Thanksgiving

Friends,

It's thanksgiving! Maybe not the holiday, but for the spirit! I just saw "Be Thankful" in my documents folder and it reminded me of something that we need to consider more than once per year. I hear a lot of folks make excuses for grumbling and complaining and say, "well, it's just my human nature." I believe that we, particularly those of us who are in Christ, have a higher calling. We are to be spiritual! We do not need to be making excuses for the flesh. We need to be spiritually motivated, encouraging and edifying one another. In how many different passages does Paul (among other New Testament writers) speak about living up to our spiritual nature and not down to our carnal or fleshly nature? Grumbling, complaining or exercising condemning criticism appeals to that base desire of the flesh and it is not a blessing. This behavior is more divisive than it is unifying. We think that we feel better by grumbling or being critical, but do we really? The Spirit of God wants us to have His nature -- we are to be spirit-ual, not carnal. I have been sharing (what I believe are) some important messages concerning the Fruit of the Spirit over the past couple of months. The more that we seek to be spiritually motivated by allowing the Spirit of God to work out His Fruit in our lives -- Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control -- the more we will be a blessing to those around us and not a curse. Jesus says, "what comes out of the mouth begins in the heart" (Matthew 15:1ff). God wants our hearts! Our hearts need to be focused on Him, not on our own selfish desires. This may require some significantly different thinking on our parts. And this has nothing to do with traditional or non-traditional issues -- just our hearts simply focused on how the Lord wants our spirits to be no matter what the situation that we may find ourselves in. It is an attitude! What once may have started as a habit (being a grumbler or being grateful) soon becomes our world view or lifestyle. Either way, we are typically in the mindset of grumbling or in the mindset of being grateful. It is possible that our entire world view may need to change from an attitude of grumbling to an attitude of gratitude. This single process is the healthiest thing that can take place in our lives from a spiritual perspective. But, it can only happen if we are willing to be submissive to the Spirit of God and what Fruit He is trying to work out in our lives. Paul tells the Roman Christians that "the Spirit of God bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God" (Romans 8:16). Let's seek to live spiritually and not carnally; let's seek to be a blessing and not a curse to our brothers, sisters and to outsiders who want to get to know us; let's get in line with what the Spirit of God is trying to do in our lives individually and collectively and reap the blessings.

Don