The Spirit Empowered Life

Galatians 5:22 is an important scripture to me and also one that I like alot because it depicts what I need to have in life everyday.  Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control are attributes that I strive to have everyday.  I can honestly say that I am not always successful at each of them at times, however I try to be each one every opportunity I get.  Its hard.  Life does not always throw the most graceful of situations at you.  There are times when the time comes to exhibit and manifest these virtues but I chose to act out of my flesh, as soon as that happens I immediately know where I went wrong, I ask for forgiveness and pray that the God help me with the virtue that I didnt display and that the Holy Spirit guide me.  I still need work with everyone of them.  All we can do is continue to be in prayer for it and being conscious of walking and living by the virtues and applying them in your life. 

When it comes to “Read Scripture with the Holy Spirit” and “Listen to the Advocate when making decisions”  there is something that I have a hard time with.  I have a hard time distinguishing when God is trying to speak to me.  We always pray before reading the word, asking that we understand what we read, asking help with applying the word in our lives, and that it speaks to us specifically.  I constantly second guess things, not sure if its the Holy Spirit or me telling myself that its God.  I know I sound crazy.  I know when God is speaking to me through a sermon, a devotional, or when he is speaking to me through a discussion or using someone else.  However I have a hard time with being in prayer and lets say hearing a certain scripture.  Alot of people talk about hearing a still voice,  I have a hard time focusing on that, I dont know how to do that.  People say that when the Holy Spirit is telling them something or guiding them they feel something in their lower part of their torso or stomach area.  Nope, cant say I have felt that either.  Maybe I am just weird or I am just simply not paying attention, because I dont know how.  This also affects “Listening to the Advocate when making decisions” because I dont know how to listen, unless it manifests sermon, people, or devotion.  I have prayed many times, that He speak to me in a way that I cannot refute its him, through a dream, or something I know I can’t second guess.   I truly hope I get better at this somehow. 

The Compassionate Life

I have been working on many of these, some of them more than others. 

When it comes to encouragement, I cant say I have written a letter to someone, but I do try compliment people, appreciative for the things people to for me ( I will go out of my way to tell them how much it helped me out, telling them what it meant to me).  This for me kind of goes hand in hand with trying to say only positive words.  I have not mastered this, I still need a long way to go.  When people come to me with things they are going through in their life, I try to be encouraging and try to have them see the postive side of things, and that it did not just happen, it was through God’s grace and glory.  I always try to be their for people, when I can. 

Volunteering to help at a local food bank or soup kitchen- our family decided to help with the Thanksgiving Feast this year at Calvary.  It was a rewarding experience and humbling. We have been also trying to donate things to people that may not be as fortunate as us, rather than donating it to Goodwill who is going to turn around and sell them.  Coming to know the Lord really simplifies your life, it make really see what is important, and know that when you do help someone you are doing it for Him.

Guarding the reputation of another person is something that I improved on drastically since I have begun a relationship with God.  I used to have friendship based on gossiping and talking about people.  Needless to say those friendships have sort dried up a bit due to that.  I try to be aware of what I say to people making sure that it does not lead into gossiping or fault finding.  This happens for often with my unbelieving friends, when they say something about someone I try to tell them to give that person they are talking about the benefit of the doubt, I try to bring up positive possibilities instead.  I still have to work on this more, its hard to completely do a 180 degree turn on something you had been doing all your life, or on something that society accepts as being ok.  With time, prayer, and the help of God, I know that I will be done with it.  

There was an exercise that mentioned something about always avoiding giving advise to people.  Let me tell you I learned that the hard way.  All I was trying to do was help in this instance and when I was trying to get this person to see something a different way, it went totally wrong.  The person took it comepletely the opposite way of what I intended.  I immediately realized that I needed to stay away from that.  I was trying to be tactful and everything and it blew up.  So I have learned, that I need to stay with encouraging words than advice or making them see things differently  (unless its a life and death situation of course) and because not everyone is open to it.  Unless you have know this person for a long time, then it can be differently, but I am just going to tell them to pray on it and have God guide them. 

Man, everytime I do these blogs I realize how much I have to work on ….oh well.. in due time.