Choosing To Be Led By The Spirit (by Kathy Gabler)

If we don’t choose to be led by the Spirit of God, we live our own way and get the opposite, meaning we cannot “escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated, (condemning) existence.  It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an inability to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.”  (Galatians 5 The Message) It doesn’t take a degree in logic to make a wise choice, and “since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.  That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.   (Galatians 5 The Message)

              So, you’re it, and choosing to daily be led by the Spirit of God is essential if you do not want to waste or be robbed of your original, unique and once-in-a-lifetime destiny.  There’s no passing the torch to someone who can stand-in and make choices for you or fix your calling and purpose and get the results you were born to accomplish.  There are lives at stake beyond your own with the opportunities lost or wasted in your lifetime.  The lives in your sphere of influence were snatched from destruction for a purpose.  You dare not damage the destiny of others by stopping short of being who you were born to be, a son of God who is led by His Spirit.

Fruit, The New Year Essential (by Kathy Gabler)

Fruit is healthy for the physical body, but we don’t benefit from it being beautifully displayed in the fruit bowl.  It has to be eaten and ingested to become a part of us.  Likewise we read about the fruits of the Spirit, but until they are evidenced in our lives we have an ideal rather than an impact.  The fruits of the Spirit are not an optional dessert on the buffet of the Christian life.  Neither are the fruits of the Spirit a spiritual nature that we struggle to display.  The fruit of the Spirit is His nature and when we submit to and follow the Holy Spirit (in daily choices) we manifest His nature.  Believer or non-believer, who doesn’t benefit from God bringing “gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard–things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.”  (Galatians 5 The Message)

(This excerpt is from Kathy’s article “Fruit, The New Year Essential” which appeared in SEEC Magazine in the December/January issue. Further installments will appear on this page over coming days.)