Fruit-filled Thoughts!

                

Following Jesus isn't easy but it is simple. Proverbs 16:3 says: "Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established." 

Each day when we come before the Lord we commit whatever we do to Him. We do this knowing that He is either good or He isn't. Can't have it both ways. He is either in control or He isn't, He is either trustworthy or He isn't, He either loves us or He doesn't. 

So as my husband and I come before the Lord our minds are already made up that He is good, He is trustworthy, He has everything under control, He is good and we are loved.  That's already starting out our seeking time in truth fully committed to Him. Perhaps that is our way of standing strong in the Lord and His mighty power. We have also made it our practice to speak a verse out loud every morning first thing. Before coffee or news or anything. It's a simple little discipline that places truth in our minds before any other information bombards the day. It's fun to start out the day that way and see where the Lord will use that verse. The verse we have been reciting, contemplating and chewing on is John 15:5  (Jesus us talking here) " I am the vine and you are the branches. If you abide in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from Me, you can do nothing. "

We've been doing this for about a week now and its funny because our thoughts are more peaceful, joyful, loving. We are recognizing the fruit of the Spirit in our thoughts. If you think about it that makes sense because if we don't have good thoughts we won't do good things.  So the fruit of the Spirit has to be in us before is shows up on the outside of us. We are learning together to let the sweet, fruit of the Holy Spirit be our gauge. When we find ourselves getting grumpy or grumbly we are learning to invite Jesus right into our dark places and He is lighting them up.  We don't deny our anger or frustration that wouldn't be honest before Him. We are learning to speak kindly and respectfully to each other and even set healthy boundaries. We do not have this all figured out but we are learning and it is fun, exciting, challenging and rewarding. 

Father, I pray right now for the ones who will read this. Please help my brothers and sisters to have juicy, fruit filled thoughts as they walk with You. In Jesus' name. Amen

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

Cooperating With The Holy Spirit Is A Choice

 

Galatians 5:16 I say then; Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.

When we go to the grocery store often times the very first department we see is the produce department. Think about all of the colors and fragrances. I love to smell fresh strawberries and apples! So many different colors and fragrances. 

We choose fruits and vegetables that are ripe and healthy. They are good. But what if there is rotten fruit or unripe melon? We have to make a choice. It's pretty obvious that we would choose the good and not the bad. 

On a spiritual level we also have choices and this is why we really need to be aware of our own thoughts. We have many opportunities every day to either be irritated or forgiving. We have the choice to yell at people or overlook their mistakes. Life is full of choices and whether or not we realize it we make them all the time. The difference in walking in the Spirit is that we cooperate with the Holy Spirit. It starts with baby steps. We learn to listen to that inner voice that may say something like, "that wasn't kind." or "that was selfish". It could be any number of things but the important thing to remember is to learn to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. 

Always remember though that we will mess up. When we mess up, we fess up, we get up and walk on. We are like little children. Jesus doesn't beat us up. He helps us up. Satan on the other hand wants to keep you down. (1 John 1:9)

Its important to realize too that if we aren't willing to listen to correction we aren't going to be able to receive direction. Feelings are not direction. The point is that when we get in tune with the correction of the Lord we can then be confident in the direction He is leading.

Ps. 23:1 The Lord is my shepherd.  He is good and kind and loving and lovely. He is the bread of life, living water. His word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. 

If Jesus is guiding our thoughts they will always bring us to the paths of righteousness. This not necessarily the righteousness that He gives us but more like the righteousness of thinking and doing the right things. Jesus will always lead us to think right and do right. All actions begin with thoughts. Pay attention to where your thoughts are taking you and also what is feeding those thoughts.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- meditate on these things.

Jesus said in John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me.

This tells me that He gives me the opportunity to choose whether or not to be troubled. Don't be discouraged this takes practice.

Life isn't always peaceful, joyful or happy. So don't look for happiness in your circumstances. Look to Jesus. He will honor silent prayers. Even the very simplest of prayers like Peter as he walked on the water. He was doing ok until he took his eyes off of Jesus and onto the wind and the waves. Then he said Lord, help! Immediately Jesus did two things. He corrected and He helped, but He didn't condemn.

A couple other things to consider is that in John 10:27 My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow me. One of the hallmarks of a child of God is that we are comforted and corrected by His word. We must have a willing heart to be corrected by the Word.

Psalm 23:4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

He is God and we are not. He knows what's best and loving correction is the hallmark of good parenting. Proverbs 3:12 For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he delights.

