The Fruit of the Spirit - Pt 4

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 ESV). The next characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit is peace. The Greek word the apostle uses is "eirene." This word means "to join" and by implication it means prosperity. It is translated peace, quietness, rest and one. According to the Strong's Concordance it describes harmonious relationships between men and nations. It speaks of freedom from attack. The corresponding Hebrew word "shalom" primarily means wholeness and is connected to salvation. It also means to be "finished," “to be made perfect," and "full." Isn't it wonderful that a slice of the amazing work of the Holy Spirit in your life is to promote and establish peace and harmonious relationships with people and ultimately nations? It brings you to a place of wholeness, fulfillment and completion. Peace also is connected to salvation. A saved soul is a soul at peace because the Prince of peace. This peace may not always come to us without circumstantial turmoil. Long ago a man sought the perfect picture of peace. Not finding one that satisfied, he announced a contest to produce this masterpiece. The challenge stirred the imagination of artists everywhere, and paintings arrived from far and wide. Finally the great day of revelation arrived. The judges uncovered one peaceful scene after another, while the viewers clapped and cheered. The tensions grew. Only two pictures remained veiled. As a judge pulled the cover from one, a hush fell over the crowd. A mirror-smooth lake reflected lacy, green birches under the soft blush of the evening sky. Along the grassy shore, a flock of sheep grazed undisturbed. Surely this was the winner. The man with the vision uncovered the second painting himself, and the crowd gasped in surprise. Could this be peace? A tumultuous waterfall cascaded down a rocky precipice; the crowd could almost feel it’s cold, penetrating spray. Stormy-gray clouds threatened to explode with lightning, wind and rain. In the midst of the thundering noises and bitter chill, a spindly tree clung to the rocks at the edge of the falls. One of its branches reached out in front of the torrential waters as if foolishly seeking to experience its full power. A little bird had built a nest in the elbow of that branch. Content and undisturbed in her stormy surroundings, she rested on her eggs. With her eyes closed and her wings ready to cover her little ones, she manifested peace that transcends all earthly turmoil. If you are surrounded with the turmoil of life, would you let the Holy Spirit bring the fruit of peace to your life? It begins with redemption and continues through life to our ultimate glorification in Christ.

The Fruit of the Spirit - Pt 3

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 ESV). The next word Paul uses to describe the fruit of the Spirit is “joy.” It is the Greek word "chara." This word means "cheerfulness or gladness". Its root means "to be cheerful or to be well-off; to be glad". Joy is so much more than mere happy moments or a laughing matter. Joy originates because of a more meaningful source. Hebrews 12:2 says: "looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the right hand of the throne of God". What was this joy that was set before Him? And how could this joy be strong enough to cause Him to endure the cross and despise the shame such suffering would bring? I believe Christ's joy was centered in His Father. Because of that He also saw you and I in need of the work only he could accomplish. Humanity is the object of God’s joy. His unconditional love for us stirs a phenomenal joy because of us. His sacrifice on that cross, dying for our sins would position us towards salvation; fellowship with God Almighty! That is the joy that was set before Him! Mere laughter or happiness has no real root. Both have superficial causes. Real joy as a fruit of the Spirit is deeply rooted in a person! We are God's joy and He is ours! The Gospel ignites real joy! It is founded in the salvation message. It is always connected to redemption (cf. Luke 15:7). Because joy is not a reaction to emotion or connected to circumstance but rooted in the presence of God in our lives, we can rejoice in the Lord always (cf. Philippians 4:4). Bruce Larson tells a story of a particular church conference in Omaha. People were given helium-filled balloons and told to release them at some point in the service when they felt like expressing the joy in their hearts. Since they were not typically free to express their joy verbally in a service, it began a bit slowly. However, all through the service balloons ascended. Sometimes it was during a particularly inspiration quote or reading; at other times it was during an instrumental solo or choral rendition of a hymn. When the service came to an end, over one-third of the balloons were unreleased. Perhaps it was because the exercise itself was flawed. After all, real joy has nothing to do with how we feel; it is centered in who we are at our core. Being the children of God ought to produce within us a sense of the great benefits that are ours in eternal life. At least for me, when I think about what awaits me on the other side, I can let my balloon go easily! How about you?

