Tag Archives: Fruit of the Spirit

Chapter-a-Day

Of Yeast and Fruit

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For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
James 2:10 (NIV)

Monday was one of my favorite days. Wendy made fresh, homemade Italian bread. The aroma wafting up the stairs into my home office was intoxicating. Whenever Wendy makes Italian bread she always cuts off a slice while the loaf is still warm from the oven, bathes it in butter, and brings it to me.

A little slice of heaven on earth.

The last couple of times Wendy made her Italian bread things didn’t go as planned. She’s not sure what happened. Fresh bread can be finicky, especially in the rising.

From ancient of days, yeast was used as a metaphor for sin. The Law of Moses prescribed that the Hebrews should eat bread without yeast. Jesus warned His followers to “beware the yeast of the pharisees,” meaning that for all their self-righteous pomp and religiosity, their hearts were full of corruption. Jesus didn’t want His followers following a similar path.

Back in the days when everyone made bread fresh at home, yeast was a meaningful metaphor. Everyone knew that a teensy-tiny pinch of yeast will spread through the entire lump of dough, causing the whole thing to rise. In the same way, one tiny sin infects my entire being.

In God’s economy, there is no more-or-less sinful. Sin is a binary measurement. It’s all-or-nothing. If you’re sinful the whole person is infected. No one “has just a touch” of the Bubonic plague.

And, that’s James’ point in today’s chapter as he continues to argue that God’s ways are not our ways. The world loves to play favorites. The wealthy and famous get maximum screen time and VIP treatment. When it comes to the poor and homeless we look the other way and quickly scurry past them on the street. In God’s economy, everyone is measured by the yeast standard. As Bob Dylan sang it, “Ain’t No Man Righteous — No Not One.”

But then James does something amazing. He applies the reverse logic to faith. If sin is like yeast that spreads to the whole lump of dough and causes unrighteousness of all kinds to rise within me, then faith is like a tiny mustard seed that germinates, takes root, grows and bears the fruit of the Spirit. And what fruit does the faith-fueled seed produce?

Works. Deeds. Tangible acts of love towards other human beings that reveal…

Joy.
Peace.
Patience.
Kindness.
Goodness.
Gentleness.
Faithfulness.
Self-control.

James is poking at the very principle he’d heard his big brother preach on many occasions. If a tree isn’t producing fruit that you can see, pick, and taste, then it tells you something about the tree.

A teensy pinch of yeast? The whole dough is tainted.
No fruit on the branches? No faith in the root system.

And this, in the quiet of this morning, leaves me meditating on how desperately I want the measurement of God’s economy to be different. I want sin to be a sprained ankle not a deadly infection coursing through my entire being. I want faith to be measured by the appearance of healthy leaves on the branches. Pay no attention to the fact that there’s no decent fruit to be found.

I can’t do that, and James knows it. I can’t take an honest look at myself in the mirror and pretend that I don’t see the honest truth staring back at me.

I am hopelessly infected by sin.

Jesus’ love-fueled grace and mercy is the only cure.

If I have faith to believe and receive the cure.

It will be evidenced in the tangible outpouring of that love to everyone around me.

Paul told the Corinthian believers that when Jesus’ Love gets inside you and then starts pouring out it creates a spiritual aroma.

I’d like to think it’s like the aroma of fresh baked Italian bread.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
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Chapter-a-Day

God’s Response

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The Lord said to Moses, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘After you enter the land I am giving you as a home…”
Numbers 15:1-2a (NIV)

As I look back over the past three-to-five years, I realize that I have experienced more reactionary, emotional outbursts from other human beings than perhaps in the rest of my half-century of cognitive memory on this earthly journey. I have been yelled at, angrily accused of things, told off, and been given angry lists of demands and expectations of others. I tend to think that a cocktail of brain-altering technology, a global pandemic, and political polarization have all contributed to the acute increase in these experiences.

As this happens, I have found myself relying on a lifetime of spiritual discipline in order to try to respond to these moments appropriately. In kind reactions tend to only escalate situations and perpetuate the problem. As a disciple of Jesus, I desire to respond with the fruit of God’s Spirit as I am called to do. That means responding with a demonstration of peace, patience, kindness, and gentleness.

