A Spiritual Science Experiment

Hey guys. Here's a message from the people at talkjesus.com. Hope it helps you start the week off right.

1 John 1:7
If we walk in the light, as he is in the light . . . the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Fruit of the Spirit

Suppose a student chooses to test the effects of light and darkness on the growth of seeds for a science fair project. He gets some marigold seeds from the store, plants them in four Styrofoam cups, and waters them. He places two of the cups in a dark closet. The others go into a sunny window. In a couple of weeks, the seedlings appear. For a few hours, the plants in the dark and the ones in the light are quite similar. Two tiny green leaves break through the soil and begin to grow. Within a couple of days however, the plants in the closet turn yellow and begin to die, while the ones in the light grow and get more and more leaves. The experiment proves that plants have to absorb light in order to have the energy needed to grow, bloom, and make seeds.

The same is true of our spiritual lives. We need to live in the light in order to grow and become fruitful. Galatians 5:22-23 describes spiritual fruit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These attributes are in stark contrast to the ones Paul listed as acts of the sinful nature: Jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambitions, envy, etc.


Let’s imagine a spiritual science fair project in which we try to become more and more kind. At first, we determine to observe how we act after a few days of listening to rap music that encourages rebellion and watching television shows that glamorize gang members who commit violent crimes. We may continue the experiment by hanging out with some kids at school who like to sneak around after dark to paint graffiti on the sidewalks in their neighborhoods. Would we become more kind or less kind after a week or so?

Next, let’s imagine that we do exactly the opposite for a couple of weeks. We listen to music that encourages us to love others in the same way Jesus did. We read accounts of young people helping others through short-term missions projects. We watch uplifting TV programs and movies. We might even volunteer to paint some classrooms at the local community center or play games with the children who gather there after school. Would we become more or less kind after a week or so?

Clearly, kindness could grow much better in the latter situation. We tend to become like the people we hang out with. So, if we hang out with mean and violent people, we will become increasingly mean. If we hang out with kind, generous people, we will become kinder. Living in the light means developing relationships with people who will help us become more like Jesus. We grow in godliness when we choose our friends based upon whether they have the kind of qualities God approves.

Those friends will be more likely to do what Jesus would and that will help us do the same. Good friends definitely help us walk in the light as Jesus is in the light.
Today’s Prayer:

Dear Jesus, you are the very best friend I could possibly ever want. You always love me and accept me. You even forgive me when I mess up. Please help me choose friends who will help me grow godly fruit in my life. Also, please me be the kind of friend who encourages others to become more like you every day. Amen.

Written by Martha E. Menne, Flagstaff Arizona

 Colossians 3:2-3, "Set you minds on things above, not on earthy things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." (NIV) 

Are You a BB Head?

Here's another one from dare2share.org. Kinda made me think a little differently about my role in our church. Let's see how you like it.

And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. (Matthew 16:18)

I once heard a story about a startling exhibit in Del Mar, California. A man took a glass beaker which had a small neck, but was enlarged to about seven inches in diameter below the neck. The beaker would hold about a quart.

The demonstrator used the glass beaker as a hammer to drive a spike into a wooden plank. The glass was so well tempered that the beaker did not break.

The man then took a small steel marble or bearing the size of a pea, and holding it at the neck of the beaker, dropped it inside. When it struck the bottom the glass was shattered and the beaker was broken from within.

Have you ever thought of your church/youth group as a beaker? It may have a label on it that reads Methodist, Presbyterian, Charismatic, Baptist, Lutheran, or a hundred others. Or it may have a general tag on it that says 'community church' or 'fellowship'- but can you guess what they all have in common with the beaker mentioned in the story above?

"Is it that all churches are like glass and therefore transparent to the outside world?"

That's a great guess, and in fact I agree- we shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that the non-Christian world isn't watching us as closely as a lion waiting to pounce on his prey at the first opportunity...but that's not what I'm looking for.

"Is it that the beaker is designed to be filled in order to be useful, therefore we should pray for our church to be filled with the Spirit?"

Again, spectacular speculation, and we should definitely beg the Holy Spirit to sweep through our ministries like a level 5 tornado in Kansas...but that's still not it.

"Is it that glass needs to be cleaned, therefore we should look for some holy Windex® to clean off the fingerprints of sin?"

Oh forget it. I'll get to the point!

As you read in the verse above, Jesus promised the He would build His church, "and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." (Matthew 16:18). In other words, no outside opposition-not even hell itself- would ever be able to break down the strategy of the Savior. So just like the beaker, we may look fragile- but in the hands of the Almighty we can deliver a death blow to the 'spike' of sin on this earth.

By the same token, though, all it takes is some BB head to shatter the structure from the inside! Maybe that's why the Bible warns again and again of malcontent mischief makers that putrefy the pews. Satan doesn't have to attack from the outside to destroy a ministry; he just needs to infuse a few flibbertigibbets into God's family.

Perhaps it is time for us to encourage the marbles in our midst to move on before more damage is done.

Can you see them rolling around your building? If not, let me give you a few characteristics.

• They gossip maliciously and call it 'prayer requests' or 'sharing concerns'
• They complain more than they praise
• They go to church to 'get something out of it'
• They refuse to do 'lowly' work like fold up chairs or clean-up
• They refuse to forgive
• They can easily spot the splinter in others and miss their own personal plank (Matthew 7)
• They do not play well with others
• They go out of their way to be applauded, praised, and popularized in public places

On and on and on the list goes- but I think you should have a pretty good idea by now of the kind of folks that break the beakers. So this week, take an inventory first of yourself- then of others- and pray about how you can do your part to keep the integrity of your church as strong as God intends it to be. Walk away from gossip, confront negativity on the spot, worship in Spirit and truth, and pray for unity in your group- because God is definitely not into the game of marbles!

Questions:

1. Are you a part of the glass, or rolling with the marbles?
2. How can you help keep the 'beaker' strong?
3. What are some of the ways you are contributing to the mission of the church?

POSTPONING OBEDIENCE

Here's another one from the guys over at wcacyg.blogspot.com. This was a subject that I personally struggled with, so I hope that you all take it to heart.

A notable heresy has come into being throughout our evangelical Christian circle-the widely accepted concept that we humans can choose to accept Christ only because we need Him as Savior, and that we have the right to postpone our obedience to Him as long as we want to! The truth is that salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred Scriptures. Peter makes it plain that we are "elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience." It seems most important to me that Peter speaks of his fellow Christians as "obedient children." He knew their spirituality-he was not just giving them an exhortation to be obedient. The entire Bible teaches that true obedience to God and His Christ is one of the toughest requirements in the Christian life. Actually, salvation without obedience is a self-contradicting impossibility! Humans do not want to admit it, but the Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans long ago that "by one man's disobedience" came the downfall of the human race!

Verse
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Acts 16:31

Thought
The entire Bible teaches that true obedience to God and His Christ is one of the toughest requirements in the Christian life.

Prayer
Lord, let me always remember that odedience to your will is not just sanctioned, but manditory