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

Following the list of 17 works of the flesh-which, if practiced, will prohibit us from inheriting the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21) -are the 9 fruits of the Holy Spirit. As I was reading this the other day, I began to think about how God develops these fruit in our lives.

Jesus said, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt. 7:16, 19).  Many times the nine fruits of the Spirit are developed and brought to perfection through contrasting and opposing forces. Jesus says, “Every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:2).  Often times through trials and bitter life experiences, God prunes and purges us to bring forth fruit, or more fruit.  This is what God showed me concerning the development of these 9 fruit in our lives.

(1) Love is cultivated through loving those who hate, spitefully use and persecute you.

(2) Joy is developed by those who pass through the valley of Baca (sorrow) and make it a spring.

(3) Peace comes to maturity when you cast your cares on Jesus in the midst of confusion or life storms.

(4) Longsuffering/Patience can only be formed through overcoming very long and difficult trials.

(5) Kindness shines forth in the midst of the rude, uncouth, ungrateful and unthankful.

(6) Goodness manifests amongst the wicked with their cruel and deceitful acts.

(7) Faithfulness is at its best when confronted by the failure and betrayal of those we trust the most.

(8) Gentleness is developed when confronted by anger to which one does not respond to.

(9) Self-control is the discipline you exercise as you are tempted by unrestrained lust, passions and desires.

God is not only interested in the big things that concern you; He is interested in the little things too. Sometimes we may think, “This problem is too small to bother God with.” “God is only interested in big things.” But God really is interested in the little things that trouble us. The Bible says that He knows about the little sparrow that falls to the ground (Matt. 10:29). He knows how many hairs we have on our heads.

What a great God we serve. He delights to take all of our yokes and all of our burdens and give us yokes that are easy and burdens that are light.  God desires to not only meet the needs of his children, but to hear the needs of his children.  Even though he knows them before we make mention of them, He desires to hear each one.

Recently, I spoke a message at our church of how in my early years of ministry I had what I called a Messiah complex.  A complex that said, I need to be able to fix every issue, hear every request, meet every need no matter how small or how big.  During that message to our church, I shared how I realized that I can’t carry or care for all those things that the church body has need of.

Now, some may think that I was saying that I don’t care.  But really nothing could be farther from the truth.  What I was and am saying, is only God can carry the cares and burdens of his children.  That’s the way he wants it, that’s the way he desires it and that’s the way he designed it.

In Exodus it says that Jethro came to Moses and said you need to appoint leaders over the people to hear their request because you can’t do it all.  Moses was a great pastor, but even he couldn’t meet the needs of all the people.  That’s why the bible says in Eph. 4 that growth comes to the body of Christ when every ligament is doing its share.

Hebrews says, “Let Us come boldly to the THRONE OF GRACE…that we might find help in our time of need.”  God has what all of us need. He can carry all of our issues in life.

Casting our cares on those around us or those we think are spiritual will never do what is needed.  But casting our cares upon the lord is not only biblical it is life changing.

Pastor

Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. Jeremiah 17:7

The key to success and victory in life is not in ourselves but in God. David was a shepherd boy, unskilled in the weapons of war, but he defeated Goliath, the champion of the Philistines, with a single sling shot. He was not a professional musician in the temple of God, but he wrote most of the psalms in the Bible. He was not of royal lineage, but he went on to become the greatest king Israel ever had. What was the secret of his greatness? It was his dependence and his trust in God. David cried, “O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water” (Ps. 63:1). read the rest of this post »

When I was just beginning my relationship with God and starting to get into the word, I struggled. I believe it was because my heart was not always prepared to receive what God had for me. My heart was not prepared because I was reading the word like it was a requirement, not to actually receive a word from God. When reading the word we must prepare our hearts and seek what the Lord has for us.

The Scriptures say, “And Ezra prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.”  (Ezra 7:10). This verse is a summary of Ezra’s life and purpose. He was determined to fully accept the Lord’s direction in life. We as Christians need to be prepared, just as Ezra was, to accept the Lord’s direction no matter where it takes us. The Lord’s direction will always place us at a higher and deeper level than we are at right now. This desire came from Ezra’s deep conviction and reverence for God. This led him to seek out the Lord’s will in His revealed Word, the Scriptures. read the rest of this post »

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5

The eternal, universal principle remains: “To get to the top, we must reach for the bottom”. “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Matt. 23:12). The lower down I go, the higher up God will lift me. The lesser I have in myself, the more I receive from God. It is when I am weak in my flesh that I become strong in the spirit.

D.L. Moody once said, “As a young man, I used to think that God’s best gift is placed on the highest shelf and what I needed to do is simply to reach up. But not so now. I have learned that God’s best gift is on the lowest shelf. To get it, I have to stoop down.” read the rest of this post »