Love – Page 2 – goodchristianfiction

Peace that surpasses cat naps

Posted on July 6, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

So, I’ve been working on emptying myself, paying attention to my thoughts, and realizing the difference between seeing people for what they need versus what they deserve.

These steps would be a hard struggle, even without a world of temptation around me. In fact, without the Spirit that dwells within me, I would find it impossible to see the narrow lane that is the way of God, much less stay anywhere near within its bounds.

Even though the love of Christ makes who I am more important than what I do, the process of being love and goodness is not without obstacles. The television beckons on a daily basis, slipping past me words and actions that would not have passed the censors when I was a child and yet are OK for even day-time airwaves. I still turn the television on. With the boon of electronic publishing, I have thousands of books at my fingertips. Do historical romances count as “clean” fiction? I doubt it. But, you’ll find quite a few of them on my Nook account.

“Do not be deceived,” Paul tells the Corinthians. “‘Bad company corrupts good morals'” (1 Cor 15:33).

The devil doesn’t show up looking like some horrible creature you want to shrink from, but as the appealing figure you only know as a deceiver if you really pay attention.

Which brings me back to the Spirit that dwells within us, the mechanism by which Christ makes “His burden light” (Matt. 11:30). Through the help of concentrating on the Spirit, we will find ourselves more sure-footed on the narrow path:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 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. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
Galatians 5:16-18

The last part of Paul’s admonition to the Galatians may seem contradictory. What did he mean by not being under the Law? Remember, for one, that in the time that Jesus walked the earth, the Law had become a thing that lost sight of its main goal in overwhelming minutiae. Christ told the Pharisees it was not what was on the outside that made them unclean, but what was in their hearts, remember? In living by the Spirit, what Paul is saying is that we are no longer caught under the minutiae of the Law that gets us focused on the wrong things. Instead, with the Spirit, we are guided by the love and goodness that Christ exhibited while He was on this earth. And this kind of living, rather than losing sight of the Law, inevitably ups the ante.

This piece has turned into one of those “sinners in the hands of an angry God” kind of approaches, when it promised something very different, so let me deliver on the promise of the title. Spending time in the Spirit takes practice, just like any other skill. You build up to it. You have to commit to it. But, the more you do it, the more you realize that it is so much more rewarding than the entertainments or activities that you used to do to fill the voids in your life that simply don’t cut it any more. (And you do still seek television time and good books to read. You just find yourself liking a different variety of entertainment on television more than what once interested you.)

Whenever somebody goes through a great tragedy, we often wish them the “peace that surpasses all understanding,” the peace that comes from God alone because He alone knows the truth about what is (Philipians 4:7) . But I think we get flashes of understanding when we practice our Holy Spirit muscles.

For those of you that own a cat or dog, there is nothing more peaceful than one of these creatures curled up in perfect slumber. How many times during a week do I find myself scurrying around with chores and work, glancing up to see my cats in blissful slumber and envy them their perfect peace?

And yet, if I would just take a page out of their books, stop for a few minutes, or an hour, and go to my Father with a request for that same kind of peace, won’t He grant it? Didn’t Christ give us that very example throughout His time on earth? Look at all the examples of moments when He took Himself aside to be alone in prayer.

So, here’s to knowing the peace that surpasses my cats’ naps, to daily exercises in the Spirit, to a world of wonder when we see through the eyes of God’s love.

Christian Living, Love

A Mother’s Day In Christ

Posted on May 11, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

The true message of Christ, the power of love, has perhaps its closest parallel in the perfect picture of a mother’s love for her child, the kind of love we honor on Mother’s Day. Like every mother who has stayed up nights by sick beds, given up her own freedom for the sake of the ultimate good of her children (taking away the car keys means mom has to drive, after all), or spent countless hours on her knees praying for the safety and happiness of her family, Christ did not merely state His message of love. He lived it. He continues to live it, especially through those who choose not to see the baptism by water into Christianity as an ending but a beginning.

Living a Christ-like life means always striving to be more, but not more in the sense of this world. In this world, filled with television, movie, and internet messages, more means better cars, faster electronics, fancy clothes, bigger houses, high-paying careers. In Christ’s world, more means better sharing, increased love of others, joy in what one has, faith that one is where he/she is meant to be and the discipline to walk in the narrow path of God’s truth.

