The Fruit

 "But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control. Against such, there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

In my last writing, I pointed to all that the Father seeks to do in cleansing us from everything that keeps us from living in the fullness of His life. I know that the sum of them is daunting for us to consider, as well as painful to walk through. I'm reminded of a lovely song from the Jesus movement days from a group named Dogwood. A lyric in one of their songs spoke of the result of His searching love exposing and cleansing sin in our lives. It goes, "It's a bitter persuasion, but the end is so sweet." So it is, and just as the previous devotion contained a prayer for His searching, so does it also have this prayer for the fulfillment of His desire for us when all those blockages have been cleansed. The end is so sweet. So I pray that I might.....

Know and Believe Him.....Not know about Him, or have mental information on Him, but to truly know HIm as He is, as He's revealed Himself to be. Knowledge and belief that anchors my heart and soul in Him. Knowledge and belief that stems from my choice to believe that He is who He says He is, and that He'll do what He says He'll do. That He loves me, works on my behalf in all things, and that He really will bring ultimate good out of all my circumstances, and I can and will trust Him. To really know and believe Him is to yield true peace and joy in my heart.....and yours.

Glorify Him....That what I speak, how I live, the fruit of my life would point to Him. To His goodness, His power, His faithfulness. That those looking upon my life know that the miracles He has done for me did not come about because of who I am, but who He is. That the witness of my life doesn't bring attention to me, but points to Him in every aspect of His being; God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Find True Satisfaction in Him.....Before I knew Him, my life was one of frustration, discontent, and a seeking to escape the realities of my life. Dissatisfaction, discontent, and frustration with our lives as they are, may be the most severe affliction most of us experience. So often, wealth, success, recognition, cannot remove the sense of meaningless so many live in. Jesus Christ saves us from meaningless and gives our lives the purpose we were created to have. I can remember seeing so many bumper stickers back in the day that read, "Jesus Satisfies." I had no idea of the extent of that truth until I came to know Him myself. Scripture says we can gain the whole world, but it profits nothing, satisfies nothing, if we do not have Him. He really does satisfy.

Experience His Peace.....The world speaks so much of peace, but what it seeks is outward peace, freedom from outward conflict, and even that peace is tenuous at best. Jesus Christ invites us into His peace, a peace that is true. It is of such depth that the turmoil around us cannot affect the rest within us. Our spirit is at peace. Our heart is at peace. It stems from the peace we have with Him. It comes from our abiding at all times in Him. He is our refuge, our hiding place, our strength, and our assurance. Because of it we can live steadfastly in Him. The chaos of the world cannot touch that rest.

Enjoy His Presence.....So few of us seem to know what it is to actually enjoy our walk with Him. We see it as a duty, an obligation, or a book of rules to be followed. We do not know or experience Him in an intimate way. He seems a God far off, and not One who is near. We can serve Him, pray to Him, talk of Him, but we don't enjoy Him or know what truly living in Him is. He calls us to live an adventure with Him, knowing the fullness of His joy. Too many believers live a joyless life, and it shows to a watching world. I deeply desire to live in His Presence, enjoying every minute. I can. We can. Do we?

These are the fruits to be experienced when we are clean before Him. Are they being realized in our lives? Are they being realized in yours? If not, can we confess it to Him, and allow Him to bring us to the reason for it, and the solution to it...found only in Him? First we invite Him to search us, then we must invite Him to fill us.....to overflowing. He will, if we will.

Blessings,

Pastor O