Trinkets for Gold

Those of the Spirit walk in the Spirit and those of the flesh, the flesh.  (Romans 8:somewhere)

I wonder about this verse.  If I have the Spirit, why do I find myself walking so much in the flesh?  Why do I worry about money, work, relationships and the moral meltdown of our country?

I am surrounded by the Gold of God's kingdom and I focus on the trinkets.

How do I walk in the Spirit?  Perhaps it is less of a "how" and more of a "hey, look at the Gold!"  I want to remember how valuable are the things of God vs. the worries of man.  I choose to celebrate the mastery that God holds over my worries and be available when the Spirit beckons.

He's still working on me...

I've been finding myself corned again by my own reason (or lack thereof!). As I try to teach my children self-control I'm running into the old "ought-to/let go-let God" wrestling match. How much of what we teach our children should be "effort" based when we believe in a God who works in us and through us to do his good works?

Now, we put up with a little chaos, but it's not our religion. We teach a certain amount of order and expect obedience from our kids. We aim at consistent discipline with liberal amounts of love stirred in. Yet my wife and I both believe that it is the desperation of our kids own struggle that will lead them to rely on a Savior to help them to ultimately obey.

However, my own expectations for obedience from my children work against me. I find myself in that same place of training my children into a "do it" mode and then remember I don't believe that my "doing" is getting me anywhere. So I change tactics and tell my kids (and myself) that the "doing" for us is all surrendering. That is, giving up, resting and laying down so the God who loves us can work through us.

I can hear you already. So you're one of those lazy Christians (Yes!), a God-helps-those-who-sit-around kinda guy.

OK. I'll try to esplain the mysteries of God. No, too much. I'll sum up:

The action is inaction.
The "goin for it" is resting.
I'm battling to wait.
I'm pushing to yield.
I'm floating in a screaming dive.
This is full contact passiveness.

Yea. And God will finish his work in me (and my children).

It's good to remember that the sovereign God is still working on His plan. I'm happy to be in His universe and under Hand. I celebrate the ongoing work of the Creator!

A flashlight on some of my trash

Keeping away from strife is an honor for a man, But any fool will quarrel. Prov. 20:3

Sequoia just brought her little flashlight to me for more batteries. The off button is rarely used by my kids--easier to get more batteries from Dad. It is true in the spirit as well. Sequoia and the rest of the crew never turn off their flashlights when it comes to Dad. Everything I say and do lies under the spotlight.

It's amazing how much strife there is in my house. A simple act of sharing or deference could put out most of the fires in our daily routine. My combative leadership has laid the foundation for my kid's interaction. I can easily color my quarreling with suave design and calculated adult pretense. Children have no such skills and reveal all my weaknesses by repeating my strategies with naked plagiarism.

Some homes may exhibit repressed emotion with darting eyes the only clue to the deeper issues. Not so here. I could use a little repression if for no other reason, to grasp at the honor due a man so disciplined.

"And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." Rom 12:2