BIRTH: The Art of Dealing With The Flesh and Spirit

Greetings and Salutations at the beginning of Lent. Is it almost over? Oh...it's only been two days. Lord...HELP!

On August 15th 2011...I will be celebrating my day of birth. I will be 60 years old. If I live to be 120 years old...I would be considered to be middle aged. I've got a feeling...that I am over the middle aged mark at this point in the game. My friend...Chip Payne...recently celebrated his 5oth birthday...and it dawned on me...that when he turns 60 years old...I will be 70 years old. That just AIN'T right.

Back on August 15th 1951...my mother Elizabeth Boyd gave birth to a boy at Allen Clinic in Murfreesboro Tennessee.

NOTE: At this point...let us focus on picture #1 and all join in with a collective Awwwwwwww....how cute.

This birth was the result of the union of Lonnie and Elizabeth Boyd 9 months earlier...and the cause and effect was pregnancy...and the culmination of BIRTH. Flesh (human beings)...gave birth to flesh (another human being). This does follow the Biblical principle...John 3:6 "That which is born of the flesh...is...flesh..."

For the next 19 years...I went from a bouncing baby boy...to a skipping skinny kid. My life was shaped by my environment including my parent's values... my friend's peer pressure...the good, the bad, the ugly...religious upbringing...my free will and choices I made based on my flesh (not my body...but my nature).

In the fall of 1970...I was a paranoid, addicted, selfish, individual (who followed the crowd like a lemming running over a cliff). Why is it that we want to be individuals...and then dress, walk, talk, act like everyone else?

In the fall of 1970 Brenda led me to the Lord...and I accepted Jesus as my Saviour...and boy did I need saving. At that point on the space-time continuum, I went from being born the first time...in the flesh...to being BORN AGAIN...in the Spirit. I had received a divine touch here on planet Earth... and John 3:3...and began to see the kingdom of God. "Jesus answered and said to him, Truly, truly...I say to you...unless on is BORN AGAIN...he cannot see the kingdom of God." (John 3:3). I went from being born of the flesh...because flesh gives birth to flesh...to being BORN TWICE...where "that which is born of the Spirit (big S) is spirit (little s).


I could NOT change myself. I personally needed a divine touch. As of this writing it is March 10th 2011. I was born again in the fall of 1970. I wish that I could tell you that...I matured spiritually from then to now on a regular, consistent basis...but I can't. I have had many HILLS...and VALLEYS. I have been on the MOUNTAIN TOP (great spiritual times) and I have been in the depths of the VALLEYS (in the lowlands and dark times).

I have walked in the Spirit and experience life and peace...and I have walked in the flesh and experienced death (a disconnect from His presence). I can't blame God, people, situations and circumstances for my flesh walk. I can't even blame the devil..."The devil made me do it."

The same principle of my natural birth back in 1951...was...and sometimes still is in 2011... flesh gives birth to flesh.

"It was for FREEDOM that Christ set us FREE...therefore...KEEP STANDING FIRM and do not BE SUBJECT AGAIN to a YOKE OF SLAVERY. (Galatians 5:1)

NOTE: A great warning written to believers who had been BORN AGAIN.


"For you were CALLED TO FREEDOM, brethren; only DO NOT TURN YOUR FREEDOM INTO AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE FLESH...but through LOVE...SERVE ONE ANOTHER." (Galatians 5:13)

NOTE: Spirit walk can turn into flesh walk by a turning. It is not our calling to walk in bondage...but to walk in freedom.

"But I say...WALK BY THE SPIRIT...and you WILL NOT carry out the DESIRE OF THE FLESH. For the FLESH sets it's desire against the SPIRIT...and the SPIRIT against the FLESH...for these are IN OPPOSITION to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please." (Galatians 5:16)

NOTE: Paul is writing to believers...who are struggling with the things of the flesh and Spirit.

That speaks to me of my struggles over the years. When I WALK in the FLESH...versus WALKING IN THE SPIRIT...flesh gives birth to flesh...versus...Spirit giving birth to spirit.

I will either be in the flesh...and the deeds of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21)...OR be in the Spirit and having growth with the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22)

The way that this GROWTH PROCESS takes place in my life...is by death. "Now those who belong to Christ Jesus (that would be me and you via being BORN AGAIN)...have CRUCIFIED THE FLESH...with its PASSIONS and DESIRES." (Galatians 5:24) Once the flesh crucifixion takes place...then we must LIVE AND WALK BY THE SPIRIT. "If we LIVE by the SPIRIT...let us ALSO...WALK BY THE SPIRIT."


The way that we crucify the FLESH...is to IDENTIFY with the work that Jesus did...that we could NOT do. "I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me...and the life which I NOW live in the flesh (physical body)...I live BY FAITH IN THE SON OF GOD...who loved me and delivered Himself up for me." (Galatians 2:20).

We crucify our flesh and walk in the Spirit by faith in what HE DID...not what we do. Paul stated that "...I die daily..." speaking not of him dying for his own sin...but again...accepting what Jesus did in Galatians 2:20.

Paul questions some people who started out in the Spirit...but now were trying for perfection in the flesh.

