The Fruit of the Spirit (Love)

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, nether the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38,39 NIV).

   Paul is certainly convinced that God loves Him, and that He always will, and his statement in Romans, quoted above, expands that love to all of us for all of time.   That’s right, God loves each and every one of us, and He always will, no matter what.  He loves even those who choose to go to hell rather than return His love.  His heart sorrows for them.  In Romans 5:8, we are told, “But God demonstrated His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (NKJV).

   The Bible speaks of three kinds of love: eros, phileo, and agape.  For this message I will restrict the usage to agape, the selfless, unconditional, sacrificial love shown by God for us.  He expects us to express this love, agape love, for Him and for all those He created.  That is quite an expectation that God has for us—for everyone--Really, even the neighbor who parks his car on my lawn, even the guy who cuts me off in traffic, even the guy who swore at me today, even the guy who stole $500 from me, even the guy who disagrees with me politically, even people like Adolph Hitler!   The answer from God is, “Yes, everyone means everyone!”  Wow!  I don’t think I can do that.  Can you?  This is where God’s mercy and grace that He expresses toward those we don’t like, are also applied to us.  “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.”   That’s what He tells us in 1John 1:9.   Even though He forgives us for not showing His love to all, He does want us to do so, and Jesus told us that in John 15:12)-- “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (NIV)  

   What does God say about us loving Him?  Among the commands given to Israel by God, through Moses, before they entered the Promised Land were these words from Deuteronomy 6:5, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (NIV)   God expects from us total devotion to Him.  He leaves no room for other gods either explicit by name or implicit by action.   A heart not totally committed to Jehovah God cannot love Him all the time in all strength.  We, today, don’t think of loving other gods like Zeus or Apollo, but we do let our desire for the things of this world like monetary wealth, expensive cars, and lives of comfort, creep into our minds and even our hearts.  Again, God does apply His mercy and grace to us, but I can’t help believing that He does become disappointed with us.  Dare I ask, ‘What has God done to deserve our undying love?”  The Name of Jesus answers that question even before the question is out of the mouth.  

   Yes, God does deserve all of our love.  In John 14:23: “Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teachings.  My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (NIV).com

Sent from the Father

“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative--that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you” (John 14:26  NLT).

Campground in Texas 2012

When Jesus was about to leave His disciples, He reassured them by telling them that the Father would send a helper in His place, who “will teach you everything and remind you of everything I have told you.”  That’s quite a lot.  Not only will the Holy Spirit help Jesus’ followers remember everything Jesus said, He will also teach them everything.  That makes it pretty clear that we should be eager to have the Holy Spirit active in our lives.  In Ephesians 1:13, Paul lets us know that we were given the Holy Spirit when we believed Christ for salvation: “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation.  When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promise of the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)  Along with the Holy Spirit, we received fruit, that is, the Fruit of the Spirit.

   It’s a very interesting fruit, one that contains nine parts, very different yet related parts.  Because they are different, we are tempted to call them the “fruits” of the Spirit, but they all came in the same package.  We didn’t get one, then another one, and later on a different one.  No, we got all of them at once.  When we received Jesus Christ as Savior, we were given the Holy Spirit, and along with Him came these attributes all in one package.   And since it’s fruit, we can expect it to grow as we learn how to express it in our lives.  A new Christian may not have the patience of one who has lived as a follower of Jesus Christ for many years.  But as we grow in the wisdom and faith of Christ these aspects of the fruit become more apparent in our lives.  At least they are supposed to grow.  

   Whether they grow or not, or how much they grow, depends on how faithful we are to reading the Word of God, speaking to the Lord in prayer, and fellowshipping with fellow Christians.  So what is this fruit that is supposed to be present in all of us?  Paul is very specific about it in Galatians 5:22,23:   “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law against these things.” (NLT)  It’s pretty exciting to me to know that I was given all of that when I accepted Jesus.  Sometime I don’t feel like I have all of the fruit, but I was given it all, and it is all mine.  God does not give something and then take it back.  He expects us to increase in the use of it as a mark of who we are and whose we are.  

   When I think of all of this as one fruit, I get confused.  I have trouble imagining a fruit that looks like and has all the attributes of a banana, apple, peach, pear, apricot, plum, cherry, orange, and grape all at the same time.  But I have forgotten; this is a fruit designed and created by the creator of the universe.  When I remember that, I can accept the fruit of the Spirit as the most amazing fruit ever—a fruit that I have been given by my Lord and one that He expects me to grow throughout my life as proof that I am truly His.   

 

Creation Draws Us to Him

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky.   Through everything God made they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power, and divine nature.   So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” (Romans 1:20 NLT)

Olympic Mountains in Olympic National Park (1977)

   Yes, it is the same picture as Friday’s blog.  It’s one of my favorite pictures.  I was pleased to get the very near foreground of the intricate flowers and the imposing distant mountains both in focus.  (I know that accomplished photographers do that all the time, but it was a stretch for me.)     

