Graffiti Letters

~~~2 Corinthians 3:4-11 ~~~ Psalm 99 ~~~  Matthew 5:17-19 ~~~

...our qualification comes from God,

...qualified us as ministers of a new covenant,

not of letter but of spirit;

for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

Graffiti is typically considered something negative,

but is it always?

Graffiti is defined as writings or drawings

 that have been scribbled, drawn, or painted illicitly

 on a wall or other surface, often in a public place.

Defacing another's property without

 permission is considered a crime.

A crime using painted letters.

The letters standing alone by themselves 

appear to hold no meaning.

Graffiti, while considered to be vandalism,

may represent a greater message.

Graffiti is often an expression of a social or political issue.

...for the letter brings death, but the Spirit gives life.

The letters of graffiti hold meaning

 only within the spirit in which they were created.

The ones who can decipher the letters are the ones 

who also know the spirit in which they were written.

Gangs may use specific graffiti

 to claim their particular territory.

The early disciples with Paul drew on the spirit 

of what had been passed on to them.

It was the spirit of Jesus that ultimately

 gives new meaning to the letters of the law.

Graffiti is growing into an art form all its own.

Some may see it as art while others see it only as vandalism.

Some saw only the exact letters of the law,

while Jesus delved into the true Spirit of the law.

...not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter

will pass from the law,

until all things have taken place.

Jesus was not content with the mere letters.

Jesus was the one who brought forth the Spirit.

Without Jesus fulling the laws they remain trapped

 within the letters themselves.

The death and crucifixion of Jesus 

completed all the things that had to take place.

His death and resurrection is the complete fulfillment 

of every letter of the law.

Ancient forms of graffiti, left behind by our ancestors,

provide us with valuable information about 

who they were as a people.

The letters of the laws of the Old Testament

reveal to us much about who Jesus was 

and who he would become for us.

I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.

May our God of fulfillment

Bless you beyond what you can see.

His grace runs very deep within your soul.

~~~ Peace ~~~