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Real Superheroes

Growing up I had a great love of superheroes. I even thought about how I could become one. Secretly I hoped that I could be bitten by a radioactive spider, or that some strange meteor would come near me and give me super powers. I sometimes wonder why I had such a fascination with heroic figures as child. Was it that deep down I knew something was wrong with the world, and somebody needed to do something about it? I don’t really know. While many of us thought of doing heroic things as a child, the Prophet Jonah is a different sort of “hero”.

When you read the story of Jonah and the Whale, we imagine the boat rocking back and forth on a stormy sea. In chapter one the writer tells us that Jonah is told to go to the ancient city of Nineveh and warn them of God’s judgment. The problem though is, Jonah has no desire to be the hero. Normally a prophet accepts God’s direction even if they resist in the beginning. Moses didn’t want to talk to Pharaoh, Jeremiah thought he was too young and he was afraid of speaking for God, but both Moses and Jeremiah eventually spoke for God. Jonah is perhaps the first run-away prophet. Just like Julia Roberts character in the movie Runaway Bride, Jonah has his tennis shoes on and is ready to run. Jonah even goes so far as to get on a boat headed for Tar shish and trust his fate to the sea. This is quite humorous, because though the Jews of Jesus’ day were fishermen, a Hebrew in Jonah’s day knew nothing of the sea. Hebrews were known for being “land-lovers”, they were even superstiscious of the sea, believing it to a place of death and evil. The idea that he would climb aboard a ship headed for anywhere is laughable and somewhat embarrassing for the reader.

We laugh at Jonah’s disobedience and fear, but isn’t this really the place we find ourselves in sometimes. God has promised us that “He works all things together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purposes.” But many times we are like Jonah, and we have our running shoes on, ready to go into the opposite direction when God calls us to the impossible. It seems that many of us are good theologians, because we can explain what we believe, but we aren’t really “believers” because we don’t actually practice what we preach. We sometimes fear circumstances more than we fear God. I'm convinced that this can change though, but it must happen on the inside.We, like Jonah must learn to focus outward instead of inward and allow the Spirit of God do the deep work in our hearts.

It's the End of the World as We Know It

Many people have speculated, prognosticated, predicted and fretted about when the end of the world will come. Nostradomus had his theories as have the Mayans, Jehovah Witnesses and a host of writers, like Tim LaHaye, and pastors, like Jack van Impe. No one has successfully predicted the end. Most of these predictions come from some reading and study of the book of Revelation in the Bible. This month at Pathways we have discussed what Revelation says now and, more importantly, what it said to the people who originally read it during the first century. John, the writer of Revelation, wrote to people who had a specific understanding of John's words. Today many of us want Revelation to say something specific to us about what the future holds. Why is this? Perhaps it's because we see the mess all around us with war, famine, pain and suffering and we want to know when it will all get better. Whatever your reason for wanting to know how it will all end, take a look at it for yourself to find out what Revelation had to say 2000 years ago and what it has to say today.

Celebrate New Beginnings

This week one of my friends had a baby boy. After nine months of carrying him in her belly, craving pickles and ice cream, and counting down the days until she could meet him, she spent twelve hours long in various stages of labor. I guess we can blame that last part on Eve and that really stupid decision she made in the Garden of Eden. But in the end, all the morning sickness, sacrifices, the labor pains and pushing were worth it because when I visited the hospital a precious, round-faced little boy swaddled in a blanket was waiting with bright eyes to greet the world. He was celebrating a new beginning -- a beginning to what will hopefully be a long, wonderful life. We, too, celebrate new beginnings in our lives as adults. When we accept Christ's gift or forgiveness and healing we have a chance to start a new, fresh life where all those old hurts and ugly habits are left in the past. When we go through a struggle or a loss, we have the opportunity to ask God for a new beginning. We have a wonderful opportunity to walk away from those old things and start on a new path toward God's plan for our lives. This week at Pathways ended a series on celebration. We have walked through many Old Testament celebrations as we have focused on our own celebrations of the past, of God's grace and God's goodness. Fortunately, the celebration doesn't end just because the sermon series ended. Keep celebrating -- good times and bad, past present and future.

