⁹ But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. (Romans 8:9-10)

Dear brothers & sisters in Christ,

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ the Lord and Savior. Amen.

Spring comes with renewed hope, but also a lot of work. As snow cover melts away, the less desirable underside of winter is often revealed. If leaves did not coordinate their falling well enough with the first snowfall (or the wind ruined the best laid piles of humans), there are well tamped mounds of decay, vaguely resembling vegetation that once adorned trees. Weaker limbs and twigs, previously disguised by summer’s foliage or winter’s icy blanket, have since collapsed to their own demise and lay scattered among other debris. As the ground thaws from the top down, that fertile dirt congeals into mud and infiltrates the freshness of Spring rains. The resulting labor is the sweeping (or tilling or shoveling) away of everything steeped in decay, freeing new life to emerge.

Our lives in Christ are similar to the onset of Spring. The Holy Spirit sweeps away all that opposes the will of God from our lives. God’s Word acts upon our hearts, clearing out the decay of sin and evil. We are forged into new beings – forged into children of God. Just as Spring takes work to clear the way for newness of life, so do we. The Spirit executes that work by dwelling within us.

The result of the Spirit is a new perspective. It entails viewing others as children of God and seeing the world through a lens of forgiveness and grace. The work of the Spirit is transforming. The work of the Spirit is ceaseless. Day by day – you repent and receive forgiveness. Day by day – you hear the Word of God.  Day by day you pray and discern His Will. Day by day – the Spirit makes you righteous. Day by day – “there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!” 

The grace and peace of God which surpasses all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

In Christ,

Pastor Carla

¹⁶ From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. ¹⁷ So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! (2 Corinthians 5:16-17)