God is with you
Timothy Sutter
it's not simply abundant physical material
resources that bring joy and peace and
happiness to a person, or a people,
but that very intimate relationship with
the God who is the source of all good.
and in as much as the attributes of God
increase in you, your conscious persona
and activities amongst each other,
you can come to say that life has
rested abundantly in your midst.
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Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control.
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it's really quite remarkable in that
when your personal concerns are all
that matter to you, you don't
find your happiest state,
that you only begin to show a true love
for your self when you become empty
and seek out some contributing effort
towards the overall good,
so, you begin to love your self -when-
you begin to empty your self in to
God and others.
if you think of your self as the last crust
of bread which you find so dear, and you
lock it up in the basement where no one
else can find it, it will turn moldy and
rot before your very eyes,
but, when you reach into your tiny little
basket and start handing it out to strangers,
it multiplies and your basket keeps getting filled.
again, the two walk hand in hand.
love others as you love self
only takes effect -when-
you love others.
love self as you love others
like, you can only begin to love yourself
when you are not the most important
person in your life.
and, as you can come to love your self,
you can more easily shrug off some feeling
of being slighted when it doesn't seem as if
every effort you take is geared towards you
getting what you want, which may be only
your very best effort at chasing down
the wind and holding it in a jar.
"ooh, i lost a crumb of bread,
see how that makes me look?
now everyone will think
i got took"
apparently, God can love you like
you love a plate of spaghetti,
or a bowl of iced cream
but, and, God can love you like
a rare bottle of wine that God stashes
in the basement and only takes out
on special occasions.
when most people hear 'abundant'
they hear, 'having everything i need and then some'
but, when did you realize exactly
what it was that you truly needed?
after you ate your fill?
an overabundance of what?
love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control
where is this stuff?
in a bowl of cereal?
it's as if you really want the stuff
that you can not produce for your self.
such is the very nature of 'want'
you 'want' what you do not have.
and, an abundance of these things;
love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control.
is locked up in the generosity
of your most inner being,
where God will set them free.
that hidden love which
only God can bring up.
# but, and, God can love you like
# a rare bottle of wine that God stashes
# in the basement and only takes out
# on special occasions.
it's like as if God offers up a protection
from the elements to those whom God
is showing such an active form of Love.
when God sets up a hedge around you,
it's not at all an imprisonment, but the
opportunity to see real freedom.
when God sets up a hedge about you,
showing God's Love towards you
in an active manner,
this frees you up from that apparent
imprisonment to the natural elements.
but still, in order to return this Love to God,
you must show your true Faith, that special
acknowledgement of God's own presence,
that which is pleasing to God.
but the tendency is for you to believe that
the lion will kill you and the hyena will
drag you away and devour you.
you see the lion on the prowl and
you see your fears which accompany
the lion's presence.
you may not see the hedge of God's presence
which would offer the unmerited protection.
and so, you hold on to that adoration
for the lion because you believe it
can kill you.
and you begin to place no faith in God's
own providence, and even claim that
you have built the hedge in to which
God has placed you.
and you bring this reverence for the
natural elements in to the House
which God has built for you.
adoration for the natural elements,
which you fear, in to the House of
the God who alone deserves
your quiet reverence.
adulterating the union with God.
trading God's love for fear
of the natural elements.
God has chosen you for Love,
and you choose the natural elements
for respect and admiration.
the double minded man will not see the Joy of God.
that is, when you mouth the words for God,
and show by your actions where your real
reverence lies, you would mock God
who is your only Savior.
you slap God's own Face,
blow smoke in God's own Eyes,
and even, force a vinegary mouthful
into God's own mouth.
setting God's teeth on edge and
bringing tears to God's own eyes.
and the fruit of the Spirit falls
from the tree, unripened.
and so, you remain carnal and primarily
concerned with the physical material
manifestation, whilst to the Spirit, you pay
a half-minded oblation, all the while,
closing the Spirit out of your life.
spiralling down
maybe next, we'll consider what
may befall even those who begin
an earnest walk in the Spirit.
or have we already begun that?
yeah, right, we're getting ready to do the;
"press on, so as to take hold of your salvation"
bits.
yes, it is possible to falter,
but we understand that Christ is that able craftsman
in whom we may place our faith with no reservation.
and Christ does not fail.
just remember, if you see Giants
in the land of Promise,
don't run away.
lift your banner high
and know that God is with you.