There is something telling about the way individuals respond to their circumstances in light of the words, actions, and/or behavior of others. Is there reactive rage of defensiveness? Cries of vengeance? Or, is there a gracious response?

In yesterday’s chapter, God’s people rejected His promise and command to enter the Promised Land. They turned against Moses and Aaron. They attempted to go it on their own without God.

Today’s chapter begins with God giving Moses instructions for how things are to be established when His people enter the Promised Land. It will be in another 40 years. It will be the next generation, but God provides instructions. For an old man like Moses, this likely felt ridiculous. It’s a long ways away. For God, who exists outside of time, and with whom “a thousand years is like a day,” forty-years nothing. And, there is a message in the madness of these instructions being given on the heels of the Hebrews’ rebellion:

“I will fulfill my covenant, and my promise to Abraham.”
“I will fulfill my promise to my people.”
“Their doubt and decision is a delay, my decision and promise remain.”

It’s a messy thing about the free will with which God gifted His human creation. We don’t control others. Others may use their free will to do all sorts of destructive things. The only thing I control is whether I react in kind and escalate the descent to chaos, or whether I willfully respond the way Jesus taught me, by returning curses with blessings, turning the other cheek, and loving my enemies.

In today’s chapter, God’s faithful and forward looking response to His own people’s faithless and backwards looking decisions provides me an example to remember the next time I find myself under emotionally reactive attack.

Sadly, I have a feeling I’m not done experiencing these kinds of situations for the foreseeable future.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Promotional graphic for Tom Vander Well's Wayfarer blog and podcast, featuring icons of various podcast platforms with a photo of Tom Vander Well.
These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
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Chapter-a-Day

The Perpetual Contrast

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The Perpetual Contrast (CaD Ezk 22) – Wayfarer

“‘‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You city that brings on herself doom by shedding blood in her midst and defiles herself by making idols…’”
Ezekiel 22:3 (NIV)

One of the repetitive messages of the prophets was the railing about idolatry. I have found as a modern reader that it is easy to get focused on the idolatry in the prophets’ messages and then mentally zone out because, let’s face it, the notion of worshipping strange little statues is such a foreign concept in a world that has predominantly monotheistic for centuries.

What is often missed in the prophets messages is that it was never really the idolatry alone that was the problem in God’s eyes. It was behaviors that went with it and the human outcomes. Pagan worship in those ancient times was often a pretense for all sorts of bad behavior from sexual immorality to selfish ambition to cursing and eliminating one’s enemies. Pagan culture promoted a self-centered mentality of selfishness, immorality, and violence.

In today’s chapter, Ezekiel lists the common behaviors that had resulted from Jerusalem’s being turned into a pagan carnival (see verses 6-12):

Corruption
Violence and murder
Contempt for family
Oppression of foreigners
Mistreatment of orphans and widows
Desecration of the holy and sacred
Slanderers
Dishonesty
Profiting off the poor
Extortion
Sexual immorality including:
Incest
Adultery
Rape

Now look at a list of what Paul describes as “the acts of the flesh” which stand in contrast to the “Fruit of the Spirit” in Galatians 5:

Sexual immorality
Impurity
Debauchery
Idolatry
Witchcraft
Hatred
Discord
Jealousy
Fits of rage
Selfish ambition
Dissensions
Factions
Envy
Drunkenness
Orgies

In the quiet this morning I am reminded that the prophets were never just about idolatry and bowing down to funny little statues. They were standing against the same things that God has always stood against, that God still stands against as He asks me and every other believer to, by the power of God’s Spirit, live daily lives of:

Love instead of hatred
Joy instead of criticism
Peace instead of anger and violence
Patience instead of selfish impatience
Kindness instead of meanness, prejudice, and harshness
Goodness instead of corruption
Faithfulness instead of falseness
Gentleness instead of violence
Self-control instead of immorality

Through Ezekiel and the other prophets of his day, God was crying out for His people to have a change of heart and life. Daily life looks much different than it did 2500 years ago, but human behavior is still given to the same contrasts. As a disciple of Jesus, I’m called to follow Jesus in moving against the world’s behavioral traffic flow.

