Fruitful Fridays: His Perfect Peace

We continue our series on the Fruit of the Spirit today. Our main text for Fruitful Fridays will be Galatians 5:13-26 (ESV). In case you missed any Fruitful Friday posts, here's the line-up: 

1. Fruit of the Spirit: Introduction

2. Fruit of the Spirit: Walking With the Spirit

3. Fruit of the Spirit: Acts of the Flesh

4. Fruit of the Spirit: To Love is to Give

5. Fruit of the Spirit: The Command to Love 

6. Fruit of the Spirit: Dying to Love

Let's take a moment to review before we move on to Peace. 

The Fruit of the Spirit is a singular concept; the nine fruits work together as one. We begin our access to them when we are filled by the Holy Spirit at the moment of our salvation. He works these characteristics into our hearts as we submit our will to his after believing (giving him Lordship over our lives). We become as putty in his hands, slowly being remade into His image.

Is he your Savior and your Lord?  Lordship doesn't always closely follow salvation for many people. It's when we make him our Lord that the fruit grows ripe and sweet.

Though we're filled with the Holy Spirit upon first believing, we can still grieve the Spirit by having unconfessed sin in our lives. During unconfessed sin we're separated from God until we seek forgiveness. And the Fruit of the Spirit? Its production in our heart ceases during sin. It's not that our salvation is lost, just our fellowship with God until our confession. 

If we never get right with God again, we probably weren't saved in the first place. God is faithful to continue his good work in our sincere hearts. He makes us very uncomfortable until we confess and get back into fellowship with him. He assures that we prevail in our salvation. I will never leave you nor forsake you, saith the Lord.

How quickly our hearts bear fruit and how many detours we take along the way, depends on how closely we walk with the Spirit. 

We walk with the Spirit by:

• Praying
• Reading the Bible
• Worshiping through songs and Psalms, etc.
• Confessing sin

Let's move on to peace, of which there are three components.

1. Upward: Peace with God (salvation and continued fellowship)

2. Inward: God's peace in our soul (tranquility within, absence of fear)

3. Outward: Peace with fellow believers (living in harmony with others; being a peacemaker)

Today we will discuss peace with God and inward peace, leaving peace with fellow believers for next week.

1. Peace With God  

God is holy and righteous and cannot fellowship with sinners. For the wages of sin is death. There must be an atonement for sin via blood sacrifice (death). Jesus is the lamb that was slain and for all those who believe on Him there is no death, but reconciliation with God. The Cross bought us fellowship with God directly...beautiful one-on-one fellowship. Instead of needing to kill an animal as atonement for our sins, we simply go before the Father and confess and ask for forgiveness. We're forgiven and all is forgotten, and we're back into fellowship!

It's so easy to take fellowship and peace with God for granted; we must remember it's the greatest gift ever given. Let's preserve our awe and our thankfulness over His gift. To be assured that your Father loves you and approves of you? That's tranquility.

Jesus is the Prince of Peace, as these Scriptures teach: 

Isaiah 9:6, "...For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace." 

Romans 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,

Luke 2:10-14 "...But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.' And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.'"

2. Inward Peace

As a Christian staying in fellowship with the Lord, we have an inner peace that surpasses all understanding. 

John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” 

Jesus has overcome addiction, poverty, brain disorders, physical disorders, disease, chronic pain, broken relationships, materialism, grief over loss, physical and emotional abuse, and unloving parents? All the things that grieve the world, he has overcome? What does this mean? 

Friend, it means these things are temporary. They won't always be with us but He will. His victory for us is eternal life...permanent peace and a sinless soul, a body not subject to emotional or physical pain, permanent communion with Him. 



Our inner peace will remain with us through trials if we dwell on the perfect condition awaiting us. 

I've found that keeping my mind on the eternal is aided by expressing thankfulness for present gifts. Brainstorming a list of everyday graces automatically focuses my mind on Him, and not on my circumstances. Be ye thankful, the Bible commands us. Go through the mental or written exercise of acknowledging His graces.

Colossians 3:15 "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful." 

John 14:27 "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." 


John 14:27 promises the disciples, and us, that we have Jesus' peace. We may think of peace as the absence of strife and discord and the absence of troubles. Not so, says Jesus. Instead, it's a tranquility of mind arising from a sense of our justification before God. If God loves us and that can never be taken from us, what legitimate trouble do we really have?

Romans 8:28 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Yes, He loves us. He approves us. He's prepared a room for us. Our future is secure and our present is showered with graces.

His peace buys our reconciliation with God; it continues as everyday graces sprinkled over our troubles; it ends in eternity with Him.

Hallelujah!

