Jesus as the Vine

God seems to have a fondness for growing things. When he created Adam and Eve, he put them in a garden! The Bible even refers to Jesus as a Vine, and to God as the Husbandman, or gardener. Jesus and the Apostle Paul referred to people as branches. 

First, let’s look at John 15:1-5. Jesus said, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.  Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.”

First, Jesus tells us He is the Vine; later in the passage He says that we are the branches. A branch cannot bear fruit unless it is part of the vine or tree that holds it. Just like that, we cannot bear fruit unless we remain in Christ. 

In Romans 11, Paul talks about the Jews being the natural branches of that holy Vine. Some did/do not believe that Jesus is the Vine and were broken off. After Jesus’ resurrection and ascension to Heaven, God opened up salvation to the Gentiles (anyone not a Jew). Paul describes this be referring to the Gentiles as branches from a wild olive tree, grafted into the holy root.  He warns us not to get proud and cocky about being grafted in. 

“And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert grafted in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.  And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be grafted in: for God is able to graft them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert grafted contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”

Romans 11:17-24

If God will break off His own natural branches who don’t believe, He won’t even think twice about breaking of grafted branches who don’t produce!  But again, in His infinite mercy, He is also willing to graft any of those branches back in when they give up their unbelief. 

The Prophet Isaiah prophesied many years ago that Jesus would come and be like a plant. He referred to Jesus as a rod and a Branch:

"And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:  And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord;  And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:  But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth: with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked.”

Isaiah 11:1-4

Finally, what is the purpose of all these branches?  To bear fruit!  What kind of fruit?  The Fruit of the Spirit: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”  Galatians 5:22-23

We must always acknowledge our need of Jesus, to hold us up and to give us life. A disconnected branch is dead and bears no fruit. The Husbandman (God) throws them in the fire! 

When we bear fruit for Him, we bring Him honor and glory!

Praise God! Let’s be fruitful branches!

Thought for the Day

Matthew 25:14-30 is a parable Jesus told about the Kingdom of Heaven. You are probably familiar with the story, in which a man who was going on a journey entrusted his money to his servants, according to their abilities. When he came back, they came before him to show him how much return there was on his investment. The one who received most made the most (how it usually goes in investing), and it went on down to the servant who didn't receive much, but who was too afraid of the risk to invest. He was so afraid of losing his master's money that he buried it and gave it back to him upon his return. His master called him unprofitable because he didn't put it to use and make something of it. His little bit of money was taken from him and given to the one with the most, and the servant was tossed out into outer darkness.

Reading the story, it's pretty obvious it was dealing with money. However, God gives us other things besides money, and He expects us to use them for His glory and honor. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. James 1:17-18. Anything good that we have, any talents or gifts or abilities, were given to us by God.

Did He give us these for our own glory? N-O! Love, or charity, is one of the Fruit of the Spirit, and charity "seeketh not her own" (I Cor. 13:5). Even though money was used in the story in Matthew, the principles apply to anything the Lord has given us. Ever heard the term "Use it or lose it"? Well, there it is. If we don't use what we have to do the Lord's work, by blessing and helping others and bringing glory to the Lord's name, he will do just like the man did in the story and take our gift and give it to someone who will use it. And then, worst of all, He will toss us out of His presence and call us unprofitable.

What are your talents, gifts, or abilities? Can you cook, clean, or sew? Has God blessed you with more money than you need? Do you have compassion for those in need? Are you able to lend an ear and a shoulder to someone who needs a good cry? Let us each assess what we've been given. Dear Lord, please help us to use what You've given us for Your glory and for the furtherance of Your Kingdom. In Jesus Name, Amen!

Faith

*Love*Joy*Peace*Longsuffering*Gentleness*Goodness*

*Faith*Meekness*Temperance*

Have you ever wondered, exactly what is faith? Usually, when we ask that, we are just given the Bible description of Heb. 11:1 "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." This still left me scratching my head, though. The second part of the this definition, when put with that verse, helped me to understand what the verse was saying: Faith = Belief and trust in and loyalty to God. Firm belief in something for which there is no proof. Complete trust. When you have a firm belief in something for which there is no proof, it's as if you see it in your mind, and know in your heart that it's there. What you are hoping for has substance, and to you, it is really there; you can't see it yet, but the evidence is inside you. That's the faith. We have a firm belief that Jesus is the Son of God. The only proof of this is what's written in the Bible, which to many people today is not proof at all. There is no birth certificate for Him, no DNA evidence, and it defies all logic. However, we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it is true. We have faith in this thing. We believe that the Bible is the actual Word of God. This is another thing that many people today don't believe. But our faith tells us it is true, and that's how we can take the Bible as the foundation for our lives.