Even Jesus acknowledged this contrast when He said:

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”
Matthew 7:13-14 (NIV)

For the record, Jesus never mentions a middle road.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Clamoring

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Clamoring (CaD Ezk 5) – Wayfarer

“Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: You have been more unruly than the nations around you and have not followed my decrees or kept my laws. You have not even conformed to the standards of the nations around you.”
Ezekiel 5:7 (NIV)

One of the more interesting things that I have observed in my lifetime is the increasing extent to which individuals and groups are given and driven to sow anarchy and chaos. It seems that wherever and whenever protesting crowds descend into rioting, violence, looting, and burning, there is always an element participating that cares nothing about whatever cause started with the protests. This element is there to encourage the crowd’s descent into chaos.

Fascinating.

In today’s chapter, God continues to describe to the young prophet Ezekiel his first prophetic assignment. What started out as strange just gets seemingly more strange as God tells Ezekiel that when the 430 days of his metaphorical siege on his little model city of Jerusalem is over, he is to cut off his hair and beard. A third of it is for burning the model city of Jerusalem, a third for striking with a sword around the model of Jerusalem, and a third for scattering a third of it to the wind.

For the people of Ezekiel’s day, the metaphors were much more clear than they are for modern readers. Hair in Mesopotamian cultures was often considered part of a person’s essence, and for this reason, hair was often used in religious rituals and divination practices. The prophet’s hair was God’s metaphorical essence that was in His people. The end of the siege of Jerusalem would end up with God’s people being burned inside the city, slaughtered if they tried to flee, and scattered in exile.

As God explains the judgment against His people, He states that they have been more “unruly” than the nations around them. The Hebrew word hāman has an expansive meaning that includes descriptors such as turbulence, rage, and clamor. This is where it gets really interesting.

Remember that Ezekiel is among the exiles in Babylon. In ancient Babylonian literature, a similar word translated as “clamor” is repeatedly used to describe the increasing and never-ending wickedness that draws the wrath and judgment of their gods. This includes the Babylonian version of the Great Flood story. The Hebrews would know well these words from Genesis 6 that led to the flood:

The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time.

Through Ezekiel, God is telling the Hebrews living in Babylon that their unruly “clamor” is like the same “clamor” that caused God to bring the Great Flood (according to both the Hebrew and Babylonian versions of the story) is what will bring the destruction of Jerusalem if they refuse to repent. Not only that, but their “clamor” was greater than “the nations around them” which included their Babylonian captors.

In mixing metaphors from both Hebrew and Babylonian traditions, Ezekiel is telling his people: “Even our evil Babylonian captors get it better than we do!” This was a stinging rebuke, a desperate warning, and an urgent plea to His people to repent.

In the quiet this morning, my head and heart go back to how I see this “clamoring spirit” alive and well in today’s world. As I meditated on it in the quiet this morning, I came to the conclusion that it is always present in this fallen world. The only thing that changes is the amount and intensity which has ebbed and flowed throughout history. What a contrast to the fruit of the Spirit that Jesus asked His followers to sow in this fallen world to bring redemption, reconciliation, righteousness, and peace which will lead towards increasing order.

I find this a simple litmus test for my life and the human systems which I influence. If my life repeatedly results in me amidst chaos and disorder, then I need to take a long introspective look in the mirror. As a disciple of Jesus, I should find myself with a growing and increasing sense of peace in any and all circumstances. If not, then I’ve missed something important along the way.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Increase and Diminishment

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Increase and Diminishment (CaD 1 Thess 3) – Wayfarer

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.
1 Thessalonians 3:12 (NIV)

I have a confession to make. For years now I’ve had a secret, largely unspoken obsession with Tiny Houses. I first learned of the Tiny House movement back around the turn of the century. I read an article about a man and his Tiny House and something connected and attached itself to my soul. I have a million Tiny Houses pinned on a Pinterest board. Some of my favorites are the ones that double as houseboats. Wendy will tell you that I avoid Home Improvement and DIY shows like the bubonic plague. Then the other week I stumbled across a show (on Disney+ of all places) about people building and transitioning their lives into Tiny Houses. Wendy came home and immediately asked, “What are you watching?”