Matthew Henry explains it thus, speaking of what Christ gives: “The peace I give is of such a nature that the smiles of the world cannot give it, nor the frowns of the world take it away.” “The gifts I give to you are not such as this world gives to its children and votaries, to whom it is kind.” The world’s gifts concern only the body and time; Christ’s gifts enrich the soul for eternity: the world gives lying vanities, and that which will cheat us; Christ gives substantial blessings, which will never fail us: the world gives and takes; Christ gives a good part that shall never be taken away. 

 

The big question is: How do we continually walk in Christs' gift of peace? 

• 1. Bend your knees in prayer 
  
  Psalm 5:3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up."
  
  1 Thessalonians 5:17 pray without ceasing
  
  Psalm 95:2 Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! (Praise is part of prayer.)
  
  1 Corinthians 14:15 What am I to do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray with my mind also; I will sing praise with my spirit, but I will sing with my mind also.
• 2. Regard your Bible as your lifeline 
  
  Romans 10:17 "Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
  
  2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,
  
  Psalm 119: 16 I will delight myself in Your statutes; I will not forget Your word. 
  
  Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

• 3. Remain in humble submission to God.
  
  Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
  In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
  
  
  
  James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
  
  
  Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered him, “It is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.’”
  
  
  
  

• 4. Keep your thoughts on God
  
  Isaiah 26:3 "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is STAYED on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee."
  
  Philippians 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
  
  Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
• 5. Live a right life
  
  Psalm 37:37 "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace."
  
  Galatians 6:7-8 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

Prayer Time:  Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for your perfect peace. We thank you for your approval of our very souls and that nothing can separate us from your love. May we bend our knees in prayer, regard your Word as our lifeline, submit our will to you daily, keep our thoughts on you, and life a right life. Help us to preserve your peace in our lives. Help us to be thankful always in every life circumstance. Help us to examine our hearts and confess our sins, so that fellowship with you remains constant. Help us to serve you and not ourselves. We love you.

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Answer to Prayer!

God is faithful! He inspires us and then equips us. We're never alone as we seek to please Him.

Amen to that!




The associate pastor of our church contacted me today and affirmed our desire to minister to neighborhood children and families. They will provide the Jesus Storybook Bibles for us--for eight families to start. They will also pray for us and provide for our other ministry needs as they arise. So excited doesn't begin to cover the emotions here! Thank you for praying about this with us!

I prayed about celebrating Christmas in a God-honoring way and it came to me to give Jesus three gifts, just as He received as a baby over 2000 years ago. A Jesus Storybook Bible for eight neighborhood families here, followed by a Jesus Storybook Bible Children's Bible Study hosted by us, were two of the gifts I planned to give!

When the Holy Spirit inspires, he also equips! Our part is to move forward in obedience, not demanding all the answers and details up front. We live by faith.

In other news....

I'm studying peace for our Fruitful Friday series, but as Beth's dental procedure under general anesthesia is tomorrow morning, I may not have the post quite complete for a Friday publishing. Look for it soon. (Not that I assume you were on the edge of your seats or anything.:)



One amazing thing I've learned so far? God does not give us our own peace. He invites us to share in His peace.

John 14:27  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

More to come....





images here

Fruitful Fridays Part 6: Dying to Love

We continue our series on the Fruits of the Spirit today. Read part 1 here. Part 2 here. Part 3 here. Part 4 here. Part 5 here. Our main text for Fruitful Fridays will be Galatians 5:13-26 (ESV). 

This is our final post on Love. Next week we'll be moving on to Peace, God willing.  I recently wrote three posts on Joy as part of Ann Voskamp's Walk With Him Wednesday, so we'll skip joy for now. 

Some review: Last week we learned what it means to love your neighbor as yourself. We explored the connection between having faith in God's promises and in loving others. When we have faith in His promises we can love (serve others) without concern for ourselves; God will provide for us, as His Word promises. 

We learned that we are free to love because in Christ we are dead to sin. We don't have to waste our time on self-centeredness; we are freed from that sin. And lastly, we learned that even though love is a fruit of the Spirit--coming from Him within us, not from ourselves--we are still commanded to love. We can obey that command by reading and studying Scripture, because this is the main way God works love into our hearts--through the transforming, alive, active Word of God.

Today I want to explore the characteristics of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (the famous love chapter), and how they relate to the gospel life and Christ's teachings. These will not be my ideas, but Pastor John Piper's. In the summer of 1995 when John Piper was nearly 50 years old, he had a word from the Lord about the relationship between loving and dying. God gave him these verses in John 12:24-26, along with the famous love passage in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:

John 12:24-26 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him."

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Love is patient, love kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Pastor Piper then wrote two sermons about Dying as a Means of Loving: Part 1 Here and Part 2 here. I am providing his main points for you here with permission, but I urge you to read both sermons in their entirety for the meaty explanations behind his points, for John Piper is surely one of the greatest preachers of our time. His words are in blue italics below:

We saw that there were four great promises and four life-shaking demands.

