Worship is an exercise of the human spirit that is directed primarily to God; it is not to simply satisfy our need or to make us feel better or to minister to our visual palate or social well-being, but to express the worthiness of God Himself. To worship God is to credit Him his supreme worth, for He is uniquely worthy to be honored in this way. That consuming, selfless desire to give to...God is the essence and the heart of worship. It begins with the giving first of ourselves, and then of our attitudes, and then of our possessions -- until worship is a way of life. It is only when we come to realize that worship is a selfless act of giving and when we give selflessly to our God that worship will be the meaningful experience for us that we and God want it to be. It is surrendering our total self to God and asking Him to use us for his purpose so that He is glorified in our lives is true worship! On this Worship Wednesday ask God to USE YOU!
What is having a true and meaningful worship experience with God? Worship is an exercise of the human spirit that is directed primarily to God; it is not to simply satisfy our need or to make us feel better or to minister to our visual palate or social well-being, but to express the worthiness of God Himself. To worship God is to credit Him his supreme worth, for He is uniquely worthy to be honored in this way. That consuming, selfless desire to give to...God is the essence and the heart of worship. It begins with the giving first of ourselves, and then of our attitudes, and then of our possessions -- until worship is a way of life. It is only when we come to realize that worship is a selfless act of giving and when we give selflessly to our God that worship will be the meaningful experience for us that we and God want it to be. It is surrendering our total self to God and asking Him to use us for his purpose so that He is glorified in our lives is true worship! On this Worship Wednesday ask God to USE YOU!
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It is Intercession Tuesday in The Sanctuary! We are praying for those affected by Hurricane Sandy! The storm was not destructive as predicted and for that we are truly thankful for God's hedge of protection! This storm can be compared to the storms in our lives. We when think that worst is yet to come God has dispatched his angels to build a hedge of protection around us...watching us, leading us, covering us from harm and danger! Oh what mighty and awesome God we serve! If you are in need of prayer, you may send a prayer request via Facebook, or via our Contact Form.
As I am preparing myself to GO take our Friday Fellowship and Prayer Meeting to Charlotte, NC I am filled with excitement as I think on what God is about to do. I count it an honor that God has chosen me, a wretched soul, to spread his Good News of healing, love, joy, peace, salvation. What I am doing is nothing new. In biblical times, this is how the Good News was spread across the land. You had disciples like Paul, Priscilla and Aquila (a married couple who were friends and students of Paul) who would travel the land going into homes, having "church"; teaching the people about the Jesus who died on the cross and rose on the third day. So I do not take it lightly the mantle that has been placed on my life and I seek to do it with humility and excellence. Each time I do a Fellowship and Prayer meetings I am challenged and stretched; however in the end God receives all of the glory! And that is worth every ounce of energy, time and resource that has been expended. The Sanctuary is who I am, what I was called to be and is the essence of God in my life. It is my refuge. And I have been called to provide this refuge to those who have tried the traditional but seek something more as they desire a deeper knowledge of him and they want a true relationship and fellowship with our King. So as I prepare myself to meet my King tonight, I am entering into his court laying my burdens and problems in the outer courts and I am entering his inner court as an empty vessel expecting an awesome impartation and life changing "Encounter with the King". It's Worship Wednesday in The Sanctuary! What is worship? Worship is saying that God has worth, that he is worthy. Worship means to declare worth, to attribute worth. Or to put it in biblical terms, we praise God. We speak, or sing, about how good and powerful God is. However, worship is deeper than a song. It is speaking, listening and doing. It is showing God with your total being that you are worshiping with your heart, with your mind, and with your body. Worship involves our entire relationship with God: our words, our attitudes, and our actions. God want worship not only on our lips, but also in our hearts. He wants our worship to be sincere — he wants to be the most important thing in our lives. Today take some time to truly WORSHIP our God with your heart, mind and body. Let's show God just how GREAT HE IS!! Prayer Wall in The Sanctuary It is Intercession Tuesday in The Sanctuary. We are committing today to praying for the Family. I have personally seen the family unit suffer from the lack of unity, trust and love. It is time to make our FAMILIES THE FIRST PRIORITY again as the family is an important part of the kingdom. Today in The Sanctuary