Come on, Celebrate Good Times (and Bad)

This month at Pathways we are focusing on a theme of celebration. May brings us a variety of holidays, beginning with May Day and Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day in the middle and ending with Memorial Day. The celebration theme is also clear throughout the Bible. Many of the Jewish celebrations or holidays are detailed throughout the Old Testament. The Israelites celebrated both good times and bad. Their celebrations, like ours, were a way to mark history. We celebrate Independence Day on July 4th as a way to remember the United States gaining its independence from Great Britain. Thanksgiving is celebrated to remember the Pilgrims and Native Americans coming together when America was initially settled. For the Jewish followers, they celebrated events in their history like the exodus from Egypt. In Joshua, chapter 4, the writer details a historical event of the Israelites crossing the Jordan on their way to Jericho. God asked Joshua to take twelve stones from the river bed and place them in a circle as a memorial to God’s deliverance that day. The stones were meant as a way for the story to be passed from one generation to the next so their history would remain intact. This week we celebrated both the life and death of a dear sister in Christ. She lived a full, amazing life and left a legacy of love with those who cared about her. What are the stones of remembrance you are leaving behind? What are the stories that will be told when you are gone?

Celebrate

May is a month of celebration at Pathways.

We began by celebrating the sacrifice, care, love, generosity, and devotion of mothers. We also want to spend time in May thinking about the history of the church and the journey God has taken His people through. May is also a good time to think about what God is doing in each of us, day to day. Perhaps you have survived some tragedy or major illness and you can see how God used that tragedy to bring you closer to Himself. Or maybe you have gone through a challenging time and you can celebrate God’s never-ending presence in your life. Better still, hopefully you have wonderful memories of life’s milestones and you can praise God for His many blessings.

Whatever it is, whether good or bad, happy or sad, God is in control and we can rest assured that He will never leave us. What a great reason to celebrate!

Why White?

Have you ever gone to a wedding and wondered, why is the bride dressed in white? (Men ignore this next part)Have you ever noticed that the groom does not look as good as the bride? Why is the whole wedding ceremony focused on this clean, spotless, new woman? She is washed in purity, the purity of her groom’s sacrifice. Wedding ceremonies are designed to point to the cross, we don’t think about it in our day, but it points to Christ. Weddings for the Jews were designed to remind the people of God’s covenant with them. In our day, we should be reminded of the covenant that God has made with us in Christ. We live life new. Every Sunday is a day to be reminded of what God has done, and how He has made us new. It is a "new day" to celebrate the resurrection, which is really another word for "new life."

Red Light, Green Light

Think back to childhood and the recess favorite game “Red Light, Green Light”. When the person who is “It” shouts “red light” all the other runners stop in their tracks and anyone who fails to stop is out of the game. When “green light” is called all the players run wild as they listen for the next “red light” to be shouted. The point of the game is for one player to be standing at the end, deemed the best listener in the game, the person with the best reflexes in response to what they hear. This week’s sermon at Pathways was about the story of the man born blind who was healed by Jesus. He was found by Jesus and the disciples to be begging. He had never heard of Jesus and he didn’t ask anyone to heal him. Jesus saw the potential in this man and after creating some spit-mud to apply to the man’s eyes, he instructed the man to wash in a nearby pool. The man followed Jesus’ instructions, even though Jesus was a stranger with a strange request. As the story goes along the man goes from not knowing Jesus at all, to knowing Jesus was a man, to thinking Jesus was a prophet sent by God, to finally believing that Jesus is the Messiah. His faith journey is contrasted with that of the Pharisees in this story. Instead of celebrating this man’s newfound sight, the Pharisees questioned why this Jesus fellow would dare to break the law by healing someone on the sacred Sabbath. They eventually kicked the blind man out of the synagogue or church. Who was left standing in the “Red Light, Green Light” game regarding this event? Who listened and responded the best and quickest? How that you know the story, you too are a part of this “game”. How will you respond to what you hear?

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs

How valuable is a Sign? Three years ago, 33 members of the Bluffton University baseball team boarded a bus at their campus in Bluffton, Ohio. It was early evening and the college students had a long night of travel ahead, an 18 hour bus ride to Sarasota, Florida, which promised sunshine and the first game of their season. After an uneventful overnight drive, the bus stopped in Adairsville, Georgia to get a fresh driver, then headed south on I-75, eventually entering the High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane. As the bus rolled closer to Atlanta, it neared the turn-off for Northside Drive, the first of several left-hand HOV exits that dot that stretch of highway. The driver, Jerome Niemeyer, should have kept right where the road split, continuing toward Florida in the HOV through lane. Instead, he took the left hand exit ramp at highway speed, apparently mistaking it for a regular lane. At the ramps end, he drove through a stop sign and four lanes of traffic before careening into a retaining wall and flipping onto the highway 19 feet below. The accident killed seven people -five of the Bluffton players, the bus driver, and his wife Jean, who was along to keep him company. When the National Transportation Safety Board investigated, it blamed the crash in part on Georgia’s failure to install adequate signs.