• Your life will bear fruit, if it falls like a seed into the ground and dies.
• You will keep your life for eternal life, if you hate your life in this world.
• You will be with Jesus where he is, if you follow him—to Calvary.
• God the Father will honor you, if you serve Jesus.

I invite you to turn to 1 Corinthians 13:4–7. Paul gives 15 descriptions of what love is. And what struck me was how virtually all of them involve what Jesus called a dying or a hating of your life in this world.

1. Love is patient,
2. love is kind, and
3. is not jealous;
4. love does not brag and
5. is not arrogant,
6. (5) does not act unbecomingly;
7. it does not seek its own,
8. is not provoked,
9. does not take into account a wrong suffered,
10. (6) does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but
11. rejoices with the truth;
12. (7) bears all things,
13. believes all things,
14. hopes all things,
15. endures all things.

A Call to Love . . . and to Death 

• Being long-suffering means dying to the desire for an untroubled life.
• Having no jealousy means dying to the desire for unshared affection.
• Not boasting means dying to the desire to call attention to our successes.
• Not acting unbecomingly means dying to the desire to express our freedom offensively.
• Not seeking our own way means dying to the dominance of our own preferences.
• Not being easily provoked means dying to the need for no frustrations.
• Not taking account of wrongs means dying to the desire for revenge.
• Bearing all things and enduring all things means dying to the desire to run away from the pain of obedience.

So the call of the Lord on our lives in these weeks and in this summer, and as we gather tonight in earnest pursuit of awakening and all the fullness of God, is: are we willing to pay the price of love? Love at home, love at the office, love in the neighborhood, love in the body of believers? Are we willing to die? If we are this satisfied with all that God is for us in Christ, then the promises will surely come true: we will bear much fruit, we will live forever, we will be with the Lord, and the Father will honor us.

When Jesus calls a man, Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, he bids him come and die. Come. Reckon yourself dead to sin and alive to love.  John Piper, 1995

How does John Piper's sermon relate to what I wrote last week about loving your neighbor as yourself?

Therefore, to love your neighbor as yourself means to meet his needs as you would meet your own:

• to desire relief for his hunger, as you eat and feel relief from your own 

• to desire physical warmth for him, as you enjoy physical warmth yourself

• to desire a covering for his nakedness, as you feel the safety of clothes yourself

• to desire shelter from rain, snow, wind, and sun for him, as you sit back and enjoy your own shelter

• to desire a job for him, as you reap the benefits of your own 

• to desire a cure for his illness, as you obtain relief from yours 

• to desire a flushing toilet for him, as you watch your own toilet flush

• to desire plumbing and clean water for him, as you draw water from your own sink

• to desire Living Water through Jesus Christ for him, as you feel the joy of knowing Him yourself 

Whatever you need for yourself, you're to desire it for your neighbor too. And act on that desire, changing your lifestyle accordingly. Instead of procuring what you don't need, procure what your neighbor does need.

This is how I think John Piper's words relate to mine: We must die to our notion of the good life before we can have equal concern for our neighbor. In essence, we must hate our life in this world.

What sins or perks do we enjoy at the expense of our neighbor? Our neighbor refers to our husband, children, extended family, and everyone else. The answer to this question will be different for each of us at different times in our walk with Christ. We must learn to hate these sins to love our neighbor.

To be wholly and truly concerned for our neighbor to the point of action, we must take a 180-degree turn from a worldly perspective and become as a lowly servant. We must reject any glory for ourselves and give it to God through identifying with Him in death.

This dying to self is not a means to salvation, but the evidence of salvation...the evidence of saving faith. They will know us by our love.

John 13:35
By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Prayer Time: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for your perfect sacrifice. Thank you for your Words of Life. May the sacrifice and words penetrate our hearts to the point of action. May we move aside and die, allowing the Holy Spirit to prevail within our hearts. May sacrificing love come alive in our lives as we learn to hate our life in this world. Help us die to the desire for a trouble-free, frustration-free life, to the desire to call attention to ourselves, to the desire to give dominance to our own preferences, to the desire for vengeance. Transform us Lord, so they will know us by our love. 

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Fruitful Fridays, Part 5, More Love

We continue our series on the Fruits of the Spirit today. Read part 1 here. Part 2 here. Part 3 here. Part 4 here. Our main text for Fruitful Fridays will be Galatians 5:13-26 (ESV). 

In part 4 I promised you a more studied post on love. Here then is my offering to that effect. We'll discuss what it means to love a person as yourself. We'll explore the intermingling of faith and love, and learn why the former leads to the latter. We'll learn that we're free to love, and why we're commanded to love. And lastly, we'll learn how to keep love in our hearts, ready to be distributed to our neighbor.

Galatians 5:13-14 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (emphasis mine)

We naturally love ourselves and care for ourselves. So another way of phrasing this command: You shall love your neighbor as you (already) love yourself. We feed ourselves, clothe ourselves, put shelter over our heads and try to make ourselves happy. "For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it."