It is impossible for us to be saved and go to Heaven without faith. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:" Eph. 2:8. "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." Heb. 11:6. We have to have faith to believe that Jesus died to take away our sins, so we will repent. After we are saved, we have to go on and do works, so our faith will grow. "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." James 2:26. Works of faith are the things we actually do in trusting God, not just saying it with our mouth. Like when we are facing a hardship, and we've done all that we can do, when we pray and turn it over to God to work it out for us, we are trusting Him. When we continue to worry and fret over it, we're not trusting him any more. Or when we fast, we are trusting God to not let us suffer any ill effects from not eating and drinking. When we are trusting God to take care of us, we don't run around panic-stricken over every thing that could possibly happen to us.

Faith is part of our spiritual armor that we put on every day, to protect us from the weapons the Devil uses against our souls. "Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked." Eph. 6:16. "But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation." I Thes. 5:8. Shields and breastplates protect their wearers from arrows, fiery ones, as Paul said in Ephesians. Having a flaming arrow hit you in the chest is not pleasant! Don't go about your day without your armor on! When some little demon sends a fiery dart your way, telling you that nobody cares about you, or that nobody will know if you do some little sin, throw up your shield of faith, and say "No way! God loves me, I'm His child, and He knows everything I do!" When you resist like that, he'll leave you alone for a while.

Look what else faith will do for us, as it grows and gets stronger. "That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." Heb. 6:12. Faith and patience will enable us to inherit the eternal life that's been promised to us. "And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him." James 5:15. We can receive healing from God if we have faith enough to believe it. Who doesn't want that? "For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith." I John 5:4. Our faith will give us the strength to overcome the pull of worldly things, which would drag us down and keep us from Heaven.

Sometimes, the Lord sends us things to test our faith. Remember when He told Abraham to offer Isaac as a sacrifice? He had already told Abraham how Isaac would be the father of a great nation, and Abraham's faith in God was so strong that he figured that if he killed Isaac, God would have to raise him back up to fulfill the promise. But God didn't really want Abraham to perform a human sacrifice; He just wanted to see just how much Abraham trusted Him to keep His promise. Look at these verses about trying (testing) our faith. "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." James 1:3. God doesn't give us everything lickety-split. He makes us wait; sometimes, it seems like it's almost too late, but it's not really. Over time, this increases our patience. Children expect instant gratification, and part of our growth process into mature Christians is to learn to wait. God doesn't want us to remain little children in Christ. We have to grow up. Look at this one: "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls." I Pet. 1:7-9. Read that again, slowly, please. See that? The trial of our faith is more precious than gold! Why? So that when Jesus comes back, we might be worthy of praise, because we love Him and believe in Him, even though we've never seen Him. And look what the end result of that is – the salvation of our souls!

CHALLENGE: This week, let's give ourselves a faith check-up. Here are a few things to remember along the way. Jesus was talking to us about fretting over having our daily needs met, when He said this, "Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?" Matt. 6:30. If we are walking in God's grace, He will meet our needs on a daily basis. Are you fretting about your personal safety? "And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm." Matt. 8:26. This was when Jesus and the disciples were in the boat and a storm came up, and it looked like they were going to die. Personally, I would have been terrified, too. But Jesus was showing them, and us, that they were in the presence of the One who had the power to do the impossible. He still does, and we can still be in His presence every day. Let Him help you with the impossible. One final note: here's what Paul wrote to Timothy, "Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity." I Tim. 4:12. Do you see where it says "of the believers", not "to the believers"? Of course we are to be an example to everyone we see, but an example of what? Every person is a good example: either of what to be, or what not to be. We are to be an example of the believers, and one of the things we need to show is faith. Let's live in such a way that when anyone, believer or not, looks at us, they can say, "That person is a Christian; I can tell by what they say, but also by how they live." Let's be examples of what a believer in Christ looks like!

Goodness

*Love*Joy*Peace*Longsuffering*Gentleness*Goodness*

*Faith*Meekness*Temperance*

Definition of Goodness: Moral excellence; virtue. Kindly feeling; kindness; generosity.

