For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
Romans 8:6

These are the words that have lately reverberated just beneath the currents of disproportionately harried thoughts, been whispered into each quiet space between waves of fatigue or age-related aches, demanded focus in my first conscious thought, and are sighed into the last fuzzy moments of the day before sleep stakes its claim. “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace…”

Why am I anxious? Why do I fret and fuss over endless task lists? For what reason do I dart about from one place to the next, hardly noticing the world and the people around me? Do these things exhibit the “gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious,” that Peter writes of in his first letter? Does my frantic fussing, my anxious activity exhibit the fruit of the Holy Spirit-controlled life that sets apart the followers of Yeshua Messiah and brings honor to the Almighty?

No, I am afraid not. And so, as I have found myself recently slipping back into habits worn by the old woman, the pre-Christ me, I find that my Lord is reminding me constantly to rethink my attire, to put on His generously offered cloak rather than my shabby old garments; reminding me that He has covered my shame as my Kinsman-Redeemer, removing my reproach.  In so doing, He is pointing out those places where my perspective has shifted subtly away from Him and onto the wind and the waves, reminding me to keep my eyes on Him that I may walk and not sink.

He reminds me, not because He demands my attention as a stern dictator, but because I love Him and  have asked Him to do so.  I want my life to reflect those qualities that show He is worthy of my attention and my trust quite despite what is going on around me or within my body. I long to be an oak of righteousness, planted for the display of His splendor. I desire to live a life that reflects the perfect peace of one whose mind is steadfast because she trust in her God.

And so, I am thankful for these many reminders. I do not need to set my mind on my own flesh: on the cares of this world (though they are many), on the failings of my physical body (my flesh and my heart may fail, but the Lord my God is my strength and my portion forever), nor on all the activities that threaten to crowd and cramp my schedule (though they may be far more than I enjoy). These are all small deaths, this hurry, this restless striving, these moments of anxiety. I do not want this living death any longer but instead to thrive in life and peace.  Even as go about a busy day or a day filled with weariness and pain, I can still keep my eyes fixed on the Author and Perfecter of my faith, to always take time to stop and notice, speak a cheerful word, engage in conversation, appreciate the beauty around me.

I need to live my life with praise upon my lips, heart swelling with gratitude for my Savior and love for Him and His people, joy permeating even the most mundane of my tasks. I want to do this, to live such a life. Not because I must in order to satisfy the rigorous, religious demands nor because I desire to be well thought of among my peers. No, I want to live this way because I truly want my life to be a living sacrifice, my spiritual act of worship to a God who loves in such astonishing capacity that I am overwhelmed with love for Him in return.

And so, Father, please continue to remind me not to allow my mind to be ensnared by the ever-present demands of this world and by weariness. Captivate me with Your presence, quiet me with Your love. Train the whole of my thoughts and heart to be unwaveringly fixed on the Spirit of Life so that my days will exhibit Your peace to all for the glory of Your Son and in His name, amen.

What are the things that distract you from a mind set on the Spirit, bringing life and peace? May the Giver of all good gifts grant you insight to see them and ability to refocus on Him today!

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.
Hebrews 12:11

I love this passage of Hebrews because it reminds me that discipline is not only necessary, it is worthwhile. I also love that it speaks not only of discipline as a consequence for wrongdoing, but also those elements of discipline involved in training for the future. I can’t help but think of athletics here. Several years ago before my body began to revolt and my time was entirely consumed with other matters, I took judo classes. I loved it though I did have to work hard to prepare my body to perform some rather unusual movements. There was discipline involved in learning to fall correctly so that I would not be hurt when some of the much larger guys in the club tossed me around like I weighed nothing. There was also discipline in learning to position myself in ways my body did not ordinarily want to go in order to correctly perform a throw or escape a hold.

It was an exciting day for me when the training and practice paid off and I, weighing at the time around 115 pounds, was able to execute a successful Ippon Seoinage (one arm shoulder throw) of a fellow judoka weighing in closer to 250. I was so excited that I cried out, “You didn’t jump!” It was the first time he hadn’t helped me by leaping over me as I attempted to perform the throw. All the frustrating work of doing it wrong dozens of times and the pain of landing a couple hundred pounds of man on my back was well rewarded in that one satisfying moment.