we are praying for the love of God to return to our familes and our homes. Dear Heavenly Father, We come to you humbly first asking for forgiveness for anything that we may have said or done that is not in line with your word against a family member or a family member in the body of Christ. We are committing today to allowing your abiding love to come into our ...hearts and into our homes so that we can be true disciples of your word by bearing the fruit of Love in our lives. You said that charity (love) should be shown to those in our home first and you also commanded us to love one another just as You have loved us. I pray that this unconditional love that surpasses all understanding fill our souls and homes to the measure of all your fullness. I pray that on today we began to walk in love, unity and peace in our families. Heavenly Father, cover our homes and families, guard and protect them from the enemy. He seeks to kill and destroy. Lord, but we know that you have given us dominion and power over the enemy; with this knowledge we come to you asking that that You loose your angels into the homes. Force out and remove all anger, bitterness, resentment, dysfunctional thinking and actions, stubbornness, generational strongholds and spirits of separation seeking to destroy the family. We know that you are able to do exceedingly above all we could ask or think according to Your power that works within us. We thank you in advance Heavenly Father and I ask that you bless every person, every family and every home, in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. If you have a prayer request that you would like to place on our Prayer Wall(shown in picture), you may submit via our website Connect Form or [email protected]. Last week in our Friday Fellowship Meeting in The Sanctuary we dealt with and discussed “Fear”. This topic is very near to my heart as the manifestation of fear has affected me. And you can surely see the effects of fear in our society. Anytime there is a tragedy albeit it a natural disaster or man-made, there is a constant barrage of images, the death count and the story is told again and again. When there is a turn in the economy we are told repeatedly how if things do not turn around soon, we are doomed, and we will beyond broke, without jobs and in despair. When a food born outbreak occurs we are told of the deaths and how they have no idea what is the source, but they suggest discard the food with this production date or it could happen to you. We are inundated with frightening images, sound bites and the like. It is amazing some of us come out of the house in the morning with the bleak report we hear on a daily basis. And with these negative images and information constantly penetrating our spirits it’s no wonder many of us are fearful with no positive outlook of the future. I know personally what fear can do to your psyche and spirit. There was about a five year period in my life that it seemed that I was losing someone close to me each year, the most detrimental was my father. And it planted a seed of fear. Not only was I losing people but I was having major personal lose; jobs, cars, etc. The first death was that of my maternal grandfather and I am sure this is where the seed was initially planted. You have to understand that I did not know my grandfather as he left my grandmother after producing seven children with her. He moved several states away and never cared to have a relationship with us. After I married in 2004, I moved to the state he lived in and my Aunt, who passed 4 years later, encouraged that I develop a relationship with him. I began to visit him and we established a relationship, but unfortunately he passed within six months. And it was not a pleasant experience for me. I experienced finding him semi-conscious, sitting in his feces, putting him the ambulance only to see him slip into a coma and eventually die; it was heartbreaking. And what was more tragic was that I experienced almost the exact same thing with my maternal grandmother twelve years prior. They both had the exact same cause of death and I was there to see it all. And the family drama that ensued afterwards had me in an emotional tailspin. So the first anxiety attack I had was inevitable. The night before we were to bury my grandfather I experienced my first attack. I was at my sisters, sleeping soundly as I was tired from the traveling I had done, the planning of his arrangements, and trying to keep the family together and suddenly I woke with terror, feeling as though I could not breathe. My heart was pounding... my blood ran cold. I began to gasp for air. I couldn’t even call on anyone as it was just my niece, who was a baby, and I at home. I reach for my cell phone and ran to the porch; thinking I would call the ambulance and maybe run over to a neighbor. As soon as the cool air touch my face, I began to calm some and I began to take deep breaths and I began to pray. My heart slowed down, my breathing became somewhat normal and I began to get my bearings. That night marked the beginning of my night terrors. I didn’t tell anyone except my husband, we dismissed it as stress and that I was tired from all the events that had taken place. But we were wrong. For the months to follow they came more frequently. I was not sleeping