After receiving the priceless gift of salvation we are given a free scholarship into the School of the Holy Spirit. Here we discover we are all on this road together with a common goal: “Till we all come in the unity of the faith….to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ”, Ephesians 4:13. As we journey along we discover the most important rule of the road is “to love one another”. There are signs to remind us: GIVE WAY, (In U.S.A. YIELD).
Though ever grateful for the change Jesus brings to our lives, there are times when we can become complacent in
certain areas resulting in dryness of spirit. We can judge our fellow men and yet excuse ourselves when challenged with the cry, “Oh, I just didn’t think!” Consider this: Thoughtlessness is selfishness. I can be so busy with my own welfare and affairs that I neglect others. When Christ has pre-eminence in my life I will always prefer others before myself.
There are times when the Holy Ghost convicts us of faults in order to guide us back to the right path of following the Master. Our failures are often birthed in our judgement of others. Jesus said, “You hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of your own eye, then you shall see clearly to cast out the splinter out of your brother’s eye,” Matthew 7:5. This is such an important learning curve in the School of the Spirit. It is foundational, always current and a place of safety: “Judge not, that you be not judged,” Matthew 7:1. When we take a look at ourselves under the mighty hand of the Holy Spirit, we will look at others differently through God’s eyes.
Hebrews 2:1 gives a reminder in our “schoolroom“: “Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip.” May my daily prayer be, “Lord, keep me true…”
Hebrews 12:2 “Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of God.” Endurance and joy are linked. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith. We are in His “Finishing School.” He endured the Cross for the joy set before Him. There are some areas in our lives that we would like to change but the Lord permits them to produce heart change in us. As I embrace my circumstance in Him, He enables me to endure in His strength. This is where true joy is found, not in a circumstance, but in His strength. “…the joy of the Lord is your strength,” Nehemiah 8:10. It is in His presence I find fullness of joy, (Psalm 16:11).
In the schoolroom of life we may find times when we are chastened of the Lord. Consider the chastening as a sign of the Lord’s love for us. Hebrews 12:5 – 7 encourages us, “…My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when you are rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loves he chastens…If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons, for what son is he whom the father does not chasten?” Verse 11 “Now no chastening for the present time seems joyous, but grievous, nevertheless afterwards it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to them who are exercised thereby.” Humility is key to embrace the loving hand of the chastening of the Lord. He will enable me to endure as I journey through the passage, “yoked to Jesus and learning of Him,” (Matthew 11:29-30). There is treasure at the end of this: “the peaceable fruit of righteousness”, Hebrews 12:11. If we murmur and complain about our lot, remember the Children of Israel and the consequences of their murmuring! It will prevent us entering in to all the fullness of God, our birthright.
There is a daily renewal that takes place in our “inward man” as we walk with the Lord, following closely, heeding His voice. “For which cause we faint not, though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day,” 2 Corinthians 4:16. I have to allow the mind of Christ to renew my mind, to let go of the old ways of thinking, of doing things according to the “tree of knowledge of good and evil” instead of living according to God’s ways. Jesus is the “tree of life” and I should consult His wisdom, not the world’s traditions. Only when my mind is renewed in Christ will I receive what He says and has for me. Only then will I see things from God’s perspective and He will demonstrate, to me, that He is who He says He is.
Prayer: Beloved Heavenly Father, may your word find a resting place in our hearts to bring about the change to become meek and lowly, as the character of your Son is glorified in our lives, giving glory back to you. Amen.