When you have to spend so much time in the world, it is all too easy to fall into the trap of being of this world, all too easy to grab the more expensive brand of something because the commercials have convinced us it’s better instead of saving those extra nickels and dimes to share with those who have even less than we do. When you are of this world and not just in it, it’s too simple to fall into the wide and easy ways of this world. When we choose based on what everybody else is doing instead of what Christ would do, we make our lives simpler in that moment, but we also buy into the devil’s marketing plan, as it were, and his way leads only unto death.

We’ve all fallen victim to it, especially often during the holiday times, when so many ads want to convince us that what they are selling will make us better, happier, more peaceful. But, think about the times you have fallen victim to this marketing. Do you really feel happier? Maybe for a moment, but what then? When you rely on the devil’s marketing plan, don’t you always have to go searching for peace and happy again?

Christ’s marketing plan was simple: love. If we follow this plan, we don’t take actions that will hurt others. We strive to perfect ourselves in aspects of life that really count, like helping others, doing good, being kind, taking joy in nature and each other, including our differences. How different would the world be if these were the messages that flashed across our televisions and movie theatres and computer screens?

We can’t change the whole world, but we can change our own actions and the ways that we interact with those with whom we come into contact. What steps are you taking to grow in your walk with Christ? I will be working this week to set up my goals to mature in Christ. I believe I will start in Galations with the list of the fruit of the Spirit. What about you?

Poetry

National Poetry Writing Month #8

Posted on April 8, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

A Two-Step Dream

He loved her when once she danced,
skittering loops and lines
across a grit-smoothed floor,
her long, blond hair glinting white
against the strobes of lighted halls,
her skirts, always red, twirling ’round
her well-formed calves in rhythms
his heart tapped beats to.

Her heart, solid and cold, except when music
filled her senses, matched his footsteps
only when the band played, her breath
a hot promise on his ear lobes, as close
as ever she came to love.

In the circle of a dance floor,
they twirled and tangoed,
bobbing and weaving the maze
of nothing or all, forever dangling
between them like the twinkle
of gems that seal promises
so many never keep.

Now, tapping heels to any song
wafting past his easy chair, he thinks
of her lips, the plump, red orbs
just touching his cheek stubble,
the two-step all he’d ever know
of a full, gentle world.

Ramona Levacy
April 8, 2013

Christian Living, Christianity

How One Vowel Can Change Your Life

Posted on March 17, 2013March 17, 2013 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Within the last couple of weeks, I had the pleasure/challenge of spending some time at one of the happiest places on earth, otherwise known as Disneyland. Along with all the wonderful sights of the magic land, I also got to witness up close and personal the bare truth of the mass of humanity: crying children, frustrated parents, bickering spouses, selfish line jumpers, immodest dressers. Fortunately, I also got to witness the happy side of being human, the smiles, laughter, fun and acts of kindness a happy atmosphere generates that are all part of the reason so many people are willing to open their wallets, literally, and partake in the wonderful world of Disney.

Once I got home and had time to decompress and reflect on my time in the “land,” I was struck by the awesomeness of the love that God has for us, all of us, even in our frustrated or downright mean moments, a love so strong and all-encompassing that He sent Jesus, His Son, God-made-man, to sacrifice Himself so that we might be saved. How short did I fall standing in the long line waiting to ride Space Mountain from loving the people around me as Jesus loved them, even the bored kids swinging on the aisle chains despite being told by park authorities and their parents not to? As I was soaking in the bright colors of the varied architecture and the sightings of costumed characters from various cartoon movies, did I once take time to think about the opportunities before me to love people I would likely never see again?

The answer is, of course I didn’t. I was too busy trying to get the most out of my $300 tickets, too concentrated on not giving into the exhaustion of going and going for 15 hours straight each day in order to get the most out of this opportunity to experience something I don’t normally get to experience.

