Month: February 2020

We’ve been working on the fruits of the Spirit for a few weeks and you’re probably thinking it will never end. Take heart — we’re over half-way through! The beauty of the fruits is that none of them cost us a penny, they cost much more, our hearts. All these fruits reflect the character of God, all things we could not be without Him. None of these fruits are a result of this world. If they are present without the Spirit living within, they are superficial and disingenuous. When the winds of life blow, without the Spirit abiding within us, these fruits will be temporal. If we are not powered by God, we are powered by another god of this world, namely, ourselves.

Every step on God’s pathway represents a deliberate choice to follow Him.
Charles Stanley

Next up on our exploration of the marks we leave behind on our life path, you know the feathers we drop, is the fruit of goodness. Remember this is very similar to the fruit of kindness, but the fruit of goodness is not quite the same. The difference is slight but evident. You’re probably thinking the same thing that I did – well I’m a good person, I do good things, you know — it’s all good. Good is a hard word. Hard to define. Hard to live.

Goodness, the act of being good. So, what is it? Dictionary.com has more than 49 definitions for the word good. Some are — satisfactory, morally excellent, virtuous, righteous, pious, kind, high quality, high moral standard, excellence, satisfaction, approval, the extent to which something is right or wrong, it speaks to conduct, it is the opposite of bad and the opposite of evil.

The word good or goodness, is used over 100 times in the Bible. Biblical definitions of good or goodness are — a good thing, honorable, upright and acceptable to God.

The Greek word for good agathos means – inherently (what’s within us) good; as to the believer, it is goodness that originates from God and is only powered by Him through our faith in Him.  Hang in there, I’m getting to the point, I promise.  Agathos is closely related to the Greek word kalos. The definition of kalos makes it all clear. Kalos — beautiful, as an outward sign of the inward good, noble, honorable character; good, worthy, honorable, noble, and seen to be so.

What in the world does all that mean? Well, actually, it’s out of this world! Goodness means the good within us, that can only come from God, being outwardly revealed by who we are and what we do! Goodness is an outward sign of our inward heart. Phew-wee-baby, it took a while to get around to that, didn’t it?

He gave His only son…
John 3:16

God’s heart was revealed in the giving of His Son, the outward sign of His inward heart. God’s goodness was revealed in the giving of His Son. The fruits of the Spirit are the attributes of God. As followers of Christ we must reflect those attributes, including the fruit of goodness. So how’s your heart? Is your life an outward sign of your inward heart? Is that good or bad?

Wednesday
Read 2 Corinthians 5. Verses 1-9 are more talk about new clothing. Since Bible folks wore robes, the references to new clothing are significant to me. They all essentially wore the same thing. I would think changing, and putting on new clothes, would be radical to them. Change your clothes – what do you mean change my clothes – be different – seek eternity – God has prepared us for this and as a promise, a guarantee, He has sent the Holy Spirit to live in us. It always goes back to Who is living within us. The fruits of the Spirit are dependent on the Spirit!

Thursday
Read again 2 Corinthians 5. Check out verse 10. Scary!?! But true. We will all stand before God and receive what we deserve for the good or evil we have done here on earth. Truth. Eternal life is a free gift but it doesn’t free us “to” it frees us “from” which frees us “to.” Huh? Eternal life frees us to do good because we have been freed from evil to do good. Get it? We will all stand before Christ but free will allows us to choose how it’s going to go down. We cannot talk about God’s goodness without also acknowledging our evilness and our need to change clothes.

Friday
Read Psalm 86. God’s goodness is not dependent on circumstance. God is just not good in good circumstances, God is good all the time. God is not just present when things are going good. God is present all the time showing us His goodness in our bad circumstances.

Saturday
Read 2 Corinthians 3:18. More talk of change. More and more like Him. More and more fruit to live – more and more good within so that there can be goodness without. Proverbs 27:19 is a great reminder – memorize it.

Sunday
Read Romans 12. Verse 2 tells us by changing the way we think that we will know what God wants us to do. We will see how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. We will see how good God is. A changed mind will mirror God’s image.

Monday
Study Romans 12. Make a list from these verses of ways we can reflect God’s goodness. You know the “dos” and the “bes.”