and I became a frequent visitor to the hospital. They would check me and would send me home with anti-anxiety medication. The medicine made me feel worse. And it didn’t make matters any better that I was six hours away from my family. It was wreaking havoc in my marriage. My husband was at his wits ends as I would be up all night crying, telling him I was dying. And they began to progressively get worse, especially once my father died and I began to experience health issues. My family and friends had no idea what I was experiencing at night. Stress, depression and worry were taking its toll on me. I was not being productive and it was causing major issues in me and my marriage. I was allowing “fear” to cripple and stifle me spiritually, emotionally and physically. After a while I had enough. I did some research on the causes of anxiety and I knew that medicine was not the answer for me. However I knew who did have the answers and I made an appointment with the Great Physician, Jesus. I went into my Sanctuary and I prayed and analyzed everything. And that’s when I realized that my fear of dying was tied to all the loss that I experienced around me. That seed was planted and it grew into a nasty weed that was chocking the life out of me. I was struggling with the thought that my dying day was imminent. Why wouldn’t it be? I saw my Daddy and Auntie, who had a deep and meaningful relationship with God, gone. So why would he not take me in a moment? And the issues with my health played a tremendous part in my “fear of death. I came face to face with my mortality and I was afraid. I had a choice, continue to have these attacks and disrupt my home life and eventually tear my marriage apart or I could face my fear. What if God did decide to take me? Would I have lived a life that was pleasing and acceptable? If I did die, where would my soul go? And that’s when I knew that it was time for me to get it right so that when my dying day did come, I would be sure where my soul would rest. I dug my heels in and I did the work and it was not an overnight process. I chose not to do it with medicine but with a holistic approach. I learned how to breathe through the attacks and I would repeat 2 Timothy 1:7, “God has not given ME a spirit of fear but of love joy and a sound mind”. And I would do so until I felt calm again and I had regained my sound mind. I made sure to feed my spirit as well with positive information and scriptures, I prayed and meditated and I stopped focusing on dying and focused on living. In one of the last conversations I had with my Daddy before his passing he said something that really brought me insight and really helped me to heal. We were talking about his upcoming surgery and making plans and I asked him was he scared. My daddy had a way with words and in his way he said, No, I am not scared. You are scared when you are afraid to die. I am not afraid to die because I know where I am going”. And that’s exactly the medicine I needed to deliver me from the anxiety attacks. I am getting it right…so that when I take my last and final breath…..I will not be afraid...as I know where I am going. If you enjoyed this blog, please consider sharing it! “Get you a piece of The Sweet Life". That was the title of the lesson that was shared on Friday, October 5, 2012 in The Sanctuary. We dealt with the last category of the Fruit of the Spirit; Love, Joy and Peace. This last category deals with the soul's well-being. In its most general aspect it portrays a Christian's mind with a special emphasis on one's relationship with God.
What is Love to you? We often say we love the weather, we love our favorite food, and we love our dog. We have expressed love for ice cream, a certain beer, and pizza, style of house, color, automobile, fashion, performer or team. People say they love an endless number of things. The word love may be the most over used misunderstood common word in the English language because in the popular understanding it is defined by feelings and hormones. People's love of something is merely an opinion, a preference. A preference is not love, and to use love in this way devalues it. The most prevalent notion is that love is a warm, topsy-turvy feeling, a thrill one gets in the pit of the stomach or a tingle running up and down the spine or warm sense of regard, a strong desire to be with or be satisfied by someone or something. Some have equated it with caring, benevolent giving or nothing more than sheer emotionalism. To care about something is not love either. One can care to the point of obsession or lust. A measure of caring must be a part of true love, but by itself, that caring feeling or preference is not love. But these kinds of love do not pass the test of true Godlike love. What kind of love are we talking about here? We have heard the word charity used synonymous with love. Charity is a practice and a virtue. You can practice charity with benevolent giving and caring or charity can be a virtue displaying unlimited love and kindness. The Bible refers to four types of love. In the Greek Language there are: Eros - Erotic Love (Eroctica) Is based on strong feelings toward another. Based on physical traits…the weakness of this love is obvious based on self-benefit. I love you because it feels good…it makes me happy. The