“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Peace Amidst Problems
31 Tuesday Jul 2012
31 Tuesday Jul 2012
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
17 Tuesday Jul 2012
Posted 1 Corinthians 13, Fruit, Galatians 5, Kerry Luddy, love, Sacrifice, Selflessnes
inBut 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 5:22-23.
09 Friday Jul 2010
Posted Fruit, Living in the Spirit, love, Paul, Tony C
inMy post today is really just a reflection of the post from my fellow Kingdom Bloggers this week. I’ve very much enjoyed what each has said this week and taken time to reflect how their message applies in my own life.
08 Thursday Jul 2010
How many times have you heard someone tell you that they think that at the end of their life they will have some kind of experience where God will stand at the entrance of heaven with a great big scale and put all their life actions on either the good or bad side of the scale and the side to which the scale tips determines their eternal destiny? I know I’ve heard various renditions of this thought more times than I can count.
I’m so grateful for what I see when I read Ephesians 2:4-10 (NIV):
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
When I read this I realize that God has done everything for me. He saved me, brought me into relationship with Himself, just because He chose to love me. He gave me the faith to believe in Him.
I’ve found in my life that the more I come to understand and believe this truth, in the deepest parts of my heart, the more I want to get closer to God. The more I long for the His Word, delight in praising and thanking Him, desire to linger in His presence. The more I stay connected to Him, the more I open up avenues for His Spirit to work in my life. The more He works in my life, the more I become others focused, not in the sense of judging them, but in the sense of wanting to let God use me in their lives to bless them.
I find it interesting that in verse 9 of the Bible passage above it says that God did all that He did because He has a purpose for the lives of each of His followers, a purpose for us to do good. In Galatians 5 it talks about the freedom we can experience in Christ and how our natural, sinful, nature is at odds with the work of God’s spirit in us. In Galatians 5:22-23 it even describes what the product, or fruit, of God’s spirit working in us will look like:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
We absolutely don’t come into relationship with God because of any good actions on our part. We can spend eternity with God simply because of His gift of faith in His son who died on our behalf. Yet, as I come into relationship with God He does change me. he does produce these 9 things described above. As Joyce pointed out earlier this week, the process by which God works is not always one that we would naturally think of as pleasurable. Just as pruning rose bushes allows them to produce more roses, so God’s pruning in my life allows me to produce more fruit.
What are some ways God’s worked in your life to make you fruitful?
07 Wednesday Jul 2010
“Satan can duplicate the Gifts of Holy Spirit but he cannot duplicate the Fruit of Holy Spirit.”-Craig Bex
Mark 13.22
It seems to me that there are more people in the church today that are trying to ‘prove’ false christs than trying to prove the Love of Christ. That people are trying to root out the tares (Matthew 13.36-43) instead of taking care of the wheat. I gotta admit that there have been times in the past where I thought it was my ‘mission’ to set straight theologies that I didn’t agree with. Sometimes, I was subtle, taking the Rabbi approach of answering a question with a question. Other times, I was as subtle as a punch in the throat. Because of my arrogance and lack of Love, in most instances the only person ‘convinced’ was myself.
The true value of my works aint gonna be revealed until the Day when they are thrown into the fire. (1 Corinthians 3.12-13) It is then that my real motivation will be seen, by everyone. I am convinced that there will be works that I have ‘successfully’ completed that will burn as straw because I know that my motivation wasn’t outta love. I am also convinced that I will see some of my ‘failures’ reveal silver or gold because I was obedient and served Jesus outta Love, even though things didn’t turn out the way I thought they should have.
As I step out into what Jesus is leading next in my life, it is so important to have my ‘ministry’, my focus, where it needs to be. Ministry aint about blog entries, the Gifts, results or me. Ministry is about me cultivating and giving away the Fruit of the Spirit. Ministry for me is being the best farmer I can be.
06 Tuesday Jul 2010
I preached a really good sermon one time. It started out as a communion teaching. Never satisfied with the typical teaching on communion, I launched off into a metaphor of baking bread. Since there are two elements involved in communion, I thought this was a good place to start. I went on and on about the process of baking bread. I talked about how God brings all the ingredients together. I talked about how there are times for the yeast to ferment. That involves waiting. I talked about the mixing and the kneading. I shared that we don’t like the kneading or pounding. Nevertheless it is part of the process.
I compared the bread to us as the body of Christ and how God is forming us into a unified whole. I got off into holiness and wholeness. I was on a roll. Then came the fruit and nuts. Have you ever noticed who when God is forming His people into a body, the body to be broken for the world how he always seems to have to add those fruits and nuts.
You know who they are. You have them in your church. If you don’t go to church, you know them in your fellowship groups. They are found where ever Christians gather. Maybe you are one? I have been thought of as the fruit or nut in a church.
