April 23, 2012

When does sharing become bragging?  If I share my spiritual victories, does that label me as a gascon (boastful, swaggering person)?  On the other hand, if, as Christians, we don't share our spiritual victories, we might miss an opportunity to encourage a brother or sister.  Hmmm. . .

Well, at the risk of sounding like a cockalorum (a boastful, self-important person), I want to share a couple of incidents from this weekend that were made possible ONLY through the leading and strengthening of the Holy Spirit.  "Not by my might nor by power, but by My spirit," says the Lord of Hosts.  Zechariah 4:6 (NAS)


Incident 1
There have been two distinct times this weekend where bad habits of the past have become very real, present temptations.  With those temptations, rationalizations started to enter my mind.  Picture if you will a game of "Whack-a-mole" only with rationalizations.  "You have been doing really well."  "No one will know."  "One time won't hurt."  Had I relied only on my strength and logic, I might have succumbed.  But scripture came to the rescue.  James 4:7- Submit yourselves, then, to God.  Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  Almost as soon as I invoked this heavenly promise, the temptations subsided.

Incident 2
Yesterday afternoon, I was scheduled to teach an English lesson to our ESL class at Ridgecrest.  A couple of hours before the class was scheduled to begin there had been a disagreement/misunderstanding with Seth.  It was one of the few occasions where I had actually done little to nothing to create the rift; however, he was upset with me.  What scripture should pop into my head?  23"Therefore if you are offering your gift at the alter and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the alter.  First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift."  Matthew 5:23 (NIV)  So, sitting in the Ridgecrest parking lot, I text Seth a message in an effort to amend the rift.

Did the heavenly hosts break out in song as a result of either incident above?  Was I suddenly overcome with a vision of great and wondrous things?  Did the Holy Spirit reveal the winning lottery numbers to me as a reward for my great spiritual conquests?  None of the above.

What did happen was: A)  I did not have to deal with the guilt of succumbing to temptation; B) The relationship with Seth did not suffer further damage; C) My heavenly Father, in a still, small voice told me, "Well done, my son."

Don't get me wrong, my failures still far outnumber my successes, but  these two incidents serve to remind me that God is faithful in that if we will obey His word and live by His precepts, we can be overcomers.