keyword is “me”. When that person doesn’t feel happy anymore…they have fallen out of love. Note that Eros love is natural and important part of relationship. This is part of God’s plan. But we must be careful with this as we must be led by our hearts and minds. Philia- (Phileo) – Brotherly Love To have a special interest in someone or something; have affection for, like, consider a friend. Love based on friendship between two people based on mutual give and take. A love two people benefit each other in mutual way….enjoy each other’s character. One partner is still concerned with what they can take but at the same time is also concerned with the other partner and therefore gives back in return. Storge Affection felt between parent and off springs. Naturally occurs, it a familial love. It can be between siblings, even husband and wives in a good marriage. Agape This love looks at others and values them for who they are regardless of whether they ever return love back. Agape love knows no limits in how far, how wide or how deep it will go to express itself. It is an unconditional love. It is a divine love. Agape love is the highest word for love! Its distinguishing characteristic is that it is completely unselfish and Agape love can only be obtained by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches us to live with this self-sacrificing love because he is the divine Person of Love. So this love cannot be based in emotions and feelings but obedience and commitment to the Holy Spirit. John says it so clearly, And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.” (1 John 4:16). Because love is such an important part of God’s character, love must be important to us too. Anyone who leads a life of love shows that he is joined to God and God is joined to him. This virtue is so important that St. Paul called it greater than faith and hope. St. Paul also gave his practical insight into the virtue of love, 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” So essentially this scripture is telling us that:Love does not jealous (feel envy). Love does not parade (boast) itself. Love is not puffed up (proud). Love is not rude (unkind). Love does not demand to have its own way. Love does not easily become angry. Love does not rejoice in (enjoy) iniquity (sin)….some translations state that “it keeps no records of wrong. Love thinks no evil (thoughts). Love or loving is the principal fruit and it is observed in the habitual behavior of those who readily sacrifice themselves for others, even in difficult circumstances. Jesus proclaimed its importance in John 15:13, “Greater love has no one than this that he lay down his life for his friends.” And this is demonstrated in the ultimate act of love by Jesus. For 33 years Jesus laid down his life for us that we may enjoy the sweetness of “freedom” and liberty. Authentic and genuine love is an act of the will and has two essential elements: self-sacrifice and commitment and perfect love embraces total self-sacrifice and complete commitment. Does that describe your love? Our culture throws the word love around so loosely but it really isn’t love because it comes with an expectation. Love has to be real, and to be real it has to be done, not discussed. Every time we respond in love to someone else we are laying down our lives for them. And as Christians this shouldn’t be considered exceptional, but should be quite ordinary Deuteronomy 6:5 is the first and most important commandment. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” The second is “Love your neighbor as you love yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39.) To love your neighbor as yourself means to love all people with your whole heart it means to take care of someone else the same. The kind of love in this “second commandment” is the same as in the “first" commandment. It is love in action. It requires the will and action of the person who does it. We must be careful not to say too quickly that we love. Instead, we need to study carefully how we live and how well we use the principles of love as shown in the Bible. And the practice should begin in your home first. Think for a minute of what our homes would be like if we always practiced the principles of true love. Imagine the blessing of living in a home where the family members are positive and supportive of one another. You may not be able to get others to do this. But if you were to practice these principles, you might just experience how powerful an influence they could have on others. But as we are commanded to love our friends and family we are also commanded love the not so lovable. Who do we consider these people to be? Matthew 5:43- 44, "You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," An enemy doesn’t have to be someone who tries to kill you; you may think this verse does not hold any meaning for your life, especially if no one has threatened to end your life lately. But an enemy may be an opponent, a rival, a competitor, or a challenger. An enemy is one who hates you or who treats you wrongly. It might even be a spouse or another member of the family. There may be times when a family member that’s not very loving. He or she even may search for ways to make you angry or worse. When that happens, it is easy to get caught in the trap of trying