God's Way~

Good afternoon all you lovely saints. This past weekend one of you celebrated one of the greatest highs of life—your child got married! Your exact words to me were, “It is a tremendous blessing that my daughter married such a godly young man from such a fine Christian family!”

 

Amen to that!

 

Maybe getting from point A to point B wasn’t perfect or problem free, but a final assessment of how it all went down reminds me of a great Bible passage.

 

Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message version)

 

“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings 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.”

 

What is “God’s way?”

 

God’s way is primarily about seeking Him and loving one another. It means we include Him in all our decisions and then exercise patience and forgiveness with others. It means we put Him and others first and put ourselves second. It means we pour out our troubles and complaints to Him and keep our traps shut in front of others for the greater blessing of keeping the peace. It means we practice simple kindness. It means we make sacrifices. You all know exactly what I mean.

 

Our efforts are rewarded with gifts. Go back to the verse and look at all the things we receive when we get on board with His way. Exuberance about life? Sounds awesome! Serenity? I sure could use more of that! Able to marshal and direct our energies wisely? You mean there are unwise ways in which we direct our energies?

 

All this week we will dissect this passage, but today let’s thank God that He is a giver of gifts to all those who are willing to live His way.

 

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We all desire to receive the gifts You are willing to bring into our lives. Help us to embrace Your way of living. We all desire to have orchards filled with delicious and satisfying fruit. In Jesus name, AMEN~