Exceptional Drought

. . .till the Spirit is poured upon us from on high, and the desert becomes a fertile field, and the fertile field seems like a forest. ~~Isaiah 32:15 NIV

Hot and dry. That's what it is in south Texas. Those of us who live here are in extreme and exceptional drought conditions. Only a few more days and records will be set for the most number of days in a row for triple digit heat. This type of weather makes us long for rain.

Spiritually we can experience dry spells. However, the Lord, will pour out his Spirit upon us causing us to be fertile soil in a dry land. We may live in drought conditions, but our walk with the Lord does not have to reflect it.

We can live in such relationship with our Savior that the Holy Spirit keeps us and guides us and we live a life pleasing to our Lord. He's our source of nourishment. He's the only way we'll survive when the heat comes on us.

Tap into the power of the Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ our Lord as He will make our desert a fertile field.

To read more about how to Stay Fertile in a Barren Land, read my Totally Transplanted Column this for this week at Take Root and Write.

Engrafted by His Grace--

Reasons I Enjoy the Summer

Here are three reasons I enjoy the triple digit heat this summer:

The Hits

The Runs & Steals

The Catches

Engrafted by His Grace--

Cleaning House

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. ~~ Galatians 5:16-17 NIV

Busyness consumed me through June. This past week, I spent my time “catching up” around the house. I noticed with a little bit of neglect that all areas of my home became out-of-control.

I lived in maintenance mode. The mode where I ensured we had something to eat, some clean dishes to eat off of, and clean clothes to wear (if you could find what you wanted in the clean laundry pile in the spare room). Areas that slid were the weekly sheet changes, bathroom scrubbing, sweeping, mopping, dusting, and vacuuming. I think you get the idea. I lost my groove and the state of my home went into decay. What I realized though, it did not take any effort to get in that condition.

But cleaning and returning it to a level of cleanliness that we’re accustomed to living, took effort. Last week when I went without internet for a few days, I put in some effort to work on cleaning my house. Maybe there was a reason I went two days without service. Then I had to discipline myself to stay off the computer and tend to the needs of my home. It took all Sunday afternoon to sort through the laundry pile, folding, ironing and putting away clothes. But since I’ve cleaned and caught up, a clean home feels refreshing.

As I worked, I thought about how it relates to my spiritual life. With neglect and no effort, sin can creep in. It takes effort to live by the Spirit. The choices have to be intentional just as making the bed each day is intentional.

Choosing to forgive instead of taking an offense must be the choice I make. How much easier it would be to take an offense, like taking the clothes out of the dryer and piling them up in the spare room. It would keep growing until I confronted it.

How much easier it is to entertain anxious thoughts instead of casting out thoughts that do not line up with God’s word. It takes effort to ponder on thoughts that are lovely and praiseworthy, but worth the effort for a sane mind. Just as it is worth the effort to sweep the tile floors, so I can feel the coolness of them on my bare feet without feeling like I’m out on a dirt road.

Living according to the sinful nature requires no effort, just as not cleaning house does not take any effort. But living a life by the Spirit requires intentional choices, just like cleaning must be intentional. Let’s be intentional and choose to live by the Spirit and keep our house clean!

Engrafted by His Grace--

Let Freedom Ring

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. ~~ Romans 6:22-23 NIV

“I can’t wait until I grow up so I can do whatever I want!” I used to declare to my parents. They laughed at me which made me even angrier because I was serious. I wanted to hear freedom ring. Now that I have children, I understand why they laughed.

In the past year, my youngest son has graduated from Sponge Bob Square Pants to The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. He’s graduated from riding his bike up and down the street to having the freedom to ride his bike to play with friends at their homes. He’s also gained the freedom from being chauffeured to each and every activity to arranging pick ups with his friend’s parents. Since he has more outings without parents, he also gained the freedom to carry a cell phone (a.k.a. “the leash”). Because my son is growing up, he has gained more independence from his parents. He is starting to express that childhood desire to grow up so he can do whatever he wants.

We teach our son that to have freedoms he must be obedient and responsible. He must complete all his assignments and chores. He must keep his commitments. He must check with us before leaving one friend’s home to go to another. The lists of responsibilities keep increasing with the list of freedoms.

In our walk with Christ, we experience freedom. But we must not use that freedom as an excuse to sin. For sin leads to death. But we have the gift of God in Christ Jesus our Lord which is eternal life. However, while we live our lives here on planet earth, sin will attempt to keep us in bondage though the death and resurrection of Christ set us free from sin. We can experience freedom from sin through repentance.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. ~~1 John 1:9 NIV

We don’t have to remain in a life that leads to death. We can be set free from the bondage of sin. As believers in Christ, many of us are in bondages to sin and need to be set free. Each of us can experience victory in areas of our lives. We have that victory and freedom in Christ Jesus.

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness. For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. ~~ Romans 6:11-14 NIV

As we experience grace through Jesus Christ, we have responsibilities so sin shall not be our master. We must live a life of obedience. Let’s repent, offer our lives to God and live a life of obedience under grace. That’s how we can let freedom ring.

Engrafted by His Grace--

Faithfully United

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. ~~Ephesians 5:31-33 NIV

Twenty-one years ago today, Eldon and I eloped. We skipped all the hoopla and got married. We were in our young 20’s and only knew each other for a few months. We knew all the advice we’d receive would be contrary to what we wanted to do, so we just skipped it. I know some people who were skeptical about our relationship and how long it would last. And yes, I agree with statistics, most rushed marriages fall apart just as quickly as they jumped into them. (And I don’t recommend other couples do what we did.)

However, we defied statistics. Many years ago, my husband and I sought out Christian marriage counseling. We took this test to determine our compatibility. When we met with the pastoral counselor to receive the results, he told us that 85 percent of couples with our scores end up divorced. I remember looking this man in the eyes and stating, “Well we fall into the other fifteen percent.” We finished that session but never returned.

We’re not any different than other couples. We have our fussy moments with each other. We have disagreements. We have fun times too. What makes our marriage different? I believe it is commitment; being faithful to one another. We’ve been faithful to our vows before God and to each other.

Faithfulness is a part of the fruit of the Spirit. We see throughout Scriptures how God is consistently faithful to His Word and promises. In Chris Tiegreen’s devotion, Walk with God, he wrote, “God, however, is constant. His faithfulness reaches to the skies (see Psalm 36:5; 57:10; 108:4), and His love and faithfulness are semantically paired so often that they are clearly intertwined. His love is unchanging; there is nothing fickle about it—not even from generation to generation (Psalm 100:5). True faithfulness endures forever (Psalm 117:2). It can do no other.”

Therefore, we must have Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit to have the fruit of the Spirit. Then we can exercise faithfulness. In our marriage, there have been times our flesh wanted to take over, but the yielding to the Holy Spirit is better. Each of us has remained faithful to God and to each other. That is why I believe our marriage has lasted twenty-one years. And that’s why I believe we will enjoy each other until death do we part (which I hope is many, many more years). We’re faithfully united to each other and to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Engrafted by His Grace--