Hiatus **

I think we all are familiar with this word. Webster defines it as:

   "an interruption in time or continuity: BREAK: especially: a period when

    something (such as a program or activity) is suspended or interrupted"

That's what I think is happening for me, I'm beginning a new season. For the pat 14+ years I've been writing a blog. I started out posting daily... then every other day... and finally, every third day. Also, during that time 16 books have been published. I'm not saying this to pat myself on the back nor give myself permission to provide an excuse... it is what it is.

I think I'm entering a season of preparation and growing in understanding. At least that's what I think. No, I won't stop writing. Writing does define Who I am, at least partially - I, like you, am not one dimensional. And I do love to write, but for the first time I seem to be direction-less. Completing the last book in this third series, by now I would know the next series - I don't. Granted it could be argued that I write about the same spiritual issues. No argument. I believe we are never done discovering all that each issue is, that we continually grow in understanding and application. As a result, though the topic may be the same, the writing isn't. It's always a new way of understanding, a new perception, a greater application. 

'My' writing is designed in a question-based format. I provide my thinking as a counterpoint for the reader to discover, define, refine what they believe. The point in this is to help the reader to continue to discover and grow. Basically I'm a teacher who is also involved in learning and as iron sharpens iron, everyone grows. It's not a contest. Different understandings are not threats. I like to not think in terms of 'right' and 'wrong' when it comes to understanding. Can both be 'right'? Can both be 'wrong'? As long as we involve, seek to have the Holy Spirit involved... truth will be the result.

   "But when He, the Spirit of Truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth

    [full and complete truth]. For He will not speak on His own initiative, but He

    will speak whatever He hears [from the Father—the message regarding the

    Son], and He will disclose to you what is to come [in the future]. John  16:13

Hiatus is just that. A time to refresh, to study, to grow... to think. At least this is what I think on this lovely fall day in September. Will the time be lengthened? Will it be shortened? No idea. But I want to follow where I think I'm being led. I totally trust the Lord that if I'm wrong or in the wrong timing, He will correct me. Correction is always a positive because the Lord doesn't condemn, criticize, blame, or shame - He always helps us to understand.

Ergo and Thus... don't expect any further writing-teaching until 2023, realizing that we move according to the Lord's plans.

It's HOW we do our WHO

When it comes to our mistakes, errors in judgment, sins...it's how we respond  that define us... in so many ways. 'Doing the right thing' is not always easy... it's not necessarily 'automatic'... but I think we always instinctually (or intuitively) know. The only question is - HOW we respond. Do we try to hide? ignore? shift attention? and there are a host of other like responses. Obviously the answer should be - apologize, where and to whom necessary, correct, and move on. And this can be incredibly difficult. But even the 'difficult' is no reason to avoid nor no 'excuse' for not doing what we need do.

   "So, as God’s own chosen people, who are holy [set apart, sanctified for His

    purpose] and well-beloved [by God Himself], put on a heart of compassion,

    kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience [which has the power to endure

    whatever injustice or unpleasantness comes, with good temper]; bearing

    graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a

    cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so

    should you forgive. Beyond all these things put on and wrap yourselves in

    [unselfish] love, which is the perfect bond of unity [for everything is bound

    together in agreement when each one seeks the best for others]." 

   [Colossians 3:12-14]

Even if the only verses we remember, Colossians 3 gives us our What as well as our How of doing our How we do Who we are. It also gives us a way to 'judge' ourselves: how we respond, what we do to resolve, and ultimately how this is added to our understandings,,, not least of which is ourselves.

We see that it is our Who that puts on a heart of: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience which becomes our foundation on which we act. Never feel that you go into difficult places (and learn important lessons) without a strong foundation. You are never a wimp or a foot mat or even 'wrong'. Sometimes our 'right' isn't expressed in a way that demonstrates speaking the truth in love. Without this motivation our words and actions can be misunderstood as pompous or opinionated or threatening. How can our message be understood or even heard? And never let your expression be an 'excuse'.

The How of our Who gives the other person a tangible example and we do tend to believe what we see over what we hear. Do you follow the directions in these verses? Are they your expression in responding? This is especially true when it comes to accepting our errors and dealing with them. You can't catch back the words you say and it can be difficult to explain our behavior.  But we can always make it... worse by our How.

Tests

We are always going through... Tests. But I think most of us need to redefine what the word means and does. I believe that the purpose for tests is to help us discover what we don’t know, what we still need to understand. God is not punishing us or displeased with us, He is testing us so that we find those areas we aren't prepared in/for yet and so that we will grow and become strong. God has a destiny for each of us but one of the ways we grow is through testings. 

Never forget that our adversaries, the devil, is always trying to defeat us. Unless we are in the word we become defenseless so one of the ways we are tested is in our knowledge and understanding of the Word. The devil is well versed in the Word and will attempt to use it against us. Therefore... one of the ways we can tell if what we are experiencing is a test is how does it make us feel? Do we feel threatened... or defensive... or criticized... or condemned,,, or shamed... or any other negative emotion then we know - it's from our enemy, not the Lord. Don't accept the lies. Do accept the testings so you can judge yourself.