Obviously, signs are important. In this case, a sign was the difference between life and death. Signs point us in the right direction, get us to our destination, keep us from getting lost and keep us from harm. This month at Pathways we're going to talk about four of the signs Jesus gave to show who he is and what he came to earth to do. His signs point the way for us to know who he is. If we believe that Jesus is our savior, the Messiah, the son of God, then that belief and obedience to his teaching leads us in the right direction and keeps us from getting lost or harmed. Have you seen the signs?

What did the Easter Bunny bring you?

What did the Easter Bunny bring you this year? Did you get candy? Maybe some jelly beans or a chocolate bunny? Perhaps you got some Peeps in your basket this year. Whatever you got this Easter, how long will the sugary sweetness fill you? A few moments? Most parents know that candy isn’t real food. Children can eat too much candy and ruin their supper, but the fullness from candy isn’t long lasting. There is no nutrition in the candy to last more than a few minutes of sugar high before the body feels hunger again. My hope for you this Easter Sunday is that you find what will truly fill you. The true reason to celebrate Easter is that Jesus died on the cross and rose again on Easter Sunday about 2000 years ago. His dying and rising were done so that we could have real life and true freedom. Jesus gives us what we need in a way that the sweet-tasting but temporary pleasures of life never could. When you fill yourself with alcohol or money or possessions or sexual pleasure or hobbies, you will find yourself always chasing after more. With those things (like with candy) you’ll be “hungry” again soon. Jesus gives us freedom from those cravings if we walk in obedience and spend daily time with him. This Easter enjoy your Peeps and jelly beans…but be sure to spend a little time thinking about Jesus and what Easter truly represents.

Freedom

I married late in life at the ripe old age of 37. I had very few serious criteria for a wife, including a few oddball requests to God for a wife who was already a homeowner. God brought me a wonderful woman, far better than I had prayed for or expected to marry. I was smitten by her and still am smitten by her today. We have been married long enough to no longer deserve the term “newlyweds” but we still live with the same fresh love as we did on our wedding day. I married my wife because I loved her and wanted to spend the rest of my life getting to know her better and spending time by her side. When I think about my relationship with God it is really a lot like marriage. God and I have an intimate relationship – He knows me better than I know myself because He is my creator, counselor, savior and friend. I don’t know a better way to experience freedom than in relationship with God. I need freedom – freedom from myself. There are so many things on a daily basis that make me want to serve myself. I look around and want a newer car because I see my neighbor’s sweet new car in his driveway. I want the latest phone because I see others enjoying cool new features that my year old “dinosaur” doesn’t have. These selfish drives are a prison that keeps me focused on myself and what I don’t have or think I deserve. Spending time in a relationship with God reminds me that He is all I need to have true satisfaction in life. The new car in my neighbor’s driveway will eventually need the same oil changes, new tires and costly repairs that my older model needs. That new cool phone will be a dinosaur soon enough. God’s love for me never gets old or worn out. I never need a newer version of God’s love because it never changes. The more I spend time with God, talking with God, learning about who God is and serving God, the more freedom I have from the prison of discontent. Just like I spend time with my wife to keep the love alive in our marriage, the time I spend with God is vital to my relationship with Him. That’s true freedom!

-Pastor Joe Miller

Snow Days

This weekend marked the official start to spring with the vernal equinox, or one of the two days of the year when the length of daylight and darkness are equal. It is an amazing sign of God’s skill and creativity as designer of the universe. The placement of the sun and the earth’s orbit around it is perfectly placed for our survival. The earth is tilted just so, allowing the seasons to change in both hemispheres. As we celebrate the start to spring, many of us are wearing snow boots, warm coats and gloves as we shovel snow from our sidewalks. The weather in the Midwest has offered us a strange start to the season best known for shades of green, blooming flowers and ever-warming sunny days. The freezing rain, sleet and snow this particular weekend led to the cancellation of church here at Pathways. For those of you who are followers of Christ and believe in God as creator, take this opportunity to re-read the first chapter of Genesis and celebrate God’s sovereignty over creation, including the weather. Enjoy some time snuggled in warm clothes while you take some time to worship privately in the warmth and safety of your home. This is also a great chance to reconnect with family as you enjoy some unexpected time together.