Today at church, I learned a new way of looking at opportunities like the ones I missed at Disneyland. The elder speaking to us before the offering plate was passed around encouraged us to begin to think about the power of changing just one vowel in our self-talk, making the word “got” to “get.” In other words, I have “got” to be nice to strangers, even when they are rude, becomes I “get” to be nice to strangers because I understand how much God loves even me, a sinner. When I have been forgiven, how can I not also be forgiving? Why wouldn’t I want to grab hold of the opportunities afforded to every Christian to spread the grace that is the only gift we don’t do anything to deserve?

This shift from “got” to GET is profound. GET is something we want to do. GET is special. GET holds promise. GET is going to Disneyland!

In the last few weeks, I have been concentrating more and more on the spiritual practice and practices that bring us closer to God. We are only saved by the grace of God, not because of anything we do, but that in no way means that what Christians do or do not isn’t important. In fact, we can argue from the Bible that professing Christians are expected to bear fruit, to strive to be in the Spirit and not of the flesh. For those Christians who are not striving to do these things, GET is not likely to be in their vocabulary. But it can be with just the shifting of a single vowel.

Paul implores the Galatians, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (6:7-10).

In this season leading to the greatest holiday of all, Easter, the celebration that He lives, that Christ has risen, we GET to reap the benefits of His love. We GET to share that gift of grace with those who may never have heard about it before. We GET to sow the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, faithfulness, goodness, peace, joy, kindness, patience, meekness, self-control. We GET to be Christ to the world.

Change got to GET this week. The life you change may not just be your own.

Christian Living, Christianity, Faith

Legacy: What will you SOW?

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

As I have tried to explore over the past several weeks, a Christian’s definition of legacy should be very different from the world’s view of legacy. As always, the challenge is being in the world but not of the world. Being in the world, we look around and see people lauded for accomplishments like hit movies, amazing touchdowns, or making loads of money. It is so tempting to fall into the trap of defining our own success by these definitions, putting our emphasis on having a house that looks like the ones on HGTV or driving a car that is just as nice as the one in the driveway next door. Sometimes, these things in the world are so ingrained in the subconscious that we don’t even realize that what is driving us is world-like and not God-like.

But being in the world yet not of the world is something very different, the core challenge, really, of what it means to be Christian. Christians, in being Christ-like, are encouraged to be fruitful, to sow the seeds of Christ’s love in their everyday lives, in the world, in such a way that the Light that is Christ shines to show the way to a better kind of life.

In Galatians, Paul defines the fruit of the Spirit, which is actually a series of characteristics that together complete the picture of a Christ-like life, the qualities you should be able to see in a person who is really living according to the guidance of the Spirit within him/her, the Spirit Christ promised would come to us when we are baptized in Him. This person sows “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (5:22-23).

I don’t think it is an accident in duplication that Jesus’ many parables ask us to consider the fruit of the vine, encourage us to bear fruit, and even admonishes those who are unfruitful, and Paul’s description of the final result of the indwelling Spirit in a believer likewise using the concept of fruit. Even though we do not gain salvation by our actions but through grace, once we are Christians, we should want to leave a God-like legacy, at the core of which is living by letting the Spirit guide us.

Paul makes it clear where the Spirit will guide us, if we will only listen, as he tells the Galatians, “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” (5:13).

A legacy that reflects Christ is a “hard row to hoe” as they say in my neck of the woods, but, fortunately, we are not meant to hoe that row alone. The Spirit of God in me gives me the strength and insight to fulfill the opportunities God gives me, if I will only let that Spirit work.

I have the list of the fruit of the Spirit posted in several places in my house, trying to remind myself of what I should be concentrating on. But, the evil one is always there to push me in other directions, make me concentrate on my inner issues instead of looking out toward other people, keeping me from letting the Spirit help me with my problems as I try to control my world all by myself. I needed Jesus to be saved, right? So, why do I think I won’t need Jesus to live out my salvation, including improving on things like being more patient, having self-control, and, of course, loving others.

Will your legacy be the fruit of the Spirit, not just for your own loved ones, but for every person you come in contact with? We will reap the Spirit only if we sow it, and we can only sow the Spirit with the Spirit’s help.

Christian Living, Christianity

Legacy: What does GOD want?

Posted on October 21, 2012 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

Last week, I proposed that when someone brings up the concept of one’s legacy, what first comes to mind usually involves one’s progeny and worldly achievements.

This week, I want to consider the more important aspect of legacy, and that is from the perspective of how God defines the word.

