​                                                   Faithfulness Is A Fruit Of The Spirit
 
The fruit of the Spirit is… faithfulness… Against such there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. – Galatians 5:22-23
 
Steve was a good man, but he was also hooked on meth. He entered our program but he couldn’t stay clean of drugs so we discharged him. Our policy was that when we put a person out they could come back in 30 days.  Steve was put out four times. Then he became truly converted and began to live the Spirit life. That was many years ago and he is still faithful.
Faithfulness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we come to Christ the Holy Spirit is placed in us and as we learn to submit to his working in us we mature and begin to bear fruit. Our life may have been marked by wrong choices and inconsistencies, but when we yield to the work of the Holy Spirit in us he makes us faithful.
Many years ago, as a young pastor my life was very inconsistent. I prayed little and spent very little time in God’s word. Once I was praying about the inconsistencies in my life and the Holy Spirit impressed upon me the need to have a daily devotional life. I struggled with it for a while then I began to be consistent with prayer and Bible reading every morning.
As I developed consistency in visiting with the Lord every morning I began to notice that the rest of my life was taking on a new order as well. Finally I could see the fruit of faithfulness being produced in my life.
Living in the Spirit produces faithfulness to God’s will for us. One of the things I have learned is that the Holy Spirit will only do in us what we allow him to do. If we are determined to live our way, he will let us, but he will have very little influence in our life.
The true test of our faithfulness is not in what we say we will do but in what we actually do in service to our Lord. Many have said, "I will go," but few have gone.
 
Prayer:  Lord, it is not in my nature to be faithful to your way. I need the Holy Spirit working in me to produce the fruit of faithfulness. In Jesus name, amen.
 
Message: The fruit of faithfulness is produced when we have a daily devotion that includes prayer and the word of God. 
 
Affirmation: I know that the first test of my faithfulness is whether I have a daily devotional life that includes prayer and reading God's word. Therefore, I am committed to a daily time of devotion.
 
Reflection: A daily time of devotion that includes God's word and prayer will draw us into a life in the Spirit. Think on how that will help you to be faithful in your faith walk.

​Hard Love Is Loving The Unlovely
 
I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. - Matthew 25:35-36

                                     God’s Been Thinking About Us
 
I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. – Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV)
 
Imagine that. God is thinking about us humans. We should never think that God doesn’t know us or that he doesn’t think about us. He does. His whole plan since the fall of Adam and Eve has been to restore us to right standing with him and to reestablish the close relationship he had with man before sin entered into the human race.
The entire record given us in the Bible is of God’s attempts to bring man into relationship with him. This particular passage is referring to the time that God would restore the Jews to their homeland, but the promise extends to all who will call out to him. God has been thinking about how to bless us.
In the very next verse God says, “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will find me when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.
The Hebrew word translated, “think” literally means to devise a scheme or plan. It refers to cunning imagination; the ability to develop thoughts with purpose, or simply to think upon. The reason that is important to us is because his thinking about us drives him to come up with a plan for us.
The word translated “thoughts” actually means a plan. In fact in the NIV this verse reads, “For I know the plans I have for you.” God says, “I’ve been thinking about you and your situation and I have come up with a plan.”
What kind of a plan does he have for us? “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God’s plan for us is to listen to us when we call and to respond to our hearts cry with a firm hope for a blessed future.
 
Prayer: Lord, it is easy to get discouraged when I look at my present circumstances. Help to learn to call upon you with my whole heart and to realize at your plans for me include a secure future. In Jesus name, amen.
 
Message:  What kind of a plan does he have for us? “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” God’s plan for us is to listen to us when we call and to respond to our hearts cry with a firm hope for a blessed future.
 
Affirmation:  I know that God has a plan to bless and prosper me and I have purposed to listen carefully as he speaks to me instructions which will guide me in releasing those blessings.
 
Reflection:  Give some thought to the idea that God thinks about us and has come up with a plan for our life. That should make you feel pretty special. Now, here is a question: If God has been thinking about you and has a plan for you, then shouldn't you pursue him to discover how to unfold that plan? Think of some ways you can discover and unfold God's plan for you.
 

                   The Lord Is Your Example
 
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. – Ephesians 5:1,2
 
How can we be imitators of God? How can we, who are mere mortal, imitate the almighty immortal one? This seems to be a tall order. It would seem that to be imitators of God that we would love as he loves. His love, as demonstrated by Christ is an offering and a sacrifice, a sweet-smelling aroma.

Is it possible to love like that? Yes, it is, by his grace. We have the example of countless men and women who have loved like that and have made their life a sacrifice to God for the benefit of the kingdom of God.

One writer gives this application: Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.

We can only love the way Christ loved by submitting to his lordship in our life. We can imitate God only when He makes himself alive in us. We can love like Jesus loved, but we must be born of God (born again) to do that.

Let us indeed love Him as he loves us and love others as he loves them.
 
Prayer:  Father, teach me the secret of imitating you. I know that in my natural ability I cannot do it; I need divine intervention. I want to love as you love and share my life, yes, even give my life for the kingdom. Amen.
 
Message:  We can only love the way Christ loved by submitting to his lordship in our life. We can imitate God only when He makes himself alive in us. We can love like Jesus loved, but we must be born of God (born again) to do that.
 
Affirmation:  It is not hard to imitate God when it is God living in me. I can love like Jesus loved because it is His love living in me.
 
Reflection:  Do some self-examination to discover whether you truly love as Jesus loved. His love drove him to make great sacrifice - what is your love causing you to sacrifice for Him and His kingdom?
 