What if Life was a Reality TV Show?

Reality shows are all over your television including “Biggest Loser”, “Survivor”, “The Bachelor”, and “American Idol”. A few years ago famous socialite Paris Hilton was featured in a reality TV series called “My New BFF (Best Friend Forever)”. In this show a handful of contestants competed to see who would be Paris’ new best buddy, presumably to live the high life to which the hotel heiress herself was so accustomed to living. The show was entertaining, even if the depth of the resulting friendship was questionable. The concept of “My New BFF” can also be found in Matthew, chapter 20, in the Bible. Jesus is famously known for having a group of twelve friends with whom he traveled during his ministry. Two of these friends known as disciples were brothers, James and John the sons of Zebedee. Zebedee’s wife decided that she didn’t want her boys to be two of twelve. She wanted them to be Jesus’ BFF’s. Not only that, she wanted Jesus to promote James and John to be his right-hand and left-hand men when Jesus took the throne. She believed Jesus would one day be the King and she literally wanted them to have chairs (mini thrones, perhaps) on Jesus right and left side. Her request prompted Jesus to say “…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave. Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” Instead of James and John living in the lap of luxury, Jesus was calling them to give up everything, to live as nomads who spent their days and nights teaching and serving others, to be persecuted for their faith, and ultimately to die for what they believed in. As much as Mrs. Zebedee wanted her sons to be exalted to a high position, Jesus called them to something even greater and the Bible is full of examples of their accomplishments as servants in God’s kingdom. What if your life was like a reality show? What if cameras followed you around 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? What would they see? Would you be the winner (greatest and first) according to Jesus’ logic?

We're Golden

Can you recite the Golden Rule? Most of us learn the Golden Rule when we are children. I had this lesson hammered into my head over and over as my parents tried to bring an end to the sibling rivalry that ruled our home. Time and time again my brother and I failed to treat one another as we wanted to be treated. It is easy to be kind to the person who is kind to me or to show love to the person who loves me. Generosity is easy when I know that a gift will be given in return. It is easy to serve others when the favor will be returned to me. The real test of the Golden Rule, as my brother and I proved so consistently, is to treat others the way we want to be treated regardless of the way I am treated in return. When someone says something unkind to me, the Golden Rule tells me to continue to treat her with the kindness I want for myself. Or when my co-worker is wrongly critical of my work, the Golden Rule indicates that I should continue to show him the encouragement that I desire for myself. We teach the Golden Rule to children but it is perhaps one of the hardest concepts in the Bible to actually live out. Think about some of your favorite childhood games: Hide-and-Seek and Follow-the-Leader. Finding Jesus is easy since He isn’t hiding, but following Him is hard because of commands like the Golden Rule. Unlike childhood games, though, following Jesus as the leader of our lives and living out His commands has benefits that literally last forever.

Judgment Day

This week the sermon topic and reading is titled “As You Judge, You will be Judged”. The word “judge” brings to mind different concepts. The first picture is a courtroom with a judge and jury deciding innocence or guilt based on the case presented by both the prosecuting attorney and defense attorney. I like to think that our legal system is without flaw, that the innocent are always set free and the guilty are always caught and punished or rehabilitated. Unfortunately, that is not always the case and periodically the news features sad tales of mistakenly sentenced people being set free after 20 years of wrongful prosecution. The other concept that comes to mind when I think of the word “judge” is the saying “You can’t judge a book by its cover”. Sadly, I too often judge others by what I see on the outside. How often have I seen someone begging at an off-ramp and my first thought is that he will spend the money on alcohol? Or I see a mom at the grocery store with children who seem out-of-control by my standards and my assumption is that she is sorely lacking in parenting skills. Every time I see someone with a bumper sticker for a cause I find offensive, I make a judgment about the driver’s values. Or how about all the times that my co-worker talked about his latest romantic adventures and I assumed he was a player. Each time I make assumptions about others based on brief, superficial interactions, I am judging them. I am far from perfect in my own life. We all are. Only God is perfect and only He can judge the people I see out on the street, in the grocery store, at my job…in my own mirror. I certainly don’t want the responsibility of sentencing someone, especially when my mistakes can lead to years of imprisonment. While my judging doesn’t lead to time in a literal jail, my judgments do hurt others’ reputations and harm my relationships. I don’t know about you, but I think I’ll work on the huge log stuck in my own eye and leave everyone else’s splinters for God to deal with.