Finally... take comfort when you are corrected by the shepherd's rod. It is because you are hearing the heart of the Father's love for you!

Freedom of Self-Control

 

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Galatians 5:16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law

 In every place where it is hi-lighted in red place your name. This is a picture of spiritual warfare.

There may be a plate of cookies on the table. If it is there I may be tempted to take one every time I pass by it. But because I am filled with the Spirit I am free to not place a plate of cookies on the table in the first place! If it is there I am free to only eat one. I am free to eat more but the Holy Spirit gives me the power to only eat one. The task master of the flesh demands that i eat and eat and eat.

Here is a tool that can help. Please take the time to memorize this verse:

I Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

One of the things that helps is to pray without ceasing like it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18. That's also what I think Jesus meant when He said to abide in the vine. In John 15:4. This is what He said: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

Another thing that is helpful is to be aware of our thoughts.

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. Acknowledge the Lord in all your ways and He will direct your paths.

When we become aware of our thoughts its very easy to acknowledge Jesus in them. One prayer that impacted my life is this, "Lord I don't feel spiritual right now, but I know that You are with me right now." That prayer changed my life!

My prayer for you today is that you be saturated with the awareness of His presence and that in those moments when you are aware of your thoughts that you may talk to Him in your every decision. He loves you and wants to fellowship with you!

 Galatians 5:22-24 But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

A Word About Impulses

 

Let's be honest. Who hasn't made an impulsive purchase? Who hasn't spouted off something silly or hurtful. I have been there and done that way too many times to count. 

One of the things that I am learning is that we always can wait a few seconds and test that thought. How does that work? Just talk to Jesus! Take a breath. "Lord, should I (fill in the blank)?" Then if you don't have peace leave it alone.

He that the Son sets free is free indeed! We are no longer slaves to hasty feet, words or deeds. The only thing we have to do is co-operate with the Holy Spirit!

Victory in Jesus

 

This is  a happy picture that came to mind this morning after a time of prayer and praising. I like to dance around the house will cleaning and praise the Lord. While I do that my head tends to nod in agreement and in my minds eye I could see a horse marching in victory. 

We praise God for what He has done, for what He is doing and what He will do and that praise is putting us into agreement with His word! Remember this... Jesus never loses. Never!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 There is a line in one of my favorite movies that says, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you're gonna get."

Life may very well be like a box of chocolates but God  knows what is in each piece.

The prophet Jeremiah said, “Thy words were found and I did eat them and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine  heart.” Jeremiah 15:16  

God’s word is the source of our joy if we belong to Him. That is one of the hallmarks of true followers of Christ. The book of James tells us that even demons believe and tremble at the mention of His name and many of us don't even do that and yet we claim the name of “Christian.”

God has secrets that He wants to reveal to us and that is part of the joy of our pursuit of Him. Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

I know. I know some people are going to just freak out and scream, “GRACE!’ But hear me out. It’s true we are saved by grace not by work. We no longer must  observe all of the dietary, Levitical, ritual laws but are to live the moral law. As believers we should be law abiding citizens. So add some common sense to your criticism please. And realize we are saved not by good works but for good works Ephesians 2:8-10

 

If we aren’t enjoying that pursuit it could be that our motivation is not based on our relationship with Him but rather to do it out of a sense of duty. That is not to say it doesn’t take discipline because it surely does but it is a discipline born out of our love for Him because He first loved us. 

What a blessing it is to realize that He wants to be known! The Father is looking for those who are looking for Him. And He will reveal His secrets but not to casual readers.

In John chapter 4 Jesus has an encounter with a Samaritan woman. He didn’t do a miracle per se, He just told her everything she’d ever done. See we think we can hide and we can’t We think we can manipulate His word and many do.  

 When Jesus was talking to the Samaritan woman He told her, You worship what you do not know, We know what we worship for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming and now is when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is looking for such to worship Him. John 4:22-23

The Righteous Guardian

 

Proverbs 13:6

Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,
But wickedness overthrows the sinner.

Remember the name Jehovah Tsidkeneu The Lord Our Righteouseness?

It is Jesus who guards those who belong to Him. When we belong to Him, we are safely in His great big, safe hands. John 10:27-28 "My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me. And I give   them eternal life and no one can snatch them out of My hand."

We have to remember that salvation is instant. It happens the moment we give Jesus our life. But sanctification is a lifelong pursuit. We will mess up along the way. That's when we need Jesus to use the believer's bar of soap: I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.