We've been told since we were little kids to "be good", but what exactly does that mean? We usually take it to mean "don't be bad." In other words, do the things we know we're supposed to do, and don't do the things we're not supposed to do. Back in 1897, a Bible dictionary was published, and this is how they described goodness in people: the deliberate preference of right to wrong, the firm and persistent resistance of all moral evil, and the choosing and following of all moral good. Read that again please. In other words, "doing the right thing". Another word for this is righteousness. Our definition summed it up as "moral excellence", but you won't find that wording in the Bible. God also has goodness, but He doesn't have to choose to do good; He has no sinful nature, so everything He does is righteous. Look what He told Moses, in Ex. 33:19: "And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy." Then look what happened in Ex. 34:6-7: "And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation." Now, look what the Apostle Paul said about God's goodness in Rom. 11:22, "Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off." There is a pattern here; do you see it? God's goodness allows Him to have mercy on us and forgive our sins when we repent; but, if we don't repent, we get His severity. He said he would by no means clear the guilty, the consequences for sin will pass down to even their grandchildren and beyond, and they will be cut off from Him (which means they won't be able to be in Heaven with Him). Serious stuff! The goodness that we have as a Fruit of the Spirit, comes from God. Look what God thinks about the goodness people try to have all by themselves without Him: "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away." Isa. 64:6. So, we need to understand God's goodness if we're going to have it too.

King David had a lot to say about the goodness of God. Here are a few. "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." Psalm 27:13. "Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! " Psalm 31:19. "He loveth righteousness and judgment: the earth is full of the goodness of the LORD." Psalm 33:5. "Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD." Psalm 25:7. The Lord loves righteousness and hates sin. He loves to show mercy, but doesn't hold back when the point comes where mercy can no longer be shown. When we are saved, and all our sins are washed away; when we have a new nature and the Spirit of God dwelling in us, it becomes almost automatic to choose good over evil, right over wrong. The problem comes when we are not nailing the old nature back down on a daily basis, and we start having that little argument in our head. You know the one. It says "This isn't really wrong; it's just something those fuddy-duddies don't like to do." Or, "It won't hurt to have just a little bit; just don't do it all the time." Or the worst one, "God realizes that you are weak; He will understand if you mess up just this once." Then we give in to the temptation, make the wrong choice, and our Goodness fruit starts having little tiny brown spots. Then it happens again, and, Oh my, what's that? A worm hole on our fruit! It's just a gradual thing, but over time, our fruit will be all brown and mushy and gross, and have bugs in it. People will see it and say, "Look at that nasty mess! That can't be one of God's trees!" In other words, "Yeah, they call themselves a Christian, but they sure don't act any different than me!" We can't just claim to be good either; it has to be obvious. "Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?" Prov 20:6.

Another word for goodness is virtue. This one is used fairly often in the Bible. Look what the Apostle Paul told us in Phil. 4:8. "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." Our thought life is important. If we think on evil or nasty stuff all day, it will take root in us, and ruin our fruit. Here's what the Apostle Peter told his people, "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust." 2 Pet. 1:2-4. See, God has called us to glory and virtue. And He wants us to be "partakers of the divine nature"! That means being like Him! Then, in verses 5 through 8, Peter gave us instructions on how to do this: "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." It's a daily, continuous process, and it's done by praying, studying the Bible, hearing the Word of God, fasting, and making a conscious effort to choose the right path.

In relationships between men and women, virtue, or goodness, is really a major thing. Look how important Solomon said it is, "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies." Prov. 31:10. That's pretty valuable! For two reasons: First, virtuous women are not a-dime-a-dozen. It goes against human nature to put the needs of others above our own, so a lot of people don't want to do it. Second, a man that gets a good wife wouldn't trade her for all the gold and jewels in the world. But look at the opposite: "A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband: but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones." Prov. 12:4. That's pretty bad. Ladies, let's be full of God's goodness, and be virtuous women, so our men don't feel rotten to the core! Read the rest of Proverbs 31 for more details!

If you look back to our definition, another aspect of goodness is generosity. Here are a few verses on that, which pretty much speak for themselves. "The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself." Prov. 11:25 "A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion." Psalm 112:5. "He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again." Prov. 19:17. Part of goodness is being unselfish; helping others when we have the opportunity and the wherewithal to do it.

CHALLENGE: Let's check out our goodness this week. First, let's take a good hard look at ourselves and see if we have sin in our life. People call this soul-searching. If we find anything, we need to repent of it and ask the Lord's forgiveness. Then ask Him to forgive us of any other sins we may have that we don't know about. Let's also ask for His guidance and direction in making the choices we have to make. We want God's goodness hanging all over us like pretty, shiny apples. Not our pitiful filthy rags all over the place. As Dr. Laura Schlessinger says, "Now go do the right thing!