It may seem odd to compare “the peaceful fruit of righteousness” with judo practice, but I am convinced that when we have been trained by the discipline of God, whether punitively or as a preparatory drill, the thrill of getting it right when we go through some dark time or trial will be well worth all the blood, sweat, and tears shed to prepare us for that moment. This moment of future spiritual success that I anticipate  for God’s glory will far outshine even my wondrous moment in the dojo when my former judo buddy did not jump. I am imagining all the petty, insignificant worries that plague me and trip me up now are preparing me for some future, greater trial; perhaps strengthening my weak faith to ready me for some test beyond the puny amount I have currently developed. In that time, perhaps, if I am diligent in my training and persevere through the rough spells, just maybe I will find that I am ready to face what comes. Though now I stumble at small obstacles, perhaps the practice of falling and getting back up again will prepare me to stand firm when larger ones loom on the path.

I am training my spiritual muscles, if you will, submitting to correction when I err and applying myself to hard work and effort to gain ground no matter how difficult the terrain. I can only pray that at the end of the race, when I look back on the memories of what assailed me on the way, I will find that all my failures and mistakes prepared me for a greater victory than I could have achieved without them. For it is in failure that, for me, the lesson is driven home. I may not achieve the goal, but I remember it. When I succeed the first time I try anything, I fear that the point of the lesson slips away almost as easily as it was accomplished. And so, despite my many shortcomings, I can still trust that somehow, though it looks messy at times, my faith is being honed, hardened, and shaped through what I am striving through, even as my muscles were shaped and trained to perform peculiar tasks in judo. After all the mistakes have been made and learned from, I hope to stand some day in victory, looking back with satisfaction on a race well run.

 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it– the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Romans 3:21-23

Not long ago, I saw  one of those hokey little social media “signs” that are shared around, titled something like “Biblical Marriage.” It was covered in a variety of what I would call bathroom-sign-figures of men and women and included such arrangements as Man + Woman + Female Slave and Man + Woman + Woman, among others. What I found so sad about this was that so few people seemed to have a clue how to deal with that post. Non-believers, of course, ran the gamut from the expected choruses of, “Oh, yeahs” to comments such as “Hmmm…. interesting.” But it was the comments from the Christian community that broke my heart. So many simply sputtered and fumed over the silly thing, but in the (admittedly) few comments I read, I saw none that shed any glimmer of truth on it.

The truth is that the fathers of the faith are not men to be emulated.

Their stories are not given to us as examples for how to live (or for that matter, how to marry), nor are they placed in the Scripture as shining stars of perfection. Indeed, if you read their stories, it is the bitter reality of their failures and faults that is most notable. This is as it should be,  for those stories serve a twofold purpose. First, they are historical, and as such they are not glossed over, polished up to perfection, and served as flawless main courses of faith. Actually, it is their obvious defects that bring me to my second point: Their stories are also told to demonstrate the absolute failure of humanity to achieve freedom from sin despite valiant efforts. They display, not perfection, but rather of how even the best among us go wrong.

The forefathers, you see, all sinned.  Not a single one of them managed to avoid the pitfalls of poor choices. Abraham lied about his wife. Twice. And he and his wife concocted an insane attempt to “help” God provide the promised heir by sleeping with a slave named Hagar.  We can go on:  Isaac had a favorite son. Esau disrespected his parents. Jacob manipulated his brother, deceived his father, and married two women (who, by the way, gave him no end of grief with their rivalry. Read it for yourself and try to imagine living with that. I am a woman, and I can still only say, “Oy!!”).

And those are just tidbits of three life stories. We could go on: brothers selling brothers into slavery, sons sleeping with their father’s concubines, murders, rape, incest, idolatry… even David, called by God Himself as “the man after My own heart,” committed adultery, tried to cover the resulting pregnancy with deception, and failing that, committed murder in an attempt to conceal his sin.  And the legacy of wrongdoing just keeps on going.

Until Jesus, that is. You see, those guys aren’t held up in the Scriptures as examples. They are held up merely as human. They made mistakes. They committed sin. None of them could, by their goodness or piety, save themselves. Their stories are told to us in part to show us our great, grievous need for a Savior.