Ephesians 5:28-29 "Husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever hates his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church." (emphasis mine)

Therefore, to love your neighbor as yourself means to meet his needs as you would meet your own: 

• to desire relief for his hunger, as you eat and feel relief from your own 
• to desire physical warmth for him, as you enjoy physical warmth yourself
• to desire a covering for his nakedness, as you feel the safety of clothes yourself
• to desire shelter from rain, snow, wind, and sun for him, as you sit back and enjoy your own shelter
• to desire a job for him, as you reap the benefits of your own 
• to desire a cure for his illness, as you obtain relief from yours 
• to desire a flushing toilet for him, as you watch your own toilet flush
• to desire plumbing and clean water for him, as you draw water from your own sink
• to desire Living Water through Jesus Christ for him, as you feel the joy of knowing Him yourself 

Whatever you need for yourself, you're to desire it for your neighbor too. And act on that desire, changing your lifestyle accordingly. Instead of buying that $50 plant to decorate your entryway, spend the $50 to buy a water filter for a third-world family. Instead of that money spent on a manicure or pedicure, spend it to sponsor a child who will be fed, given medical care and crises intervention, and come to know Jesus. Instead of buying that new gadget, send a family gift to your sponsored child's family, or buy extra food to give to a local food pantry.

Instead of procuring what you don't need, procure what your neighbor does need.

A supreme example of this desiring and acting is the Shaun Groves' family (Christian musician and speaker for Compassion International), who give away as much money as they keep for themselves. Yes, a 50/50 split. That is loving your neighbor as yourself, at its purest (so long as it's for God's glory, and not your own). 

A 50/50 split is not commanded in Scripture directly, except as it relates to loving your neighbor as yourself. Many of us are not ready for 50/50 yet, but God will eventually get us there, if we are disciples of Jesus. God can do amazing things in a faithful Believer. He can increase our wealth, if necessary, so that we'll still have acceptable clothing, food, and shelter, as we give away 50 percent. A person truly filled by God does not desire luxury, but merely what is needed.

Which leads me to my next point: the intermingling of faith and love. When I say faith, I don't mean merely the act of accepting Jesus as your Savior. I mean believing that everything Jesus promised will come to pass. This is walking by faith: believing in God's promises with a whole heart and living as such, even though the future is unseen. Faith conquers fear and allows love, with no holding back.

Only once in the whole Bible does God tell us we can test him (on a promise). Ironically, it is on the tithe. A tithe is giving 10% of our net pay (net resources) to God. We can give 2% or 5% instead, and see how God blesses and provides. God is willing to work with us to build our faith in this matter. As we build up testimonies about how he has provided for us in the past, we're able to step out in faith and give far more than that initial 5 or 10 percent. 

In order to love your neighbor as yourself, you have to trust in God's promises. You have to truly believe that he will work all things for your good. You have to truly believe that if you seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, he will provide for your food, clothing, shelter. You have to truly believe that you can repay evil with good--you can love your enemies--because vengeance is mine saith the Lord. He will judge on the final day and you will be victorious. You have to truly believe that the Lord will never leave you nor forsake you. You have to truly believe that the Lord's yoke is easy and his burden is light...that he is gentle and humble in heart and you will find rest for your soul in Him.

Galatians 5:13 says: We are called to freedom. In Christ, we are free. We don't have to fear, worry, fret, be jealous, be envious, or repay evil with evil. We don't have to be self-seeking. We are free to love. To seek the good of others.

As we study the fruit of the Spirit, we'll continually be confronted with what seems to be an inconsistency in Scripture. If God is love and we have the Spirit of God within us, we cannot help but love. Love is a fruit of the Spirit, coming from His power within us, not from ourselves.

So, why then are we commanded to love? If love is natural for the Believer, why must a commandment be written about it?

1 John 4:7-11
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is of God, and he who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God; for God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No man has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

Love is commanded because one of the ways God works love in us, is through the Word of God. Through the Bible. If we're not reading and studying the Bible, we're not loving our neighbor as ourselves. No transforming Word, no love. The Spirit within us speaks through the Word of God, which is "living and active". I often spontaneously recall a Bible verse when the Spirit wants me to behave a certain way. The Word exhorts us--convinces us, makes us willing and receptive and ready. (The Spirit speaks as we pray, too.)

If we just go to church and never open our Bibles, we don't know God and we're certainly not being transformed. To think God can transform our hearts without Scripture is laughable. We must remain in Him.

2 Timothy 3:16-17
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Pray through Scripture as you read it. Whatever the topic, ask God to work it in you. God, make me love my enemies. Make me desire their good, not their ill. Make me rejoice with those who rejoice, instead of envying them. Study and pray your way through Scripture. It isn't enough to open your Bible, read a dutiful 10 verses you may or may not understand, and then close your Bible, having done your duty.