Gentleness

*Love*Joy*Peace*Longsuffering*Gentleness*Goodness*

*Faith*Meekness*Temperance*

This week we are discussing gentleness. Definition of Gentle: Considerate, kind, tender; Not harsh or severe; Easily managed or handled. The words gentle and gentleness are not used very many times in the Bible. You'll see in our definition that there are three main aspects of gentleness that we will be dealing with. The dictionary gives a few others, but they are not pertinent here. Just like some of our previous fruits, gentleness is a characteristic of both God and Jesus. In II Sam. 22:36, King David said this about God, "Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy gentleness hath made me great." This is a great chapter; please read it some time. Paul said this about Jesus, in II Cor. 10:1, "Now I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ, who in presence am base among you, but being absent am bold toward you:" People tend to think of gentleness as being a "woman thing", but it's pretty apparent that God expects it out of all of us. It doesn't mean to be a wimp or a pushover.

Paul gave Timothy some instructions on how a servant of the Lord is to behave: "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient," II Tim. 2:24. In writing to Titus, he said this: "To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men." Titus 3:2. God doesn't want us to be going around always ready to jump into a fight, or an argument, with anyone that crosses us. Look how Paul and his companions behaved, "But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children:" I Thes. 2:7. Where does gentleness come from? Is it something you are either born with, or not? NO. Like every other good thing, it comes down from God, and is delivered to us through His Word! "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy." James 3:17. "Wisdom that is from above" has to come from God's Word, because that's how He speaks to us. Among other things, it is gentle; so, when we have that Word abiding in us, we will increase in gentleness, too!

Kindness is probably the most well-known part of gentleness. If you look through the Old Testament, you will find many references to someone showing kindness. Most of them are when a warrior or king showed kindness to another nation or group of people; i.e., he let them live instead of killing them when he could have. In our day and age, God expects a little more kindness than that out of us. Look at this beautiful verse about God's kindness to His people, "In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the LORD thy Redeemer." Isa. 54:8. Everlasting kindness; how about that? That is my favorite chapter in the whole Bible. Read it when you get a chance; it's short. As ladies, we have an extra bit of kindness to shoot for. "She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness." Prov. 31:26. We have to watch those words. Keep them sweet and kind, not sharp and nasty!

The Apostle Paul suffered many things, but he sure did talk a lot about kindness. In II Cor. 6, he was describing how the people of the world are supposed to be able to recognize followers of Christ. Look at verse 6: "By pureness, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned," People are going to be looking for fruit on us. What will they find?

When he was writing to the Colossians, he was giving them some instructions for how to behave with each other, "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye." Col. 3:12. We sure do want to be the elect of God and be holy and beloved in His sight! We're going to have to put up with each other's junk, and be kind, and forgive each other, because Jesus forgave us when we were sinful and rotten. The Apostle Peter also wrote somewhat about kindness. Look at this: "And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." II Pet 1:5-8. This list is pretty close to the Fruit of the Spirit list, but not in the same order. See that part about "giving all diligence"? That means it doesn't "just happen". We have to work at this. You know how? First, making sure we aren't carrying around sins that we haven't repented of yet. Then, we have to pray – daily. And study the Bible – daily. How else are you going to increase in knowledge if you don't go to the source of that knowledge and get some?! Then we have to take all that, and with the help of the good Lord above, put it into practice. It's not enough to read the Word, say "God, help me be good", and then go about your merry way doing as you please. We have to make the conscious effort to do these things.

OK, let's look real quick at that last part of the definition. "Easily managed or handled." What does this boil down to? Submission. Submitting to those who have authority over us. Not being ornery and cantankerous. And who might we be submitting to? First, God Almighty: "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7. Then, we submit to the laws of our land, "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;" II Pet. 2:13. Then, there are individual people we have to submit to. Our pastor, "Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." Heb. 13:17. Our boss, "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward." I Pet. 2:18. As wives, we submit to our husbands, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord." Eph. 5:22. The young submit to the elder, and we all submit to each other rather than fighting about everything, "Likewise, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the
humble." I Pet. 5:5.

CHALLENGE: This week, let's start making a conscious effort to be gentle whenever we are given the opportunity. Let's each give ourselves an evaluation. Are we praying on a daily basis? Are we reading the Bible daily? Are we paying attention to how we act and how we treat those around us? Following the Lord Christ is not for wimps. It's not for the faint of heart or the weak. There is spiritual warfare to be fought. As our fruit-bearing increases, so will our strength. It takes some strength to be kind sometimes. It certainly takes strength to submit to those we don't want to submit to. But guess what? "The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him." Psalm 28:7. Amen!