Tuesday
Pray today that God will open up opportunities for you to reflect his image to others. Pray that God shows you ways today to leave on your life’s path the fruits of goodness, the feathers of goodness to drop along the way, the outward signs of your inward heart. A heart for good. A heart for God.

Kindness, next up on our fruit of the Spirit march. The fruit of Kindness. Are we dropping feathers of Kindness? Kind. It’s a little bit of an old fashioned word, isn’t it? We don’t use it much or hear it much these days. But it’s really a cool word. I’ve always thought it was like the ultimate compliment, you know, they’re so Kind. It just has a celestial ring to me. Kind. Being Kind. Kindness.

So what is Kind exactly? Kind tends to get lumped in with good and while trying to separate their meanings seems like splitting hairs, they are listed as separate fruits – there must be a difference, even if very subtle. The dictionary defines Kind as “a good or benevolent nature or disposition.” We understand good to mean praiseworthy character, virtuous, righteous, the opposite of bad. Look at the next word. Benevolent. What’s that? It’s compassionate, a helper, charitable, the opposite of selfish, mean, stingy, unkind. Look at the next words, nature or disposition. That’s our character, our attitude, our inclination, what we’re partial to. A word that we’ve experienced that is closely related to Kindness is merciful. Hmmm… The Lord has certainly been Kind to us, hasn’t He?

If I had to pick characters in the Bible that best describe Kindness, today I think I’d have to pick the folks in the Book of Ruth. We might also be able to call it the Book of Kindness. The three main characters, Naomi, Ruth and Boaz, all displayed immeasurable Kindness. So we head there, grab your Bible.

We’re going to learn this week how both of Naomi’s sons married Moabite women. How Naomi thought both her daughter-in-laws treated her sons with Kindness – how many mother-in-laws would say that? Just kidding guys… We’ll see how Naomi’s Kindness opened the eyes of one of her daughter-in-laws to worship God. We’ll see how that daughter-in-law, Ruth, showed Kindness to Naomi and Boaz. We’ll see how Boaz showed Kindness to Naomi and Ruth. It’s like one big Kindnessfest! But keep in mind where this Kindness came from – Kindness means a good or benevolent nature or disposition. Remember what we read last week in Colossians? We must put on a new nature, we must strip off our old evil nature and put on some new clothes – a brand-new nature that is continually being renewed as we learn more about Christ, as we keep in step with the Spirit’s call to know and be in the will of God. Kindness does not come naturally, we’re not born Kind – we’re reborn Kind – we put on the Kindness of Christ.

Wednesday
Read the Book of Ruth. It’s four short chapters. As you read, write down the names of the people in the story. Look up the meanings of the names of these people. See anything interesting?

Thursday
Review the Book of Ruth. Write down how many times the word Kind or Kindness is used.
Write down each act of Kindness that you see.

Friday
Study Ruth 1:16-17. What caused Ruth to be so loyal to Naomi? In what way did Ruth declare her loyalty? Read 2 Samuel 15. Note the similarities between Ruth and Ittai and Naomi and King David. What’s the common denominator?

Saturday
Just as Ruth is the heroine of the Book of Ruth, Boaz is introduced as the hero of the Book of Ruth in Chapter 2. Look at Boaz’s character, his words, his actions. What kind of person was Boaz? What was Naomi’s response when she learned of Boaz?

Sunday
Look at Chapter 3. What’s happening here? What is Ruth asking? How does she ask it? What is Boaz’s response? What is Boaz’s promise to Ruth. How does he guarantee that promise?

Monday
Read Chapter 4:13-22 and Matthew 1:5. Who was Boaz? Who were his parents? Who were his children? What was his heritage? Would the family line have looked different if Boaz had not displayed Kindness to Ruth and Naomi? How so?

Tuesday
The Kindnesses of Naomi, Ruth and Boaz, along with their faithfulness, obedience, and the Lord’s blessings resulted in God’s will being done. Naomi, Ruth and Boaz moving forward without Kindness would have changed the outcome of their story. Reread the Book of Ruth and be reminded of the Kindnesses displayed and the results of those Kindnesses. Just like the players in the Book of Ruth, we must too be charitable, benevolent, compassionate, merciful to others, no matter how difficult. Naomi, Ruth and Boaz all had difficult life circumstances to overcome. Pray today that the Holy Spirit would take over your heart and enable you to change your story, to exude Kindness even in difficult times, something that cannot be done without the indwelling of the Spirit. Sweet Holy Spirit, Sweet Heavenly Dove, stay right here with us filling us with your Kindness.