As you read your verses for the day, remember that you're going to pray that God works that wisdom, that truth, in your heart, so read with this in mind. Read thoroughly enough to have something to pray about afterwards.

Before the Internet it used to be much harder to study the Bible. You needed extra books or a good sermon--commentary and application--to help you really understand and live Scripture (especially if you didn't own a Study Bible). But now with the click of a finger, you have thousands of resources at your disposal for free. You can Google sermons and Bible studies on any biblical topic, or on any individual Book of the Bible.

One more point about love, and then we'll close for today. Acts of the flesh--acts of our ego--are done to fill an emptiness. Those not born of God have an emptiness; they fill that emptiness by using others for selfish gain. Those born of God have a fullness; they use their overflow to serve others. 

We must ask ourselves...which do we have...the emptiness, or the fullness? They will know us by our fullness, by our love.

Friend, it is my sincere desire that you would have a fullness of heart and spirit, aching to nourish your neighbor with His overflowing love, much as the nursing mother with the aching, overflowing breast, nourishes her infant in earnest.

I have felt and seen a significant change in my heart and in my desire to serve others, not after I said a prayer and became, officially, a Christian, but after I began pursuing God through the regular reading and studying of His Word. Becoming a Christian, trusting in Christ for salvation, is only the first step. The Living Word in our heart is necessary for the seed of faith to take root on fertile ground....for the seed to bear fruit.

I urge you, sit down and plan your time in the Word for the coming week. What topic will you study? What Book of the Bible will you seek to understand? What Scripture verse will you hide in your heart?

Start today by Googling verses on loving others? Jot down the verse references and read them, and the commentary that goes along with them, throughout this week?

Write a focus for your time in the Word and stick to it. With a focus you're more likely to pick up your Bible. As you're out and about, do you have hand-held access to the Internet? Use that fancy phone for the best use possible...to study the Word. Go to biblegateway.com, type in your desired verses or chapter, and click on "show resources" to read the commentary after you read the verses, and then pray those verses into your heart.

John 13:35
By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Prayer Time: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the love you poured out for us, as you sent your Son and allowed Him to die on the cross as propitiation for the sin that separated us from you. Thank you for your Spirit within us. Thank you for pouring out your love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Make us draw from your Spirit within us. Send us daily to your Word that is alive and active and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, equipping the man of God for every good work. Make us repentant and pure of heart and ever thankful, regardless of circumstance. Make us instruments of your love, never taking more than we need, but using our excess for others' gain. May we truly understand what it means to "love your neighbor as yourself", and may we do this for your glory.

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen

Giving Thanks Today:

• For the kind family who advertised their gently-used child's scooter on Freecycle, delighting my children with something they'd waited a few years to enjoy.
• For three quiet hours to study God's Word, uninterrupted.
• For a thanksgiving turkey already in the freezer from Aldi's.
• For plumbing, clean water, flushing toilets, shelter, warm clothes, and medicine for illnesses and disorders.
• For finally having a proper winter jacket for this Momma, after residing in Ohio for a number of years (also off Freecycle--yippee for free and gently-used!)
• For difficult biblical concepts explained and dissected, at the click of my fingers.
• For four children and their joyful noise.
• For a hardworking, loving husband.

Giving thanks today with Ann, and other thankful ladies.

Loving Against Culture

Sweet, fun-loving Beth coughed in my face just enough; I'm down for the count.  A shorter post today, but one that still has love as its theme. I'm trying to come up with the emotional and physical strength to cart my four children to Aldi's grocery, for the freezer is bare and dinner looms.

Just a few thoughts to share on birthdays today. Some might find this post irritating but I've decided to take that chance. I didn't ask for exhortation as a spiritual gift, and though I was given it, I still need practice in presenting topics delicately. So don't get too angry with me?

At birthdays we spend just $30 on each child. They know if they want a party or a fancy cake, that money comes out of their total money. It's wonderful to mark birthdays as a special family and friend time, but what our culture does to "mark" these childhood milestones becomes quite a spectacle.

It seems we've come to view children as princes and princesses. Sadly, the more we treat them as such, the less likable they become. The greater their sense of entitlement grows.

In my dicipling I try to combat the strong, alluring messages my children receive from the world. With no public school, and no TV signal for a number of years now, they weren't receiving many of the usual messages. But now, with neighborhood children coming through, the messages come through too. They've never seen a Wii, an Xbox, or any other such gadget or game, but now they're hearing of them and wondering why they don't have them (at least Peter is--my most impulsive child).

One of my main teachings is that materialism destroys us from the inside out. The more we encumber ourselves with things or with the desire for things, the less we can love others. The less we can bring glory to God--especially if we're just sitting and entertaining ourselves. Entertainment certainly has its place, but its become a huge idol in our culture.

When you begin these discipleship lessons with your children, or with yourself, you always come back to this one hurdle: Loneliness.

