Amy Boucher Pye

Author: Amy Boucher Pye

  • Devotional of the week: Law and spirit (9 in Fruit of the Spirit series)

    So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. (Romans 7:1–6)

    In this passage, Paul continues to describe the new life we should be enjoying in Christ, following from last week’s reading. Just as previously we were bound to sin, so too were we tied to the law. He’s specifically speaking about the law of Moses; the laws written in stone. When we become joined to Christ, we no longer are under the law but are indwelled by the Spirit. Now we’re released from the law to bear fruit for God.

    This brings freedom, and with freedom can come the fear that we will get things wrong. For some, this fear can paralyze. But when we rely on God’s Spirit within us, we know that he leads us – perhaps beginning with baby steps. This concept reminds me of the saying, “Pray and then do the next thing.” Yes, we’re fallen people who make mistakes. But we are also redeemed believers in whom Jesus dwells.

    Bearing fruit for God occurs when we heed that little nudge inside. You know the one? That thought that pops into our head that we should call a friend, or go visit her when the text she sends sounds desperate. That deep breath we take when we feel ourselves losing control, about to unleash a slew of angry, hateful words. That hymn of praise that bubbles out of us, unbidden.

    I love the character of Sarah Smith from Golders Green in CS Lewis’ The Great Divorce. On earth, Sarah was a humble woman, much overlooked. But in heaven she is one of the Great Ones, whose deep love of people and animals brings transformation. She bore fruit daily, though it wasn’t recognized or lauded. But the One who sees all things saw, and knew.

    May we too be Great Ones, recognized on earth or not.

    Prayer: Father God, help me to discern your nudges of grace, that I might live in obedience and joy while collaborating with you. Amen.

  • Watercolor Wednesday: Sister Love

    By Leo Boucher. All rights reserved.

    My sister had a birthday recently, and when I called her I rued the fact that I have been outside of Minnesota for so many decades – and thus not able to take her to lunch on her birthday. It’s times like these when I feel the distance most keenly. At least technology is so much better than twenty years ago when I first moved to the UK, for without cost I can text or call her – an amazing thought compared with times past.

    Here’s a picture my dad painted, which I love, which we have hanging in our home. It’s Beth carrying water to build a sandcastle with my kids while we were all in Florida together one year. I found it difficult to photograph, for my dad painted it on the back of the piece of glass, which makes for such interesting color and texture but reflections too.

    What days of the year do you find poignant?

  • Devotional of the week: Holiness (8 in Fruit of the Spirit series)

    Photo: Paul Writing His Epistles by Valentin de Boulogne – Blaffer Foundation Collection, Houston, TX, Public Domain

    But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. (Romans 6:1–23)

    I wonder what it was like for Paul on his missionary journeys. He must have felt the pain of separation with the huge gulfs of geography between the new churches springing up; he was unable to visit them all and he certainly didn’t have the immediate updates we enjoy from friends and family across the world with our video chats and social-media updates. But Paul knew the secret weapon for true change in his new charges – Christ dwelling in them.

    Paul strongly urges the church at Rome to live out of the new self; that which is inhabited by the Holy Spirit. He longs, as he says in verse 1, that they would not harbor the secret desire to sin because they hold to God’s assurances of forgiveness (St Augustine’s, “Lord, grant me chastity, but not yet”). Nor should they be slaves to sin – ruled by what they crave. But rather he desires that they would offer themselves – their souls and our bodies – to God as instruments of grace. Living lives transformed.

    Paul uses the word for fruit in verse 22 (above). When we die to sin and don the clothes of Christ, we reap the fruit of holiness, which leads to eternal life. Holiness, our robes washed pure and clean. Holiness, desiring God’s will and living in his ways. Holiness, ushering in the life of the kingdom of God.

    We all have our own domains that we can either submit to the Lord or keep tightly within our grasp. When we relinquish our rights, whether in the big questions such as where we’ll live, or in the smaller but daily issues such as will we bless or will we curse, we bear the fruit that the Lord grows in us. May this life be seen in us today.

    For reflection: “Take my life, and let it be consecrated, Lord, to thee; take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise” (Frances Ridley Havergal).

  • Watercolor Wednesday: A seaside scene

    By Leo Boucher. All rights reserved.

    As it’s the Easter holidays (at least in the UK), and many people are away enjoying a break (such as those hearing the cawing of the sea gulls at Spring Harvest), I thought it a good time to share this lovely seaside scene by my dad, Leo Boucher.

    Take a moment to look at it, and perhaps place yourself at the scene. What do you see and hear? Maybe some fishermen are unloading the catch of mussels just to the left of the frame. Artists set up their easels to capture the beauty of the moment. Children ask their parents for an ice cream.

    May you experience some moments of peace and refreshment this day.