Patience. Something I have very little of. How about you? Well patience is up next on our fruits of the Spirit journey. I thought about combining some of the fruits to move this study along but decided to do so would be reacting to my impatience. You know, my eagerness to move to the next lesson without living in and learning in the current lesson. So, Patience it is.

What is Patience? I’ve been wrestling with this word for a few days trying to figure out what it really means and what it looks like applied. I went backwards, you know, figure out what something isn’t in order to figure out what something is? I know that what it is not is some of the things I am. I’m anything but patient. I’m impatient. I’m eager. I’m anxious.

We think patience is inaction,
but can it not be the highest form of action?

Waiting seems to cause much impatience. Why so? For me it’s because I’m a zoomer. I zoom from this to that. You know, room to room, task to task, thought to thought, fix to fix, control to control (ugh!!!). The problem with being a zoomer is that it is reactionary. Reacting can cause anger, frustration, anxiety, obstinance, insistence, impatience! You can probably name a few of your own reactions. Unfortunately for us, all of those reactions are wrong, and if acted on, sinful – ouch — I’m sinful on a daily basis. Let’s see what our Creator has to say about patience:

Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.
Colossians 3:12

Clears it right up, doesn’t it? Anybody else feel like they need some new clothes? Sometimes His commands are just so simple that they are hard. We know what patience is not, but what is it? The word patience in this text comes from two words – long (makros) and suffering (thumos) – makrothumia. It is what it says – long-suffering – waiting – forebearance – putting up with without reaction. How many times does the Apostle Paul tell us to endure? We are to endure in patience.

Have you noticed a pattern in our study of Galatians? We cannot produce any of the fruits of the Spirit on our own. Only God can produce in us those fruits of the Spirit, including true patience, long-suffering.

Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him. In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free.
Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.
Colossians 3:10-11

Put on your new nature – put on – that’s an action, not a reaction. Act before you have to react. How so? Get to know Jesus (action), He’s really all that matters (action), and become like Him (action). Only in becoming like Him can we then put on patience, or any other fruit for that matter, and ensure that that is what we’re leaving on our path. We don’t want our paths to be marked by reactions, the opposite of patience – angry, short-tempered, anxious, frustrated, reactors. New life in Christ – that’s the only way!

Wednesday
Read Colossians 3:1-17. Patience is action and impatience is reaction. Are you an actor or a reactor? Write a strategic plan for yourself that will enable you to be an actor instead of a reactor. Are we continually being renewed as we learn more and more about Christ? Have we even changed our clothes? How do we change our clothes? Chew on verse 11 – is that true for you?

Thursday
Read Psalm 40. Write down the benefits of waiting for the Lord. Would we have those benefits if we didn’t have those trials? Memorize verse 17 to act upon patience in our waiting.

Friday
Read James 5:7-12. What are we to do while we patiently wait? In addition to Job, what other prophets endured suffering and hardship and waited patiently on the Lord to deliver them? Write down a couple.

Saturday
Read 2 Peter 3. Does life sometimes cause us to say – Even so come, Lord Jesus, come? What is the reason Peter gives that the Lord is waiting to return? How should we be living while we wait?

Sunday
Read Romans 2:1-16. What reasons do the scriptures give us for the Lord’s patience? How are we using the time God has given us? Is there sin in our lives we need to turn from?

Monday
Read Psalm 27. The Psalms are beautiful songs of encouragement and instruction. David was a master songwriter. Search your Bible for more Psalms that affirm God’s patience with us, for us, and through us.

Tuesday
Spend time today in prayer asking the Holy Spirit to fan the flames of the spirit of Patience. Ask the Lord to teach you the patience He has mirrored for us. Is there unconfessed sin in our lives? Take an opportunity to confess those things that may get in the way of our mark of Patience on our path. Do we need to confess impatience, anger, self-controllessness? Pray God’s great strength in our lives to be able to forebear, to endure, to wait patiently, to long-suffer, just as He has done for us to come to Him. Praise Him!

