a blue Bible highlighter and looked at every instance of “in the Spirit”, “of the Spirit”, “by the Spirit”, etc. 

It’s a fascinating project and scriptures I have read innumerable times leapt off the page.  Doing this study has convinced me the Christian Life is impossible without the Holy Spirit.  Space does not allow for me to quote every scripture I highlighted because doing so, and including the context within which they occur, would result in my quoting the entire New Testament.  I have managed to select those scriptures which were especially helpful in revealing the ministry of the Holy Spirit to me and I pray they do the same for you. 

The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us.  We cannot believe nor confess who Jesus is without Him (Romans 10:9).  “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit” (1 Corinthians 12:3).  Go ahead.  Say it out loud.  Use all the definitions of the Greek: Jesus is Supreme.  Jesus has all authority.  Jesus is God.  Jesus is Lord.  His Spirit in us testifies of Him (John 15:26).   

The Holy Spirit reveals our relationship to the Father.  “Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God!”  That’s 1 John 3:1.  I know I am a child of God.  I can say it out loud.  How do I know it?  Because Galatians 4:6 is true: “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’”  He is not merely God the Father.  He is God MY Father.  See also Romans 5:5. 

The Holy Spirit teaches us to pray. “For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God” (Romans 8: 26-27). 

The Holy Spirit enables us to understand the things of God. “But as it is written, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (Isaiah 64:4) But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit.  For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.  For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him?  Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.  These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.  But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirt of God for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:9-14).

The Holy Spirit shows us how Jesus has set us free. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8: 1-2).  “Now the Lord is the Spirit and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Corinthians 3:17).

The Holy Spirit reveals to us the hope we have both now and for the future.  “But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.  Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8: 9-11). See also 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 and Ephesians 1:13-14.

The Holy Spirit reveals to us the New Covenant.  “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?” (2 Corinthians 3:5-8)

There are so many more wonderful, beautiful scriptures!  How I pray you search them out and read them for yourself!  Underline them.  Highlight them.  Speak them out loud so your ears hear them.  Let the Spirit minister to you and He will guide you into all truth (John 16:13).  I know the Holy Spirit lives in me and is active in my life.  I know it through experience and I also know it because the Bible tells me so.  Because He lives in me, my life bears His fruit. His fruit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:25-26a)

Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Amen!

And Amen.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version.  ©1982 by Thomas Nelson Inc. Used by permission.  All rights reserved.

 

Fruit of the Spirit-Self-Control

07 Monday Jun 2021

Posted by in Fruit of the Spirit, Studies

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“But of the fruit of the Spirit is…self-control” Galatians 5:22-23

I must admit I dislike the translators’ choice of “self-control” in this passage.  The King James has “temperance” which I don’t find to be any better of a translation than “self-control”.  Knowing this final item in the Apostle Paul’s list pertains to the Holy Spirit, I was looking for a word that reflected action of the Holy Spirit rather than action on the part of the human.  Regardless of what translation I looked at, I didn’t find it.

Looking into the Greek was very little help.  The word is egkrateia (G1466) and carries the definition of self-control.  Strong’s Concordance pointed me to egkrates (G1468) which means “strong in a thing”.  I can see being strong in the Spirit as a meaning here but it isn’t the only meaning and I don’t want to bend this definition to fit what I believe it should say.  I am not ever looking to do that.  I want to know the truth of Jesus.  I don’t want to study to reinforce what I think.  The definitions in Strong’s point to the word here meaning self-control, self-mastery, being in strength, having dominion.  The meaning does appear to be mastery over one’s self.