A child contemplates: But nearly everyone has a fancy cake on their birthday. Nearly everyone has a party. Nearly everyone has some sort of electronic game. Lately, nearly every child brings their iPhone by our house. More and more grade-school children possess these monstrosities. Younger and younger children are sexting, corrupting their minds with pornography because of unsupervised Internet time. Children envy their peers and apparently bug their parents relentlessly, until every fourth grader in the class has an iPhone--even if they don't have a winter coat.

Endeavoring to keep both feet out of the world leads to loneliness. When you stand on principal, you're often isolated. But the beauty of this phenomena? Loneliness leads us to God. And he truly satisfies. He truly fills.

Once we get past the envy and manage to live contentedly on the fringe with our Heavenly Father as our ever-present companion, the next thing we need to do is squash our judgments. A person has to fill up on God first, before they can stop filling up on the world. So to help them? We help them fill up on God. Judging someone who doesn't know any alternative is futile. That judgement only hurts God and us; it keeps us from loving our neighbor. It's hard to love someone for whom you feel disdain.

I admit I have to work hard to squash my judgments of neighborhood parents. I know they're simply trying to love their children, and in our culture, loving a child is synonymous with indulging them. Delighting them. Everyone wants to bring smiles to their children's faces. The trouble is, that smile we bring now could lead to spiritual dysfunction later--not to mention financial dysfunction.

We've struggled with the cake thing in the past couple years, but this year Paul was happy to decorate the humble but delicious cake I made, and in turn, I was proud of his maturity. Cake doesn't last...it's fleeting, like so many of the things we think we need.

 

 Here is his donated piano, close enough to his birthday to be considered a gift from God himself.

 God does provide for some of their wants, including a yearly praying mantis for Peter. This fall it was looking dim until a girl from church brought her praying mantis to a fall fellowship. Deciding it was too much trouble--catching those crickets and all--she gave it to Peter. And a week later, Peter had an egg sac! Daddy and Peter get so excited when something leaves us with an egg sac. :)

These faces? Nothing short of amazing. God is amazing!

The mantis, feasting. 

Now for some Scriptures about feasting on God.

John 7:38

Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

Isaiah 58:11
The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.

Isaiah 44:3

For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.

Isaiah 12:3

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

John 4:14

but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

Matthew 6:24

"No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

Fruitful Fridays, Part 4 Love

We continue our series on the Fruits of the Spirit today. Read part 1 here. Part 2 here. Part 3 here. Our main text for Fruitful Fridays will be Galatians 5:13-26 (ESV). 

Today we begin our discussion of love, the first characteristic Paul mentions. The fruit of the Spirit is a singular word, so each characteristic is not a separate fruit unto itself; rather, they all work together.  

While I don't have my study work done on this topic, I do have something to offer today. Know that a more studied post is in the works. We've been busy with neighborhood needs, ironically. God never fails to give me an object lesson on whatever topic he wants me to explore. 

Today I want to discuss what love has come to mean in my life, as a fifteen-year Christian.

Love does not come from us, but from God. That's paramount to understand. We are called to love much, but only because the Spirit in us does the loving. Our role is to yield to the Spirit. To walk with Him and stick with Him, not choosing our own path.

Love is nothing if not inconvenient. It's a near-constant denial of self. If you're not willing to inconvenience yourself, you're probably not a good lover.

• Live is reading to your kids when you'd like to check your e-mail.
• Love is buying cheaper make-up so you have more money to give away.
• Love is making a lunch for your husband to take to work.
• Love is peeling and slicing apples for your children's lunches, even though it's time consuming.
• Love is raking your neighbor's leaves since you're already out there.
• Love is noticing needs outside your home and not just feeling sad about them, but meeting them.
• Love is holding and rocking that cranky child, rather than putting a movie in.
• Love is sitting at the table for all your meals so you can pray together, read some Scripture, connect.
• Love is not buying your child a cell phone so you'll always know where he is. Love is being with him.
• Love is pausing when your husband gets home, to hug him, to tell him thank you for his hard work.
• Love is sponsoring a child and spending time writing to and praying for that child and his family.
• Love is praying for all the needs you see, but don't have the means to meet yourself.
• Love is writing cards to lonely people, sick people, discouraged people.
• Love is getting up in the middle of the night to change that bed lovingly, to soothe those fears.
• Love is nursing and cuddling your baby enough, instead of using a bouncy seat or playpen or binky each time.
• Love is biting that naggy tongue when discussing something with your husband.
• Love is taking the time to talk with your children about how Jesus would respond to their dilemma.
• Love is having the kids write more to Grandma and Grandpa.
• Love is holding your blessings loosely so you can dedicate them to God with an open hand.
• Love is forgiving your husband for his transgressions, rather than keeping notes.
• Love is sitting down and praying with the child driving you nuts.
• Love is getting to church on time, rather than stressing over your appearance.
• Love is serving at church, rather than sitting and relaxing there.
• Love is giving your child's good sneakers to the child whose sneakers have holes. Your child's dirty yard sneakers are better than sneakers with holes. Sneakers can be laundered, after all.
• Love is going through your closets to see what is truly needed, and giving the rest to the family with too little.
• Love is keeping a gratitude list so you can say thanks to God. So you can live that thanks.
• Love is not taking more manna than you need, so that the next family will have enough manna.
• Love is looking to Scripture to find enough, rather than using your pocket book to find enough.