That’s Freckles. Isn’t she cute? She’s such a cool cat – a weird cat – aren’t they all, but cool. Freckles showed up at our house about seven years ago with a too tight collar around her neck. It took weeks to coax her to come close enough so we could grab her and cut that thing off. It then took more weeks and free food to get her to let us get close to her again.

She’s a very loving cat, as far as cats go, but she is the most skittish cat I’ve ever met. One minute she’s on the porch eating and the next thing you know she’s running like a madcat because we opened the door, because a car drove by, because we spoke in too loud a voice, because we looked at her. She’s a jittery little thing, you know, scared of her own shadow, a scaredy cat. I feel bad for her. When she’s not sleeping, she’s apprehensive, anxious and, yep you guessed it, nervous as a cat. You wouldn’t know from that peaceful position what’s really going on inside that tiny cat brain. I’ve said before people are a lot like chickens, we’re a lot like horses, we’re a lot like the worst-best, and I’ve decided we’re a lot like Freckles. We’re skittish, fearful, anxious, apprehensive, nervous-nellies, all the while our façade, our outward appearance, is confident, calm, peaceful.

Peace is not the outward opposite of the inward anxiety.

Next on our journey through the fruits of the Spirit is Peace. Do we drop Peace feathers on our paths or do we drop frenetic feathers? Peace. This one is a toughy. Let’s explore. What does peace mean, what is peace, what does peace look like, where do we get us some of that? We know the answer to that, right? The only right answer when you don’t know the answer and even when you do – Jesus! Let’s check out the red letters.

I am leaving you with a gift – peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give isn’t like the peace the world gives. So don’t be troubled or afraid.
John 14:27

Well, there’s the answer to all those questions, right? Isn’t it funny sometimes when we get answers to our questions but we still don’t understand the answer? We don’t quite grasp the idea? We have trouble envisioning it much less obtaining it, right? We all want to be peace-filled and feel peaceful, right? So much so that we try a zillion different things to get it. We’re anxious, we buy. We’re anxious, we eat. We’re anxious, we over book. We’re anxious, we talk too much. We’re anxious, we spend too much. We’re anxious we over habit. We’re anxious, we over indulge. Here’s our problem – us! We think peace is something we can obtain and we just can’t. There’s only one place to get peace – Jesus – again, always the right answer. Look at John 14:26.

…the Holy Spirit –
he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you.

Jesus said this gift I’m leaving you is the Holy Spirit.  He will teach you everything you need to know and remind you of what you once knew and forgot.  That’s what Paul was talking about in Galatians 5:22 – when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, the fruit of peace is produced. Peace can only be produced by the Holy Spirit living within us. Any attempt by us to try to satisfy our overwhelming desire for peace is futile, temporary and sinful. When we try to satisfy our own aching desires for peace, we’re relying on self and not on God. Peace can only come from Jesus.

Wednesday
Read Matthew 28:9 from the Good News. Spend time today in peaceful prayer at the feet of Jesus. Confess to Him the ways you’ve been trying to obtain peace on your own. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and teach you and fill you with the full measure of God’s peace.

Thursday
Read Philippians 4:6-7. What is Paul’s solution for worrying less? Write down ways to stop the worry before it starts. Write down a description of the kind of peace that God gives. What does transcend mean?

Friday
Read Isaiah 55. What is the theme of this Chapter? What does the Word of the Lord produce? Look at the figurative reaction of creation. What do the mountains and the fields do?

Saturday
Read Isaiah 48:17-18. Peace and righteousness are linked together in these verses. Do we have peace like a river? Living in a right relationship with Jesus produces peace. How so? Look for scriptures that describe the results of a right relationship with Jesus.

Sunday
Read 1 Peter 5:7. We carry so many things around in our backpacks that weigh us down and prevent us from the peace that can only come from the Spirit. What are we carrying around that prevent us from having the complete peace that God intends for us? What do we need to get rid of – confess, forgive, move on, let go, let God?

Monday
Read 2 Corinthians 4. List some of the ways we are pressed, we are knocked down, and we suffer, Check out verse 18, specifically. What are we to fix our eyes on? What are we to focus on? How is our desire for peace satisfied? A beautiful reminder on how to never lose focus.

Tuesday
Read Psalm 29:11. Where does our strength come from? Where do we get Peace?