In today’s chapter, we learn about Paul’s movements after hastily leaving Thesslonica as his presence sparked riots in the city. It’s interesting to read this chapter along with Acts 17, as this letter fits hand-and-glove into the events of that chapter. Paul sent Timothy back to Thessalonica to check on the fledgling disciples there. Timothy had just returned with a good report that the believers were standing firm in their faith despite the persecution. That report is what has prompted this letter, and Paul describes his longing to return and visit his Thessalonian friends.

As the chapter ends, Paul writes a prayer that the Thessalonian’s love would increase to overflowing for one another, and to others. As I meditated on this in the quiet this morning, I asked myself this question, “Based on my words and behavior, what do I want to increase in my life?”

Money in my 401K?
“Likes” and influence on social media?
Crypto?
Pens in my collection?
Vehicles?
Clothes in my closet?
Time to relax?
Sleep?
Travel?
Single malts on the bar downstairs?
Square feet in my house?
Acres of land?
Assets in my portfolio?

I think in our world and culture, our hearts and minds are wired to hear “increase” and immediately think of the stuff of this world. It’s hard not to do so given the way we have been shaped by our world and the experience of living in this world. However, Jesus calls His disciples to, as Bob Dylan aptly put it, “Change My Way of Thinkin’.”

Paul is exemplifying this for his Thessalonian brothers and sisters, simply by writing this letter. And, he is urging them to follow his example. Increase your love. Increase love to the point of overflowing to every person you interact with in life every day. That’s Level Four Kingdom of God thinking. It’s Kingdom of God priorities, and it differentiates a disciple of Jesus from a person who is living only for this Level Three world.

In the quiet this morning, I keep returning to the “Fruit of the {God’s} Spirit” that increases as I grow and mature in my spirit and in my relationship with Jesus:

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Gentleness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Self-Control

These are what I want to increase to the point of overflowing in my life. As for all the rest of the stuff in my life, I find myself wanting it to diminish. I don’t think I’ll ever live in a Tiny House (at least, not as long as Wendy is alive), but whatever soul connection I feel to the idea of diminishing the things of this world that I have to store, maintain, keep up, clean, and fix is something I want to lean into. At the same time, what I want to increase in the rest of my earthly journey is love.

Now, God, I pray “Please help my behavior match my heart.”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Big Brother Mentality

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Big Brother Mentality (CaD Rom 11) – Wayfarer

And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace.
Romans 11:6 (NIV)

Last week, I gave a message to our local gathering of Jesus’ followers. I kicked off the message by stating that I’ve long had the idea for a book about the things that Christians always get wrong. In that message, I talked about God’s presence. My entire life I’ve listened to people pray for God to “be present” or to “Come to us.” If we really believe what we say we believe, that is the most illogical thing to pray for. If you want to know why, I encourage you to listen to the message because that’s not the subject of today’s post.

One of the other chapters of my proposed book is the subject of today’s post. Along my life journey, I’ve observed that while Christians say we believe that salvation is “by grace through faith,” we still act as if there’s a bit of meritocracy mixed in. I like to think of this kind of thinking as “Grace Plus.” “Yes salvation is by grace through faith, plus if you were really “saved” you wouldn’t [fill in the blank with a behavior that, in your mind, a real Christian wouldn’t exhibit].

In today’s chapter, Paul addresses an implied question in his letter’s argument about salvation being for both the non-Jewish Gentiles as well as the Jewish people: “Has God rejected His people?” I am always amazed at how given we human beings are to binary, either-or, thinking. The Jewish people of Paul’s day were so proud of being “God’s chosen people” that they wanted to maintain exclusivity. Rather than perceiving the inclusion of Gentiles as followers of Jesus as God’s merciful generosity flowing from its Jewish roots, they concluded that God’s love of Gentiles must mean rejection of Israel. This attitude, by the way, is the same as the older brother in the parable of Prodigal Son. Like the father in that parable, Paul explains that God loving the “prodigal” Gentiles and celebrating their homecoming into salvation does not negate His love and purposes for “big brother” Israel. It is not an “either-or” but a “yes-and.”