"You foolish Galatians...who has bewitched you before whose eyes JESUS CHRIST...was publicly portrayed as CRUCIFIED? This is the only thing I want to find out from you...did you RECEIVE THE SPIRIT by the works of the Law...or by HEARING WITH FAITH? Are you so foolish? Having BEGUN BY THE SPIRIT...are you now being PERFECTED BY THE FLESH? Did you suffer so many things in vain--if indeed it was in vain? So then...does He who PROVIDES YOU WITH THE SPIRIT and WORKS MIRACLES among you...do it by the WORKS OF THE LAW...or by HEARING WITH FAITH?" (Galatians 3:1-5)

FINAL THOUGHTS...FINALLY

Flesh gives birth to flesh...Spirit gives birth to spirit. During this Lent season...this is my primary desire...to SAY NO TO THE FLESH...AND SAY YES TO THE SPIRIT...in my spirit, my soul, and my body. The flesh must get into line with the Spirit...and this time is where..with the HELP OF THE HELPER (The Holy Spirit)...I can discipline myself for the purpose of godliness. (I Timothy 4:8-16)

Love and Spirit-Filled Kisses
Rodney "Change My Heart O God" Boyd

FREE

Greetings free friends...and bound buddies. Do you ever feel like you've been Houdinized? Do you feel like you've got more chains and locks than old Marley in an Ebenezer nightmare. Have you been forging your chain over the years...and it is weighing you down like a 100 pound Albatross...where the Ancient Mariner does not rhyme anymore. Guess what. That is NOT the will of God for you.

Many people pray to know what the WILL OF GOD is for their lives. The seek, they agonize, they wonder, they get discouraged about God's plan for them. I...the Ruminator...will tell you exactly...what God's will is for you. Are you ready?

FREEDOM! SAY WHAT?!?
You heard me...I don't stuttered...and in the words of Earnest T. Bass...I don't chew my cabbage twice.

Jesus stated..."If you abide in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you shall know the truth... and the TRUTH shall make you FREE." (John 8:31,32) Of course, this is one of the most misquoted verses in the Bible. People love to quote this verse as an excuse to "speak their minds"...and then when they do speak their minds...they say...I'm only speaking the TRUTH...and you know that the TRUTH shall set you FREE. Christians and non-Christians use this convoluted logic...missing out on the abiding in Jesus' word part... and becoming true disciples of Him...and then coming into a position of knowing the truth...and THEN the TRUTH shall make you FREE.

The people that Jesus was talking to, had a great religious heritage...and they had come to believe in the things he spoke. (John 8:30) The problem for them...was that being made free comment. They reflect many of us...as we enter into the CLEOPATRA SYNDROME...as we become the Queen of DE-NILE (denial).

"They answered Him, We are Abraham's offspring (religious heritage).. and have never yet been ENSLAVED to anyone..how is it that You say YOU SHALL BECOME FREE?" (John 8:33). In their logical minds... this was true. They had read stories of enslavement in the past...in their history books...but they were about to be face to face with HISstory (Jesus' Story).

"Jesus answered them, Truly, truly (look out when He gives you a double truly...or a double verily...he's about to make a big point)...I say to you, everyone who COMMITS SIN...is the SLAVE OF SIN, and the slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever."
(John 8:34,35) OUCH!

The first step to being set free...is to admit that you are NOT FREE. We cover up our bondage well. We sugar coat our sins...we rationalize our trespasses...we justify our iniquities. We get religious about it...we point our fingers to others and compare ourselves to others...because at least I am not as bad as so and so...or at least I'm not like that religious hypocrite in the organized religion. I do not break the 10 commandments...or at least I keep 6 out of 10 of them...so I am only 60% in bondage.

Jesus then underscores what he plainly stated in the first place..."If therefore the SON shall make you free...you shall be FREE INDEED."
(John 8:36) Read the rest of John 8 for the exciting conclusion of this discussion on freedom.

William Wallace...cried out for FREEEEEEEEEEEDOMMM!!!!!

Before William Wallace...there was Moses. The children of Israel...were in the land of Egypt... with their brother Joseph...who had influence in the land...BUT there came a day when a king arose... who did not know Joseph.
The king...saw how powerful the people of the sons of Israel were... and appointed TASKMASTERS over them to afflict them with HARD LABOR. They once were FREE...now they were ENSLAVED. (Exodus 7:1-22)

The slaves came to a point...to where their desire for FREEDOM was heard by God. "Now it came about in the course of those many days that the king of Egypt died. And the sons of Israel SIGHED because of the BONDAGE...and they CRIED OUT...and their CRY for HELP because of their BONDAGE...rose up to God. So God heard their GROANING; and God REMEMBERED his COVENANT with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And God SAW the sons of Israel, and God TOOK NOTICE. (Exodus 2:23-25)

NOTE: God...had not forgotten...God does not have Alzheimer's Disease...and does not just arbitrarily ignore His children...however he does allow us to do what we want. I sense...that their was something about their sighings, cryings, and groanings...that indicated they were ready...to trust God. They must have been sighing, crying and groaning before this event. The bottom line is...this time...it set into motion a DELIVERER...aka MOSES...aka a type of JESUS.