The Fruit of the Spirit - Pt 2

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 ESV). Remember, all nine of these characteristics are to be seen as one single “fruit.” However, each expresses a different facet of the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The first we will examine is love. The Greek word is "agape. This word is one of five used in the New Testament and translated “love” in our English Bibles. It refers to the sacrificial love associated with the work of God in making the atonement possible for us through Jesus. It is far different that what the devil has offered in the world. Satan's best attempt to reproduce this kind of love ends in mere lust. Man's best rendering is conditional affection. Agape is unconditional love. It is used to describe the Father's attitude towards the Son (cf. John 17:26) and to those who believe in the Son of God (cf. John 14:21). Vines defines “agape” as "a love that is not drawn out because of the excellence of its objects but because of the divine will in deliberate choice." This love does not love because it gets something in return or because those being loved are deserving; it loves because that is what it does! It expresses the essential nature of God. I like the illustration I read recently of a certain medieval monk as he announced he would be preaching the next Sunday evening on “The Love of God.” As the shadows fell and the light ceased to come in through the cathedral windows, the congregation gathered. In the darkness of the altar, the monk lit a candle and carried it to the crucifix. First of all, he illumined the crown of thorns, next, the two wounded hands, then the marks of the wound from the spear. In the hush that fell, he blew out the candle and left the chancel. There was nothing else to say. Imagine being able to love like this! Because of the work of God's Spirit in your life you can! Let me make some simple suggestions: First, love without discrimination. It’s always easy to love folks like us; God’s love is without elimination because of differences. Second, love with a care that is tangible. Love has an actionable response attached. There is a “do” component to this kind of love. Third, this love makes time for people. It is often inconvenient and unrewarded; but, giving our time is the most sacrificial expression of our love. Fourth, love with real transparency. This is not the kind of transparency that we hear so often from politicians; this is letting people see the real us with our joys and sorrows, victories and defeats. How’s your fruit looking so far? The Holy Spirit wants it to be sweet. Let him do that.

The Fruit of the Spirit - Pt 1

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 ESV). As we begin this mini-series there are some basic principles that are helpful to understand. First, the word "fruit" here is used in the singular. Paul is not referring to nine different fruits. If you can imagine a cluster of grapes, each of the grapes is a little different, but they are all grapes from the same vine. Together they are a whole. God's design for these nine characteristics was to function together. It is the visible expression of the Holy Spirit's power working inwardly in the life of the Believer. Their appearance is a result of God's power activated in us through the Holy Spirit. The Greek word translated “fruit” carries with it the meaning "to be plucked, to seize, to catch, or to pull". It is a simple way for the apostle to declare these characteristics appear in the life of the believer and are made available for others to enjoy! I have some fruit trees in my yard that are beginning to produce. There is something far better about picking a peach just ripe from one of my trees and eating it. As good as the fruit might be at the local market, it is not quite as good as fresh picked! Additionally, we ought to understand that fruit is a result of the growth of seed and the fruit very often carries the seed for the next harvest. Jesus made it clear that the seed is the Scripture (cf. Luke 8:11). When you read, study and welcome the Scripture into your life you give the Holy Spirit in you the materials to fashion His fruit in you. When His fruit is displayed through you, their "enjoyment" plants more seed for the Holy Spirit to work with. The Scripture and the Holy Spirit always work together toward multiplication. The more seed, the more fruit and vice versa. A farmer planted two fruit trees on opposite sides of his property. The one he planted to provide a hedge to hide the unsightly view of an old landfill; the other to provide shade to rest under near a cool mountain stream which ran down beside his fields. As the two trees grew, both began to flower and bear fruit. One day the farmer decided to gather the fruit from the tree nearest his house; it was the one used to provide a hedge from the landfill. As he brought the fruit inside the house, he noticed that it was a little odd looking. Later that evening, while sitting on his porch the farmer took one of the pieces of fruit for a snack. Biting into the fruit, he found it to be extremely bitter, and completely inedible. Casting the fruit aside he looked across the field to the other tree over by the mountain stream. After walking across the field, the farmer took a piece of the fruit from the other tree and bit into it. It was sweet and delicious. The fruit was greatly affected by the nutrition of the root. We have a similar choice. Where we put our “roots” down can determine the fruit we bear. Where are your roots?

