Perhaps it may turn out a sang,
Perhaps turn out a sermon.

-- R. Burns Epistle to a Young Friend

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Seasonal Greetings



Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. -- 1 Corinthians 2:12


The earth has completed another circuit of the sun, yet we are not in the same place we were this time last year.  The sun has moved accompanied by the myriad of stars and bodies of light and darkness that lie around about us.  There is nothing new under the sun yet nothing is the same as it was.  I am not the same, my life has changed completely; nevertheless, I look much the same – a bit more haggard and white-haired, a few more cracks and creases but recognizable.  I have the same memories and scars, though I could not have imagined on this day a year ago what I would be where I am.

 The spirit of the world or the spirit of the age has become more confused, more desperate, fearful, corrupted, and perverse.  It cries, Peace, constantly, while having no hope for peace of any kind.  It blusters even as it cowers, empty of understanding, ignorantly mocking its own ignorance. 

God, the Apostle Paul told Timothy, has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-control (2 Timothy 1:7).  We can live in liberty, no longer governed and controlled by fear and intimidation, no longer manipulated by passion and worry.  We can rest in the love of God, knowing that He cares for us, empowering us to meet every challenge in life and to live above the animal impulses of the body and the emotions and rationalizations of the soul. 

Tomorrow is both a known and an unknown, mystery and opportunity.  The spirit of the world alternatively exults and recoils from the future.  The Spirit who is from God reminds us to look not at the calendar but at the seasons – life, death, renewal, and rebirth.  We sleep; we wake.  There is a time to lie quiet and dormant, a time to produce and be fruitful.  The spirit of the age, trapped by time, imprisoned by instincts, can only follow trends and fashions, blown about by the winds of rhetoric and the selfish desires of the soul. 

Through Christ, we live the everlasting life in tune with eternity and controlled by truth.  Every day starts a joyous new year.

5 comments:

julie said...

Beautifully said, Mushroom. May you have a happy new year. Or rather, perhaps, may it be a good one.

Rick said...

What Julie said.

And:
"to live above the animal impulses of the body and the emotions and rationalizations of the soul."
We are able to do this (we do it, with God's help, even if only on occasion) so perhaps we still have a chance to be worthy of heaven.
You are an inspiration, Dwaine. God must be pleased with that.
Happy New Year!

mushroom said...

Thank you both. I cannot express what you all mean to me. I pray that it will be a good year for us all, and it will be in Christ.

Rick said...

You mean an awful lot to us too.

John Lien said...

Happy New year, friends! Whew, sure glad to see 2015 in my rearview mirror. I'm feeling unusually optimistic today, against all observations to the contrary.

Maybe it has something to do with this...

"We can rest in the love of God, knowing that He cares for us, empowering us to meet every challenge in life and to live above the animal impulses of the body and the emotions and rationalizations of the soul."

Thanks Mush.