I have written about test before but this is a deeper level of understanding about the purpose of the test. Never think that because you were going through a test the Lord doesn’t love you it’s because he does love you that he provides these tests so that we can determine what we need to know in order to reach our destiny. Also remember that if what you are going though is based in a temptation that this is never the Lord [James 1:13-15].

So how do we react to the test? Can we confidently act or do we hesitate. Hesitation is not the proper reaction because it calls into question our foundation and basically it implies a lack of confidence. When we are not confident in what we believe then how could be we possibly ever stand? The test proves our level of understanding and the source of our strength. And do not read this as my belief that tests are simple or a piece of cake. They're not. And some of them are more difficult the more we do 'study to become approved [2 Timothy 2:15]. 

   "Consider it nothing but joy, my [a]brothers and sisters, whenever you fall into

    various trials. Be assured that the testing of your faith [through experience]

    produces endurance [leading to spiritual maturity, and inner peace]. And let

    endurance have its perfect result and do a thorough work, so that you may be

    perfect and completely developed [in your faith], lacking in nothing." 

    [James 1:2-4]

Process... Process... Process,,,

And again I say PROCESS!!!!!!! The 'older' I get the more I realize/am fully convinced  that all learning is a continual building process. I'm not certain that there is any spiritual issue that is ever 'one and done'... we are always 'in process'. It doesn't mean that we wait to act on/ apply our learning until we know everything. Firstly, how, if it is always an ongoing process, can we ever learn it all? And secondly, application is a form of confirmation/'approving what we know' and taking the next step into further understanding.

Especially for the new believer, I sometimes think we may unintentionally mislead them because no one is an instantly mature Christian. It takes time and especially it takes a commitment to study, to grow. Simply because one is a Christian doesn't mean that you don't make mistakes, errors in judgment - all this is in a state of continual growing - it's a process. Personally, despite scrapped knees and elbows and an occasional wounded pride, I enjoy this. 

One of the first things we do at the beginning of our growth is to begin to renew our minds - which is also unending but when you look at it as an adventure, a journey... totally different mindset.  We renew through studying the Bible and reading, and reading, checking different translations/versions. The Bible is our manual for learning and growing. It really is imperative that we don't think that one reading is sufficient. I believe we never outgrowing 'line upon line, precept upon precept. For me, one of the delights is discovering something 'more' or 'new' in the scripture I have read countless times. It's not that it wasn't there in the beginning... it's that I hadn't grown sufficiently to see and grow in what is being taught. Just like school. We learn our A,B,C's before we know HOW to read. Same principle.

Besides prayer and study, starting the process of learning and being and doing... we have the blessing of other believers. Isaiah talks about iron sharpening iron. That the times we share what we've discovered and listen to what others have gleaned and discovered. Never see this time as insignificant or unimportant - I would argue that fellowship is crucial to our growing and growing is crucial to our becoming the Ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:17-21) necessary to touch this world, each of our worlds we live in. Ephesians (2:10) talks about us being His workman. Do take the time to read, many times, Ephesians 2 to see what the Lord's done FOR us and how He can use us.

The point in all this is that when we accept Jesus as our Lord, we enter into a never ending opportunity [process] to grow and become all that He sees in us. Remember, He's not done with us yet. We shouldn't either. 

DEFENSE

There's an old saying - that a good defense is the best offense! Believe this? When you study this word, defense, as related to yourself... you'll see that you have more defensive protection than offensive. Then again, we need only one offensive weapon - the Word. But defensively... what's missing? I would argue that we not only have the Who of our defense, but the What.

We have the WHOLE armor of God. [Ephesians 6] which provides us the protection we may need against the wiles of the devil. However, never forget that he isn't creative so he uses the same tactics over and over. Shame is one. Recognized and undealt with Pride is another. Unworthiness. And the list goes on. At some point irritation (by us) should set in and we finally say - 'enough is enough! I am no longer going to buy into your crippling lies. You (devil) have NO hold on me. I am a child of the Living God. Depart you evil spirit!'

Our offense is really our defense! Consider each of the pieces of the armor - all defense but also an offense when you look at the Sword of the Spirit. It does double duty! When we follow the example that Jesus used in defeating the devil, and we can, then the devil has no offense. It does require us to be hiding the Word in our hearts and studying to show ourselves approved. But it also is a solid and effective defensive offense.

There are some scriptures that we need to have at the forefront of our arsenal.

   "What then shall we say to all these things? If God is for us, who can be

    [successful] against us?" [Romans 8:31]

 

   "No weapon that is formed against you will succeed; And every tongue that

    rises against you in judgment you will condemn. This [peace, righteousness,

    security, and triumph over opposition] is the heritage of the servants of the

    Lord, And this is their vindication from Me,” says the Lord. [Isaiah 54:17]

   "The weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood]. Our

    weapons are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are

    destroying sophisticated arguments and every exalted and proud thing that

    sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God, and we are taking every

    thought and purpose captive to the obedience of Christ, "

    [2 Corinthians 10:3-4]

All that is ours, who we become, what's available for us when we make Jesus our Lord. We never earn it nor can we purchase it. It's because of the unconditional love of the Father for His children.