Most of all, to love is to give. Your heart, your time, your resources. When you've begun giving more than receiving, meeting others' needs before indulging your wants, than you're loving as Jesus would. 

The only thing that truly satisfies? Your Heavenly Father. Fill up with Him and then love others with the overflow. Without that fill-up you'll look to the world for satisfaction. And in the process, you'll only love yourself.

The hardest love is that which squeezes our belt, for this love requires the most faith. I close today with more 60-second radio spots produced by Dr. Brian Kluth, pastor. Find these spots and more on givewithjoy.org

Nancy was a single mother with young children. Her ex-husband sent her only a small amount of grocery money every week--so small it couldn’t even feed 1 person, much less her family of 4. But Nancy decided to begin giving to God from her little bit of grocery money and trust Him to provide. Shortly after, she got a job with a cookbook company. The company paid Nancy to go grocery shopping and prepare meals so they could take photographs for their cookbooks. When they were done taking pictures, Nancy could keep the food she had purchased and prepared. Isn’t that an amazing story of God’s goodness? Nancy learned that even if you’re poor, you still need to learn to give from whatever you have.

While ministering in Africa, I met a Christian worker who raised his 6 children on $10 a month. He told me the story of how children in his village were going blind because of a disease that could be prevented with medicine that only cost 50 cents. He began to pray and ask God to send a rich person to their village to help give the money for the medicine, but no one ever came. As he kept praying, the Lord told him he should give the money to buy the medicine. But with 6 children and only a $10 a month salary, he couldn’t see how he could do this. But he and his family prayed and decided that every month they would buy the medicine to help one child. When I last spoke with him, he'd been doing this for 7 years and had saved 84 children from going blind. And his family saw God meet all of their needs.

After my 40-Day Spiritual Journey to a More Generous Life book became an unexpected bestseller, I was contacted by NBC to do a TV news story. When the TV reporter interviewed me, she asked, “So, you think God wants everyone rich?” I said, “No, I don’t believe that.” She was a little surprised by my answer and then asked, “Well, what do you believe?” I responded, “I believe that everyone needs to learn to become more generous with whatever God has given them.” She then asked, “Well, didn’t your book becoming a bestseller make you rich?” I replied, “No, it helped me become more generous!” The truth is--every one of us in America is rich when you compare us to the rest of the world. What each of us needs to learn is how to become more generous with whatever God entrusts to us.

Fruitful Fridays: Part 3, Acts of the Flesh

^{We continue our series on the Fruits of the Spirit today. Read part 1 here. Part 2 here. Our main text for Fruitful Fridays will be Galatians 5:13-26. Today we will get to a small section only, 5:19-21. And God willing, this Friday we will study love, the first characteristic in Paul's list of spiritual fruit.} 

^{I've learned to say God-willing, because sometimes the Spirit leads me to focus only on my family, and sometimes on neighborhood needs, and sometimes on writing. Maybe that has something to do with why my Monday post showed up on a Saturday, and my Friday post showed up on Monday?}

^{Galatians 5:19-21}

 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

The Galatian churches, as we learned, were a mess. Warring factions (primarily the Law teachers) were trying to convince believers to follow the Law. As church members attempted to follow the Law, they ended up participating in sinful acts of the flesh. Primarily but not exclusively, Paul's concern related to their spiritual sins:  hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy. 

It wouldn't do for Paul to impress upon the Galatian churches the need to live by the Spirit, and then proceed to give them a list of sinful acts based on the Law. So he gives us a general list of sinful acts recognized as immoral by all people, including the pagan philosophers of the day.

The first set of sinful acts refer to sexual sins, including immoral sexual relations (sexual immorality) and sexual perversions (impurity, debauchery). In this time period the Roman Empire reveled in sexual perversion and immorality. If one could argue that the fall of the empire partially related to their allowing immorality to progress as it did, what does that say about our society? Sadly, our own culture resembles this period. 

Some in the Galatian churches were participating in these sexual sins, but that wasn't Paul's primary concern in this letter. He listed it first because it's the first sin people think of when acts of the flesh are discussed.

The second set of acts include ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft;. Idolatry includes worshiping the image of other Gods, participating in pagan temple feasts (1 Corinthians 10: 7, 14), and hungering for possessions. Witchcraft (related to the English word pharmacy) referred to making potions used in sorcery and witchcraft, to poison people.