  • Devotional of the week: Life by the Spirit (7 in Fruit of the Spirit series)

    Photo: Tyler Neyens, Fruit of the Spirit Fire Tree, Creative Commons

    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–26)

    In contrast to the false teachers who wanted to place the Galatians under rules and regulations, Paul wants them to live in step with the Spirit. As they depend on the indwelling Spirit, he produces lasting fruit.

    Continuing in the list of the fruit of the Spirit (from last week), God is faithful, and helps us by setting this virtue within us. When we keep on loving those whom we find difficult; when we pray earnestly for the persecuted church; when we give abundantly from our stores of time, talent and money, we are faithful. When I think of faithfulness, a few women in their seventies and eighties come to mind. They no longer can engage in travel and ministry as they once did, but they pray daily not only for their locality but for international situations. I imagine that God, when they get to heaven, will lovingly reveal what their prayers have wrought.

    Paul in this list probably means gentleness to be more the self-emptying love between people than the sense of a teachable spirit. When the Lord was in the first stages of removing my heart of stone (along the lines of Ezekiel 36:26), I felt a jolt of joy when someone described me as gentle – not a word I used for myself!

    Self-control is another virtue that seems out of fashion these days, but Paul was probably emphasizing it by placing it last on the list. Although these fruit come from the Spirit’s work in us, we too have a role to exercise. As we depend on the Lord, looking to him when we seek to curb our appetites, he will give us the strength to desist from speaking that painful word or overindulging in a self-soothing behavior such as sex, shopping or eating.

    May Jesus living within us bring forth these fruit.

    Prayer: Lord Jesus, may we abide in you to produce that lasts. Fruit that the world would see and know we are your children. Amen.

  • Christ is risen!

    The chorus of voices joins together with joy to say, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”

    On this Easter day, may you know the love of the Father, who willingly gave his Son to become a man who died and rose again.

    May you know the gift of the Son, the Risen Christ, who lives within those who love him.

    May you know the joy of the Spirit, who comforts and brings peace.

    Alleluia! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

  • Holy Saturday: A day of waiting

    The alleluias are still buried, and Christ isn’t yet risen. We wait. We stand with others who are living in a dark tunnel of pain and questions, all the while hoping, praying, and loving.

    We wait.

    Come, Lord Jesus.

  • Five Minute Friday: Not settling for less

    Today’s Five-minute Friday prompt is settle. As in, “She really settled,” said the snide friend about another. Or, “Settle down!” said the mom to her rambunctious child.

    A bit of an odd prompt for this Good Friday, I thought, but then I did a quick internet search and came up with the second definition:

    To pay in full.

    To settle the debt.

    It’s all settled.

    And that’s a good way to look at Good Friday. Jesus died to settle our debt with the Father, that we might enjoy life in the kingdom, from the moment we ask him into our lives.

    We certainly don’t settle for less. Rather, we embrace life in all of its fullness.

    May you know the loving glance of the Father, who sent his only Son to die that we might live.

    May you know the refreshing embrace of the Savior, who loves us so much that he bled for us.

    May you experience the comforting refreshment of the Spirit, whose gentle breeze brings peace.

    And may you remember that you’re not settling for less when Jesus settled your debt.

    This post is part of the weekly Five Minute Friday link-up. You can find today’s prompt here.

  • Watercolor Wednesday: Looking to the Cross

    By Leo Boucher. All rights reserved.

    As we ponder the cross this Holy Week, may we understand more deeply the gift of Jesus’ sacrifice.

  • Devotional of the week: Bearing fruit (6 in Fruit of the Spirit series)

    By Leo Boucher. All rights reserved.

    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22–26

    We’re looking at the fruit of the Spirit again this week (and next). Again, remember that these all spring forth from love.

    When Paul wrote, joy was also a proper name, as it is today. This is our daughter’s middle name, and when she was little she would delight when it was spoken in her presence: “Joy! That’s my middle name!” But joy isn’t just a happy feeling; it’s a deep sense of well-being even when the circumstances aren’t pleasant.

    Peace is also known by the Hebrew word, shalom. This peace isn’t just an absence of conflict, but a sense of completeness; of wholeness within relationships. God’s gift of the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) comes from above, for instance when we feel strife with another or anxiety from within.

    Forbearance is a word we don’t seem to prize in our often frenetic lives. But patience and steadfastness come to us when we rely on God, especially in times of trial. I think of several friends with whom I’ve prayed through tough and testing times. The forbearance they exhibit takes my breath away. We wouldn’t wish for these excruciating circumstances – a painful divorce; an injured child – but God redeems them in ways we can’t imagine.

    Some people are just more naturally kind than others; I think they are wired that way. For many of us (I count myself in this category), we need God to take us outside of our self-absorbed bubbles and give us the kindness to show to others. My husband can vouch for this area of my life…

    Goodness is similar to kindness; in the New Testament, it only appears in Paul’s letters. It’s a state of being made righteous by God, which defines our actions.

    What strikes you from this list of the fruit of the Spirit?

    Prayer: Lord, I yearn for joy, peace, patience and kindness. Form them in my heart and actions. Amen.