Love means never having to say you're sorry?

The 1970 movie “Love Story” featured Ali McGraw and Ryan O’Neal as young adults falling in love and experiencing the ups and downs that true tales of love take. It’s a sweet love story that, unfortunately, ends with McGraw’s character dying of leukemia in the end. One quote is often taken from this movie: “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” and while it sounds good on the surface is really a terrible sentiment in practice. How many of us accidentally step on someone else’s toes? Unknowingly say the wrong thing? Unintentionally make a mess of things? In those cases sometimes the only way out of it is to genuinely say “I’m sorry” to the person we’ve hurt or offended. Saying that simple phrase isn’t a sign of weakness and it certainly isn’t a display that our love is somehow faulty. “I’m sorry” is sometimes all that’s left to say to express regret for our mistakes. Most marriage therapists will tell you that there is tremendous healing in the simple step of one spouse acknowledging how his or her behavior negatively affected the other spouse. Pridefully refusing to make that acknowledgement can lead to resentment and distrust as the hurt spouse assumes the other person intentionally meant to cause pain. Of course, saying “I’m sorry” also requires more than just speaking those words, it requires a change in behavior. If I give even the most heart-felt, well-delivered apology of my life but continue to do the thing I know is hurtful, what good were my words? Perhaps “Love Story” would have been better if the quote were “Love means trying really hard not to need the words ‘I’m sorry’.”

Be Mine, Valentine

When I was a kid in elementary school, I remember looking forward to Valentine’s Day each year. The class party for Valentine’s Day was always fun and candy-filled. My favorite part, though, was building a decorated Valentine’s mailbox. Pink, red and white construction paper, pipe cleaners, stickers and sometimes even tissue paper were my tools of the trade. Each year the Valentine mailbox would sit on the corner of my desk and at delivery time would be filled with those fun little cards and conversation hearts. Oh how I always wished to find a card from that special someone! As an adult I miss those Valentine mailboxes and the surprises (and sometimes heartbreak) they held. But I do have a wonderful love note from the ultimate Valentine and I don’t have to wait until February 14^th to read it. The book of the Bible is filled with love notes from God. The whole thing is a love story, really. God lovingly created the universe and his first human beings disappointed him right away by breaking his one rule. Instead of destroying them on the spot he came up with another way, a Plan B of sorts. He spent hundreds of years putting his plan in motion and 2,010 years ago sent his only son, Jesus the Christ, as a way out of the mess we humans had made for ourselves. The Bible is filled with stories, poems and songs about God’s love for us, but the ultimate act of love happened about two thousand years ago when Christ gave his life for mankind. It was God’s way of saying “Be mine, Valentine” to each one of us. Have you accepted your Valentine?

Silly Love Songs

Paul McCartney and his post-Beatles band Wings were onto something with their tune “Silly Love Songs”. The lyrics have some truth to them: “You’d think that people would have had enough of silly love songs. ... Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs. And what's wrong with that?” Think about all the love songs out there. “I Wanna Know What Love Is” is a good request and there are truthful sentiments in the songs “All You Need is Love”, “Love Me Tender”, and “Love Is a Many Splendored Thing”. But what is it we really learn from modern love songs? They train us to believe that love is just a feeling – a really strong and powerful feeling to be sure. Feelings are fickle, though, aren’t they? You fall in and out of the kind of love most songs describe. Songs also make love sound like something that generally always leads to heartbreak. Those of us who have suffered a bad break up know the painful truth in songs like “You’re a Hard Habit to Break” and “Love Hurts”. Real love is so much more than a catchy song lyric. Real love is a choice. We feel love toward others but we also choose to love them even in the moments when we don’t feel so loving. A son loves his mom even when he’s upset that she’s making him eat his broccoli. A sister loves her brother even when he plays a mean prank on her. A husband loves his wife even when she nags him once again about leaving his underwear on the floor. Love is a verb and sometimes requires diligence and practice. This week at Pathways, we are beginning the 40 Days of Love where we will challenge ourselves to love as Jesus did. He loved us to the point of giving his life on the cross for us -- love was a great deal more than a feeling that day. What is your favorite love song? Is it a silly love song like Paul McCartney’s? Or is it a song of worship for your Savior?

Are you in S.H.A.P.E.?

