~Horsetail Falls~
Galations 5: 16 - 8 NKJV
Here it is almost June and Dennis and I have yet to hit the hiking trail for this year. We've certainly had quite a few adventures in our trail quest the past few years. To be honest, it's good to have a brother who enjoys a good walk in the woods from time to time. Of course, one of the benefits of hiking with Dennis is that I get to revel in wherever the Spirit is leading him to talk about. In this I have learned and grown alot over the past few years. Good thing he doesn't charge me a teaching fee. It's quite the feeling to be scaling a trail 1,600 feet up listening to all that Christ wants me to hear, all the while dodging more rocks than a mountain goat. For to say that Dennis has a affection for a bit of outdoor risk and danger is a understatement. Myself on the other hand, I'd rather just stick to the calm smooth trails. But where would that ultimately lead us? Charles Stanley once wrote that we learn more in our valley experiences than we do on our our mountaintops of our lives. I would tend to agree with that. I cannot imagine going through those storms in my life and not coming away with something that Christ Jesus meant for me to see through it all. It is for this reason that I believe that instead of saying "Why me, Lord" in our valleys that we should instead be asking "What are you doing here, Lord?" In doing this we may just take the focus off of ourselves and put it just where it belongs, on Christ! It is with this in mind that the apostle Paul tells us in Galations 5 that if we indeed walk in the Spirit that we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh. Tell me, who wouldn't want that close of a relationship with Jesus? Truth be told, we already have it. Well, as Dennis is so fond of telling me, we've always had that Spirit of Christ in us, it just takes us awhile to realize it.
9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Romans 8: 9 - 11 NKJV
Think about that for a minute, we've always had the Spirit of Jesus within us. Dennis likes to refer to this as our "Original setting" which was corrupted at the fall. For it was at the fall where man fell victim to the lie of satan that he was indeed his own independent self. Through it all, that Spirit of Jesus never left us, we just did not see Him for who He was. I believe one of the first times that I remember Dennis speak this to my heart was about halfway up the Angels Rest trail in the Columbia gorge. Again, Dennis calmly speaking Christ to me as I wondered how in the heck I was going to survive our latest uphill death march. But, this is just how most of our journeys together go. Of course, I wouldn't trade any of these adventures for all the tea in China. So, is walking "In Jesus" just a walk in the park? Definately not, but we can certainly make the process easier once we recognize that true Spirit in each of us. We can be closer to Jesus than any pulpit pounder will ever reveal to us. We can be more like Christ than any Sunday sermon will ever tell us. For as Christ was there from the begining {John 1:1} so He has been with us from the very start. We need not concern ourselves with being "more like" Jesus, WE ARE Jesus {Galations 2:20}. So is our daily walk in the park...with Him.
1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
John 1: 1 - 4 NKJV
~Scott~
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