Blessed are Those Hungry for God 
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
 – Matthew 5:6
 
There is a difference between desiring to have the favor of God and desiring God himself. There are many who desire God’s favor, but there are not nearly as many who desire God.

We certainly believe in the grace of God and in fact, if it was not for his grace all of us would be doomed. But, there are far too many who seek the grace, or favor, of God only to relieve their anxiety concerning the after-life.  They desire God’s favor, but they are not hungry for God.

Jesus is addressing people who knew what it was like to be hungry and thirsty. Most of those who followed him were poor and in need of much comfort. They were pursuing him with the hope that something he says will open a door for them and they can find relief.

The door to fulfillment Jesus gives them is God himself; those who hunger and thirst for God will be filled with God.

It has been my blessing to watch the growth of many people as they progress in their journey of faith. I think of Steve, a drug addict who came to God just to get clean of drugs, but didn’t have the sufficient motivation to stay free of that addiction. Then something changed in him. Instead of seeking to be free from drugs he began to seek God and God alone. Today Steve serves God well and is free from drugs.

I remember David who had seen what others were getting when they gave their heart to the Lord and he wanted it too. At first David didn’t know it was God he needed, he just wanted the benefits of faith he saw in the lives of others.

Finally he got it; he realized that the only way to get what he wanted was to develop a desire for God that was stronger than anything else. The day David cried out to God from a desperate heart God filled him with grace.

Those who are hungry for God will seek God and those who seek God will be filled with God.
 
Prayer:  Lord, may my hunger for you continue to push away the desires of this world. May my hunger for you fill me with righteousness as you fill me with your spirit. In Jesus name, amen.
 
Message: Those who are hungry for God will seek God and those who seek God will be filled with God.
 
Affirmation: I am hungry for God; I seek God; God fills me with himself. Now I am becoming more like him.
 
Reflection: Give some thought to what it means to be hungry for God. How does a person know when he is hungry for God? When a person is hungry for God what is he hungry for?

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Joyful Sounds of Victory

        Blessed Are Those Who Are Hungry For God
 
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. – Matthew 5:6
 
There is a difference between desiring to have the favor of God and desiring God himself. There are many who desire God’s favor, but there are not nearly as many who desire God.

We certainly believe in the grace of God and in fact, if it was not for his grace all of us would be doomed. But, there are far too many who seek the grace, or favor, of God only to relieve their anxiety concerning the after-life.  They desire God’s favor, but they are not hungry for God.

Jesus is addressing people who knew what it was like to be hungry and thirsty. Most of those who followed him were poor and in need of much comfort. They were pursuing him with the hope that something he says will open a door for them and they can find relief.

The door to fulfillment Jesus gives them is God himself; those who hunger and thirst for God will be filled with God.

It has been my blessing to watch the growth of many people as they progress in their journey of faith. I think of Steve, a drug addict who came to God just to get clean of drugs, but didn’t have the sufficient motivation to stay free of that addiction. Then something changed in him. Instead of seeking to be free from drugs he began to seek God and God alone. Today Steve serves God well and is free from drugs.

I remember David who had seen what others were getting when they gave their heart to the Lord and he wanted it too. At first David didn’t know it was God he needed, he just wanted the benefits of faith he saw in the lives of others.

Finally he got it; he realized that the only way to get what he wanted was to develop a desire for God that was stronger than anything else. The day David cried out to God from a desperate heart God filled him with grace.
​
Those who are hungry for God will seek God and those who seek God will be filled with God.
 
Prayer:  Lord, may my hunger for you continue to push away the desires of this world. May my hunger for you fill me with righteousness as you fill me with your spirit. In Jesus name, amen.
 
Message: Those who are hungry for God will seek God and those who seek God will be filled with God.
 
Affirmation: I am hungry for God; I seek God; God fills me with himself. Now I am becoming more like him.
 
Reflection: Give some thought to what it means to be hungry for God. How does a person know when he is hungry for God? When a person is hungry for God what is he hungry for?

                                   Love… It’s the Command of God
  
Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” - Matthew 22:37-39
  
In ancient days people feared their gods. Their life involved appeasing the gods they feared. In fact they created gods and named them after the things that worried them. There were gods of rain, of thunder, Sun, and gods of health and prosperity. People served their gods because they feared what would happen if they didn’t and because of what they wanted their gods to do for them. They feared their gods but loving their gods was a foreign concept.

When the Lord God called Israel out of Egypt he began teaching them the concept of serving God out of love for him rather than responding to him out of fear.  What was the difference between the God of Israel and the gods of those around them? Why should they serve him from love rather than fear? The answer is so simple, yet profoundly complex.

We are commanded to love because loving another moves us outside of ourselves. It is impossible to be self-centered and love the way God has called us to love.  Loving the way God has called us to love requires a knowledge of God, being able to put trust in him and knowing that his desire is to express his love for us rather than to place some judgment upon us.
  
Prayer: Lord, I tend to use the resources you have given me for my own benefit first. Help me to live to fulfill your purposes. In Jesus name, amen.
 
Message:  We are commanded to love because loving another moves us outside of ourselves. It is impossible to be self-centered and love the way God has called us to love. Loving the way God has called us to love requires a knowledge of God, being able to put trust in him and knowing that his desire is to express his love for us rather than to place some judgment upon us.
  
Affirmation:   I have been baptized in agape (God’s love) and now I love him with all of my being and I love my neighbor as myself.
 
 Reflection:  This devotion speaks of needing a knowledge of God in order to love as God calls us to love. How do we gain that knowledge?

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