It strikes me that perhaps the best way to approach God’s version of legacy is through the example that He offered when He came to earth to walk among us in the form of His son, Jesus Christ. Christ, after all, lived as a man in the world of men. If He had not been God made flesh, after all, the entire concept of salvation is turned on its head.

But Christ did live in human form, and in all ways possible we are admonished to follow the examples in living He gave us while He was on this planet.

So, from the perspecitve of Christ as man, what kind of legacy did He seem to be worried about?

The only record we have of anything Jesus did or said is through words He Himself did not write. (Those words, the Bible, being God-inspired, I take as a given and beside the point at the moment.) In fact, the only time Christ physically wrote anything of which we know anything about were tracings in the sand which sifted quickly away.

With a few notable exceptions, Christ healed and then usually admonished the receiver of His bounty not to tell anyone about it. Rather than grabbing the limelight, He taught disciples and sent them away from Him to go forth and duplicate the work they had been doing together, a sort of trial run for when He would have to leave them.

Even though when He came to the planet, He accepted the limitations and temptations of the human body, Christ didn’t define legacy from a typically human perspective. His priorities for legacy did not involve money or worldly success. Instead, His priorities revolved around love of God and the relationships that are essential between people when we love God first and others the way we want to be loved–the two commandments Christ explained entail all the rest.

Next week, I want to begin the biblical quest that offers proof of God’s definition of legacy, not in my own words but in the inspired words that are His alone. For now, I hope it is enough to know that legacy and love go hand-in-hand from Christ’s perspective.

In the end, is a life lived loving others such a bad thing? Last week, I quoted from Nicole Nordemann’s song, “Legacy.” Another line from that song is perfect for defining the kind of legacy a Christian should really concern him/herself with:

“In the end, just want to hear, ‘Well, done, good and faithful one. . . .'”

Christian Living, Christianity, Living

No Lie

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Ramona Levacy Billingslea

We can lie to our friends and to ourselves, but let’s not lie to each other.
How many times have you heard this pithy comeback when you’ve just said something that you wished were true, but that everyone knows is just not the case? How often have you really needed to hear that comeback because what you’ve just said is something you are trying to convince yourself is actually true, even though your subconscious is screaming at you that you just aren’t right?
Under perfect circumstances, our relationship with God is one in which we do not lie to each other. Of course, God’s ability to hold up His end of the relationship is a given for those who believe in His infallibility. God never lies, does what He says He will do, and takes His promises seriously.
Since God is omnipotent, it’s really silly on our part to try to lie to Him. In essence, when we lie to God, we are really only deceiving ourselves.
It’s silly of us, really. God makes it easy to be honest with Him. Christ serves as our intecessor. His death has made it possible for us to ask for forgiveness and actually receive it.
Think on Christ’s companions on this earth: wayward women, tax collectors, lowly fishermen. He even died on the cross alongside two criminals (and extended redemption even then). We don’t have to be squeaky clean to be accepted by Him. We just have to willingly step into His open arms.
But stepping in requires that we first step in truth. One of the main things Christ required from His followers was honesty. When Peter claimed his loyalty to Jesus, Christ told him he would deny Christ three times before the rooster crowed. When the woman at the well was honest enough to admit that her fifth relationship with a man was not a marriage, Christ acknowledged her truthfulness and encouraged her to discontinue her life of sin.
Not lying to God means truly repenting of our misdeeds. Repentance involves not only recognizing a sin, but also determining to do one’s best not to submit to the tempations of that sin again. When we repent in honesty, we don’t lie to each other.
Don’t know if you’re lying to yourself? The fact that a little voice in your head has asked you the question should be the first indicator that you need to stop to address the issue you may be lying to yourself about. Analyze it. Take it apart. Look at it as if you aren’t you, but somebody else, like God, for example. And see how well your truth stands up against the test of the Bible.
One of the easiest tests of a truth versus a lie is asking yourself whether what you are doing is an action that shows love to those around you. Loving God first and loving others as we want to be loved ourselves sums up the law, according to the One who best knows.
Let’s not lie to each other. Being a Christian is a wonderful gift that deserves our best thanks–a life lived striving to be as Christ-like as we possibly can be.