When we analyze the hunger for possessions, we have to consider that this drive is not only about wanting abundant comforts. It's about looking to the world to define us, instead of to God. The world tells us we are what we drive, where we live, what perks we can afford. How many of us want to drive around in a run-down, 25-year-old car without a paint job? What does it say about us if we do? If you listen to the world, it says we're a failure. If you listen to the Word, it says that the last shall be first and that God is especially close to the poor. 

Right Christian living is an upside-down phenomena. Rarely do the world and the Word agree on anything, and perhaps that's never been truer than today, where evil is disguised as good, and good as evil. If you're moral, you are intolerant and that is "bad". If almost anything is acceptable to you, you're tolerant and that is "good".

We must ask ourselves as we seek both comforts and needs: Am I choosing this car because it's safe, economical, practical, thereby making me a good steward of what God has given? Or am I choosing it because it has status written all over it, despite it being insanely impractical? 

Am I choosing these shoes, boots, coat, jeans, fake nails, because of practicality--will hide spots, will last a long time, will fit my unusual feet, will match many things, will allow me to move comfortably, etc.--or because they'll look hot with my curves or with that one outfit? As women especially, we can think of hair and clothes and accessories as defining us, instead of relying on God and his Word to define us. The world wants us skinny and wearing designer clothes and shoes, complete with designer nails and toes and hair. God wants our beauty to come from within, from a gentle and quiet spirit. On the outside he merely wants us to be clean and healthy and pleasing to our husbands.

I'm torn between hiding my white hairs--at least for the sake of my children, who are young enough to be my grandchildren--and growing old gracefully. I'm still looking at the directions on those store-bought color kits to decide if I can possibly manage to do it without completely embarrassing myself.

And I must confess, I hate driving around in my husband's car, which is as run down as cars come. The van, which is my usual vehicle, is old and very unimpressive with its missing door handles and hubcaps, but it's a step up from my husband's car. Being in my husband's car, I'm reminded of my vanity. I'm also thankful that a few minutes into my drive, the Holy Spirit always speaks to me, telling me that I'm precious to him, no matter my vehicle. 

The next set of sinful acts has to do with relating to others. hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; These are spiritual sins, not immediately evident because they're inward at first, beginning in the heart. 

What drives all of them? Loving the self. Obsession with self. Wanting to be the first, the perceived best, the brightest. Wanting power and position and the admiration of man.

The law is fulfilled by the Spirit within us, and the Spirit drives us to love one another. We can't love if we're driven by a perverted self-focus. We can't love the poor well if we're unwilling to part with possessions and perks. We can't love our husband well if we're too focused on our needs and feelings. We can't love our children well if we're unwilling to up time and personal pursuit. We can't love our women friends well if we're too busy envying them.

The Spirit will speak to us about each of these things and if we listen, we will love well.

Paul says: I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 

This sounds as though he's saying we're saved by our works, not by grace, but everything else Paul wrote counters this erroneous view. He defends justification by faith in Christ, not by works of the law (Galatians 2:16). He taught that the evidence of true faith in Christ will be the work of the indwelling Spirit. 

If you have the Spirit, if you are truly born again, you will be convicted of all sin, though not in one full swoop. He strategically works with us, starting where we're at. Where we're the weakest. It may not be a good idea to tell a brand-new Christian to throw away all her skirts that fall above the knee, for example. God may have other things he cares more about in that person's heart at present. You may heap a burden on her she simply doesn't understand. Pray first.

As the Holy Spirit leads you away from sin and self-focus, Satan will pull you toward sin, toward yourself, at the same time. We don't choose God in the sense that we're incapable before our spiritual renewal, of choosing righteousness. God awakens our spirit, gives it life, and then our choice comes into play. We can choose to walk with the Spirit, to fight the daily battle with Satan, or we can choose to give up and continue in our sin. 

We can choose to read our Bibles, pray, worship God, or we can choose to open our Bible only on Sunday and be a "pretend" Christian. We can choose to bow in prayer only when we're desperate. Our walk with Christ begins not when we say a salvation prayer, but when we first hear the Spirit and begin walking with Him. He won't make you godly in a day, but on the first day, you can bet you'll start hearing Him. 

His voice alone, without Bible reading and study, without prayer, without fellowship with other believers, without worship, will yield a slow renewal of your heart. The word "walk" implies action on our part. The Christian walk with the Spirit requires some effort.

If you don't feel a strong pull from the Spirit, ask God to come into your heart and change you. Ask him to forgive you. His pull on your heart, the change in your life, is your evidence of salvation. If there is no evidence, start your true walk with God today and exchange your slavery to sin, for a slavery to love. Exchange turmoil and strife, with a holy peace and joy. Exchange a self-focus with an others-focus.

Friends, we'll leave it there today, but God willing, we'll come together again and study love this Friday.