“When you enter the land and plant any kind of fruit tree, regard its fruit as forbidden. For three years you are to consider it forbidden; it must not be eaten. In the fourth year all its fruit will be holy, an offering of praise to the Lord. But in the fifth year you may eat its fruit. In this way your harvest will be increased. I am the Lord your God.” Leviticus 19:23-25

We live in a microwave world. People want instant gratification. Kids right out of college want the corner office with a view and the big paycheck. I see newbie writers convinced their work will be a bestseller… that is, until they join a critique group or submit it to an editor. Any seasoned author knows writing the first draft is only one-fifth of the work. It takes time and effort to develop it into a product ready for the market.

I think some Christians are too anxious to bear their fruit before it is ready. They don’t want to go through the hard work God has in store to prune, weed, and grow them. So they offer a pre-ripe, sour fruit to the world and then wonder why people scrunch their noses and back away.

Now, that is not to say God cannot use them. Of course He can. He uses all of us right where we are in our spiritual journey. But His timing is purposeful. If our spiritual skin has not thickened, we may get easily bruised and our fruit may be less attractive. The full sweetness may have not developed.

I know I have jumped the gun before He had fully prepared me for a mission. Perhaps you have as well. It may not take five years, but we all should wait until the time is ripe instead of rushing ahead of His schedule. That way, He will have fully prepared us to give Him glory, and the harvest of new souls won for Christ will be increased.

Father God, Creator of all. Help us to yield to Your timing before we bear fruit. Guide us by Your Spirit to maturity even though it may take longer and we may have to work harder. Keep us patient in the process and let us not become discouraged as we wait to see what wondrous things You will do through us. In Christ’s name. Amen.

By Julie Cosgrove
Used by permission

FURTHER READING

• The Measure of Maturity
• Developing Spiritual Maturity
• Maturity Hurts

The post Take Time to Ripen can be found at Thoughts about God.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23

When a lawyer asked Jesus which commandment was the greatest, He said,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all you heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind,” and “the second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew. 22:37, 39).

What an overwhelming assignment!

In our own strength, none of us can live up to this obligation, but the Lord has provided a way for Christians to do the impossible. The indwelling Holy Spirit works to produce His fruit in us, and first on the list is love (Galatians 5:22). In fact, the other eight qualities are really just descriptions of its expression.

Whenever we demonstrate kindness, patience, or gentleness, we see the Lord’s love at work through us, especially when the other person has been unkind and doesn’t deserve such pleasant treatment. This fruit is not produced by trying harder to muster good will toward someone who is irritating or hard to get along with. Instead, think of the process more like sap running through a branch on a grape-vine. The branch doesn’t make grapes; the sap does. In the same way, the Spirit flows through us, producing God’s love in us, so that we can pass it on to Him and others.

Agape love is the reason we are able to care for someone who mistreats us—it’s God’s doing, not ours. Even the adoration we offer the Lord is not something that we can produce in our own heart apart from His assistance. Though the command to love is enormous, God’s grace makes it possible.

By Dr. Charles Stanley
Used by permission

FURTHER READING

• Love Them Anyway – by Karen Huffaker

• Getting Life Back on Track by Marvin Kehler

• A Love That Never Fails – by Max Lucado

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The post Impossible Love Made Possible can be found at Thoughts about God.

“I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart! And the peace I give isn’t fragile like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid” John 14:27

A stricken widow stood beside the coffin of her husband. She said to a friend, “There lies my only earthly support, my most faithful human friend, one who has never failed me; but I must not forget there lies also the will of God, and that will is perfect love.”

By faith, she saw good and blessing, remembering the promise of God,

“I know the plans that I have for you…plans for good...” (Jeremiah 29:11).

As the Prince of Peace, Jesus gives peace of heart and mind, truly one of the greatest and most remarkable gifts we can receive. In the midst of trial and testing, His perfect peace is a supernatural blessing far exceeding even such coveted gifts as good health, for with His inner peace we have everything we need.

How do we obtain that kind of peace?

First, it is the fruit of the Spirit. “Love, joy, peace…” As we are yielding to Him and controlled by the Holy Spirit, the fruit of peace is being cultivated in our lives moment by moment, day by day.

Second, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee” Isaiah 26:3, (KJV); “As he thinketh in his heart so is he“ Proverbs 23:7, (KJV). It is a fact of life that we become in our attitudes and actions like that which most dominates our thoughts. That explains the dramatic moral spiritual deterioration resulting from the influence of immoral television programming. When the Lord is given His proper priority in our lives, His perfect peace will reign in our hearts.

While it is true that all such blessings are a gift of God and cannot be earned or merited, it is equally true that we can deliberately choose to cooperate with God’s Holy Spirit by yielding ourselves to Him and thus cultivating the fruit of peace.

