If it be the Will of the Lord...

⁶ Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.”

The context of this passage is the remarkable crisis of faith that John the Baptist is having. John is confined in prison and he is hearing of the marvealous miracles that Jesus is performing. He is stuck there for preaching righteousness. His expectation is that Jesus, his cousin would any day now find a way to get him released, but that day does not come. And as he sits in his confinement his world becomes really small. Even though he grew up with Jesus and knew emphatically of his heavenly origin from the begining of his life, he still questioned if Jesus was the "one". John was the first spiritual leader to announce that Jesus was the Christ, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. His ministry was to make the path clear for the holy one of God. He preached repentance so that the people would be able to recognize the Messiah when his time was full. Jesus even declared that John was the greatest man ever and with all that John still wavered in his faith. How comforting it is to me to know that my waverings are not uncommon to even the personal eyewitness and family member of Jesus himself. 

We are blessed when we continue in our faith even when God does not move in the way we expect Him to. God's ways are higher than our ways so it is important to remember that we do not have all the pieces of the puzzle as God does so we need to be able to trust Him and not our own understanding. His big picture view will always be a more adventageous perspective, so we need to rest in Him.

APPLICATION
To cultivate a loose grip on my personal plans and defer to "if it be the will of the Lord" mode.

It just works.

^{Galatians 6:8} Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 

I love the fact that this is an equation, a law that applies equally to everyone, this is the grace of God because He has revealed it to us.  Gravity always works, boyancy always works, aerodynamics always works for everyone, believer, unbeliever no matter. and so it is with this spiritual law. It just works.  This is great news. It is not a matter of being blessed. It is a matter of what seed have you planted. How well did you prepare the soil of your life, how patient you have been in nurturing and tending the garden of your life and then harvesting in due season.

It is not a matter of being "lucky" (especially since we do not believe in luck) it is a matter in your own hands, to leverage this law at your benefit or ignore it at your peril. However God does add the increase. We may plant a seed of corn but God will raise up a bountiful harvest of a stalk of corn with many ears and many many kernels in each ear. A stalk may have 6 ears on it or it may have 10, the increase is up to God and the quality of the seed planted and the value of how you nurtured and tended the garden. It still comes down to our personal responsibility with what God has entrusted us with, to bear fruit that remains.
APPLICATION
To be mindful of the way that I tend the issues of my life from my relationships to the words I speak to my finances. Ever striving to plant good seed in good soil.

It Just Is

 ^{GAL. 6:7} Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.

This is a law, it is not a suggestion, or an observation it is as true as gravity or any other law of physics. It is true whether you are a jew a greek or a muslim it is true regardless of your financial status or any other circumstance. It is not partial nor is it arbitrary it just is. Some people reap lavishly from the abundance of the good seed they have sown. Others may look on and become envious of what they have been blessed with. This is sin. Where you are in life is the result of the seeds you have sown in the previous seasons. If you are not content with what you have then you need to sow the right seed now and patiently expect a harvest in due season.
APPLICATION
I need to be consistently planting good seed so as to expect to reap a fruitful harvest.  Today I will sow a seed of patience by asking pertinent questions as apposed to telling others what to do.

Be Teachable

^{Gal. 6:3} If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.

We are champions at thinking more of ourselves than we ought. There are lessons that we should learn over ba ba and bankey that our parents should teach us such as how to share, that there are "others" most notable that we are not the center of the world. Big big lessons, that if we are not schooled in early on become increasingly difficult to learn. Our prison systems and the entire rehab industry is full of people learning these very lessons. God is always teaching, the question is are we in the mode of learning?
APPLICATION
My prayer is that I would cultivate a teachable spirit and particularly today I would be on the lookout for those teachable moments.