Longsuffering

*Love*Joy*Peace*Longsuffering*Gentleness*Goodness*

*Faith*Meekness*Temperance*

This week, we are taking a look at Longsuffering. We tend to kind of breeze over this fruit, when we're rattling off the list. I hadn't really given this one a lot of thought until putting this lesson together. This is definitely a fruit that I need to increase production of! Let's read the definition: "Long and patient endurance of injury, trouble, or provocation". Look at that first word: Long. Llloooonnnnggg! That tells us that being longsuffering takes more than thirty seconds. Then it says Patient. That implies that a good attitude is also involved. Next we see Endurance. Any time we see the word endure, we know it's talking about something we're not going to like very much. No one has to "endure" eating a juicy steak, or "endure" receiving a dozen roses! Look what we're enduring: Injury, Trouble, Provocation. Not fun! Personally, I don't know of anyone who loves injury, trouble, or provocation. Well, we don't have to love it, but we do have to get to the point where we endure it, with a good attitude, for a long time. Obviously this is not a fruit that will just pop out as soon as we get saved!

Why is it important to God that we be longsuffering? Because He is! Moses said in Num. 14:18, "The LORD is longsuffering, and of great mercy, forgiving iniquity and transgression, and by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation." God puts up with our junk for a long time, and forgives us if we repent; but He doesn't hold back on those that don't repent. Longsuffering is long, but it doesn't go on forever. This is what King David said about God in Psalm 86:15, "But thou, O Lord, art a God full of compassion, and gracious, longsuffering, and plenteous in mercy and truth." God's mercy and longsuffering is what gives us time to see our sin and repent of it. Thankfully, He doesn't just snuff us out immediately!

There are several places in the Bible where the Apostle Paul exhorts us to have longsuffering. In Col. 3:12, he says, "Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering;" Keep in mind, our fruit is what other people see that tells them we are serving the Lord Christ. Remember when Jesus said, "By their fruit ye shall know them"? Well, it's by our fruit that people know us too. If we are part of God's elect, holy and beloved in His sight, we will be putting on these things, and one of them is longsuffering. Biting someone's head off at the slightest provocation or injury is not longsuffering. When he was writing to Timothy, Paul told him how he (Paul) was an example to his followers. "But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience," II Tim. 3:10. "Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory." II Tim. 2:10. He also said this to Timothy, "Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." II Tim. 2:3. In other words, Don't be a wimp! Endure!

Another reason why longsuffering is so important is found in Eph. 4:1-3, "I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called, With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." As Christians, we make up the Body of Christ. Naturally, people rub each other the wrong way, and there is friction. But, if we are able to patiently endure the injuries, trouble, and provocation that we cause each other (i.e., be longsuffering with each other), we can keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. That's what keeps us stuck together in Christ, without fighting all the time.

It is the Lord's longsuffering with us that allows us to receive salvation. When we break His commandments and laws, it causes Him pain, and even provokes Him. But because He is merciful and longsuffering, He allows us to see the error of our ways and repent. Look what Paul said about this in Romans 2:4, "Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" Here's what the Apostle Peter said about it in II Pet. 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us–ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." Then, in verse 15, he said, "And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;" Without that longsuffering, we wouldn't even have a chance of salvation.

CHALLENGE: This week, let's really take a look at ourselves, and see how we're doing in the longsuffering department. When someone says something that hurts our feelings, do we snap at them and do them injury in return? Do we get our hiney on our shoulder and walk around with an injured attitude the rest of the day? When something troubles us, or someone provokes us (makes us mad), do we start screaming, calling names, throwing things, or expressing the desire to shoot them with a grenade launcher? Keeping our lips zipped in these situations will help with the outward showing of longsuffering, but it takes prayer to keep the inward part calm. The part where the patience kicks in. Let's ask the Lord each day, to help us have more longsuffering. It's not an easy fruit to produce, but that probably makes it even more pleasing to the Lord. Look what Paul said in Col. 1:10-11, "That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;" Look at that! We want to be worthy and pleasing to the Lord, and be fruitful, and increase in the knowledge of God. He will give us strength, according to His power (think about that: God has ALL the power, and will strengthen us with it, as much as we need!) Then we can have patience and longsuffering with joyfulness! There's that joy again. God will make it so that being longsuffering is not a torture for us! Look what He did for Abraham in Heb. 6:13-15, "For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Saying, Surely blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thee. And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise." See that? Abraham had to patiently endure (be longsuffering) first. Then, he got the promise. Let's really make an effort, with the Lord's help of course, to patiently endure those small things that come our way to cause us injury, trouble, and provocation.