The Living Water

Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” (John 4:10-15 ESV). Last week was Vacation Bible School at our church in Santa Fe, Tennessee. We had a marvelous week with great attendance and even greater Bible teaching. Our adults did an incredible job again this year! The theme this year was “Running the Race.” Each evening as we met together we studied some of the “I am” statements of Jesus. One of the passages for the week was our reading for today. There are so many wonderful truths in this passage. Just the fact that Jesus offers life to this outcast woman is an incredible encouragement to us. However, there is an interesting truth revealed at the end of the conversation that we should not overlook. The woman answered Jesus with this request to give her the water “so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” Matthew Henry has an interesting observation of this response by the Samaritan woman: The woman (whether in jest or earnest is hard to say) begs of him to give her some of this water. Some think that she speaks tauntingly, and ridicules what Christ had said as mere stuff and, in derision of it, not desires, but challenges him to give her some of this water. Others think that it was a well-meant but weak and ignorant desire. She apprehended that he meant something very good and useful, and therefore saith Amen, at a venture. Whatever it be, let me have it who will show me any good? Ease, or saving of labor, is a valuable good to poor laboring people. Even those that are weak and ignorant may yet have some faint and fluctuating desires towards Christ and his gifts, and some good wishes of grace and glory. Carnal hearts, in their best wishes, look no higher than carnal ends. "Give it to me," saith she, "not that I may have everlasting life" (which Christ proposed), "but that I come not hither to draw." I find it altogether too true that many people only need Jesus when the need Him. If he will make our lives easier or more convenient then we are amenable to the exchange. If what Jesus gives us really makes life better, then certainly we want that life. This is a good place to remind us that Jesus’ promise to us is not an easier life, it is an eternal life. In fact, it is often true the life of a believer is harder, not easier. Yet, it is always better! We’ll explore that a bit over the next few days. Trust him because he loves you not because of what he gives you!

Contentment at the End

And the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He had also seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first daughter Jemimah, and the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-happuch. And in all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job's daughters. And their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. And after this Job lived 140 years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, four generations. And Job died, an old man, and full of days. (Job 42:12-17 ESV). The book of Job ends on a note of contentment and peace. Job was probably about seventy when the book opens, so he is an old man. What a picture of peace, a contented man. God had greatly blessed him. I find it very comforting as I talk to other older people who have learned the secret to contentment. Some have confused contentment with resignation; however, it far from that! When we are able to face both our past and future with equal peace, that is contentment. This is Job. Because of the gift of grace in our lives, the old is past, put away forever. God invites us always to forget about all the distrust and fears, all the anxieties of the past, all the resentments we have been holding against others, all the grudges, all the criticisms. We have a new beginning every day. The question that hovers over us as we close this book is how we will choose to live each of our days. Will it be on the old basis of it-all-depends-on-me, do-it-yourself goodness before God, trying my best to be pleasing to God and meaning it with all my heart but never realizing the depths of evil with which I have to deal? Or will I accept the gift of God that is waiting for me every day, fresh from His hand, a gift of forgiveness, of righteousness already mine, of a relationship in which He is my dear Father and I am his cherished, beloved son, and in which I therefore have provided for me all I need, all day long, so that I may say no to evil and yes to truth and right? If it is, each of our days will be characterized by peace and contentment. We recently finished a remodeling project in our church. We finished the installation of stained glass and plantation style shutters in the sanctuary. While it was good before, the difference now is striking. The colors of the stained glass filter in a kaleidoscope of the spectrum. It almost seems as if there is a perpetual rainbow in the room now. I think that’s how God wants us to see every circumstance of our lives. Regardless of what you may be facing at this time in your life, God has given you an unbreakable promise to bless you with peace and contentment. Choose His way… you won’t be disappointed!

Job, It's Christmas!

And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the LORD had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold. (Job 42:10-11 ESV). We get to my favorite part of Job with today’s reading. It sounds like Christmas at Job’s house! There is this wonderful family gathering. Job's brothers and sisters and all his friends who had known him before are getting together. The uncles and aunts are there as well as all the cousins, nephews, nieces, and grandchildren. By this time Job is a seventy-year-old man or even older, and though his own children had all perished, he must have had grandchildren and great-grandchildren by now, and all the neighbors and friends had brought their families. So this was a great family occasion as Christmas is for us and always has been. They set out an incredible feast. We usually start with Becca’s “sticky buns” in the morning. She has a special recipe from her mom that is incredible. It goes all day with folks coming and going and food being consumed throughout the day. This is not an unusual custom at Christmas. Throughout history and in most cultures where Christmas is recognized, feasting has been a part of the Christmas celebration. There is another thing Job does at this celebration. It is what we would call fellowship. Job's family and friends gathered to comfort him and to express sympathy and understanding for all the pain and suffering he had been going through. They brought gifts as well. These friends gave to Job gifts of silver and gold. In the Bible these two metals are used symbolically as a picture of redemption. Silver is the sign of redemption, and gold is the picture of deity; God redeeming people. That is why this is Christmas at Job's house. Job's witness to his friends evidently had such effect upon them that in gratitude for what they learned from him, they gave him gifts of silver and gold to express their understanding of God's redemption among people. Job discovered two thousand years before Jesus' birth and eventual death on the cross that One was coming into the world, and, as the angel said to Mary, He will save his people from their sins (cf. Matthew 1:21). This is what brings joy and gladness to believers' hearts at ANY time. If you know the Lord Jesus, you have the greatest gift God can give to a person. This allows us to look forward rather than backward in life. All of the trials and challenges of life then begin to pale in comparison to what he has done for us. Come on! Join me in a little early Christmas!