Are you in the “middle” of something uncomfortable right now?

Is there a behavior you are acting out which know is inconsistent with who you are?

Sometimes when we get involved in
certain things we get trapped in a past behavior or a level of self-defense and we fail to find the proper way out.

In these instances be careful to look for a doorway to exit…rather than burning the house down just to get out.

A dependable doorway is Galatians 5, which tells us about behaviors that get manifested when we walk outside of the leading of Gods Spirit.

It happens.

Aside from the obvious misbehaviors
like murder, adultery, witchcraft and heresies….
there are subtle ones that eat away at our lives and relationships.

Variance, wrath, strife and envy.
These are not immediately visible to the outside world…but an acid that will destroy your insides.

The first step in these subtle subversions is variance.

You at variance with anyone?

With God…?
With a co-worker…?
With your spouse…?

Variance manifested becomes strife.
Wrath can either precede or follow it.

Variance happens because of doubt, fear and lack of communication. Communication is more than you talking or spouting off….
communication requires more than one individual talking …
AND LISTENING.

If you are at variance with another person…there is doubt, fear and maybe misbehavior that causes it.

It could be the problem is not the other person…. that doubt, fear or misbehavior could lie within you.

Most variance issues arise out of SOMEONE  not abiding in the presence of God.

Being there brings those attributes against which there is no law…mentioned in verses 22 and 23 of Galatians 5.

Not being there brings the ones referred to in verses 19-20-21.

Be honest and without an agenda and look in the mirror …..and without accusation or defensiveness allow your self and your Spirit to tell you if you are operating from the presence that brings Peace, Goodness, Temperance, Joy.

Variance with wrong….is Right.

Variance outside of that is not.

Terry
June 2016

Walking down the street in Baltimore one day,
the air was pierced with the sudden, loud and alarming sound of an ambulance siren.

It was soon followed by another, and the comment was made,
” Something bad must have happened.”

When an ambulance rides with its lights pulsating and siren blaring,

It has every right of way it requires.

As a driver you are always instructed to move out of the way and give the emergency vehicle access to the road.

The thought is that the ambulance has someone inside, or a person they are going to rescue,  who requires immediate and emergency attentive care.

It may be a matter of life and death.

The thought came to me as I heard the sirens and watched the vehicles fly down the busy city street I was on….
those vehicles and the people in them were maybe going toward someone in a life/death situation.

Immediately, the thought moved to the Spiritual.

Do you know anyone at this moment whose life or marriage or spiritual condition is in need of an “ambulance” to blast it’s siren, get there quickly and rescue them???

There are 911 calls that go out…
In need of an ambulance …

if you are paying attention.

Read that again

The call may be coming from your teenager, from an adult child hurting quietly because their marriage is struggling,

it may be from a friend doubting their commitment to a marriage and making plans to leave.

The siren may be sounding for you….

to go after your Spouse who has insecurities suffers silently and is dying slowly inside.

It maybe from a friend or associate who you know is falling apart and away from their connections to Christ or at Church.

You may not be the “physician” who renders the help…

you may only need to be the “Andrew” in the situation.

You may simply need to get them TO the one who gives the help.

Andrew did not change anyone…

he simply brought them to Jesus.

Andrew “drove an ambulance”  that took his brother, Peter, to Christ.

Then, the change in Peter began after Jesus did the work.

I know of a marriage that was falling apart. Several people close to the couple paid attention, inserted themselves into the situation without worrying about hurting any feelings, and quietly but with determination, confronted the Spouse looking to leave.

These ambulance drivers saw the emergency, got to and into the situation and after a period of committed involvement….

the couple is on a road to recovering
their marriage.

That’s being an ambulance driver…..seeing an accident happening or getting a call,
sounding a siren to get involved…
going around several obstacles,
and giving life-saving assistance.

There are spiritual conditions which need to be gone after the same way.

There are young lives and marriages and friends who need to be gone after with the immediacy and urgency of an ambulance sirening its way through a crowded city street.

Someone you know has a 911 call going out.

Maybe that it’s YOU who needs to 911
a close friend ….
and get them to ambulance their way to rescue you.

It may not be dialed or spoken aloud.

Pay attention.

You have the capacity and most likely the opportunity to be the “driver of an ambulance” to go rescue someone.

If the driver of an ambulance worried about causing the people on the road ahead of them to be delayed….
he would not sound the siren that his ride had potentially life-saving implications.

When someone you know is in a similar spiritual, marital or physical condition….

let nothing keep you from getting to them.

Or from getting them to the help they need.

Drivers move out of the way of an ambulance because of a matter of precedence.

The emergency takes precedence over all else on the road.

There is an emergency SOMEWHERE

or with SOMEONE…

that you need to siren your way to.

Terry
June 2016