Spirituality Information |
Book Ends
In the responsibility we have as Christians, we are displayed before non believers as a set of books that should be read. Once the Holy Spirit comes upon us, our library grows into the fruits that are produced in our Christian walk. Gal. 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." Why is love listed first? Because God is love. Everything He does is through love, a perfect love. From love all these other things will follow. Without love the Holy Spirit can not operate in your life. Love is the greatest of ALL things. As we walk in love, our Christian walk will then develop the joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentless and the self-control. Self-control being at the other end of the scale. Self-control holds up all the other things that come from Love. If we can not be in self-control, none of these other things could stand up. A lack of self-control only shows that the world is still operating in our lives. Our anger can not show others who Christ is in us. Anger creates a bad atmosphere, it causes others to withdrawal from us as well as the Holy Spirit which would leave us because of grief.Anger from a human standpoint is done out of pride, frustration, conceit, self righteousness and therefore doesn't contain the attributes of a loving, sovereign God. God doesn't author this feeling because nothing good can come from it. It creates an atmosphere not only in us, but those around us of sadness, unrest, anxiety, evil, unfaithfulness, and abuse. Get the picture? It is the creation of a lie from hell and if it's not stopped, it will be the ruination of many that get involved. This is the enemy's plan. He removes the bookends and we soon fall down. But Love and Self-Control are like the perfect bookends of our lives that is held together by Faith. Faith is the substance of all things hoped for but the things that are unseen the Bible tells us. Faith is the creation of the fruits of the Spirit that create who we are in our Christian walk with Christ. Without faith, nothing we do as a person counts for anything. It doesn't matter what we do to show people we are a "good person" on the outside, if we go home and mistreat our families. God sees our hearts. Jm. 2:17 "Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead being by itself." James was saying that without true faith in the Holy Spirit to guide us, nothing we can possibly do on our own is any good. It's dead, it doesn't live because it can't produce any genuine works by itself. Christ came to redeem us of our sins, our insufficiency as humans. God knew we could not possibly come to Him and be worthy on our own. Only Jesus could change us into souls worthy to come to God, through the sacrifice of His blood. All we have to do is accept that blood, ask God to cover us with forgiveness of sins and He will send us the Comforter that covers us with the fruits of the Spirit. The human heart is naturally wicked and therefore, we can not humanly possible do anything "good" enough for God to accept us. Only the blood of Christ is the ingredient that can transform our hearts into the heart that God sees as one that is after His own heart. It now produces the fruits of the Spirit. Jm. 2: 18 "But someone may well say, "You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works." To sum this all up, faith without love, kindness, peace, joy, patience, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control are useless. Faith doesn't come only through hearing, but also through doing. Are your bookends of faith in place? What will people read in between the bookends of your life? If there is something missing or out of place in between the bookends of your life, get quiet and ask God to show you what you need. Remember that our actions do speak louder than our words. What do your actions show others? Do people draw away from you or do they draw near to you? Examine yourself today through God's Word. Vivian Gordon, has been ordained through God to teach His living Word and make it come to life for those who need to hear from Him. Her love for writing and teaching are a gift from the Holy Spirit that others may read all the fruits that have been given to her by the grace of God through her faith.
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
The Gratitude Toll I very often see rants, complaints, wishes and dreams that have a similar theme, and that theme goes something like this: "Here is my dream and here is what I have been able to do, but I can't seem to get any further and it feels like I've hit a brick wall. No matter what I do, I can't seem to bring more (customers, gigs, sales, days, money, friends, etc. The Incredible Power of Prayer During moments of helplessness, there is always one thing that can be done to make us feel more purposeful: pray. Contrary to traditional prayer poses, we don't have to spend hours on our knees with hands steepled before us. Resting in the Son "Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure.. Working with God Not a Failure!Those of you who are unemployed, or desire a career change, or perhaps, like me, want to expand the work you already have, may notice things are not happening as fast as you had hoped. Take heart! You are not a failure and there is nothing wrong with you!Recently I listened to a woman harshly chastising herself; "I've been avoiding doing what is necessary to get my new career going - I haven't written cover letters, made the necessary contacts, and have even sabotaged myself by stopping my daily runs. Understanding the Gospel of Matthew and Why it Matters - Part 1 An Introduction to MatthewSETTINGHave you ever been promised something wonderful, and then been made to wait for it? Have you felt the eager anticipation of a child on Christmas Eve, or the desperate longing of a wife awaiting a letter from a husband at war? Many Christians look forward to the return of Jesus in this way, occasionally glancing up at the sky and wondering if maybe - just maybe - today might be the day.If you can relate to that feeling, then you can begin to understand what the Jewish people were experiencing in the first century AD. Gods To Do List - Get Specific! I know eyebrows are probably raising about now, but let me tell you this works ! How does God know what we want or need if we don't get specific and let Him know ?All you have to do and I do this on a monthly basis and update it accordingly is make a list. I make mine like a grocery list and put the title at the top of the list. Where is Your Focus? I have a long-term goal--a life-long goal really--to develop the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16). True Justice and Freedom The world's idea of justice and freedom fall short of their purpose. Prison bars keep the guilty from repeating their crime while behind them. The Power of God's Word in Your Prayer Life Prayer. It's the foundation of a Christian mom's life. Why Angels, Why Now? The Angelic realms have been very active throughout the human experience. They-as brilliant aspects of your Source-have been offered as protectors and teachers for every one of you. Lost is a Spiritual Problem Lost, but you don't know where you're going.Lost is a horrible place to feel. It Seems We Have All Taken a POW Just for a moment think of what is stopping you from living your dream. Is it fear? Is it change? Most people in today's world have thought that at some point in their spirits evolution that money is the root of all evil. Searchable by Jesus Some people go to physics and spiritual readers for advice for one thing or another. Who can search all things and give us the truth. Unfinished Woman I'm at that place in life many refer to as "the dark night of the soul". My husband and I just finished and moved into our dream home. Spirituality at Work Because You Cant Leave Home Without You Several years ago after I presented a workshop entitled "Spirituality at Work: Because You Can't Leave Home Without You?" I got a phone call from someone who saw the program booklet. She was very interested in the topic and wanted to know how to "get it" at her company. Connect With the Moon Phases to Manifest Your Desires Connecting with the Moon phases, the Full and New Moon phases in particular, is something anyone can do very easily. It is all about energy (isn't everything?) and directing the energies in a positive way. Look! Its Another New Age! There's nothing new about "the new age" except the attitude of the souls participating in it. I bet every soul who chose to incarnate into this particular historical era shook their little energy heads and said, "Oh, no! Not again!"Spiritual enlightenment is the very purpose of life as thinking, feeling human beings here on the planet Earth. Lectio Divina -- Reading the Bible for Spiritual Growth Lectio divina is a very useful and practical discipline for spiritual growth. Rooted in ancient monasticism, the practice is a fourfold cycle: Reading, Meditation, Prayer, and Contemplation. Word Sculptures of a Mystical Experience The Mystical Experience"The mysteries of life become lucid ? and often, nay usually, the solution is more or less unutterable in words." -- William James, "The Varieties of Religious Experience"I don't remember who came to my door. 3:33am? What is it with angels and digital clocks? I fell asleep just after 11pm and am still trying to recover from the switch to daylight savings time. I really don't need to be up and working right now, or do I? I had asked my angels earlier today to help me write some more articles. |
home | site map | contact us |