to get even with him or her. Sometimes you may experience a bitter challenge on the job. Those you have worked with side by side over the years may begin to think of you as an enemy. An enemy could be someone you have cared a great deal for or may even be someone in your church. He or she may be anyone who causes us enough bitterness to tempt us to fight back. But if you show that Agape love, you can’t fight against it. Love is the most powerful force in all of creation. People can argue against your religion, your lifestyle, your beliefs, your political view, your faith—everything. But they cannot argue against unconditional (without limits or end) love. This love is the kind of love shown to the world through Jesus. This love is also the kind of love we can share with others. It’s no surprise that Paul’s list of the Fruit of the Spirit begins with love. Love is at the top of the list for Christians because it best shows God’s character. It was love that caused God to create us, to support us, and to make Him known to us. Love also leads God to give us His Son to save us. It should be obvious that we neither have God's love by nature, nor is it self-generated. We receive godly love from its Source, God, by means of His Spirit. Only by knowing God can we have this sweet love, and only by loving can we know Him! Only by learning to love God can we learn His nature, what He is like. We cannot have that love until we first come to know Him and we get to know him by fellowshipping with Him, and then we come to know Him and receive His sweet love. We should then become like Him and we are able to demonstrate this sweet Agape love to others. The second sweet fruit that Paul referred to was Joy. The prophet Nehemiah declared: “the joy of the Lord is your strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). The author of Hebrews wrote: “Looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). Webster's New World Dictionary defines joy as synonymous with "happy," "glad," and "cheerful." A thesaurus relates it to"exultation," "rapture," "satisfaction" and "pleasure." Webster's specifically defines it as "a very glad feeling; happiness; great pleasure; delight." It also refers to the source or cause of delight. Strong's defines this word as "supremely blessed; by extension fortunate, well off, blessed, happy." So to have joy is to be happy. But don’t we often confuse happiness with joy. The Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, one of Americas founding document states that "we are endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." This was written in 1776, and since then, we have been seriously pursuing happiness with greater vigor! Everyone wants to be happy and seeks it in varying ways and intensities. We seek happiness through entertainment, in athletic endeavors, hobbies, travel, dancing, fashion, home improvements, wealth, status, alcohol, food and drugs. For a brief period of satisfaction these all fail. Happiness is fleeting…joy is eternal and internal. The Greek and Hebrew definitions of the words translated as "joy" and its synonyms are virtually the same as their English counterparts, except for one whose specific definition is not "joy," but "blessed." Hence, when the Bible speaks of joy it is speaking of being blessed. So to be blessed with joy and to experience biblical joy, the fruit of God's Spirit, we need godly inner qualities that we do not possess by nature. As with love—the love that springs from us by nature that is but a pale reflection of God's love and the same rings true for joy. Until we come to the point where by faith we are supremely confident of God's presence in our life, confident of His providence toward us in the past, present and future, we will not experience the enduring fullness of God blessings. The fruit of joy is a foretaste of the perfectc sweetness, bliss and eternal delight of paradise that God wants us to experience now. The sweet fruit of joy is the awareness that God is our strength and protector because we safely abide in his sweet love. This inner joy is undisturbed by the negative conditions that may surround us. We know Christ has redeemed us, loves us, protects us, and he will never abandon us. God desires us to have joy in our lives even when circumstances become not so sweet like "Job" in the Bible full of Sorrow. Job was a prosperous farmer living in Uz. Satan was allowed by God to come in and destroy things around Job as a testing of his faithfulness. Job lost his possessions that made him rich. Job lost his servants because the work was gone. Job lost his children. Job lost his health which removed him from his ability to work. And Job was tested simply because Satan claimed that he was a rich wealthy man. Job was tested and lost material possessions yet he still trusted the Lord. Job was tested when his body developed painful boils and sores. Job was tested when his wife told him that he would have relief if he cursed God and died. Job was tested when his friends told him to confess his sins when he was innocent. But Job had a solid foundation of faith to keep the joy in him. Job built his life on trusting the Lord no matter what happened. Job knew that he could rebuild his life with the Lord's help. Job knew that his real and lasting joy would come from