And yet, as I continued my study using different Bible Dictionaries, I found the writers thought it was obvious that the self-control mentioned in this passage was a work of the Holy Spirit.  Vine’s Expository Dictionary says, “The various powers bestowed by God upon man are capable of abuse; the right use demands the controlling power of the will under the operation of the Spirit of God.”1  Hastings’ Bible Dictionary says, “From the NT point of view, the grace of ‘self-control’ is the result of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling; it is the Spirit-controlled personality alone that is ‘strengthened with power’ (Eph 316 cf. 518) to control rebellious desires and to resist the allurements of tempting pleasures.”2   At the conclusion of the entry on temperance, Hastings’ Dictionary says, “The flesh triumphs when the Spirit is quenched; but the Spirit’s victory is gained, not by suppressing, but by controlling the flesh.  Those who are ‘led by the Spirit’ who ‘live by the Spirit’ and ‘by the Spirit also walk’ attain, in its perfection, the grace of complete ‘self-control”.3

It is this last quote that has arrested me.  It got me thinking about the difference between suppressing and controlling the flesh.  By suppressing it, isn’t it controlled?  Aren’t I saying the same thing just using different words?  I admit, I was confused.  That is, until I had an experience that helped me see the difference.

I’ve mentioned good works in earlier posts and the difference between doing works for Jesus and doing works out of the flow of the life of Jesus.  This doesn’t mean I don’t expect opposition and obstacles-I see these things as opportunities for growth-and they do not prevent me from pursuing the calling placed in my heart.  Then, last week, circumstances changed and it became impossible for me to pursue that calling.  I was confused, bitterly disappointed, and shed quite a few tears but there was nothing for it but to do what had been put in my hand to do.  I did not want to do it and yet there was an awareness deep inside, a knowing that yes, this is what I was meant to do in this moment. 

This knowing did not stop my mind from erupting in outright rebellion.  My thoughts did remind me, I’m sad to say, of a temper tantrum.  They were all negative and geared to make me doubt my own relationship with Jesus and ability to hear His voice.  After all, if I had really heard and was really walking and living in His Spirit, my circumstances would look a lot different, wouldn’t they?  Since I had so obviously failed God, I should give up entirely.  I had no control over the thoughts swirling in my mind.  I could answer them and did so but was in a fight.  If I had continued to attempt to control my thoughts on my own, I would have ended in a terrible state.  Rather, I labored to enter into the rest of, no matter what happened even in the next minute, I would rest in the knowledge that right now I was doing what my Lord wanted me to do. 

I am quoting Hebrews 4:11 and the word for labor (spoudazo G4704) means to hurry, hasten. When I engaged my negative thoughts on my own, I found my response was equally negative, even when I used the word of God.  Once I stopped fighting in my own strength and submitted to the plan of God for me in that moment, all those swirling thoughts stopped.  In the rest of Jesus, the power of His Spirit, I had self-control.  I ended up having an enjoyable day.  I don’t have any idea why the day happened the way it did because I wasn’t aware of any great Spiritual Happenings but I figure that’s up to Jesus.  I don’t doubt I’ve only begun to learn lessons from that experience but I know one is, when I hasten to enter His rest, I immediately experience His peace. The battle truly belongs to Him.

I am reminded of Romans 7 and Galatians 5.  In his letter to the Galatians the Apostle Paul says, “For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Verse 17).  In Romans 7, Paul says, “For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.  O wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Verses 22-24)

At best, I can make good choices and suppress my flesh.  It might look like self-control and self-mastery but I have no power to stop my flesh from wanting to do a thing, I can only choose not to do it.  My self-control is never perfect.  Am I then doomed to this double existence?  Do I have nothing more to look forward to but endless warfare between the Spirit and the flesh?

“But!” Paul says in Galatians 5 and then contrasts the works of the flesh with the works of the Spirit.  He then says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Verse 25).  “I thank God!” Paul says in Romans 7.  “Through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Verse 25) No! The fruit of the Spirit is self-control.  I am, in all things, made more than a conqueror through Him who loves me (Romans 8:37, paraphrased).  Jesus forming His life in me is a process, I don’t deny that, but He who began a good work in me will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).  I say along with the Apostle Paul, “Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me” (Philippians 3:12). 

Even so, Come Lord Jesus. 

Amen.

Unless notes otherwise, scriptures are quoted from the New King James Version of the Holy Bible, Thomas Nelson, Inc. 1982

  1. Vine, W.E., Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words, Thomas Nelson, Inc., Nashville Tennessee, 1997, Temperance, Temperate, Page 1126
  2. Hastings, James, Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. 2001, Temperance, Page 897
  3. Hastings, James, Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible, Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. 2001, Temperance, Page 898