Fruit

Scripture is extremely clear on what we will see in those (and others will see in us) that are operating by God’s Spirit; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. There are reasons we’re given this description and it’s meant for us to use all the time. The first reason is for us to examine ourselves to see that this list describes us and is a true reflection of who we are and the second reason is to observe the people and situations around us and use this picture to know if God is in them.

Are you a Christian?

I have a friend who when asked this question responds, “Well that depends on how you define a Christian. If you define them as narrow-minded, intolerant, self-righteous people that only want to control you, then I’m not. But if you define a Christian as a person that loves Jesus, tries to model their life after His, is loving and kind to all and demonstrates peace and Joy, then yes I am.”

More what?

More people to love. Only God knows exactly what that looks like. But it will for sure involve the gifts and talents He has blessed you with. God will use your passions and desires in incredible ways if you will seek Him in everything and make yourself available to those around you.

Faithful in the little things

As we talked about in yesterday’s post, knowing what God wants us to do today is not complicated. However if we aren’t going to be faithful in this, why would He reveal what is next? God’s promises for tomorrow are tied to the choices we make today. When He can trust us with the smaller things then He will begin to bring us more.

What does God want me to do with my life?

Too often this question gets in the way of us actually doing what God has asked of us. By adding the “with my life”, we send the question somewhere out into the future instead of doing what He’s asked today. What God wants you to do today is love Him, take Him along in everything you do and out of the abundance of that; love the people around you well. Start right now.

I Get Smaller

The things that used to seem so important fall away the closer we get to our Lord. Those things that worry us become nothing when we understand them from God’s perspective. If we know that He loves us and wants the very best for us and we have experienced this by walking through tough times with Him, we get better and better at seeing and trusting that He has the whole picture figured out and that our little view of it is not what is most important.

He Gets Bigger

The closer I get to God, the bigger He gets. Not that He is changing, but my ability to see or understand His vastness grows with every step I take with Him. He is inexhaustible; we have an eternity to explore His wonder, to discover His perfection and to enjoy the peace that comes from trusting Him with all that we have.

The veil is so very thin

Why do we picture Heaven as so very far away, something in the distant future? I think most of us would describe Heaven as the place we get to be in the presence of God so what’s keeping us from that right here, right now?

All the Vain Things

Webster defines “vain” as: having no real value. Vanity is a term we use to describe self-centeredness. If we are the focus of our lives, if our pleasure is what we are living for, where is the value? This not only applies to the eternal things but even today is without real meaning. The more of God that we possess and the less of us we promote, the more peace and true joy we experience.

He is the Prize

We are created to partake in an intimate, one of a kind relationship with our creator. Being with Him is the entire purpose of our lives. Why do we spend so much time apart from Him or doing things for Him at the expense of being with Him? Why do so many of us put this off until we get to Heaven when we could be with Him right now?