Only Jesus lived as a Man, tempted in every way yet only He never fell into sin.  Only Jesus was able to offer Himself as ransom, if you will, for a debt we could never afford to pay. Glory to God, the story does not end there!  He also took His life up again and now lives, interceding on behalf of those who believe and choose to follow Him.

There is so much more to this story; this is but a glimpse. But I daresay it is a glimpse in the right direction. If you are searching the Bible for examples of how to live, forget the heinous mistakes of the forefathers. Look to them for examples of true contrition and repentance after the error, perhaps. But if you are looking  for perfection,  look only to the person of Yeshua, the one we now call Jesus Christ.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
2 Corinthians 5:20-21

Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. Do not be led away by diverse and strange teachings…
Hebrews 13:7-9a

I admit it–I’m a nerd. I love to learn and so I love to read, both fiction and non-fiction, old works and new.  More and more I enjoy older or even ancient works of those who have gone before me in the service of the Lord. Some of these are written by people in other countries, in other decades, other centuries, or sometimes simply in other contexts, and I find that their faith stories not only strengthen and refresh me but often challenge me to examine my own ideas in the all-revealing light of the Word. I am constantly prompted to ask, “Is this idea/concept/method actually from the Word of God or is it a new fad (or perhaps, was it a fad of that age)?”

In reading cross -generationally and cross-culturally, I find a greater sense of the stability and immutability of God and His Word, seeing time and time again the Truth that neither fades nor diminishes woven into the stories of the faithful. In reading historically, I also find that it is easier to sift those things that are changeable–human elements of religiosity, social and intellectual trends of a given age, and pop culture–from the unwavering character of our God and the unaltered message of the Gospel.

I do also enjoy reading more modern literature and what I would call “popular Christian-y books,” however, I read them all–both old and new– through the lens of God’s Word and filtered through what I have learned about the mistakes and triumphs of other generations. I believe that there is a grave danger in embracing only what is present and popular and neglecting the lessons of the past. I am somewhat worried when I see fewer and fewer of my generation and younger in the Church who have never read works like Pilgrim’s Progress, but have lapped up each new and best-selling book labeled,  sometimes rather broadly, as “Christian.”

It is a simple thing to get caught up in popular thought trends, especially if the only thing we are feeding our minds is a steady diet of currently fashionable conceptual currents.  That is why the first and foremost authority for the Christian life should be the Word of God alone. This ancient text has seen many faddish books and the philosophies they extol wax and wane and finally fade away, but its truth remains undiminished.

With that Word in mind, we can read both widely and deeply while looking for the golden threads of God’s truth in every life and tale. Reading like this opens doors for a more well-rounded worldview and a keener understanding of what ideologies and doctrines withstand the wearing of time and which erode and crumble under its steady, grinding procession.

Investigating the lives of those who adored Christ in decades and even centuries gone by or in countries where persecution has drawn a stark line between God’s people and the rest, we begin to get a feel for the permanence and solidity of Truth. We get see what stands fast through the ages, what ideals hold true despite cultural or economic differences, as well as recognizing those brief thought trends that flare brightly for a moment before sputtering out. We see the Foundation that has remained unchanged regardless of what adornments have been placed upon its walls.  We also see clearly the state of the human heart, and the comforting fact that in the midst of this volatile humanity, there is an actual,  absolute Truth living in the person of Jesus Christ.

I encourage you, my brothers and sisters, read avidly. Read voraciously. Read not only what has been published in the last 10 years, but look into authors like Thomas A Kempis, C. S. Lewis, Brother Lawrence, Corrie Ten Boom, G. K. Chesterton, and others like them. Look for that thread of truth that is the exact same no matter the gender, origin, denomination, or economic status of the author.  Above all, be a student of the Word so that you can rightly handle the Word of Truth (2 Tim. 2:15), looking for that truth in every other item you read.  As you explore these older worldviews, probe for the timeless elements of our faith. Seek to expose weaker views that have not stood the test of time, and most of all, look to the Eternal Who has given us a  glorious brotherhood in Christ that spans not only cultures and continents but time as well.

So what are you reading now?