   "The Spirit Himself testifies and confirms together with our spirit [assuring us]

    that we [believers] are children of God. And if [we are His] children, [then we

    are His] heirs also: heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ [sharing His

    spiritual blessing and inheritance], if indeed we share in His suffering so that

    we may also share in His glory." [Romans 8: 16-17]

You did catch the 'joint heirs', yes? We have everything we need to overcome, be victorious. Personally, I believe the path is prayer - we have a relationship with the Triune God that provides all we need. Why do you think the devil hates us so? This is part of the answer in my thinking. What a marvelous defense we have… never buy into satan's lies.

 

Fruit of the Spirit

   "But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love 

    [unselfish concern for others], joy, [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to

    wait, but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 

    gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law." 

    [Galatians 5:22-23]

Love/Joy/Peace/Patience/Kindness/Goodness/Faithfulness/Gentleness/Self-Control

Do we know the definitions of these words? Do we have the same definitions as other Christians? Do we express these? Do we see these fruits expressed? 

AND, did you see the 'requirement'? Fruit is the result of HIS presence within us. This is a kind of 'evidence' for us. Is your fruit ... that which will remain? And 'remain' can be a negative force as well as a positive one. I probably should have phrased it - in your partnership with the Lord, is there fruit that remains? I seriously doubt that the Lord would be upset with us if we asked Him to help us be more fruitful.

However, we do need to look at definitions - Spiritual definitions of the fruit. Are we all understanding this correctly, how the Lord looks on the behaviors that emanate and demonstrate our understanding. Quick definitions, because each of these words have mountains of books written on them. Look for YOUR personal examples - how you personalize your understanding. Most important question - are you continuing to learn about and share this?

I'm not going to add to the vast number of resources and give you my level of understanding and appreciation about each of the fruits that compose The Fruit. Personally, I'm still studying and growing and discovering how the fruit is displayed in my life. However, I do challenger you though to not just use the words but to do a deep dive to discover your understanding and grow in how you share fruit. And, to discover how the fruit works together such as peace and patience or love and faithfulness or the role of self-control. Yes, it will take a lifetime to grow in the fruit but our point is that we (through the Holy Spirit) continue to see how our behavior produces the fruit and the affect it has.

In my life I feel that I need to have the Fruit as part of my foundation and especially my mindset of how I live and react in my world and the other inhabitants that occupy my world. I may not impact The World, but I can be an active participant in mine and share all I know as a counterpoint for someone else. As a final 'challenge' why do you think scripture uses the single word, Fruit, to describe the 9 fruit?

 

Shame

Just so you know and realize... the Lord NEVER shames us. Period. He doesn't 'use' share to chastise or correct us. He knows the impact of shame and would never places this as punishment. Which leaves.... the source of shame - the devil. He does use shame and try to cripple us. He hates us so shame is a logical weapon he whips us with - if we let him.

Shame is one of the more effective weapons our enemy uses against us. He knows that we try and avoid shame. Also, it seems that there is always an element of truth to what's 'accused' so denial is futile. But, other than being an emotion... what is shame and how does it exert such control over us? 

This may sound lame and/or a made up thinking but a few things I feel that I know about shame are:

   1. It NEVER comes from the Father. He would never use shame to correct or

       challenge or 'punish' us. What would that accomplish - and don't say to

       stop our behavior. Did that ever work?

   

   2. Scripture does speak to the issue of 'shame' - examples:

   Psalm 34:4-5

"I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed."

   Romans 10:11

"For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.”

   Psalm 31:17

"O Lord, let me not be put to shame, for I call upon you; let the wicked be put to shame; let them go silently to Sheol."

These are only 3 verses out of many that discuss shame - you can easily see that the Father does not shame us... so guess where shame comes from. Micha 7:19 is one of my favorite verses on shame.

According to bibleresources.org 

   "Nelson’s Illustrated Bible Dictionary ¹ gives this definition: Shame – A negative

    emotion caused by an awareness of wrongdoing, hurt ego, or guilt. In the

    Bible, the feeling of shame is normally caused by public exposure of one’s guilt

    (Genesis 2:25; 3:10). Shame may also be caused by a hurt reputation or

    embarrassment, whether or not this feeling is due to sin (Psalm 25:2-3;

    Proverbs 19:26; Romans 1:16)."  [David Alsobrook]

Actually, Mr. Alsobrook does an excellent study on shame and reinforced my belief that "... Shame always results in a loss of dignity ...  and results in emotional pain." So it is very effective in handicapping and crippling us. Yes we do/say the wrong things but we can become healed. Why live with something, though it may originate with us, that incapacitates yet has a healing response? We have a loving Father that wants us whole and healthy. Besides, have we forgotten so quickly that the genesis of pain is typically guilt and we have an answer for guilt - 1 John 1:9.