Peace

We are continuing our study of the Fruit of the Spirit. They are found in Galatians 5:22-23. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

The word Peace has several different meanings, and is used in different ways throughout the Bible. If you look it up in a concordance, you’ll see many instances where the phrase “held his peace” or something similar is used. This just means someone kept their thoughts to themselves, rather than speaking. Peace was included in greetings and parting words, also. “Peace be unto you” and “Go in peace” are used quite often throughout the Bible. One of the sacrifices God required of the Israelites was a peace offering, and throughout the Old Testament, you’ll see references to different nations or groups of people who made peace with each other, i.e., they agreed not to fight and kill each other. These are all good, but we’re going to dwell on the kind of peace that comes as a Fruit of the Spirit. This is the kind of peace that comes as a result of having surrendered our will to the will of the Lord. Let’s read our definition right now.

Peace: The absence of mental stress or anxiety. Inner contentment; serenity.

The absence of conflict

Peace is given to us by the Lord, and the longer we serve Him and walk in His ways, the more peaceful we will become. This is not to say that we won’t have circumstances that cause us stress or anxiety. We will have plenty of those; but, we can have peace, knowing that our lives are in the loving hands of the Almighty God, and He is in control of all that happens to us. Look what King David said in Psalm 4:8, “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, LORD, only makest me dwell in safety.” This from a man who spent years running for his life! The Apostle Paul also instructed us not to fret over things, but to let God handle them. Phil. 4:6, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” This kind of careful means full of care, or worry. Paul is telling us, “Don’t fret and worry; pray and ask God for what you need, with thanks”, and God will give us the best kind of peace there is!

To get this wonderful peace, though, we must first repent of all sin in our lives, and be doing our best, with the Lord’s help, to live every day without sin. God doesn’t hand out His perfect peace to just anybody! Isa 48:22: “There is no peace, saith the LORD, unto the wicked.” Psalm 37:37 shows the other side, “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace.” Also, see what Paul had to say about it in Romans. “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:” (Rom. 5:1) and “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Rom. 8:6). Being justified through faith (that is how we get saved) and being spiritually minded (being conscious of the Lord in our daily life) will give us peace! This leads us to the next point.

If we are going to have peace, our minds cannot stay cluttered up with a constant stream of worldly things (carnality). Books, music, TV, MySpace; they are all good (or can be; should be!) and have their place, but we absolutely must spend time thinking on the Lord and His Word. Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” If we blunder through our days, with never a thought to God or His Word, we will be so full of fears and anxiety, we won’t even be able to put our trust in the Lord, because we won’t have any faith left. Proverbs 3:1-2 says, “My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments: For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.” God’s law and commandments are in our Bible, so if we read it, remember it and do it, we will get added peace! Psalm 119:165 says, “Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” This doesn’t mean we will never get mad; that part of the verse is for another lesson! If we love God’s Word we will make sure we are getting some of it every day, and it will give us great peace! How awesome is that!

Another aspect of this Fruit of the Spirit peace is living our lives with a minimum of conflict. This does not mean that we are supposed to lay down and be a doormat for everyone that wants to wipe their dirt on us. Paul put it pretty clearly in Romans 12:18, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” There are occasions when we have to stand our ground and fight; we can not let evil prevail. However, those occasions don’t arise every day in our normal lives. Many times, in Proverbs, we are cautioned against being a “brawling woman” or a “contentious woman”. Nobody wants to be around a woman who always wants to argue and fight. A man would rather live in a barn with cows! (We could do another whole lesson on that, too!) The Lord doesn’t want us stirring the pot all the time (and I don’t mean cooking!) He wants us to seek for peace. Look what Paul said in Hebrews 12:14, “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:” James had this to say, “And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace.” James 3:18. When you make peace, you are sowing seeds of righteousness; righteousness will grow from this! Then looks what happens: “And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever.” Isaiah 32:17. Psalm 34:14 says, “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.” This kind of peace doesn’t just happen; we have to MAKE it and SEEK it. Human nature wants to fight every time we feel slighted or mistreated even a little bit. This is part of the “old woman” that we have to crucify every day. We have to ask the Lord to help us nail down that part of us that wants to constantly play the victim and make us, and everyone around us, miserable.

Jesus, through His death and resurrection, made it possible for us to have peace. He paid the price to remove our sins, which allows us access to God, and eternity in Heaven. Look how Isaiah said it in chapter 53, verse 5: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” That is so beautiful; read it again. While Jesus was here, He said some things that can give us peace and comfort, if we’ll hold on to them. In John 14:27, He said, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Then, in John 16:33, Jesus said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” We will have trouble and sorrow and tribulation, here on earth, but through Jesus we can also have peace, because the bad things are temporary.