the Lord. And the key to Job obtaining sweet restoration…was he prayed for his friends, he simply loved his enemies! And the Lord restored his life to full joy and blessings. So when times are hard we are to still have joy. Psalms 30:5 so assuredly says: For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favour is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Suffering and trials may come but we are to walk with confidence trusting in the Lord. God desires us to have joy and he knows we can lose it from our lives? Our joy can be lost by our own sinful values and lack of spiritual walk. We can lose it with the sin of selfishness. Thinking me, me, me and not looking at others. We can lose it through anger; it can definitely take away joy from one's heart and life. Sin of judging and being critical of others takes away joy and peace of mind. Fault finding can create a feeling of dissatisfaction in one's life. It will destroy joy! Our joy can be lost by not making an effort to spiritually grow. By not reading and studying the Bible will take our joy away. By not taking everything to God in prayer can take our joy away. By not looking at others through the loving eyes of Jesus with love and compassion, by not following and trusting the Lord to help get one through life. In other words leaning upon one's own power and understanding instead of God's. But through all of these things God gave us a wonderful reason to have and regain our joy in our lives no matter what comes our way. And that is the glorious birth of Jesus which brought joy to the world and his glorious resurrection that brought grace and liberty. He proved by his immaculate birth and the miracle of resurrection that anything is possible with God. This alone should bring every believer eternal and everlasting joy. If you start your day praising the Lord and end it praising the Lord for him being the source of your life than you had a good day. There may have been problems and heartache. You may have even cried but if you end the day always remembering to praise the Lord, than you had a good day. No matter what problems that we have throughout our day, we can have real joy in the comfort of His love. What happens when a forest mighty trees burns down? It starts the regrowth process doesn't it? Grief and sadness, anxiety, worry and pain is only for a season when you put your life into proper perspective. If we allow it, the seeds of tears can grow into new spiritual growth. Our tragedies of life can become a learning experience if we patiently wait upon the Lord to help us fly again. But this type of joy is a Biblical joy. It is bound up in our relationship with Him. Henceforth our joys must arise from yielding to God and his great purpose for our lives and seeing it to the end. This is why we were born! Because of this, we can look forward to hearing Him say: "Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord". (Matthew 25:21) "That's the sweet life… finding Real Joy!" The third and final fruit of this series we discussed was the sweet fruit of Peace. When we think of peace we immediately think of freedom from war with an opposing faction. Peace by definition is a general sense, a state of quiet or tranquility; freedom from disturbance or agitation. It is freedom from agitation, terror, anger, anxiety or the like; quietness of mind; tranquility; calmness; quiet of conscience. Peace is the Greek word 'eirene', which is probably derived from the verb eiro meaning 'to join'. It is a word describing relationships. "Eirene" translates into Hebrew word "shalom". Shalom means everything that makes for a man's highest good." As a champion of peace, Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:3, “endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”. The New Living Translation states “make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. The Greek word translated “endeavoring” is an imperative, excluding any passivity, any “wait and see” attitude. We must be proactive. If we fight and bicker in our homes, if we fall into factions at church, if we refuse to love and honor others, then we are denying the peace of God in Jesus Christ, which He established on the cross. How ironic that you have to fight for peace. Eleanor Roosevelt said, “It isn’t enough to talk about peace; one must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it; one must work at it.”The peace that Christ won for us also requires effort, hard work, and constant self-examination. And we have to examine our relationship in the following areas. •Peace with God •Peace in our relationships. • Peace in the home. • Peace in our churches. How do you find this peace? Matthew 11:28-29 says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls’ What is Jesus saying to us here? How can we experience for ourselves the reality of this wonderful promise? From what Jesus is saying in these verses, He is proposing to give us peace as a gift. He is teaching that personal peace is a result of some cause and inviting us to learn that cause from Him. People are increasingly frustrated in their search for personal peace and the frustration is because of the lack of surrender to self that brings unrest. Those who take Christ at His word, and surrender their souls to His keeping, their lives to His ordering, will find peace and quietude. Nothing of the world can make them sad when Jesus makes them glad by His presence. In perfect submission there is perfect rest. The Lord says, ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because ye truseth in Thee.’ (Isaiah 26:3) The peace of the Holy Spirit is the inner tranquility, even amid great hardships, that comes from our reliance on God who is all-powerful and always faithful. Genuine peace comes from living confidently in the present moment with God rather than trying to wrestle anxiously with tomorrow’s problems. Therefore to find that peace we have to deal with those areas. Peace is found through a right relationship with God. Salvation through the Gospel of Peace is the key to the good news of restoring a right relationship with God. When Adam and Eve fell peace was lost on the earth when Jesus came to earth the message was peace on earth. A right relationship with God brings confidence in approaching God. Peace is found through right relationships with one another, being one body in Christ. The body of Christ is not hierarchical or competitive. Every member of the body is necessary for the body to function properly. Peace is found in forgiving one another. We must forgive others so that our prayers will be answered. Wrong relationships through unforgiveness will prevent our prayers being answered. We must always seek to be at peace with those around us. Peace is found when we find peace in ourselves. Stress is a major problem. When we are free from worry and anxiety and allow the peace of God to keep our heart – it will prevent heart attacks, and will keep the mind from mental breakdowns. Philippians 4:6-7 says, Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.' The peace of God is the guide of the believer. Now we may feel uneasy because we are nervous after something, note this is not loss of peace. We just have to learn andrecognize the leading of the peace of God. A peaceful spirit is of great value in the Lord's sight. Peace is found when we find peace in the Church, Matthew 5:23-24 says, “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift’ Why do we find it so hard to implement this principle in our lives? It is evident that Jesus takes more seriously our relationships with one another than we do. It is not uncommon for bitterness and resentment to exist for years between members of a church or family members. Imagine how different things would be if we all followed this teaching. The fruit of the Spirit is the peace of being in right relationship with God, with others, in Church and in ourselves. It is not dependent upon how others feel about us. When we are at peace with God through being brought into a right relationship with Him it is the sweet life. When we are in right standing with God through the Lord Jesus Christ, we are at peace in our relationship with others and it is the sweet life. When we are peace in our churches and are one body in Christ; forgiving to those who are saved or unsaved it is the sweet life. When the fruit of peace means we can even be at peace with those who are opposed to us that is the sweet life. When we are at peace in the innermost part of our being because Christ lives in us and we are a part of the family of God that is the sweet life. When we are at peace in the inner person letting the Holy Spirit be our guide and keep us from worry and anxiety that is the sweet life. Releasing the sweet life of peace has more to do with how you handle all the challenges and situations than with the situations themselves. Peace has to do with the deepest trust in a loving and caring God who knows what you are going through and has promised not to forsake you, no matter what comes your way. What is the essence of the spiritual sweetness that God wants you to enjoy and vicariously for others to enjoy through you? How do we release the flow of sweetness through our lives? It is found in Galatians 5:22, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law” Having the fruit of the Spirit’s presence in and through our lives is summed up in two words SWEET LOVE! All the other fruits that were mentioned in Galatians 5 verse 22 are simply attributes or facets of love. What is love? Love loves others without thinking of self. What is joy? It is looking at God in spite of self. Patience is suffering through one’s own hardship. Peace is disregarding one’s loss. Kidness and Goodness is forgetting one’s merits and becoming a servant to those who cannot serve you. Gentleness is overlooking one’s rights. Faithfulness is elf-restraint. Self-control is getting you under control of God. As we examine each of these virtues, which express Christian witness, we see that other than being delivered from self or being forgetful of self, the fruit of the Holy Spirit is determined by one principle alone: the losing of self totally…losing ME from your vocabulary. And the common denominator in all of this is love and this love can be only found in our source God! It doesn’t matter what your personality traits are, or how you were brought up, or what your gender is; if you have had a real encounter with Jesus Christ you cannot help but love, because God in essence is SWEET LOVE. Psalm 34:8 "O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him." If you enjoyed