After God calls Moses...to be His representative...and after Moses argued with all of the reasons that he could not...he went..."And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, Thus says the Lord...the God of Israel...LET MY PEOPLE GO..." (Exodus 5:1) In other words...
Freeeeeeeeeeeeedoooooooooooommmm!!!

What was the PURPOSE for this RELEASE? "...that they may CELEBRATE...a feast to Me in the wilderness. (Exodus 5:1). Fast forward...to September 5th 2007. The purpose for release has not changed. Celebration, praise, worship in the midst of this wilderness that we call earth...to be given to Him. (Again, Read Exodus for the exciting details of this DELIVERANCE).

As believers in the Death, Burial, Resurrection (D.B.R.)...we have been DELIVERED from the domain/authority of darkness and TRANSFERRED into the kingdom of His beloved Son.
(Colossians 1:13)

As time passes...we get a sense of heritage...and the further we get from our pass...we tend to forget where we came from...and how we were set free in the first place. We let our guard down...with our freedom...and before we knew it... we find ourselves back into bondage...BUT we tend to deny that we are bound...after all...we HAVE BEEN (past tense) SET FREE.

The book SCOTT FREE chronicles the life of Scott Ross...a former New York Disc Jockey...who rubbed elbows with The Beatles, Rollings Stones and you name it. He returned to roots of his childhood and became a Spirit-filled follower/disciple of Jesus Christ. His journey is chronicled in the book...and as the blurb on the cover states, "Even AFTER he found Jesus, he could not escape from Himself. What was the secret that set him: SCOTT FREE?" This is Ruminator Recommended Reading (RRR)


Remember that will of God that I told you about. This is underscored in Galatians. "It was for FREEDOM that Christ SET US FREE (past tense)...therefore...KEEP STANDING FIRM...and do not be SUBJECT AGAIN...to a YOKE OF SLAVERY." (Galatians 5:1). As Jesus stated to those who were denying the fact that they were enslaved...these things that can make us subject again to a yoke of slavery...is SIN. The will of God is not to be bound by SIN...but to keep standing firm...against sin in our lives.

Again...just like people are constantly seeking some cosmic will for their lives...to rescue from their mundane...everyday...living out day by day, lives...so it is with the CALLING on their lives. Well...I am about to tell you what your CALLING is. "For you were CALLED...to FREEDOM."
(Galatians 5:13). There ya go...the will of God is the same thing that your calling is...FREEDOM.

The problem is...that if we are not careful...this thing called FREEDOM...
can take a bad turn. "...only do not turn your freedom into an OPPORTUNITY for the FLESH, but through LOVE....SERVE one another." (Galatians 5:13) NOTE: This re-bondage is manifested in how you relate to others. The desires of the flesh...trump the desire to follow Jesus as a servant/lover. (Galatians 5:13-15)

This thing called the FLESH...where your bondage is manifested...sets it's desire...against..the Spirit. Now...I AM NOT...talking about someone who does not know Jesus...or someone who pretends to be religious.. I am talking about bonafide...blood washed...Bible believing Christians. These people are SET FREE...but are not continuing in Jesus Words... and the cause and effect is walking in the deeds of the FLESH...which are evident. Galatians 5:19-21 gives a sampling...not a conclusive list of deeds of the flesh...that Christians can be bound with...even after they were set free. I know from personal experience...because after I was saved in 1970, baptized in the Holy Spirit in 1972...became REBOUND in sin...and smoked more dope, drank more booze, huffed more chemicals, and did more stupid stuff under the influence...than I did before I was a Christian. Here's a partial list: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envyings, drunkenness, carousings, and things LIKE these. NOTE: Again, I am not talking about NON-CHRISTIANS or people with religious facades...I'm talking about BELIEVERS. We can fall out of the WILL OF GOD...by being bound again with sin.

HOW CAN WE STAND AGAINST THIS HAPPENING? I'm glad you asked.

"But I say WALK BY THE SPIRIT...and you WILL NOT carry out the desire of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16)

The problem is stated in Galatians 5:17..."For the FLESH sets its desire against the SPIRIT, and the SPIRIT against the FLESH...for these are in OPPOSITION to one another...so that you may not do the things that you PLEASE."

The fruit (or outworking) of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, SELF-CONTROL, against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22,23).

HOW DO WE GET FROM DEEDS OF THE FLESH TO FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT? HOW DO WE STAY FREE VERSUS BEING BOUND AGAIN. I'm glad you asked.

"Now...those who belong to Christ Jesus (the Freed)...have CRUCIFIED (put to death) the FLESH...with its passions and desires. If we live by the SPIRIT...let us also WALK by the Spirit." (Galatians 5:24,25)

Houdini knew how to manipulate handcuffs, create illusion, escape from impossible situations with physical, explainable tricks. Our escapes are not based on deception...but on TRUTH. Jesus is the way, THE TRUTH and the life...no one comes to the Father but through Him...and no one stays FREE...except by continuing in His Word.

Love and FREE kisses
Rodney "William Wallace Ain't Got Nothing On Me" Boyd