Bible Reading: Isaiah 26:1-5

By faith I shall claim God’s promised peace for today and every day. I shall ask the Holy Spirit to help me concentrate my heart’s gaze on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, and I will encourage someone else to do the same.

By Dr. Bill Bright
Used by Permission

Further Reading

• Freedom of Forgiveness

• Understanding the Holy Spirit

• Searching for a Higher Purpose – Betty Lau shares her story

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The post Peace of Heart can be found at Thoughts about God.

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

Thought

Where the Holy Spirit lives, human character is changed and spiritual fruit can be seen. Certainly this maturity isn’t found overnight! It is, however, noticeable over the long haul of life. What fruit is the Spirit bearing in your life? In what ways have you matured? In what areas do you want the Spirit to exercise greater control? Why not take a moment and consciously yield those areas in which you struggle to him now, as you pray?

Prayer

Almighty and ever-present Father, thank you for empowering positive changes in my life as I seek to be more like Jesus. Please bring to full maturity the fruit the Holy Spirit is growing in my life. You know very well that I continue to struggle with __ in my life. I intentionally turn over that part of my life to your Spirit to redeem and fully sanctify. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

By Phil Ware
used with permission.
Phil’s daily devotionals on http://www.verseoftheday.com

Learn more about the Holy Spirit

FURTHER READING

•  Desolate or Fruitful?  How are you with others?
• The Old Apple Tree – lesson from a tree on bearing fruit as a Christian

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

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“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15:1-2

For me, gardening is an exercise in trust.

I drop tiny seeds into ground, believing that most of them will sprout and grow into ample food for my family and myself.

In faith, I thin out my rows of seedlings, pulling out perfectly healthy plants to make room for others to grow, confident that this will actually give me a better yield.

One of the more difficult parts about gardening is pruning. I find myself second-guessing how much of a branch to cut off, or if I really need to get rid of all but a couple of raspberry canes.
It seems counter-intuitive that less branches would equal more fruit.

In the same way, God takes His clippers to me, His branch. He doesn’t hold back; He prunes away all of the unfruitful parts of my life.

Any desire that would take glory away from Him is snipped off. Any plan that feeds my ego rather than a Christ-like spirit is stripped away.

He would rather that I would be a spindly stalk that produces fruit than a lush bush covered with leaves that produces nothing of value. And when I really think about it, so would I.

God, help me to accept the pruning You do in my life, and trust that You know what is best for me. As You prune, may Your Spirit work in my life to make me more like the true vine, Jesus Christ. Amen.

By Caran Jantzen
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• Prickly Cactus
• Aphids and Sin – an interesting comparison

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

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The post Fruitful Gardening can be found at Thoughts about God.

The first spring on our new acreage we wondered what some of the trees were. As the season wore on it soon became evident that two of the trees were apple trees. The blossoms were beautiful and fragrant. And at the end of the summer there was fruit to enjoy! As we bit into the sweet apples there was no doubt what kind of a tree we had.

God says we are much the same as that apple tree. His Word says that we will be known by the kind of fruit in our lives. In Matthew 7:15-29 God tells us that if our hearts are true or false it will be revealed in the fruit of our lives. We will be recognized by our fruit.

So what does the fruit of a Christian look like? Galatians 5:22 tells us what to look for:

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”

When we allow the Holy Spirit to have power in our life it shows in specific ways. There can be a difference in your life. It will be the difference the Holy Spirit makes as you invite His power to be active in your individual circumstances.

If you are a Christian, ask yourself which of these fruits is in short supply in your life right now?

• Do you need more love in that challenging relationship?
• Do you need more joy in life?
• What about peace? Are you in knots as your head hits the pillow at night?
• Is patience in short supply at your home or job? Or kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control?

Sometimes I find life so consuming. Sometimes I feel there just isn’t enough of me to go around to cover all my responsibilities, never mind additional kindness and goodness! To have these various fruits in abundance almost seems like fairy tale stuff at some turbulent times in my life. Yet while I don’t have enough to go around, God does! When I take time to invite the life flowing power of the Spirit into each circumstance and decision, the fruit begins to show!

We make a choice each day as Christians to either operate in our own strength or to operate in the power of the Holy Spirit and to ask Him to bring an abundant harvest of fruit into our lives. The sweetness of this fruit will reveal Jesus to those around us.

Choose one fruit of the Spirit that you feel lacking in and ask God today to work in you to increase it. It’s His work. You just make the choice and send the invitation!

by Gail Rodgers
Used by Permission

We are filled with the Holy Spirit by faith alone. However, true prayer is one way of expressing your faith. The following is a suggested prayer:

“Dear Father, I need You. I acknowledge that I have been directing my own life and that, as a result, I have sinned against You. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I now thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit.”

Does this prayer express the desire of your heart? If so, ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit right now and trust Him to do so.

FURTHER READING

• How to be fill with the Holy Spirit
• Spiritual Oxygen: Are You Getting Enough?

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

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