I have been telling a story on another blog about the healing of our son. It was one of those fruits that was being kneaded into a body of believers who had faith for healing. You can read about it here.
Finally, all the ingredients in the bread get thrown into the fiery furnace. Have you ever noticed that when it comes to growth and usefulness in the Kingdom of God, the Bible always uses a metaphor of a painful process. There’s the potter’s wheel. At first you think you are on a good ride at the carnival but then starts the pounding and the stripping away. Then just when you think your ready to get off, the Potter will pound you down again because He won’t let even that one imperfection stay if you are going to be useful.
Or there is the pruning metaphor, God the ever perfect gardener, prunes away until you feel like you have nothing left. I heard a woman last week talk about sucker shoots on her tomato places. If you are going to have the good fruit of tomatoes, off come the sucker shoots. I had to laugh. I thought how like God. Sometimes you think – oh look at my new spiritual growth. Then He comes along and says sucker shoots as He pinches it off.
If we are going to be fruitful we have to go through the process. If we are going to be the body of Christ, we have to be kneaded and baked. It’s not fun. But it is necessary to be fruitful. How is God making you more fruitful?
05 Monday Jul 2010
Christians enjoy talking about fruit like they are spiritual vegans! Some Christians use the word “good person” like God is Santa Clause checking his list to see who’s naughty and or nice. Various emotional muggings take place in churches where there are guilt trips, redemptive works, or required religious ceremonies for salvation.
Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
This week your dynamic Kingdom Bloggers are going to be writing about faith, works and the fruit of the Spirit.
True freedom is in salvation through Jesus Christ. I suppose that it is easy to lay back once we have our ticket to paradise. Many do. Others seem to grasp grace as a license to do whatever they want to. Like the spoiled child with diplomatic immunity, they feel as if they can disregard the laws of the “land.” And then there are others that feel obligated to follow certain rules and traditions while their heart is far from God.
It’s easy to think that maybe we should do something to earn God’s love. I have heard lots of folks that feel as if the church will fall down when they show up. As if any of us could get clean enough or be presentable to God on our own.
Without faith, it is impossible to please God.
Galatians 5:19-25 talks about what is the fruit of salvation. The analogy of fruit simply means that it is something that grows from the plants DNA. It is the natural process by which many plants show their beauty, and provide food for many. That is the true nature of God.
When I was in the Caribbean, I had a taxi driver stop to let me pick an avocado. I have never had a tastier one. If we look around us, it is easy to see others who may have more anointing, or gifting in their lives than we do. I am not talking about talent or charisma, but the ability to see Jesus as we observe their lives. This is fruit. What do others see when they observe our lives?
This is a hard topic to give a testimony about. If I toot my own horn about how much fruit my walk with Jesus shows, than I am being not so humble. I did receive this email that other day – see how you measure up to the fruit of the Kingdom. Truthfully, I didn’t do so good.
What God Won’t Ask
By: Author Unknown
God won’t ask what kind of car you drove.
He will ask how many people you took places they needed to go..
God won’t ask the square footage of your home.
He will ask how many people you took into your home.
God won’t ask how many fancy clothes you had in your closet.
He will ask how many of those clothes you gave away to Salvation Army.
God won’t ask what social class you were in.
He will ask if you preferred others over yourself..
God won’t ask how many material possessions you had.
He will ask whether those material possessions dictated your life.
God won’t ask what your highest salary was.
He will ask if you trampled over any people to obtain that salary.
God won’t ask how much overtime you worked.
He will ask did you work overtime for your family.
God won’t ask how many promotions you received.
He will ask what you did to promote others.
God won’t ask what your job title was.
He will ask did you perform your job to the best of your ability.
God won’t ask how many promotions you took to chase the dollar bill.
He will ask how many promotions you refused to advance your family’s quality of life.
God won’t ask how many times you didn’t run around around on your spouse.
He will ask how many times you did.
God won’t ask how many degrees you have.
He will ask how many people you thanked for getting those degrees.
God won’t ask what your parents did to help you.
He will ask what you did to help your parents.
God won’t ask what you did to help yourself.
He will ask what you did to help others.
God won’t ask how many friends you had.
He will ask how many people you were a friend to.
God won’t ask what you did to protect your rights.
He will ask what you did to protect the rights of others.
God won’t ask what neighborhood you lived in.
He will ask what other neighborhoods you visited.
God won’t ask how many times you told the truth.
He will ask how many times you told a lie.
God won’t ask about the color of your skin.
He will ask about the color of your heart.
God won’t ask how many times your deeds matched your words.
He will ask how many times they didn’t.
God ordinarily will not show you His will in order for you to consider it.
He will show you His will when He knows you are willing to do it.