Many of us make New Years’ resolutions to get in shape and right about now those goals are falling by the wayside. It’s hard to commit to those life-changing behaviors needed to achieve healthy diet and fitness. For those of you who have chosen to have a growing relationship with Christ, you have an even bigger challenge not only to get in S.H.A.P.E. but also to put it into practice. First, you need to recognize that God has created you with a purpose and he has specifically designed you to carry that purpose out with the help of the Holy Spirit. God has given each of us special abilities to be used for helping the Church function well. Maybe your gifts are in teaching, preaching, leading others, understanding God’s word, or understanding others. Or, maybe your gifts are in organizing people and events, helping or serving others, listening, or offering encouragement. Whatever it is, God has given you a specific set of spiritual gifts and he has given you the power to use them if you just ask. God has also shaped us with our heart. We all feel especially passionate about one thing or another. For some, their passions lie with certain people groups like children, teens, the elderly or the disabled. Others are passionate about certain issues like child abuse, adoption or poverty. Maybe you are passionate about certain activities like sports, hunting, music or art. Passions are what get us excited, what make us talk louder and faster when that subject comes up in conversation. We also have certain natural abilities or talents, like musical or artistic ability, technological skills, or skills to help others through construction, physical labor or hospitality. Our personalities are an important part of how God uniquely designed us. Some are reserved introverts while others are outgoing extroverts. Maybe you are a big-picture person as opposed to a detail person. You make decisions based on facts versus feelings. Your personality drives your spontaneity versus your need to make lists and schedules. Equally important are your past experiences, like abuse, divorce, travels, education, and social experiences. All of these areas – spiritual gifts, heart, abilities, personality and experiences – are part of God’s design and direction for how he can use us in reaching out to others. One person’s S.H.A.P.E. may drive them to host large-scale events to address the effects of poverty while another person’s S.H.A.P.E. would lead them to mentor a child at the local elementary school. So, what is your S.H.A.P.E.? What are you doing to get in S.H.A.P.E. in 2010?

Catalyst

Catalyst. Change Agent. A substance that starts or speeds up a chemical reaction while undergoing no permanent change itself. The enzymes in saliva, for example, are catalysts in digestion. This is a term that comes from chemistry and describes a substance that helps facilitate change in other substances. The Church (meaning the whole of Christian religion) sometimes has a bad reputation for how it has interacted with or influenced the world around us. There are, unfortunately, many examples of how churches or individual members have facilitated negative feelings in others. However, that’s far from what is meant to be. Church began with those who sat under the teaching of Jesus Christ and then spread under the teaching of his closest associates or disciples after Jesus’ death and resurrection. At that time, the church was everything. People were giving all their money and possessions to the church so that it could be shared equally with others. Orphans and widows were cared for by the church. Hungry people were fed and clothed. The sick were shown compassion and healing. The hurting and lonely were given a place of refuge. No one went without what they needed. The Church was changing the world around them because the surrounding culture was greedy, selfish and without compassion. We need to get back to being the kind of Church that Jesus taught us to be. We need to change the world through our kindness, compassion, generosity, and love. It needs to be transformed into a place where others are treated with dignity and accepted for who they are. We as members of the Church need to be change agents in our community, facilitating positive life change in others around us as they see Jesus in our lives. It is important to note, though, that the church as a catalyst differs slightly from the chemical definition. I believe we are changed permanently when we interact with the world around us in ministry.

Chocolate Milk: Stir it Up

Are you a chocolate milk drinker? Maybe when you were a child? For those of who have chosen a relationship with Christ, chocolate milk is a great picture of the Holy Spirit’s working in our lives. As I grow in my knowledge of who God is and who I am meant to be, I am hopefully changing both inwardly and outwardly to behave more like Christ. The book of Galatians in the Bible, chapter 5, verses 22-23 tell us that the “fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” As I grow up in my maturity as a Christian, I should be shedding my old behaviors and these new fruits should be more and more obvious to everyone around me. Those of us who have a relationship with Christ have the Holy Spirit as a source of power to grow in these fruits. But, like a glass of white milk with chocolate syrup added to it, the milk doesn’t transform into chocolate milk until you stir it up. We stir up the Holy Spirit in our lives when we spend time learning from the Bible and as we spend time working on our relationship with God through prayer. I don’t know about you, but chocolate milk tastes a lot sweeter and is more satisfying than plain, white milk. Could I live my life without the milk stirred up? Sure. But it tastes a lot sweeter when I stir up the chocolate. The same is true with the Holy Spirit. My life is far more fruitful when the Holy Spirit is stirred up in my and is influencing all areas of who I am.