The “Big Brother” thinking that Paul is addressing with his Jewish brothers and sisters is a form of the same problem that exists with those I observe with “Grace Plus” thinking. It’s a form of self-righteousness that mentally assents to God’s love as gracious and merciful, but at the heart of it still clings to the notion that our good works have some merit in making us more worthy than the dirty sinner.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself thinking of the fruits of the Spirit that Paul lists in his letter to the believers in Galatia. I thought through Big Brother’s reaction to his father’s grace and mercy toward the sinful little brother:

“The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’“

Then I tried to determine which of the Fruits of the Spirit he displayed in his reaction:

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

How about the Prodigal’s father? Yeah, Pops was exemplifying them all.

As a child of God, I want to have my Father’s heart which is gracious, merciful, generous, and truly loving. This means, however, that I have to surrender all of my meritocratic notions. God’s generous and gracious love for others does not diminish His love for me, it just means there’s more love to go around than I ever thought possible.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

From Rules to Raspberries

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From Rules to Raspberries (CaD Rom 7) – Wayfarer

So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
Romans 7:4 (NIV)

As a modern reader, I don’t believe I can fully understand just how rabid the Jews of the first century were about keeping the Law of Moses. In a general sense, however, I think we all have at least rubbed shoulders with fundamentalist-type rule-keepers. They aren’t hard to recognize. The emphasis is always on the obsessive-compulsive avoidance of things that are deemed sinful, the condemnation and avoidance of anyone who does them, and the strict upkeep of self-righteous appearances. I have observed that critics of Christianity love to use fundamentalist rule-keepers as being representative of all Jesus’ followers. It’s an easy target.

Over the 18 years I’ve been writing these chapter-a-day posts, I have often referenced the semester of college that I spent among fundamentalist rule-keepers. I have so many stories that are both silly and tragic. When I read Paul’s description of his Jewish brothers and sisters who were essentially fundamentalist rule-keepers (I believe they exist among every religion), I always think of that semester on a fundamentalist rule-keeping campus. It’s a handy point of reference.

I also realized as I was reading today’s chapter that in my mind I often swap out the word “Law” (referencing all of the 613 commands of the Law of Moses) with “Rules.” I have many life experiences with rule-keeping and rule-keepers.

In today’s chapter, Paul argues with his rule-keeping friends that laws don’t matter when you die. He uses the example of marriage. If a woman sleeps with a man while she’s married to another, she is committing adultery. If her husband dies, she is free to marry another man. He then goes back to the previous chapter in which those who are baptized are spiritually and metaphorically buried into Jesus’ death and raised into Jesus’ resurrection. Part of the “death” into which I was buried is becoming dead to rule-keeping. Part of the “new life” into which I was raised is the spiritual fruit production.

Just as the death of a husband frees the wife to pursue a new relationship, Paul says that rule-keeping died on the cross with Jesus. With His resurrection, we now have a new life with a totally new paradigm. We are freed from rule-keeping in order to increasingly bear the fruit of God’s Spirit:

Love that is increasingly evident in my life by my…
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Self-control

If my life is focused on being a disciple of Jesus, walking in His footsteps, following His example, and obeying His teaching, then I will increasingly produce these “fruits” in my life and relationships with every one, every day. I no longer need rules. The fruit of the Spirit in my life is evidence that I and my heart are ruled by Christ.

As I meditate on this contrast in the quiet this morning, I find myself so grateful for the freedom I’ve experienced from rule-keeping. I pray for those who are still bound in rule-keeping to find the live-giving grace of Jesus. I’m motivated to spiritually fertilize, prune, and water my life so that I can produce more love and all its flavors.

By the way, I used “raspberries” in the title of today’s post because when it comes to fruit, I love the flavor of berries. Also, it made for catchy alliteration! 🙂

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Faith and Leadership

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Faith and Leadership (CaD 1 Chr 13) – Wayfarer

“Let us bring the ark of our God back to us, for we did not inquire of it during the reign of Saul.”
1 Chronicles 13:3 (NIV)

Along my life journey, I have had the opportunity to hold many positions of leadership. Being a disciple of Jesus, my faith is not compartmentalized into a piece of my life. My endeavor is that Jesus’ teaching and example will factor into my thoughts, words, and actions in everything I do and in every relationship. I’m certainly not perfect. I can give you references of individuals who would be happy to share with you my failings. Yet, as I glance back at my experiences on life’s road, I can certainly mark some progress I have made.