CHALLENGE: This week, we’ll continue our daily evaluation (Do we have any sin in our lives that we need to get rid of; how did we do on being loving today; did we make time to read the Bible; did we offer praise to the Lord, so we can increase our joy?) Let’s add to that. Pick out a scripture passage about peace, and memorize it. It can be one from this lesson, or any other one that you like. Several times each day, repeat it to yourself. You don’t have to do it out loud. A good way to remember is to say your verse to yourself every time you are in the restroom! God wants us to have peace. “The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace.” Psalm 29:11. “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.” II Peter 3:14. Let’s do all we can to make our Peace fruit grow!

Joy

We are continuing our study of the Fruit of the Spirit. They are found in Galatians 5:22-23. The Fruit of the Spirit are important, because it is by them that other people see that we belong to the Lord. “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matthew 7:16-20.

*Love*Joy*Peace*Longsuffering*Gentleness*Goodness*Faith*

*Meekness*Temperance*

This week, we are taking a look at joy. Read the definition.

Definition of Joy: Intense and especially ecstatic or exultant happiness. The expression or manifestation of such feeling.

Joy is not just plain old happiness; it is something much deeper than that. Joy is something you can have even when things are going badly, even though you’re not happy at that moment. Unlike some of the other fruits of the Spirit, joy is not something you can practice, or work harder at. It’s something you just have. Or don’t have. However, there are ways to get more!

How do we get joy? There are various events in our life that bring us joy, like getting married and having babies, but we’re talking about the Joy that comes from the Lord; the Fruit of the Spirit Joy. We first receive joy when we get saved; repenting of our sins and asking forgiveness from the Lord fills us with great joy. Read Psalm 51 right now. Look what King David said about it in verse 12, “Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.” This was after he had sinned by taking Uriah’s wife and having him killed. David knew that if the Lord cleansed him from his sin, he would have joy again. Look what else he said about this, “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.” Psalm 16:11. We have to have our sins removed to be in God’s presence, and look how wonderful it is! The Apostle Paul also told us what our joy is, in Romans 5:11, “And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.” Neither David nor Paul had easy, carefree lives. David had wars, royal-family intrigues, and enemies, yet even with all that, he had joy from the Lord! Paul spent his time traveling by very grueling means, preaching and starting churches, writing lengthy letters to his followers, and trying to stay alive. He wasn’t always successful at the latter, having died once and come back. He was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked, and imprisoned, and wound up getting executed, but look what he told one of the churches he wrote to: “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming?” I Thes. 2:19. Even with all that, his joy was in serving the Lord, knowing that at Jesus’ return, he would be in the Lord’s presence.

Just like a peach tree, as we get older (more mature in Christ), the amount of fruit we are able to produce increases. So, as we get more knowledge and wisdom, and more experience in the Lord, other things will add to our joy. When we first get saved, we have such a hunger for the things of God, and just want to devour His Word. Hearing the Bible preached, as well as studying it on our own, and memorizing it adds to our joy. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” Jer. 15:16. See what Jesus Himself told us “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” John 15:11.

Another thing that adds to our joy is having a need, and receiving help from the Lord. “Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” John 16:24. Jesus told us that if we need something, all we have to do is ask God, in Jesus name, and He will grant it to us, and we will have full joy! Of course, this does not include lottery winnings and things like that. We still can’t ask for stuff to “consume it on our own lusts”. But that’s a different lesson!

As a parent, I can assure you that these next two scripture verses are so true! “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” 3 John 1:4. “The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.” Prov. 23:24. Likewise, having a child that is not serving the Lord, not walking in truth, and making foolish choices, is a heartbreaking and grievous thing for a parent.

There are numerous passages in the Bible that speak of joy, many of them dealing with the expression of that joy, primarily through praise, singing, dancing (to the Lord!), etc. Let’s take a good look at ourselves this week. Do we have joy in our souls, even in the midst of troubles. Do we let cares of this life steal our joy from us? The devil takes pleasure in stealing our joy, which is another reason to resist him and make him flee! Read what King David had to say in Psalm 5:11, “But let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice: let them ever shout for joy, because thou defendest them: let them also that love thy name be joyful in thee.” This is what David and his people did when they were getting things together for Solomon to build the temple: “Then the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, because with perfect heart they offered willingly to the LORD: and David the king also rejoiced with great joy.” I Chron. 29:9. King David was a praising man; that is evidenced by the Psalms that he wrote also. He obviously had great joy, in spite of his troubles, because he wrote about it a lot. Lesson to be learned: PRAISE THE LORD! It is a fact of human nature that our feelings follow our actions, at least most of the time. If you don’t feel like doing something, and act as if you do, your feelings will usually turn around and you will end up feeling like it. In other words, even if you aren’t feeling especially worshipful, praise the Lord anyway, and you will feel it shortly! You don’t have to jump around and make a spectacle of yourself to praise Him. Take time each day this week to worship the Lord. Thank Him for all the great things He’s given you and done for you. Tell Him how wonderful He is; He loves to hear it, and even has special angels in Heaven whose only job is to tell Him how good and holy He is. Don’t have a hunger in your heart for the Bible any more? Read it anyway! The more you get into it, the tastier it is. David said it was sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb, and Honey, that’s sweet! Need help resisting the devil? The joy of the Lord is our strength!

