10/20/2024 - Fruit Of The Spirit - Gentleness 2024

"The angel of the Lord came back a second time, and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” - 1 Kings 19:7 “Looking inside ourselves, we can anticipate only harshness from heaven. Looking out to Christ, we can anticipate only gentleness.” ― Dane C. Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly: The Heart of Christ for Sinners and Sufferers You believe in God, well and good. But even the demons believe and shudder (to paraphrase James 2:19). Many of us believe in God. In fact, most in our country believe in God, according to surveys. And I do not mention this to cast doubt on anyone's sincerity. But it makes a difference what God we believe in. Is the God you believe in the true God? Is he gentle? Is his burden easy and light like the God revealed to us in Jesus? Or is this God merely an incessant voice of accusation? While on vacation, I attended my friend Sara Jane's church in suburban Cincinnati. She is a Presbyterian. One of the gifts of good Presbyterian preaching is its strict attention to the holy scriptures. She cautioned us not to assume that the voice in our heads was not necessarily of God. "If you are being told never to rest, never to give up, that might be the voice of your old boss posing at Jesus, but that is not the real Jesus. Jesus told his disciples then to rest. He tells us who are his disciples now to rest." Read more at fbcmuncie.org/blog.