As a lover of history, I can think of exemplary leaders whose faith influenced them greatly. Of course, there are examples of effective leaders who had no faith at all. I can also think of examples of men of strong faith who weren’t particularly effective leaders. So, how does faith fit into the leadership equation?

In today’s chapter, our Chronicler continues his own revised history of the Kingdom of Israel. In previous chapters, it’s been clear that he is focused on the glory of King David’s reign and national unity. This makes perfect sense given the fact that he and his contemporaries are attempting to revive a sense of national identity and the faith of their ancestors from the rubble and restoration project of Jerusalem. For decades there had been no nation, no Temple, and no system of worship. Now, there are seeds of rebirth that have been planted. With his writing, the Chronicler hopes to help them take root in the hearts and minds of his people.

He began his history by fast-forwarding to the beginning of the reign of King David. He then gave priority to David’s military strength, the heroic warriors of David’s army, and the power with which David expanded the nation’s power, territory, and influence to historical heights.

Now, he chooses to take another shortcut and make an addition to the historical record. The Chronicler fast-forwards to David’s decision to bring the Ark of the Covenant [cue: Raiders of the Lost Ark Theme] to his new capital city of Jerusalem. The Ark had been basically relegated to storage. With David’s establishment of Jerusalem as the nation’s capital, there is a place for the nation’s faith and the sacrificial system of the Law of Moses to take front-and-center prominence for the first time since the days of Joshua.

Why is this important?

The Chronicler wants both his people’s sense of identity and the faith of their ancestors to take root in this era of rebirth and reconstruction. Having presented David as the mighty warrior who put Israel on the map as a regional power, he now shifts to David, the man after God’s own heart. David’s leadership was intimately intertwined with his faith in God and God was a part of everything he thought, said, and did. He certainly wasn’t perfect, but there is no doubt that his faith fueled his leadership and priorities.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself meditating on the intersection of faith and leadership. I acknowledge that some individuals are effective leaders with little or no faith in the equation. I, however, do not think I would personally be a good leader without my faith at the core of my being. My commitment as a disciple of Jesus has taught me humility, servant-heartedness, and love for the least. I think my ability as a leader grows with the increasing presence in my life of the Spirit’s fruit of love, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. I’d hate to think what kind of a person, and what kind of leader, I would be without my relationship with Christ. Like David, my leadership and my faith are inextricably intertwined. I believe that’s what the Chronicler wants his readers to see.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Dude Abides

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The Dude Abides (CaD Jhn 15) – Wayfarer

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 (NIV)

Back in December our daughter and her family moved in with Wendy and me. They had been in Scotland for five years where they lived in a flat in the heart of Edinburgh. Now they’re back in the States living with us, and they have been in the process of hunting for a house which will be the first that they have owned as a family. The hunting, comparing, discussing, and making offers have brought back many memories of the different domiciles I’ve called home over the years.

Chapters 14-17 of John’s account of Jesus’ Story are fascinating because it’s basically one long discourse between Jesus and His disciples that ends with a discourse of prayer between Jesus and His Heavenly Father. In other words, John spends almost one-fifth of the entire book recounting what Jesus had to say on the fateful evening of His arrest.

One of the things that I look for as I’m reading and meditating on a chapter is patterns. A repeated word or phrase, for example. In today’s chapter, the word “remain” appears eleven times as Jesus repeatedly tells His followers to “remain” in Him as He “remains” in the Father and the Father “remains” in Jesus. The Greek word that Jesus repeats here is menō. It means to “dwell” or “abide” as in you move in and continue to live.

As I meditated on this in the quiet this morning, it brought back memories of when I surrendered my life to Christ as a teenager. There was this subtle yet infinitely profound difference between me being a religious, believing church member and me being a disciple of Jesus.

As a believing church member, I paid Jesus a visit each week in the church building which I had been told since I was a child was “God’s house.” God lived on 49th Street just south of Urbandale Avenue. I lived on the 31st block of Madison. I attended. I took the classes. I agreed that I believed what the church taught me, and I got my membership certificate and a box of offering envelopes. I paid God a visit each week and then went about with my own life.