   This time let’s focus on the view between the near flowers and the distant mountains.   The space between the flowers and the mountains can represent the time from the work we are doing for the Lord today to the future plans God has for us years from now.  The distance is dark and not lighted to our view.  Perhaps if we knew all that will transpire between these two times we may become discouraged because of some of the trials we may face to get to the future God has planned.  Or, it may intrigue us to wonder just what lies in that time period between today and God’s ultimate plan for our lives.  It may be really exciting with great ups and downs.  Either interpretation can take our minds off the task at hand, and God wants us to focus on what we are doing now. I believe that is part of God’s plan—to give us a glimpse of the future to keep us excited about it while continuing to work on the work of today.  God’s plan for our lives is perfect.  Even though we may disagree with His sense of timing, we will eventually understand that it was perfect.  

   Another way to look at the indistinct time between now and the fulfillment of God’s plan for our lives can be described as trust or faith.  When we anchor today’s work on the view of God’s plan for our future, we can trust Him, have faith in Him, and live in His glory from day to day.   We often speak of our faith in God, but it is important to know that God puts His trust and faith in us.  He trusts us to accomplish the tasks that He assigns us even while He understands that we are not perfect and will make mistakes.   That’s when His grace rises up and helps us through and sometimes lifts us over the problems.  He trusts us, the followers of Christ, to follow Jesus, and when we stray off the appointed trail, He is gracious to show us the way back if we are willing to admit our errors (sins), repent of them, and ask for forgiveness.  What a tremendous understanding it is to realize that God trusts us—has faith in us.

   God has created great beauty and function in the earth, and that includes His plan, the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, for our sins.  He did this all so that we could join Him in heaven for eternity.   God loves us!  Every day He loves us! 

Please remember that my new ebook, "The Magnet of God: Creation Draws Us to Him," is now available in the Kindle edition, on Amazon.  It is 366 days of devotionals including photograph taken by either Norma or me, an appropriate Scripture, and a message for the day.  Enter my name, Edwin Croyle, in the search box and the book will appear.  Read the sample and decide if you like it enough to purchase it.  If you iike it, please tell your friends. about it.  Thanks!  Ed   

 

Creation Draws Us to Him

“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky.   Through everything God made they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power, and divine nature.   So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” (Romans 1:20 NLT)

   That’s right; God has created everything around us, and it is magnificent.  To look at our surroundings and not acknowledge God is unbelievable.  Do you really think that all of this “just happened”?  The beauty itself should be reason enough to believe, but when we look at how it all works perfectly together, the truth is inevitable.  There is a God, and He created it all!

   Look at the picture above.  See the delicate beauty of the flowers in the foreground, and see the majesty of the mountains in the background.  Even the dead tree adds its part to this beautiful scene.  I can see my life in Christ in this picture.  The flowers in the foreground are close to the photographer, and they indicate the beauty of the work God has for us to do today, and the far-away mountains stand for the long-term plans that God has for us.   Even as we do the Lord’s commands today, we can see, on the horizon, the plans He has for our future.  We enjoy today’s work while His vision draws us forward.

   Thank you, Lord, for both beauty and function in creation.  Thank you for beauty and function in the work You ask of us.   You are a good God, and we serve You gladly.  

   

 

Feed My Sheep (3)

“Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.’”  (John 21:17b  NIV)

Flock of sheep in Utah in 2013

    In Isaiah 43:6, we are told, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” (NIV)   It’s obvious from this Scripture that we all need to be taught, so that we learn to live His way, not our own way.   In other words, we need to be fed the Word of God, the Good News, the message of Salvation.  

     Paul tells us in Romans 10:13,14; “for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.  How then, can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard?   And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?’”  Okay, someone has to preach the Word, and most of us believe that that is the job of a pastor.

    In the Words of Jesus in John 13:34,35, He says, “A new command I give you:  Love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”   (NIV)  If we truly love one another as Christ loved His followers, then we must be certain that all those we love must know that Jesus is the means of salvation, the only means of salvation.”  Jesus spoke these words to His followers of the day, but He meant them for all of us. 

    The last words Jesus spoke to His disciples were recorded in Matthew 28:18-20:  “Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me; therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.   And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” (NIV)  In these last words of Jesus before His ascension into heaven, He spoke with all authority to tell them and us to go into ALL the nations and teach them to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and they shall be saved.   

    We have reached the point by the reading of the previous four verses that all of us are sheep who need teaching—the teaching of the Good News.  We have also discovered that we sheep are all to share the Good News about Jesus to all the sheep.  Each one of us is to personalize the command given to Peter by His Lord and ours, Jesus Christ:  “Feed My Sheep.”