CHALLENGE: Let’s keep working on expressing love this week, and let’s seek more Joy from the Lord. Pray today and ask Him for it! Make sure you aren’t carrying around unrepented sins; have to get rid of those to get the joy. Worship the Lord daily; you can do this in song too, as long as you really mean it and aren’t just repeating words. Dig into the Bible daily; this is your food source. How long can your body go without eating, a couple days? Don’t let your soul starve to death! Starving peach trees do not make fruit!

Love

Our first lesson will begin a look into the Fruit of the Spirit. They can be found in Galatians 5:22-23. The Fruit of the Spirit are important, because it is by them that other people see that we belong to the Lord. “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matthew 7:16-20.

*Love*Joy*Peace*Longsuffering*Gentleness*Goodness*Faith*

*Meekness*Temperance*

Definition of Love: A profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person. A feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend. Affectionate concern for the well-being of others: the love of one's neighbor. The benevolent affection of God for His creatures, or the reverent affection due from them to God.

This week we will focus on Fruit #1, Love. Everybody loves love! We have love for our family & friends, love for our husbands (or boyfriends, depending on marital status), love for food or flowers or entertainment, love for animals. And, hopefully, most important, love for God.

I Corinthians 13 is probably the most well-known passage of scripture dealing with love. It speaks of charity, or Christian love, which is not love for pizza, or puppies, or petunias; it is love for people, the way God says for us to love them and the way He loves us. Turn right now to I Cor. 13, and read it through one time, before you go on. It’s short! OK, done? Now, let’s look at some of the ways we show love to people.

Here’s a biggie: we show our love for someone by being unselfish and putting their needs ahead of our own. Look at verses 4 & 5 :”Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;” Another reference that teaches about this is Phillipians 2:4 “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” Do we concentrate on our own personal happiness, or do we look for opportunities to make those we love happy?

Another way we exhibit our love is by being kind. There it is in verse 4: “Charity suffereth long, and is kind”. Also, take a look at Eph. 4:32: “And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you.” Being kind isn’t always easy, but we can do it! It mostly means, think before you speak, and stop before you say those hurtful words. Proverbs 31:26 says this about a virtuous woman: “She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.” Do we treat people with kindness, or do we say cruel and hurtful things without thinking? Are we always having to apologize for things we’ve done and said? There are more verses that talk about this, but we can’t fit the whole Bible in one lesson!

Lets look at verse 6 now: “Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;” The main truth is God’s Word. “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6. We know that Jesus was God’s Word made flesh (John 1). David said in Psalm 119:97 “O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.” Hearing the Word of God should make us rejoice. Reading it should be a blessing, not something we dread. Do we look forward to time spent with our Savior reading the Bible? We also need to be sure that we speak the truth, and that we don’t rejoice to hear falsehood spoken of others. We can show our love for God by rejoicing in His truth, and for others by speaking the truth to them and about them, with discretion of course. Not all things that are true need to be spoken out loud!

How else do we demonstrate our love for the Lord? Here’s the biggest way: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Those are the words of Jesus, in John 14:15. Plain and simple. Not always easy; but simple. In John 15:10, Jesus also said, “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” The Bible is full of commandments for us, but Jesus summed them up in two, “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Matt. 22:37-39.

CHALLENGE! This week, let’s take time at the end of each day to think back over the things we’ve done and said. Have we been self-serving, or have we been giving? Have we put our own things first, or did we look out for someone else’s happiness? When we opened our mouth, did kindness come out, or a piercing sword? Did we spend time in God’s Word, or did we put it off again and do something else instead? Did we sin against the Lord? Did we love our neighbors as much as we loved ourselves? Let’s ask the Lord to forgive us of our shortcomings, and help us as we make a conscious effort to do better tomorrow.