When I invited Jesus into my life and asked Him to be the Lord of my life, I suddenly experienced something new: His indwelling. No longer a god I visited once a week, Jesus was the Lord who made His dwelling in me 24/7/365. Instead of thinking about God for a couple hours on Sunday and casually throwing up a prayer before meals, I became aware of God all the time because He was abiding in me and I realized that I was abiding in Him even if I couldn’t fully comprehend it.

I continued to meditate on this abiding presence, I couldn’t help but consider what Jesus asked and expected from this mutual indwelling relationship:

  • “Remain in me…” (vs. 4) Persevere, press on, don’t give up
  • “Bear much fruit…” (vss. 5, 8, 16) Never stop increasing the yield of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in my life and relationships.
  • “Keep my commands…” (vs. 10) There are only two commands: Love God and love others. Everything else flows from them.
  • “Love one another” (vs. 17) The command that is worth repeating.
  • “Get ready to be hated and persecuted…” (vss. 18-21)
  • “Live differently than the world…” (vs. 19)

In the quiet this morning as I contemplated our children’s search for a house and my mutual “dwelling” with Christ, I found myself praying that the fruit of God’s indwelling Spirit within me will continue to increase in yield each day of this earthly journey. And, may this lead others to say of me as it is said of one of my all-time favorite movie characters, The Big Lebowski:

“The dude abides.”

I’m back on Facebook for those who liked to read my chapter-a-day posts there! Facebook refuses to give me access to my old, hacked account, but I have started a new account. Please feel free to search for me on Facebook and friend me. If Facebook won’t let you friend me, please go to my Facebook profile and “Message” me on Facebook Messenger, which should then allow me to friend you. Cheers! -Tom

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Chapter-a-Day

When to Say “Enough”

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When to Say "Enough" (CaD Jer 5) – Wayfarer

They are well-fed, lusty stallions,
    each neighing for another man’s wife.
Jeremiah 5:8 (NIV)

Wendy and I have been listening to a really great podcast of late that explores the Bible from the perspective of the original Hebrew language. I know it doesn’t sound like everyone’s cup of tea, but it is actually very fascinating.

There was something that was mentioned in the very first episode of that podcast that has stuck with me ever since I heard it. After creating the universe in six days, God rests on the seventh. The commentator pointed out that God rested, not because He was tired, but because “God knows when to say ‘enough.'”

The point is that the problems of humanity, beginning with Adam and Eve’s original bite of the forbidden fruit, are really about appetite control. We don’t know when to say “enough.”

I have a natural appetite for food for survival, but when I don’t know when to say “enough” it turns into gluttony.

I have a natural appetite for sex for procreation and intimacy, but when I don’t know when to say “enough” it turns into destructive lust.

I have a natural appetite for the things I need to survive, but when I don’t know when to say “enough” it turns into greed.

I have a natural appetite for justice, but when I don’t know when to say “enough” it turns into wrath.

I have an appetite for rest, but when I don’t know when to say “enough” it turns into sloth.

I was designed to live in harmony and community with others, but when I don’t know when to say “enough” I become envious of them, their possessions, and/or their lives.

I am made in the image of God and designed to live in communion with God, but when I don’t know when to say “enough” my pride leads to me wanting to be my own god.

In today’s chapter, Jeremiah describes his idolatrous people as “lusty stallions” (btw: Am I the only one who immediately thought of Bill and Ted?) in reference to the overtly sexual nature and practices of many of the pagan gods his people didn’t want to give up. The metaphor points to humans being driven by their appetites like an animal in heat, instead of controlling them. Instead of being able to say “enough.”

In the quiet this morning, I was reminded of the “fruits of the Spirit” – the qualities that are supposed to be increasingly evident in my life as I follow the path of Jesus. The list of character qualities begins with the preeminent love and it’s anchored with the quality of self-control. In other words, as I grow in my relationship with Jesus (the Alpha through whom everything was created), I should increasingly exhibit the very quality He expressed from the beginning of creation on the seventh day: knowing when to say “enough.”

And with that thought, I believe I’ve written enough this morning.

Have a great day, my friend.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.