this blog, please consider sharing it! If you have been following The Sanctuary you know that we are on our “Road to Purpose” and we are in our series “Got Fruit?” We are examining our character and going in depth about the Fruit of the Spirit. The Fruit of the Spirit are characteristics that originate from God. They are defined by His character. When we fill ourselves with the Spirit they manifest themselves in us and as believers we should be bearing the Fruit of the Spirit in our lives. I have done extensive studying and praying about this series as I want to make sure that I am effectively and precisely rightfully dividing the word of God. And while I am studying it out to present to God’s people…I am undergoing quite a pruning process. As I have shared in our lessons that the Fruit of Spirit doesn’t just come by osmosis or even by happenstance…but once you allow the Holy Spirit into your heart a seed is planted and that seed grows and is developed by being connected to the vine and that vine being connected to tree and our tree being rooted and grounded in our Lord and Savior. And we fertilize our tree with prayer, reading God’s word, tests and trials and making the right choices when faced with challenging situations to produce good fruit. And doing this process as our branches grow and produce fruit we often have to prune back our branches. You see sometimes so that we can produce either a new harvest or a better harvest we have to prune our tree. If we do not cut back back our vines correctly, they won’t develop in the right way, and you will not get a decent crop. As you all know I am a gardener and I understand this concept of pruning in the natural. I have rose bushes that each year I prune (cut back) so that I can get the best blooms in growing season. So late fall or early winter depends on the weather, I prune back the branches so that when spring arrives I have new branches and blooms that are vibrant red with an aromatic aroma that is absolutely divine. Well while presenting this series on “Got Fruit?” I have been in my season of pruning spiritually. I would call myself a good person. I try to treat people in a respectful and courteous manner at all times. I make an effort to walk in empathy, be faithful and loyal, demonstrate self-control, be kind and gentle when it is possible and I try not to murmur and complain when I am made to wait. But as I present this series, I have been tested to see if I “Got Fruit?” and it has made me to look at my tree and see that I have been missing the mark. I never try to put on airs and pretend that I am a super believer who does everything right. If you are looking for that person…she does not live here. In The Sanctuary we are authentic, real and transparent from the top to the bottom. And with that being said…I have not innately displayed some of these character traits. I have made excuses as to why I couldn’t….because nothing ever happens for me so I will not try, I don’t want to be hurt like that again, I have tried and if they want to be that way…let them be, or the best one…I will love them from a distance. What is that? Imagine if God loved us from a distance? You see some of my fruit is more develop than others on parts of my tree. What I found through self-examination without rose colored glasses, is that some of my Fruit is under developed because I have “conditions” and "excuses" hindering the development. As I stated I am a PK “preacher’s kid”…so I know about the Fruit of the Spirit. This isn’t new to me. But as I began to compare what is required to what I define myself as to what I have been producing....I knew that it was time for a good old pruning. My husband Monte made a very enlightening statement in the meeting this past Friday as we were discussing Longsuffering, Kindness and Goodness; “we have been using this title “Christian” very loosely”. And he is so right. We were commanded in Galatians 5:22 to display God’s characteristics not when it is convenient, when it feels good, when we are on display, or when it is being reciprocated….but these character traits should innately be part of us as believers. We are to be the image of Christ in flesh if we confess to be believers. We are to display kindness to those who have differing and opposing viewpoints. We are to show goodness and serve those who we know can’t reciprocate. We are to be patient and be longsuffering, not murmuring and complaining when things have not worked out the way we thought they should or if we are made to wait. We are to maintain self-control and not to get angry and retaliate against those that we know who have purposely hurt us and said all kinds of manners of evil. Yes…it may seem hard, but when we look at how Jesus walked in these fruits on his way to the cross to die for us so that we may have life. Or reflect over our lives and see on how God showed compassion, tenderness, patience, gentleness towards us…taking us back time and time again. After this realization I knew that I could no longer make excuses or make compromises as to what I have been commanded to do. So I stood back and looked at my tree….took out my pruning shears and I handed them to God and asked HIM to prune me. If you enjoyed this blog, please consider sharing it! |
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