| |
| |
|
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:
|
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
You Are What You Think One of the first things you will find that God will start to do with you if you have decided to enter into a true sanctification process with Him is to try and put right thinking into your thought process.What you choose to think about and dwell on in this life will make or break you as to what type of person you will end up becoming in this life. Choosing Peace, One Shift at a Time It doesn't matter what magazine or newspaper you pick up these days, there it is! the evidence of violence; the killing of innocent people, the terror of aggression and destruction. How do we, as caring, compassionate, conscious people maintain our inner peace in the face of war? Is it responsible to turn from the glaring headlines, close our eyes, go within to connect with that place of inner peace? What if those headlines have stirred up our visceral fear reactions and we are disturbed and angry? When outer circumstances create worry, helplessness and judgment how do we shift our inner attention so that we send peaceful thoughts, rather than more anger and hatred?The Nature of ShiftingHave you ever seen a Magic Eye picture? If so, you know what it's like to stare at a page of little dots, blinking and wondering, "When am I ever going to see the hidden picture?" Frustrated, you take a deep breath and draw the page closer, then farther away, but still all you see is dots. Let Go and Let God As a child growing up, whenever I was worried about something, my mother use to always say, "Girl, don't worry about it. Just let go and let God. I Saw An Angel At Work Sometimes you have to see something to believe it. Like angels. The Foundational Laws of Spiritual Physics Over the past years, I have undergone a life-altering transition from living on autopilot to recreating my life as a spiritual calling and a force for good. One aspect of this transition has been the acknowledgement of what I call the "Foundational Laws of Spiritual Physics", detailed below. A Bellyful of Mindfulness Taco Bell, the Mexican fast-food franchise, has a new ad campaign focusing on the slogan, "Get full." The commercials show people ecstatically announcing that they are full--thanks, of course, to the huge value meals now available at Taco Bell. Well Being and Your Authentic Voice In Corrogue I feel wonderful.As friends know I love singing. Saints or Charlatans What's the difference? How are we supposed to tell the difference between the real healers and those who are selling snake oil? It's a big seller to claim that your work is divinely inspired. Even better, tell them you've gazed into the eyes of God and come back to tell the tales. Working With The Light I do not want curiosity seekers, who come for a novel experience. There is a phrase that has been used down through the ages for such people. Christianity - Not a White Mans Religion Christianity: White man's religion?Martin Luther King referred to Sunday as being "the most segregated day in America."Truer words were never spoken. E=mc˛, Emotional & Physical Gravity The word "gravity" is a word coined by Sir Isaac Newton to describe an unseen force that attracts objects with mass to each other. As human beings living on planet earth we experience this force as one which constantly impedes us from floating away into the cosmos. What Does Unconditional Love Really Mean? Unconditional love means unconditional freedom. Love and freedom are two of those words that are interchangeable. How Old Are You? Some of us might hear from time to time that we are "Old Souls". I remember when I was told this for the first time. Clear Mind, Empty Head: A Leak In Mind Like Water There's a lot of talk in meditation circles about emptying the mind.This is a roadblock for many people. Wear the Message of Grace: A Work Weeks Devotions As the artist and designer for Ashbach Designs, I want more than for you to just wear a piece of pretty jewelry, I want you to wear each piece as a symbol of your faith. In keeping with this idea, I have created a work week's devotions to go with your jewelry, or another special faith symbol in your life. What Is The Spiritual Path? For many years of my life, I thought the spiritual path had something to do with following one of the major world religions or pursuing an Eastern practice. I even thought it had something to do with morality and ethics. Beware of the Lobby Lizards Our church is infested with lobby lizards. They crawl around the lobby of the church while other activities are going on as if they already have mastered the topic the pastor is discussing. You Are Spirit Powered (Moving to Transformation) A spiritual event is what happens in every moment of every day of our lives. It is not only about the extraordinary things that happen in our lives that we cannot explain, but everyday things, like working watching TV, making love or going to the bathroom. Kundalini and Enlightenment We all hear of the concept of the "Enlightened Master", and I do believe they exist.However, awakened kundalini DOES NOT automatically make one an enlightened master. Understanding the Gospel of Matthew and Why it Matters - Part 10 Matthew 3:7-10 John Rebukes the Pharisees and Sadducees7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?8 Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.9 And do not presume to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father,' for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children of Abraham.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |