Don’t You Want to Be Influenced by the Spirit?
Good Morning Friends,
Even today I find joy in cooking most of the meals for my family. One of the techniques I learned early on was to salt the pot to raise the boiling point of the water. It makes the cooking less violent. I also discovered that salt took the bitterness out of many of the things being cooked. So too it is when we serve as salt in the world. I have discovered that one of the safest ways to keep my emotional pot from boiling over is to be as salt in the water… Yes a little salt goes well in improving the cooking but also in the eating. So on this Palm Sunday with all the palm crosses made I contemplate today’s scripture but also the heart of the palm. With that in mind I pose today’s question. Don’t You Want to Be
Influenced by the Spirit?
Scripture: and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.
Romans 5:5 (NRSV)
Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.
Ephesians 4:31 (NIV)
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:22-26 (NRSV)
13’You are the salt of the earth; but if salt has lost its taste, how can its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything, but is thrown out and trampled underfoot. 14 ‘You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.
Matthew 5:13-16 (NRSV)
13The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money-changers seated at their tables. 15Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. 16He told those who were selling the doves, ‘Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a market-place!’ 17His disciples remembered that it was written, ‘Zeal for your house will consume me.’ 18The Jews then said to him, ‘What sign can you show us for doing this?’ 19Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.’ 20The Jews then said, ‘This temple has been under construction for forty-six years, and will you raise it up in three days?’ 21But he was speaking of the temple of his body. 22After he was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this; and they believed the scripture and the word that Jesus had spoken.
John 2:13-22 (NRSV)
The righteous flourish like the palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the LORD; they flourish in the courts of our God. In old age they still produce fruit; they are always green and full of sap, showing that the LORD is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
Psalm 92:12-15 (NRSV)
Message: Today we pause in our Lenten journey with a peak at the light of resurrection at the end of the tunnel knowing full well the Passion is to come. And today on this Palm Sunday, we witness Christ like love in our lives in the palms and salt and light we share. For we are to be the silent work of influence that manifests the love of God in this world while being guided by the Spirit. Here as our relationships are seasoned with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control our emotional pot does not boil over. Like salt in the water we are influenced by the Holy Spirit which permeates our emotions, bringing consideration, goodwill, friendships and peace with one another. Oh we can still make our point as Jesus did in the cleansing of the temple at Passover. Indeed on this Palm Sunday perhaps Jesus will show his seasoning and light.
Pray we be as the salt of the earth. Pray God preserve us. Pray the love of God be poured into our hearts through the work of the Holy Spirit. Pray we live out our faith. Pray we be an authentic influence in the lives of others. Pray God restrain us from boiling over. Pray we be led by the Holy Spirit. Pray we let our light shine. Pray we like the palm tree break free of what binds around us. Pray we like the palms grow from the inside out and this inner strength gives us the ability to bend not break in life’s storms. Pray that we like the hearts of palm trees are alive. Pray on this Palm Sunday that we realize that the outward person is perishing but the inward life can be joyously renewed day by day. Pray this day we be as salt and light in preparation for the Passion to come.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 